Shop Handsome

Darkness

"K҉̢҉ŕ̴̸͞͝a̷͝͞k̶͟͞ȩ́͡ǹ͜.̶̴̨̀ ̢͡S̷̀͘͘͠ć̴̴o͟͜͢r̢͏̸̴p͏̴́į̸̧͟͏ò͟҉ņ̵̶̛͢.̸̵̢́́ ̶́̕͟͡H̢҉̶ý̵̷͜͞d҉̡̧̛͢r̴͟a̴͘͢.̶̶̶̶́ ̴͟͟͝M̴̷ơ̸̵m̵̨̛m҉͢͠a̡̛'̨͜s͟ ̸̢́̕͝ć̴̨͠͡a̶̴̡͞l̡l̵͜͟ìņ̶͟͟͟g҉͘͏͠.̨҉͏" Harbinger hissed and screeched, standing outside of Shop Handsome a few days after the whole mess of the shop. It was declared as her new hideout, as nobody remembered it existed. Just like her identity, the heroes will never be smart enough to actually look. Cero was the only one who could possibly deduce it, having found her here before. Despite that, it was because it was Cero is why there was no concern.

Putting that aside, the busty vixen giggled and chirped, awaiting her comrades to appear. They did so in ethereal form, as unlike her, they did not find need nor care to retain a mortal body. That didn't stop any from expressing... thirst, around their mother Deletor. Kraken, from before, a new Reaper with a more scorpion-like design, and another Deletor with multiple heads had been summoned by the command tower of the eldritchs. Already was Hydra's three present heads lolling their tongues out, drooling over the voluptuous majesty. Kraken simply rolled its eyes... or, well, would have, if one could see how that's done with no real pupils within its yellow sclera.

"Ś̷̢o̕҉͜v͢͜e͘͘͏҉r̡̨͝͝ę̛͜͜i̴̧̨͠g̨͏̛̀ń̵͟ ͏̕h̴a͏̛́͟͝s̴̸̷͘n͢͏̸̡͞'̴̨́͞͠t̡͘ ̴̷̕͟g̨҉̸̡͡i̴̷͘v҉͏é̡͡n̵͠҉̨̡ ҉̵͜a͜͝͡n̵̷̵͟y̛҉͢ ̡͘o̢̡̧͜f̸́ ̶̶̨̢͢y҉͜o͜͟u̷̡̧̨͜ ̢͝͠͠c҉̷͘͟͡ó̸͘͘͟m̢͠͡m͏̡͘à̶̢̛̛n̶͏̡d̷̡͝s̛͟͞͝͡,̢͘҉͜ ̷́̀͢͠h̨̡̀̕á̡͢͟ş̸̧̨͝ ҉͏͝͞͞h̵̨́ę̵͟͞?҉͏͜͢" Mother inquired.

"H̶̸̛͝͝ȩ̢'̴̧͝ś͞͠ ̢͠w̵̴̕͝i̶̕͜͝͝t̸̶͠h̵̨͜ ̷̀C̴̨̡̛͡h̴̀͏̴͢i̢͡͠m̸̢͜͞e̷͟r̛͘͢ą͜͝ ̵҉̷̸a͜ņ̧̛͢d͏ ̷͢͝͏͝L͏̛̛̀e̴g̴̨̕͜͞i̡͝o̧̨͏͘ņ͠.̸̸͘͝ ̸̷̢͢͡Ḩ͘͢͜͞ȩ̧̨́ ̨҉͜w̢͝á̧͘s̀ ̡̢̀͡l͡҉́o҉҉̧͢o̸̵̢̧͜k̡̨͘̕ì͡n̷҉̧̡͠g̷̢̛ ̸͞͠f̴̵͠ò̢͞r̷̛̛̕ ̧̕͟͡G̵̴̸̀͡i̵̸̢͜͟g̶̸͞͠a̢̡̨̕͝t̵̨̨͢͢o̸n̴͝ ̨͞ą̸͠ẃ̵̷͘͡h̨̛ì̷͘̕l̛̛͜e̕͝͝ ̶̸̨͜͢b̀͏a̴̸͢c͟͡͠k̸͜.́" The ghost-scorpion hissed and clicked, chattering its teeth rapidly.

