The Legend of the ruthless Empress Freya

– General POV –

The war for the protection of the Empire had begun and while the two armies had sent the best soldiers to fight, the others waited because there was nowhere to go anyway, the huge, glowing orange flames preventing any quick retreat. Moreover, thanks to Freya, the information on the various humans considered to be the strongest, had circulated among the warriors of Elysium.

Against all expectation, those who were facing the Commanders, had divided into two by mixing their section for more efficiency. Thus, a Knight was paired with a Paladin bringing them much greater freedom of action and scope of possibility. Despite the tensions of these two factions in the capital of Zal, here, in the face of death, no more rivalry, no more resentment, only the desire to survive remained.

One by one, the Commanders arrived in front of those who according to the Empress would be the easiest to defeat depending on the element of each. As a result, Nixia the lamia with black scales in her snake form, manipulating black flames found herself just like Naïa against two fire manipulators. Ralph and her lava against a stone and earth manipulator, Luna and her lightning against a lightning and air manipulator.

Ynir and Persea fought with two four humans, users of the element wood, earth and water while Trioa and Emilia having no magic, fought alongside Thorunn. The three young women were therefore faced with six humans manipulating wind, fire and ice. Only Caipy remained who would soon be joined by Kira against these two adversaries of lightning and fire mages.

The teams were formed and the army of Elysium led by the Lieutenants and the Queen who had joined them, bypassed the clash of the Commanders. Gradually, despite their numbers, they took advantage of the confusion and panic to surround the thousands of humans. Everything had been planned and everything was going according to plan for the moment on the Empire side and this contributed to boosting the morale of the soldiers even more after the arrival of Freya.

The Empress was the only one to stay behind while the Princess and the Queen themselves had already joined the confrontation. Her eyes fixed with interest on the only other woman who just like her had not moved to the other side of the battlefield. Lady Erina, the Redheaded Knight who had caught her attention for a while especially when Ynir's dust had started to take effect.

The two women, oblivious to everything going on around them, stared at each other with interest, a glint of excitement shining in their eyes. Then, very slowly, Erina began to move without ever fleeing the gaze of the Empress, who then copied her slightest actions and gestures. Fearlessly and unhesitatingly bypassing the Commanders' fights and approaching a wall of fire, Freya and Erina eventually came together.

"Who are you ?"

The first to speak was the human who at the same time took off her white helmet revealing her face and letting her hair fly in the wind. At this moment, Freya surprised herself to be surprised by the one who was going to be her first adversary. Erina was a very beautiful woman, curly red hair, green eyes, freckles who looked as determined and imposing as the Empress herself.

Erina smiled tenderly but behind this beautiful sincere smile hid an aura of power almost equal to hers which did not escape Freya. For good reason, she and Erina were level 45 and therefore the most powerful of the two armies combined. Not even taking the time to answer the young woman's question, the Empress stopped just a few meters away before asking her own questions.

"Why are you here ? Who are you really ?"

In her usual cold and authoritative voice, Freya questioned Erina who seemed to take the situation lightly although prepared at any moment to fight. The scene was very special because while everything was chaos around, the two young women seemed to be talking as if nothing had happened. The thuds of fighting, screams, the sounds of swords and the smell of burning were everywhere, as the questioned one answered.

"Me ? Erina Velfury, faithful Knight Mage of the Kingdom of Zal in the service of the crown and the King. I…"

"No need to lie to me. I'm not one of those stupid humans capable of swallowing anything and everything without thinking. Besides, I asked you who you were but in reality, I already know it and therefore I know that you are lying"

At the words of the wolf with the terrifying helmet, Erina immediately lost her smile before frowning with a more menacing look. She looked into the purple eyes of the wolf, she never blinked and it was impossible for her to detect the slightest sign of emotion. For the first time, the young human found herself cornered by words even before she had drawn her swords, meeting the imperturbable Freya.

"W-what do you know about me ? Who… who are you ?"

