'Is it too late to turn back now?'
"I… I'm the one who came looking for you."
She found it a little hard to breathe.
Looking up, she saw the man prop a foot on his throne, resting one hand on his knee. He spoke in a cold voice, "Do you have any idea where you are?"
It would have been better if he hadn't asked.
The moment he did, her heart sank.
Celeste Grant fell silent.
She hadn't known before she arrived, but she certainly did now.
He wasn't some run-of-the-mill Evil Cultivator. He was a Demon Cultivator.
There's a difference between Evil Cultivators and Demon Cultivators. Evil Cultivators gain power through methods that defy the Heavenly Dao; their cultivation is extremely selfish and harmful to others. Demon Cultivators, on the other hand, cultivate Karmic Fire or Demonic Qi. Although their power is violent, it still complies with the rules of the Heavenly Dao.
However, many Demon Cultivators were exceptionally violent, brutal, and bloodthirsty, which was why The Demonic Sects had never had a good reputation.
The especially cruel ones among the Demon Cultivators were used by the Righteous Immortal Sects as prime examples of villains to educate their disciples. They were universally condemned and hunted by every Immortal Sect.
Like the man standing before her now.
Celeste Grant nodded.
"I do."
Javier Sinclair waved a hand, shifted his position, and placed both hands on the arms of his chair.
"Then speak. What business do you have with me? You had better give me a reason not to kill you. Otherwise, once you've entered the Bloodfiend Den, don't even think about leaving alive."
She knew of the Bloodfiend Den—the Demon Cultivators' main base.
And the father of the child in her belly was none other than the world's number one Demon Cultivator, the wielder of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, Javier Sinclair.
According to the rumors, he was a ruthless monster who had murdered his own father and brother—the archetypal villain who had slaughtered ten thousand people in a single night.
'Would a man like that truly care about having a son? Won't he just throw me into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to be refined along with everyone else?'
A few days ago, Celeste Grant had drawn his likeness from memory. She had taken the portrait, thinking she could ask people from the Cultivator Sects if they had ever seen him.
But everyone she asked said they hadn't.
That is, until she met a tall, beautiful young woman who claimed to know the man in the portrait. The woman grabbed her by the shoulder, pulled her onto an Immortal Ship, and brought her all the way here, to the Bloodfiend Den.
At first, when she saw the ship, it was brimming with an ethereal, immortal aura. She had assumed the child's father was a member of an Immortal Sect.
Then she heard the woman say something.
"Who did this? This ship is so gaudy. What's the point of all this immortal flair? It undermines the dignity of our Demonic Sects. Next time, remember to hang a few skulls on it."
Only then did she realize she had boarded a Demon Cultivator's ship.
Now she was under someone else's roof; it was too late to leave even if she wanted to.
If she claimed she was looking for the wrong person, he definitely wouldn't believe her. She feared the moment the words left her mouth, she'd be done for right there.
At this thought, Celeste Grant threw caution to the wind.
She pointed to her large belly.
"I'm pregnant. The child is yours."
"I'm already eight months along. I wouldn't have come looking for you if I wasn't forced to." As she said this, she felt a little guilty.
After all, she had been the one to initiate things that time. With a face like his, she was the one who had gotten the better end of the deal.
The moment Celeste Grant's words fell, a collective gasp echoed through the gloomy, windswept hall. Countless eyes landed on her, and on her large belly.
'Mother of heavens, what did we just hear? The Exalted One went out and got a girl pregnant?'
'And now the girl has shown up at our doorstep!'
'And a fair-skinned beauty at that! Why don't good things like this ever happen to us?'
The woman who had brought her here, in particular, now had shining eyes.
She had brought the woman back on the one-in-ten-thousand chance it might be true. She never expected this woman was actually involved with their Exalted One.
After saying her piece, Celeste Grant actually calmed down quite a bit. Though still a little scared, she hadn't lied. The child really was his.
As for all the curious stares...
Celeste Grant lowered her head slightly.
She had sought him out because she knew his Cultivation was high, and she hoped he would protect her for a while for the child's sake. At the very least, she wanted to give birth safely and prevent her child from having its Spirit Root dug out and dying a horrible death right after being born.
She just never expected him to be a Demon Cultivator, and the leader of The Demonic Sects at that.
'Can I really rely on this child's father?'
'My son won't take after him in the future, will he?'
'No, absolutely not. Even if he can't be a model Second Generation Immortal from a righteous background, he can't become a reviled Second Demon generation that everyone wants to hunt down. Even if he does inherit his father's Demon Cultivation Constitution, he has to be a respectable Second Demon generation.'
'It seems I'll have to start on the child's education from a young age.'
At this moment, Javier Sinclair, sitting on the throne of skulls, felt his pupils shrink. His gaze was fixed so intently on her it felt like it could burn a hole right through her.
'What a rude awakening.'
He, The Archfiend who had been alone for hundreds of years, had no idea he even had a son.
Where did a son come from? It's not like one could just fall from the sky.
Celeste Grant's heart went numb under his stare. She subconsciously shielded her belly with her hands and took a step back.
Javier Sinclair stood up, looking down at her from his elevated position. "You're pregnant, and with my child? Do you have any idea what you're saying? What new trick are you people from the Immortal Sects plotting now?"
He hadn't even cared when he was framed for massacring a city overnight; after all, he had been accused of so many crimes that one more didn't make a difference.
But what was this about the child being his? When had he ever fathered a child with a woman without knowing it himself? They couldn't just pin any old blame on him.
He was only interested in refining people and refining poison, not women.
Celeste Grant's vision blurred. The man who had been sitting on the throne a moment ago was suddenly right in front of her. He reached out and grabbed her face.
A sharp pain in her chin forced her to look up and meet his gaze.
She heard him say, "A plain-looking woman like you wants to pin this on me? Make me the unwitting father?"
Her chin really hurt.
"Gent… gently."
"I'm just an ordinary person… not some member of an Immortal Sect."
'This man's grip is so strong.' Right now, she was just an ordinary person who couldn't cultivate.
'What does he mean, "unwitting father"? It really is his!'
She pried his hand away.
"Let go."
she roared.
Her shout actually stunned Javier Sinclair. It had been a long, long time since anyone had dared to be so insolent with him. The last one who had dared to challenge him like this was already keeping company with the souls in his Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
The weather was hot, and after shouting, Celeste Grant felt a wave of dizziness.