"Tch", Harbinger gave an annoyed scoff. The fact that Sovereign was playing with the biggest toys already was problematic. What fun is there if the best go and annihilate everything early? That's not how video games work. In Shounens, you prep the heroes by throwing lackeys at them. Once they level up, they become a challenge. Challenges are fun, as it's all the more rewarding to shatter them apart. ... Precisely why the redhead was a bit displeased with her "big brother" not wanting to play the "game". She folded her arms, pressing them back toward her large breasts to get more of a rise out of Hydra. It was working, as invisible drool was plopping down onto the earth. That was adorably gross.

"F̴̢́͜i̴̸̡͘n͢͜e͜͠.̵̨ ̸̵̀͡͝K̴̴҉ŗ͘͏̡͘à̴̢͜k̶͡e͘ǹ̷̨̢͡,̸̡͘͞ ̸̢͢͡҉g̸̵͝͞o̢͢ ̵̶́b̸͜à̢͝͝c̢͡͝k͟҉ ͘͏͢t̸͟o̧͜͡ ̕͡K҉̷̸í̶̢z̵͝͡͝o̢͟͡͏k̶͘͝͡͡u͘͏͡ ̀̀͢w͞h͜͡e̶̢͘n̶̕e̴͠v̴̡̡̀͡e̢̧̛r͢͜ ̢́͡y͏̡̕͞҉o̴͏̵u̧͞͏̀͝'͏͢͝ŗ͝҉̡͡e̵͘͟͟͝ ҉̨͢͏r̵̴̨̡͢ȩ҉a̡̕͢͠͝d̶̢͜y͢.͡͏ ̸̶̛͜S͏͘͠͞c̸̸̀́͢o͟͡҉́҉ŗ̧͞͞p̸̷̷̨͘i͡͏͜o̕͝͡҉n̢͢ ̨͡a̸͢ņ͡͞ḑ̢͠ ͜͟͡H̷̷y͝͏̕͠d҉͏r̶͟͝͞á̡͟҉̵,̢́͞ ͢I̛͢͠͞ ̴̵̛h̶̢a̵̶̴̢v̀͢e̷͘͜͢ ͢͠d̷҉i҉҉̷̧͜f̕f̴̡e͏̀͘͟r̵҉̀͜ȩ̧͡n͏̡́́͝t̷͜͜ ̸̧a̸̡̨s̢̀͘ś̶̡̢͜i̵͘g̸̨͜͜n̕͝͏҉m̵̧҉̸̢e̷̕͜͡ǹ͏t̛͘͠͏s̨̡̧͘͡ ̕͟͠f̶̷͠ò̶̸̕r͢ ̵̀͞y̶͢͠o͝͞͡͏̕ú̴̧͡ ̸̨́͠͏b̴̴o͏̕҉̡̧t̵h̶̶̡̨̛.̸̕͜͠ ̛Į̷̸͟ ̷̸̡͠w̶̢a̢͜n̸̛͝t͟҉ ̢̛͝͏C͘͜͜͟h͟͝͏r̵͏҉́o̧͟͠n̵̕͠ǫ̧̛͢͝ş͞ ̴̕p̸̷̕͠r̨͢i͏̕o̸̶̧͡r͏̵̨́į̸̨͟͝t҉̨̢́͟í͘͞͡z̶̸̨ę̶̧́͜d́̀͡,̛͝ ̢͠h̴͟͡͠o̕͠҉w҉̴e̶͘̕͘v̵̷̧͟͜e͢ŕ́͏̨͠.̵̢͘"

The aliens nodded to the woman.

"Go ahead then", she dismissed them. Scorpion burrowed into the ground, Hydra started crawling away, and Kraken propelled itself into the sky, flying off. As they left, the blonde secretary came out of Shop Handsome, approaching the now alone director. Though her eyes were devoid of color, she presented concern to Harbinger. "Don't worry about me, honey", the redhead addressed that concern.

... The other female wrapped an arm around Harbinger's waist cautiously anyway.

"Aww... You're growing affection for me", Harbinger mewled, nuzzling the blonde's cheek. The servant didn't really respond with an expression beyond deadpan. "You're so cute, I can't wait for you and the little one to get a new friend. Like some idiotic Star-vaders I need to smack some sense into."

"... Not Glendios?"

The blonde one speaks!!

