The Demon King was severely wounded, teetering on the edge of death.
For the demon race, this was undoubtedly an unprecedented and devastating blow.
For a time, many demon armies retreated, while the morale of the human race reached a new peak.
Humanity officially began its counterattack.
Half a year later, the human world recaptured the Inner Sacred-Demon Wall.
A year later, the last demon on the Outer Sacred-Demon Wall was slain.
Humanity had reclaimed the Outer Sacred-Demon Wall.
While purifying and rebuilding the Sacred-Demon Walls, humanity once again took the initiative to step into the Corroded Lands.
At this moment, their swords pointed towards the Demon King’s Throne!
Countless human powerhouses embarked on this great expedition.
That humanity had gained the advantage and begun the offensive was undeniable.
But the war remained brutal.
The path to the Demon King’s Throne was destined to be paved with blood and bone.
Perhaps many years later, history books would record this expedition, the death of this era’s Demon King, and humanity’s final victory.
But only a handful of names would remain in those annals.
Many existed only as cold numbers written in the historical records.
To the readers, it would be a past event, a story.
But for them, it was the reality they were living through.
They walked the road to the Demon King’s Throne.
Sometimes they saw dried pools of blood, sometimes fragments of weapons.
Under the Gaze of the Demon Emperor, the demon territory was saturated with an aura of corrosion, the earth turned ash-gray and black.
Sometimes, rain mixed with blood and blackness would fall.
Other times, they would see corpses and skeletons corroded beyond recognition—some demon, some human.
The speed of the human advance wasn’t fast, but it was certainly not slow.
In just over two years, they had penetrated halfway.
Soon, they would enter the area directly influenced by the Gaze of the Demon Emperor.
“…”
Solaris looked up at the Gaze of the Demon Emperor.
As they drew closer, the void seemed to grow ever larger.
It was simply too vast, exuding an absolute sense of oppression that could induce a fear of colossal objects.
It replaced the sun in their vision, occupying one-third of the sky.
When people looked up, they forever saw only that enormous void and the ash-blackened sky.
Demonic power continuously descended from that void, seemingly endless, even condensing into a mist that shrouded the distant lands.
If one stared at the Gaze of the Demon Emperor for too long…
People could almost truly feel that something within that void was watching them.
As they ventured deeper into the demon heartland, dangers multiplied.
But for some, this was also an opportunity.
Under the immense pressure, their God-blood, Sacred Power talents, or ancient bloodlines were further stimulated.
Their growth rate far surpassed what it had been at the Sacred-Demon Walls.
Solaris was naturally one of the beneficiaries.
Her talent became more active, and her realm improved even faster.
As a possessor of both God-blood and Sacred Power, her strength continuously increased during the journey into demon territory.
By now, she even possessed the strength to fight the Deputy City Lord.
She had far surpassed the other Sequence Heroes of her batch.
Yet in truth… if she could have obtained Cecilia’s sacrifice, she could have become even stronger.
Almost all the other Heroes had received sacrifices from their Saintesses.
Those Saintesses were utterly obedient to them, following any command unconditionally.
But for her, things remained the same as always.
A rebellious Saintess, and a heretical knight.
Solaris had no way of knowing what realm Lu Mo had currently reached.
Because so far, no demon had been able to push her to her limits.
In most cases, when facing elite demons and nobles, Lu Mo often needed only a single sword strike.
Solaris had a growing feeling that she couldn’t let things continue like this.
Otherwise, she might forever lose the chance to have Cecilia perform the sacrifice.
Several more months passed, and they officially entered the area surrounding the Gaze of the Demon Emperor—the mist-shrouded region enveloped by demonic power.
The suppression of demonic power on humans became even more terrifying here.
Walking within, visibility was extremely low, and perception was disrupted, becoming chaotic.
Humans could only rely on maps drawn from information sent back by advance teams, then distributed to expedition squads.
Due to the influence of demonic power, humans created new communication crystals to the highest specifications.
These crystals were extremely costly and rare in production; only the leader of each squad was qualified to possess one.
While human strength was restricted, demons moved through the mist like fish in water.
Human casualties multiplied severalfold in this region.
One day, Solaris received new intelligence.
Nine demon squads were moving towards the Demon King’s Throne and would soon enter their area.
