Hostages?
Grand Commander?
Invading the demons?
Gabriella now fully grasped the situation.
And she finally remembered the true identity of the girl in front of her.
Elsa was her real little sister.
In the original game, Elsa had only been an ordinary knight, a minor supporting character meant to trigger certain key characters.
Even after the main story ended, her fate probably wouldn’t have changed.
Elsa had always idolized Gabriella and dreamed of becoming a brave, majestic female knight just like her!
And now, in a way, Elsa had achieved that dream.
The Holy Knight Order was the Church’s strongest military force under the Holy King.
Becoming the leader of the Order; the Grand Commander; meant Elsa’s strength placed her among the top tier of humanity.
Any power that defied the Church, including the demons, would be subjugated by this organization.
Honestly,
Gabriella was still a little touched.
She had thought humans, especially the Church, were nothing but cowards who fled at the sight of demons.
Let alone coming to save her; crossing the Blackstone Mountains to face the demons head-on had seemed impossible.
They preferred making money over everything else.
Yet Elsa had actually come to rescue her in this kind of environment.
“Big Sister, come back with me.”
This time, Elsa’s voice carried both caution and pleading.
Of course Gabriella wanted to leave.
But she couldn’t leave yet…
She couldn’t abandon Isabella, for all sorts of reasons.
First and foremost,
All the favorability grinding she had done in this romance game was about to max out Isabella’s affection.
Walking away now would be like binding herself in a cocoon she had spun for eight whole years.
Gabriella had no intention of throwing away all that effort.
So, sorry, little sister~
She shot Isabella a look and quietly mouthed something.
The latter understood instantly.
Isabella smiled.
“Why don’t you ask Gabriella yourself what I’ve done to her~?”
“Who are you?”
Gabriella pretended she didn’t recognize Elsa at all.
She let go of Isabella’s hand, turned around, and faced her sister.
“I’m Elsa, Big Sister… Don’t you remember me?”
Gabriella tilted her head. “I am Lady Demon King’s wife. I don’t recall having a little sister~”
Despair instantly filled Elsa’s face.
Her sister… didn’t recognize her anymore…
Why? Had her sister been brainwashed by the Demon King?
All these years of being missing hadn’t meant death; she had been taken captive by the demons.
The Demon King must have coveted Big Sister’s power and used every method possible to steal her body and brainwash her! Those eyes were proof!
She had been forcibly instilled with the concept of being the Demon King’s wife, turned into a tool and slave; perhaps even the Demon King’s personal plaything! She believed herself to be the Demon King’s wife, but in reality she was nothing more than a corrupted, defeated Sword Empress tainted by demonic miasma!
Why did it have to turn out like this for my sister…?!
Elsa nearly broke down, but soon those emotions transformed into pure rage.
“Demon King.”
Elsa stood up, her voice thick with fury.
She immediately glanced at her two attendants and gave them a look.
The two understood at once. They closed their eyes, clasped their hands together, and began gathering power.
This wasn’t for combat; it was to send a signal.
If anything happened to Grand Commander Elsa at the front lines, these two knights; who were not combat specialists but excelled at magical perception; would use “telepathic transmission” to relay orders to the knight order.
The moment the signal went out, the entire knight army would march here immediately, attack the demons, and rescue their commander.
It was Elsa’s insurance policy.
Yet unexpectedly, just as they were about to send the message, it was as if the signal had short-circuited; nothing happened!
At the same moment, Demon King Isabella clasped her hands together as well, dark magic coiling around her body.
“[Reversal]”
Elsa was stunned.
The signal never went out!
It had been completely nullified by the Demon King’s reversal magic.
The activation condition for reversal magic was a thorough understanding of the magic one wished to destroy.
Just as one must know every internal structure of a castle to bring it down.
There was no way the Demon King could know; no, even be aware of; this spell!
Could it be… that Big Sister had already told Demon King Isabella about this magic long ago?
Before Elsa could process the thought, Gabriella suddenly walked over to her kneeling form, picked up a chained collar, and with a click, locked it around her neck.
“Commander!”
“Lady Elsa!”
The two attendants cried out in panic, but they too failed to escape capture.
Their wrists were bound in chains and they were dragged outside the outpost.
Elsa had originally intended to resist; there might still have been a sliver of hope; but the moment she saw it was her own sister doing it, all will to fight vanished.
She allowed herself to be taken without resistance.
She was no match for her sister, and she didn’t want to fight her…
Now even her backup plan had been crushed by the Demon King.
She lowered her head and silently whispered, “I’m sorry, Big Sister… I’m sorry…”
She had already confirmed that Elsa only had one method of sending messages.
Right now, the Grand Commander was nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter.
Yet seeing Elsa look so pitiful, Gabriella still felt a slight pang in her heart.
She thought of the most peaceful solution possible.
“Elsa, I do have a proposal.”
Gabriella pinched the hem of her skirt with one hand, placed the other against her lips, and smiled sweetly.
“Didn’t you want us to release the human hostages~? I agree. But there’s one condition.”
“…Big Sister.”
“I don’t know what humans are thinking, but the demons have no desire to start a war with humanity. All you have to do is come with me to the Demon King’s Castle and keep everything that happened here a secret. Then I’ll release every single hostage.”
“Really…?”
Elsa lifted her head, looking at Gabriella with eyes full of despair yet tinged with faint tenderness, hoping to find even a trace of warmth in her gaze.
And indeed, Gabriella reached out and gently patted her head.
“You can work as a maid in the Demon King’s Castle for a few months. Consider it repayment for knocking over my lunch.”
This was the most peaceful solution Gabriella could think of.
First, the demons didn’t fully understand the human situation; starting a war rashly would be unwise.
Second, with Elsa as a hostage, the knight order wouldn’t dare act recklessly.
Third, once back at the castle, she could ask Elsa all sorts of questions about the human side.
And finally,
Gabriella glanced at Isabella.
The latter nodded in full approval of her decision and said, “We’ll do exactly as my wife says.”
As expected, pleasing Lady Demon King had been the correct choice all along~
She was already listening to everything I say.
Only… Gabriella suddenly felt her body growing strange.
A faint itch crawled across her skin, and waves of warmth pulsed from her belly.
As if… something inside her was craving.