The Legend of the ruthless Empress Freya

- POV General -

A new sunny day dawned in the eastern part of the Elysium Empire, in the mountains between the border of the Dark Forest and the Vancesia Empire. The traveling Imperial family had just spent the night for the first time outside the giant walls of their expanding city. Everything had gone normally, the children had fallen asleep very quickly despite the excitement that had actually exhausted them throughout the afternoon.

When the gentle sun had finally risen, pointing its nose at the brown cliffs, everyone had allowed themselves to stroll a little. Thanks to her ice magic, Freya had been able to create a shelter, opting for tents rather than small buildings, in order to stay in this idea of adventure. So, after having had a well-deserved breakfast, the convoy had happily set off again after deciding to cross the border before lunch.

It was mid-morning and the carriage was slowly making its way down the last straight stretch of the mountainous road crossed in just one day. On their respective horses, Kira, June and May were patrolling a little ahead while Kalaa still held the reins of Pearl and Inferno. None of the three had a half-human or beastly appearance because arriving on human territory it was out of the question to attract attention.

Before leaving and during breakfast, they had all been briefed again on the story they were going to tell in case any human proved too curious. It was simple, they were adventurers hired to escort a noble family from Zal to the south of Vancesia, where their destination was. Gaya, Shiro, Lia, the twins and Angel were the ones to protect and Freya, Kira, June, May, Kalaa and Jade were the protectors and adventurers.

Everything had been planned in advance, so much so that all external signs betraying a race different from human had been hidden. The group looked like perfect humans traveling to the border to accomplish their mission, no matter how false it was. The children and Lia for the moment unable to change their appearance were hidden in the carriage with the Queen away from prying eyes.

"Your Highness ! There are some..."

"June, don't call me that outside the Empire I've already told you, Freya-Sama will be enough."

While all was quiet, one of the twins who had gone on a reconnaissance ride suddenly arrived on the back of her mount before standing near the windows of the convoy. She had not finished her sentence when the Empress inside cut her off, opening the silk curtain with a wave of her hand. Discretion was key, which was why her comment had brought a sense of disappointment to the young woman with sky blue eyes, before she continued.

"I...yes, sorry Freya-Sama."

"Good. We can't risk arousing suspicion in human lands so no mistakes are allowed. I know you and your sister had just woken up but you must not forget that you are now a Demon Sin. You know what that means, don't you ? Anyway...I'm listening."

Since June and May had woken up, they had been immediately immersed in their new world populated by beasts and half-humans of all races. They had disappeared and been absorbed by Freya with a strong desire to know how to found a happy Empire. Little by little during these few days, the sisters had begun to understand what differentiated the people of Elysium from the people of Zal.

However, despite the appearance of black feathered wings on one and a snake tail on the other, their minds were still human. At least their way of thinking, which included their relationships with the world around them, which they knew well. But the twins were no longer human, a behavior that would have passed in their past lives was no longer the same in the skin of a Demon.

Without a 100% humanoid appearance, June and May could no longer act without thinking, especially since they knew how different people were treated. It was only a matter of time before they got used to it, but one thing was sure, both of them had embraced their new race. Thinking about this, the brown-haired young woman would come out of her thoughts before saying what she had come for in the first place.

"Y-YES Freya-Sama ! Mmh, we're finally getting out of the Dark Forest territory and its mountains and onto a large path across the plains. But...a few miles from here there is a village whose villagers seem to be blocking the road for some unknown reason, preventing us from continuing."

"Are they armed ? How many are there ?"

"I'd say there must be about 10 of them and no they're not armed but this grouping is quite strange that's why Commander Ki...I mean, Kira-Sama asked me to warn you. We should arrive at their level within 20 minutes."

"I see..."

Without saying another word, Freya opened the door of the moving carriage revealing a slew of children still asleep, lulled by the journey. Shiro and Angel were sucking their thumbs lying on the bench seat while Tyle and Altaïs in their wicker basket too. Lia was also asleep, exhausted from the stress of traveling with the Queen and Empress as if they were longtime acquaintances.

"Honey ?"

"It's all right, my love."

