"No…"

As much as Tristessa tried to deny it, to reject it and pretend that it wasn't happening, it was. And there was no way around it. Those two Wraiths were real, and they were ready to wipe the Mercer-Archeos off the face of Nekrom whenever Aurelia Eramisaptor wanted them to.

One was Sylas, with his gray hair blowing in the wind and the demon drawn on his mask easily identifiable. The other was a hooded person with feminine features and a black bird drawn on her mask.

For Tristessa's misfortune, it was someone also familiar.

"No... no, no, please..." she begged, feeling her windpipe close and no oxygen allowed through. Hyperventilating, gripped by the panic of seeing Stormcrow, that Imperial assassin she had killed and resurrected in the previous loop. Falling into a spiral of despair as she watched everything begin to collapse. "Lady Eramisaptor!"

The nearby refugees moved away or hid back inside their tents, terrified by the presence of those two assassins.

"I'll tell you something about my precious Mystia: she hates this sound; it makes her very angry."

Aurelia struck the floor with the base of her glaive, emitting a vibrating metallic sound that made the black-furred aracross down on her hunches tremble, and a warning growl escaped her monstrous mouth. A growl that made Tristessa's hair stand on end.

"See? You don't want me to do this many times, Tristessa Irandell," she warned her, and for the first time she saw a smile form on her lips. Cruel, willing to do anything to get what she wants. "So, let's do this: you will answer my questions with nothing but the truth, and I won't have to make that noise. Because if I do this five more times, I'll have no choice but to allow Mystia to go after the Mercer-Archeos and tear them to pieces."

"What?!"

Tristessa quickly glanced at the family, surrounded by the two assassins standing with their hands at abdomen level, clutching curved knives filled with poison. Jin covered his wife and child as best he could, fear overcoming any resignation to Death. Meanwhile, Tiara seemed to have never had any hope of survival at all and held Lucahn's hands with a gaze worthy of a vengeful spirit, directed not at Tristessa, but at Aurelia Eramisaptor.

"No, please! I'll answer your questions, but please don't do that!" Tristessa moaned and made the mistake of taking a step forward. "...!"

Aurelia struck the ground with her glaive, causing Mystia to growl louder, her yellow eyes beginning to be marked by blood spider veins. More hot saliva dripped, more thirst for blood and more desire to rend flesh.

"Watch what you do, child. Now you have four more chances."

"Lady Eramisaptor, if I may…" the gunslinger tried to intervene, but the violet-eyed woman pointed her finger at him and turned her head to stop both him and Astoria, who was throwing daggers at the ruler of the Dominion with her gaze.

"You two stay still there, or I will punish you for meddling with my justice," she warned, achieving her goal, and Auron raised his arms in total submission. "That's more like it, outlaw."

He gave the girl a pitiful expression, recognizable even with half his face hidden behind the handkerchief and stepped back until he stood right next to Astoria. The silver-haired knightess was clenching her fists so tightly that the metallic clinking of the thimbles on her gloves could even be heard.

"The first thing I'll ask you is how you managed to escape from Daiana Mercer-Archeos," Aurelia said, disgust permeating her voice as she named that dangerous psychopath. The culprit of the Massacre of the Endless Night, the worst tragedy in the history of Entrana. "That monster leaves no survivors. She revels in killing and eating the brains of her victims. How did you do it?"

Tristessa bit her lip, tempted to invent a story she had no doubt Aurelia wouldn't believe. There was no way she could lie to her and make her believe her, much less in this situation where she couldn't control her nerves and anxiety because of how much was at stake.

And she couldn't tell her the truth. She couldn't tell her that she had experienced the murder of that family firsthand, her own Death, and returned from it.

"I-I can't explain it…"

Cling. The sharp, metallic thud of the base of the glaive vibrated against the floor. Then it spread through the air, reaching the eardrums of those present with an insistent resonance. The lesser demon roared in anger, this time revealing the inside of her mouth, with all those teeth impossible to count between the three rows on both her lower and upper jaws, and that long, black tongue that kept dripping saliva.

"You can't explain it or you don't you want to?"

"I can't. I don't have a way to do it. You must believe me..."

A response lacking solidity. Lacking credibility. And it resulted in a new cling.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Aurelia Eramisaptor was not going to be convinced with woe. That new metallic vibration made Mystia dig her claws into the ground and threaten to launch herself toward the terrified family, her new roar making Tristessa's heart twist in painful dread.

