CHAPTER 549: EVOLVING RELATIONSHIPS

As the tournament’s date crawled closer, many people felt a strange sense of urgency. They realized that while Sera’s plan would most likely work, their lives remained at risk.

In the past, fighting wars, surviving in dreadful environments and hunting monsters wasn’t an issue. They had nothing to lose, so death didn’t seem too scary. However, with Kim and Sam’s proposal, an avalanche began inside the large friend group.

Everyone got hit with reality. They loved their partners. None of them could imagine living on without their constant presence and support.

They all suddenly found something precious, which made the upcoming tournament harder. The fear of death surrounded everyone as the days passed, and nobody knew how to climb out of this self-destructive panic.

The couples tried comforting each other, but since both sides struggled with the same feelings, it led nowhere.

Luckily, through the haze of uncertainty and fear, a ray of hope began shining...

"Are you certain? How can you tell?" asked Adam, while lying in the bed naked next to his fiancée.

The tall man’s muscular arm gently embraced Lilith’s naked shoulders as the young woman snuggled close to Adam. A small smile brightened her usually emotionless expression as her hand caressed her belly tenderly.

She glanced up into Adam’s yellowish-orange eyes and gave a quick kiss on his neck...

"Yes, I’m sure. I can’t quite explain the feeling... It’s like a feel something growing inside me. It’s definitely a soul! Sera told me about her early pregnancy. She felt a similar weird sensation in her belly about two weeks into the pregnancy!"

Adam stared down at Lilith in disbelief. However, his fiancée’s next words finally shook him awake...

"I’m pregnant, Adam! We’re going to be parents! You’ll be a father!"

His entire body trembled as a wide, joyful grin spread across his face. Suddenly, he began laughing, which surprised even Lilith. Nobody ever heard Adam laughing. He was always serious and expressionless, yet upon hearing such good news, even he couldn’t hide the joy crushing his soul.

He raised his shaking hand and began slowly moving it towards Lilith’s belly. His fiancée didn’t care to wait, though. She simply grabbed his wrist and pressed his hand onto her naked abs.

The large, rough hands gently moved along Lilith’s fair, warm skin. A wide smile spread across her face as her entire body burned with love and excitement.

This was what she had desired most since Nick’s birth. She felt jealous upon hearing of Agnes’s pregnancy, but now she could finally experience the beauty of motherhood herself!

"We need to get married!" declared Adam, while Lilith’s mind kept imagining how their baby would look.

Suddenly, her eyes went wide as Adam’s words pierced through her thoughts.

"What?" she asked, thinking she must’ve misheard her fiancé.

A gentle smile spread across Adam’s lips as he leaned down and gave a tender kiss on the top of Lilith’s head.

"We’ve been engaged for months. I think it’s time we made it official... This baby is an amazing blessing, and we could make it even better by getting married before the tournament!"

"Before the tournament?" shouted Lilith as her excitement turned into dread and urgency. "That’s less than a month away! I need to plan out all the details in less than a month?! I-I don’t..."

She began hyperventilating, but a moment later, Adam’s muscular arms embraced her thin yet curvaceous body. His presence alone was enough to even out her heart rate, but when his deep, rumbly voice reached her ears all the fear left her body.

"Don’t worry, my love. We’ve amazing friends who can help with the planning... There’s no need for a large ceremony, and we already know who’ll officiate us!"

The excitement returned to Lilith’s face as she recalled Sera’s promise. Her body also began trembling as she could barely hold herself under the pressure of the overwhelming happiness.

"Okay Adam! Let’s get married!"

With that, they quickly planned a few major points of their weddings, then got dressed and wrote to all their friends to gather inside Sera’s mansion.

...

"What do you think Lilith wants? She never writes to us and suddenly calls together a group meeting? Pretty suspicious." said Sarah while playing with Leslie’s long, bright red hair.

"Eh? She writes to me constantly. We sometimes have conversations for half an hour... I do agree this meeting is unusual, but she isn’t the silent type she pretends to be!" said Lucy, and multiple people nodded at her words.

"Yeah, I love the late night chats we sometimes have." said Cass... "Sometimes even Adam joins us on the holo-screen and the four of us talk for hours." said Melinda while Joan agreed... "They even came over after our proposal and brought us cake!" said Kim, while her tail gently wrapped around her fiancé...

