The Legend of the ruthless Empress Freya

-- POV Freya --

It was the middle of the night and as I had instructed Triss and Lia, the Commanders and Lieutenants were now gathered in the meeting room of the Imperial Mansion. Tomorrow just after noon, I planned to leave Elysium to discover the secrets of the tree, find a way for Kira to get out, and make my Commanders evolve.

"Ready ?"

My wife in the doorway looked at me with a tender smile as she waited for me to be ready.

"Mm-hmm. Soon."

Still in the doorless room, I was showered, wide awake and almost dressed. Gaya was by my side for the meeting and even though she wouldn't be coming for obvious reasons, it was important that she was there. I hadn't had time to check with all the section Leaders to see where the newcomers had decided to go either, but for the moment I didn't have the time.

[You're fine like that, now go ahead everyone's waiting for you]

"No, everything has to be perfect !"

I was still standing in front of the mirror looking at my outfit. I had spent a week in my bed and I didn't like it at all. I didn't want to look so weak and overworked because well...I was Freya. I had a lot of pride and just thinking about that wasted week made me grit my teeth.

"I haven't seen the Commanders, Lieutenants and staff at the mansion in a week. The least I can do is be presentable, I'm the Empress, I'll act like one !"

[It's true]

I stood before the mirror and was dressed entirely in black from head to toe. My boots, pants, shirt, gloves and furry imperial cloak were as dark as my hair. At my belt I also carried the katana taken from the city lord and which almost never left my side. My hair was loose and fell wildly over my face where my tattooed eyes shone a deep purple.

When I smiled, my sharp, pointed fangs almost glinted, giving me the face of a dangerous, beautiful, deadly young woman. With my horns, my tail, my ears I did indeed look terrifying, dressed in black like a fallen Empress. As I was about to leave, Gaya who had approached, stood slightly on her tiptoes to kiss me tenderly before speaking.

"You look beautiful like this."

She was wearing her ice tiara and a beautiful white dress that brought out the color of her eyes and hair. My wife was my angel and as I placed my crown on my head I smiled.

"So are you."

I kissed her forehead lightly before extending my arm to her, which she grabbed before we headed for the meeting room.

___

As the doors to the room opened, I could see 18 people waiting for me inside the large room. Upon seeing me, the 10 Commanders and 8 Lieutenants knelt down, bowing their heads before saluting us.

"We salute her Highness the Empress and Queen Gaya !"

I nodded softly before walking to my ice seat, followed by my wife whose seat was right next to mine. As I walked, I could hear the many people standing in front of their seats and the beasts standing behind.

As I reached my seat and turned around, I scanned each person in the room one by one. One by one, my eyes darted to those of the Commanders and Lieutenants who flinched slightly but never wavered. Since my absence, they had all risen to a higher level, obviously excited by the idea of being able to evolve through the system.

All of the Commanders except Naia were now level 24 which showed how hard they were training. Gaya had told me that they spent their days fighting Vig who was the strongest soldier and thanks to their races and the boost from my system, they had almost caught up with him. The fire vixen had a little less experience so wasn't progressing as fast but today she was at level 20 and closing the gap day by day.

As for the Lieutenants, they were not yet above level 15, but they were close, and I knew that they were training hard as well. The slower leveling up was also due to the lack of experience but this expedition was also a way to fix that.

"Good !"

As I sat down in my seat with Gaya, the 18 people in front of me waited for me to signal them. With a brief nod, they finally sat down and the meeting could begin. The two half-human butlers accompanied us, as Shiro was under the care of the maids on our floor. So Triss was on my wife's left and Lia was on my right and now that everyone in this room was aware, I was linking Kira to participate.

"First of all, I wanted to explain myself as to why I was away for a week. After the festival I

fell asleep and it seems that I stayed in a deep sleep. A sleep in which I once again encountered the Goddess of this world..."

