Prologue

The knight in full plate armor stood before a simple village girl and her little sister, his sword raised high. His blade gleamed in the sunlight, and he poised himself, ready to end their worthless lives in a single merciful stroke. The girl squeezed her eyes tightly shut and bit her lower lip. She had never asked for this. She had been forced into her present circumstances. If only she had some strength, she might have resisted the enemy in front of her and fled. However — the girl did not have that strength. Thus, there could only be one outcome to this situation. That would be the girl's death, at this very place.

The longsword fell—

—and yet there was no pain.

The girl gingerly opened the eyes which had been squeezed shut. The first thing she saw was the suddenly motionless longsword. Then, she saw the sword's owner. The knight in front of her was frozen in place, his eyes looking somewhere off to the girl's side. His completely defenseless posture clearly displayed the fear that filled him. As though drawn by the knight's gaze, the girl could not help but turn and look in the same direction as him.

What she saw was Light.

It was an infinitesimally thin, yet unfathomably bright. It was a half-oval of Divine light that seemed to protrude from the earth. It was a mysterious sight that filled the ones watching it with a powerful sense of unease.

Was it the Gate to heaven, had they come to take her to the realm of the Deceased?

The girl could not help but think so after she saw what lay before her.

As her heart lurched, the girl's conjecture was confirmed.

Something seemed to be coming out of that passage.

"Hiiiiiiii!"

She couldn't help but scream in terror as the man in question appeared, it was the being that humanity could never overcome. An inhumanly majestic Deity whose mere presence healed her wounds spoke,

"Do not be afraid"