"He's as adamant as the Chosen Shitstain. Whatever, we have the Clown's toy, that's good enough for me. I'm talking about someone else who's piss easy to break. More recruits, the better. Plus, those idiot Star-vaders need their hands held."

"... Oh..."

"... Maybe I shouldn't have wiped so much from you. While you learning affection again is cute, you're pretty boring otherwise."

"My apologies."

"That's exactly the kind of thing I meant."

Being an eldritch mom and an attention whore was filled with its own ups and downs. Woe is the monster goddess who can't get everything to be as exciting as she'd prefer.

Sophie was..grumbling as she entered the almost always empty card shop. She didn't usually have a reason to grumble. Today she was just annoyed cause it was TOO GODDAMN PEACEFUL!! In fact, it had been too peaceful for a while. She sat at her usual spot, sighing. The Pale Moon user had decided to come here to this dinky card shop to get out of the sunny and perfect day and just relax in the stench that reeked in the shop. Well she hoped she could relax. Looking around, Sophie checked to see if Harbinger was around. She did not want to deal with her right now. Sure, Sophie could have gone somewhere and avoided this place all together but...

"Stupid, filthy, abnormal, cowtits harlot. I was totally making this MY secret hideout before she put her clean claws on it and making me miserable. Like hell I'm gonna let her think she can cause chaos and prevent me from having my release from it."

Sophie just kept ranting to herself, not caring who heard. She didn't give a damn who heard her rant anyways.

"Ý̢́͞ò̀͝ư̷̕ ͏̴͞h̕͞҉̸͠a̢̧͏͏v̷̢͘è̢̡͘ ̀m͡҉̶͜y͏̶̕͝ ̀͜͝p̀͟͝ę̕r̵͡m͏̶̧i̶̶̡͘s̶̀̕s̶̢͠͠ì̸̢̕o҉̵͘n̴̨̨͞,̷̵̨̀͢ ̶͝t̨͢͝e̕͢l͢͝͝l̸͢͞ ̴̧H̷̨͏̨͞y̧͜ḑ̸̀̀͞r̡̀͟͝a҉͠͡ ̸͠a̴͏̧̕͞ń̕͢͢d͘͘͠ ̧̨S̷̢͢͡c̸̵̛͟o̶ŕ͟͝p̸̴͡i̵̷̡͟͞o̢̢̕͡n͜͠ ̧͞t̵͠h̵̢̢͢e̷̶͝y̵͟͜͝͞'̡͠r̨̛͞e͏ ̸̸̨n̶̕҉͢ę̶̨̛x̵̛͝͝ţ̕̕̕͡.̢̛͠͡ ̴̧́Ţ̴̛͠h̨͏̵̡͘é͞ǹ̴̷͝ ̀͜m̛͘͘͝à̢̢͘ķ̢́͢è̶̢̀͏ ́͠͞͞͞S͟o҉̨l̶̛̛͟i͢͢s̷̶͜͢͡ ̷̸l͠͏o҉o̡͘҉̴k̶͟͟͠͝ ̴͝f͘o̷͝r̸̸ ͟͏t͜h̛̕͡͞ę̶͟͞͡ ͏҉̧͘͜ģ̧̡̕i̸͜͝r̶͢͠ļ̡͢͝,͞ ̀̕a͏̡́͘n̸͏́͝͏d̷̨̡́҉ ̷̷̡͠C̶̛͟͜͝ḩ͘͘͡͝r̶̸̨͜i̶͟͏s͏̨̧́͠ ̛͠t̷̡͟͠o̧ ̶̵̧͝͞l̀͡͝o̵͏҉͘o̵̡͟͠k͏̡͘͟͡ ̀͜͜f̶̸̛o͜͡r̵͘͢͢ ̡́͜͢͞t̷̨́͜h̵̀͟͠͝e̛͜ ̴̴̧̕͟b͞҉̷͝͞l̷̷͜o͢͝n̵̢̕͡d̵̸́͜i̷̴ȩ́͢ ̸̸w̷̷ó̧͜r̀͟k̷̵i͟͠ǹ̶̷̛̕g̷͘͏ ́͘p̶̷̧͟a̷͡͠r͠͝͡t̴̡̧͡-̧̧̕͞͠t̶̕̕̕i̴͜͟͞m͡҉e̢͟͡.̛͟ ̷̢͞͝"

Even after what felt like an eternity frozen in time, the big breasted villainess still found joy and excitement in all that would unfold. Her arms were folded, occasionally pressing upward to push her fleshy mounds just a small bit more out of the sleeveless, strapless dress. An invisible monster - a familiar one - stood in front of her: Kraken. The Reaper nodded, floating off elsewhere while phasing through all physical matter in an ethereal form. Once the beast departed, mistress she-devil grinned, leaving the private quarters to the shop's main area.

