Tiffany was born to a working class family in the ratmen city.

Growing up, she was brought to the mines and taught to work from a young age.

Schooling in the ratmen city was virtually nonexistent, as most work did not require any form of education. For those who would need to understand how to read and write, their parents would teach them.

However, because there was no schooling, instead there was a training system depending on the type of work that the children would be going into. Many children- up to classes of 30- would be taught the basics of a trade underneath a single instructor from a young age. Since these children were not considered adults, they were not expected to take on heavy tasks or be held responsible for any incidents, and so their work was relatively light- but it would prepare them for the future.

Tiffany was a ferret who was born with strange eyes.

They were bright red, and seemed to glow with energy. Her parent's never said anything about them, and loved her nonetheless.

Many thought that her eyes were beautiful.

However, with every good thing comes something bad.

For those who have some sort of gift or natural talent, jealousy is sparked in others who have less.

"Alright everyone. If the boys will just push these carts to the mine entrance, and the girls will gather the tools, we'll be done for today."

Inside a mineshaft that was lit by torches, 30 ferret kin students followed the orders of their instructor as they finished up their day's work.

The carts of yellow ore were mined and hauled out, and the picks, ropes, torches, and other tools were gathered.

One by one the carts were rolled out, and many of the students carrying tools followed. The instructor was the last to exit, and looked back into the mines to do one final check before nodding and heading off.

"Alright. Everyone is free to head home. Just place the tools back in their proper locations and we're done here. I'll contact the factory and let them know that we have a haul for them to collect and process."

And so, the instructor went off to do his own work, leaving the students to do as they wished.

Tiffany placed a few picks back into a crate. They landed with a clang and she wiped the sweat off her brow as she turned to leave.

"Where are you going today, blood eyes?"

"Looking at em closely, they almost make me want to gouge them out."

"Creepy. Those are eyes that only a mother could love. Even then, does your mother even love you? I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to get rid of you the second you opened those disturbing eyes."

Three ferret girls surrounded Tiffany, speaking with overconfidence in their voices.

"Ah.... w-well.... she hasn't ever said anything about my eyes...."

Tiffany quietly tried to escape the conversation, averting her eyes from the three who had surrounded her.

"Of course she wouldn't. What else could she say about you? Other than the fact that you're a freak, that is."

"Yeah. Don't ever try and think something stupid like they're beautiful. They're like a wart. It must be embarrassing just to have to show them off to people. You can't hide your eyes after all! Maybe you should just blindfold yourself?"

"I.... have to be going..."

Tiffany tried to escape but her shoulders were grabbed by two of the girls.

"Where are you going in such a hurry? Surely you have some time to hang out with us. After all, we're being quite generous, blood eyes. We're willing to lower ourselves and hang out with you, and this is the thanks you give us?"

"It's just that today-"

"Don't be like that. Come on. Hey, grab the stuff."

One of the girls ordered another to retrieve the equipment, and she grabbed a rope, a lamp filled with oil, and a freshly wrapped torch from the storage bins.

"Let's go and do a little more exploring today. I'm sure it will be fun."

"I really have to get home-"

One of the girls shot Tiffany a nasty glare that said 'we're not going to let you do that.'

"Ah... ok... but just for a little while...."

Quickly averting her gaze, Tiffany reluctantly agreed to go with the girls, given no choice in the matter.

"That's more like it!! After all, you should be thanking us. If you hang out with beautiful people like ourselves, then maybe we can rub our beauty off on you. Maybe those red eyes will just disappear!"

"That's right. Your face might just barely become palatable if your eyes weren't like that."

The girls laughed and forced Tiffany to make her way to the front, leading the group into the mines.

The oil was used to light the torch and the girls began to walk into the mines.

"What's wrong? Keep up the pace or we'll never make it."

"Ah.... ok...."

Tiffany shyly responded, her hands pressed to her chest.

She was scared of what would happen in here, but even more scared of what would happen if she tried to run away.

The group walked through the twisting tunnels of the mine before coming to a point deep enough so that nobody would be able to hear screams or come running.

"Those eyes... they're so ugly.... why don't we help her out? Let's make it so that nobody has to see those bloody eyes of hers ever again."

"Let's do it."

The girls grabbed Tiffany, tying her up with the rope.

"S-stop!! What are you doing!?"

They tied her hands behind her back, and then her feet.

"Stop!!! Help!!!!!!"

"Be quiet, you bitch!! We're doing this to help you!!! Nobody wants to see those sickening eyes of yours!!!!"

One of the girls punched Tiffany in the gut before they continued tying up her legs.

