The Legend of the ruthless Empress Freya

Chapter 137 The Escape [The Crypt - Part X]

-- POV Freya --

[You could have picked up a few minor Nightmare corpses to put June and May in them pffhaha~]

*Mmmh...no I should have picked up the fatty's green one especially for you. A dress would fit you very well in it kufufu~*

[Hmpf you're good ! Anyway, I'm pleasantly surprised with the way things are going. The Commanders are exceptional and the Lieutenants don't give up and together they are definitely stronger]

*Mmmh, this is exactly what I've been looking for*

I was lying on the floor which felt warm compared to my temperature, my eyes closed and I was following the events with Kira. I had woken up with Inferno by my side rather quickly, his warmth helping me out of the deep sleep I had fallen into despite myself. From the beginning, I had heard everything my soldiers had said, their courage, their words, their determination, and their coolness.

I had not only stayed on the ground to watch them but also to rest because when I woke up I still felt weak. Although I had been awake all along, I had only been feeling much better for the last ten minutes. However, I had decided not to say anything and wait patiently, watching how everyone else was handling the situation.

Contrary to what one might think, I was not so cruel as to let my soldiers die when I had long since awakened. To be honest, the mystery of this room had already been unraveled when Ynir had exclaimed about the hourglass she had found. I was not an omniscient being because in fact this discovery had been made totally by chance, while I was lying on the ground.

[Tell me, Onee-san, if you hadn't found the way out, would you have been lying on the floor all this time ?]

*Of course not. Sigh, I don't like to talk about luck because I prefer to give myself the means to succeed, but this time I must say that I really had some*

Indeed, from the moment I had woken up, I had heard Trioa talking about an ordeal to complete in order to get out. At that moment I was ready to get up after waiting a few minutes to regain my senses, but one thing had caught my attention. A very slight trickle of cool air had started to slide down my face which was still on the ground, making me wonder where it was coming from. After several theories, simulations and reflections, it had not been difficult to conclude that the exit was under our feet.

None of my soldiers had noticed the small, almost imperceptible draught, for none of them had been lying on the ground, not to mention the fact that the urgency of the situation did not permit any such thought. As I had kept my eyes closed the whole time, my sharpened senses had then easily traced the origin of this phenomenon. In less than 5 minutes, I knew that the slabs in the center were hiding another room or another place where the air was circulating.

[Mmh, you didn't know if that was the real solution either, but at least you knew a way to keep everyone alive in case of emergency. That said, it looks like Ralph figured it out hehe~]

From what I had heard, the room was now tinged with a red light coming from the ceiling tracing a starry sky and a blood moon. I was one step ahead of my subordinates, but I was discovering all this with them. It was true that I had found the solution, but the thought process to reach the same conclusion was the merit of others, not mine.

As the minutes passed I became more and more proud and the idea of rewarding them afterwards came up more and more. Finally, with only 5 minutes left, Ralph had the same idea as me and proposed destroying the ground beneath them. Now there was a heavy silence as everyone considered the option and my little sister's voice echoed in my mind.

[Isn't it time to stop the comedy now onee-san ? pffhaha~]

*I was just about to save them the hard work haha~*

There wasn't much time left, but I was now in great shape and it was time for me to get back on track. I didn't know how long we'd been gone, but one thing was for sure : the only one who had finally rested was me, as none of the others had been able to. Destroying such a hard and thick stone even with several of us could be enough to make them collapse, especially after so many events.

So for the first time since I arrived in the room, I opened my eyes. A red light danced on the walls and as I turned my head I could see everyone in the middle of the room. They were busy talking, thinking, and no one noticed that I was slowly getting up. I was naked and as I quickly dressed myself with my storage, I leaned towards Inferno, still at my side.

"Thank you my friend, for not saying anything and for keeping it a secret."

I was sure that my black stallion had understood right away that I was not asleep from the first few minutes after he had warmed me up. I didn't know how, but even so, he hadn't tried to warn the others, as if he'd understood that I didn't want to. As I stood up, dressed and ready, Inferno did the same, shaking his head quietly and pressing his forehead against my face in relief.

"Yes yes, I'm fine haha~ now we all have to get out"

My horse nodded, and so after smiling at him I assumed my usual inexpressive, almost cold, detached face. All my soldiers were about to destroy the floor, but as the signal was about to be given, I stepped towards them, my heels clicking in the room as I walked. All heads turned towards me and once I was sure I had everyone's attention I spoke.

"I'll do it kufufu~"

The faces of all my faithful warriors showed surprise, relief and joy. Without even letting them say a word, I continued to move forward as I spoke, Inferno at my side, beautiful and proud.

"Stand back everyone ! We'll hopefully have time to talk and rest afterwards but right now the most important thing is to destroy this floor. You've done a very good job but the congratulations will come later !"

A lot had happened since we arrived in the crypt, starting with the changes I'd felt during my fight with the Demon. I had quite a few changes to make to my status and I had also received a lot of notifications not to mention the fact that I also had to contact my wife who was probably worried about us by now.

[Try to do it in one go without destroying the whole room. You've leveled up, all your attributes too and you used all your power in your last fight. Going back to a more normal and especially less destructive strength is not easy...no need to remember how you once destroyed a chair and a door pff~]

*It's true that I'm brimming with power, especially since this strange new sensation was running through my body. I'll be quick anyway because we don't have much time left !*

As I reached the center of the room, I took a deep breath. Everyone was outside of the red rectangle and now waiting for me to act. Once again, I concentrated on using only a small portion of my strength and as I was ready, I opened my eyes before slamming my fist into the stone. The next moment, a heavy sound could be heard as if I had just hit a gong confirming the location of the exit.

