“Act seriously without fail. If you don’t want to get caught up in something like this again later.”
“Sure thing.”
“Leave out the ‘sure thing.'”
Yao was drawn to the levitation magic and captured the sight of the couple flying ahead.
‘Their relationship seems great.’
The beautiful Pope, a former saint, and the reformed handsome hero. They truly were a couple made in heaven.
How happy must their days be?
For Yao, who had to travel alone during her time as a reincarnator, it was just envy.
‘We’re both returnees, but they’re so different.’
Unlike the Pope, who continued living as ‘Eluke,’ Yao didn’t like her identity as ‘Pregia.’
The reason was simple. In [Heavenly Child], Pregia was only a one-star character.
In fact, she had the worst performance among the one-stars.
Truly garbage among garbage. All she had was a pretty illustration as her only bragging point.
Because of that, she had to put in ten times the effort to grow this far. So, there was no time for love.
Moreover, that wasn’t the only issue.
‘Why are there only crazy people around me…?’
It was frustrating that whether in another world or here, Yao had always been surrounded by problematic men.
When she lived as Pregia, the protagonist ‘Guide’ was a notorious womanizer who kept bothering her.
And now… she found herself under the crazy cult leader Haoran without a father figure.
It was so unfair that she couldn’t help but smirk.
‘I’m jealous.’
Honestly, the former hero Liam looked like an angel compared to the ‘Guide’ or cult leader Haoran. At least that’s what her observations so far suggested.
However, a guy with such a free-spirited personality wasn’t her type.
Yao’s ideal man was sturdy and strong.
Like the man named Ivar, who was borrowing Liam’s name and looks.
‘I want to meet him…’
That overly developed muscular body made Yao’s heart race. His stoic and blunt appearance also appealed to her.
Perfect from head to toe, just the kind of ideal she dreamed of. It was only natural to feel a desire to meet him.
How could she possibly meet him?
Since he was mentioned to be a comrade from the hero’s party, he must be in another world now.
So it would be hard to meet him, but if she stayed close to the Pope, she might have a chance to run into him someday.
“…….”
Yao suddenly grimaced in self-loathing. Didn’t this make her seem like someone starving for attention?
But soon she realized that this wasn’t entirely a wrong expression.
It was a secret she hadn’t told anyone, but she was actually a lifelong singleton.
Having lived for thirty years, she had been tormented and exhausted by the loneliness that had been piling up continuously.
That’s why, faced with a situation like this, right before an all-out war with the Burning Association, she let those absurd thoughts slip out. Yao immediately voiced that thought.
“Pope, I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
“If this goes well, I’m going to join your cult.”
“……?”
Faith can spring up surprisingly easily.
*
I threw a glance at Zhang Yao, who had just blurted out what could be considered a ‘death flag,’ then turned my attention forward again.
The distant ‘Haoran Hotel’ was gradually getting closer.
“It’s quite impressive.”
As the distance closed, it looked much more splendid than from afar. It felt almost a shame to wreak havoc.
Of course, ‘a shame’ didn’t mean I was hesitating.
‘How much destruction should I cause?’
The Haoran Hotel’s guests were the elite zealots of the Burning Association.
So Liam and I were planning to create a big ruckus inside the hotel. Without worrying about the consequences.
Then Haoran, who was out and about somewhere in Chengdu, would fly in a hurry. That’s when we planned to eliminate him.
It was just a simple operation of releasing the power we had been saving up. This was entirely tailored to Liam’s personality, who would take on Haoran.
‘But if the two fight… Liam will win, right?’
I wouldn’t have thought this if it were anyone else. There are only a few candidates who could defeat Liam, now at the level of a demigod.
But if the enemy is Haoran, the story changes.
That guy is an Immortal. I’m not sure how strong that is since I’ve never seen a Xianxia, but at least he should be at the threshold of demigod territory.
That much was considerably threatening, so I felt a bit tense.
“Pope, insane one. We’re about to start filming.”
Suddenly, Zhang Yao’s words scattered my slight tension. I nodded in response and patted Liam’s back.
“Great Warrior, are you ready?”
Now, we truly couldn’t afford to give ourselves away as different people. To avoid getting entangled in any annoying situations like this, we needed to give no excuse at all.
“All set.”
Thanks to the thorough prior training, Liam responded with authority. It was quite a convincing delivery.
Satisfied, I turned my head slightly to look at the camera lens of the smartphone Zhang Yao was holding and spoke.
The live broadcast had begun.
“Hello? This is Erin from Wise Erin TV.”
I made a playful peace sign with my hand and smiled. After having exaggeratedly performed as an idol last time, I felt that my acting was quite natural.
“I am Wise Erin, the current Tower Master of the Violet Mage Tower and the current sage of the hero party!”
With the lively introduction, I summoned a long wooden magic wand in mid-air and held it with both hands. Liam had secretly helped with the magic.
Waving the wand in the air for fun, I then pointed at the muscular ‘Great Warrior.’
