Tristessa felt the shockwave pass, and her ears momentarily stopped working, saturated by the noise and hearing only a dull monotone ringing. But what she felt most, besides the uninterrupted agony of her open wounds, was the contradictory release of her Divinity accompanied by a localized pain in her temples.

Zef's corpse had been destroyed in the explosion, dismembered, and a large portion of his torso had been charred to bits. It was enough damage to sever the connection with Tristessa.

"Uuuh…" The daze prevented her from thinking. The aftershock of the sudden interruption of her Divinity filled her soul with an unpleasant, nausea-inducing sensation. And the extreme fatigue accompanied by the lack of blood in her body invited her to close her eyes. "…"

There was nothing else she wanted at that moment but to sleep. To finally rest… To give in to that sweet temptation.

"You two are hard to kill, really… Fine, I'll do it myself," Katriel's voice echoed through the cloud of dust caused by the explosion, which the wind was slowly dispersing.

"Not one step further, criminal!" Forced to take one of the dead bandits' daggers, Reiden stood in Katriel's way. Still overwhelmed by the use of his Divinity and his muscles and bones agonizing with exhaustion, the veteran was willing to do anything to protect Tristessa. "Your entire team is finished! Surrender and I'll give you a swift end!"

Katriel chuckled softly. With the look of someone who didn't fear Death.

"That won't happen. Come here, old man. I'll leave you alive only to hear Triss's screams."

Overcome by rage, Reiden lunged at the bandit, their daggers clashing with sharp, raw strength.

Unable to get up, and with no response from her limbs, Tristessa watched the deadly choreography at high speed. Slashes narrowly avoided and stabs that followed; attacks that didn't connect, with both men focused on each other, looking for the right moment to capitalize on any mistake. Reiden wasn't as agile, but his strength meant Katriel suffered more setbacks when defending himself, but his speed got him out of danger from a counterattack instantly, even with his bloodied wound on the side of his torso.

"Grraaa!" Reiden received a cut on his arm joint and counterattacked with his free hand, punching Katriel in the mouth.

"What an old bastard," the bandit hissed after spitting some blood onto the ground. "Tell me something, don't you feel a tingling there, on the wound?"

"…!"

Reiden looked at the cut on his arm, between the two plates protecting the upper and lower parts, and his eyes widened.

"R-Reiden…" the girl said, calling out to him and watching him fall to the side, his arms and legs outstretched and his face suffering from small nervous spasms. "Reiden…!"

"It's a paralyzing poison. It's not fatal, don't you worry…" Katriel told him, standing beside him with a smile and kicking the dagger away, leaving him disarmed. "I wouldn't want you to miss the best part."

There was nothing between him and the gray-eyed girl, only pools of blood and the remains of the bandits littering the road with the scent of Death. Katriel ran his hand through his disheveled black hair, moistening it with his own blood and staining part of his sadistic gaze.

"I think I'll start by skinning your face. Yes, let's see how pretty you are under all that skin…"

Tristessa was just as paralyzed as the mercenary. Both he and she stared at each other in the same condition, filled with fear. Her blood was mixing with that of the bandits beneath her, still feeling that horrible agony that would only get worse once the bandit got his hands on her.

"Someone… anyone… Reach out… Save us…" she begged to any corpse nearby, desperately searching with her Divinity, the last resort she had at her disposal while her consciousness was still active. "Please…"

But her spiritual vision was going nowhere. She couldn't find a light-switch cord to pull, even though there were corpses just a few feet away from her. Her mind was lost, aimless, overwhelmed by the whole situation.

She called out to the dead, but none of them answered her call…

BANG!

…but the living did.

"Oh…" Katriel looked down and saw a bullet hole that had just pierced his leather armor, coming from his back. "W-who…?"

The initial adrenaline rush must have worn off, as the bandit staggered, losing his balance and with no choice but to fall to his knees. Breathing faster, he turned his head in the direction of Derelict Outpost, and both he and Tristessa saw a dark silhouette standing in the middle of the road, pointing a rifle in that direction.

A recently fired rifle, given the trail of smoke that rose and contrasted with the light from the Twin Moons.

"W-who?!"

A black-furred aracross passed by the rifleman, carrying a rider—a woman—, trotting straight toward where Reiden was lying.

"Boss!" Dismounting the docile beast, the woman crouched beside him, holding him in her arms. "It's me, Lufreya! Say something, boss!"

"P-paralysis… Med..dicine… Madame…" the mercenary managed to utter, the message Lufreya interpreted correctly. "T-Triss…tessa…!"

"Tristessa…? The girl!"

"She's my responsibility. You stay with your boss."

The man had also approached, slinging his rifle strap over his right shoulder and drawing a single-shot pistol. Tristessa narrowed her eyes, and upon realizing the identity of this savior, a faint smile formed on her face.

"W-who the fuck are you?!" Katriel shrieked, his trembling hands clutching that new wound as he watched the bearded man with flowing blond hair and wearing a duster, walking in that direction. "We're the Ghost Daggers, you're not…!"

As he passed by the criminal, without even looking at him, he pointed the pistol at his head and fired. A powerful bullet at point-blank range shattered the bandit's right eye socket, destroying his eye and everything behind it.

An instant and unceremonious Death, what men like Katriel Strauss deserved.

"Jin…" Tristessa said the name of the hunter, relieved now that the entire gang of ruffians was finally eliminated. The mistake she had made was fixed. Only Reiden's condition prevented her from being able to rest and be at peace. "Is he… Reiden…?"

"You worry about yourself for now. You're badly hurt… This will help a little." She felt the cold glass of a vial against her lips, and then the taste of a metallic-tasting liquid. From the way her limbs filled with warmth, it was fair to assume it was a vitality potion. "We need to get you out of here right away."

