Chapter 36 First Blood ! [Dark Forest War - Part I]

[N/A: For all of you who will be seeing your characters appear, be aware that they may not be as powerful as you thought. They won't go beyond B rank (for now) to fit the story, however I thought it was nice that you could watch them grow and get stronger and stronger through Freya's kingdom menu ! So don't blame me too much if you're not totally satisfied].

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-- POV Freya --

It was morning, we had been on the road for three days now and we finally reached the outskirts of the Dark Forest. Thanks to the guild's receptionist, I knew where the human camp was, but I really wanted to meet the group of half-humans who were still fighting first.

The forest was huge because we could see it for a day now from the road we were traveling on.

*I think it's time to split up.*

[This is the best strategy to allow you to act without having to worry about protecting Shiro and Gaya].

Gaya and Shiro were to stay out of the forest with all our stuff until I found the group of resisters and made sure they were no danger to them. The dragoness could easily protect herself, but if we had to fight while trying to watch over a little girl, it could end badly.

"Gaya, Shiro it's time !"

Both knew perfectly well what they had to do, just stay and watch while waiting for my return which was to be later in the evening.

I kissed the crimson haired beauty tenderly on the lips before telling her to be careful.

"Honey, don't forget to never show your horns for the moment and that Shiro must constantly wear her hood in case you come across humans. Be careful and if anything happens I'd rather you run away with Shiro than put you in danger, is that understood ?"

Gaya was nodding her head with a serious and determined look because the relaxing days were now over and we had to be careful at every moment.

Crouching down this time in front of Shiro, I caressed her little head as she liked it while also placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Sweetie, always stay with Gaya and listen to everything she tells you, it's very important. Be brave and don't worry mommy will pick you up tonight."

My little moon looked at me with eyes full of love and determination saying.

"Mommy you can trust me, it's mostly up to you to be careful ! Please don't hurt yourself.."

She hugged me as she said these words while I could almost see a few tears forming on her adorable little eyes.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise okay ?"

She also nodded her head with a small smile before walking away and grabbing Gaya's hand. The two loves of my life looked at me with a mixture of concern and love knowing that what was next would not be easy.

Waving to them one last time, I walked alone into the forest, the forest that would become my kingdom and that I would rid of the humans.

*It's just you and me now Kira !*

[Indeed, just like the very beginning haha~]

I walked slowly between the trees in order to understand the environment before rushing in without thinking. There were all kinds of trees, from tropical to fir or even oak. They all had the particularity of having dark green leaves, almost black. The place was not ugly, on the contrary it seemed calm, full of serenity and nature, which explained why the half-humans liked to come to this forest. I felt like I was in several different places because the diversity was so incredible, like a labyrinth of lush greenery stretching for several kilometers.

*It's beautiful here...*

I watched the play of light and shadow as I was absolutely speechless looking around, amazed by this enchanting forest. There was wild grass, fine and tender, that was soft to the touch and covered the ground as far as the eye could see.

The vast forest I was walking through was so well stocked on all sides with succulents, grasses and foliage, birds, and wildflowers that one would swear that an eternal spring had taken up residence. The sky was blue and you could feel a cool breeze stirring the leaves of the plants as I went deeper and deeper into the forest, disappearing more and more.

[What are you going to do now onee-san ?]

*I'd like to cover as many areas as possible in this forest to quickly find where all the half-humans are gathered. I have to be quick, every second is crucial !*

I now had to cross the forest around the area of the human camp to try to detect the slightest movement of my future allies. Once the group was joined, I could start to think about a strategy according to the number of people there and the abilities of each one...nothing would be left to chance.

I kept walking because I didn't want to run and miss something important, I was only a few kilometers from the enemy camp and I didn't want to be noticed. They were still far enough away but I had to be careful because one wrong move was enough to ruin a whole plan.

As I continued eastward from the temple ruins, a distant sound of fighting made my ears perk up instantly.

*Something's going on, looks like I did the right thing heading this way.*

Holding back my strength and hiding my aura, I ran through the trees silently to get closer to the noise that was getting louder. Arriving without too much difficulty at the place concerned, I hid in the bushes to observe before acting.

[It's here !]

In front of me was a particularly surreal scene. Some humans who seemed to be mercenaries were fighting a figure that I could not describe because of the dust that surrounded it, it seemed to be defending another one.

The men were 4 in number and surrounded the two half-humans trapped against a rock. The dust cleared as I could finally see the two people in danger, a young woman and a child.

The young half-human was dressed in black and wore a cloth mask covering the bottom of her face. Her eyes were original because they were of different colors, golden on the left and blue on the right, which made her look very special.

[Luna

Race : Half human

Element : Lightning

Lvl 15/30

HP : 30 000 / 30 000 MP : 15 000 / 15 000

Strength : 100

Defense : 125

Agility : 170

Stamina : 135

Speed : 160 ]

The girl named Luna seemed to be 18 or maybe 19 years old and already had a rather interesting level for her age. Judging by her appearance, I guessed that she was half human and half panther, a race I had never met before in this world. She had black hair that waved slightly to her shoulders, which sometimes showed platinum blonde highlights in the sunlight.

She was exhausted and was doing her best to keep the little boy next to her from getting hurt. The boy looked about 12 years old and was a half-human rabbit named Hans. He was terrified and I could see him crying from where I was standing as Luna's body formed a wall between him and his attackers.

[Aren't you going to help them onee-san ?]

*Yes of course, but I have to evaluate every detail first, for the moment young Luna seems to be doing a bit better.*

I wanted to check before I go that no other human was hiding in the bushes like I was currently.

