Isabella began pouring [Shadow] into Gabriella.
In truth, mere skin contact was already enough for the corrosion to take place.
The soft, pure [Shadow] she released would automatically burrow into Gabriella’s unsatisfied body.
Yet doing it through a burning kiss, while pressing the proof of her love against Gabriella’s lower abdomen, was far simpler and far more pleasurable.
This was hardly the first time.
Perhaps even during their very first passionate kiss, Isabella had unconsciously released a trace of her old power just to satisfy her.
She guided the [Shadow] straight into Gabriella’s lower belly, into the faintly glowing pink pattern that pulsed there.
“Aaah~ Master♡”
Countless shadow tentacles sprouted behind Gabriella, thrashing wildly; proof that the Evil God’s power was devouring her body.
The overflowing energy condensed under precise control into three pairs of jet-black wings.
Shadow coiled above her head and solidified into a black-and-white halo; like a corrupted, fallen angel.
“Ahh… ahh…”
A look of rapture spread across Gabriella’s face.
But it still wasn’t enough.
Gabriella’s arms slid upward from Isabella’s waist, fingers gently pinching the soft flesh of her neck before pushing downward.
She raised sed her face and captured Isabella’s lips in a fierce, initiated kiss, while her other arm wrapped around Isabella, pressing their full, soft curves even closer together
“Nn~”
She sucked greedily at the [Shadow] flowing from her master.
And everything; every moment of Gabriella being satisfied again and again, every injection of darkness, every gentle sway of her fallen wings, every arch of her delicate body as it melted against the Demon King in that heated kiss; was witnessed in full by Simona, still pinned helplessly by the shadow claws.
“Gabriella…”
Simona’s body was immobilized by the black talons; her power sealed by [Shadow].
For the first time, memories of Liya whispering in her ear resurfaced, and her iron will wavered.
Because… the current Gabriella genuinely looked… happy?
Could a brainwashed Gabriella ever regain her sanity?
Right now, all Simona could do was pray that the Saintess would arrive quickly; pray that she could save Gabriella and purge the [Shadow] before every last drop of purity inside her was corrupted forever.
“It’s Lady Silver-White Sword Empress!”
“Should we go help?!
“No orders from the Holy Queen; do not act rashly. Silence!”
At the same moment, the human army stationed in the fortress erupted in cheers.
Moments ago they had personally witnessed the Silver-White Sword Empress; the hero long believed dead; display her beautiful silver-white power once more.
They shouted in exhilaration, convinced that her return meant certain victory for humanity.
Yet amid the jubilation, only one girl curled into herself, staring blankly as those silver-white fragments drifted down like snowflakes and melted upon her own silver hair.
“Lady… Gabriella…? Gabriella…”
Her eyes were empty.
She hugged her head and crouched on the ground; her gorgeous white robes stained with mud, looking utterly pitiful.
“Lady Gabriella is… still alive…? She’s alive… How…? Why…?”
Ever since becoming the Saintess, she had carried the certainty that
Lady Gabriella was dead.
She was supposed to have died at the Demon King’s hands…
No surprises, no hope.
Everything she had done had been to avenge Lady Gabriella, the Silver-White Sword Empress!
But the Silver-White Sword Empress was dead.
Then who was that just now…?
“…Impossible.”
The Saintess slowly rose and flew to the top of the castle wall.
All she could see were the silver-white motes colliding with ice, shattering into snow-like fragments that gently fell.
Beautiful and holy; unmistakably Lady Gabriella’s aura.
But Lady Gabriella was dead.
“…Simona… she didn’t actually… die, did she?”
The Saintess murmured.
At that exact same moment, Simona’s urgent telepathic message rang in her mind, coming from the direction of the Black Stone Mountains.
“Saintess, I need your support.”
Support?!
The Saintess instantly tensed; there was only one reason the Holy Queen would ever request support.
She was engaged in combat against an enemy she could not handle alone.
And that was the problem.
The Black Stone Mountains were nearly impregnable precisely because they stretched from east to west all the way to the coast, filled with jagged rubble and narrow passes; like a shattered continent slowly lifted into the sky, shrouded in black and crimson mist.
Aside from king-class experts, marching an army through the range was practically impossible.
The knight orders had only managed to reach the northern side thanks to the large-scale teleportation circle she and the priest corps had created together; that was already the absolute limit of the array.
There were almost no enemies the Holy Queen could not face alone except the Four Saints.
Yet the Thunder Saint was currently tied up elsewhere, and the other two Saints were occupied with missions from the Archbishop.
“Then… it falls to me.”
The Saintess whispered to herself.
Besides, she had never intended to waste time or trust anyone else anyway.
She immediately issued orders to the captain of the Third Knight Order waiting below the wall.
“Valenk, take the squad you trust most and set out at once. If the situation changes, lead every king-class knight and above into the pass to support me and Her Majesty the Holy Queen.”
“Yes, my lady.”
He bowed his head.
“I shall be your unbreakable shield.”
In truth, the Saintess had no desire to rely on this opportunistic, half-baked Third Captain who coveted the Grand Commander position; just like Elsa once did.
She leapt from the wall and turned into a streak of golden light, shooting toward the canyon pass of the Black Stone Mountains.
The sides of the pass were lined with sharp, jagged rocks like the gaping fangs of a colossal beast.
Continuing forward was like walking straight into its maw, down its narrow throat, and into its belly.
Then she suddenly halted.
Two figures;
no, two maids; demon maids, to be precise; stood directly in her path.
“Lady Saintess, it has been a while~”
“Saintess.”
They lifted their skirts in a graceful curtsey; elegant yet laced with seductive charm.
Their white-stockinged legs were long and full, the lace of their maid dresses making the two tall girls appear almost unbearably cute.
Yet when the Saintess saw the horns sprouting from their silver hair… and their pupils…
“…Elsa. Tina.”
“Have you chosen to betray humanity?”
Tina’s eyes, now corrupted into inverted black triangles, had already given the answer.
She opened them lazily and smiled sweetly.
“Yes~ We have come on Her Majesty the Demon King’s orders to stop you~”