A black orb that twisted and devoured everything nearby fell close by, and the terrifying gravitational force pulled everything toward it—like a funnel-shaped whirlpool in a desert, except this one was a three-dimensional sphere, sucking everything into itself.
Rocks, trees, and even light were drawn in.
That thing was a black hole.
Once the orb vanished, the people who had desperately fled in all directions finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking back at the area that had been swallowed, it resembled a perfect hemispherical pit carved out of smooth terrain—like a scoop of ice cream taken from a pristine surface.
Perhaps simply describing it as a crater several kilometers wide might not sound too frightening to someone who hadn't seen it.
But to those who witnessed it with their own eyes, it was utterly terrifying.
It was as if a whole village or town had disappeared, or even as though a crater had opened that could swallow the world's tallest mountain. That should help convey the magnitude of destruction.
"Miss Eris, that hole—!"
The one who narrowly escaped—the girl Megumi Kato—spoke in a hoarse voice.
She'd spotted the hole at the epicenter of the destruction. It looked like a tear in a previously impenetrable pane of glass, through which vague, distorted silhouettes could be seen.
It was like watching a malfunctioning TV screen, its image twisted and warped.
Of course, a normal person wouldn't be able to see this clearly from kilometers away. But Megumi was no longer a normal person.
"Just as you guessed," came the heavy voice of the goddess Eris in her mind.
"That hole leads to your peaceful, real-world reality. If you pass through it, you'll return to the world you came from."
The moment that voice fell, Megumi felt an unpleasant gaze upon her.
Looking up, she saw an evil dragon hovering above. It seemed it had been en route to the hole, intending to invade the real world, but upon passing overhead, decided to erase the group below as a bonus.
No—its real target was her.
Megumi recognized it, or rather, sensed it. This was the very dragon she had previously purified.
The dragon descended instantly, opening its gaping maw filled with razor-sharp metallic fangs. A cloud of miasma spewed forth, and then, like a rooster pecking at a worm, it lunged down with a bite.
"Run! Run! I don't want to find out what it feels like to be eaten!!"
That panicked scream came from the annoying goddess in her head.
So loud! Stupid goddess!
"I am NOT a stupid goddess!"
Still, Megumi didn't need her urging. Her face pale, she immediately took off running.
"Ah—"
A panicked cry escaped her.
Megumi tripped—she'd stepped on a loose rock. Glancing behind, she saw those menacing jaws about to close down on her.
What would it feel like? Like a tomato squished in one bite?
Could she really survive this?
Her mind went blank with panic. But then—
"Haah!"
A sharp battle cry rang out alongside a thunderous impact. Megumi's eyes widened as she looked up.
It was a striking, black-haired girl, her long straight hair flowing behind her. She looked about Megumi's age, and with a single punch, she smashed into the evil dragon's head, distorting it and sending the twenty-meter beast flying to the side.
The girl landed next to Megumi, clad in a black, shoulder-baring combat dress that extended below her knees. Metallic armor adorned her arms, legs, chest, and head. It was unmistakably a battle outfit—like a Valkyrie straight out of Norse mythology.
"You okay?" the girl asked, her face as commanding as her presence—powerful and valiant.
"Yeah…"
Megumi took her hand and was pulled to her feet. Then, she noticed blood dripping from the girl's other arm—it was trembling, clearly injured and nearly limp.
The next moment, a blue orb of light flowed from Megumi's hand into the girl's body.
"Whoa! That healing was fast! You must be a support-type hero, huh? Wanna team up?"
The girl sounded excited, shaking out her arm and extending the invitation.
"Ah, I don't mind…"
"Great! Then it's settled. I'll handle the fighting, and you handle support. Don't overthink it—we'll just do what we can!"
With that, the girl turned her fierce gaze toward the dragon, now back on its feet and airborne once again.
Then, the black-haired Valkyrie-like girl leapt—light as a feather, like gravity had no hold on her.
"Aerial Step."
With that murmured incantation, a glowing magic circle formed under her feet—like a foothold in the air.
As she stepped down on it, a blast of magical energy burst from the opposite side, propelling her forward with incredible speed.
She moved so fast Megumi's eyes could barely follow, leaving behind a trail of afterimages as she shot through the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the girl reached the dragon's back, fingers laced together, lifting her arms above her head for a hammer blow.
But just then, the dragon's sleek, metallic wings transformed into a barrage of razor-sharp metal feathers and fired like a storm of arrows.
"Yaaah!"
The girl, wielding her fists like iron hammers, struck out at the barrage.
Thanks to her speed, Megumi saw dozens—no, hundreds—of phantom fists. With a barrage of clangs and sparks, she deflected the deadly feathers.
"Watch out!!"
Megumi shouted, but it was too late. The dragon's tail whipped toward the girl at terrifying speed.
Boom!
One would expect her to be sent flying like a rag doll hit by a bullet train—but the girl grabbed the tail instead, holding it with all her might.
"Turn Undead!"
Megumi's magic activated—a golden burst of particles surged from her formation, slamming into the darkness surrounding the dragon.
It sizzled like water poured onto red-hot metal, and the dragon writhed in what looked like agony.
But it wasn't the dragon itself that felt pain.
Being an artificial, metallic creature, it didn't know what pain was. No, the writhing came from the evil, twisted spiritual miasma clinging to its body—tormented by Megumi's holy energy.
Meanwhile, the Valkyrie-like girl was enveloped in a sacred blue glow—the result of Megumi's healing and buffing magic cast simultaneously.
"Perfect. Now fall!"
With her slender frame, the girl swung the massive twenty-meter dragon and slammed it into the ground. Then she flipped in the air, aiming downward.
Her glowing fist struck.
"Crush!"
BOOM—!
The dragon, already lying belly-up in a crater, was hit square in the abdomen. The impact cracked the earth further, doubling the crater's size.
And the dragon? It shattered like porcelain, scattering into countless fragments.
"Oh, right—I never asked your name," the girl said.
"Huh? Oh, Ka—Kato…"
"Kato, huh? I'm Hira—eh, just call me Shizu!"