To 「　」, this world was nothing more than a tiny model—a world as insignificant as an anthill, where no one could perceive its existence.

It always enjoyed watching the world from above. For an unfathomably long time, it observed, replaying the most amusing scenes over and over again.

Then one day, a being appeared who could perceive 「　」. This creature was female. It did not understand the concept of male and female—such notions didn’t exist for it—but regardless.

For the first time in its existence, someone had recognized, touched, and interfered with it. It was like a child receiving their first Christmas gift. In other words, the Saint was its most cherished possession.

So cherished that it had even made plans to escape far away, taking only the Saint with it, if the need ever arose.

─……!!

The moment it made eye contact with Eight, 「　」 flinched in shock at the sight of yet another being who could see it. What is that? How can something like that exist? Countless thoughts flashed through its mind, throwing it into chaos.

Amidst the confusion, it did what it always did: escape far away. But even as it tried to flee, the Saint felt like a thorn in its side.

If it left the Saint behind and escaped in front of that, what then? It might never see the Saint again. Even though it could clearly see the distant future, where the Saint was alive and well, that thought still unsettled it.

What did it matter what was visible or not in this insignificant three-dimensional world? The thing standing in front of it now had never been visible on any timeline, and yet, here it was, standing before it as if nothing were out of place.

─!@$@#%#@^

In the end, 「　」 decided to take the Saint and escape this world. Suuuuk—its hand reached into the three-dimensional plane where the Saint resided and pulled her into the fourth-dimensional space.

In the process, the Saint’s body couldn’t withstand the force and underwent a slight transformation, but that didn’t matter. It hadn’t chosen her for her appearance in the first place.

─œeĦ$^ф！

At the very moment it tried to escape with the Saint, 「　」 felt something grasping its body. Slowly, it lowered its gaze.

And there it saw—

Something.
Something colossal.
Something that must not be.
Something that could not—
Hold it—

*****

“─Kyaaaaaaaah!”
“Th-the Saint!”

Screams erupted throughout the chapel. It was only natural. Just moments ago, the Saint had been standing there, perfectly normal, offering prayers. Now, her body had grotesquely swelled and transformed into a hideous being, something that wouldn’t even belong in a monster movie.

I frowned slightly and struck the thing in the fourth dimension with the machine I’d prepared in advance.

‘Direct hit.’

The shell struck the creature that had been dragging the Saint upward. Seemingly confused by the impact, the creature, unfamiliar with such an assault, flailed and writhed, letting go of the Saint in the process.

Seeing this, I immediately summoned all the executives of the organization.

[This is an emergency! All Evilus executives, report to the lab immediately—]

WEEEOOO WEEEOOO! The sound of sirens filled my wristwatch and echoed through the building as the executives rushed into the lab in a frenzy.

“─What the hell! What’s going on!?”
“Why’d you call us all of a sudden…?”
“Sc-scientist! Are you all ri—”

The executives who had responded to my call froze when they saw the Saint, grotesquely ballooned, far off in the distance through the window. There was no need for me to explain—the Saint’s condition made it blatantly obvious why they had been summoned.

“What is that monster?”
“Ugh… I feel like I’m going to throw up…”
“Uhh… Aren’t tentacles supposed to be cute if you’re going to look at them…?”

While they muttered comments about the transformed Saint, I handed out goggles to each of them and opened my mouth.

“That’s the Saint.”
“…What?”
“I said, that thing is the Saint.”
“That… thing?”
“Yes. That hideous monster is the Saint.”

The executives turned to look at me with incredulous expressions. Of course, it was hard to believe. The Saint, whose beauty was enough to put men in line for her favor, had turned into such a monstrosity in an instant? Who could possibly believe that?

Moreover, the Saint’s accomplishments were far removed from anything monstrous. She was someone who would fight against such creatures and protect the people, not become one of them.

But, unfortunately, that was exactly what had happened.

“Wh-what caused her to suddenly transform like that…?”
“How should I explain this… Let’s just say she tried to ascend, and it failed.”
“A-ascend?”
“Something like that.”

The Saint had tried (albeit unwillingly) to ascend into the fourth dimension and ended up twisted into her current form. In a way, you could call her an angel. After all, there’s a reason why angels in the Bible are often depicted as grotesque monstrosities.

Turning to the bewildered executives, I left them with a warning.

“You must not kill her. Injuring her slightly is fine, but if you completely obliterate her without leaving so much as a bone fragment, it’ll be a nightmare trying to revive her. Especially avoid hitting the head as much as possible…”
“…So, Scientist. What you’re saying is that we need to stop that thing. Right?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because this is our front yard… Look, we could just kill it outright, but if we do, E City will be buried under complaints and resentment for failing to protect the Saint. Not to mention, we won’t be able to get any compensation for the damages caused by the Saint. You understand what I’m saying, right?”

