The girl burying herself in her knees slowly lifted her head up.
Pitch-black eyes. Unnervingly luminescent like a universe. The possibility that this universe might actually be the real universe, considering her identity, was quite chilling.
“Why… why are you interfering?”
The Evil God speaks. Kail, momentarily stunned by her girlish appearance, snaps out of it and glares at her.
The sword he had at his waist had vanished, but it didn’t matter. In his heart, there was always a blade ready to strike.
“You’re the one constantly tormenting us. Why don’t you just leave?”
“Because I pity you…”
“Pity? Us?”
Hearing that, Kail lets out a hollow laugh as he looks down at the Evil God. Pity? From what perspective could millions of people living normal lives evoke pity, let alone justify killing or kidnapping them all?
Kail couldn’t think of a single scenario where “pity” made any sense.
“Nonsense.”
“…Frogs in a well don’t know the vastness of the world, and birds in a nest don’t realize they can fly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Humans know damn well how vast the world is, and how incomprehensibly massive the universe is! Who do you think we are, brainless idiots?”
“Brainless idiot. Exactly.”
“You little—”
Pzzt-! Kail flicks the Evil God on the forehead, but an unknown protective barrier blocks him. He frowns slightly as he examines his finger.
Just from that brief contact, his finger begins to disintegrate completely. Even though she looked fragile, she was still a god. Clearly, mere mortals couldn’t touch her.
“…You don’t understand. You have no idea what your so-called gods are doing to you.”
“Don’t know? Probably something like trapping us here so we can’t escape, right?”
“How could you—?”
“What else would someone like you do? What’s the difference between you and some overzealous animal rights group with power?”
The Evil God stares at Kail in shock, but Kail casually picks at his ear while looking down at her, unfazed.
Even now, in this situation, he’s thinking of ways to repel the Evil God.
‘Superior Blade… will it work? That barrier looked ridiculously strong earlier.’
A simple slash wouldn’t kill her. Kail never intended to kill her in the first place—he only wanted to teach her a lesson and make her lose interest in this world.
Like how a cat mom redirects her attention when her cute kitten gets hurt—Kail thought the Evil God would turn her attention elsewhere after getting hurt.
‘Now that I think about it, she’s not the type to back off after a few slashes…’
Facing her directly, Kail realized the truth. The Evil God before him wasn’t sane. She wasn’t the type to give up on this world after a minor injury; she’d return with even greater force.
And just like those annoying animal rights groups, she could keep pestering them endlessly.
Until the administrator of this world grew tired of the annoyance and abandoned it altogether.
“If you know all that, then why aren’t you trying to escape!? Your so-called god treats you like animals!”
“In what way?”
“In this cramped world, forcing you to live in harsh conditions where you kill each other endlessly!”
From the perspective of a god floating in the cosmos, planets were laughably small. Though countless habitable planets existed, their combined mass was negligible compared to the universe—less than 0.000…1%.
In other words, cramming humans into such a tiny space was torture—a form of oppression, according to the Evil God.
“Bullshit.”
But Kail, who had lived on two different planets, didn’t see it that way. One planet was already too much for humanity.
If humans were gathered in one place, they could fit into a space smaller than a single mountain ridge in nature.
The problem wasn’t the lack of space—it was human greed, wanting far more than necessary. That was Kail’s belief.
“Who asked you to save us? And what? We kill each other, and if you save us, it’ll be different?”
The Evil God used her cult to incite terrorism and war—all under the pretense of stopping human conflict.
War to prevent war? It wasn’t Gundam.
Kail stared at the Evil God with disbelief, prompting her to tremble and speak.
“…It’s different. You could live a life without ever fighting once—”
“How?”
“The universe is infinite, with resources nearly limitless. I’ll take you there—”
“So basically, you want to kidnap us from our peaceful lives, scatter us randomly, and pat yourself on the back for being morally superior?”
“—No!”
The Evil God shouts as her body inflates to the size of a galaxy. Her roar thunders through the air like lightning.