Gaya, feeling the air coming in, turned her head to her wife with a sleepy, slightly off look, lulled by the movements of the car as well. Responding immediately, the she-wolf who no longer had ears or a tail came through the door and closed it before pulling herself up onto the roof. She was wearing brown boots, black pants, an officer's vest of the same color and a dark, red inside cape flying in the back because of the carriage.

So, if someone had been on the road they could have seen a woman with a human appearance standing on the roof of a convoy, looking into the distance. Then, without warning, ice wings appeared on her back, opening gracefully and glittering like diamonds under the sun. As Kalaa and June looked on, Freya flew high into the sky and shot forward like an elusive arrow in the wind.

Among the clouds, she could see the great road they were traveling, the great plains of grass and fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. Far ahead of the carriage, Kira and May on their horse at a standstill were waiting for the others to arrive while keeping a lookout. Passing over them, the Empress was coming towards the humans that one of the sisters had just mentioned, trying to figure out in advance what was going on.

"Let's try to be careful.."

To the young woman with the midnight black hair, every human was a threat no matter how harmless some might seem at first glance. However, it was important not to create a massacre and to go to the South of Vancesia as discreetly as possible guided by Jade. Concentrating, Freya used all her senses which were much less precise without wolf ears but still much better than a normal human.

"This can't go on ! The Count of this land is not willing to act so it's up to us ! I, at least, am not going to stand by and do nothing !"

"B-But isn't that too dangerous ?"

"Would you rather your sister or your mother disappeared too or that we starve to death ?"

"N-No I-..."

"Then we need to find a solution and fast !"

A grouping of ten people was indeed standing on the road through which the convoy would soon pass and even seemed to be in the middle of a crisis meeting. Two men were talking, or rather a younger man was almost being yelled at by an older man standing on a wooden box. It wasn't hard for Freya to hear what they were saying but it was another thing to understand the problem they seemed to be facing.

Men and women of all ages were blocking the road, too busy with their stories to see the carriage in the distance coming closer. Further along the wide dirt road, a large, rather simple village of stone and wooden houses stretched out in a round shape. It was necessary to cross it to be able to continue because on each side, a large river passing between the houses and a forest made a bypass impossible.

Not paying much attention to the conversation going on below, judging that she would know more later, Freya concentrated on the path. She hadn't expected a village to be so close to the border and her recent encounters hadn't helped her appreciation of humans. Was there no other way to get through without talking to the villagers ? Almost every possibility passed through her mind, but none was satisfactory.

Crossing the river was anything but impossible, but the small forest around it had no path suitable for a carriage of their size. Cutting down trees ? Stealth is the name of the game. Flying over ? This close to a human village was like plastering "half-human" on their forehead. Unless Gaya took her dragon form, it was impossible to carry the entire convoy plus the horses, so that was a definite no.

They were now in the territory of an Empire larger than Zal, and every action had to be thought through with the utmost caution, even if it meant being too careful. For a week Freya and the others would find themselves closer to human civilizations than they had ever been in recent months. There were children among them and not just any children, so one wrong move was out of the question.

After that time, the group would have to move on to wilder places, so in the meantime, doing what the plan called for was the best course of action. While Freya was resigning herself, Kira, June and May followed by the carriage led by Kalaa, were already starting to approach the angry group, drawing their attention. Soon, the two sides were finally facing each other, with the man standing on the wooden box speaking first.

"Halt ! Who are you ? What are you doing here ? Go back this is not the time !"

At the sight of the horsemen, he had raised his hands with a suspicious look visibly surprised to see people coming in this direction from the mountains. He was rather old, bearded and gray haired but looked quite fit, muscles showing under his dirty shirt. At his words, Kira, who no longer had her tails, fox ears or demon horn, came to stand between him and the convoy, looking down on him from her horse.

"I advise you to measure your words, peasant. If you're not pretty, at least speak politely."

She had spoken warily, detecting in the man's eyes an annoying anger at them that was unwarranted and especially misplaced. Her voice had been calm but firm and as May and June came up behind her, the group of humans remained silent. With more observation, they discovered the elegance of the carriage and the serious look of the four women in front of them while Kira spoke again.