*Yosh, it looks like there are only 4 of them !*

The 4 humans were mercenaries but didn't seem to count in the list the receptionist had given me.

*They must have gone to the ruins before they came across this half-human girl and this child.*

They were all level 20 and seemed to be handling only weapons, which was still enough to overpower this girl who had to neutralize them alone. Two of them had swords, one had a long spear and the last one had a halberd. They were laughing and openly mocking Luna and her courageous and compassionate act.

"Hurry up and give up you filthy animal ! If we weren't going to bring you back alive you would be dead already. You can't do anything against us ! If you don't want to die let it go and maybe we can not damage you too much haha~!"

One of the swordsmen, the one who had spoken, even seemed to be particularly enjoying this situation. Luna was exhausted and almost on the verge of collapsing while she remained standing on her own will power. Her eyes still hadn't given up as her body was exhausted and were glaring with hatred.

*Oh ? I like that look... Good ! Let's go, this has gone on too long !*

Getting up from my hiding place, I walked calmly towards the 6 people who were in front of me. They weren't strong enough to scare me. As I put up a wall of ice in front of the young adult and the child, a common reaction made them all freeze in place as soon as I arrived. The humans looked wary and ready to run away, while Luna dropped down, relieved to see another half-human arrive to save them.

"What exactly do you plan to do with them ?"

My voice had returned to its usual cold, commanding tone as I continued to walk with slow steps towards these 4 humans who were far too confident of their abilities.

"Who are you ?? Are you with her ?"

The one who had mocked Luna earlier spoke with a deep authoritative voice, he was quite small but muscular and strong. I didn't like his tone at all, but it didn't matter because in a few minutes he would be dead.

"You don't need to know that...just know that the last moments of all of you have arrived."

Seeing that I took my katana out of its scabbard that I had at my waist, they all got into a fighting stance before launching themselves at me. I didn't even move, waiting patiently for them to come towards me.

The first one to reach me threw his halberd aimed at my legs to immobilize me instantly. With a slight footwork his weapon was already passing me by as he looked at me with a confused and angry expression. The second one was already in front of me and was pointing his sword at my face with a haughty look.

"Is that all you can do ? Gentlemen, I am disappointed."

My mocking tone filled with disdain made them explode with anger as the little human screamed at the top of his lungs.

"KILL HER ! WE CAN MAKE DO WITH THESE TWO !"

After these words, the four of them ran towards me again with a faster and more precise momentum to try to pierce me from all sides. They were swinging their weapons without any flexibility and without even thinking intelligently about a strategy. I didn't even have to force myself, I could see each movement clearly and in a slowed down way, thanks to my intelligence which when I concentrated allowed me to accelerate my reasoning speed.

In only 3 movements, without having moved even a millimeter, their arms fell to the ground in a stream of blood mixing with the green grass. Their hoarse screams rose to the sky as they rolled on the ground like pigs.

"Kill me ? Know your place bug...."

The confident and eager looks had turned into terrorized looks filled with pain. Despite the pain and their cloudy visions, they were all crawling for the chance to escape as I walked in their direction with my sadistic smile that had automatically appeared on my face.

"I...no.."

"We get it...we're not coming back here..."

"You...you can keep the girl and the kid but let us go..."

They were all trying to save their miserable lives, but I had no desire to spare them. Being caught up in time, I was going to settle for killing them quickly even though I dreamed of torturing them.

*There will be other opportunities kufufu~*

I stood before them as they lay in their blood at my feet, weak, pleading and miserable.

"I'm not keeping anything at all, they are not objects."

My emotionless voice was the last thing they heard before my katana sliced their heads off without hesitation or mercy.

-- PING --

[ You have earned 2,000 EXP for killing 4 humans ]

Approaching Luna as the notification rang in my mind, I could see her looking at me with eyes full of fear, admiration and gratitude. The little bunny was clinging to her and didn't even dare look at me as I asked them a question.

"Do you know where the resistance fighters, that are fighting the humans are ?"

As she nodded her head at me a wild smile appeared on my face.

*Finally...the real work begins !*

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FULL STATUS

Name : Freya

Age : 0 years old / Mentally : 25 years old

Sex : Female

Course : Ice Demon Wolf of chaos - Adult

Race : Major Demon

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

Dragon tamer

Ruthless slayer

Level : 32/70

Exp required for next level: 2 000 / 33 000

HP : 90 000 / 90 000 MP : 40 000 / 45 000

Strength : 340

Defense : 336

Agility : 350

Stamina : 353

Speed : 342

Intelligence : 340

Charisma : 410 (imperial she-wolf)

Attribute points to allocate : 0

Engaged to: Gaya

Daughter : Shiro

Kingdom (menu)

Subordinates : 102

Humans killed : 128

Elements: Ice / Chaos

Skills (all):

Attack - Demon Claws (Lvl 5)

- Bite of hell (Lvl 5)

- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 5)

- Fighting techniques (lvl max)

- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)

- Demonic aura of the empress (lvl 3)

Defense - Ice demon wall (lvl 4)

- Demonic cloak (lvl 5)

Pain Resistance (lvl 3)

Attack/Defense - Domain of the Ice Empress "frozen wrath" (lvl 1) - (under condition)

Others - Humanoid form

- Ice creation (Lvl 4)

- Storage of chaos (Lvl 3)

- Devouring Chaos (Lvl 4)

- Analysis

- Second soul (Lvl max) - unique

- Telepathy

Passives - Commander (lvl max)

- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]