'Wait, I'm Supposed to Become a Goddess?! But I'm a Guy!'

“Fabulous.”

Liam rose to his feet, brushing invisible dust from his coat as his gaze locked on the kneeling giant.

A faint tinge of awe flickered in his discerning eyes.

“It seems the systematic realm limitations aren’t applicable to you too. Interesting,” he mused, voice low with intrigue.

“Limitations?”

Mize drifted closer, her figure floating lightly through the air.

She twirled once, twice, her long hair spiraling with her movements like silver ribbons caught in an unseen breeze.

In that moment, she looked less like a human and more like an adorable kitten, mischievous and weightless.

A voluptuous fairy!

“Yes.”

Liam offered her a nod, stepping forward several paces.

Raising a palm to the air, he summoned a force so subtle it barely stirred the surrounding dust.

A suction sound whispered out as distant traces of darkness coalesced, pulled from the distant.

A black mass slowly took shape, solidifying into a dense ball of shadows in his hand.

He held it up to his eyes, studying it with a smile.

“For us Lords, our strength is dictated by the status of our territory tiers, normally that is” he explained, his hand holding the ball of darkness twirled left and right.

"It helps us grow stronger, yes... but it also limits us, binding us only to the current tier of the territory."

"If you are... common, then this will be a cage for you against those who aren't"

He turned the ball of darkness slightly, the light glinting along its shifting surface.

"For most, Lords wouldn’t even dream of fighting across realms higher than their own."

"Ah, isn’t that normal?"

Mize twirled again, this time lazily circling Liam, her head tilting curiously as she floated.

Her deep ruby eyes blinked once, and twice, curiosity sparkling deep.

"After all, given that we don't have to train for strength like the natives of this world, such limitations seem natural, no?"

"Not necessarily," Liam said, flashing her a brief smile.

He turned his head toward the still-kneeling Titrus, whose massive figure remained unmoving, almost statuesque.

Then, with a slow breath, Liam shifted his attention back to the black orb in his hand.

He exhaled gently, a thin thread of strange purple miasma flowing from his lips and injecting itself into the ball.

The dark mass pulsed ominously, absorbing the unnatural mist like a thirsty sponge.

"There are exceptions to these limitations," Liam continued, voice dipping into a deeper, heavier tone.

"Those who could break free at will, beings that couldn't be governed by the warp’s restrictions."

With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed the ball of darkness aside.

It landed softly, twitching and pulsing against the ground as though alive.

Hands folding behind his back, his cloak rippled under a sudden breeze, and he watched the black sphere begin to writhe and expand.

"These types of existences are known as limit breakers," Liam said, his voice dripping to a lower tone as he explained.

"Examples include taboo beings, gradeless progression paths, golden professions... and more."

"There are far too many to count, really."

He paused meaningfully, and Mize’s curious gaze followed his to the swirling black mass, which had begun to grow, stretching and reshaping.

Gradually, it morphed from a formless lump into a full human silhouette, details sharpening second by second.

"And yet," Liam murmured, his eyes narrowing slightly, "their numbers, despite seeming large, pale when compared to those who remain bound by the system’s rules."

"So it's a matter of perspective?"

Mize chimed in, her voice light and crisp as she floated lazily by his side, ruby eyes narrowing slightly.

Her gaze sharpened onto the figure that was beginning to take full form, a resurrected Aizen, newly restored before their eyes.

Ohooo...

Mize mused internally, lips curling faintly.

Liam was right.

Resurrection did seem... absurdly cheap in this world.

Still, she couldn’t help but wonder:

If the soul itself was severed... and resurrection was attempted afterward, would it still succeed, or fail utterly?

‘But of course,’ she thought inwardly with a soft hum, ‘that would be a matter for another time.’

"In a sense, yes," Liam replied, his gaze calm.

"The clearest example of limit breakers would be us," he said, lifting a hand and pointing to himself with a casual flick.

"My profession doesn’t allow me to fight across realms directly. But..."

He smiled faintly.

