The Legend of the ruthless Empress Freya

Chapter 286: The one who wasn’t human anymore [Sacrifice Part VI]

[N/A: The Supreme is non-binary for now to hide their real gender. That said, in a few chapter their identity will be revealed so I'll change to HE or SHE~]

-- POV General --

The moon's rays now red had descended to earth, plunging everything as far as the eye could see into an unusual and unique crimson hue. On the battlefield, the warriors seemed to freeze, hypnotized by the unearthly color of the moon.

Only the Supreme, arms wide open and knowing at this moment what was unfolding, stood before the castle gates with a sneer on their face, impatient for the unfolding events to come.

"IT'S TIME TO RESTORE THE NATURAL ORDER. You will all perish"

After all these years and sacrifices. They had always been the chosen one, and now they could finally prove it to the whole Nation, if not the whole world, yes...their time had come.

They would be the one to liberate the world and mankind once again by crushing those accursed invaders and capturing the Harbinger of Chaos, who at this time took the form of a little wolf girl with white hair and amethyst eyes.

Believing themself to be following in the footsteps of the Liberator who had appeared centuries ago, the head of the Church could only revel in this moment. After all they'd been through so far, all the choices and suffering, it all made sense at this very moment.

As the Capital froze and everyone looked up at the sky, fascinated despite themselves by this strange yet beautiful phenomenon, the Supreme hoped the Gods were looking down on them.

"It's coming..."

Suddenly, after a few minutes that seemed to have lasted for hours, a pale, crimson light, this time coming from the entire city, rose into the sky. It was a glow produced by every individual and creature present in Zal, whether on the battlefield, in the castle or in the houses.

Reacting to the blood moon, everyone's mana seemed to mutate to the point of becoming visible and naturally strengthening second by second.

Yes, these were the long-awaited effects of this special red night, which only occurred every 10,000 years, and for good reason. It was a time when mana increased tenfold, offering exceptional strength to those who could harness it.

Like a river during a flood, the flow of mana coursing through every living organism poured forth with power, accentuating not only magical but also physical and spiritual capacities.

To take full advantage of the phenomenon occurring in each individual, almost perfect control was of course required to stabilize this energy. As the warriors began to understand, the head of the Church, glittering like all the others, refused to waste time.

Immense power emanated throughout the Kingdom, but theirs was particularly strong thanks to the moon, but to conquer and exterminate, it wasn't enough.

"It's time."

At these words, in one swift movement, plunging their right hand into their toga, they drew out an enormous syringe filled with a liquid overflowing with mana. A mixture of blood, that of their victims in the basement, and several alchemical elements.

Thanks to their experiments over the years, the Supreme had succeeded in gradually assimilating the mana of other living beings, and tonight, thanks to the moon, they would be the most powerful.

Based on the direct transfer of mana, their initial purely magical research had become increasingly insane over time. They had tried many different ways of removing magic from their victims, without ever succeeding in transferring it.

Failure after failure, the leader of the ego-fueled Church had taken their work to the next level: if necessary, every body part, every cell would be separated, studied and used.

Today, in their research laboratory, dozens of half-humans, children, women, old men and even babies were their guinea pigs. At the cost of so much blood, they had finally managed to find the answers to the questions, putting themself through whatever suffering they deemed necessary.

The Supreme's madness and determination knew no bounds, and to fulfill their destiny they were ready to reject even their beloved humanity.

"Aaarg !!"

That was it, the syringe was planted in the skin revealing the forearm from beneath the toga, a forearm that reflected what they had rejected and what they had become. Pieces of skin of all kinds had been sewn onto the parts of their own that they had removed.

A patchwork of different beings formed this arm, from the skin of a goblin to that of a bear, from the smooth skin of a child to the rough skin of an old man.

Indeed, this was the Supreme's solution for appropriating their prisoners' mana, thus gaining access to their reserves and more. Thanks to the blood the Supreme had injected themself with, a multitude of cells would circulate throughout their body, creating a link between mana and body parts.

An immense power was thus beginning to grow within them under the blood rays of the moon, which was the very catalyst for this unique transformation.

"HAHAHAHAHA !!! IT'S OVER !!!"

While the Elysium soldiers on the battlefield hadn't even had time to comprehend what was happening, rock spikes were already forming above their heads. Nothing they couldn't stop in theory, except that hundreds and hundreds kept appearing. The entire area of the city had been covered, and everyone was smart enough to know that a spell of this magnitude was not without danger.

"BE CAREFUL EVERYONE !"

"WARRIORS, PROTECT YOURSELVES !!!"

A shower of hundreds of spikes had begun to rain down on the Capital at an inordinate speed, forcing humans and other species alike to protect themselves. Strategically targeting the invaders, Zal's army was not entirely safe either, retreating little by little for its survival.

Before long, only Empress Freya's army was in the eye of the storm, buried under this deadly and powerful spell that seemed to go on forever.

Underneath, commanders, lieutenants and soldiers were doing their best, dozens and dozens of spells of every element being used on all sides. So far, so good, but fatigue and mana depletion were a problem, not to mention the fact that a second's inattention could be costly.

The strongest protected themselves and those around them, but their initially advantageous numbers had become a weak point minute by minute.

"KEKEKEKE THAT'S IT, DISAPPEAR !!!"

As the seconds ticked by, more and more warriors were getting hit, at first a few scratches but drowned out by a simple spell, unable to counterattack, forced to defend themselves, the situation was evolving. It was chaos, the Commanders were trying to advance to reach the Supreme but all was confusion, even for Commander Trioa and her squad in the sky where the danger was multiplied by 10.

