"This is a very bad idea, Miss Tristessa…"

"I told you to call me Tessa, Jin."

For someone who carried a rifle in his hands and a single-shot pistol holstered on the left side of his belt, the hunter was very worried. A layer of sweat covered his forehead and around his mouth, easily spotted in the parts which weren't covered by his bushy, wild beard. Not even his years of experience could circumvent the ill omen that had taken hold of him, but at least his footsteps made barely a sound against the perpetual, endless layer of red leaves of the Sea of ​​Trees.

Unlike the crunching sound of the girl's boots following behind him.

Tristessa had dressed again in the set of black clothing that had belonged to the Priestess of the Black Eye, before she had given herself to the service of the Lord of Forbidden Knowledge. Knowing who it had belonged to, it made her stomach twist and churn, but it was the best she could ask for in a house where such garments were lacking.

And although it was hard to admit, she liked dressing this way. The trench coat's belts around her chest, the warmth of the pants, and the slightly heavy boots gave her a false sense of security... As if they granted her strength she didn't really own.

"I wish I could say the same with this," she thought, looking down briefly, her gaze piercing the hunting knife on the right side of her waist. Waiting inside that black farross-leather sheath, for her to use it again. "…fuck."

"As I was saying, this is a very bad idea... T-Tessa," Jin distracted her, insisting and unable to hide the embarrassment he felt at addressing a outsider like that girl so casually. "Not to criticize you, of course. No one knows your own Divinity better than you, b-but... Are you sure...?"

"Of course. You show me the way and protect me from the vargs," she asked, giving him a small smile when she saw the man looking over his shoulder at her. It didn't manage to calm his nervousness. "I'll take care of the rest."

"But vargs don't stray far from their shelters unless... Uh, never mind. It's this way, follow me, Mi... Tessa."

The girl was doing a great job of not showing how uneasy she was. Her eyes darted in every direction; paranoia creeping under her skin, knowing full well the dangers lurking among the endless corridors formed by trees and overgrown vegetation. The leaves beneath her feet, with that beautiful red color, brought back memories of when her body's blood and entrails had been spilled nearby. Memories accompanied by a powerful and dreadful chill.

"In the other timeline, I must be rotting in that cemetery... Surrounded by those giant wolves and bunnies," she thought, fortunately without seeing any of that fauna nearby. She and Jin were alone, and despite the only obvious sounds of leaves crunching beneath their feet and the wind blowing through the endless tree branches, the paranoia that was invading her was turning into terror. "It seems I'll never stop feeling this way in this forest…"

Thinking so much about her first Death and the indescribable pain of being torn to pieces by the pack of vargs made her slow down. And at the same time, she was beginning to notice an unpleasant smell in the air. A potent and invasive scent, more penetrating with each step she took.

The foul smell of something dead and rotting.

"Don't stay behind, Miss... I mean, Tessa," Jin urged her, impassive and used to those kinds of smells. "Let's go."

"Y-yes, sorry."

The place Jin was leading her to soon became more than evident, given the bloody landscape and the source of the rotten odor.

There were several trees with parts of their massive trunks marked by deep claw cuts, bloodstains, and pieces of skin and flesh lodged between the gaps in the bark. Almost hidden by the continuous falling of the red leaves, there were several dead vargs, impossible to count individually as their bodies were torn to pieces, dismembered from being thrown violently against the trees or directly from blunt force trauma. Legs, guts, pools of blood and fur, swarms of flies, even a jaw that Tristessa stepped on as she walked slowly, trying to avoid touching all the signs of that massacre.

"My God," she sighed, covering her mouth as she felt suffocated by the scent of Death. Her eyes burned in the fetid atmosphere, and her dark soul detected all those savage corpses as acceptable vessels for her [Divinity of Accursed Existence], even though they were all dismembered. "Was there a fight here…?"

"Yes, a fight to the Death between predators, for supremacy," the hunter replied. "I found this battlefield when everything was already dead. No victor."

And among all the animal carcasses, there was the one they had come to this place to find. It was the corpse of a demon with thick white fur, stocky arms, and stumpy, small legs. Its large mouth, filled with dozens of sharp teeth, its tongue escaping between them. Four small black horns protruded from the top of its skull, slightly curved backward.

"Even dead, vilecrosses are terrifying…" she thought, trying hard not to vomit. "How do the people of Nekrom manage to co-exist with them?"

The decomposition process of that albino Vilecross was in an advanced stage, the specimen being the most overwhelmed by the swarm of flies. Its feet and the thickest parts of its arms, stiff and cold, bore bite marks that had ripped away hair and flesh, with infectious stains oozing a putrid, gangrenous black liquid.

But the worst were the severe wounds on its head. The neck, short and thick, was torn open by bites, revealing the shattered trachea and severed arteries. Its face was missing its eyes and a large amount of skin and muscle fibers, leaving more than half of the skull exposed.