"With numbers, vast numbers of troops, I can overwhelm even beings several realms higher than myself."

"Only several realms?"

Mize caught onto the nuance immediately.

"Precisely."

Liam’s voice grew more serious, shoulders squaring as he spoke.

"The higher the realm, the closer a person comes to the perfection of their path. At that level, the best way to describe them would be... walking disasters."

"Missiles, bombs, creatures against whom numbers might barely scratch the surface."

"But then," Mize piped up, twirling once more midair, "as you grow stronger, numbers can work against them, no?"

"Correct."

Liam’s approval was clear, though his expression remained composed.

"Fufu, I am quite smart, no?"

Mize grinned, playful smiles sparkling in her eyes.

"It’s basic deduction, Mimi," Liam chuckled, his laugh warm.

Then, his mirth faded into something sharper.

He turned to the side, peeling his gaze off Mize’s mischievous face and locking it firmly onto the newly resurrected Aizen.

His arms crossed over his chest, boots planted solidly on the ground, a faint breeze stirring the edges of his cloak once again.

He muttered under his breath, voice low and unreadable.

"How was it, Aizen?"

Liam’s voice cut through the air, not loud but weighted, like rain that falls only on one man’s back.

A single strike, and it landed right between Aizen’s shoulders.

Liam moved with unhurried ease, strolling back toward where his chair once stood.

With a casual wave of his hand, the chair dissolved into motes of light, vanishing without a trace.

The cane, left without its anchor, tipped forward, only for Liam to effortlessly catch it mid-fall, his fingers curling around it.

He turned back, golden gaze settling on Aizen once again.

A faint smile edged the corner of his lips.

"How was the taste of your first defeat in this world?"

Aizen remained silent at first, head bowed, shadows casting across his features and hiding his expression from view.

Off to the side, Mize hovered like a vision of innocence itself, her face a mask of wide-eyed naivety, her act flawless down to the subtlest flutter of her lashes.

The silence stretched, then broke.

Aizen's voice came out low, rough, scraping the bottom of his throat, the smile resumed as usual.

"It was truly an eye-opener for me, My Lord," he said, rising to his feet in one fluid motion.

His hand brushed along his newly restored garments, smoothing them out gently.

His gaze shifted sideways, locking onto the towering figure, though its eyes remained hidden behind a shadowed helm.

"I underestimated the light that Her Highness's champion carried," Aizen admitted, his tone sober, a tinge of respect woven through his words.

"It is indeed... a bit scalding."

Even now, freshly returned from death’s doorstep, Aizen stood without a hint of tremor nor embarrassed, which was the opposite of what Mize anticipated.

If not for the fact he was resurrected, one could almost believe he had never fallen at all.

"It seems you've reflected, at least a little," Liam mused, a soft chuckle slipping from his lips.

He closed the distance between them and gave Aizen a light pat on the shoulder, an easy gesture, light.

"Good. Get better. I'll be counting on you... as one of my great generals."

Aizen’s reply came without hesitation.

"Yes, My Lord," he said, dropping into a respectful bow, fist to heart.

Then Liam’s attention shifted, the golden depths of his eyes catching another target.

Mize.

A smile, small at first, tugged at his lips.

"My beautiful wife," he called out, voice warm and teasing as his smile grew a fraction wider, his half-lidded eyes gleaming.

Mize flinched. Barely.

It was a flicker, a quick stiffening of her shoulders, a subtle parting of her lips, but just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by a confident grin.

"Then I suppose," she said sweetly, "I’ll show you what I’m capable of."

"Of course," Liam nodded approvingly, twirling the cane in a slow, deliberate spin.

It whistled faintly through the air before clanking once against the ground.

"Show me your best, so I can gauge exactly how, and where, you need training."

With that, he turned forward, each step fluid as the cane tapped rhythmically beside him.

Mize moved to follow, her feet brushing lightly across the floor as she kept pace, a subtle hum of excitement evident in her movements.

Behind them, Aizen and Titrus took several respectful steps back, becoming silent spectators.