A blonde woman stared at Sophie. Normally emotionless, now she was with armed crossed, giving an expression that inquired why the girl came around to complain or even to be around someone that pissed even her off. "Are you serious" could be the way to interpret the silence.

Harbinger stared at the Nightmare Doll wielder. If she was here and wanted to assist Kraken the first assault, may as well make use out of her.

... Eventually. Right now, she's simply an annoying gnat.

A gnat that's fun to piss off.

"Cowtits wins faster and more efficiently. Sorry?" The redhead mocked, giggling at Sophie's rant after hearing it. These jugs were effective in being another insurance everything went according to plan. ... So far, everything has.

Sophie frowned as her mood darkened from hearing that familiar sultry voice, turning her gaze to the very person she was ranting about. Her eyes gazed at the flesh mounds that made her own big ones feel inferior, though she actually felt a rush of pleasure knowing hers were so small compared to Harbinger. But she was in no mood to let Harbinger know THAT."Tch, I'll never understand the fascination of wanting them to be so big. Men are such pigs."

"You'll never understand because your mind is feeble, being comparable to those pigs by being a slobbering masochist."

Goddamn.

"Did you have any real reason to visit? Or were you just happy seeing me?"

A growl escaped Sophie's throat as she looked away. "I don't need a reason to go where I please. But if you must know, I rather tolerate the view of a saggy old hag over the bright sunshine that shines on this horribly bright world."

"Happy to see me and respecting your elders, what a good girl you are." Harbinger chuckled, entirely unfazed by Sophie's attempt to bite back. A sweatdrop ran down the blonde woman's head, rather confused with this exchange and hoping it ceases immediately. Her glorious leader was very much willing to waste time insulting this girl, and the worst part was the girl may be willing to spend an equal amount of time counterattacking.

This is stupid.

Harbinger doesn't think so.

Sophie was actually...secretly enjoying this. This was just what she needed to get out of the funk of the peaceful days that had been passing by. That and destroy a mall or two. "Go die in a park full of happy babies." Guess it wasn't all that bad to have the melon bitch around.

"That doesn't sound so bad. But you'll be doing me a favor if you want me to fall like that."

Reapers were basically immortal, but she didn't have to know that. Harbinger began to finally propose a deal - making her move to fully lure this child under her control.

That made Sophie paused. She actually stared straight at Harbinger's eyes. After a minute of staring, there was her smile of insanity. "That is one favor I wouldn't mind doing you." Sophie actually noticeably shuddered. This woman, if she could be called one, was a woman after her heart. And that irritated her to no end. She wanted nothing more than to rip Harbinger's heart out of her milkjugs and crush that spark of attraction she was gaining for the redhead.

The eyes Sophie gazed into were the eyes of evil. Harbinger, obviously not actually going to throw herself at death for her end of the bargain, was out for blood that would be spilled not solely by the Reapers, but by humans turning against humans in a time of crisis. The "Chosen Shitstain" would surely fall to her knees once more when hope is smothered. This lass wasn't even a member of humanity's "resistance", but it was a start. Grinning, the busty witch spoke: "You will join me in my efforts to burn away hopes and dreams. Torturing those fools who assaulted my Kraken - the first Reaper you saw."

The blonde woman was rather taken aback by how straightforward her leader was. No beating around the bush, no lying, just a statement that Sophie will assist them in having the world burn and humanity crumble.

Sophie's smile had not changed at all at the 'favor' and laughed. "If I didn't hate your guts, I'd say we would be the best of friends." She then licked her lips. "Its bout time these peaceful days ended. Hopefully permanently. You got yourself a deal....boss." Sophie's face had gone red with lust, a slight drool escaping as she imagined the look of those people she had remembered at the scene of Reaper's battle once Catherine and Alice put them in the most brutal and painful nightmare she could think of....endlessly.