Wounds very similar to those Tristessa had suffered seconds before dying for the first time…

"White-furred vilecross abound in the snowy south. It's strange that one has come so close to this region of the Sea of ​​Trees," the hunter explained, kneeling on the ground and carefully examining the wounds on the demon's neck. "The smell of their dead scares vargs away. Rest assured, none will come near here."

"I'm glad to hear that… You'd better step back, Jin."

At her warning, Jin stood up and went to stand beside her. There was a certain skepticism in his eyes, Tristessa saw it, and it left her with dreadful emptiness inside. To think that this same man had fallen victim to her Divinity when she couldn't control it… Not like now, when she could detect that imaginary light-switch cord in the darkness and pull it to summon the power granted to her by the goddess Xiliarra.

"Arise."

The Discord emanating from Tristessa's soul overcame the foul atmosphere in the blink of an eye, chasing away all the flies around. Filling it with a vile imitation of Life, the vilecross corpse began to stir. Beneath its skin, the dregs of its fragmented soul manifested in the physical world, like thousands of vermin inhabiting its interior. The claws of its hands sank into the rotten blood-soaked earth, and thanks to the almost intact muscles in its arms, the corpse was able to partially lift itself off the ground. Its lower jaw was dislocated and the tendons severed, making it impossible for the undead demon to close its mouth.

It pointed its two empty eye sockets at the silent mistress of Death… The source of its return, and the hateful reason for walking the earth again.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Oh, blessed Xiliarra…" Tristessa heard Jin say, aghast to see that her Divinity was real. Already standing, the demonic revenant expelled its liquefied and rotten entrails through every open wound, mostly the perforations caused by the rot in the lower part of its chest. "My dear Goddess, did you really give this girl such a terrible blessing?"

"Your Goddess hates me. Or at least she likes to laugh at my misfortunes."

With cold bitterness, Tristessa gathered strength before the silent message of contempt that this demon had dedicated to her, as well as all those who fell victim to her Divinity. The strain of that invocation was minimal on her spirit, a fortunate fact. With patience and waiting for Tiara to keep her word, she wouldn't suffer too much.

"How long can you use your Divinity?" Jin asked her, stepping out of the way to let the vilecross take its first steps, in the direction Tristessa was indicating.

"It depends on the type of soul I need to bring back from the abyss..." she replied, beginning to walk beside him, following in the footsteps of the undead demon but staying away from the trail of crumbs its was creating with the cadaveric fluid he was constantly leaking. "If your wife does as I asked, we'll have more time before the strain shatters my soul apart."

"You don't like Tiara, do you? I still don't know how you managed to convince her to leave… She wouldn't tell me what you two talked about."

"I told her what she didn't want to hear. The truth," she replied, her gaze filled with icy ruthlessness. "If she doesn't wish to see her eldest daughter torture and desecrate Lucahn before killing him in the most inhumane way imaginable, then we'll all escape to Entrana and beg the Lady of the Dominion for mercy."

"…" Jin licked his lips, anxious about the question he was going to ask the girl. And in his gaze, a father's pain abounded. "Daiana… She's not my little girl anymore, isn't she?"

Tristessa clenched her hands, digging her nails into her skin. She had so many things to say about Daiana Mercer-Archeos, so many insults and curses against that monster… But she was walking next to her father right now. Someone who would never stop loving his daughter, no matter what kind of person she was. She couldn't break his heart so brutally, but it was necessary to hurt him a little bit and without anesthesia.

Before that paternal love had the chance to become his own downfall, given the worst-case scenario.

"Jin… I don't know what kind of person your daughter was, but the Daiana I know is a monster without a shred of empathy or common sense in her heart." She exchanged a fleeting glance with him, conveying all the terror and agony that woman caused her in pasts long gone. "She must be slayed before she can cause more harm to innocent people."

In a cruel turn of events, it was Tristessa's heart that broke first as she watched the man's spirit crumble.

"Yes… I know, Tessa. I know…" he admitted, unable to hold back a sob and some of the many tears he must have shed over the years because of that uncomfortable truth. "I've prayed so hard to the Gods to help me understand why my little girl became…that thing. Truly, I prayed for so many nights and never got an answer."

"And maybe we never will."

The last thing was said in the privacy of her mind. Jin didn't need to hear anything else, just remain steadfast and determined to save his family from a fate worse than Death.

And that decomposing albino vilecross was one of the critical elements to slipping through the fingers of that inescapable future.

Unless they found another means of transportation along the way, that revenant was the only thing that could assure them a means to escape as quickly as possible, before Daiana and the Coven realized their intentions.

Already outside the Sea of ​​Trees and near the perimeter of the former House of Royal Hunters, Tristessa and Jin saw that Tiara, Lucahn, and Gaal, their large, gray-haired dog curled up at his owner's feet, were waiting for them at the beginning of the untended road.

