– If you win, I’ll give you 5 “Eluke’s Body Freedom Passes.”
As soon as the voice of Eluke reverberated in his head, Liam forgot he was in battle and stood there grinning.
Body Freedom Pass? Not just one, but five?
It was truly the best reward imaginable. His heart was already racing.
This was something he absolutely couldn’t miss. A reason to never lose was born.
– I’ll finish this soon!
He replied hastily, worried she might change her mind.
Now it would be impossible to cancel. Eluke was the kind of good girl who kept her promises.
– Just wait a little longer!!
– You’re being loud, so be quiet.
– I love you!!
– Yeah, yeah.
Finishing the conversation in his head, Liam spread his wings of imagination early.
How should he use the Body Freedom Pass, and when?
Should he go the standard route? Or should he create a unique and exciting situation?
Just then, deep in his happy thoughts, he was snapped back to reality.
“…Hey.”
Startled by the voice of a man, Liam finally took stock of his surroundings.
In the middle of Chengdu’s urban center, on a road cracked from the battle’s aftermath.
The enemy he had just fought, Haoran, was throwing him a baffled look.
“Why in the world are you smiling?”
Now that he thought about it, there he was. He almost forgot because he was too happy.
“Are you trying to escape reality? I could understand that since I’m your opponent.”
The way Haoran’s words were delivered through translation magic felt oddly unnatural.
It resembled a poor person wearing luxury goods pretending to be wealthy, creating a subtly awkward atmosphere.
Like a lowly one who had just barely entered high society, trying too hard to forget their past.
‘He doesn’t feel holy at all, does he?’
He had heard that an ‘Immortal’ was a being close to a god in a human form. The man before him seemed far from any unattainable holiness.
Of course, being noble or refined didn’t necessarily make one a divine being. He had learned through experience that even a very human person could achieve a Heavenly Level.
But still, this Immortal felt excessively frivolous.
With an inner strength so vibrant and intense, it was a waste to have such a low character.
“Hey, you. Is your name Haoran?”
Liam dropped the act of the Great Warrior and spoke in his natural tone.
After all, the disguise was pointless; that guy had already seen through it.
“Are you finally going to stop this foolish charade? Hero Liam Erams.”
“…….”
To even know his true identity without much conversation, how had he figured that out?
“I’m well aware of your ineptitude. You’re a master of magic, right? It’s understandable to be confident in your abilities, but you’ve been too hasty. Against me, any trick will be meaningless.”
Every word he spoke dripped with confidence.
This wasn’t simple bluffing or deceit—Haoran was undoubtedly a formidable foe.
Liam instinctively sensed that without going all out, he wouldn’t easily suppress this guy.
Therefore.
He felt the violent nature and aggression that had long been suppressed within him awaken.
“If you kneel now, I…”
“Shut the hell up. You talk too much.”
That felt refreshing.
His mouth and tongue, which had been relatively tame while raising kids, briefly returned to their unpleasant past. It was a short-lived liberation.
“…What did you just say?”
“While you’re busy poking around women, haven’t you pierced your ears? Dumbass.”
An exhilarating sense of freedom filled every corner of his body. His head and heart were boiling with excitement.
With a smile blooming from deep within, Liam flicked his fingers.
“The urban center is too small. Follow me up. If you’re scared, you don’t have to.”
With that, Liam shot up into the sky. Higher than where the fireworks were still exploding.
Here, he could unleash his power without worry. There was no concern for the citizens getting hurt.
“Bothering me, are you?”
Just then, Haoran flew up and hovered in the air a short distance away.
His feet were enveloped in a deep blue light, suggesting he could fly through the air. A force with a principle entirely different from magic.
Soon, he folded his arms in the air and spoke.
“Indeed, no matter how reckless, a hero is still a hero. Did you turn this night sky into a battlefield to avoid harming people? How weak!”
Suddenly, three swords appeared behind the arrogant Immortal.
Each one gleaming with a rainbow-colored blade, definitely looking like legendary swords. The one in the middle flew into its owner’s hands.
Then, the entire blade was engulfed in dark blue flames. A fiercely blazing sword aimed at Liam as Haoran smirked.
