─!!!

It was a cry.
A vibration that resonated through a dimension imperceptible to three-dimensional humans—a vibration felt not with the ears, but with the entire body.

The tremor, far more intense than the infrasound emitted by tigers or beasts, caused citizens to collapse one by one. Even the executives of the Evilus organization, who had been watching, trembled as they grit their teeth.

Up there—if “up” was even the correct term—a creature coiled in a place that was difficult to describe was looking down at them.

“Damn it.”

When something exists in a place unseen and reveals its presence alone, we call it a god. In that sense, the Evilus organization was now witnessing a god.

The god had chosen to express its anger, sending down an angel to sound the trumpet of the apocalypse. The Saint, now swollen to the size of a towering building, awaited them.

In a seemingly hopeless situation, the only thing they could rely on was another angel that had come across the stars.

“Do you seriously think we can drive that thing back?”

Amidst doubts and disbelief, the Evilus organization faced the god that reached its hand toward them.

*****

[This is Echo-1. Repeating: This is Echo-1. We’ve reached the target.]
—What do you see?
[…A monster. I see a monster.]

In response to the sudden appearance of the massive creature, the government immediately deployed the military. Fighter pilots dispatched from the base frowned as they saw the massive monster looming in the middle of the city.

Its grotesque form alone was enough to make their heads spin. Their instincts screamed to unleash their payloads and fire every last weapon they had.

The trained pilot suppressed the rising impulse and awaited orders from the base. Fortunately, the response from the base wasn’t much different.

—What the hell is that… Echo-1, you are authorized to fire.
[Copy that. Echo-1 engaging.]

From the fighter jet, which had effortlessly broken past hypersonic speeds, weapons born of super-science rained down. Weapons powerful enough to make even S-class villains abandon dreams of overthrowing a nation.

Hypersonic missiles, accelerated by supernatural technology, struck the monster’s body. The sheer physical force from their speed was overwhelming, but the explosives within seemed almost impossibly powerful as they detonated with a blinding force.

After a few more strikes, the monster screamed.

“Guhhh, ooooooooh—!”

The wail sounded mournful, almost like a sob. At that moment, the pilot of Echo-1 hesitated as a strange, round sphere appeared before him. Before he could even process what it was, Echo-1, moving at hypersonic speed, collided with it.

There was no time to eject. The fighter jet exploded. Watching this, Aile flinched in shock and clutched her staff tightly.

“S-someone…!”

Someone had died.
Right in front of her.
She had thought she could protect them. Was she being arrogant?

Biting her lip hard, Aile cast her magic. She wouldn’t let this happen again. The Evil Magical Girl’s Curtain of Malevolence spread out, an expanse of darkness stretching across the entire city. Yet even through that vast darkness, something high above continued to watch her.

“Hiiiik…!”

Aile shivered as she felt the gaze crawling over her. She let out a scream and began firing magic recklessly. But her attacks, which moved through xyz coordinates, could not possibly reach the monster beyond. The gaze never wavered.

‘What… what should I do…?’

Eyes shut tight, trapped in her own world, Aile desperately searched for a way to escape that gaze. Then she remembered what Eight had told her not long ago—the method of drawing a four-dimensional shape in her mind, and the method of pulling an object from inside a box without touching it.

Having practiced both methods consistently, Aile managed—clumsily—to construct a four-dimensional shape in her mind. It was barely more than a long stick, unworthy of being called a “shape,” but…

It was something that could reach into the fourth-dimensional realm. Aile was the type of ability user who could turn her imagination into reality.

‘Draw the four-dimensional shape…’

The long pillar she’d practiced over and over again took form in her mind. In truth, it wasn’t supposed to be a pillar, but rather a nested box—one box within another—but no matter.

She used magic to aim the newly created pillar at the monster visible through her goggles.

Creation. Aim. Fire. Using magic, the four-dimensional pillar shot toward the monster in the fourth dimension. Moments later, Aile heard the same scream she’d heard before.

─^%&^%Dfgæ!
“H-hiiiik…!”

The gaze, previously devoid of emotion, turned to one of pure malice. Hatred. Killing intent. A torrent of emotions struck Aile.

The overwhelming hostility in the monster’s stare was far worse than anything a human could muster. Aile felt as though she were standing before a serial killer who had begun stabbing her with a real knife.