Tiffany continued to struggle even while being tied up.

"Will you stop struggling already!?! Let's put her in her place."

The girls began furiously beating on Tiffany, to the point where she was covered in bruises. They kicked her, punched her, and even spit on her.

Some even flicked their snot and earwax on her, rubbing it in her face.

"How do you like that, you little bitch!?!? Be thankful that you're even able to be graced with our spit! Now let's get rid of those damn eyes!!!!"

One of the girls grabbed the torch from the other.

Tiffany's eyes were now swollen from the beating, and she looked up while shivering from the ground.

"N-no... stop....."

The flame was brought close to her face.

"Haha... we'll see if you're so damn proud of those eyes after this...."

As the flame was brought closer to the swollen eyes of Tiffany, she opened them as wide as she could, and they became a bright red, as if they were filled with magical energy.

As this happened, the girl froze in place, the flame only inches away from the face of Tiffany.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you chickening out now?"

One of the other girls asked this as a disgusted frown came upon her face, but the girl who held the torch did not respond.

"Give me that!", the girl shouted as she grabbed the torch from the hand of the one who had frozen. "Not willing to dirty your own hands? I'll do it myself then."

This girl too brought the flame close as she looked into the eyes of Tiffany, filled with an insatiable jealousy.

They were beautiful.

They were beautiful beyond belief.

They were like jewels, sparkling.

'I'll take them from her!!! Why does she get to have such beautiful eyes!?! This little shit!!! She doesn't deserve them!! She didn't do anything to get them aside from being born!!'

The girl however, found herself unable to move.

"What are you doing? Did you chicken out as well even after saying all that?", the third girl asked, looking back and forth between the flame and the second girl who was now frozen in place as well.

Looking into the rubies of eyes which they sought to destroy, this girl too found herself unable to move. They seemed to glow with energy as the fire reflected in them, and Tiffany slowly got up.

She looked around, watching as the three stood perfectly still in place.

They didn't move a muscle.

Something was clearly off.

"Did... I do this? Did my eyes.... do this?"

Tiffany brought the rope that tied her hands to the torch which was in the hand of the frozen girl, and as the rope burned it snapped, freeing her.

She snatched the torch out of the hand of the girl and used it to free her own feet.

"I... my eyes.... I almost lost them....."

Tiffany looked back and forth between the three girls, standing up.

"I almost lost them.... because of what? Because you three couldn't accept my beauty? Because you couldn't accept that I am objectively more beautiful than you?"

Tiffany thrusted the torch into the face of the first girl, burning the flesh for a few seconds.

"Such a stupid reason.", she whispered as she moved the torch, planting it in the face of the next girl, boiling the skin to a burnt crisp.

"I have somewhere to be. I told you over and over, didn't I?"

A tear came to the eye of Tiffany as she brought the torch onto the face of the last girl.

"Why the hell are you wasting my time here!?!", she screamed as the tears flowed.

Fizz.

The torch burnt away at the skin and hair of the last girl.

Now, their faces were completely destroyed. Burnt to a crisp.

Tiffany threw down the torch in a fit.

"Why would you do this!?! Just stay the hell away from me!!! My eyes.... they're beautiful!! I don't care what you all say or think!!! Just stay away from me!!!!"

Tiffany released the spell which she had put the three girls under, and the second she did so they began squirming and screaming in pain.

"AGH!!!!!!"

"It burns!!!!!!"

"Help!!!!!"

"You bitch!!!!"

"I'll gouge those eyes out!!! I'll rip them out!!!!"

"Agh!!!!!"

Tiffany wiped her tears and turned away from the three.

"Never come near me again. Next time it won't be just your faces."

Running off, Tiffany's heart was filled with fear at what she had done.

'I.... I just hurt them....'

'I've done something horrible....'

'Unforgivable....'

'No.... they were about to do it to me.....'

'They have no right to complain....'

'I was just trying to make it to mother's funeral.....'

'Mother... what do you think? Are my eyes ugly? Are they beautiful? Why did those three hate them so much?'

'It... must have been because of jealousy.... these eyes.... they were your gift to me.... I have this ability because of them.... I will treasure it.... I will make sure you don't regret birthing me, mother...'

Tiffany ran out of the mineshaft, covered in bruises and teary eyed.

'Because without these eyes.... I wouldn't have been able to get out of there alive...'

----

Tiffany went on years later to take over the mafia by force, paralyzing everyone who she came into contact with.

Not a single person could go against her.

With the ability to freeze someone just by looking into their eyes, many didn't even dare to go against her. Even the former leader of the ferret's faction, Albert, bowed before her.

