The Legend of the ruthless Empress Freya

Chapter 117 The Mysterious Woman [Interlude]

[N/A: Chapter shorter than usual because special (sorry)]

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-- POV General --

Beyond the Dark Forest was an Empire well known to the Queen of Elysium. Beyond this dense forest was the great Empire of Vancesia, whose western border touched the territory Freya had claimed in the greatest of secrecy.

Vancesia was a place not so different from the Kingdom of Zal except that the people at its head were far more formidable than King Theophylactus. At the head of this Empire was Empress Cleo Vancesia who had succeeded her father, the last Emperor to sit on the throne. There, the Church of Humanity did not exist, but an organization with the same beliefs had sprung up along with all the others throughout the world of Kleisaria.

The organization in the Empire of Vancesia was called the Order of Light, and unlike the Kingdom of Zal, it got along very well with the Empress, and there had been no conflict between them for years. Together, instead of hunting down other races even if they were still hated, Vancesia preferred cunning over force. Any means were good to rally as many of the lesser races as possible with the promise of happiness that would not last. Those who resisted were killed, but those who joined the Order and the Empire would find themselves in camps where they were exploited and the only way out was death.

These camps had been built specifically for the non-human races, and the atmosphere was quite different from what the humans had promised. Nowadays, the Empire was filled with camps where the exploitation of half-humans and other races through forced labor was completely normal. The leaders of Vancesia had covered up what was going on so well that even today the camps were still filling up. For the Order and the Empress, these places were gold mines, as they allowed them to monitor the half-humans, to have total control over their lives, and to develop the country through the daily work of their slaves.

Many collapsed exhausted, unable to continue or even died, but nothing changed. They were exploited like beasts, objects to be thrown away if they became defective, because after all, for Vancesia they were plentiful enough not to care. All means were good to attract as many inferior races as possible to these camps and the most incredible thing was that no human knew of their existence. Everything was so well controlled because to ensure the constant arrival of prisoner workers it was necessary to keep the secret and use vile means to attract them by using the deep desire of the other races to live happily.

Among the many victims of this mass manipulation, Gaya's family had not been spared. It was with this ruse that the humans of Vancesia had manipulated the most gullible and naive of the Earth Dragons into fighting each other. This was the darkest day for this race, where everyone had to kill their own kind and see their families, friends and companions fall one by one. It was also during this time that the Queen of Elysium lost everything, her will to fight, her home, her family, her joy and her smile. The memories before the tragedy remained in Gaya's heart and mind, but also the most painful ones that she did not want to forget.

Her mother had been burned to death by human mages and her father had been pierced by spears and swords forged from materials found in the mountains where Gaya and her family lived. These painful memories that she did not want to erase, the dragoness had buried in her heart so that she would never forget that day when her parents had died bravely fighting to the end, true to their values. It was also the day Gaya had inherited her nickname "Mother of Dragons" after mourning her race, raging in an excess of rage, sadness, despair and hatred.

The last Dragoness of Earth had shed tears for all the dragons who died in battle regardless of side or ideology. She had simply cried the deaths of her fellow dragons...those she loved and those she had killed. At that time, far more powerful than she was now, Gaya had surpassed level 50 and so had been able to make a difference in an outpouring of rage. The last one standing, with the strength of all her feelings, carried by those she had mourned, Gaya had roared her hatred and pain before splitting the earth for several miles killing the army of humans that threatened her. The Mother of Dragons was born.

After that, the dragoness had disappeared into the Forest of Syn where, exhausted and without willpower, she had been sealed by Warg, Magni and Daggus who feared her power. She lost more than half of her levels, little by little, in that dark and humid cave, condemning her to a slow and lonely death that she accepted until Freya arrived. In other circumstances, those three beasts would never have sealed Gaya but her mental and physical strength were no longer...she no longer had the strength to fight, to hope and to live. Since that day, the Queen of Elysium had never appeared again, so much so that for many she had died years ago.

Since her release, Gaya had not returned to her homeland either, where huge mountains stood whose tops seemed to touch the heavens. These mountains that had sheltered the dragons for years and years, once proud and populated, were now empty and sad.

Thousands of years ago, during the time called the "Age of Extinction" by Humanity, it was at the foot of these mountains, in the bowels of the earth, that the powerful being that had terrified the entire world was sealed. The one who possessed two elements, the same as Freya, rested forever in the Lands of the Empire of Vancesia until 10 years ago.

When Gaya had split the earth in an earthquake that shook the mountains, she had opened the prison of this woman who was thought to be dead but was in fact only asleep. That day, her underground jail had cracked, allowing the surrounding mana mixed with that of the dragoness to enter, slowly waking the one who was never to be woken.

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On the morning of the day the very first Elysium Festival was to take place, far away from the Empire of the she-wolf, in her prison, the mysterious woman was still locked up but awake.

