Jane appeared in an unfamiliar room, laying on the floor with one person staring at her. Once she got her bearings she suddenly realised that the person staring at her was someone much stronger than her.
Quickly getting up from the ground she pulled her sword out of reflex, but the person merely reacted by pinching its tip.
"Ara~ No need to be so feisty." A very seductive voice echoed out, which only made Jane more uncomfortable.
"Who are you?" Scanning the person in front of her, she saw a blonde she-wolf with jewel-like green eyes. The she-wolf was in a military uniform which could only mean one person.
"Oh my I thought my reputation preceded me… the name is Freja, the ruler of the Freya forest and you, my friend, have somehow teleported into my throne room." Letting go of Jane's blade she did a small bow as she wanted to get Jane's trust.
Her guest may be human, but the fact she teleported here must mean she is someone close to one of Freja's friends.
"Huh? You're THE Freja? The one that killed the mythical tier 10 creature when she was only at tier 9?" Jane lowered her sword, scanning Freja from top to bottom. There was no doubt that it was her as she fit the description perfectly.
"Good to see that no one has forgotten, now may I get your name lovely lady~? Seems like you have just come out of a very… tight situation." Freja noticed all the scruff marks and messy hair, so it must have been dire if she had to teleport away, especially since she is a tier 9 herself.
"I'm Jane, a blacksmith and a friend of Himeko, who gave me a teleport stone in case I desperately need an out. Still, I didn't expect to find myself here." Jane hoped Himeko had not got her in a death trap as the fox realm isn't so friendly with humans because of the church.
"Ohhh Cecilia's friend, now it makes sense that you have a stone, well don't worry I'll treat you like a guest, but please do tell me what led you to use the stone." Freja was incredibly curious about what was going on as looking at Jane's uniform it looked like she was one of the 20 admirals of the church.
'Hope this doesn't involve the fight in the demon lands. That would either mean it is going horribly wrong or the demons are winning. I do hope it's the latter but….' Freja gave it the benefit of the doubt, but for someone as strong as Jane to retreat in such a desperate manner seemed odd unless she was fighting the demon queen herself.
"I-I… Okay." Jane felt like she couldn't say no as Freja was very authoritative yet somehow also seductive at the same time. It was a weird dynamic, but Jane felt like Freja's words wrapped around and pulled her in.
"Maids! Get Jane cleaned up and take her to the lounge."
Jane's intuition was more on point than she realised as Freja was already putting her charms to work. Luckily for Freja Jane was not aware of her tendencies when it came to women just yet. Freja wouldn't impose if Jane was taken, but as far as she knew Jane was single making her free reign.
Still, there was a time and place for everything, so if the situation turned out to be something major then she would get serious. For now however, the hunter inside of her couldn't help it.
Suddenly maids came out from behind pillars, a fact which confused Jane since said pillars were very thin and would be unable to hide the poofy maid dresses. However, before Jane could question anything the maids got work cleaning her up with magic.
She was also lifted up into the air by one of the maids and moved towards the lounge while the other maids continued to do their work. Jane was amazed by their efficiency as before she even left the throne room she was already cleaned up.
Her dirty clothes were somehow washed without her feeling a drop of water as if she had a shower in a mere couple of seconds. Distracted by the maids' abilities, she suddenly found herself on a very comfortable couch in front of Freja.
"Amazing right? All handpicked by me." Freja saw the amazed look on Jane and couldn't help but brag about it.
"You have a great eye, I would kill to have maids like them." Jane, being a blacksmith, always found herself needing to stop to clean, but with maids like Freja there would be no reason to stop.
"Moving on, tell me what is going on in the Demon lands." Freja figured she would be blunt knowing the kind of position Jane held.
*Gulp* "Well, the Pope has revealed he can use dark magic and used it to possess one of the dead admirals. He became far stronger than we could handle, pretty much killing everyone except me and possibly 3 others, but I have no idea if they survived." Initially, Jane doubted if Freja knew of the assault on the Demon lands, but that question alone told Jane not to underestimate Freja's intelligence.
"Shit." Freja's attitude suddenly changed completely. Hearing dark magic was used out in the open meant he was no longer going to hide. There were also the girls and Silver in the dungeon of which he might now be aware.
Jane stayed silent, not knowing if she should speak more as the air suddenly got tense.
"Do you know what's going on with the demon queen?" Freja hoped that Elaina was the only one fighting Klaus as no one else would last even a second.
"From what I know they are duelling as we speak." Jane started feeling nervous as it seemed like Freja believed there was something more going on than just a fight between leaders.
'I'm going to have to postpone breaking the barrier over the fox realm castle.' Freja had some plans while the group was away, but it seemed like she needed to bring her attention to the Demon lands.
'System, am I able to use the item boxes to give exp boosts?' Freja didn't want to rush things, but things were becoming desperate.
[Sorry, they cannot be used on other people that are not part of your system's network] A black screen appeared in front of her which only aggravated Freja.
"U-umm Freja?" Jane didn't know what was going on, but it felt like she did something wrong.
"Oh sorry dear, just thinking things over. The mere thought of the Pope tends to unnerve me." Freja almost forgot she was with Jane.
"I really didn't want this to happen, but he forced us all to and now half of us are already dead at his hands." Jane felt a degree of responsibility since she was technically a part of the church and hoped Freja didn't hold it against her.
"It's alright, you will be safe here, but frankly I need to go and help the demon queen. As strong as she is there is no way the pope is going down, especially if he is using dark magic. Even I'm not sure if we can beat him, but if we can drive him away it will be our win." Freja decided she would leave to go fight. She owed a favour to Elaina anyway so no better time to repay her.
"Wait, do you know anything about Himeko?" It just occurred to Jane that Freja knew Himeko so there was a chance that Freja knew of Himeko's whereabouts.
"She is alive and well and is currently in the Demon lands dungeon. I will bring her back here after I'm done so sit tight." Freja smiled, happy to share that Himeko was alive. Relief washed over Jane, but also panic since Himeko was currently in the Demon lands.
"Please do whatever you can." Jane had almost lost everything in a single day, so knowing her best friend was still alive was her last ray of hope, which only made her fear losing it as well.
"No need to ask, I got a few disciples with her so it's in my best interest as well. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask the maids and they will assist you. Also, if you see any wild women walking about, don't mind them." Freja gave Jane one last warning before vanishing on the spot. There was no more time to waste as there was no telling when Klaus would overpower the demon queen.
Dark magic being as unpredictable as it was, a single spell could be her undoing, especially if Kluas was adept at it.
Jane felt a little overwhelmed with the sudden change in environment, but she at least felt safe. With so many big things happening in such a short time, the only thing she was sure of now was that her home was no longer safe. There was no longer anywhere she belonged.
Everything she valued was still at her smithy. Even if she left right now to go fetch things, the core of her forge could not be moved. Her city was built around a volcano that was on the east side of Elysium. She used the magma as a furnace since the metals she used needed heat beyond what most magic could offer.
'Let's just rest, I feel exhausted.' Jane leaned into the couch and found herself drifting. The fatigue finally caught up with her, forcing her body to shutdown on its own.
***
<Demon lands>
Appearing by the castle, Freja instantly felt where the battle between Elania and Klaus was happening. Flying through the air as fast as she could, she appeared just above the battle making her presence known and causing them to briefly pause.
"Long time no see Klaus."
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