"Me ? fufu~ the Empress of the Empire that you humans have decided to destroy for your own personal gain. That said, I say "you humans" but… that's not about you is it ? Jade Wolfury…"

As Freya said Erina's real name, she didn't wait to understand and grabbed two daggers hidden in the pockets of her pants before throwing them. In silence without even moving her feet, the she-wolf turned her head slightly to dodge the first throw before catching the second. Her index and middle fingers had grasped the dagger instantly without effort before the Empress began to play with it, with dexterity.

"Why didn't you do anything just now when the illusory dust made the entire army of Zal faint ? You knew…why didn't you do anything ? Why do you hide who you really are to live among humans ?"

If against all expectations Freya exceptionally took the time to discuss it was for a good reason, Erina or rather Jade had caught her attention from the start. For good reason, when Ynir had used her element, all of Zal's soldiers had fainted except one. Jade Wolfury had remained conscious thanks to her high level and yet, she had done nothing, said nothing and had contented herself with acting.

Moreover, thanks to her analysis skill, it was very easy for the she-wolf to find the basic information of an individual such as their real name. This, Jade obviously did not know and therefore found herself completely distraught and speechless for the first time. Who was she really ? Why was she pretending to be human when she wasn't ? That was what Freya wanted to know.

"How do you know all this ? I…no…I won't answer any of your questions !"

The beautiful jade-eyed Knight no longer had the same expression as when she first met the Empress and was now trembling. She was shaking with anger, fear but also misunderstanding and stress, unable to know how and why Freya knew all this. Faced with the reaction of the alleged human, without warning she disappears to appear just behind Jade and whisper in her ear.

"So play with me and if I win, you tell me everything I want to hear."

Like the seasoned Knight she was, it only took her a few seconds to react and draw this time the swords she had in her back. The Empress of Elysium, she, under her helmet smiled madly once again excited by the promise of a memorable fight. Without further ado, she then unsheathed her black-bladed katana before getting into combat position…their confrontation was about to begin.

The next moment, the two women disappeared to reappear a little further, the sound of their weapons resounding as the iron crossed. The exchanges were powerful, creating shock waves and with a speed that was almost impossible to follow given their levels. Under the scorching sun of the day, only a black shadow and a red shadow could be seen followed by sparks and gusts.

Freya who had gauged Jade's power for the first few minutes, was accelerating her attacks and always getting wilder without even using a single one of her skills. However, her opponent was perfectly able to counter each of them and retaliate but it was not a problem for the Empress because in reality, what she really wanted was a fight of titans.

Freya and Jade had two different fighting styles, one relied on body movements to dodge and parry while the other swore by force. The Empress of Elysium moved with ease and grace but her blows were powerful causing Jade to recoil who still replied with the same power. So far, they had only exchanged attacks with their weapons, but as usual that wasn't enough for Freya.

Blood swirled in her veins, her thoughts were only focused on Jade and no one else despite the chaos that once again reigned in the forest. The more Freya struck the more she vibrated, the more Jade resisted the more the she-wolf persisted, because the young red-haired woman for some unknown reason held back. Suddenly, the Empress was jumping in the air as high as possible dominating the entire burning area where the screams and the smell of blood rose into the sky.

For the knight with jade eyes, she was the first adversary possessing a power equal and even superior to her own and that the Empress had understood it. She had information about Jade thanks to her analysis skill and only wanted one thing. Freya wanted a titans fight, a fight where she could use and unleash the infernal power that lay dormant within her.

Grabbing her katana with both hands, two wings of ice then appeared on her back extending majestically and hiding the blinding rays of the sun. Like an angel of death entirely dressed in black, with wings as blue as the sky, the Empress towered over everything but looked only at Jade. For a few seconds, the two women stared at each other, the purple and green color of their eyes blending together, just before Freya spoke.

"If you want to survive this attack, you better reveal your true nature !"

