Loli’s body twitched.
Loli could have originally extended her life through a fairy contract.
It was said that fairies had lost the ability to bear offspring long ago—everything had been destroyed by the humans who had enslaved them countless years prior.
Possessing weapons and forming contracts to live and die with their masters had become the main way fairies survived over the past few centuries.
In the end, the fairies and the humans who used them perished together in several great battles. Since then, fairies had rarely been seen again.
Simona had once said that she might be the last fairy.
However, when Simona tried to protect her through a contract, she discovered that Loli could not form a fairy contract at all.
Everything had been meaningless.
Loli didn’t know how Master Gabriella would react once she learned the contract could not be completed.
Perhaps her master wouldn’t care much.
Loli herself didn’t mind either.
All she knew was that her master only needed to absorb the power inside her body and make use of the Pure Spring.
She hadn’t spent that much time with Master Gabriella, but she was already content.
Before dying, she had received a real name, emotions, and horns.
She had seen Gabriella find her beloved and had even helped push their relationship forward.
“You little fool…”
Gabriella rubbed the horns on top of her head.
Indeed, Loli could not form a contract at all.
Gabriella had always believed Loli was the last remaining fairy, but the truth was far more complicated than she imagined.
After learning about the existence of the [Contract], and before she had fully become a demon, she had realized that the only similarity between fairies and Loli was the ability to possess weapons.
She was the soul of a girl inside an Apprentice Iron Sword, but that was where the similarities ended.
Loli was something far more complex—something the current Gabriella still couldn’t fully understand.
Now that she had regained the Holy Body, she was getting closer to the truth.
However, no matter what, Gabriella had already thought of a better solution.
What she needed wasn’t a contract.
The result Gabriella wanted was for Loli to serve the evil god and become part of their strength.
That fundamental goal would not change.
“Is that so, Loli~? Are you very sad?” she asked with a smile.
“I-I’m… fine.”
Loli held onto Gabriella’s wrist, accepting her caress.
Master Gabriella’s body had returned to her demonic form, which meant she had successfully mastered the [Holy Body].
How impressive.
Once her body and the Holy Body fully fused, she would surely become even stronger than she was now.
At that moment, Loli saw a demon tail—it was Gabriella’s.
A pattern resembling several willow leaves appeared on the back of her hand, forming the shape of a sword.
“Loli~”
Hearing Gabriella’s voice, Loli looked up. Forcing a smile, she said:
“What is it, Master Gabriella?”
“It’s nothing. I just think Loli is very cute~”
Gabriella’s words made Loli even sadder.
The thought that she would soon leave this world and never see that gentle look on her face again hurt deeply.
For a moment, she recalled the feeling of being dug out of the ground by Gabriella after going missing.
Master Gabriella had never given up on her, even though she was so weak.
But how many miracles could there be in this world?
“Master… thank you.”
Loli’s tears fell onto her white stockings.
She didn’t understand why remembering these moments at the end of her life made her so sad.
She had wanted to appear more carefree in front of Gabriella, but now she could only cry like a helpless child.
“Ugh… I’m fine…”
“Haa, Loli, relax.”
“You are my one and only weapon, Loli. And I want you to fall into the abyss forever and ever.”
“Lady… Gabriella?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve never had any intention of abandoning you, Loli.”
Loli’s eyes widened.
For a moment, she didn’t understand what Gabriella meant.
Gabriella also felt she had been a bit abrupt. She had been pretending not to care before, yet now she was saying these things to Loli.
“Master Gabriella…?”
A dark magic circle appeared beneath Loli.
Numerous tentacle-like strands of darkness shot out from the circle and wrapped around her body.
Her body began to be enveloped by shadow.
Then, the power of the Pure Spring seeped out from within her and flowed along the shadows into Gabriella’s body.
Unfortunately, this power that could purify all curses no longer had any effect on Gabriella, who had already completely demonified.
The Curse Ring affected her soul.
She seemed beyond saving.
At the same time, black patterns identical to those of the demon race began appearing on Loli’s petite body.
Her originally golden pupils were polluted by darkness, and two black cross-shaped stars appeared within them.
“Master Gabriella, what is this?”
“I will reshape your body.”
“Mm…”
Loli suddenly realized things were far more complicated than she had imagined.
Lady Gabriella was trying to corrupt her body.
Just like the Demon King had done to Gabriella.
But… would this really work?
Could it…?
Did she even deserve to be liked by Master Gabriella?
At that thought, Loli started wiping her eyes again.
Fresh hot tears streamed down from eyes that had nearly run dry.
“I-I will definitely become Master Gabriella’s most important weapon! I will give everything for you!!”
“Eh? This silly girl didn’t realize that was what I planned last time?”
“Waaah…”
Loli cried again, even louder than before.
Her entire body seemed to melt into the shadow.
Finally, the whole magic circle flowed into the back of Gabriella’s right hand.
The originally golden patterns instantly turned pitch black, as if they had been polluted by darkness.
Only Gabriella remained in the room.
Gabriella stroked the patterns on her hand, feeling a surge of satisfaction.
Loli’s power was very strong. Absorbing it into her body felt quite pleasant.
Honestly, without her master, preserving Loli’s soul would have been extremely difficult.
It was all thanks to her.
Moreover, the next time she saw Loli, she would surely have become a very powerful demon—or even the evil god’s Apostle.
The only thing that slightly troubled Gabriella was how she was going to reshape Loli’s physical body after absorbing her soul.
Just thinking about it made her heart flutter with excitement~
She stopped thinking about it for now, reverted to her Holy Body form, and the black magic circle disappeared.
The entire room seemed to brighten up.
Gabriella walked over to Loli’s bed. Earlier, she had noticed the silly Loli staring at this spot.
Sure enough, she pulled out an iron box from under the pillow.
Opening the box, it was filled with pictures… all of them photos of the Silver-White Sword Empress, and in every single one, only Gabriella appeared.
There was also a plain Apprentice Iron Sword she had carried with her.
The silver patterns on the iron sword seemed like a symbol of glory.
From the angle of the photos, the sword looked like a little girl being protected by her big sister—curled up and happy.
For some reason, looking at these photos made Gabriella imagine the silly Loli’s dazed, smiling face.
Treating falling as a kind of fortune, huh, you silly Loli.
Gabriella put all the photos back into the iron box and stored it inside her shadow.
She knelt on the bed, stroking the patterns on the back of her hand, and tilted her head with a smile.
In that case, Lady Isabella will definitely like a little idiot like you.
However, Gabriella recalled how moved Loli had looked.
…She didn’t misunderstand anything, right?
At the same time, at the top of the castle’s towering tower, a girl looked down at the human-built fortress below with contemptuous eyes.
The cross-shaped pupils in her eyes flickered slightly.
She raised her hand, and miasma swirled around the dome.
The world seemed to darken.
Pieces of black cloud hung like a warning before a storm, threatening to bring down a world-destroying tornado.
Yet when the girl’s cherry lips parted, she only whispered one person’s name.
“Gabriella…”