Killing her was simple. Ridiculously simple.
We could take the monsterized Saint to some remote desert and obliterate her there.

But if we did that, the responsibility for the Saint’s disappearance would fall squarely on E City (even if we bore no actual fault—it’s how these things go). And there was no way we could file for compensation for the damages caused by the monstrous Saint.

“Alright, Evilus executives, let’s move.”
“Uuugh… I don’t feel so good…”
“Hold it together, Aile. If you can’t handle this, what are you going to do about that?”
“Huh, wh-what?”
“That.”

I pointed to the sky. Normally, there wouldn’t have been anything to see, but the goggles I’d given the executives allowed the human brain to perceive the fourth dimension.

And what they saw reflected in their vision was probably…

“…I feel like my sanity is dropping just looking at it.”

There was something else there.
Something indescribable.
Something far more horrific than the Saint.

Something that had turned the Saint into a monster—
And something that made the Saint look tame in comparison…

****

“R-run away!”
“W-what about the Saint!?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know where she’s gone!”
“B-but I swear that monster is the Saint…”

Tens of thousands of devotees, who had been fervently praying, began scrambling out of the church in a panic. Even those who had been too engrossed in their prayers to notice the chaos instinctively realized something was wrong and started waking up one by one.

Behind the fleeing devotees, the grotesquely swollen Saint burst through the church walls, demolishing them as she appeared.

“Ugh, uh, brrrgh, guuuuh—.”
‘Don’t run… You’ll get hurt—.’

But her words never reached the ears of her followers. Her expanded vocal cords and body, warped by an additional dimension, made it nearly impossible for her to produce coherent sounds. Her doubled, layered pupils simultaneously observed dozens of timelines—past, present, and future—making it impossible for her to distinguish between them.

In the end, all the Saint could do was stagger and hold her ground, though she wouldn’t last long even at that.

“D-die, you monster!”
“What have you done to the Saint!?”

Citizens who had come to see her face and tens of thousands of devotees who had come to pray began attacking the Saint with their individual abilities.

Among them were active heroes operating in E City and members of the Evilus organization. A barrage of supernatural abilities—each capable of inflicting significant damage—hurtled toward the Saint.

Pik, Pishooo!
The Saint’s skin cracked and tore under the assault, oozing an unknown fluid. It was, of course, agonizing for her.

“G-guh, Bwoooaaahhh—!”
‘Stop, please stop!’

Her cries of pain only fueled the citizens’ attacks, causing them to intensify. Individually, none of the blows were particularly devastating, but when dozens, then hundreds of them accumulated, even the Saint’s grotesquely expanded body couldn’t endure the force.

Sensing her death looming, the Saint reflexively used her powers. Even now, high above, she stole authority from that one who was watching her.

“G-ghhhhoooo!”

In that instant, the dozens of attacks aimed at the Saint missed or exploded harmlessly in midair. Her oozing, damaged body inexplicably began to heal, returning to its previous, uninjured state.

At the same time—her grotesquely expanded body, refusing her commands to stay still, began to thrash wildly like a child injected with a stimulant.

BAM!

“Kyaaaaah!”
“T-the monster! The monster is attacking people!”
“What are the heroes even doing!?”

“G-ghhh…”
‘No, that’s not it—.’

The Saint froze as she realized what she’d done. She had attacked her own devotees. Though it had been an unconscious reflex, a defensive act without intent, the fact remained that she had struck those who trusted and followed her.

The shock was too much to bear. As the Saint’s mind began to crumble, her body once again started to swell.

“Ghh, guhhhhh—!”

She was being pulled upward.
Higher.
Was it really up?
In any case, she was being dragged somewhere indescribable.

Moments ago, she had been resisting fiercely. Now, with her mind shattered, she no longer had the will to fight. She simply let herself be carried upward…

Ah, she wanted to throw everything away and run. This pull seemed to grant her wish—

“That won’t do.”

BOOOOM!

At that moment, a beastkin flew in out of nowhere and struck the hand that had been dragging the Saint upward. The force pulling her disappeared, and the Saint, realizing this, opened her eyes.

Several people stood before her, looking up at something.

“G-gh…”
‘Run… away…’

Whether they heard her or not, the people looking at the sky wore expressions of utter disgust and horror as they grimaced.

“Damn scientist. How the hell are we supposed to deal with that?”
“He said to just buy him some time. He’ll figure something out.”
“Ugh, uuugh…! C-can I step out for a moment…?”

At the mention of the scientist, something clicked in the Saint’s mind. The man who had introduced himself not long ago—

The man who’d called himself a scientist from the Evilus organization.

She didn’t know why his face came to mind now, of all times.