Then the she-wolf, without waiting, folded her wings all around her body before diving at an impressive speed towards the Knight Mage. She spun around like a spinning top hurtling straight at her opponent, lifting the very earth from where she was, getting ever closer. In an instant, Freya was punching Jade causing another jolt and a flurry of dust hiding in sight both of their bodies.

However, no one was watching as they were too focused on the actual war that was taking place and as the elemental attacks rocketed everywhere, the dust dispersed. There, it was possible to see the Empress firmly holding with her two hands full of blood the two swords that were going to sink into her belly. The black helmet had broken in half leaving only Freya's mouth visible and grinning wildly.

Her large fangs were out and her tongue flicked delicately along her upper lip showing her legendary excitement for the fight. Jade, she, was the one who held the two swords and who had avoided the black katana which had planted itself deeply in the ground. She hadn't completely avoided it because on her left cheek, a rather large gash had now appeared bleeding profusely.

​ However, just as Freya had seen and expected, Jade was different and the power of the attack had forced her to reveal her true nature to survive. The mage knight's eyes now glowed intensely green and two fine canines were now visible at the corner of her mouth. That was not all as the wound on her cheek began to smoke as it gradually closed under the excited eyes of the Empress.

Their bodies were shaking as each held one end of the two sharp swords in their hands although Freya was the one holding the blades, she didn't seem to mind. Like a wolf having found its prey, the Empress was ready to hunt it down until victory was hers. But unlike her previous opponents, she wasn't fighting to kill her because the fake human had caught her attention from the beginning and kept intriguing her.

"Hahahaha~ that's it, finally you show your true face. Don't play human and fight me with all your power. Things are getting interesting fufu~"

At her words, Jade flexibly contorted herself to send her foot into Freya's stomach as she leapt back to dodge. As she landed a little further away still smiling, the she-wolf brought her right hand to her mouth before licking the blood that flowed from her wound. Jade on her side was doing the same with the blood that had flowed to her mouth before dropping her swords and getting into position.

Finally the young woman had decided to be serious and use her element against Freya who had done everything to force her to use all the resources necessary to survive. Facing her, the Empress clenched her fists before making ten threads of blood appear in her hands, formed from her own blood, which seemed to have their own consciousness. Ice spikes were also beginning to form all around her proving that she was no longer playing.

"Bl...blood ? No way ! H-How do you do that ? My people should be the only ones to...never mind...tell me !"

"Play and win against me and I'll tell you...maybe fufu~"

Jade at this answer, slowly incanted to release her magic making her green eyes sparkle even more intensely than before. Suddenly, out of her arms, a glowing red armor formed on her body along with thousands of knives orbiting around her. Like the Empress, the one who called herself Erina Velfury was anything but human and manipulated her own blood as an element to fight.

Without delay, she threw her thousands of thick, sharp knives at Freya, who was more ready than ever to receive them. Hundreds of them came down at once, destroying the ground on impact, but it took more than that to throw her off balance. Indeed, at great speed Freya sent her almost equally strong wires to deflect, slice, stop and strike the first waves that came at her.

The knives that came close enough to her to hurt her, the she-wolf would send them back with precise, fast and powerful kicks. Under this heavy rain of attacks where death was not to be taken lightly, Freya was still smiling madly and enjoying every second. Suddenly, as she stopped the last wave, a red shadow passed behind her, armed with three swords as red, strong and shiny as her armor.

"Hey don't forget me !"

Jade had appeared behind the Empress holding two blades in each of her hands and one in her teeth, a much wilder look than when they met. In an instant, the two women were within inches of each other and while Freya used her ice spikes, the young non-human woman aimed for her heart, head and stomach. Without even realizing what was going on, blood spurted into the sky where they stood.

Level 45 against level 45, blood and ice against blood, the fight between the Empress of Elysium and the mysterious Knight with jade eyes had just begun. More than a battle of the titans, before the eyes of the two armies who hadn't even noticed it, a Demon Wolf was fighting a vampire.