He was a man who understood that he was outmatched, and gladly accepted the role of second in command.

However, right now, in front of Tiffany's eyes, an unfathomable scene played out.

A creature with the appearance of an angel had undergone her paralysis effect, only to escape it.

After escaping it, the creature gained the appearance of a demon- and one who by some strange horrible law became even more beautiful than she was as an angel.

This creature now casually stepped away from where she stood, and the men underneath Tiffany seemed to charge at the spot which the angel was previously standing in, attacking it.

"What are you idiots doing!? Why are you not attacking her?!"

One man thrusted his weapon at the spot, before strangely throwing it high into the air.

"I.... I don't know!!! My body is moving on it's own!!!", the man shouted.

The other four had looks of worry on their faces, confirming that they were indeed moving and attacking completely independent of their will.

It was as if they were repeating a set of determined movements.

After thrusting forward at the air, the men seemed to gather together in the spot in the center.

The knife, which had been thrown into the air, fell to the ground.

And as soon as it touched the ground, an explosion radiated from it.

Chunks of flesh and blood were sent flying radially from the power of the explosion.

The demon, who was now standing off to the side, merely spoke out in a mocking tone while keeping her eyes closed.

"I wonder just what they were doing? It looked as if they were attacking someone, but there was nobody there. How strange. Oh, and I suppose even more strange would be that something exploded."

Tiffany glared over at the demon in disgust.

"What did you do?"

The demon merely grinned sinisterly.

"I said it before, didn't I? Their fates had already been determined."

----

"Kill them all. Here and now."

The boss of the ferrets barked out an order to her subordinates, who all wielded either pistols or mini crossbows.

They held up their weapons to fire, and Clarice gained a look of annoyance on her face.

'Looks like my work is cut out for me.'

And as she thought this, the weapons were fired.

Bullets and bolts from all around the group of around 40 people were fired, and almost all of them hit a target one way or another.

The people who had been frozen stiff were unable to even so much as move a muscle.

Blood spouted from the bullet wounds and bolts pierced through the bodies, chests, and even the heads of some people.

'Agh!!!! They... they shot everyone!!!! Oh no!!! C-Clarice!! We need to help them all!!! H... how could this happen? Some of them are dead.... just like that....'

'The only ones who are dead are the ones who died in that explosion.'

Clarice smirked, and took a bolt to her right hand.

"I said it before, didn't I? Their fates had already been determined."

----

"Kill them all. Here and now."

Immediately, Clarice dived at Fina, toppling over not only her, but many of the other members of the mafia like dominoes.

They were paralyzed, and their bodies acted as statues remaining in the same poses, however many fell to the ground.

Just as Clarice toppled some people, the men let off another round of shots, hitting the many who remained standing.

Clarice raised her right hand into the fray, holding it up and then grasping it as if she was grabbing something.

"I will make all of your shots miss."

And with that, a stray bullet made it's way into the hand of Claire.

----

"Kill them all, here and now."

The bodies which Clarice had previously dived on top of spontaneously fell to the floor, and in that same moment, Clarice dived onto Ramrod, causing him and a number of his own people to fall.

The shots were fired, but there were significantly less people left standing this time, and the minds of the men who fired the shots were filled with confusion.

'What happened!?'

'How did those people who were paralyzed fall to the ground!? Nothing even touched them!?'

Yet, they barely had time to think these thoughts, for an angelic hand was raised into the fray of bullets, and once more this timeline ceased to exist.

The only thing that remained were the things that had been determined.

----

After a number of repeated trials, Clarice had successfully tackled every person in the vicinity, using her right hand to determine their fall to the ground.

Finally, there was one last task to complete.

"Kill them all. Here and now."

Clarice ducked to the ground, and as if propelled by some magical force, every single body in the center of the room fell to the ground like a marble sculpture.

The men fired off hundreds of rounds into the fray, however there were no longer any people standing to hit.

The bullets instead were now aimed right for the people who were across from one another firing off the shots.

It was a slaughter.

With the men surrounding the group and firing on them, they ended up hitting each other, shocked that every single person in the fray had fallen to the ground spontaneously.

It was a massacre.

"Ugh!!!"

"Blergh!!"

"Agh!!!"

The bodies of the ferrets fell to the ground, bullets and crossbow bolts penetrating their heads, chests, and guts.

"Y-you idiots!! What happened!?!? Why did you shoot each other!?!?! How did those people all fall to the ground!?!? They should be paralyzed!!!! How could they have spontaneously moved without anything or anyone touching them!?!?!?!?!"

