Black mist started to funnel out from underneath the Overseer, the mist outreaching its hold onto the rifle on the ground. In quick succession, the rifle was thrown back into the Overseer's hand. Its gaze now looms over a convulsing Alexia. The Overseer needed to be fast; it must claim the true essence of the tear.

Moving the rifle, aiming it directly at Alexia’s chest, the Overseer pulled the trigger. A small black bullet hit Alexia in her heart. The convulsion halted, but something was off. There was a slip in time itself. The Overseer looked up and gazed in the direction of Clarice. No, the devil didn’t do this… That boy, though. Locking eyes onto Cheveyo, who had Alexia in his arms. When the Overseer glanced downward, he had mistakenly shot nothing but the singularity machine.

“Unfortunate… My lady will not be happy.”

The Overseer aimed his rifle at Cheveyo, ready to kill Alexia and remove the troublesome spirit child. Yet, his intentions were halted by the scythe-wielding woman, Clarice. Her scythe sliced down onto the rifle, cutting it in half. The Overseer retreated into the black mist and reappeared, hovering above them all in the sky. Clarice looked annoyed, something she didn’t want to do might happen soon, but for now, she waited. Keeping an eye on both Alexia and the Overseer.

“So. You wanna tell me where the other two tears are? I’d congratulate you on forcing it into one of my new favorites, but you’re not getting it out of her.”

The Overseer listened to Clarice, yet the hidden face within darkness could not help but follow along to such a topic.

“Why, I’m afraid even I am not keen on the location of the other two~. The one that was bestowed upon me by her grace was to be tasked with giving it to the winner of this fine tournament. And a momentous occasion it was~. I thank the American citizens of New York for partaking in this endeavor to further produce stronger tears.”

“Stronger tears? Trying to extract it out of Ms.Starlight here? Nor did you even consider the millions of people in this entire metropolitan area.”

“Consider? Why they were considered my dear Devil Host. It’s a shame, really that you were… unaffected. But do not worry; her grace has plans for you as well.”

“Sadly, I’m not in the mood for her pl-...Urgh!”

Clarice clenched her chest, a sharp pain shooting through her body, the pain coursing through her spine, only for two large devilish wings to sprout out. Parts of Clarice’s hair started to fade to white; something was taking control. Her iris started to shift as well, specifically her left eye forming a pentagram. A loud beeping noise emitted out of the hidden suppressor, only for it to short-circuit completely and deactivate.

“W-Wait… I’m not… D-Done… I̷̞͔̕'̸͖͈̌͝v̴͙̐͆ě̸̹͝ ̸̥̈͜a̶͎̐͝l̷̜̈l̸̺͔̀ö̵͎̰͆w̸̪̤͊è̷̘͋d̴̠͝ ̵̗̊͠ḛ̵̰͐n̶͍̈o̸̙̝̍͌ủ̷͙͝g̷̖̫̀h̴̨̪͝ ̵̹̉t̶͕̖̽i̶̦͕̅m̷͖̞͊e̷̫͇̍ ̶̙̰̊f̸̮̩̽o̴͔̕̚ṟ̸̨̕ ̷̱͂̇y̷͉̐͝ͅõ̸͔̳ú̶̬͗ ̶͎̖̊t̶̨͓̔ỏ̵͚̟ ̵̩̺̒p̴̛͔̋l̴̨̥̑͋ȁ̶̻̹́ỳ̸͉̇.̸̡̘͘ Now it’s my turn.”

The Overseer's head tilted, demonic wings, and that symbol in the eye? Then it clicked, the old pest within the woman's body. Untimely, but not unfortunate.

“Ah… The fallen angel… My grace told me to entertain you if need be. Shall we partake in the stake of over 8 million lives?”

As the Overseer awaited an answer, his hands moved to lift up his hat, only for his movements to become temporarily paralyzed, witnessing Clarice already next to them in the air, ready to slice away. What followed would be a frenzy in the air. Yet, Clarice, still partially in control, attempted to avoid strikes or unleash power that would injure or kill the unconscious citizens in the stadium. A tricky dance in the air that could easily cost the lives of hundreds, if not thousands.

Cheveyo placed his hands on Alexia’s stomach, and a green light shined forth from his palms. A healing light that accompanied his now growing horn on his head. The owl perched up next to him, gazing upon Alexia as well, then over at Mahdri and Khinara, the latter helping the former up and getting out of the way. Lei, still unconscious, was also moved by the two towards Cheveyo.

“Come on… Wake up….”

