They walked slowly, in sync with Lucahn's short strides and Tiara's limited mobility. Tristessa felt the wounds beneath all those bandages sting a little, not an impediment at all to go forward towards her next goal.

"Eramisaptor…," she thought, wondering about the Lady of the Dominion. "I don't need another invincible foe to torment me."

There were no carriages in sight, nor any movement at the gate to stay that they would have to leave the road. The path towards Entrana seemed reserved for them.

"Daddy, why do those people live there?" Lucahn asked, referring to the hundreds of tents of the homeless that stretched along the left side of the road. "Can't they live inside the city?"

"They're not originally from Entrana. Maybe not even from the Dominion," the hunter replied, shaking his head. "They're people who seek to live in peace, son. It has always been that way."

Tristessa met the sorrowful gazes of women cooking or mending old clothes to withstand the approaching cold winters. There were priests of the Heterodox Church helping where they could; men and women dressed in white robes embroidered with golden and red lines, representing Balance and Order. They were tending to the sick, teaching children to read and write… But there were very few compared to the great mass of people living around the city walls.

Tristessa was certain that with each passing day, the number of those families who managed to escape the war in the north grew, and they came to the southernmost reaches of the Empire in search of peace. Giving up their lives in exchange for the safety of living meters away from military weaponry and under the protection of an Evil-Warding Pillar.

Being refugees, living in extreme poverty in exchange for being as far away as possible from the shadow of the Dark Lady… Far from Her sinister gaze, that reached every corner of Nekrom, spreading her malice relentlessly.

With that ominous presence in mind and swallowing hard, Tristessa waved to a group of children dressed in old jackets and torn linen pants who were playing with a rag ball, and they stopped their activity to wave back.

Ignoring that the girl's true interest was the tent behind them. A collection of worn, sewn-together fabrics, housing within it the Gunslinger whose face she knew halfway, and who had died in the previous loop to save her from the group of assassins.

"I'm unfortunate not to have met you sooner."

She remembered those cryptic words. A hidden message behind them, and which he'd never had time to explain, and perhaps he wouldn't have.

A message told just by knowing that she was a [Stranger]...

Tristessa didn't know what to think about the dual nature of that concept: being hated and desired. It didn't matter now.

"Auron…" Sighing, she closed her eyes tightly for a moment and looked ahead. "Forgive me."

The depressing thought didn't leave her mind until she and the three Mercer-Archeos stopped a few meters from the large black door, to be greeted by someone Tristessa knew—though that person didn't know her.

The only guardian on land of the great south gate, Astoria Silverthorn. That woman with long, silver-colored hair, dressed in gleaming white armor, a black cloak covering her back, and a longsword sheathed in the scabbard hanging from her belt.

A tall woman with red eyes, so beautiful that Tristessa forgot to breathe every time she saw her, and it made her heart race. Even amidst the bitterness that had lingered within her since she was attacked and abandoned underground, in the nonexistent past that the woman who had stopped them on their tracks had no way of remembering.

"Good afternoon. Please show me your citizenship certificates or permits signed by Imperial authorities," Astoria requested, glancing indifferently at each of those present, until she stopped at Tristessa.

Those icy, yet fiery eyes analyzed her outfit from down to top, until they stopped right against her lost, indiscreet gaze.

"Is something wrong?"

That voice addressing her. That same voice that had been filled with intoxication and seduction. Filled with pain and hatred. And filled with sadness… The same voice that said goodbye, kitten.

"Oh, n-no…nothing…" she replied, hiding the ache building in her chest and demanding release. Beside her, Jin and Tiara looked at her. Expectant and scared, holding Lucahn's small hands. It was time to step into the unknown. "My name is Tristessa Irandell, miss. My companions and I request an audience with the Lady of the Dominion."

Absolute confusion flashed through Astoria's ruby-colored eyes. Someone like her was used to checking out intrepid merchants who ventured into the Abandoned Meridion Highway to trade on the eastern coast. Or forced to turn away refugees seeking a place within the city, despite the slums being overcrowded.

But never for a group of people from the south to appear, demanding an audience with Aurelia Eramisaptor.

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"Who are you...?" Astoria asked, her left hand resting on the hilt of her sword and looking back at the hunter and his wife with the same confused expression. And at Lucahn, who cowered beside his mother's leg.

"They are the Mercer-Archeos."

A dark and sinister voice sounded behind Astoria, not only making her jump, but also freezing Tristessa's soul with a black frost called fear. As Astoria took a couple of quick steps to the side, a figure dressed in black was revealed. Hooded, and wearing a white mask with a grinning demon on the right side painted with black ink to perfection.

No slits around the mouth or nose. Only the eyes, filled with unnatural darkness immobilized within. Like a curse.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Astoria demanded to know, scandalized. "A Wraith… And you said Mercer-Archeos…?"

Jin had stepped forward, covering his wife and child. The man's unexpected appearance had taken him by surprise as well. All of them. And another thing they all had in common was that they knew exactly what a Wraith was capable of. Rumors, concrete facts… And firsthand experience, which Tristessa could vouch for.