Everyone told at least one story about Lucy and Adam, which made Sarah confused and outraged...

"Why does she talk with all of you?! I thought we were friends too, but we’ve never been close... I never noticed she hated me!"

Her face turned red, but soon a thought popped into her mind. She glanced down at Leslie’s head on her thighs. The pair of stormy eyes narrowed in suspicion as she asked her boyfriend...

"Do you also have a secret relationship with Lilith?"

Leslie burst into laughter as he said, "Of course not! I’m also not that close to Lilith, so calm down!"

However, Sarah’s eyes further narrowed. She knew the telltale signs of Leslie’s lying or when he tried hiding some information.

After a second of scrutiny, he relented and, with a deep sigh, said, "While I’m not close to Lilith, I sometimes play some games with Adam online..."

As Leslie’s words reached her girlfriend’s ears, she burst into tears and began weeping...

"They hate me! Why do they hate me? I’m a kind person who loves all her friends equally! I thought all of you loved me, but I guess you’re all dirty liars! You all hate me!"

The gathered people glanced at each other with discomfort, but Leslie was already familiar with his girlfriend’s antics. He sighed with annoyance, then pulled a piece of candy out of his pants pocket.

He didn’t ask for consent, just simply unwrapped the sugary treat and pushed it into Sarah’s mouth. As the sweetness spread, her weeping stopped and a joyful giggle took its place.

She began kicking her feet in happiness, leaving no traces of the previous depressed, self-loathing mental episode.

"I think they don’t like you because of your emotional instability!" said Lucy with a light chuckle, which nearly caused Sarah to begin sobbing again.

"Hey Lucy! How about you shut the fuck up and mind your own business?" answered Leslie angrily, then tossed another candy to her girlfriend, which kept her calm and happy.

As Sarah calmed down, the others began arriving too. A portal opened, and a tiny girl waddled through it. Her black hair with white lines was kept in pigtails as her freezing blue eyes with black lines stared at the ground... Little Jo was only a few months old, yet she could already walk!

Nick followed her close by, watching her every step and awaiting the eventual fall. Behind him, the two children’s parents appeared with Vicky, Henry and Henry’s own parents.

They quickly greeted everyone when another portal opened. Lydia, Thea and Lin were the first three to appear, but Astrid and the others followed closely. Thea’s family also came through, and finally Xinya closed the portal.

The giant lounge room inside Sera’s mansion suddenly felt quite small as close to fifty friends gathered together.

A few people were missing, though. Hestia went away to run some errands, while James and Mary continued working on the Colosseum’s broadcasting system. Professor Collins also stayed at home, since he could barely move on his own as age finally caught up with him.

As the people conversed, the lounge room door opened. They all glanced towards the pair walking through, and suddenly everyone’s eyes went wide with shock...

"I’m dreaming right?" "Is this an illusion?" "They aren’t wearing robes!" "What’s with their faces?" "Are those..." "Are they smiling?"

Many similar questions echoed inside the chamber as Adam and Lilith stepped forward. The tall man wore a regular shirt and pants, while his fiancée had a pretty dress covering her curvaceous body. They both grinned at the gathered crowd, which caused the initial wave of surprise.

"Hello everyone! Thank you for gathering here today!" shouted Lilith, her voice silencing all the shocked mumbling.

"We invited you here because of me and my fiancée have two important matters to announce. First—" before Adam could’ve continued, Lilith cut in full of excitement... "I’m pregnant!"

A few happy cheers went up in the gathered crowd, but most people just sighed and said, "Finally!" and "Took you long enough!". It wasn’t a secret that they’d been trying for a baby, and after months, everyone knew this announcement would come sooner or later.

However, just because they expected the announcement, didn’t mean they weren’t happy for Lilith and Adam. After the initial cheers, everyone personally congratulated them. There were also a few bets made about the baby’s gender and if there’ll be only one or maybe twins or triplets.

Afterward, when everyone became silent again, Adam and Lilith glanced together, their smiles widening in excitement. They then glanced towards Sera, who had a knowing smile stretching across her face... She already guessed their next announcement and gave the couple a reassuring nod...

"Second, with the news of our baby’s arrival, we finally decided to end our proposal and evolve our relationship a step further! We’ll get married before the tournament and everybody here is invited!"

This time everybody cheered so loudly, the entire mansion began shaking!