"Excellent, but you will not be able to do much with the power you have." Harbinger noted, mouthing "weakling" silently. A gaze was given to the blonde woman in the back, and said woman nodded. Approaching the Reaper, the servant's hand pressed down into Harbinger's palm, summoning a deck of vanguard cards. Gripping it, the redhead told several people sitting at a table to move, and placed cards down once they left.

"Come here, I'll gauge what I need for you to do."

This was rather worrisome.

Harbinger herself was willing to fight early.

Harbinger was still, wide eyed, showcasing an expression not thought possible: one that wasn't smirking or filled with cockiness, but instead, frowning surprise. Every reaper had felt the fall of Kraken, and now the Deletors knew their weakness was discovered... because of Gear Chronicle. Those meddling time guides - that accursed agent - Chronojet Dragon. The redhead did not move, her breathing stopped, everything froze.

Then the grin returned.

"Y͜͟͝ò̡̕͘͘u͏̵ ̸́g̵͞͞i҉̀͟͏v̡҉̸͜͡e̵͘҉ ҉͟t̷̢͘͠h̷͘e̸̴͘m̨͘͝ ҉̷̢̕t̛́͘͘ò̶̢͠ò̸͢ ̶̴̡m̵̴̨͢͡u͏̢͢c͘͟h̵̡̡͟ ̸̛̛́t̢͟i̵̵͘͝m̀҉é͟ ̷̴̨͘͢-̴̀͟ ̷͢͝t̕͜o̡̡̨͢o̷̡͟ ҉̨m̸̶͠͡u̸̶̡͡c̸̨ḩ͏̢͘͜ ҉̧҉̸l̴͏͘e̸̡n͏̶̕͝i̷̵̢ę̴̸͘n̡̢̕͡ć̴̛́ý͠͡.̧҉ ̀́͟͞͠" Sovereign's voice boomed in her mind.

Nonsense. This simply means the game is now fun.

A telepathic ringing came into the minds of several individuals long and far away from Shop Handsome. A signal commanding: "divide them".

Sophie narrowed her eyes at the cards before getting up and sat across, grabbing her decks of Pale Moon and placing on the table as well, smirking. "Don't cry if I surpass your expectations too much."

Sighing in half disappointment at Catherine and half orgasm at the terrible loss she had suffered to Harbinger, Sophie collected her cards and put it away, wiping away the drool that had been forming during half of the cardfight.

Karin walked through the shop's door. It was... an interesting shop, to say the least. One she had never actually been inside of before. But, this was definitely where she had been told to go to. Where Overlord wanted her to go.

"Uh... Hello? Is anyone here?" Karin called out, waiting for a response.

Sophie, and probably the rest of the small amount of people that resided there, turned their heads to the new person silently, like a bar in one of those western cowboy movies. It was rare for newcomers to come to this shop at all. Sophie herself said nothing, especially cause she was wondering if this was the person Harbinger was waiting for.

Harbinger is such a tease.

The Deletors of the strongest Reaper appeared, and their overlord spent the game toying around. There was no hope for the game from the get go, especially with Alice appearing instead of Catherine. So, to at least send her off, Harbinger would still gauge what she needed directly. The ultimate reaper - the armored "Docking Deletor, Graywon" was ridden. An absolute terror that matched Sovereign in size, towering above even the Nightmare Dolls. There was little to no resemblance between it and its human form, truly a disguise one could never see if Harbinger wasn't allowing herself to be obvious in a simple shop. But no one came here, and no one was smart enough to tell others about it. Those that tried... There weren't any anymore.

The lowest costed form of Delete allowed Harbinger to delete Alice without end after a turn of not being deleted. Added with a Perfect Guard that boasted its own new skill, they accidentally deleted every copy of Alice. They'll have to rectify that in a moment, but for now...

"I brought her in, like I said I would", Solis spoke with irritation in tone, entering the base of operations in plain sight. He stood close to Karin, glaring back at all the gawkers, who immediately turned their stares in fear except Sophie. While he did not like the Kagero player of this timeline, he would protect her and stand with her, at the very least. They're about to be comrades, after all. Harbinger grinned at the arrival of Karin, utterly giddy with excitement.