It was far too much for a girl who had only just become an adult. Trembling, she collapsed mid-air, repeating the same shivers over and over again. All she could do was pray, desperately, for something—anything—to save her.

[—You’ve waited long enough.]

Had her prayer been answered? A voice echoed from her goggles. A voice that brought hope. A voice that had helped her so many times before.

[Thank you for holding on. Please step back.]

And in the next moment, something fired from the building struck the god and brought it crashing down.

****

The universe is vast.
The first thing scientists who left Earth created was a way to travel through this immense universe. More precisely, they discovered ways to shorten the routes.

After a long journey to discover the Cape of Good Hope of the universe, humanity found a method to cut down their travels. Not by launching ships at the speed of light, forcing those aboard to bid an eternal farewell to the rest of humanity, but by creating a method to drastically shorten distances without any temporal discrepancy—four-dimensional navigation.

─%$^r@&(*^&Ж

Of course, even in the four-dimensional world, obstacles abounded. From higher-dimensional creatures traversing the cosmos to massive planets blocking the path… Encounters in this dimension were extremely rare, but they weren’t impossible. Humanity had to prepare for such eventualities.

Thus, a particular device was developed: a drill capable of piercing through obstacles blocking the path. It wasn’t designed to be used on living creatures, but it worked well enough on them regardless.

Watching the four-dimensional creature fleeing into the distance, I smiled bitterly.

‘I’m sorry.’

That creature had probably existed here for a very long time—since this planet was formed, long before humanity even appeared.

In other words, driving out such a creature was no different from ruining nature in the name of development or invading an animal’s territory and claiming it as human property. It was an act prioritizing human rights above all else.

It was truly a regrettable thing to do, but I had no other choice. Just as we shoot bears or tigers that wander into populated areas—not because they are villains, but because they are dangerous—driving that creature far from this planet was not because it was evil, but because it was a threat. Because I had to save humanity.

[What, is it over?]

Galrm, drenched in sweat after clashing with the four-dimensional creature, asked. He looked so exhausted he could collapse at any moment, yet he pretended to be perfectly fine. The sight was so ridiculous I almost laughed, but I held back and replied.

“Yes, for now, it’s over. Is the Saint alright?”
[She’s calm. Doesn’t seem like she’s attacking us. Though, the occasional twitch was kind of gross.]
“I’ll be there shortly. Just make sure no one else gets near her.”

With that, I opened a gate and arrived in front of the Saint. Outside the church, now cleared of people, a grotesquely enormous monster loomed over me, so massive that I couldn’t see its limits even if I looked up.

It was hard to believe that this was the Saint. The sight overwhelmed me, like seeing a picture of someone’s chest forming a literal wall. But what could I do? I knew well enough that she was a victim in all of this.

“You’re here.”
“Yes, Galrm.”
“What are you planning to do? I know you managed to save Leviathan, but… this looks impossible.”
“It is difficult. Of course.”

Unlike Leviathan, whose cells had merely multiplied explosively, the Saint’s cells had been stretched entirely in a fourth-dimensional direction. Even if I returned her body to its original state, traces of this transformation would remain.

In other words, restoring her would be extremely difficult, and even if I succeeded, whether she could live normally afterward was highly questionable…

“But I have to try.”

That was the job of a scientist.
I pulled out my surgical tools with a bitter expression. As I sliced into the Saint’s skin—which oozed fluids just from being touched—I heard a scream from above.

“G-gururrrrr…”
“I’m sorry. This will hurt a lot, but I can’t put you under anesthesia.”

I wasn’t sure if the Saint could endure the pain, but all I could do was my best. In response, the Saint growled weakly with her mangled vocal cords. Honestly, I wished she wouldn’t do that.

I had a long dream.
In the dream, I was monstrously enormous, bearing the resentment of all people. It was a painful dream. Much like the sensation of falling in a dream, each accusation pierced me with real, excruciating pain.

But I endured it. There was hope—though I couldn’t quite remember what that hope was. Still, it was an incredibly reassuring voice. Not from the god she half-believed in, but something more… divine.

“Ugh…”
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“…Hic—.”

The moment she opened her eyes, the Saint’s gaze snapped to the figure standing before her. Her vision was still blurry, making it difficult to discern who it was.

All she could see was a blinding white light. Beyond the hazy glow, the figure of a person—bathed in light—appeared.

“G-God…?”
“Good morning, Lizebel.”

She had no choice but to call him that.