“Mr. Clear? He’s like our leader. Even after hundreds of thousands of years, he’s still obsessively carrying out his duty…”
When Eight showed interest in Mr. Clear, Mr. Powerful immediately began spilling details.
He explained how Clear was the leader of the four guardians, not just because of his abilities but also due to his personality—and how he continued to uphold his responsibilities with unwavering determination.
Having just learned what their “duty” entailed, Eight could now roughly guess why Regalia’s parents had been killed.
Apparently, the rulers of other cities, fearing the rise of a new conglomerate, had reached out to Mr. Clear.
Even if their role was to protect humanity from the shadows, it seemed unrealistic to think they could keep their identities completely hidden in modern times.
“So you’re saying… he has no desire to step down?”
“Correct. We even mentioned you to him, but he didn’t seem particularly interested. If anything, he was suspicious of you.”
“Suspicious?”
Despite the length of their conversation, Eight still didn’t fully understand why these two men had sought him out—or what they mistook him for.
But one thing was certain—these two didn’t seem to be enemies, either to him or to Evilus Corporation.
In fact, it was the opposite.
If anything, they might be useful tools—or liabilities—depending on their connection to Mr. Clear.
After organizing his thoughts, Eight smiled brightly.
“All right. After hearing your stories, I can see that you’ve been through a lot.”
“Then…?”
“Yes. As requested, I’ll dismiss you both. Thank you for your service.”
Despite his words, Eight had no idea what being “dismissed” actually meant in their context.
And judging by their puzzled expressions, neither did the two men in front of him.
They tilted their heads, as if expecting him to give further instructions.
But Eight simply kept smiling.
And smiling.
*****
“So, as of today, we’re no longer guardians.”
“…Good for you.”
Shortly afterward.
Returning to their secret base, Mr. Powerful and Mr. Rays announced their retirement to the other two guardians.
The black-haired man shifted uncomfortably in his seat, while Mr. Clear—the one who had always acted as their leader—simply stared at them without saying a word.
“Retirement… Do you really think that’s possible?”
“Why not? Adam has granted it. Or do you think calling yourself ‘leader’ gives you the right to control us? No. You only became leader because none of us wanted the job.”
“…I’ll ask again. Do you actually believe retirement is possible?”
Despite Mr. Powerful’s open hostility, Mr. Clear calmly repeated his question.
Powerful scoffed and nodded.
“Yeah. We’re retired. We’re not guardians anymore.”
“—I see. Is that how it looks to you?”
“…What?”
Mr. Clear stood up.
Powerful flinched briefly but held his ground.
In a one-on-one fight, Clear might have been stronger. But with Rays on his side—and possibly even Satan—they had the numbers advantage.
Even the strongest guardian couldn’t handle three at once.
“Mr. Powerful. No—War. You said I became leader because no one else wanted to deal with the hassle? Unfortunately, you’re wrong.”
“Don’t give me that crap—”
“After all this time, you still don’t understand? This isn’t about your decision to quit. It was predestined from the very beginning—”
In that moment.
Mr. Clear turned to look at the two “retired” guardians.
The lively gleam in their eyes faded, replaced by the empty stare of deactivated machines.
“Mr. Powerful. Mr. Rays.”
“…Yes.”
“…Leader.”
“As Commander of the Knights, I issue my orders.”
As the leader of the four knights sworn to protect humanity…
And with the absolute authority bestowed upon him since birth…
Mr. Clear activated his Command Authority.
“—Eliminate the arrogant fool who dares to impersonate our Creator.”
“Yes, Commander.”
*****
It was an exceptionally sunny day.
The kind of day where the warm sunlight tempted people to take half-days off and go outside to enjoy the weather—a season of rebirth between winter and spring.
People laughed and chatted as they walked through the streets, while office workers without vacation time could only dream of the coming weekend.
And there I was, holed up in my lab, tinkering with machines.
“Hehehe…”
From time to time, executives came by, suggesting I take a break and go outside. Some even muttered that I’d lost my mind being cooped up for so long before leaving.
I ignored them.
After all, I’d finally finished studying Lizebel’s body.
Right in front of me was the culmination of that research—what I had created based on my findings.
A four-dimensional computer.
‘Honestly, I’d rather test this directly on my own body…’
But I couldn’t.
My body was a rare sample—one of a kind in this world.
Genetically distinct from this world’s humans, it was far too valuable to risk. If an experiment went wrong, I’d lose an irreplaceable specimen.
Even a small test on my cells had already revealed my body’s incompatibility with the fourth dimension.
It was fragile—too fragile to adapt.
This, too, was likely a fundamental difference between Earthlings and the people of this world.
After all, no one on Earth ever naturally awakened supernatural abilities.
That tiny distinction must have made all the difference in adapting to the fourth dimension.
“A four-dimensional computer… Honestly, it’s not that special.”
Sure, the ability to directly interfere with the fourth dimension was an extremely rare phenomenon—even by Earth’s standards.
But compared to that, the four-dimensional computer felt unimpressive.
Earth’s scientists had already developed various ways to manipulate the fourth dimension and created tools with similar functionality.
In that context, my creation was less of a groundbreaking invention and more like building Linux in a world that already had Windows.
‘Disappointing… Or should I feel proud that I managed to create this at all?’
It wasn’t revolutionary enough to replace existing systems.
The performance wasn’t overwhelmingly superior, and the cost-effectiveness wasn’t exceptional either.
No one would be rushing to replace their current tools with my four-dimensional computer.
After spending so much time on this research, the underwhelming results left me disheartened.
Trying to distract myself, I fiddled with the computer.
A three-dimensional blueprint of the Evilus building unfolded in the fourth-dimensional space.
I observed the people inside, played a prank by adding pressure to Galrm’s weights mid-rep, and then shifted the axes—moving from pure spatial dimensions to Minkowski’s four-dimensional spacetime.
“…Wait, what?”
When the axis shifted, the timeline revealed a brief glimpse of the near future.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of people lay bleeding and collapsed on the streets.
What the hell?
As I carefully rewound the timeline, I saw the two men who had come to me asking to be “dismissed.”
They were the ones slaughtering people.
…Mass murderers who had already killed millions.
They clearly knew exactly how to kill.
‘No, wait—why are they doing this…?’
I had no time to ponder.
Their massacre was imminent.
I immediately called for the executives and deployed the Evilusroids.
Armed like elite special forces, the Evilusroids charged out onto the streets.
Moments later, the executives burst into the lab, demanding explanations.
“Scientist—what’s going on this time?”
“What’s with the Evilusroids? Why did you send them out like that?”
“Is this a fight? Please tell me it’s against something less disgusting than last time…”
Just as I was about to explain, a sudden wave of energy washed over the building.
Galrm, Vira, and Arima staggered, groaning in pain.
“Ugh!”
“Ah—!?”
“What the—?”
Only Aile and I seemed unaffected.
As we exchanged confused glances, the others trembled and spoke.
“My power…”
“I can’t use my abilities.”
“My magic’s gone too.”
“…What?”
Before I could fully process what was happening, the sound of gunfire erupted outside.
The Evilusroids had engaged the enemy.
The worst-case scenario had arrived.
The two mass murderers had finally shown themselves.
*****
“Shall we begin?”
“…Yeah.”
Standing before the Evilus Corporation, the two knights—Mr. Powerful and Mr. Rays—activated their abilities.
The first to act was Rays.
His ability—Normalize.
It forcibly reduced everything in its range to a normal, human baseline.
In other words, it neutralized all powers.
It caught on