"Hiii!" Chris cheerfully entered the building with Lua, everyone having little smiles in response to the little bundle of energy that shined on them. What a perfect green leaf of malice. The other blonde woman that served as Harbinger's bodyguard coated her gloved hands in void energy, beginning to shuffle through a deck of cards.

"Excellent. You two did well. Hopefully the other green one brings me Trinity too. As for you three, you're here because you want the power to erase your problems. I can give you that so long as you do me a couple favors."

Like annihilate the Earth.

"My name is Harbinger, and I am the ruler of the reapers. This is your last chance to back out, but I don't recommend it. My buddy here is going to open a gateway so you all can achieve your dreams... So just tell me specifically what you want."

They will serve a real queen who will grant them real power.

Lua's purplish eyes burned as she stared at Harbinger. This was really an opportunity, with someone associated with the reapers, to do something about that girl and get that guy for her own. It was like she had completely forgotten this person was responsible for what she was trying to run away from in the first place.

"I want this man for myself." She opened up a picture she had stealthily taken of the boy with his friends, including his betrothed, the white-haired woman and a few others. "And I want her, the girl next to him, eliminated."

Karin stared at the Reaper Queen, not shying away or averting her gaze. This was the being responsible for all the destruction around her. This was the one who erased their power to transcend the future. This was the one who ordered Overlord's deletion in the first place.

Karin stepped forward. The blank copies of Overlord gripped tightly in her hand, she extended them forward to her. "I want him back. That's all."

"It's starting, Chosen Shitstain." Harbinger mumbled to herself a swear aimed at nobody in the shop. Smiling broadly - beaming, the reaper was prepared to carry out their wishes and the process of conversion into reaper drones. "Y̨͞҉o̴͝u̷͟҉̀͜ ̨͞ẃ̸̶̕͞i̶l̡̧̢͡ļ̸̧͜͏ ̵͏a̶̸̧̕l̴̷͡͞l̴̀͘͢ ̶̧̡̕b̡̛́e̡̨͘l̸̡̧̀o̶͟͞ǹ̶̸̀g̀͘͡ ̷̧͝t҉̷͘ǫ͟ ̵̸̡̛m̀̕̕͢͜ȩ̷.҉̸͏" Was spoken in eldritch garble, awaiting the subordinate to find what she needed: the key. A card was held skyward, then, Shop Handsome was engulfed in light, taking those who were ready to have back what they feel was stolen from them in exchange for their allegiance. Including those that were already willingly serving the gods of death, Solis and Chris. Each of their "avatars" was summoned: Vortex Dragonewt, standing as an acting leader for Overlord, the Holy Edge Celestial, Malchidael, and Nightmare Doll, Catherine. Overlord the Great and Machining Tarantula mkII also stood with the other two, and the blonde woman had what appeared to be a cyberoid - a Star-vader with herself.

They were transported to the Akasha Stratum.

A world which was surrounded by a pink sky, mending with the orange-red colors of an earthly sunset. They all stood on an almost entirely transparent platform of glass-like structure. Before them was - in the air - a floating object that seemed to look like an upside-down cone with three disks - nay - gears attached to it, the top and bottom layers turning clockwise, and the middle revolving counterclockwise. A thin, white barrier safeguarded it in this vast and normally unreachable space in existence. Harbinger waltzed forward, hips swaying as her footsteps echoed throughout this land. The Reaper gazed at the device with... hunger. A thirst she could not sate, which infuriated her.

"J̛͡u̸̡s͝͞t͠ ̵̶̢̀̕f̵̛͘҉ơ̶͠c͞͡u͡͡ş́̕͠.̛͡҉" The blonde spoke.

"Yes, yes... anyway. This little toy here is the Akashic Record, a disc that holds recordings of everything that has happened, is happening, and will ever happen. How we reapers operate is tearing apart your data in it, corrupting it to the point where the record either removes it entirely or simply can't load it - causing nonexistence. A piece of shit hardware. That aside, I can also restore data to it. Like so."

Harbinger explained the odd machine as the deleted copies of Alice appeared in hand. The busty devil placed them within the barrier, her hand being enveloped by white mass. The shine disgusted her, and even so, she pulled out a set of cards without trying much else. Turning, they were tossed into the air, and they all merged into Nightmare Doll, Alice.

"I can do this for all of you."