Thanks to the blood moon, they had all gained in strength and mana reserves, but that didn't mean they could stay in this position indefinitely. Little by little, the well-trained Elysium warriors were falling to the ground with serious injuries.

However, after another long minute, the interval between attacks seemed to change, slowing down to the instinctive relief of the soldiers overwhelmed by what had just happened.

"Oh oh oh but this is only the beginning..."

They didn't even have time to breathe when suddenly, instead of huge peaks in the sky, golems made of lightning appeared, encircling the Empress' army. First formed from the ravaged earth of the city, humanoid in shape with no real pronounced detail, they stood 3 meters tall.

Not only did these golems seem to possess enormous strength of their own, they were also surrounded by armor made of lightning.

"How this human managed to..."

For the Commanders and other soldiers this vision was so confusing and alarming. How could the Supreme manipulate multiple elements ? The only ones they knew of who could do this were the powerful Imperial family of Elysium, beings far from ordinary. So who was the Head of the Church ?

From this simple scene and show of force, everyone understood that their luck had run out and that they were now the bait.

Yet everything had started so well, the plan they had all meticulously put in place for days had collapsed. The battle that had begun in their favor no longer resembled anything: they were all absolutely surrounded, not to mention the many bodies on the ground. Were they all going to be crushed like flies ? Just like that ? By just one person, so easily ?

The nightmare had indeed begun, that was undeniable.

"WATCH OUT !!"

Yet the Empire warriors, though also boosted by the moon, couldn't even regroup and form a strategy. Attacks rained down on them second after second, the noise was deafening, bodies weaker and weaker, and the confusion total. Like rock peaks, the golems formed again and again, swarming like insects around them with a single goal in mind: the total annihilation of the army.

"It's up to us ! NELLA !"

"YES COMMANDER !"

With no obstacle left in the sky, the Commander of the only squadron specializing in aerial combat had, however, at first sight, the field clear. The young Trioa, halfwyvern halfhuman, had realized that she had to act quickly and reach the Supreme before the others were decimated before her very eyes.

Regrouping all her soldiers from griffon to harpy in a single sentence, she was ready to charge in and make a difference.

"CHARGE AND DON'T LET THIS FOOL ATT-....AAAARG !!!"

Trioa hadn't finished her sentence, when a huge bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and struck her with force before everyone's shocked eyes. She hadn't let her guard down, the spell had shot out at an incomprehensible speed, impossible to predict or even avoid.

As the unconscious young woman's body fell to the ground with a thud, her subordinates and friends could hear the satisfied, haughty voice of the Head of the Church.

"Kekeke ! I haven't forgotten you, you filthy flying creatures...know your place."

"COMMANDER TRIOA !"

Without thinking, Lieutenant Nella rushed in her direction, followed by other soldiers while the Commanders who had witnessed the scene felt anger rising. It wasn't good, the more the minutes passed, the more the chaos, anger and fatigue intensified. They had to free themselves from this hold, but how ? Despite the desire to get out, no one knew what to do, and as bodies fell, despair invaded hearts.

"That's it, FALL INTO DESPERATION AND DIE !!!"

"Oh no...WATCH OUT !!!"

All the golems around the army had stopped moving, but the enormous magical aura emanating from each of them was not a good sign. Ralph had been the first to scream in a terrified voice, ready to strike out with her fists at whatever was coming but knowing it wouldn't be enough.

As one body, each of the remaining Commanders moved as fast as they could to gather around the warriors they had led so far.

They had to protect them at all costs. Thanks to her roots, Persea the dryad gathered everyone in the center, while Nixia took on her snake form, turning her body into a giant shield. Ralph, Emilia, Thorunn, Luna, Ynir, Persea, Naïa and Caipy, also taking their recently acquired form, positioned themselves around the shield to receive any incoming attacks.

They had to succeed, because if they failed, Nixia the black-scaled lamia would be the target.

Determined to protect their loved ones, the 8 Commands would have to draw on all their remaining power. This would not be the end of the Elysium army, not after so much effort and trust, they had to protect everyone, even at the cost of their own lives, together. Concentrating all their mana, an immense magical aura erupted from their bodies as their elements were ready to burst forth with power.

"It's coming...stay focused and strike as fast as-..."

"So fast!"

Nixia didn't have time to finish her sentence, however, as a dozen huge balls of lightning were fired from the golems' chests. They came from all sides as they had anticipated, but the speed of the attacks was far greater than expected. Like cannonballs, crackling with danger, they charged straight at the young women, who had only just begun to move, surprised and deadly late.

The sound of lightning pierced the air and deafened the petrified soldiers, who were protected by Commander Nixia's massive body, but the fear was there. These enormous balls of magic were on the verge of arriving, and unless they surpassed their speed in a fraction of a second, none of the 8 Commanders would be able to stop them.

In the distance, on the castle steps, the Supreme was ecstatic - this was it, they'd finally done it.

Of course, they still had other enemies to defeat, but they were on the verge of single-handedly destroying the army of the one who had proved too sure of herself. Even the reinforcements coming from Vancesia were useless; in the space of a few hours, they had dominated those who had been needlessly feared by humans.

Them alone had achieved this incredible feat, and as their dreams of greatness crossed their mind, a single word came out of their mouth.

"Die."

_______

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) - 35%.

- 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 : 47/70

Exp needed for next level: 7 000 / 48 000

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 : 1 600

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: 15 491(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)

- Reminiscence (lvl 2)

- Analysis

- Telepathy

Passives :

- Commander (lvl max)

- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]