Chapter 784: Intermission: Far North Star ~ ~ The Girl Reaching Out for the Moon ~ ~ (1/2)

<Author's Notes>

My apologies. I've been in a bit of a slump, and my writing hasn't been progressing well, so I'm going to post an intermission chapter that I was originally planning to post after the beach arc.

I think this arc will end after about 3 chapters.

It was…… a common tragedy in the Demon Realm. Before the Phantasmal King brought order to the Demon Realm, incidents like this had already happened many times before.

High-ranking Demons, Peerage holders, Six Kings. When one thinks of the Demon Realm, one would think of these beings with great power. However, as a matter of course, there are also weak Demons who don't have the ability to fight.

That's why, yes, it's not that rare. It's a common occurrence that happens every year, but for the people involved…… They were tragic incidents where ”a weak being is attacked by a Demon”.

It was…… a tragedy that changed the fate of a girl about 18,000 years ago.

The girl wasn't anyone special. She was born from a relatively common race within the Demon Realm, and lived an ordinary, but happy life.

She was loved by her family, blessed by friends, and lived an uneventful life. But one day, tragedy struck her life.

She went for a walk alone in the forest near her town, and was attacked by a Demon on the way. Naturally, the forest near the town is regularly being purged of threats by the town's high-ranking Demons, so there are no dangerous Demons living there. If there were any, they would be low-ranking Demons that even the girl could manage to deal with.

To put it simply, the girl was ”unlucky”. Yes, it just so happened that a number of unfortunate factors came together that day.

A wounded but strong Demon that had been defeated in a territorial dispute had drifted in from a distant land, and was recuperating their wounds in the forest.

The High-ranking Demon who was in charge of the town's security that day wasn't very good at Wide-area Detection, and failed to detect the weakened Demon's magic power.

And the place where the Demon was lurking happened to coincide with the girl's walking course.

The series of coincidences turned into a threat to her life. The girl was unlucky, but she wasn't stupid.

When she saw the Demon, she recognized that she couldn't handle them, and immediately turned tail and ran away. Holding unto the faint hope that she could escape to the town and be saved……

However, reality is a cruel thing, and the girl was easily overtaken by the Demon. The difference in their strength was obvious, and the girl could do nothing but cry and tremble, fearing her imminent death.

Originally, the girl's life would have ended there…… had it not been for a single miracle……

As the girl was prepared to die, an ice flower bloomed at the edge of her vision————- and the Death King Isis Remnant appeared. Isis' appearance at that place was yet another coincidence.

The Death King had the hobby of collecting memorabilia. The only reason she was there was that the thing she's seeking for was in this forest.

Although her appearance was a coincidence, Isis understood the situation as soon as she arrived and eliminated the Demon that was about to attack the girl literally in an instant.

And then, applying Recovery Magic to the injured girl, who may have fallen while running away, she asked her if she was alright……

But the girl's response to her actions…… was ”scream” and ”escape”. The moment she heard Isis' voice, the girl let out a throat-cracking scream and turning away from Isis, she ran away.

It was a natural result, and for Isis, who was clad in magic power of death…… It's a sight she's seen many times before.

That's why Isis looked sad for only a moment, but quickly thinking that it was just the usual, she moved on to find the memorabilia again.

For the girl's savior, it was just an ordinary ”everyday incident”.

But for the girl who was saved at that time, it was an ”extraordinary incident” that may or may not happen once in a lifetime, and one that she would later ”extremely regret”.