The woman was wearing a traveling jacket that she evidently hadn't imagined she'd ever use, given the wrinkles and damp stains surrounding it, while her son was bundled up from head to toe in a thick cloth vest, a winter jacket, and a wool hat.

At their feet were two farross-leather satchels, each filled with the supplies Tristessa had requested: food and waterskins in one, and Jin's weapons and ammunition in the other.

"Is everything ready, my dear?" the hunter asked his wife, placing a kiss on her forehead, which she silently accepted without expressing any emotion at all.

"Yes, all that's left is to bring the wagon here… And I can see that's not going to be a problem thanks to that thing you two brought. Ugh, the smell reaches all the way here."

Gaal reacted right away, growling menacingly at the creature accompanying the girl and the hunter.

"Ahh, mommy!"

It was only natural that Lucahn would scream in terror upon seeing a cadaverous vilecross approaching, its body falling to pieces and its jaw hanging by a few strands of muscle fiber.

"Relax, son. He won't do anything to you… Miss Tristessa is controlling him. There's nothing to fear," Jin assured Lucahn, stroking his head as the boy covered his face with the bottom of Tiara's jacket.

"I told you to call me Tessa, Jin," the dark-haired girl admonished before addressing Tiara. Mutual hatred exchanged between them, but they were forced to cooperate for the good of the family. "Where is the wagon? Does it have chains or something to move it?"

"Everything's ready, just tell your undead beast to bring it here."

"Good…" Mentally, Tristessa commanded the vilecross to go around the house and retrieve the requested item. The three of them and the dog stared after the male, dead creature, leaving a miasma of decay in their wake, but Tristessa wasn't finished with Tiara yet. "Did you get what I asked for?"

"Yes… The spirit potions are in the same satchel as the food. Don't expect too much effectiveness; I haven't practiced that kind of alchemy in years," the woman replied, harmlessly kicking one of the bags. "And I left the cloak in the wagon. You'll see."

"Perfect."

A few minutes later, the silent vilecross returned with chains wrapped around his hands, fingers gripping with firmness and pulling them to move a simple wooden cart, which, just as Tiara had said, contained only a bundle of black cloth.

"Damn, it smells awful!" Tiara covered her mouth, her pregnancy only increasing her sensitivity to smells and tastes. It was logical that the necrotic miasma the undead gave off made her feel nauseous. "Come on, put the cloak on him!"

Tristessa forced the Vilecross to kneel, and with Jin's help, they placed over it the black cloak the housewife had sewn from all the dark fabrics she'd found in the house. With the hood up and covering almost its entire body, the undead beast didn't go unnoticed, but at least it was difficult to tell it was a walking corpse. And the smell of decomposition remained largely concentrated inside, given the thickness of the fabric.

"Well... What are you waiting for? Get aboard!" the girl urged the family, hands on her hips, prompting the Vilecross to stand up and prepare to start pulling on the chains. She patted Gaal's back to encourage him, now that he'd stopped growling, but he didn't want to be around that undead creature not even a little. "Every second counts!"

She was the last to climb aboard, helped by Jin, who aside from his hand he offered her a sad smile. What a message that expression wanted to convey... Sadness at having to leave their home? Pain at knowing their daughter was seeking to kill them in the coming days? Or fear at being forced to return to the city from which he had been exiled, defying the judgment of Aurelia Eramisaptor?

Tristessa didn't ask, but she did pat him on the shoulder as she sat down next to him, wanting to reassure the hunter that they were doing the right thing.

"Come on, vilecross! Let's go!" she ordered, and the undead albino demon began to move the wagon.

The jolt as the wheels started to spin, announcing the start of that journey, heading toward rising terrain and among the hills. The road to salvation. Toward Entrana, where other kinds of challenges awaited them.

"Everything is going smoothly…," Tristessa thought. "For now."

Facing her, Tiara was hugging her son, who was crying silently and didn't dare look or speak to the girl in black. After all, she had just come into their lives and right away was forcing them to leave the only home he'd ever known.

"I'm sorry, Lucahn... This is all for your own good. Someday you'll understand," she told him, but the boy clung tighter to his mother, and Gaal, lying at her feet, let out a whimper directed at his owner. His gold-trimmed storybook laid on the wooden seat beside him; the same book he'd used to smash her face in a nonexistent past. "...maybe I need you to read me one of your stories when it gets dark. I have trouble sleeping unless I read something first."

That little white lie got Lucahn to at least look at her for a moment. It was something. Tristessa smiled at him and then she gazed toward the Sea of ​​Trees, which was slowly beginning to stay at the far end of the horizon.

"Will you come for us, Daiana?" she thought, frowning as she imagined that evil woman and her retinue of witches emerging from the darkness that teemed between the giant trunks. Wanting to wreak destruction and malice. "This time I'm ahead of you. Do your worst, bitch."

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