"We are adventurers on a mission so I'm afraid who we are and what we do here is none of your business. I ask you to let us pass"

"Impossible"

"Huuuh ??"

The silver-haired young woman had raised an astonished eyebrow, not expecting this answer and already preparing to pass between them to continue. The old man had taken a slightly friendlier tone but his answer had been formulated quickly and without the slightest hesitation. Seeing that no one understood, he turned back to his friends who nodded before turning back to the riders and giving more details.

"The gates of our village are closed to all outsiders until we find the person or more...the Thing that has been making trouble there for weeks. Our fields are ravaged and our women are kidnapped at night, in the street or outside the village. We no longer open our doors even though..."

"We don't want to reside in your village but just walk through it"

"I am the village mayor...and my answer is still no. As I said before you cut me off, dear adventurers, is that all the inhabitants are confined. Except for our group, which happens to be our council, is allowed out to watch."

What he was saying made no sense and sounded stupid to the three young women on their horse, not being able to figure out what this had to do with anything. How could riding through a village that was only going to take five minutes interfere with their plan to capture this Thing ? Kira couldn't stand this stupidity that all the villagers seemed to share, was about to lose patience when suddenly someone appeared.

"You..."

Just as she was about to speak, a shock on the ground was felt beside them as a woman appeared from the sky, as if she had jumped from a cloud. It was Freya, having observed the whole situation, she had decided to show herself, surprising the humans to the point of knocking some of them backwards. Straightening up slowly, she plunged her icy purple eyes into the man's before making a proposal that no one expected.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Freya and I am the leader of this group of adventurers and we need to travel as quickly as possible. I heard that you were not ready to let us pass and since we are in a hurry then...how about a compromise ?"

___

FULL STATUS

Names : Freya / Lucifer Nightshade

Age : 0 year old / Mentally : 25 years old

Sex : Female

Course: Ice Demon Wolf of Chaos - Adult

Race : Imperial Demon

Titles :

- Demon Goddess of Primordial Blood and Death (former - until all powers are recovered) - 30%.

- Wrathful Lucifer (7th Sin) - Master of the uniques Sins Demons (to unlock it, please gather the other 6 - 3/6 - (locked)

- Dragon tamer

- Ruthless slayer

Level : 45/70

Exp needed for next level: 0 / 46 000

HP : 170 000 / 170 000 MP : 85 000 / 85 000. BLOOD : 100 / 100

Strength: 660

Defense : 660

Agility : 666

Endurance: 663

Speed : 662

Intelligence: 660

Charisma: 500 (imperial she-wolf)

Attribute points to allocate : 0

Married to : Gaya Nightshade

Daughter : Shiro Nightshade

Twins (son & daughter) : Tyle & Altaïs Nightshade

Little sister : Kira Nightshade (Greedy Fox)

Big sister : Kalaa Nightshade

Empire (menu)

Subordinates: 5865 (keep growing)

Humans killed: 153

Souls: 0/3

Elements: Ice / Chaos (Freya) - Blood / Death (Lucifer)

Skills (all):

Attacks :

- Demon Claws (Lvl 5)

- Bite of hell (Lvl 6)

- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 6)

- Fighting techniques (Lvl max)

- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)

- Demonic Empress aura (lvl 7)

Défense :

- Ice demon wall (Lvl 6)

- Demonic Cloak (lvl 5)

- Pain Resistance (lvl 6)

Attack/Defense :

- Domain of the Ice Empress "Frozen Wrath" (lvl 4)

- Death Gaze (lvl 1)

Others :

- Humanoid form

- Demonic form (linked to the title so incomplete) - 20%.

- Ice creation (Lvl 6)

- Detection and control of mana (lvl 6)

- Storage of chaos (Lvl 4)

- Devouring Chaos (Lvl 5)

- Master of Souls (lvl 3)

- Lucifer's Threads of Blood (lvl 3)

- Healing Blood (lvl 3)

- Analysis

- Telepathy

Passives :

- Commander (lvl max)

- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]