Chapter 58: A Sense of Belonging in the Darkness

By the time Gabriella tried to pull her power back, it was already too late.

The shadow flowed along her fingertip like a little snake that had found another warm, comfortable nest and poured straight into Tina’s forehead.

“Aah…”

Tina let out a soft, girlish moan. 

Even in her dormant state she was murmuring unconsciously.

“It’s all… to… save…”

Her body trembled. 

Her dazed eyes fluttered shut. 

The triangular mark on her forehead turned pitch-black, the same color as shadow.

A few strands of silver-white power still flickered in stubborn resistance, but they wouldn’t last long. 

Soon every trace of silver inside Tina would be transformed into shadow.

“Nn… ah.”

Shadow was different from ordinary dark magic. 

It was a power that belonged solely to the Evil God. 

To become its wielder meant submission in both body and soul. 

Tina, too, would become a servant of the Evil God.

Gabriella understood the feeling very well. 

In truth… it was extremely pleasant.

But what she could not understand was Elsa!

Was her little sister an idiot?

“Big sis~” 

Elsa was beaming at Gabriella right now, clearly begging for praise.

“Elsa…”

Gabriella’s tone was filled with the disappointment of someone watching iron fail to become steel, yet she didn’t know how to scold her.

Elsa had completely misunderstood.

Could she really have been brainwashed?

Yet this gentle, airheaded appearance didn’t fit the image of a corrupted dark maiden at all!

Gabriella shook her head.

The tea room had already returned to normal; the terrifying echoes of shadow had vanished.

Looking at her idiot little sister supporting Tina, Gabriella couldn’t help but reach out and rub Elsa’s horn as punishment.

“Ah, nn?! Sis~”

Far from being punishment, Elsa clearly enjoyed it immensely!

Gabriella felt she was out of moves. In resignation, she asked symbolically,

“Who taught you about shadow?”

At that moment, the ever-observant Elsa finally realized she might have gone too far.

“It was… Lady Liya…”

“She took you?” 

Half doubt, half accusation.

“No! There’s nothing improper between Lady Liya and me. She simply gave me the power of shadow so I could serve you faithfully, big sister.” 

Elsa placed a hand over her chest, her tone carrying a hint of pride.

“…”

Liya, that woman—her identity was definitely not that of an ordinary maid.

You could tell just from the summoned armor she once provided, which contained power, and from the fact that she knew about the Evil Tree.

After that, Gabriella hadn’t found time to question Liya further. 

After all, at her core, Liya was a little demon utterly loyal to the demon race. 

Pressing her might expose something instead.

“Sis… did I do something wrong?”

Elsa tilted her head and asked. 

She clearly remembered that just moments ago her sister had called Isabella “Lord Evil God”!

Could I have misunderstood?

Elsa felt she was different from Tina. 

She no longer stood on humanity’s side; she followed big sister Gabriella.

Since big sister had chosen the Evil God, helping Tina become an apostle of the Evil God was fine, right~?

Gabriella had been about to explain the situation, but the moment she saw the hurt on Elsa’s face, she abandoned the idea. 

Her little sister’s fall was, after all, the result of her own negligence as an elder sister.

Turning Tina into an apostle of shadow could be considered a good thing, I suppose?

Mm… after all, it’s what the Evil God wants to see.

Gabriella unconsciously found an excuse. 

Realizing it fit perfectly and would comfort her sister, she didn’t bother correcting herself.

“Anyway, it’s all to save the world.”

“Mm!”

In response, Gabriella looked at Elsa with an expression that was thirty percent helplessness and seventy percent doting.

Since Elsa had chosen to drag Tina into the darkness, she might as well work for her.

“We’ll be mobilizing troops soon, so I’m leaving Tina in your care for now.”

“Understood!”

Gabriella felt a restlessness in her heart. 

Under normal circumstances, she could have easily bestowed pure silver-white power upon Tina.

Yet just now, the shadow inside her had boiled up as if trying to tell her something.

It was as though a power of the same origin was resonating with her—and the source of that power was not Elsa.

“Isabella?”

In her deep blue eyes, a faint black cross-star appeared.

Gabriella’s mind grew slightly hazy. 

She knew something was happening. 

Her thoughts turned to that idiot Isabella.

This same thing had happened several days ago…

She immediately said to Elsa,

“Take Tina back to her room for me, okay? Thanks~”

“Got it.”

With that, Gabriella strode out of the room without looking back and headed straight for the bedroom.

Elsa wrapped her arms around the unconscious Ice Saint’s soft body and thighs, lifting her into a princess carry.

She looked at the rampant shadow on Tina’s forehead—black tentacles still radiating an eerie aura—and nodded in satisfaction.

Just a few more infusions of dark power, and Tina could become a full demon too~

All because big sister Gabriella had ultimately chosen the Evil God.

The reason she was entrusted with caring for Tina was precisely because her power was similar to her sister’s—she could supply energy too~

Big sister Gabriella really thinks of everything.

“Lady Tina, I’m sorry… It seems she still chose Lord Evil God.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay with you the whole time, Lady Tina~”

“Let’s fall together.”

…

Gabriella sensed a thread of energy stirring within her.

Her body was already filled with vast amounts of shadow, and now that shadow was resonating with its master.

It was as though her master was using power to summon her, calling her apostle to return to her side.

It made her heartbeat quicken, letting her feel the rhythm of the other’s energy.

This meant—the Evil God had awakened once more.

“Master…?”

Gabriella quickened her steps; the black cross-star in her eyes grew clearer.

She walked all the way to the bedroom in the residential palace—the bedroom she shared with Isabella.

There was no need to ask; she could sense the Evil God’s presence right here.

Pushing open the door, Gabriella saw Isabella.

She was sitting on the bed, her gaze dim, as though immersed in memories of the past.

Powerful dark energy burst from her body—not violently, but like delicate vines crawling over the entire bedroom. 

Walls, sofa, tables, and chairs were all wrapped in darkness, sealed like specimens in black resin.

Serrated blades rolled back and forth across the walls, writhing and leaping among countless translucent, phantom-like tentacles. 

It felt as though one had stepped into the belly of a terrifying beast—or a bizarre abyss that birthed monsters.

Isabella simply sat there quietly, her snow-white legs pressed lightly together, hands resting naturally on the hem of her black dress, eyes now bearing cross-shaped pupils.

And even stranger—Gabriella’s body reflexively, instinctively, produced a very peculiar…

Sense of belonging.