It was as if two hands were clasped against her throat, squeezing tightly and doing their best to deprive her of all of her oxygen.

The sensation felt vaguely familiar.

It reminded her of what had happened the day prior.

She felt suffocated, and her eyes continued to trace the black tear that dripped down from the corner of the statues eyes.

.

Kiera blankly stared at the stature for what felt like forever until

Hey.

She felt a nudge on her shoulder and she snapped out of it.

Uh?

Looking around, Kieras eyes eventually fell on Aoife who looked at her with a strange look. Kiera felt sweat trickle down the side of her face as her chest heaved up and down unevenly.

.You really are hungover, arent you?

Ah, no

Kiera squinted and blinked her eyes before shifting her attention back to the statue. As she attempted to point out the tear that was trickling down its cheek, Kiera froze.

..!

Her eyes widened as she looked at the statue.

That was because the tear. It was gone. As if it had never been there to begin with, the statue remained on top of the building, quietly looking down at the plaza that was starting to fill up with people.

T-this.

With trembling lips, Kiera rubbed her eyes.

This doesnt make sense.

She couldve sworn that she had seen it. Could all of this have been some sort of hallucination? Perhaps a product of her not being able to sleep well?

In hindsight, this could very well be the truth.

Especially since the suffocating and strangling feeling she felt reminded her of what her aunt did to her.

Swallowing her saliva, Kiera calmed herself down.

I think Im fine.

Kiera rubbed the side of her neck while addressing the others.

Im fi

Wait.

All of a sudden, Aoife grabbed her hand which was rubbing her neck. Surprised, Kiera looked at her.

What are you doing?

Stop for a second.

No, the hell!

!

Aoifes expression changed as she looked at Kiera with a stupefied look and stepped back.

What?

Surprised, Kiera tilted her head, finally managing to pull Aoifes grip away from her.

Why are you looking at me like that?

.

Aoife remained silent before turning around to look at Evelyn who squinted her eyes and shared a similar look to hers.

Noticing the looks on their faces, Kiera started to get annoyed.

The fuck is wrong with you two? Say something. Dont blue ball me like that.

.

The two still didnt answer. They appeared to be conversing with each other through their eyes, and just when Kiera felt her top blow off, Aoife sighed and took out a small mirror which she flipped to show her.

Whats t

Kiera stopped the moment her eyes fell on her reflection.

Her hair clung to her pale face, and her lips quivered slightly. Two glaring black circles appeared beneath her eyes, making her look exhausted and haunted. Despite her disheveled appearance, it wasnt that that made Kieras expression change.

What made her expression change were the deep hand imprints on her neck.

At first, Kiera associated them with what her aunt did the day prior, but it took no longer than a second glance for her to realize something.

The imprints

They were fresh.

Gulp.

And as the realization dawned on her, Kieras head slowly lifted to stare in the direction of the statue.

Standing at the top of the building, it looked down on everyone beneath.

With its hands cupped forward, the angel embodied grievance.

With its wings spread wide, the angel embodied rebellion.

With its face downcast, the angel embodied sorrow.

With its

Snap!

As Kiera stared at the statue, she heard something snap from within her, forcing her head to jolt back.

What the hell!?

It creeped her out making her body shudder, but as she checked her body, she found that there was nothing wrong with it.

Holding onto the side of her arm, Kiera finally took her eyes away from the statue.

With uneven breathing, she nibbled her lips.

.Fuck, not again.

***

Its in plain sight.

Walking into the plaza, the first thing I noticed was the Hand of Independence. Cracks filled its surface, and around it was a small barrier that blocked anyone from approaching it.

Evidently, it was very fragile.

.

But soon, I saw it.

Sitting right on top of the municipal building, a building with large, arched windows that let in ample light and a roof that was crowned with a majestic dome, I saw an all too familiar statue.

My steps came to a sudden pause as I found myself slowly mumbling to myself,

Angel of Sorrow.

Atlas had told me Id see it when I entered the Mirror Dimension, and indeed, it was right before my very eyes.

I felt my mouth grow dry at the sight of the statue. Images flashed in my mind, reminding me of the vision I had before.

Recalling my head which rested at the top of the outstretched palms, I licked my lips.

.If only the visions were useful.

Not once had a vision actually truly helped me.

I had to figure everything out by myself.

It was an irritating power when I thought about it.

Youre finally here.

Leon appeared in the distance. He walked toward me by himself which was a little surprising since he was usually surrounded by people.

Whats wrong?

Hm, no I was just a little surprised.

By what?

By the fact that you were by yourself.

Oh, that.

Leon looked at me with a disturbed look.

Why do you think?

Surprised, I pointed at myself.

You mean I had something to do with this?

Yes, pretty much.

Leon then proceeded to remind me of my actions with the Vice-Chancellor of the Bremmer Central Academy.

Right, that did happen

So youre saying that everyone is avoiding you guys now?

Pretty much.

.I see.