Cheveyo kept up the healing, even though it did not appear that Alexia had any wounds; her body wouldn’t stop jolting up and down. It took around 30 seconds before her body stopped its convulsion. Her breathing returned to its average pace, and Cheveyo breathed a sigh of relief. His gaze upon Alexia had been met with confusion on his part. Just what exactly did the Overseer put into Alexia? The spirits within him were chatting it up, yet a few knew exactly what had been implanted within her body. Specifically, the wiser spirits spoke to him.

The Angel Tear is an orb of power that only appears once every century; only three can manifest within said century. The spirits knew it well; after all, they’d seen and heard many tales about the orbs of light. Its namesake and origin are said to be crafted from the death of ‘holy’ beings. One legend claims that if anyone obtains even one tear, they can lay claim to the world. Yet, the tear requires enormous energy to function and fully settle into the body. Only those that have met specific requirements may harness the power of the tear.

For you do not accept the Tear of Angels, it accepts you.

Cheveyo removed his hands from Alexia. The information the spirits gave him was something. They always kept things from him, but they were bound to him since birth, and yet each one carried on as if he was but a pawn to them. Cheveyo turned to look back at the struggle in the air. Clarice landed hits against the Overseer's body, but each injury quickly healed upon the black mist touching the Overseer.

“Wait… Enormous amounts of… Energy?”

Cheveyo’s eyes looked up and around the stadium; it made more sense as the seconds passed, no, as each of his eyes saw the unconscious and motionless bodies of normal citizens in their seats. All of them had life flowing through them, but it effectively placed them into a slumber to recover. If this was just the stadium, who knows what damage and chaos have occurred elsewhere in the city that never sleeps.

A tremendous gust of wind swept through the area. An unholy power surfaced around Clarice. Tightening the grip of her scythe, she brought it down onto the Overseer. The ends of the scythe finally claimed its mark on the top of its head, sending both of them into the ground near the now-defunct singularity machine. Clarice firmly planted her foot onto the Overseer’s body; she appeared exhausted. Parts of her hair had become pure white, and she was struggling to keep the devil within from going out of control.

“Hah… Hah… Damn it… Didn’t want to kill you just yet. I still needed answers.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Clarice took the scythe out of the Overseer's head. His elongated body lay motionless, the dark mist still present.

“.... Kill? I’m afraid my lady would be most disappointed if I were to perish to you of all people.”

The Overseer grabbed his hands around Clarice’s leg, only to uplift the woman from standing on him. As he stood up, the wound inflicted upon his head began to repair quickly. Once done, he’d set Clarice down as if their little bout had never occurred.

Clarice took a moment to process, yet the being within her only started to surface more and more. A demonic growl slipped from her voice. Thankfully, she caught on quickly to the growl and covered their mouth. As for the Overseer, he’d dust off his hat and place it firmly back over his darkened head. Fighting was beneath him. His movements carried the weight of his majesty, and his voice had her will.

“Clarice Clark. My lady has always been interested in you. Thus, I shall answer but only one question of yours.”

“O-Only one, huh? Not gonna indulge in fighting me?”

“As you are now, no. And frankly, you have succeeded in disrupting my mission. It would seem the tear has accepted Alexandria Winchester. Hm… I wonder if my lady anticipated this… She does like making a game out of things.”

“Urgh… The fact that it did makes me sick to my stomach… So how about it? Where are the other two tears?”

“The second tear is already in my eternal lady’s hands. As for the third… The lands to the far east harbor it.”

“Far east? I’m not in the mood for that kind of vacation. So you planning on using the second tear on someone just like Alexia?”

“No, my lady has a grand plan for the second. The world shall dance to its tune in due time.”

Just as the Overseer said those words, everyone conscious in the area took note of a sudden shift in the air. The Overseer steered his head towards the left near Mahdri. A small rift sliced through the air, only to vanish as quickly as it appeared. Standing where the rift appeared would be Pearl, Adelle, and the one that brought them here. Polita, the halo above their head, changes from gold to purple immediately upon seeing Clarice. There was no hesitation; Pearl rushed towards the Overseer. Polita suddenly vanished, only to warp next to Clarice and grab hold of her.

“Oi, Poli, stay out of th-”

Polita warped Clarice back towards Adelle. A darkened parasol twirled within the hands of Pearl; the gothic Lolita breathed in the cold winter air as she approached the Overseer. A deep concentration of power manifests within the parasol.