Kail covers his ears against the deafening noise, then closes his eyes quietly.
Seeing this, the Evil God becomes even angrier.
—Because of you, I can’t save the others!
Finally, she raises her hand to kill Kail. Her immense mass begins swallowing everything around her as it reaches for him.
But Kail keeps his eyes closed, focusing.
‘Timing is key.’
Focus.
Sharpen the blade in your heart.
The mind is faster than anything, heavier than anything, bigger than anything.
—DIEEEE!
As the gravity from the Evil God’s hand starts pulling Kail, stretching his body impossibly long—
The blade in his heart is drawn.
—KYAAAAAAAK!?
The Evil God shrieks, startled, and jerks her hand back. Hearing her scream, Kail opens his eyes and stares directly at her.
Witnessing an existence beyond comprehension, his brain begins screaming.
Blood vessels burst in his eyes, and blood drips from his nose.
“Does it hurt?”
Still, Kail doesn’t stop looking at her.
“How much did those who died at your hands suffer?”
—Y-you, you HUMAN! How dare you defy ME when I’m offering salvation!
“Judging by the nonsense you’re spouting, you’re not an Evil God—you’re just an idiot.”
Blood drips everywhere. His body is wracked with pain, and his heart pounds like it’s about to explode.
Death is near. He instinctively feels it. But he can’t run. He won’t.
‘I’ll do what I must.’
This is something I can do.
Something only I can do.
Kail continued to resist the Evil God. Even as his flesh tore and his soul shredded, he didn’t stop.
Onward.
* * *
Moments after Kail swung his blade at the Evil God, people froze, staring at her in confusion.
“…Is she… stopped?”
“Eh, why? Oh merciful god, please have mercy on us!”
The ominous aura emanating from the Evil God had weakened significantly, so simply looking at her no longer caused fainting or madness.
Taking advantage of this gap, a beam of light began descending from the sky.
“Oh merciful god, hear our prayer. Your servant calls upon you here.”
The Virgin Saintess’s prayer reached the heavens, creating a path that drew forth divine power.
Even if she could never use holy power again, she poured everything into this attack. The concentrated holy energy fired toward the Evil God, sealing her within a blinding white light.
“Yes! Just like this—”
“That won’t do.”
Pfft!
The Virgin Saintess felt something sharp pierce her side and turned her head. There stood Prince Bellion.
“B-Bellion? Why are you—”
“Because I called her.”
“What—”
Before she could finish, Bellion yanked his sword free and pointed it at the knights rushing toward him.
“My name is Bellion.”
At the same time, a menacing aura unique to the Evil God Cult began emanating from him.
“Apostle of Jealousy and Greed.”
Bellion drew a line on the ground, glaring at the knights with a look that promised no mercy to anyone who crossed it.
“Those who interfere with the Evil God’s plans will not be forgiven—”
—SHWOOOM!
“Agh!?”
A meteor struck Bellion directly in the face. Staggering back, he clutched his nose and stared in shock at the white dragon before him.
“A… dragon?”
“I thought we could be friends.”
Bellion frowned at Arthur, who crossed the line despite his warning.
Did this commoner really dare to oppose him?
Arthur paid no heed to Bellion’s glare, gripping his sword and taking a stance.
“—To think it would come to this.”
“How dare you!”
Bellion charged at Arthur, who calmly called out to his pet dragon.
“Star Tail.”
—SHWOOOM!
The white dragon headbutted Arthur. As Bellion scowled in confusion, Arthur and Star Tail began to merge.
Moments later, Arthur emerged with wings and horns.
“If a friend strays from the right path, it’s a friend’s duty to correct them.”
Mode: Dragon Knight.
The Dragon Knight thrust his blade toward the Apostle.
“How dare a commoner—!”
“Hmph.”
Gripping his sword hilt, Arthur steadied his breath before shooting forward.
Dragon Buster.
The dragon-breath-infused blade sliced through the Apostle.