I turned to look in the direction of where those from our Empire were staying and could see that there were two different groups. There wasnt any tension, but I could feel a sense of discomfort linger between the two sides.

Hmm.

It was a weird sight considering that we were all from the same side.

I wasnt really sure how to react, but after a little thought, I let it be. The noise that was surrounding the plaza was starting to grow louder, and I knew that the summit was about to start.

By now, I could see over a thousand different people in the plaza, and alongside Leon, I moved toward our Empires area.

[Attention.]

At the exact moment that I arrived, a gentle voice quietly echoed throughout the entire plaza.

Turning my head, I noticed an elderly man dressed in white standing by the main balcony of the municipal building. Right above him, the Angel of Sorrow statue loomed, its stone wings outstretched as slowly embracing all those beneath.

Sunlight filtered from behind, casting a large shadow of its figure over the area beneath it.

.

The noise soon started to cease.

It wasnt long before the entire space grew quiet.

[Im very happy with your presence here. It is with great pride and honor that I welcome you all to the Four Empire Summit. You have all been invited here today to]

The mans voice continued to echo throughout the plaza. He spoke a lot about the history of the four empires and how this event came to be. It was a lot of nonsense that I had no choice but to pay attention to.

But in the end, after what felt like a grueling long hour, he concluded his speech.

[.Following the first phase of the summit, the final contestants will participate in a small exchange that will be broadcast across all four Empires. There will naturally be rewards for the winner, and I wish you the best of luck.

From the start until the end of the speech, I didnt know who the man was.

He probably introduced himself at some points in his speech, but I was too preoccupied thinking about the rules of the Summit to care.

To summarize how the Summit was going to flow then itd be divided into two phases. The first phase and the second phase.

The second phase was where the last survivors of the first phase would gather and fight for the top spot.

On the other hand, I was still unsure about the first phase.

Not much was said about it. Perhaps it was to keep the information to a minimum for when the time came, but I wasnt sure.

My mind was filled with thoughts of the statue as I couldnt help but continue to stare at it.

I felt like I had to stare at it.

What next?

.Is something going to happen now?

The moment the man on the balcony left, the noise started to return to the plaza.

Everyone started to talk about the speech, wondering about what was going to happen next. I stood in silence while raising my head above the stature to stare at the white sun that hung above in the gray sky.

The noise grew progressively louder by the second, and as it did, I eventually drowned out the noise around me and closed my eyes.

I felt something prickle at the back of my consciousness.

My mind emptied, and as it did, I noticed something within my darkened vision.

An Angel.

It lingered in the distance, its gaze fixed on me. It looked like it was trying to creep up on me but stopped as I noticed it.

I stared back at it for a brief moment, studying every detail of it. As I did, the features of the angel started to fade from within my mind before completely disappearing.

.

Opening my eyes, I closed them again and tried to feel for the angle, but it was gone. As if it had never been there in the first place, all I was met with was darkness.

Its gone.

Of this, I was sure this time but the thought that it would reappear at any second continued to linger at the back of my mind.

But it never did, and soon enough, I realized that I may have driven it away by noticing it.

Yet again, I looked at the main statue.

Drip!

A black tear traced down its cheek as its gaze remained on the plaza beneath.

Funnily enough, I knew that I was the only one who could see this as nobody showed any reaction to the strange sight.

Thats when I turned to look at Leon who looked back at me.

What is it?

.Do you notice the statue up there?

Yes? The Angel of Sorrow? Ive heard that its a famous statue. I didnt pay much attention to it.

Do you see a black tear?

Uh?

Leon looked at me strangely, but that was all that I needed to know.

Looks like Im right.

Only I was able to see the tear.

I was just about to tell Leon of the situation when I stopped. Not just me, but everyone around me stopped. As if everyone could sense the same thing, heads started to frantically turn.

Whats going on?

Do you feel it?

Ah!

Shwup!

A figure disappeared from the crowd leaving everyone stunned.

Shwup! Shwup! Shwup!

But he wasnt the only one. Sure enough, right after the first person disappeared, the next one also disappeared, and it didnt take long for more and more people to disappear.

Chaos followed their disappearance, but I was able to stay calm.

Ah, shit.

Covering my face, I looked at Leon who stared back at me.

He also understood what was happening.

Its starting.

Indeed it was, and shortly after his words fell, my world turned dark.

Shwup!

The moment my vision returned, my sinuses clogged up as a result of the smoke that lingered in the air. It forced me to cough several times as I brushed the smoke away and cleared my vision.

Cough..! Cough! W-where am I

My words stopped the moment I managed to get a clear view of the sight before me.

I found myself standing amidst the ruins of a city unknown to me, confused by the peculiar architecture of the buildings. They appeared to belong to a distinct era, unlike anything familiar to my own.

No, I was familiar with the architecture.

My heart squeezed out of my chest.

In fact, I was familiar with the sight that greeted me.

Because

Ah, T-this.

I was now standing in the exact place where the first vision took place. The place where Julien Dacre Evenus was stabbed by Leon and died.