It was very important information, but unlike in my other life, I actually trusted those who were here. Since becoming a she-wolf, I had slowly opened my heart and even if it was to different degrees, it was a reality. I had already told them about Titania and everything else, the only thing I hadn't mentioned was my other world.

Everyone was silent and it was after a deep breath that I began to tell them about my past life, the fact that I was human and how my reincarnation happened as well as my recent meeting with Titania and those many secrets.

___

The moonlight fell into the mansion room, illuminating us with its pure white rays as I finally finished my long tale. Like Gaya and Kira before them, the Commanders, Lieutenants, and Triss and Lia were stunned. It seemed they all needed a few minutes before we resumed so my wife, my little sister and I waited.

The minutes passed and I could see Nixia lost in her thoughts just like Ralph, Naïa and Emilia while Luna, Thorunn and Trioa seemed simply to wait that I speak but I felt the fear invading them. As for Caipy, Ynir and Persea the incomprehension was read more easily on their faces as well as the questions which they all had to ask themselves. I didn't look at Lia and Triss, but it was easy to hear them fidgeting as I felt their confusion.

"Impossible we..."

"The...destruction of the world ?"

"Ho...how ?"

"The sure death..."

The more time passed, the more the people in front of me began to tremble and panic. What I had just announced was not easy to digest, and as I had predicted, everyone was focused on the story of the cores imploding and destroying the world. Knowing that the world was destined to be destroyed without knowing when and if it could be stopped could indeed lead to madness.

For the first time, it was Kira who after several minutes broke the silence by addressing everyone surprisingly seriously. Since she had learned about my dream, she who was just as concerned as I was had returned to the serious nature she had months ago. Her voice now rose in our minds, serious almost authoritative and cold and at that moment my little sister...sounded like me.

[Pull yourself together ! I know that what Freya told you is shocking and unsettling, but the most important thing right now is to get answers to our questions. Right now, we don't even know any more and what we are about to find out could completely change the world for the better or worse. Yes, it's hard not to panic, but thanks to my big sister we have this information which will allow us to act...

As she spoke, I could see the faces of all the people who were lost and desperate, slowly lifting. Each of her sentences carried a truth, and though Kira did not deny the difficulties that would come our way, she did stir the hearts.

...are you not valiant warriors and citizens of the Empire ? You are here today because the Empress trusts you, and so do I. With this expedition, we will have the opportunity to make a difference and get many answers, so do not bow your heads ! Look proudly at your Empress with a strong heart, a a fiery soul and determined eyes !]

My little sister's words had had their effect, for now everyone was standing up straight, heads held high and staring. The smell of fear and the shaking auras had changed to become more confident, strong and threatening. Triss next to Gaya now had a serious face inspired by Kira while to my right Lia was blushing furiously seemingly impressed by her words.

"Thank you, Kira."

[You're welcome onee-san]

As I thanked my little sister for these few inspiring sentences, I got up from my seat to speak in turn. It was already the middle of the night and the departure would be in the afternoon so there was no time to lose. Now the 18 people in this room and the two female butlers knew about my life, my history, my past and almost all my secrets.

"Alright ! Now that everyone has come to their senses thanks to my little sister's words I would like you to listen to me ! As Kira told you, now we have a clue regarding where we need to go and that place happens to be the Syn Forest."

With a snap of my finger, I conjured up a replica of the tree in question that I had just recreated from my memories. It was small enough to fit on the table and everyone could now observe this ice tree with interest while listening to me.

"This is what we are looking for. This tree is in the south of the forest, so it shouldn't take us long to get there, especially since there are only 19 of us, and we're the most powerful. However, once we get there I have no idea what we'll be able to discover or fight and although I'll do everything to protect you, if you decide to follow me it's not without danger !"

I was the Empress of the Empire, I gave orders and ruled with an iron fist, but I would never force anyone to act against their will. Those here had pledged allegiance and loyalty to me, but that did not mean they always agreed with my choices. As I thought about this, all eighteen people rose to their feet in unison before clasping their fists to their chests and shouting in one voice.

