Demon Continent, The Forbidden Edge.
A beautiful woman was standing on the edge of the continent. Despite being from the demon continent, she didn’t have a single trace of miasma in her body.
Instead, her body was greedily absorbing mana from the environment.
The amount of mana in the demon continent is miniscule, as it’s filled with miasma, due to which her body was taking a lot of time to gather enough mana.
Her pink hair swayed in the cold wind, and the pink foxtail made her look extremely beautiful and seductive.
"I never thought a day like this would come... to think I would also one day stand at the ’Forbidden Edge’..."
Aurora felt complicated emotions rise in her heart as she stood on that massive glacier while looking at the partially frozen sea.
This is the edge of the demon continent; if someone wants to go to the other continents, they will have to go through here.
"I don’t want to get entangled with the Elves though... I am not in my best condition..."
Directly north of the demon continent is the elf continent, where the elf empire is, and elves hate demons much more than other races.
To prevent any demon from coming to their nation, an Elven SS-ranker is always stationed near the southern edge of the elf continent, who guards the area and never lets demons enter.
Elves kill demons on sight and don’t even bother talking or negotiating, as all races in the world know that talking and negotiating with demons is pointless.
Moreover, elves have the best long-range attacking capabilities in the world, which means they can always attack from far away without ever needing to show up on the actual battlefield.
The edge of the demon continent facing towards the elf continent is called the ’Forbidden Edge’ because all demons who try to leave the continent from this route end up getting hit by the elves’ sniping attacks.
The death rate on this route is more than 99 percent, due to which demons call this place the Forbidden Edge.
It’s so heavily guarded that even if you deal with the SS-ranker stationed in the south of the elf continent more will soon be dispatched by the awakener association instantly.
All of these measures are to prevent demon army invasions that happen nearly every year.
Despite all this security, massive waves of demons try to invade and cross the forbidden edge and wage wars in the coastal cities that are nearest to this place.
In history, elves have suffered the most demon invasions, as their continent’s southern edge is very close to the demon continent’s northern edge, which makes it easier to invade.
’I always used to think that I will just help him and spend my life for others... but now I seem to have lost my purpose in life...’
Aurora is not like other demons who lose their sanity and rush towards the settlements of other races to destroy things and spread miasmic corruption everywhere.
The miasmic corruption inside her was growing at a much slower pace compared to others, as she was highly resistant to it for some reason.
And due to her high intelligence, she was able to keep her sanity for a long time.
She evolved into the form of a higher demon due to Alverto’s help, and she wanted to help him to repay that favor.
She knew that Alverto liked her, but she herself did not have such special feelings.
In her heart, all creatures are equal, and she treats everyone as special and precious. She’s incapable of treating Alverto alone as special, and she also regretted this fact.
Her relationship with Alverto remained at the level of close friend at most and never went further than that.
But she truly respected him and truly wanted him to achieve great things in life.
’You are really cruel Alverto... you went ahead and died on your own terms... you managed to achieve what you desired and left me behind to suffer alone...
’I don’t even have miasma anymore... I am not even a demon anymore... I have no place in the demon continent; I cannot stay here anymore...’
Aurora sighed to herself as she glanced behind her.
Today she was going to leave her homeland behind permanently.
The early days of her childhood flashed in her mind; the memories of the time she spent with Alverto appeared one after another, but that shattered dream disappeared in the flowing wind.
’I cannot stay here... I must leave...’
The entire demon continent is a land filled with dense miasma; it’s not a place where normal beings can stay for a long time.
If someone who’s below rank SS stays in this place for too long, they will surely end up getting affected by miasma and corruption.
This land is inhabitable for those who thrive in mana, and only those who can live with miasma can stay here.
Alverto sacrificed his life to give Aurora a life free of miasma and corruption. He gave her freedom from the power of that higher being and gave her freedom to live however she wished to.
Miasma and corruption disappeared from her body, and she got completely purified.
If she stays in the demon continent, Alverto’s hard work will go to waste, and miasma will start affecting her once again.
That’s why, she cannot stay here anymore, she must leave this place and head somewhere else where mana is in major density.
Only then can she make this life, which was given by Alverto’s sacrifice, worth something.
A look of determination appeared on her beautiful face as she clenched her fists and tried to absorb as much mana from the surroundings as possible.
Before losing her miasma, she was already a peak S-ranker, but after losing her miasma and the blessing of the higher being, her body is as strong as an S-ranker, but she doesn’t have the corresponding powers.
And she’s been trying to absorb as much mana as possible for the last few days.
’If only I could reduce my mana consumption...’
As she’s not a demon anymore, she’s also constantly getting pressured by miasma in the surroundings and has to use mana to counter it so that it doesn’t affect her.
Most of her mana is being consumed to suppress the miasmic corruption from invading her body.
If not for that, she could have already gathered enough mana to fly into the sky and try to cross the partially frozen sea.
’I don’t know if I will be able to reach the other shore alive but I have to try it or nothing will change...’
Just when Aurora was thinking of using her skill to fly and leave, a powerful presence appeared nearby.
That presence was so heavy that the snow stopped falling, the waves on the partially frozen sea stopped moving, and the fog in the area cleared up instantly.
It was as if the entire world had stopped for a moment.
That strange and unnatural silence made Aurora feel suffocated despite her being an S-ranker who didn’t need to breathe at all.
Her entire being was suppressed; she fell to her knees, and her head bowed on its own when facing that powerful being.
A familiar voice entered her ears, and she felt immense pressure just from hearing that voice.
"So, you have decided to leave after all..."
The voice was very uncomfortable to hear, and it seemed as if her head was being pierced by many needles just from hearing that voice.
Aurora knew who that voice belonged to, as she had already heard it many times before when she accompanied Alverto to the demon palace.
She had heard this voice in the throne room, and every time she heard it, her body shivered instinctively due to fear and the suppression from a higher life form.
It was the voice of the ruler of the demon continent and the current ’Demon King.’