Chapter 76 Run Princess Run
-- POV General --
While Freya was having a good time with her family, the group of adventurers had just left Yarlford to go to the Dark Forest. It would take them about 3 days to reach the edge of the forest and another 3 days to get to the path that led to the ruins.
"Alright let\'s go !"
All of the adventurers were in their carts and leaving the city towards their destination. During those few days of break, while Freya\'s coronation and wedding had taken place, the Princess had procured a few things. She still wore her half-mask and white cape, but had replaced her skirt with dark blue pants, and some light armor. Alayna had also thought of buying some medical supplies, food and drink, and two extra daggers.
This time she was not next to Sarah because since her words at their arrival in Yarlford, Alayna had stopped talking to her much, too uncomfortable. The leader had not insisted because she was currently focused on the mystery surrounding her brother\'s death and thought she would deal with Alayna later.
The wind was blowing and while everyone was busy talking with their group, the young Princess was more stressed than ever. Once the forest was in sight, she still had it in mind to escape into it with the idea of finding as many half-humans as possible. This plan seemed like nothing more than suicide, but she thought she could talk to them. Alayna had never really conversed with anyone other than humans and was counting on the information she had to keep them from hurting her. Several things scared her. The fact that all of these people would be captured, killed, and the fact that she wasn\'t sure she would make it back alive after entering the forest. But what frightened her even more was being ignored, not being listened to as powerful adventurers headed right for them.
"This is the hardest thing I\'ve ever had to do.."
The beautiful blue-eyed young woman whispered and shook slightly as the entire group was on their way. She was being tossed back and forth in the cart because of the dirt road but her mind was elsewhere. Alayna at that moment had no idea that someone whose name she didn\'t even know had seen through her all this time.
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The adventurers and the Princess had been traveling for three days now. Alayna still hadn\'t spoken to the others once and was thinking of just slipping away. The edge of the forest was in sight and it would only take a few minutes for them to finally start walking along it. The trees were already visible on the horizon, illuminated by the bright and beautiful rising sun. The group of humans had already been traveling for a few hours, as they had all gotten up very early to get to the southern path leading to the ruins as quickly as possible. In front of them was Sarah, who this time was in the presence of a bearded man, 55 years old.
His name was Vig and he was the second strongest of the group with his level 32. He was not very talkative if not mute and was quite scary. Vig never wore clothes on top, his body was extremely muscular and there were multiple scars on his back, chest and arms. The adventurer was very tall, had gray mid-length hair that fell over his scarred face. Vig even had the distinction of wearing a right eye patch, which didn\'t help to make him any less terrifying. He was barefoot and the only clothing he wore was a pair of brown leather pants with a black rope belt.
Vig also carried a large sword and shield always strapped to his back, which he only took out to fight. Until now, each of his opponents who had seen him take his fighting stance was no longer there to witness it. The human called "the barbarian" at the guild, looked like a gladiator and nobody dared to get too close.
Sarah, unlike the others, had gone to talk to him without difficulty in order to recruit him into her group for the mission. She had spotted him for his very imposing physique, his experience, his discretion and because she wanted him to join her group at the end of the trip. The leader was sitting next to him and was talking with a palpable animosity in her voice.
"If you only knew how much I can\'t wait to slaughter all these f*cking scum ! Blood calls for blood, I will stain this forest with their entrails !"
Sarah, while guiding the horse with her reindeer, seemed to be talking to herself as Vig did not respond. He had been in Sarah\'s group since the beginning of the mission and now the leader had gotten used to this kind of conversation even though in no way were the two adventurers close. She was just happy to be able to talk to someone who would only listen to her without saying stupid things. So the black-haired woman was talking and Vig was listening.
"If only I had followed Kirk...if only these subraces had never existed ! May I burn in Hell if all this garbage isn\'t locked up or killed in the next few weeks !"
The man looked at her with his able-bodied left eye, silently and unmoving. He still seemed calm, disconnected and at the same time attentive. Sarah was animated with indescribable rage and hatred, her eyes were flashing in the distance and her palm was bloody. The leader clenched her fists so tightly that her fingernails were digging through her skin, dripping blood down her slender fingers.
"I can\'t even count the number of lives I\'ve taken with my sword. I remember once when a little half-human cat lost his parents and that I gouged out his eyes so he couldn\'t cry anymore HAHAHA~! I can\'t wait to be able to rampage through this forest and remind those who killed my brother that humans are and will remain on top !"
As she turned to Vig, she asked him a question with a disturbing smile filled with unhealthy cruelty.
"How many subraces have you killed already ? I guess with the physique and strength you have, you must have done some genocide in your life hahaha~"
Sarah had her head tilted back and laughed out loud as she elbowed Vig still motionless and silent. As she stopped laughing, the man dipped his single black eye into Sarah\'s as he shook his head.
"Uh...okay."
The leader didn\'t really know what he meant by shaking his head but didn\'t ask him for more details because deep down she didn\'t care.
Alayna in the cart at the back, had not lost a bit of the conversation and was not even surprised by Sarah\'s words. Although her words made her tremble every time, they also gave her a lot of strength to continue. The Princess knew about the hatred that the leader had for other races and after traveling with her, these kinds of words were commonplace. As Alayna looked up, she met Vig\'s eyes, who was silently watching her. The adventurer had stared at her for a few seconds before suddenly shifting his gaze to the road where several silhouettes could be seen in the distance.
"Attention everyone, there are people on the side of the road !"
Sarah, who had also spotted the five silhouettes that seemed to be clustered around one on the ground, as the leader, warned everyone.