“And this is the Great Warrior who will assist me. Ivar, please wave at the camera!”
“…Nice to meet you.”
Reluctantly waving his hand, his act was surprisingly convincing. He had an unexpected talent for acting.
“Now that the introductions are done, shall we have some fun? Today’s content is… drumroll please…”
I naturally shifted to the side and pointed at the Haoran Tower.
“We’re going to catch the cult leader Haoran of the malicious Burning Association!”
Did I raise my tone too much? As I spoke, I got a little too excited and let my acting slip a bit.
But it wasn’t a big deal. Not many would associate my current appearance with ‘Pope Eluke.’
“Alright! Let the party begin!”
I shouted cheerfully, extending my wand forward.
I then concentrated the Sacred Power at the tip of the wand, moving it to look like a magical circle.
Originally, Erin herself could use magic without any medium or magic circle, so this was clearly a significant error in historical accuracy, but I boldly ignored it. It was for dramatic effect.
With a ripping sound!
The magical circle began to glow brightly, not in a pink reminiscent of me but in a blood-red hue.
This was not a trick but the result of compressing Sacred Power to its limit.
“Go!”
I shouted cheerfully and shot the condensed Sacred Power into the sky.
Sacred Spell, Ray of Joy.
The effect of this Sacred Spell was downright simple.
Fireworks.
“You can’t have a party without fireworks!”
Boom, boom, boom.
The night sky of Chengdu was beautifully filled with red fireworks.
Developed to last about an hour, this was my original Sacred Spell for the festival.
As Liam secretly activated magic, the red fireworks started bursting into various colors.
“Aren’t they beautiful?”
Whispers began to fill the city streets late at night as citizens started chattering.
By focusing my hearing for a moment, I could catch snippets of multiple conversations. All of them sounded amazed or excited.
The customer satisfaction was quite high. This was enough for a starter signal for the festival.
“The real festival begins now.”
By now, Haoran and his closest followers from the Burning Association must be in a panic. The unexpected fireworks had begun.
But what would they do now? I was about to make it even more perplexing.
“Now, let’s go!”
At that moment, Liam launched us upwards with magic, perfectly timed with my wand waving.
Our objective was to infiltrate Haoran Hotel. It was hardly a challenging task.
“I’m going to break it.”
As we approached the top-floor window, Liam simply extended his fist forward.
Crash! The thick glass shattered effortlessly into pieces.
Stepping through the hole, we were greeted by an incredibly luxurious suite room.
A special room you’d want to stay in for at least a day. But on the wall above the bed, there was a framed photo of Haoran.
At the bottom of the frame, there was also a Chinese inscription.
When I asked Zhang Yao about it, it read: “The Great and Handsome Immortal Haoran.”
‘…Crazy man.’
Sickened by his excessive self-love, I couldn’t help but chuckle when Liam suddenly spoke up.
“They’re coming.”
I quickly realized what he meant.
The presence of dozens of people that had permeated throughout the hotel was converging toward us.
“Oh no, the zealots of the Burning Association are coming to catch us!”
I said calmly, sitting on the soft bed while leisurely addressing the viewers.
It wasn’t surprising that they noticed we had infiltrated; it was merely a matter of time. In fact, it worked out well for us.
“Don’t move!”
A moment later, a group dressed in bizarre red ceremonial robes burst into the suite.
None of them were returnees, but they were somewhat hazardous. They were all armed with guns.
Soon, a man, who appeared to be their leader, slowly stepped forward, aiming a gun at me. Even facing a two-meter tall muscular man, there was no fear in my expression.
Was it possibly because of their faith in Haoran? Or was it just because they had guns?
Either way, there was little difference.
“This is a dire crisis!”
I flashed a smile at the camera and mimed cutting my throat with my thumb.
“Great Warrior.”
In this world, brandishing a gun could usually resolve most conflicts easily… but it wouldn’t work this time.
They had picked the wrong opponent.
“Take them all down.”
“Sure thing.”
The moment the stout command was uttered, the zealot who had stepped forward tumbled over.
Next to him stood the muscular man, who had moved in quickly, poised to throw a punch.
His punches were so fast they couldn’t be seen. The panicking zealots were flustered, and in the meantime, the sound of fierce beatings echoed everywhere.
“Open fire!”
The shooting began late, but it merely turned the luxurious suite into a honeycomb.
Zhang Yao and I were shielded by the previously used ‘Sun Barrier,’ and Liam couldn’t hit anything. They’d never even see him move.
“Pathetic ones! Bring Haoran here!”
By the time all the zealots were down, only about ten seconds had passed.
“Did you see that, everyone? That’s the power of the Great Warrior!”
In truth, he was much stronger than a Great Warrior but that wasn’t the point.
“If you’re enjoying the show, please hit ‘like’ and ‘subscribe! Don’t forget to turn on notifications too!”
This was my first time doing a live commentary as an idol, but surprisingly, it fit me quite well.
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