Rain was utterly shocked at the words, "forced back to Earth." The idea of returning to that miserable existence after being summoned to save a world filled him with disbelief and anger. He couldn't accept the thought of going back to a place he despised so much.
"Noooo!" Rain shouted as the portal enveloped him, pulling him away from the divine chamber. His voice echoed as he fought against the forces guiding him, desperation creeping in. "This can't be! I won't return to Earth! I need to make sure I never go back to that shitty place—I will!"
As he was pulled deeper into the portal, various pathways opened up before him. Most of them led to safe places in the new world—cities, villages, and strongholds. But Rain wasn't interested in safety or civilization.
"No, to make sure I don't get sent back to Earth, I need to stop the heroes summoned by the goddess from killing the Demon Overlord. Forget cities! I'll go somewhere remote, like a forest!"
With determination, Rain redirected himself toward a portal that led into a dense, dark forest. The trees were massive, towering high with thick branches forming a canopy so thick that barely any light penetrated through. He had no idea where the forest was, but that didn't matter.
As he neared the forest portal, his status window suddenly popped up.
"Destination: Elven Village."
Rain noticed that the portal was aiming to drop him near an Elven village. He scowled.
"No, I'm a foreigner. I won't enter any village directly. I need to avoid detection and head straight there—those rocky mountains! It looks like a monster habitat!"
Summoning his willpower, Rain fought against the divine power guiding his descent. He pushed himself against the invisible force that was carrying him down like an elevator through the skies, but the resistance was immense, making it feel like he was battling the atmosphere itself.
"Come on! Push through!" He extended his hand in the opposite direction of the pull, imagining a powerful gust of wind to knock him free. He thought back to his newfound magic abilities and began to visualize a moving platform made of mana that would help guide him away.
After several failed attempts, Rain was finally ejected from the guiding force, thrown into freefall. The wind resistance slammed into him, knocking him off balance.
"Ugh! This is harder than I thought!" Rain muttered as he tried to summon mana platforms beneath him, but the wind pressure kept causing him to slip off.
"I need to come up with something else, or I'll crash to the ground!" He racked his brain for a solution, and then an idea struck him. "What if I reconstruct my body into a glider? And when I'm close enough to the ground, I'll create a mana platform to slow my descent!"
He quickly used his body reconstruction ability, reshaping his arms and legs into glider-like appendages. His skin stretched and thinned into a shape designed to catch the air. Suddenly, he regained his balance, the wind pressing against his makeshift wings and slowing his descent.
"Nice! I'm gliding like a bird! Hahaha!" Rain shouted in triumph as he navigated through the sky, shifting his body to steer toward the rocky mountains on the edge of the forest. He searched for a river, knowing that water would be his primary concern for survival.
"There! I found one!" Rain exclaimed as he spotted the glimmering line of a river far below. It had been hidden from view at higher altitudes, but now he could see it clearly.
As he circled in the air, Rain realized he wasn't foolish enough to dive directly toward the river. He needed to slow his descent even further, gliding back and forth until he was closer to the ground. From 4 km up in the air, he gradually descended to 2 km, then 1 km.
"Time to test the platform." He braced himself and glided upward slightly to reduce his speed before carefully placing a mana platform beneath him, intending to use it as a stepping stone to halt his fall.
"Poof!" The first platform broke instantly as he touched it. "What?! It's not strong enough?"
Rain adjusted, gliding back upward to reduce his speed even more. "Okay, at least it's slowing me down. If the platforms can't catch me, I'll use them like a landing net."
As he descended to just 100 meters above the ground, Rain prepared for his final maneuver. "Here we go!" he muttered as he summoned another platform beneath him.
"One!" It broke immediately.
"Two!" He screamed as the second shattered beneath his weight.
"Three—yes!" The third platform held for a moment, catching him briefly, but just as he thought he was safe, it cracked, sending him plummeting into the river below.
"Ahhh!" Splash! Rain hit the water with a loud crash, soaking himself head to toe.
For a moment, he remained still, floating in the shallow 4-and-a-half-foot river. Then, he perked up, laughing to himself.
"Fuahh! I survived! Hahaha!" Rain chuckled, tasting the river water as he floated on his back. "Swimming is actually kinda nice. The water tastes good, but I better get out before some unknown fantasy fish tries to eat me."
Rain swam to the edge of the river, grabbing hold of a stone and pulling himself out. "Okay! Now I'm off the river!" He stood up, dripping wet, his clothes clinging to his body. "Let's use magic to dry myself off."
With a simple thought, he imagined the water being pushed away from his body, and to his delight, his magic responded. His soaked clothes dried instantly, the droplets of water evaporating off him.
"Haah, I'm tired. I must've been in the air for over an hour…" Rain sighed, taking a moment to rest on the riverbank. "Alright, now I need to plan."
He knew his goal was to ensure the Demon Overlord wasn't killed, but how could he possibly accomplish that?
"But… how do I do it?" Rain muttered, thinking aloud. "What if the goddess removes her powers from me?"
He shook his head. "No, that goddess isn't omniscient. I saw the look of surprise on her face when she noticed the foreign Qi energy in my body. And I chose powers that help me grow stronger over time, not ones that make me powerful from the start."
A wicked grin spread across his face as realization dawned on him. "Yes! That's it! I'll be an anti-hero! I'll prevent the heroes from killing the Demon Overlord while making sure this world isn't destroyed by them either!"
His excitement grew as he solidified his plan. "I'll be the villain! The one who stands in the way of both the heroes and the demons! The one who will be hated by all! Hahaha!" Rain's laughter echoed through the mountains as he embraced his new path.
"I chose to be the villain myself!"