Both sides harbored ill intentions—the princess simply struck first.

"Hmph~ You're not as clever as I imagined," the princess murmured, plucking the flickering flame from Morningstar's ice-encased hand.

If the flame was real, she'd just committed murder and robbery; if fake, the cultist had failed to find what she sought and tried to deceive her.

Either way, the cultist had to die. As princess of the Frost Empire, she despised cults and Dark Sorceresses above all.

Had the Dark Sorceress not slumbered in the Far North, her nation wouldn't live in constant dread. Past kings wouldn't have frozen their own hearts, forfeiting human joy.

All her kingdom's suffering traced back to the Dark Sorceress. How could she ever side with a cult? Once useless—death was the only answer.

A true cultist, barely level thirty, would never threaten her. But the one before her now was…

…a genuine Dark Sorceress.

Black sludge seeped slowly from the ice encasing Morningstar. Sensing danger, the princess leaped back instantly.

The moment her boots touched snow, her frost domain detected movement beneath the ground.

True to instinct, black tendrils erupted upward, lashing at her legs.

"What is—?" Reacting swiftly, she summoned ice blades and severed every tendril.

But the severed pieces shot forward like projectiles.

Feeling the substance's malevolent aura, she knew contact meant doom. As her blades shattered, she conjured a frost dome, trapping the tendrils inside.

One fragment, no longer than a finger, arced gracefully around the dome. Before she could react—it latched onto her leg.

Her trousers dissolved on contact. The sludge clung tightly, spreading rapidly up her calf, thigh—molding like a sleek leather stocking, hugging every curve. Even her tensed toes were visible beneath the glossy black sheath.

Hidden beneath padded trousers before… her legs were truly elegant.

"What *is* this?!"

A chill unlike any other seized her—not even naked rolls in the Far North's blizzards compared. Her soul felt frozen solid.

Beneath the cold lurked pure malice and darkness. She couldn't let it reach her core.

Just as it neared her upper thigh, she flash-froze her own leg.

It worked—the sludge slowed to a crawl inside the ice, still creeping, but agonizingly slow.

Detached from the Dark Sorceress, the substance weakened. A tiny amount *could* be contained.

"Mmph… Mmph…"

She felt it not just climbing—but seeping into skin, burrowing into flesh. Channeling magic slowed the invasion. Unlike the cultist, her leg didn't melt.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the ice statue ahead. Then—*shatter!* Ice shards exploded outward.

"My, my~ Far cleverer than I expected," Morningstar smiled faintly, freed from the ice. The plan had shifted—but today, the princess *would* fall.

Glancing at the princess's tightly wrapped legs, she muttered, "As expected… high-tier corruption needs finesse, not brute force."

The sludge wasn't invincible off-body. It easily consumed weaklings like the cultist or Selina.

But against a mage resisting with magic? Difficult.

No matter. Morningstar had other methods. If the sludge couldn't swallow her… she'd swallow the princess whole.

Just as she had with Freya—let her taste absolute darkness.

"Who *are* you?"

The darkness radiating from Morningstar dwarfed every cultist she'd ever faced.

A chilling thought struck: "Could this terrifying woman… be the *Dark Sorceress*?!"

She had to run. *Now.*

"Judging by your face, you've guessed~ Yes, I am—"

Light erupted from the princess's body. Sensing spatial ripples, Morningstar raised a hand.

"Trying to run?!" She tore a rift to disrupt the spell—but the clash triggered violent spatial distortion.

When the glow faded… the princess was gone.

"Damn it!"

The princess had triggered a life-saving artifact. Morningstar's silent spell (max level sixty) matched its power—disrupting, but not stopping, the escape.

Tainted by Morningstar's corruption, the princess's location remained faintly traceable.

"Aah!"

She materialized ten meters up. Snow cushioned her fall.

"Where…?" Pushing herself up, she saw only endless white.

The magic collision had doubled the teleport range, stranding her in utter desolation.

"Mmph…" Dragging her afflicted leg, she felt the corruption deepening. She had to remove it—before it consumed her entirely.