In the Demon Realm, it was what one might call a common tragedy. A recurring accident that had played out countless times since long before the Phantasm King brought order to the realm.
Whenever one spoke of the Demon Realm, the mind naturally gravitated toward the powerful: High-ranking Demons, the Peerage-class, and the Six Kings. Yet, it was a simple truth that the weak—those with no power to fight—existed there as well.
Because of this, such incidents were not particularly rare. They were mundane events that surely befell a certain number of people every year, though for the victims, they were nothing short of catastrophic. It was the simple, cruel disaster of the weak being hunted by monsters.
Approximately eighteen thousand years ago, one such incident became the catalyst that changed a single girl’s destiny.
The girl was by no means special. Born into a race common even by the standards of the Demon Realm, she lived a life that was unremarkable yet filled with quiet happiness.
She was loved by her family, blessed with friends, and lived without hardship. But one day, tragedy found her.
She had gone for a stroll alone in the forest near her town. On her way, she was set upon by a monster. Ordinarily, the forest was safe; because it sat so close to the settlement, the local High-ranking Demons regularly culled the monsters there. At worst, a traveler might encounter a low-level beast that even a girl like her could have fended off.
To put it simply, she was just unlucky. On that particular day, a series of unfortunate coincidences happened to align.
A powerful monster, wounded after losing a territory dispute in a distant land, had drifted into the area to lick its wounds.
The High-ranking Demon responsible for the town’s security that day happened to be poor at wide-area detection magic and failed to sense the magic power of the weakened beast.
And the place where the monster lay in hiding happened to be directly on the girl's walking path.
These overlapping factors transformed into a lethal threat that lunged at her. Though she was unlucky, the girl was not foolish. The moment she saw the creature, she recognized that she stood no chance. She immediately turned on her heel and fled, clinging to the faint hope that she could reach the town and find safety.
But reality was cold. The monster caught her with ease. The gap in their strength was absolute, and faced with the looming terror of death, the girl could do nothing but tremble as tears blurred her vision.
Under normal circumstances, her life would have been extinguished then and there—had a single miracle not occurred.
Just as she braced herself for the end, a flower of ice bloomed at the edge of her vision, and the Death King, Isis Remnant, appeared. It was a mere coincidence that Isis was there. Collecting commemorative gifts was her hobby, and it just so happened that the forest held an item she desired.
Though her arrival was accidental, Isis understood the situation instantly. She eliminated the monster about to pounce on the girl in a literal heartbeat.
Isis then approached the girl—who had been injured, perhaps from a fall during her flight—applied healing magic, and asked softly, "Are you... okay?"
How did the girl respond? With a blood-curdling scream and a frantic escape. The moment she heard Isis's voice, the girl shrieked until her throat went raw and bolted in the opposite direction.
It was an expected outcome. For Isis, who lived shrouded in the Magic Power of Death, it was a scene she had witnessed countless times before.
A shadow of sorrow flickered across Isis’s face for a fleeting moment, but she quickly forced her thoughts away, dismissing it as the usual reaction. She simply moved on to continue her search for her souvenir.
For the savior, Isis, it was an unexceptional event in an endless string of days.
But for the girl who had been saved, it was a life-altering encounter that would eventually grow into an agonizing regret.
Back in the safety of the town, the girl was tormented by fierce self-loathing.
She had been helped. Her life had been saved, and her wounds had been mended. And yet, what had she done for her benefactor? She had screamed and fled without a single word of gratitude. She wondered if such a shameless act could ever be forgiven.
However, no matter how much she regretted her cowardice, the primal terror she had felt from the Magic Power of Death remained etched into her soul. She could not bring herself to return to that forest.
Years passed, and the girl found herself at a crossroads.
She had easily discovered the identity of the person who saved her. Isis was a famous figure in the Demon Realm. A little research revealed she was a King of Death, a being with whom one could not even hold a conversation unless they possessed strength rivaling at least a Peerage-class High-ranking Demon.
The girl wanted to apologize for fleeing. She wanted to offer a proper word of thanks for her life being saved.
She considered writing a letter, but a common demon had no means of delivering mail to one of the Six Kings. Moreover, she didn't want to hide behind paper. She didn't want to take a path that felt like she was still running from her benefactor’s power. She wanted to stand before Isis and speak the words herself.
To achieve that, she had to reach the realm of the Peerage-class.
But the title of Peerage-class was not easily earned. Even the Baron-class, the lowest tier, was a height reserved for a handful of geniuses. The Viscount-class could only be attained by the elite among those geniuses. As for the Count-class, they were monsters—beings who appeared only once every few centuries in the vastness of the Demon Realm.
Perhaps her Limited Future Prediction had already begun to stir within her even then. If so, it was that power that allowed her to see the truth.
The girl was a complete mediocre talent. She lacked the spark of genius. No matter how desperately she trained, she would never reach the Peerage-class. Hard work alone would never be enough.
She stood before two paths. One was bright and warm; if she could ignore the prickle of guilt, she could have a mediocre but fulfilling life.
The other was a darkness where she couldn't see even a single step ahead. She would have to grope her way forward, never knowing if the path even continued. It was a hell with no guarantee of a reward.
She hesitated for years. She agonized. In the end, she made her choice: she threw herself into that sightless darkness.
Isis had saved her life; therefore, she would dedicate that life entirely to Isis.
She said her goodbyes to her family, her friends, and her home.
The girl was mediocre. She had no natural aptitude to reach the Peerage-class. And so, she threw away everything else.
A hundred times the normal effort wouldn't be enough. Being "desperate" wouldn't be enough. She abandoned food, sleep, family, friends, hobbies, and comforts. Only by harboring a seed of madness in her heart did a sliver of possibility finally emerge.
That was the day the battle began for the girl who would one day be known as the Northernmost Star: Polaris.
[Northernmost Star Polaris]
A rare anomaly even among the Count-class: a story of a mediocre talent who climbed to the top through pure, unadulterated effort. While her magic power eventually rivaled the executives of the Six Kings, her innate talent for future vision remained limited. She only reached her current heights by forcibly shattering the limits of her body and soul through sheer willpower.
She possesses almost no specialized abilities; she is the type whose base stats are simply broken.