Jin's voice began to be heard in the distance, even as he lifted her from the ground and carried her in his arms, just as it had been when they had first met.

After her [Dark Resurrection].

The return from Death and the omen of many others, breaking the consistency of time itself. Every dangerous situation in that world brought her closer to that icy embrace of perpetual silence that every living being was inevitably destined to know… But for her, that silence didn't exist, because there was always the sound of the [Golden Chains] opening the door to the infinite cycle, the ouroboros.

"I-it hurts…," she blurted out, her vision darkening and her consciousness on the verge of falling into blackness. "Hurts…so much…"

The injuries the leader of the Ghost Daggers had inflicted on her weren't serious enough to endanger her life, at least not in the very short term.

And what didn't kill her... Maybe it would make her a little stronger. At least so that she wouldn't die so quickly and repeat that endless loop for all eternity, until at the end of it all that remained was madness.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Listen to my voice, Miss Tris… Tessa. I'm sorry. I'll call you Tessa as many times as you like, but please don't fall asleep," she heard Jin pleading with her, far away. "Stay awake… no… Tess…"

It was impossible, even with the aid of the vitality potion's effects. Her mind wandered to the darkest confines, in free fall, without a lifeline, without the door to the palace granted by her [Divinity of the Dark Room]. Without something—anything—to prevent her from descending to the lowest pit.

Amid a subterranean ocean of broken memories. Fragments of her life on Earth, jealously repressed by herself and interspersed with the last stimulus she received before losing consciousness: Jin's face. The face of a father.

A catalyst for forbidden memories.

"Dad… Why are you making that noise? It's like a [rope]… Stop it."

Tristessa heard her own voice in that imaginary vortex, where her consciousness floated, numb. Lost. Abandoned. Fading away.

"Why did you leave me alone? Why did you die…?"

DIVINITY OF THE DARK ROOM

BLACK MIRROR – Stats after confrontation with the Ghost Daggers - Updates in Yellow

TRISTESSA IRANDELL

MAIN STATS

Strength: 1 out of 100

Dexterity: 3(+3) out of 100

Endurance:

4

out of 100

Vitality: 4(+2) out of 100

Intelligence: 6 out of 100

Spirit: 9 out of 100

Willpower: 0(+3) out of 100

Luck: 0 out of 100

SUBSTATS

Hit Points: 20(+5) out of 10000

Magic Points: 1 out of 5000

Spirit Points: 75 out of 5000

Stamina:

45

out of 5000

Poise:

9

out of 1000

Immunities: 5 out of 500

Physical Resistance:

18

out of 500

Magic Resistance: 10 out of 500

Instant Death Resistance: 2(+3) out of 500

Terror Resistance:

4

(+3) out of 500

Madness Resistance: 7 out of 500

Karma:

-30

points between [-100 and 100]

PASSIVES

First Echo of Viktor Enma: +3 Dexterity points. Bonus on daggers and knives.

Second Echo of Viktor Enma: +2 Vitality points. Bonus on HP.

Third Echo of Viktor Enma: +3 Willpower points. Bonus on Spirit Points, Terror Resistance and Instant Death Resistance.

Curse of the Nemesis (Dullahan): -1 on every main stat and -5 for every substat for each confrontation against the Dullahan. Cumulative.

EQUIPMENT

Casual Shirt: No damage negation bonuses

Casual Trench Coat: No damage negation bonuses

Casual Trousers: No damage negation bonuses

Casual Boots: No damage negation bonuses

Hunting Knife: +D physical damage bonus from Dexterity scaling

Hunting Knife - Stats - Damage Defense Physical 10(+5) 5 Magic 0 5 Lightning 0 5 Holy 0 0 Unholy 0 0 Critical 5 -

DIVINITIES

Death and Resurrection (Dark Resurrection)

–

Divinity of Death, granted by the God of Chaos, Vel'Moran. Banished from Death, there is no end to the abyss on the horizon. Dying is a straight line. Resurrecting is a spiral

.

Baptism in Ruins

–

HIDDEN BY UNNATURAL DARKNESS

Gradient of Madness

–

The forbidden truth emanates from the overlapping of multiple realities. No sentient being can endure it. The logical result is madness

. (Grants +9999 points of Madness-status effect to friends and foes alike after consciously learning about the

[Divinity of Death and Resurrection]

)

Accursed Existence

–

Divinity of Life, granted by the Goddess of Order, Xiliarra. Life is a gift, rejoicing in it is an obligation. Even for those who reopen their eyes and beg for oblivion

.

Arising Capacity

: 1

Soul Strain

:

1 SP per second for Fading Souls – 5 SP per second to use a Divinity

5 SP per second for Lesser Souls

Whispers in the Dark

–

Divinity of Power, granted by the God of Balance, Kantrus. It is believed that the dead tell no tales. The reality is that it is a matter of who is willing to listen

.

Harvested Echoes

: 3

Spiritual Resonance

–

A premonition of the other side, a message sent with the serenity of the grave. The dead fear oblivion. Show them that they are not forsaken

.

Dark Room

–

Divinity of the Mind, granted by the God of Balance, Kantrus. The mind can always be a darker place than one believes. Its corridors can be endless, a labyrinth capable of swallowing its owner alive, and no one will hear their screams.

Room of Knowledge

Room of Phantom Remembrances

Negative Altar

Projector Room

Assistant's Offce

Black Mirror

HIDDEN BY UNNAURAL DARKNESS

TITLE – Scum

"You are weak. Fragile and unwanted. You are nothing. Your allies see you as a burden, they despise you. Your enemies mock you at your attempts at survival. You are destined to fail."

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