Clarice stood up, and once more stuck up her hand in a grasping motion.

"I have taken their lives. And now I will take this city."

Clarice, who kept her eyes closed, approached Tiffany, who was now reeling back in her seat.

"W-what did you do!?!?! What happened!?!"

"You have quite a useful ability, you know. Paralyzing anyone who looks into your eyes? Concerning. I would like to keep you alive though."

Tiffany glared at Clarice with disgust, spitting out insults.

"You.... you demon..... what did you do to escape my ability? What did you do to kill all these men!?"

"Kill them? I only temporarily took their lives. Life is an easy thing to give and take from a person. Watch and learn, woman. You said that you wish to be the most beautiful person in existence? That you would make yourself objectively beautiful? Haha! Don't make me laugh. Your heart is so ugly that there is no person in this city who would ever consider a rotten person like you to be beautiful."

[Set condition: Unwounded]

[Set condition: Living]

And just like that, the men who had bolts in their heads and chests, and bullets in their sides, were healed as if they were never wounded before.

They sat up, wondering what had happened as they looked around in confusion.

"Burn this sight into your eyes, to all who are here. I am the Determined, the leader of the Dictatorship. Present here are the three leaders of the factions of this city. Not a single person here has the power to stop us. This woman had an ability which was enough to give me a scare, but that was all."

[Set Condition: Betrayal=Impossible]

Clarice set a condition on Tiffany which made it so that the paralysis skill could not be used on herself.

The men trembled in fear on seeing the horrible expression on the face of the beautiful demon in front of their leader.

"A... alright!! I will release them from their paralysis!!! I'll do it!!!", Tiffany shouted.

The bodies of the people on the ground began to move as well.

Ramrod, Fina, and the other people under them began to sit up as well, only to be overcome with terror on seeing the demon who towered over them.

"What.... what are you?", Ramrod whispered.

Fina stared into the eyes of Clarice, with understanding.

"Ah.... so that is why I lost.... no wonder.... I may have lost my humanity in the arena, but I was fighting someone that the word 'monster' doesn't even begin to describe...."

Clarice's black dress seemed to flutter as she walked up the stairway of the throne where Tiffany sat.

"You're in my seat."

Tiffany was filled with fear.

Not a single piece of her wanted to accept this.

She wanted to scream out in retribution.

She wanted to berate this demon. She wanted her men to attack it, and take it out. She wanted to eliminate it from this world.

Most importantly, this demon was objective proof that her claim was incorrect.

Tiffany was not the most beautiful woman in the world, nor in this city for that manner.

For this abomination in front of her, was infinitely more beautiful.

'Was this how those three felt when they stared into my eyes?'

'Was this how they felt, for something so wicked to contain such beauty- beauty which they could never hope to reach?'

Tiffany was overwhelmed and terrified, but Clarice showed no mercy.

"Ah, I suppose while I'm still in control I had better make sure to exact all the measures I need. You did that to those girls over there, so I'm sure you won't mind if I evened the playing field a bit."

[Set condition: Burning]

Tiffany's face lit ablaze, burning away at her skin.

"Agh!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!! STOP THIS!!!!!!"

Clarice finally opened her eyes, now confident that Tiffany would not be able to meet them, and grabbed the woman, throwing her off the seat to the ground.

The woman stumbled to the ground while writhing and burning. Her high heels broke, and she twisted her ankle upon landing, dislocating her foot.

"M-make it stop!!!!!", she screamed.

"Fair enough."

[Set condition: Not Burning]

[Set condition: Unwounded]

And just like that, the woman's foot relocated itself and the burning stopped. The skin on her face healed, and at the same time, the skin on the faces of the two girls who had been tormented seemed to revert back to it's regular state.

"Now then..... where was I? Ah yes. You three mafia leaders. You have no power. This city is mine for the taking, and anyone who disagrees, please stand forward."

Gina and Lisa were now on their knees, shivering before the figure in front of them.

'Who... who is this woman!?!?!'

The other members of the mafia, Tiffany included, stayed down without so much as a peep.

"How easy this was, my angelic self. I suppose all I had to do was tick you off.", Clarice commented.

And just like that, the demonic aura retracted from the body of Claire.

The demonic branches of wings grew feathers, turning as white as snow.

The horns and fangs retracted and were replaced with a halo and a pure smile.

Claire's furious eyes were replaced with innocent and loving ones, and her black gown was replaced with a flawless white one.

With a beautiful smile, Claire looked around, closing her eyes in satisfaction.

"Thank you all very much for your cooperation! I'll do my best to make this city a wonderful place to live for all of you!"