“Hero, do you know what the first thing I did upon returning to this world was?”
“…….”
“I burned all the company folks who ignored and oppressed me. I incinerated their families and relatives as well, seizing their properties. It was an exhilarating experience.”
What was he getting at? Should he be angry at how he could commit such acts?
While Liam pondered blankly, the arrogant Immortal threw his head back and laughed. It was a laugh that was hard to bear hearing calmly.
“So what I want to say is?”
“A weakling who protects someone without any connection like you can never be an Immortal. You need to consider everyone a pawn for your power and pleasure, just like me!”
I see. Nodding lightly, Liam scratched his head and said.
“So Immortals are losers?”
“…You!”
Was that the wrong answer? Massive rage and sinister energy began to burst from Haoran’s body.
As he watched, Liam also began to gather his strength.
Soon, his entire body was enveloped in radiant silver armor.
A silver glimmering sword was likewise gripped in his hand.
A concentrated mass of all the power he could wield. A legendary sword that could even slay the Demon King, ‘Clitia Eluke’s Guardian.’
“Please stop talking and come at me.”
“…I can’t wait to see what expression you’ll have later.”
The pasty face of the loser Immortal turned bright red, and with menacing momentum, he charged forward, accompanied by the two swords floating behind him.
The speed wasn’t extraordinary.
However, the vast amount of vicious energy within the sword was piercing. Even a slight cut would require amputation of that body part.
Clang!
Soon, a heavy sound echoed through the air as the swords clashed against each other.
Just as Liam was about to twist and deflect his sword, the two floating swords joined their master’s assault, surprisingly still infused with the vicious energy.
While blocking them all and waiting for the chance to counterattack, Haoran kept speaking.
“Oh, I didn’t mention it yet. Before I met you, I cast a spell on my closest subordinates to turn them into rampaging monsters.”
“…What?”
“Shouldn’t you wonder what will happen to the citizens below when they go berserk? Isn’t it exciting?”
“…….”
That was quite the worst kind of underhanded trick.
A little surprising, but it wasn’t hard to deal with. Liam promptly channeled mana from his body to summon his friends.
They were long-time allies residing in a very special dimension.
“Stos, Seidon, Quake, Tornado.”
As he called their names, an enormous amount of mana surged out in one go. A bit of a painful loss, but it was worth that much.
He was calling forth four top-tier spirits, close to Spirit King level.
“This pure energy… Were you not a magician?”
Looking at Haoran’s shocked face, Liam directed the summoned spirits to the city below.
-Guys, each of you take care of one. Hurry before anyone gets hurt.
If the four high-level spirits show their full strength, the natural environment of Chengdu would be completely turned upside down… but that wasn’t his concern.
‘I’m Liam here!’
All the blame would fall on the Great Warrior who didn’t exist in this world, so he had no burden at all.
*
I detected an odd energy infiltrating the urban center just as the blue and silver lights were flashing and clashing in the skies.
While busy capturing the scene above, I paused briefly and focused my mind. It didn’t take long to recognize the unusual energy.
‘There are six people being controlled here… Are they the Lights?’
I quickly pieced things together and reached a conclusion.
“…I think I need to stop broadcasting for a moment. It seems the cult leader Haoran has devised a wicked plan!”
Haoran was making moves.
He was trapping the formidable hero while using his closest subordinates to massacre the citizens.
This way, the opponent would be flustered, distracted, and unable to fight properly or protect the citizens. It was a clever tactic.
If the opponent wasn’t Liam and me, it would have worked perfectly.
“We need to act quickly!”
We had to solve the issue right away.
I whispered into the ear of Zhang Yao, who was filming.
“Haoran has driven the ‘Lights’ into a frenzy.”
“……!”
Zhang Yao’s eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth.
“We need to go stop them at once.”
“I know. There are six of them, so you take one. I’ll take one too.”
“…Then there are four left.”
“The remaining four will be handled by Liam.”
Not a blind belief, but a certainty based on facts.
And sure enough, the moment I finished speaking, powerful, untainted presences began to be felt all over the city.
Precisely four spirits. Each one with formidable power and a high rank.
