Over the past month, Freya had been going through her final augmentations to make herself even stronger. Freya had felt the power that both Jason and Gina held when she was at the Stone Catacombs and she knew that in her previous state she would have lost to them in a one-on-one battle, so the moment she returned to Machina, she immediately went to the scientists and asked for her final augmentations to be done so that she would grow from an SS-Rank into an SSS-Rank. It was almost unheard of for any Machina to want to carry out so many augmentations at such a quick pace, and the scientists were hesitant to help Freya do what she wanted, but Freya knew how strong her Cybertronic Gene was, and after she managed to convince the Emissary to vouch for her, the scientists were eventually convinced to carry out the augmentations.
Now, after the augmentations, Freya felt even more proud of her body and the sheer power that she could feel flowing through her! Freya had already replaced her arms and eyes with mechanical parts, but now she had also replaced her legs, lungs, and heart with mechanical parts as well, and from the tests that she had done, Freya knew that she was one of the fastest Machina in the entire army! Freya’s augmentations had allowed her to rise from a mere SS-Rank into the rank of a General, and that was what gave her the privilege of sitting in this room with the other Generals.
"We must attack him decisively. Jason Marc has made a fool of our army one too many times, and we cannot allow this to stand. If we do not catch him and parade him before the rest of our domain soon, then we will become laughing stocks."
The man who spoke was a bulky general known as Yuva, and he was the General in charge of the third battalion in the army. Opposite Yuva, a second General called Uron spoke up calmly.
"We must be careful in our next approach. Jason has already proven that he is not someone we can underestimate, so rushing in for an attack will only lead to more disaster. Besides, I don’t think anyone here is unaware of the region of our Primordial Domain that we are entering. This territory belongs to the Beast of the Apocalypse, and there is every chance that we might run into it if we attack blindly."
Freya found herself nodding along to Uron’s words. Even though this was the first time Freya would ever be coming this far away from her home world, she had already heard stories and folklore about the Beast of the Apocalypse. Apparently, there wasn’t a lot of information on the beast or what it could really do since anyone who came in contact with it is immediately killed, but from what she had heard, it was the most powerful entity in this part of the Primordial Domain and even the Overlord Rubik would have trouble battling a monster like that.
Yuva scoffed in amusement when he heard Uron speaking about the Beast of the Apocalypse, and he spoke with a condescending sneer.
"Don’t tell me you actually believe that nonsense. No one has seen that beast in centuries, and all the stories surrounding it are nothing but myths from travelling bards. Thinking about it logically, is it not possible that the stories of this monster have been greatly exaggerated for cinematic effects?"
The gathered Generals suddenly erupted in discussion and arguments, with some of them claiming that the Beast was something that they had to look out for and others agreeing with Yuva and saying that the Beast was nothing to worry about! They had to find Jason and bring him back, so they didn’t have time to deal with some beast! This continued for a few seconds before the General at the head of the long table finally spoke up in a deep mechanical voice that cut straight through the arguments.
"Silence. Arguing about pointless matters will only cost us precious time. It is like Yuva said, we must bring Jason to justice as quickly as possible. This is the first time that an Enigma would elude us for so long, and if it continues, then news of it will reach the other worlds in our Domain. But Uron is also right about the need for caution. Our Probes have been taking readings of the territory belonging to the Beast of the Apocalypse, and from what we’ve seen, there is nothing dangerous within that region. There is a high likelihood that the beast is not within its territory, so we have to take this opportunity before the situation changes. Yuva, Gilla, you two will be our main Vanguard. You will take your men and track Jason down as quickly as possible before relaying his position to the rest of us. Once we encounter him, Uron and Freya will take their battalions and keep an eye out on the landscape for any signs of movement while the rest of us take him into custody."
Freya perked up when she heard her name being called! As one of the newer members of the Generals, she was always eager to prove herself, and she felt a sense of responsibility blossom from deep inside her when the tough-looking General Uron looked at her and nodded in confirmation! Freya nodded back at him while trying not to allow a smile take over her features, and she turned back to listen to the rest of the head general’s words. The head general gave the rest of the Generals their own roles, and he divided the battalion into a reasonable number of units for the attack before he finally called the end of the meeting and told them to prepare to move out. Freya had a smile on her face as she stepped out of the meeting tent and began to head towards her personal tent. The mission that she had been given didn’t seem like it was a big deal, but she knew that the success she would achieve would allow her to receive even larger missions in the future, and it wouldn’t be long before she is able to join the ranks of the personal bodyguards who are closest to the Overlord! Today was just the first step towards the end goal! Freya nodded to some of her men who were standing around as she made her way to her tent, and in her excitement, Freya would have never been able to predict that this would be the day she died.
....
[The world of Hanir]
For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a thick layer of blue ice! Jason let out a cold breath and squinted against the glare of the snow as he looked around calmly with the blood-red eye of his [Predator’s Gaze]. The sky was covered with a dark layer of clouds that blocked out the sun, so visibility was very low, and it was only Jason’s advanced eyesight that allowed him to even see where he was going.
’How far am I?’
Jason asked this question as he started to walk again, and the system came back with a response.
[The location of the next Dimensional Tear is exactly five hundred miles north of the user’s current location.]
Jason hummed at that news, and he picked up his pace as he flashed over the landscape in a blur of movement! Jason didn’t know what to think of this world. This was the first time that Jason would be crossing a world that was so desolate and quiet, and in a way, it seemed very wrong for a world to be like this. There were always the sounds of natural organisms or some loud cry from a beast that allowed Jason to know that he was surrounded by nature, but here, there was absolutely nothing. No matter how far Jason listened or travelled, the only thing that greeted him was silence and cold.