Freya’s Arrival and Saranya’s Awakening

A female knight unfurled the snow-white wings on her back, her armor gleaming with a lustrous sheen. Embedded in the center of her breastplate, a sea-star shaped aquamarine gem shimmered with a hazy, flowing light.

Hovering above the pit, she angled her body, her cape cascading down and scattering countless fireflies like fragmented gauze.

She surveyed the arena with a solemn gaze, her perfectly proportioned profile and towering, proud stature creating the illusion of a living sculpture.

“So big… no, so tall…”

Perched on Freya’s shoulders, over two meters high, Paresha felt like a doll. She glanced down at the ground, a shiver running through her, and instinctively clutched onto the towering knight.

“Do not touch my hair.”

Freya raised a hand to brush away Paresha’s touch, lightly shaking her milky-white long hair as if shedding feathers.

Beneath an elegant blue crystal forehead ornament, her brows subtly furrowed, and below her equally milky-white long lashes, a hint of displeasure flickered in her molten-gold eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Thank you for answering my summons. May I ask your name…?”

“My name… I am Freya, a Tidesworn Guardian from Vortex Isle in the Inner Abyssal Sea. Why have you summoned me?”

Freya retracted her wings, lowering herself, then gently lifted Paresha by the nape of her neck as if she were a kitten, placing her carefully on the ground.

Regardless of the meaning behind Freya’s origins and titles, they were certainly not of this mortal realm; she was undoubtedly a familiar from another plane.

According to the ritual magic process, after summoning a familiar, a witch needed to employ various means to compel it to assist them, such as suppressing it with special magical artifacts, promising certain rewards, or even threatening to destroy it outright to force the familiar into servitude and contract.

Paresha looked up at the expressionless, solemn Freya, then glanced at the heavy halberd in her hand, glinting menacingly. Her throat bobbed, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

“Uh…”

Before she could figure out how to speak, Freya spoke first:

“Hurry! I am busy. The Black Witch has already settled the contract with me. You only need to state your request!”

So that was it!

Hearing that Teacher Kaelan had already handled the contract for her, Paresha’s eyes lit up, and she pointed towards the corrupted one in the arena:

“I hope you can help eliminate that demon! Please, Lady Freya!”

“You summoned me all this way, only to eliminate this little pest…?”

After discerning the corrupted one’s form, Freya’s expression turned cold, her sharp gaze piercing Paresha as she prepared to question her. However, the next second, her eyes shifted to Saranya, who lay collapsed nearby, and her expression subtly changed.

“This scent?! Hmph, so be it…”

****

“Our Lady Goddess! Is that our Lady Goddess?!”

“It’s an avatar! The avatar of the Pale Moon Goddess has descended!”

Not only the spectators, but even the divine guards on the field erupted in commotion:

“By my mother’s spinning pot (TL Note: A colloquial exclamation of surprise or exasperation, similar to ‘Oh my goodness’ or ‘Holy cow.’)… Miss Paresha truly lives up to her reputation as a long-standing deacon of our sanctuary. It seems she genuinely has received the favor of our Lady Goddess!”

The voices near Saranya’s ears were initially indistinct, then gradually grew clear.

She slowly opened her eyes, immediately spotting Paresha and the tall, imposing familiar knight.

“Mmm…”

It seemed everyone had mistaken the familiar for the Pale Moon Goddess, which would undoubtedly be a significant advantage for Paresha’s priestess selection. As Paresha’s teacher, Kaelan was indeed quite cunning in her calculations.

“Warrior, you have not surrendered yet, have you?”

“Y-yes…”

Saranya scrambled to her feet, only then noticing the pure white magical energy swirling around her. Under the magic’s influence, her wounds, though not healed, had all stopped bleeding, and much of her pain and fatigue had vanished.

‘What is this? Shouldn’t that familiar be assisting Paresha? Why would it inexplicably intervene to save me?’

“Elves are naturally the best magic users, but compared to other elven branches, we High Elves are magically barren, reduced to magical slaves for other elves, devoid of dignity or worth… It was an ancestor who, after enduring countless trials, combined martial arts with magic, thereby forging a path of cultivation for us, ensuring the High Elven race would no longer live dependent on others, like pigs and dogs.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Yet you, a human, lack even the ability to draw and contain magic, yet you have been forcibly transformed into a magic s*ave through such brutal means. Separated from your host, you would not even possess the ability to survive on your own, making your plight even more tragic than that of my kin in ages past…”

“How do you know?!”

