Gabriella swung her sword.
A silver-white sword pressure swept across the sky like a tear in the heavens, shredding every descending icy arrow into fragments.
It was a miracle that left everyone staring in awe.
Even the Holy Queen froze for several seconds.
She had once dreamed of measuring how far she still was from that person—from Lady Silver-White Sword Empress.
Yet when Gabriella truly appeared before her, Simona still found herself entranced by that overwhelming, pure power.
And that was not all.
At the same time, the restless humans garrisoned in the castle saw the silver-white light pierce the starry sky. They froze just like the Holy Queen.
Then, as the silver turned into countless sparkling stars blooming into beautiful flowers across the night, they erupted in cheers.
“That pure power… could it be the legendary Goddess?!”
“Silver-white—it has to be Lady Silver-White Sword Empress!”
“Even purer and stronger than the Grand Commander—look, she’s right there in the sky!”
Almost everyone noticed the girl floating in the air, dressed in a black dress.
Weeks ago, rumors of “the return of the Silver-White Sword Empress” had already begun spreading through human cities.
Her graceful movements and beautiful figure were like a divine being descending with salvation, making people clasp their hands in prayer, spared from the icy rain’s assault.
“Gabriella…”
Holy Queen Simona murmured the name of the Silver-White Sword Empress, her body turning into a streak of golden light as she tried to keep up with Gabriella.
She had so many questions—for the battle with the Demon King, for the past eight years, for what had happened to Tina and Elsa, and for the apology she still owed from that fight.
But…
When Simona flew into the sky and drew near, Gabriella suddenly turned and flew toward the Black Stone Mountains.
“Lady Gabriella, where are you going?”
Simona called out, but only the silence of the night answered her.
She chased all the way.
The Black Stone Mountains were the tallest and most treacherous range on the entire continent.
Without the Saintess’s pre-drawn teleportation circles and protective arrays, it would take the Knight Orders at least three months to cross them on their own.
Cold frost fell from the sky.
Simona pursued Gabriella all the way to the northern pass leading into the Demon Domain, even following her steps across the rushing crimson river, straight into the heart of the Black Stone Mountains.
They passed through canyons.
The climate changed abruptly—bitterly cold.
A labyrinth of valleys unfolded before her.
The place was eerie and deep.
Traces of ancient magic glowed in colorful fluorescence along the crevices of the black stone walls, flowing slowly, bearing witness to countless ages.
As expected, Gabriella stopped at the mouth of the pass. Simona landed behind her.
She withdrew her golden light.
Moonlight mingled with drifting ice crystals, as though snow were falling.
“Lady Gabriella!”
Simona hurried forward, stopping behind the silver-haired girl whose back was turned to her.
When Gabriella turned, the breeze lifted her hair, and those deep blue eyes shimmered with sacred beauty.
Yet something felt… off.
“Lady Gabriella?”
Simona’s pupils widened slightly.
Only now did she notice the black silk blindfold tied over Gabriella’s eyes.
Around her graceful neck was a rose-gold iron ring that gleamed beautifully—like a collar.
She wore an exquisite black dress; her long, beautiful legs were wrapped in white stockings; the straps of her tall boots were laced in a net pattern that accentuated her lovely calves.
Rather than a holy knight, she looked like demon nobility.
That sacred aura now carried a faint, barely concealed sorrow.
“Long time no see, Simona.”
Gabriella turned fully, gazing deeply at Miss Simona.
“Gabriella…!”
Simona could no longer hold back.
She stepped forward, grasping Gabriella’s sleeves with both hands, tears shining in her eyes.
“Thank goodness, thank goodness!”
She wiped the tears from her eyes, staring excitedly at Gabriella’s cheeks.
“At last… I finally found you, Lady Gabriella! We all thought you were dead—we thought something had happened to you. I even feared the Demon King had…”
But then Gabriella gently patted her head, and the next words she spoke sent Simona’s soaring heart straight into her throat.
“Stop the war. Hand the Evil Tree over to Lord Demon King.”
Gabriella’s voice carried submission within despair, like a defeated soul who had accepted reality.
“What?”
“Humanity will lose this battle.”
“Gabriella, what on earth happened?” Simona’s voice trembled with urgency.
Suddenly she remembered Philina’s letter.
Gabriella has been brainwashed and controlled by the Demon King.
Could the iron ring around her neck be…
Gabriella quickly confirmed her fears.
Shaking her head with a pale smile, she said:
“I lost to the Demon King. I lost completely and utterly.”
“The Demon King? But you were fine just now—I’ll take you to safety right this instant!”
Yet Gabriella refused again, gently releasing Simona’s hands and stepping back.
She looked at Simona with complicated eyes.
“That attack earlier was merely Lord Demon King’s warning to you all. She possesses the power to destroy the world. Give up, Miss Simona… Only then can the world—and all of you—be saved.”
At that moment, a being radiating immense magical power slowly approached from the shadowed depths of the Black Stone Mountains and descended to the ground.
Footsteps drew nearer. Under the moonlight, her appearance became clear.
Long dark-golden hair, porcelain-smooth skin unlike any human, a tall and seductive figure. She wore a gorgeous gown in the same style as Gabriella’s.
Demonic eyes radiated killing intent, arrogance, and cold indifference—like a dark goddess gazing down upon the pitiful, insignificant human that was Simona.
A purple chain appeared from the collar around Gabriella’s jade neck, its other end held in the girl’s hand.
She was the Demon King—Isabella.
“Gabriella.”
At the sound of Isabella’s voice, Gabriella’s delicate body trembled.
Yet like an obedient slave, she lowered her head and dropped to her knees, not daring to make a sound.
Then Isabella walked behind her, caressed her cheek, lifted the blindfold, and tilted up her lovely, tempting chin.
“Aaah…”
Gabriella’s body quivered.
A wave of heat seemed to spread from the Demon King’s slender fingers throughout her entire being, drawing submissive, coquettish gasps from her lips.
“Nn… ah…”
She arched her full, enticing breasts; her seductive waist curved slightly; her kneeling calves splayed outward against the cold floor.
She looked like a charming concubine pleading for her lord’s forgiveness with a lowly posture—or a slave awaiting punishment, instinctively offering her body without reservation to her master.
And those once-dull, lightless blue demonic eyes once more blossomed with bewitching, depraved radiance under the Demon King’s caress.
To match the other’s movements, Gabriella pressed herself against Isabella.
The demonic horns atop her head reappeared amid black miasma, proclaiming the truth that the girl had long been defiled by the Demon King.
She placed her hands on Isabella’s shoulders, gazing at her with deep affection, lips slightly parted, voice soft and melting like a loving wife:
“Master~♡”
Then she gently turned her head.
In those demonic eyes now fixed on Simona appeared a trace of teasing and disdain.
“Miss Simona, as you can see—I already belong to Lord Demon King♡.”