"We have sworn to follow you and we will your Highness, forgive our moment of misguidance, we may falter but never our resolve to be by your side ! We also thank Kira-sama for her valuable words that reminded us of what was important !"

Their voices echoed through the great room like a solemn vow of devotion. At their words, I could not help but smile slightly, proud and pleased to have such brave warriors who despite fear always rose with determination. I could see their blind trust in me shining in their eyes, and just as I inspired them to excel, they inspired me to do the same.

I still didn't know what we would find, but what I was sure of was that we would leave with the flame of our souls burning in our hearts and minds.

"Perfect ! We'll leave in the afternoon ! Until then, rest and enjoy your loved ones because we don't know how long we'll be gone from the Empire. Keep in mind that I will be in daily contact with my wife and that Syn is not far from our Empire so don't worry."

Normally nothing would happen while I was away because after thinking about it, the Kingdom of Zal couldn't attack us right away. I'd been thinking about this since Alayna arrived, and setting up an army or a full-scale attack on the forest wouldn't take a few weeks. They weren't due to arrive in Elysium for maybe two months, which gave us time to build up our strength and investigate.

While we were away, the army was in charge of training with the help of Vig and even Gaya who had also volunteered to supervise them. The most experienced soldiers would train the new ones and this way even without us, everyone would be able to level up. Each section of the army had their own routine thanks to the Commanders so no one would really be lost without them.

Everyone seemed determined, ready to brave any danger to become stronger, to discover the secrets of this world and return to fight Zal's troops with courage, pride and strenght. The eyes that glittered in front of me almost made me shiver as a wild and cruel glow passed through their eyes.

"I love the eyes you have right now, keep them ! We will come back here even stronger than when we left ! You are all expected to arrive tomorrow just after noon at the gates of the Empire. Don't take anything with you except your weapons for those who use them, the rest I'll take care of !"

"At your command your Highness !"

With these last sentences, the meeting ended after a lot of revelations and emotions. The Commanders and Lieutenants bowed out before going to bed while my wife and I went to do the same thing to be in shape tomorrow.

[Do you think you'll dream again tonight too ?]

*No, Titania told me she couldn't come to see me very often, the next time usually won't be for a long time*

As I saw Lia and Triss bowing before they too went to bed, I turned to Gaya and took her hand.

"My love, let's go to bed"

"Sure honey"

The manor was quiet, the night dark, and I returned to our quarters with my wife. The night was already well advanced and tomorrow, when the sun would shine brightly at its highest hour, we would leave.

____

FULL STATUS

Name : Freya

Age : 0 years old / Mentally : 25 years old

Sex : Female

Course : Ice Demon Wolf of chaos - Adult

Race : Imperial Demon

Titles : Blessed by Titania, Goddess of endless Chaos and eternal frozen Hell.

Dragon tamer

Ruthless slayer

Level : 36/70

Exp needed for next level: 16 600 / 37 000

HP : 120 000 / 120 000 MP : 60 000 / 60 000

Strength: 500

Defense : 500

Agility : 506

Endurance: 503

Speed : 502

Intelligence: 500

Charisma: 500 (imperial she-wolf)

Attribute points to allocate : 0

Married to : Gaya

Daughter : Shiro

Empire (menu)

Subordinates: 1239

Humans killed: 153

Souls: 2/3

Elements: Ice / Chaos

Skills (all):

Attack - 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 5)

Defense - Ice demon wall (Lvl 6)

- Demonic Cloak (lvl 5)

Pain Resistance (lvl 4)

Attack/Defense - Domain of the Ice Empress "frozen wrath" (lvl 2) - (under condition)

Others - Humanoid form

- Ice creation (Lvl 6)

- Storage of chaos (Lvl 4)

- Devouring Chaos (Lvl 5)

- Analysis

- Second soul (Lvl max) - unique

- Telepathy

Detection and control of mana (lvl 5)

Master of souls (lvl 1)

Passives - Commander (lvl max)

- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]