? Where there were big, torn mountains that formed a multitude of dark, deep, and deadly gorges, a blue sky of obscure clarity illuminated these natural forts that stretched as far as the eye could see. As the sun slowly rose, a capricious breeze descended from those distant mountains, moaning and sighing over the now deserted peaks.

Peaks pointing towards the clouds whose high and serene soul, inaccessible to vulgar passions and emotions, dominating the clouds and shadows of this world, the follies, the lies, the hatreds, the vanities, the miseries, inhabited the blue sky. But these mountains, though old, solitary and silent, were sublime, the dawn as it lightened came to mark the valleys that separated them, illuminating the light mist that rose from the bottom of the gorges. The mountains with their sharp edges jutted out abruptly from the edges, and the sun, leaning on one of the highest peaks, opened wide its yellow eye with golden eyelids.

In the foothills of the mountains, ancient lands of the Earth Dragons, this woman had taken 5 years to awaken from her milinary sleep. Her prison was crumbling over time and during those first 5 years, her powers had not allowed her to break free, but by the 6th year, some of her abilities had returned. The mysterious woman still couldn't get out, but what no one knew was that she had already begun to execute her plan.

"Freya...Freya...Freya..."

In her dome-shaped prison of earth beneath the ground, a figure hidden in the gloom whispered these words in a weak, broken, almost trembling voice. Her body, which could not be seen because of the darkness, was embedded in the rock, leaving only her head and arms protruding for the moment.

"The time of my liberation is coming soon. I could continue what I started thousands of years ago..."

There was no light in this place yet, no sound, no living thing, and yet this mysterious woman had survived with nothing but the ambient mana around her. In the last five years she had been awake, the prisoner had remembered everything that had happened in her life and in this world she had arrived in against her will. Only one thought motivated her...revenge.

"Titania, you conceited wench ! I will never forget what you did to me ! You took everything from me, my pride as a Goddess and my powers of Time are gone but I will not waver ! I will destroy your world and this time no one will stop me ! You don't even know that I'm awake and that I know about the one you brought here ! But even your little protegee won't be able to save your little world hahahahaha~!!!"

In this prison of earth and rock, the trapped woman laughed maniacally as the creaking sound of her shackles crumbling was heard. Her release was imminent and in a little less than a year, the nightmare of humanity could once again walk this world.

"I didn't think my last minute idea would work so well. Those damned humans may have sealed me up, but my dear little creation is not only alive, but it doesn't know where it came from and is healthy. Everything is perfect."

Lurking in the gloom and despite her predicament, she was thrilled and could only look forward to finally getting free. The woman had no intention of being fooled this time and now that she'd had the chance to escape eternal rest, only revenge mattered.

"The first thing I'd do is get back what's mine while getting rid of this troublesome she-wolf and then my revenge can be complete ! Titania...I hope you'll take a good look at how your dear little pathetic world ends up. I will do anything to destroy it and get my powers back...when that is done, you will be next !"

The prisoner had a face that could not be seen but at that moment a terrifying smile appeared on it. What was her relationship to Titania ? Why was she so angry with her ? Only the two women knew, but one thing was certain, the Goddess Titania who had sent Freya to this world had not told her everything.

"Just a little more patience...I'll come and get you soon...

This mysterious woman, in this stone prison, was murmuring only two words as a faint light fell on her body, revealing the features of her face that had been hidden in the darkness.

...my daughter..."

The mysterious woman had her eyes closed, her skin slightly blackened and cracked in places, a sign of the thousands she had spent in this natural prison. Her body seemed to be slowly recovering from the ambient mana and as she raised her head to take in the brief appearance of light, strands of her hair fell over her face. Pure white and almost transparent at first, her long hair had become dull after losing its former shine.

As a smile appeared on her cracked face, her eyelids opened to let the light shine in, two amethyst eyes that so far only two other beings had. Violet eyes, hair as white as the moon, one person in the entire world of Kleisaria looked like her...this mysterious woman alone under the silent mountains looked like Shiro.

Who was she really ? Where did she come from ? No one knew yet, but one thing was certain...this woman knew of Freya and Shiro's existence. Though undoubtedly dark, only time would tell as no one yet felt the deep, subterranean tremors of destiny.

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FULL STATUS

Name : Freya

Age: 0 years / Mentally: 25 years

Gender: 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 required for next level: 16 600 / 37 000

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

Strength: 500

Defence: 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)

Subordinated: 439

Humans killed: 153

Souls: 2/3

Elements: Ice / Chaos

Skills (all):

Attack - Demon Claws (Lvl 5)

- Bite of Hell (Lvl 6)

- Infernal Ice Peaks (Lvl 6)

- Fighting techniques (lvl max)

- Katana mastery (lvl max)

- Demonic Empress aura (lvl 5)

Defense - Ice Demon Wall (Lvl 6)

- Demonic Cloak (lvl 5)

Pain resistance (lvl 4)

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

Other - 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)

- Ice Empress's Natural Aura ]