As the adventurers approached, they could see that these five were wearing large capes and trying to help another injured one. Seeing the group of humans approaching, they all rushed to help the one on the ground but in the panic, no one could really help. As the black haired woman stopped her horse right in front of them, she dismounted to approach them.
"Do you need help ? We are from Yarlford and we may have something to help your companions."
The people in front of her had their backs to her and as the one closest to her was about to refuse, a blade shot through the air, cutting through the hood.
"Uh-oh, what do we have here ?"
Sarah had cut through the fabric, revealing ears that were anything but human.
"And to think I almost let my guard down ! tsk"
As the leader\'s face had changed drastically, she had spat at the feet of the totally terrified half-humans. Appreciating the despair that was beginning to appear in their eyes, Sarah stayed at a distance and smiled dangerously.
All of the adventurers had risen and were standing behind their leader and just like her, most of them were giggling, causing even more tremors in these poor creatures.
"We...we don\'t want any trouble...please my...my son is hurt.."
The one who had spoken was the elf who had lost his hood. He had long blond hair and his long ears were now uncovered. The group in distress in front of these humans was none other than a family of elves, who had come to take refuge in the forest before one of the children fell into a hole and broke his leg. The father fell to his knees as he begged the adventurers to let them live before the horrified eyes of the Princess.
"Please, at least let us heal him ! You...you can capture me afterwards if...if you let my family go...please..."
The leader had a face filled with disgust and disdain as she replied.
"But who told you that we wanted to capture you ? And what do I care if your kid dies ? I just needed to get over my nerves, you\'re just in time hahaha~!"
While Sarah laughed hysterically and the elf begged with tears in his eyes, Alayna froze. The sacrifice of this father offering himself in place of his family reminded her of those who had marked her for life. She had always been discreet during the trip, always in the back, always silent...but not today. Regaining her wits and without thinking, the young human Princess rushed to make a wall of her body between the woman and the family.
"No !"
She had reacted knowingly, under the emotion of her heart screaming at her to help them. Alayna stood there, in front of all those adventurers who stared at her and those elves who no longer understood anything.
"You can\'t ! They didn\'t do anything to you, don\'t hurt them !"
Sarah was the one who looked the most shocked, her expression had changed to a slightly sadder one. As she digested the information, the twins on the side spoke up.
"Young lady, if you don\'t want trouble...
...I advise you to get out of the way !"
The two sisters were still finishing each other\'s sentences and were perfectly in sync. Alayna, who hadn\'t moved, would pull out her dagger with a shudder before answering them.
"I...I will not move !"
Sarah who had come to her senses, would raise her hand to indicate to the other adventurers to be quiet before speaking in a soft voice.
"Luna...I understand that this is difficult for you but it is what it is. Don\'t let their heartbreaking pseudo-shows fool you, deep down they..."
"I DON\'T CARE ! How can you all be so insensitive ? The real monsters are all of you who accept such things ! Am I the only one who sees that this is not normal ? Why do you have to hate people who are different ? You are just a bunch of heartless hypocrites and it is you who should die in their place ! "
For the first time, the Princess had raised her voice, staring at Sarah with eyes full of anger and fear. All those words she had never dared to say. All those emotions she had never dared to express. All the frustration, the anger, the sadness that she had accumulated were out in that very moment and Alayna didn\'t regret anything. She was trembling, she was afraid, but she was also determined, courageous and although naive, her heart was filled with compassion.
The leader, after hearing Alayna answer her with that tone, had completely changed her voice. It had become cold, dismissive and angry.
"YOU ! You\'re just a miserable little b*tch who thinks she knows everything about the world ! You don\'t stand a chance against us, so don\'t impose your pitiful moods on us. If you keep this up, I\'ll have no trouble killing you along with those dirty rats. Finally...you weren\'t so special...tsk...what a disappointment !"
As she finished her sentence, Sarah raised her arm as one of the twins whispered to prepare her magic.
"This is your last chance...either you are with us...or you are against us. Make up your mind !"
Alayna knew the situation was anything but good, she hadn\'t planned on running into half-humans and going up against all the adventurers. Still, she didn\'t regret the choice she had made because she could never have stood not moving.
"Go, go as far as you can !"
As she turned to yell at the elves to run away, the father nodded.
"Goodbye Luna..."
Sarah whispered these words as a fireball from behind came hurtling towards the Princess. Just as Alayna was determined to gain as much time as possible at the cost of her life, a huge sword appeared out of nowhere blocking the deadly attack. In front of the young Princess, stood Vig who had protected her.
Turning around, for the first time, Alayna could hear his voice whispering a single word.
"Run !"
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FULL STATUS
Name : Freya
Age: 0 years / Mentally: 25 years
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 : 33/70
Exp required for next level: 100 / 34 000
HP : 90 000 / 90 000 MP : 45 000 / 45 000
Strength : 425
Defense : 421
Agility : 435
Stamina : 428
Speed : 427
Intelligence : 425
Charisma : 410 (imperial she-wolf)
Attribute points to allocate : 0
Married to: Gaya
Daughter : Shiro
Empire (menu)
Subordinates : 387
Humans killed : 148
Elements: Ice / Chaos
Skills (all):
Attack - Demon Claws (Lvl 5)
- Bite of hell (Lvl 5)
- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 6)
- Fighting techniques (lvl max)
- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)
- Demonic aura of the empress (lvl 5)
Defense - Ice demon wall (lvl 6)
- 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 5)
- Storage of chaos (Lvl 4)
- Devouring chaos (Lvl 5)
- Analysis
- Second soul (Lvl max) - unique
- Telepathy
Mana detection (lvl 1)
Passives - Commander (lvl max)
- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]