"Allow me to introduce myself. Sylas Roy Khan." The assassin lowered his hood, revealing himself to be the owner of long gray hair. He bowed with cordiality, his right hand over his chest, exposing his fingers with long, black nails, sharp as claws. "I am the Hidden Shadow of Lady Aurelia Eramisaptor."

The gray-eyed girl had begun to tremble, her thoughts racing, debating what course of action to take. Dealing with Wraiths had been, from the very beginning, a matter of Life or Death. Having one right there, presenting himself as a diplomatic gentleman, was completely uncharted territory.

That didn't mean the situation hadn't escalated in the space of a second with that man's presence. From the top of the walls, soldiers had peered out, curiosity overcoming duty; refugees had grabbed playing children and dragged them away, predicting danger.

And in one of the nearest tents, the entrance flap opened, and a crouching man stood watching, his face halfway down covered by a gray handkerchief.

"Lord Sylas…" The hunter called to the terrifying man, showing unparalleled courage in the face of the unknown. "I am Jin Mercer, though I-I suppose you already know that."

"Certainly. I know you, your beautiful wife Tiara Archeos, and your son Lucahn, who bears your wife's name. I also know your eldest daughter, Daiana Mercer-Archeos," the Wraith replied, naming them all, his nightmare-worthy voice devoid of emotion.

"That thing is not my daughter…" Tiara hissed, defiant before the assassin.

"I respect your position, a thousand apologies, Lady Archeos." Sylas Roy Khan bowed his head again, this time in a sign of regret. "As I was saying, I know you all. And that is because, as Lady Aurelia's Hidden Shadow, I was given the specific task of overseeing the exile of the family responsible for the Massacre of the Endless Night. Which entailed nothing more than observing this crystal."

Sylas showed them his left hand, in the center of which lay a small, rhombohedral-shaped crystal that emitted a strong, phosphorescent blue glow. It also vibrated nonstop.

Tristessa's eyes widened as she recognized this type of object created by advanced thaumaturgy.

"A soul-shard. It glows and pulsates more intensely the closer its twin is. Young Silverthorn, take this crystal and search for it."

At first, Astoria looked hesitant. Not a sign of defiance, but of a rebel feeling of pity towards them. A feeling that could get her into deep trouble, that she knew… So, with a cold gaze, she took the soul-shard between her fingers and faced the group of newcomers, with no other choice but to obey.

It didn't take long for her to realize that the crystal became more excited when she brought it closer to one of the two travel packs Jin had left on the floor. She rummaged through one of them and found a peculiar object.

A necklace consisting of a small silver chain and a carved female figure of what appeared to be Nahalith, the Angel of the Hunt, given the bow and arrow in her hands.

"That was a gift from a friend…" Jin watched in horror as Astoria dropped the necklace to the floor and crushed it with her boot, protected by silver metal plates. From among the pieces of Nahalith's figure, she lifted the other soul-shard and held it close to its twin, so that everyone could witness its mutual self-destruction and decay into dust. "A-all this time…?"

"We trusted in your fervent religious belief, and you did not disappoint us, Mr. Mercer. That object was given to you eleven years ago to ensure that you and your family would never again set foot within the boundaries of this city. Something you failed to do."

Putting both hands behind his back, Sylas walked until he stood before the three Mercer-Archeos. Jin and Tiara were surrendering to the dark fate that awaited them, hugging Lucahn, who wept silently, frightened by what he could not understand.

"If it weren't for Lady Aurelia's mercy, you would no longer exist in this world. If it weren't for Lady Aurelia, the people of Entrana would have brought justice to those killed and kidnapped on the worst night in our local history… And how do you respond to such a show of compassion? By insulting Our Lady and scorning her charitable word."

"What happened that night was Daiana's fault, not her parents'!"

The Mercer-Archeos were too frightened to turn their gaze to see Tristessa, shocked at herself for having exclaimed that. Even Astoria's mouth fell open, shocked by such a daring reaction.

"You, miss… I heard your name is Tristessa Irandell." Sylas left the tormented family alone and went straight to her. Dark like a starless night, the Wraith stopped just inches from her face, extinguishing all light around her. His mask was surrounded by an aura of extreme cold, emanating the vestiges of the curse placed upon it by dark thaumaturgy. And those dark vortices where his eyes were supposed to be… They were two gateways to the Abyss. "You are not a citizen of Entrana. Nor of the surrounding cities. Were you born in another Dominion?"

A shadow of Death fell over her. Tristessa trembled and convulsed with fear, but she could not tear her gaze from that infinite darkness before her.

"Who are you?"

But before either of them could say anything, an omnidirectional sound invaded the interior of their heads. The mind of everyone present. The conscience of every inhabitant of Entrana, and throughout the region.

A sound impossible to ignore. An alarm worthy of time's end, triggered by thaumaturgy, followed by a shrill male voice:

"ATTENTION, ATTENTION! TO ALL CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE OF THE NIGHT'S WATCH, ATTENTION, ATTENTION! DISCORD ACTIVITY HAS BEEN RECORDED AT DEGREES OF A POSSIBLE DIMENSIONAL SHIFT EVENT!"

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