Zhang Yao appeared to notice the spirits and, with a relieved expression, handed me his smartphone.
“You can film now.”
“…Me?”
“It won’t be hard. Just do it like taking a selfie.”
A selfie? The term sounded unfamiliar; I hadn’t done one before.
As I hesitated, Zhang Yao quickly leaped out the window.
It wasn’t the time to be flustered, so I pulled myself together and looked at the smartphone screen.
On the unfamiliar iTube live broadcast screen was my face, Erin’s face. Meanwhile, the chat window was filled with various comments in Korean.
– Frog Latte: What’s going on?
– Kim Jong-wan: Why aren’t you showing the fight?
– Sora Sora: So cute ㅋㅋ
– Intellectual Intellectual: Are you a Returnee?
– Naroiler: Show us Haoran getting his head cut off.
Despite having a slight delay compared to the Tribe and an uncomfortable interface, the number of viewers, albeit smaller, was sending even more donations.
Inspired by the astonishing fact that someone had sent a whopping one hundred thousand won, I charged my spirit and spoke in an energetic tone.
“Thank you so much for the donations! I’m not familiar with iTube, but do they call it ‘dona’ here too? Anyway, to repay, I’ll show you something amazing!”
With little time to spare, I rambled on quickly and immediately surrounded myself with Sacred Power.
Sacred Spell, Solar Leap.
A vibrant pink wave enveloped me like a fierce tide.
And in the next moment.
I found myself in the midst of the Night Market in Chengdu.
I was in a position that had a great view of an old man spouting dark blue fire as he violently smashed street vendor stalls.
“Ta-da! It’s a spatial jump!”
It wasn’t magic, but a technique for leaping through space.
“Grrr…”
The old man, suddenly noticing my presence, slowly turned around. He then took a stance as if ready to charge at me.
It looked more dangerous than I thought.
Yet, I wasn’t scared. I had fought against far scarier monsters.
“Grrk!”
Finally, the old man charged at me with fierce momentum.
He had many openings. Being an ordinary person without intelligence, there were plenty of gaps.
“Bang!”
I sidestepped him effortlessly, sending a red sphere of Sacred Power smashing into the old man’s face.
Stumbling, the old man didn’t fall; instead, he staggered. Was one hit not enough? Regardless, there was no issue.
“Bang bang bang bang bang!”
One by one, the spheres hit him in the forehead, chin, chest, abdomen, and groin. The cult’s Light went down helplessly after being struck five vital points all at once.
Yet he still didn’t pass out. He writhed on the ground, reaching out toward me.
“You’re really tough, aren’t you?”
I smiled lightly at the camera before binding the old man with hardened Sacred Power ropes. He wouldn’t be able to move until someone released him.
I figured the Chinese Returnee Corps would come to handle him when I reported it later. I could leave the cleanup to them.
Having wrapped everything up, I noticed the dreadful energy that had spread throughout the urban center had now almost entirely disappeared, leaving just one behind.
Was that Zhang Yao’s side? Even so, he was a Returnee, so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed.
With that, the crisis seemed mostly averted. I finally relaxed and turned the smartphone camera to the sky.
Explosions of fireworks and the fierce clashes of the Immortal and Demigod were still ongoing.
But victory had already tilted.
“Our great warrior is winning. Isn’t it amazing?”
Haoran was still holding up well, but he would eventually collapse. It was happening slowly already.
That was my husband. Of course, I expected him to win, yet it still felt good.
I began to read the chat with a delighted heart and whispered softly.
“Did you enjoy it? Should we do this again next time, or not?”
Just to check, I asked, and surprisingly, an even more positive response came pouring in.
-chadol: Let’s go!
– Ji Young-su: Were you not going to do it?
– King Eun-hyeok: You have to do it, absolutely.
– Gyo-guma Mando: There are plenty of Returnees here that the government can’t handle anyway. You can keep it going.
Reading the chats that offered mostly similar opinions, I steeled my resolve.
‘Erin, I’ll keep being sorry…!’
Following the will of the Goddess, I’d deal with the villains and earn money for the Order’s operations.
‘Wise Erin TV’ was just the right job for me.
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