The air let out a shattering vibration around the Overseer, and for once, he reacted in pain. Leaping into the air, Pearl kicked the Overseer in the chest. Throwing the tall figure off-balance. He pressed his hand up against the area where he had been kicked. A vibration moved through his body with each passing second, fading away the surrounding darkness.

There the Overseer stood in silence for about 10 seconds, only to then speak.

“How… troubling. Reynolds protégé…”

“Urgh… Thou knows mein teacher?”

Pearl's speech seemed off. The woman was drunk still, her body swaying side to side, almost falling over. Despite this, she held up her parasol, unfolding it only to twirl it momentarily, then swing it upwards. An intense vibration rippled outward from the parasol as a purple wave of energy followed the pulse and moved through the stadium and into the city.

The Overseer's body contorted and convulsed as the wave hit him. His hidden eyes looked upon the stadium, noticing people beginning to wake up. How bothersome. This wasn’t going in his favor. The pro-fighter had just woken up the entire city from their slumber. One by one, the wave that rushed through their bodies jolted them awake.

“Pearl Schnider. Clarice Clark.“ The Overseer spoke up, his body beginning to condense down in size, sinking into the dark mist around him.

“The Foundation can handle the rest... I bid thee farewell. Until we meet again.”

Pearl rushed forth, flipping a tiny switch on her parasol as an elongated blade poked out the ends of it. Despite being as quick as the wind, the ends of the blade stabbed into the dark mist, scattering it everywhere. The Overseer no longer present.

“... Maybe I shouldn’t of drank on such an…occasion.”

Even coordinating a decent attack, Pearl’s mind wasn’t in the right place. Questions such as, Did I just fight a dragon? Where is Reynolds? And so on popped up throughout her mind. Still, she flipped the switch on her parasol, retracted the blade, and reached into her pocket, taking out a small bottle of whiskey.

As she watched everyone wake up, the Lolita started drinking, then walked towards Cheveyo. Her body resonated with a vibration that released a tiny violet aura around her, clearing her of any ailments she had. Her eyes loomed upon the owl that sat beside him, then onto Alexia, who began to wake up.

“Where’s Reynolds?”

Cheveyo stood up to answer Pearl.

“The foundation took him. We haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

“Urgh… Well, that means we shouldn’t worry too much, then.”

Pearl clearly knew something but refrained from expressing it. A look of concern processed across her face, only to fade upon thinking further. And when Alexia finally sat up, the Lolita took a closer look at the winner of the nationals.

“We meet again, Star Child. Tell me… How many fingers am I holding up?”

Pearl holds up two fingers.

“T-Two… Wait… What happened?”

Alexia quickly patted around her body, but no injuries were found. In fact, she never felt better since waking back up. More robust, brighter, and just filled with more energy. Hopping to her feet, Alexia arose, stretching her arms out. Glittering dust formed around the girl, which Cheveyo swatted away from him. Just what had been implanted in her? Her mind raced through all sorts of ideas. Clearly, this had to come at a cost… right?

“You shouldn’t be moving, Lexi.”

“Why not? I feel wonderful. Actually, even better than when I faced Mahdri… What did that thing put into me?”

Pearl gently smacked Alexia with her parasol, noticing Clarice, Polita, and Adelle approaching.

“Gah!”

“I think we should explain when we aren’t waiting for the entire city to wake up.”

Pearl took a step back to let Clarice take the reigns. Yet, when Alexia looked at the gathering, her fingers immediately pointed at Polita.

“Oi! That’s the one that was with Reynolds and those shady guys! Wait! She’s the one me and Dev fought!”

Clarice looked at Polita before pulling the halo girl in for a chat. A proud smirk showed across Clarice’s face. At the same time, Polita’s halo started to change from purple to pink. Their facial expression was as if they had just committed a crime.

“I didn’t think my little guardian would be in shady dealings with her masters~.”

“Wait! Guardian?”

“Hm? Yes, Guardian. Alexia, this here is Polita. You can think of them as my personal bodyguard. Not of my own choosing but because the Vatican enjoys sending certain individuals to keep an eye on me. She’s not much of a talker, but she wouldn’t harm a fly~.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“Anywho, we got a lot of explaining to do. Sadly, in the hour of you winning the championship we’ll have to celebrate another time~.”

Clarice turned to look at the foundation members starting to scramble, a few of them in particular. The enigma branch formulated around them. The Nationals were finally winding down as damage control started to take its reign.

The Foundation finally began to move at a rapid pace. They were in a hurry, in a frantic daze A plan had been set into motion.