The members of these squads were all high-ranking nobles.
They were suspected to have emerged from the Gaze of the Demon Emperor, related to previous abnormal spatial fluctuations.
Several of these squads were marked as extremely dangerous, having already caused significant human casualties.
And one of them was marked “Crimson.”
Meaning—the highest danger level!
Every human squad that had engaged them had been completely annihilated.
“All… dead.”
Solaris murmured, suddenly shivering.
But soon, a secret thrill rose in her heart.
What if… she had Lu Mo face this demon squad?
Would she annihilate them?
Or would she… die there like the others?
Solaris suddenly felt this was an opportunity.
A rare opportunity.
Suppressing her inner emotions, she spoke as usual:
“Several demon squads are about to enter our area. We have received a new extermination mission.”
She activated the communication crystal but did not project the real map, instead displaying a blank diagram.
Then, she marked several key points on it and assigned tasks.
“The first demon squad is relatively strong. It will be handled by me, Cecilia, and Rude.”
“You two will handle the second squad.”
“As for the remote area… we’ll trouble Miss Lu Mo.”
She pointed to the location that should have been marked red, smiling slightly.
“Miss Lu Mo is more adept at solo action. Entrusting this squad to you shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Lu Mo glanced at her, then at the map. After a moment’s thought, she nodded.
Only then did Solaris relax slightly.
“The demon squads are estimated to arrive in two hours. Please prepare and depart immediately. The mission is dangerous; please be careful.”
She concluded.
Watching Lu Mo’s departing back, a cold smile curled at the corner of Solaris’s lips.
‘I truly hope you never return…’
‘Miss Lu Mo.’
***
Meanwhile, on the other side of the mist.
A demon squad was advancing at high speed.
The leading demon held a black rectangular prism in his arms.
Where the prism made contact with space, the surrounding space warped bizarrely, emitting an ominous aura.
Upon closer observation, one would realize—
The truly terrifying thing might not be the prism itself.
But rather… the something sealed within it!
During the escort, several demons at the rear conversed in low voices.
“Such bad luck, being teleported to the edge of the Great Void.”
“Be grateful we teleported intact.”
“The conflict between demonic and human world powers makes space extremely chaotic. Random teleportation is perfectly normal.”
“However, landing in such a fringe area… is indeed rare.”
“Perhaps it’s related to what we’re escorting.”
They looked at the black rectangular prism.
That thing could warp space itself and couldn’t be stored in any spatial container.
Affecting teleportation was only natural.
“It’s terrifying… Even sealed within ‘Annihilation Crystal,’ with seals personally applied by His Majesty the Demon Emperor, it can still influence reality.”
“After all… that’s an Imperial Arm of Original Sin.”
“It contains a fragment of the authority of the most ancient emperor of the demon world.”
Mentioning that Primordial Emperor sent a chill down the spines of the several demons.
That existence had once suppressed an entire era single-handedly.
He was called the Mad Emperor, the World-Ender, the Original Sin.
But no one ever doubted his might.
Even the current Demon Emperor also…
“Have you said enough?”
Suddenly, the leading demon spoke coldly.
A bone-piercing chill instantly swept over everyone.
“Our deepest apologies, Your Grace!”
The nine demons bowed in unison.
It took them a long time to recover their breath.
The leader was clearly a Duke-level existence!
And this Imperial Arm of Original Sin was being personally escorted by him.
“Talk less. Pay more attention to your surroundings.”
The Duke said:
“This is an item entrusted by His Majesty the Demon Emperor. It must be delivered to the Demon King.”
“If anything goes wrong… the price is not something you can bear.”
The demons hurriedly affirmed.
They all understood—
The Demon King was severely wounded, extremely weak.
His original Imperial Arms had also been destroyed in battle against the human Starry Sky realm expert.
He urgently needed a new weapon.
And this Imperial Arm of Original Sin was not just a weapon; it would also help him recover his strength.
They looked at the black rectangular prism again, feeling only that the existence within radiated an ominous aura that seemed to devour everything.
‘Probably… only an existence at the Demon King’s level can wield it.’
Someone thought to themselves.
As for “paying attention to surroundings” as the Duke said?
He didn’t take it too seriously.
After all—
With a Duke present, who in this area could possibly stand against them?
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