Before me, at this very moment, stood Akaluman, the Black Dragon.
Even among dragons, Akaluman is a magnificent being who has established his superiority among the gods.
"HAHAHAHA! HOW INCREDIBLE! HOW ENTERTAINING! TO THINK THAT A MERE HUMAN HAS REACHED MY LEVEL!"
"Entertaining, without a doubt," I replied, floating above the sky, my voice calm despite my state.
Before we started fighting, the world around us was beautiful, full of vegetation and life, with large mountains that touched the clouds.
Now, it had been reduced to a desolate wasteland.
All vegetation had disappeared.
All life had been extinguished.
"Although entertaining, we cannot have any more fun... a little disappointing... but it can't be helped."
I was dying.
Akaluman had been too powerful.
The lower half of my body had disappeared completely, along with my left arm.
It wasn't the first time I had died, but perhaps this time would be the definitive one.
"MOST UNFORTUNATE, HUMAN! I WOULD HAVE LIKED YOU TO ENTERTAIN ME FOR ALL ETERNITY! I SUPPOSE THIS CANNOT BE AVOIDED..."
"EVEN FOR A TRANSCENDENT LIKE YOU, YOU CANNOT DEFY DEATH."
"Well, that would be so in any other case... but I still have an ace up my sleeve, Akaluman. Remember who you are talking to."
"KUKUKUKUK, ARE YOU REFERRING TO THE REINCARNATION MAGIC YOU INVENTED? ARE YOU REALLY SURE IT WILL WORK? YOUR SOUL COULD BE DESTROYED IF YOU FAIL."
"Hmph. I never fail; you should know that by now. Wait for my return, you damned lizard."
"KUHAHAHA. I SHALL AWAIT IT EAGERLY, HUMAN!"
But Akaluman, as his enemy, was not going to stand idly by watching him use his reincarnation magic.
Doing that would be the same as handing an unloaded weapon back to your assailant and turning your back, waiting for him to reload the gun and shoot you when you least expect it.
If the Sorcerer managed to reincarnate and return to challenge him later, that was fine; it would be entertaining to fight against him again.
But he wasn't going to make it easy for him.
A beam of energy was fired from the enormous jaws of the Black Dragon, the strongest of the gods, and the beam impacted squarely against the body of the Sorcerer King, as he was known among humans.
The Sorcerer King disappeared, disintegrated.
But what the Black Dragon did not see was that the Sorcerer King's body had disappeared moments before being swallowed by the energy beam.
...
AND THEN I DIED...!
BUT I SURVIVED!
I, THE SORCERER KING, THE GREAT SORCERER KURATAURAS, AM BACK!!
"Now, where the hell am I...?" his eyes landed on the elegant room, but above all, on the television.
A TELEVISION!!
How long had it been since I had seen one?
Since my first life?
In my first life, I used to be called Liam Abernathy, a 24-year-old video game lover who worked in IT.
But I died. I died in an accident, when Truck-kun ran me over.
I don't recommend it. I still remember the number of times I tumbled on the ground, my body rolling on the asphalt uncontrollably, with all my bones broken.
There was blood everywhere.
I wouldn't be surprised if I had even bled out of my ass, too.
But like every man who dies run over by Truck-kun, I reincarnated; I got isekai'd.
In that life, I became a Sorcerer, and over time, people started calling me the Sorcerer King Kuratauras.
A weird name to give your baby, don't you think?
I would have complained to my parents had it not been for the fact that I didn't know them.
During my life as the Great Sorcerer Kuratauras, I transcended the universe three times, becoming one of the most powerful beings ever known.
I was practically the incarnation of magic.
And yet that damned lizard defeated me.
I had managed to wound him, but that was all.
I, Kuratauras, who had dedicated over 300 years to the study of magic, who could shape planets and stars with my own hands. The same one who had defied the rules of the universe more than once and emerged victorious... I had only managed to wound that damned lizard.
I won't deny it; my defeat had been a hard blow to my pride.
But anyway, finishing my monologue with myself, I focused on my current situation.
I had reincarnated, which means my reincarnation magic, the same one I hadn't subjected to any tests before, had worked.
Aren't I great?
I'm the Sorcerer King for a reason, you know?
I never make mistakes...
Except when I lose my life.
Yes, that was going to be bothering me for a while.
Sighing, I focused on the new set of memories I now possessed.
Wait...
I stopped for a few moments in front of the mirror, observing myself closely.
Am I not back to being Liam Abernathy?
I jumped out of my bed and ran to the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror.
Blond hair, accompanied by natural blond eyelashes and eyebrows, with heterochromatic eyes, one blue pupil and the other golden.
My fair skin was so delicate it seemed like it could break with a touch.
I was around 1.9 meters tall, and I was still just as young as I remembered.
I didn't get excited.
Same body, different set of memories.
I wasn't in my world of origin, on the Earth I knew, just in one very similar, but with clear... important changes.
In this world, approximately ten years ago, the first Gate appeared, which connected the real world with the realm of magic and monsters.
People all around the world began to awaken their own magic, becoming Hunters.
Since then, Hunters raid the Gates to earn a living and prevent a Dungeon Break, where monsters manage to cross the Gate and reach the real world.
"No matter how I look at it, I'm in Solo Leveling."
I crossed my arms in front of the mirror, confused.
Not even I, with all my knowledge, can decipher the reason why my soul returned to my original body, in a world that until then I believed to be fictional.
Anyway, a smile appeared on my face.
This world was perfect to start returning to my old level of power.
Maybe I can even manage to be even stronger than I was.
Someday I could surpass the limit I reached in my last moments of life...
I had never managed to reach the power of a Level 10 Sorcerer.
I never managed to create my tenth magic circle.
But this time, I would undoubtedly achieve it.
No.
I will even surpass that power! I won't settle for being a simple Level 10 Sorcerer!
I will become a Demigod!
No, not even that!
I will become a God!
AND THEN I'LL BEAT THAT DAMNED LIZARD TO DEATH!