The slabs under my feet had cracked under the blow and many cracks had formed in the light rectangle. However, in trying to be too gentle so as not to collapse the room, I had used very little power and my blow alone had not been enough.

*Tsk, not hard enough*

[It's still better than "too hard"]

*Yes, but now I know exactly how much power I need to put in*

Without saying anything more, I raised my knee and brought my heel down on the very center of the room. This time my foot had sunk into the stone and on impact the walls had begun to tremble strongly. Nothing happened, but small, light cracks began to multiply and seconds later, huge cracks appeared as I jumped into the air.

The moment I jumped, the blocked exit opened as thousands of small pieces of cold stone flew into the room. Behind the floor was a hole that seemed to have no bottom, going deeper into the bowels of the earth. A cool wind blew up to us, and as I wondered how this could be, Kira began to speak.

[I don't like it...]

*But we have no other choice*

As I said this, the sound of a mechanism being triggered sounded just before the walls began to move. They had started to move as Trioa had predicted and now we only had 40 seconds before we were flattened. We had to jump and although no one knew what was waiting for us down there, the decision was obvious.

"Jump ! Hurry, but be careful of the landing, keep close at all times !"

No more needed to be said before all the Commanders jumped into this huge, dark hole with an unknown destination. There were only 30 seconds left, the walls were getting dangerously close but neither Lieutenants nor Lynn had the courage to jump in yet. Time was running out, the room was closing in on us but none of them could move, paralyzed.

At that moment they were unable to make the decision alone to jump even though they knew that staying meant death. Their spirits seemed to have gone out at the sight of that hole which was going to lead us deeper underground. I knew what they were thinking, what they were afraid of, and that was only natural, but there was no time. With only 20 seconds left, Kira's voice rang in my head once again.

[Push them we're out of time !]

*I won't it's...wait what ?*

Sometimes Kira surprised me and her sentence would have almost made me laugh if we weren't in a more than urgent situation. Ignoring what my little sister had just said as I shook my head, I sighed before shifting into my wolf form before growling and releasing a tiny bit of my aura to shake my remaining soldiers.

"Soldiers, pull yourself together ! Jump on my back we're out of time !"

As everyone had a panicked look on their eyes and a terrified look on their faces, the Lieutenants one by one began to jump on my back. I could feel their little bodies shaking against my skin as I motioned to Inferno to do the same. With only 5 seconds left, I jumped with tremendous speed as the walls closed behind us with a huge noise that shook the walls of the hole.

[Yee-haw !]

*There's one that's having fun anyway kufufu~*

Then began our descent into the void and into this dark and cold abyss that would lead us to a place still unknown. What would we discover ? What time was it ? When would we return ? These questions haunted my mind as our bodies fell at a dizzying pace.

___

-- POV General --

While the soldiers and the Empress of Elysium went deeper into the bowels of the earth, there were still people in Elysium who were worried. The expedition group had left yesterday at noon and currently, the moon was shining high in the sky. An afternoon and a whole day had passed without any sign of them and in the Empire, in the second imperial office, the Queen was pacing.

"I don't understand ! Freya was supposed to contact me last night and tonight and yet I have no sign of telepathic communication !"

In her office was her secretary and butler Triss the half-human cat who didn't know what to say to reassure Gaya. Lia was with Shiro, who would soon be asleep, and the dragoness, not wanting to worry her, had gone to her office to think. Triss had spent the whole day telling her not to worry but the more time passed, the more the Queen changed.

"Yesterday...I felt a variation in our bond as if it had weakened for several minutes ! I...I'm sure something must have happened to the expedition group !"

Gaya had said these words as she slumped in her chair with a look of both seriousness and extreme concern. Her hands were shaking and every minute that passed seemed to drive her a little bit more crazy. The Queen could no longer stand still, she had slept very little and the heart in her chest was clenching terribly. Not knowing if her wife was well or if she would return was putting her under intense stress.

"At least I know she's alive or I would have died thanks to our soul and mana bond but..."

"My Queen, I...it's possible that her Highness can't contact you yet but...you know as well as I do that she's unique...please don't worry ! Besides...you must try to calm down for the baby."

As Triss had said that last sentence, Gaya had put a hand to her belly and smiled slightly, her first smile in hours. When she'd woken up from her short night this morning, her belly had bulged slightly confirming that the baby was in good shape. The dragoness knew perfectly well that she had to take care of her health and was doing what she could but since last night it hadn't been easy.

"Triss..."

Without warning, the Queen had straightened in her chair with an amber gaze as hard as her wife's. No one had ever seen Gaya with a look like that, and in that moment, as the half-human responded shaking slightly, for the first time the dragoness scared her.

"Y-Yes ?"

"If I don't hear from my wife by noon tomorrow, I'll come to her personally !"

____

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

Empress of the three colors

? Level : 40/70

Exp needed for next level: 0 / 41 000

HP : 150 000 / 150 000 MP : 75 000 / 75 000

Strength : 510

Defense : 510

Agility : 516

Endurance: 513

Speed : 512

Intelligence: 510

Charisma: 500 (imperial she-wolf)

Attribute points to allocate : 300

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 6)

Defense - Ice demon wall (Lvl 6)

- Demonic Cloak (lvl 5)

Pain Resistance (lvl 5)

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 6)

Master of souls (lvl 1)

Passives - Commander (lvl max)

- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]