"Ugh!"
In a sensation as if his entire body was being torn apart, he groaned. And the shock intensified.
Finally, he reached a point where he could no longer make a sound. And in that moment,
"...!"
It felt as if his limbs were stiffening and hardening. In the grip of that intense pain, he screamed. But the scream that should have erupted instead came out as if his throat were blocked. Not only that, but it felt as if something foreign was lodged in his lungs, making it impossible to breathe.
No sound came out, and his body wouldn't move.
In the end, there was nothing he could do.
His only relief was he barely held on without losing consciousness.
He had to endure.
'Just a little more,'
'just a little more,'
If he could hold on a little longer.
Reciting this in his mind, he gazed at the mass of light growing before him.
'Aaaaaaaaaaaa!'
Silent screams escaped him as he leapt towards the light. At that moment, pain shot through his body, as if he had hit a solid wall. And with that pain, he lost consciousness.
*
"...Ugh."
Groaning, he raised his body. Although he struggled because he had no strength left, he somehow managed to get up.
"..."
Blinking, he looked around. He was able to confirm where he was.
No matter how much it looked like ruins, he would never fail to recognize the demon king's castle that he had built. Confirming that location, he was convinced that his magic had succeeded.
However,
"Ugh!"
The pain raced through his body, along with a physical form that was still not fully energized.
It seemed the magic circle was not perfect after all. Gasping from the pain, he managed to stand up.
There was no time.
Just moments ago, the resurrection spell had unleashed a torrent of magical power.
And soon, humans would come here to find out the cause of that magical release.
He had to hide before that happened.
Thinking this, he draped some rags that were lying near the ruins over his body and began to run.
He had to escape from this place as quickly as possible.
"Ha! Ha!"
He had no idea how long he ran.
He thought he had been running for quite a while.
Amidst the rising trees, he panted and looked around.
Fortunately, he detected no signs of pursuit.
It seemed he had managed to slip away from the humans' encirclement.
If not, the humans' response had been slower than expected.
"Cough! Cough!"
Regardless, it was a fortunate story for him.
Thinking this, he covered his mouth as he coughed and started walking again.
Perhaps because he had overexerted himself, his throat was extremely dry. Surely, there must be a water source somewhere nearby, according to his memory. He began to walk in search of that spring.
"...!"
A little while later, he succeeded in finding a small spring nestled between the trees.
Delighted, he approached the spring to drink.
He reached out towards the clear spring water and gulped down the water.
The clear stream flowed down his throat.
The spring water moistening his mouth was as sweet as nectar.
Having somewhat quenched his urgent thirst, he let out a light sigh and approached the spring again to drink more. But at that moment, leaning towards the spring water, he stiffened in horror.
"..."
Had something gone wrong?
With a look of disbelief, his gaze locked with his reflection on the water's surface.
What was reflected was the image of a young boy with black hair and red eyes.
Wait, did he turn into a young boy?
"Oh no, this can't be true!"
In a state of panic, he reached to touch his face. The boy staring back at him in the water mirrored his actions, a look of confusion on the boy's face.
"Ugh!"
Furrowing his brow, he hurriedly began to check the condition of his body.
And soon, his expression turned pale.
"Is this... all the magical power I have?!"
The reason he was shocked was none other than the amount of magical power stored within his body.
Just before facing death, he was filled with an overwhelming amount of magical power.
And with that power, he wielded an authority that was truly unrivalled.
However, compared to the time when he reigned as the Demon King, the amount of magical power in his body now was ridiculously low.
With this, he could only use a few low-level spells.
In this state, he could hardly call himself a Demon King.
"Damn it!"
The problem didn't end there.
No matter how little magical power he currently possessed, one might wonder, couldn't he just gather his previous power again?
However, his current situation was not that simple.
The magical power that filled his body was not ordinary; it was a unique energy that existed only in the Demon World, commonly referred as 'black magic.'
And that black magic could not be recharged through ordinary means on the surface.
In other words, if he carelessly used a few spells now, he would be left with no power at all.
"..."
After assessing his current state, he gritted his teeth.
The situation was literally unfolding in the worst possible way.
His body's incomplete resurrection, caused by a shortage of magical power, left him weak and drained. To make matters worse, as time passed, the humans' encirclement would only close in tighter.
Being surrounded by humans in his current state would be no different from being a dead man walking.
"Stay calm."
Muttering to himself as if to reassure himself, he organized his thoughts.
After all, he was once known as the Demon King.
The fate of the whole demon race rested on his shoulders.
He needed to find a way to solve this problem.