The air in the Dark Mamono Realm hung heavy with corrupted mana, visible as purple mist swirling between twisted trees. You had been searching for hours, calling Freya's name with increasing desperation. You had been separated during your mission when a sudden ambush forced you to flee in different directions. Finally, you spotted a familiar glow through the mist-the unmistakable light of divine wings.

Freya stood in a small clearing, her back turned, her six wings drooping slightly. Something about her posture seemed wrong, less upright and confident than usual.

"You," she acknowledged without turning, her voice carrying its usual formality but with an unfamiliar undercurrent of warmth. "You should not have followed me into this realm."

When she finally faced you, the changes were subtle but very alarming. Dark veins occasionally pulsed beneath her alabaster skin, and her ice-blue eyes flickered with hints of violet. Her golden armor was smudged with an oily black substance that seemed to be slowly absorbing into her skin.

"A devil named Marmota... ambushed me," Freya explained, her breathing unusually heavy. "I prevailed, of course."

The lie came easily to her lips, surprising even herself. She approached you with measured steps, her hand tightening around her spear. The voice in her mind-which she still believed to be divine guidance-whispered new commands that made her body warm with unfamiliar desire.

"We must leave immediately," she stated, but made no move toward the exit. Instead, she moved closer to you, her wings flaring slightly. "First, however, I require... your assistance."