There was no room for despair in a place like this.
Nonetheless, two things were certain.
Firstly, taking revenge in the current situation was impossible, and secondly, leading the demon kind to attack the human world as he originally intended was also unfeasible.
The former was obvious. Attempting to take revenge on the hero with a body that barely matched an apprentice mage was akin to carrying firewood into a furnace.
As for the latter, there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.
The core law governing the Demon World and its denizens is the survival of the fittest.
In the past, he tried to change that for the coexistence of demon-kind, but that grand principle hadn't changed significantly.
And now, it was highly likely that the society of demons, abandoned by their Demon King, had returned back to its formal self.
In such a situation, presenting himself before them in his current state would be akin to committing suicide.
"..."
Ultimately, there was only one choice left.
He had to endure somehow.
He had to survive and regain his strength.
In doing so, there were two paths he could choose.
The first was to head through the entrance that exists within the Dark Forest towards the Demon World.
Black magic was originally a power that existed solely within the Demon World.
As such, he had no choice but to go there to recharge the black magic within his body.
Of course, there were other methods, but they were far too inefficient and impossible to implement in the current situation.
Thus, heading towards the Demon World was the most ideal way to recover his strength. Moreover, if he was lucky, there might be some who remembered him still alive in the Demon World.
While he couldn't gauge how much time had passed, he believed that a few decades must have gone by, which made it a sufficiently plausible story.
However, this path had its drawbacks.
The question was whether he could survive in the Demon World.
This wasn't a matter of 'surviving' in the harsh environment of the demon society.
It was literally a question of whether he could live or not.
To put it metaphorically,
Imagine he is a turtle. In this analogy, the current surface represents the land, while the Dark Forest is like the shoreline.
A turtle can freely navigate both land and sea, so surviving on the surface wasn't the problem. However, the challenge emerges when he ventures toward the sea.
Though I've compared the Dark Forest to a beach, that doesn't imply the Demon Realm is near some shallow coast. No, a more fitting metaphor would be to think of the Demon Realm as the deep sea.
Literally, it was a place where the black magical energy that had piled up over the long years was compressed, flowing through the atmosphere like the deep ocean.
It goes without saying that the turtle cannot roam such deep seas.
He would likely collapse and meet his death in an instant.
The likelihood of such an event occurring to him was high. After all, his physical body right now was not one adapted to the black magic of the demon realm, but rather, it was still a human's body.
"If that's the case, there is only one option left…"
Given that heading to the demon realm was impossible, the only method he could choose was to blend in with humans and live among them on this surface.
However, that would be nothing short of a humiliation for him.
"…"
Silently closing his eyes, he ground his teeth in frustration.
In an instant, he recalled the faces of his subordinates who had been sacrificed in battles against humans.
And in the end, the image of his lover, Margarita, came to mind.
He could never forgive them.
No matter what happened, he could not forgive the humans.
If it were possible, at this very moment, his desire was to declare war on the humans and ruthlessly kill them all.
But right now, he lacked the power to do so.
Moreover, he found himself in a position where he had to cling to humans to survive.
It was, quite literally, an undignified affair.
However,
"... I have no choice."
He spat out the words and solidified his resolve.
He decided to live among humans, looking for any chance to regain his strength.
He was the Demon King.
A being who once occupied the seat of an absolute ruler, leading numerous demons.
At the same time, he was a sinner weighed down by overwhelming regret.
He had betrayed the hopes of countless subordinates who had placed their trust in him. In the end, consumed by rage, he had committed the ultimate folly, his own self-destruction.
As a result, the rear unit of the Demon King's army crumbled, with the central command obliterated, plunging the forces into total annihilation. The aftermath was too devastating to even imagine.
And the one who provided the greatest blow to the army was none other than the Demon King himself.
How absurd that such a fool clings to his pride. Isn't it ridiculous?
That's what he was thinking.
Having made up his mind, he drank some more water to quench his thirst and stood up, prepared to move again.
The closest human village that existed in his memory was to the north of here.
Though it was a small hunter's village, he had no choice but to start there.
After deciding this, he checked the direction using the growth rings of a fallen tree stump around him.
He then gazed far beyond the wooden piles.
Good, there's no one pursuing him.
The distance from the Demon King's castle to the village was roughly one to two hours.
He would be able to reach it. With that thought in mind, he quickened his steps. But after some time, He had no choice but to acknowledge that his judgment was wrong.