“My eyes are clear as a mirror. Tell me, who transformed you like this? Was it that Black Witch above? What other benefits could she gain by doing this, besides treating you as a plaything beneath her feet and satisfying her twisted desires?! I cannot fathom it; it truly seems she is quite perverse…”

‘My master… only wants to treat me as a plaything?’

Saranya choked, her cheeks flushed crimson and her eyes brimming with tears at Freya’s words:

“My relationship with my master… is none of your concern!”

“You are a strong warrior. You should live your entire life pursuing your own justice, and truly should not endure such humiliation. Therefore, I can help you escape all of this.”

“Eh?”

‘Escape all of this?’

‘Is it possible…’

This great knight before her appeared cold, yet she actually exuded a sense of lawful good, so she probably wouldn’t lie.

‘Still, for her to suddenly tell me to leave my master…’

“Do you agree?”

Saranya pressed her lips together, her breathing quickening. Before she could reply, the white magical energy swirling around her suddenly converged, pressing eagerly against her chest.

[Saranya, do not agree to Freya!]

In her mind, her master was practically roaring a warning.

“Wait!”

Saranya immediately spoke, but it was too late; the magical light had already surged into her body.

She clutched her chest, feeling an immense pressure rapidly expanding within her, as if her entire upper body would explode…

“Ahhhhhh—”

“What’s happening with that female swordswoman?”

“No way?! Our Lady Goddess has blessed her!”

“Woah, who is she? What incredible luck!”

“With this, she’ll definitely be revered by the Moon-Marked Sect’s sanctuary! It’s not impossible for her to replace Phillo as the highest divine guard!”

Freya stood still, watching Saranya gradually adapt to the magical energy coursing through her body, and slowly curved her lips into a faint smile:

“Saranya… your name is Saranya, what a beautiful name…”

Just as Saranya managed to steady herself, Kaelan’s sweet yet deadly voice suddenly appeared in her mind, imbued with magic that made her knees weak and her pupils contract.

[Freya, I will only say this once: every inch of this child, inside and out, is my private property… you had best withdraw immediately.]

As if Kaelan’s presence wasn’t enough, now Freya could also speak directly into her mind:

[Kaelan, you promised in the contract that as long as I assisted Paresha, I could decide on all other matters myself. I have now decided to bestow my power upon Saranya, simply because I favor warriors like her. Is that not permissible?]

[Get lost! Don’t touch her! I don’t want her tainted with your stench!]

[You have no right to speak like that. She is the one I have chosen.]

[She is mine!]

[Hmph.]

Saranya wore a tear-streaked face, forced to listen as Kaelan and Freya bickered in her mind as if on a public broadcast, all while witnessing the distant battle grow increasingly desperate.

Paresha, Phillo, and Aivy, even working together, could barely hold off the corrupted one. Under these circumstances, she had to quickly go and assist them.

‘It’s time to test my persuasion skills! I need to come up with something that will gain Freya’s support while also appeasing my jealous master…’

‘She only wanted to acquire Freya’s power. As for the other party’s feelings afterward? She couldn’t care less.’

“Freya! If you want to give me power, I will simply accept it. Right now, the most important thing for me is to help my companions; that is the justice I pursue!”

“Very well… Go. I will teach you how to use this power during the battle.”

Having received Freya’s permission, Saranya picked up her greatsword and regulated her breathing.

[Saranya, how dare you!]

Just as Kaelan’s enormous rage began to ignite, Saranya immediately poured a bucket of cool, sweet dew upon it.

She made a dangerous attempt, guiding the magical energy within her, allowing the magic patterns on her skin to manifest on their own.

The winding magic patterns climbed onto her exposed shoulders and neck, continued up her flushed cheeks, and even made her moist eyes glimmer faintly:

“Master… Master is such a fool. Even if I gain more power, how could this body of mine… ever leave Master?”

The alluring magic patterns, which had started as a small spot on her abdomen and had been cultivated by her master to now cover her entire upper body, could no longer be erased…

The moment her master tugged the chains, she knew exactly how to twist her body to their rhythm, prostrating herself at their feet to please them with her tongue…

She knew when her master desired her, when she should passively endure, and when she could actively press herself onto her master…

Although the two had never had true intimate contact, this clearly abnormal physical relationship had, by now, developed to a considerably depraved extent…

She had long since been shaped by her master. As she was now, even if she wanted to, she likely had no other place to go, did she?