Karin's grayed out copies of Overlord levitated to Harbinger at her will, then were inserted toward the Akashic Record. The device located the most fond memory of power for this timeline's Overlord and its owner. Instead of reviving it as "the Great", new art unseen by the eyes here was drawn. It was thrown aside toward the humans, materializing as a new form of Overlord.

It demanded Karin speak it's real name, and left its card name blank.

"Aaand..."

Harbinger left the record, approaching those in the space, and tapping them on the forehead... suddenly overloading their minds with visions of reapers, separate timelines, and filling their heads with the speech of the Reapers. The knowledge of their speech. Whispers, endless whispers, mindless whispers that began speaking "suggestions". Offering aid, granting power, gifting insight, and screeching "F̷̶̛͝E҉̛͠͝A̶̛R̴̨͏ ̡͘T̵̛҉̀͝H̴͞E̛͜͠ ̸҉̶͠S̷̨͝͞O̧̨̕͝V̵̡̛È̶̢͜͝R̸͟͜͢E̕Ì̕͞͞G̷͘͞͏Ń͟҉̶ ̛͟͟͡À̛͢͜Ń̡̨͝͏D̶̵̨̧̧ ̵̨͢T̀́͜͡H͜͞͝҉E̢҉ ̀͝͞H̴́À͟͡͝Ŕ̷͢͜͠B̴̧I͡͏̶̨N̡͏̶G͏̸̡̕Ȩ̶̕͜͡R̴҉̧͏̴,̸͡ ͝P̕͢͝͏R҉͏A̡͞͏I̴̛͘͡S̕͢͢͡͡É̕͟͢͡ ̵҉́T̡̛͟͟͝Ớ͘͞ ҉̶҉T̢̕͜͠H́͜͞É̡͢ ̀͟T͝W͏͠I͡͝N͟ ̸̢͝͞Ì҉N҉̷̴́F̷̷͢͏I̴̢͞N̷͢͟͝͞I̸̡T̨̢͏E҉̵S̛̕͡͞͡.̷̛́͞"

"Y̷̴̢͡Ơ̡͟Ư̶͟͠ ̸̸͢͝A͏̡Ŕ́E̕͢͝ ̴̸̡͟͟Ḱ̵̀͡Í̷̴̢̡N̴.҉҉̀͘Y̷̴̢͡Ơ̡͟Ư̶͟͠ ̸̸͢͝A͏̡Ŕ́E̕͢͝ ̴̸̡͟͟Ḱ̵̀͡Í̷̴̢̡N̴.҉҉̀͘YOU ARE KIN. YOU ARE KIN."

Without allowing them a second chance to back down, Sophie, Lua, and Karin now belonged to Harbinger.

Karin's mind raced as she took the new Overlord in her hands. It looked just like the Overlord of the old generation, in his glory days before his fight with Blaster Blade- Before he became The End, and subsequently, Re-Birth. But this Overlord was younger still. It was the Overlord in his youth, his prime, when he had only just began to conquer. And now this Overlord was her own, to stand beside her, renewed. It was the greatest gift he could give to Karin. His real name.

As the whispers and words of the reapers invaded Karin's mind, she clutched her forehead for a few moments before they settled, becoming more and more understandable. "You are kin", it spoke to her. Letting her hand fall to her side, she simply shook her head, stepping forward to the Reaper Queen once more.

"...I'm only doing this for him. As long as it is his command... I'll follow you. No further."

Lua held her head, the reapers infecting her mind with a simple phrase: "You are kin." The purple in her eyes glowed eerily now, small black hearts forming in the pupils. She was going to have this boy. There was going to be absolutely, positively no stopping her. Harbinger was giving her a gift.

Her deck box glowed as well, signifying a change in her Angel Feathers. She examined it.

A new pair of Celestials. Hellel and Batael. And the feel of such intense, powerful energy...a grin plastered her face.

"I am kin." She giggled. "And he's going to be mine...mine, all mine..."

Sophie grunted as the phrase repeated itself over and over into her head. But, this time she smiled widely and unnaturally, her eyes giving off a tint of blood red glow to them. It wasn't hard for the whispers to convince her as she spoke.

"You are truly the savior this world needs. I'll follow you to the very end and be honored to be a part of creating a world of chaos and despair."