"Two more chances, Tristessa Irandell… You're walking at the edge. Will you really let the Mercer-Archeos perish in such a painful and terrifying way?" was her question, without a shred of pity or empathy for them.

"P-please, Lady Eramisaptor…!"

But Aurelia turned a deaf ear. To her pleas, to the soldiers holding off the Fallen Militiamen seeking to breach the shield wall. To the screams of the wounded being cared for along the base of the wall, unable to pass through the great black gate in the presence of the shadowy hostiles.

It was the iron and ruthless spirit of a justiciar who sought nothing but the truth.

"How many Divinities do you have in your dark soul? I see that you are capable of resurrecting the dead at will, but the amount of Discord you expel makes me suspicious… Without a Mystic Tattooist nearby, I will have to trust my instincts for now. And let me tell you, I am very rarely wrong… I know you haven't told me a single truth since our audience began, so be very careful. Answer me now."

Tristessa could no longer stop herself from shedding tears of helplessness. Of resignation. Both the two warriors and the Mercer-Archeos family saw her break down right there, letting them know that she would not be able to follow with the demands of the ruler of the Dominion of End-World.

Could she risk saying that she possessed four Divinities? What if Aurelia demanded to know what each one did? What if the chain of questions led her to that dead-end called [Divinity of Death and Resurrection]?

If she lied, there would only be one more chance before bloodshed. And if she told the truth… There would only be madness and Death on that battlefield.

"I-I have three Divinities…" she replied, trying to hide the lie as best she could. It was in vain, as Aurelia raised her glaive and waited, with that cold, merciless gaze, for her to continue. "Two are blessings from Kantrus, and the other from Xiliarra."

"…" The She-Dragoon didn't send her glaive down, but she wasn't willing to give in that easily. "You don't lie, and that disturbs me."

"She said three Divinities?!" Tristessa heard Auron exclaim, his surprise reflected in his wide honey-colored eyes.

"Y-yes, I can't believe it," Astoria agreed, equally stunned.

"…but you did lie about the amount: your voice gave you away. You own at least one more Divinity in your soul. And that's why…"

The woman with black hair and violet eyes hit the ground for the fifth time. Now Tristessa had no choice but to take several steps back, mortally frightened, at the violent guttural roar of the black aracross. She thrashed back and forth, the frenzy provoked by the metallic sound of the glaive, her eyes bloodshot, and spittle spewing everywhere.

"Last chance, Tristessa Irandell… You are aware that your lies will cause my dear Mystia to devour those people alive, aren't you?" Aurelia pointed the index finger of her free hand at the Mercer-Archeos. Tristessa felt her soul shatter at the sight of the torment etched on Jin's face, the grief in Lucahn's face, even Tiara's resignation. Pieces that were increasingly smaller, shattered by guilt. By her incompetence. By taking a leap of faith, believing she could reason with a woman known for her cruelty in dispensing justice. "Will you answer me with the truth?"

The girl fell to her knees, no longer feeling the strength in her legs to support her. She no longer had faith that she could save them. And no one was going to help her. The gunslinger and the knightess couldn't, out of threats or out of duty. The refugees were more concerned with surviving that Evil Dream than with the well-being of outsiders. And the soldiers would always obey their Lady steadfastly.

She was alone. In silence, her face streaming with tears, she nodded.

"Are you a [Stranger]?"

"…!"

Time seemed to stop for Tristessa. That word catalyzed multiple scenarios in her mind, all of which ended in the worst possible way.

Could the Mercer-Archeos survive in any of them? She had no choice but to see it through to the bitter end.

"…Yes," she replied, enveloped in that feeling of liberation at having lifted even that weight off her shoulders. "I am not from this world."

For a second, Tristessa thought she had finally ensured the doom of that family and her own when she saw an aura of absolute rage spread across Aurelia's face, aware that she was speaking the truth. A terrible grimace of fury, worthy of someone who could kill her in the blink of an eye…

But that didn't happen. The base of the glaive slowly went down until it touched the ground without making the slightest sound. And with a soothing hand, the She-Dragoon calmed her aracross's hysterical attack, stroking her head and calming her.

Tristessa gasped, remembering that she needed air in her lungs to stay alive. It was as if for a moment she had resigned herself to Death, like Tiara. Still with watery eyes, wet cheeks, and a runny nose, she looked over to where Auron and Astoria were, and what she found filled her with shock and uncertainty.

The gunslinger had dropped his hat to the ground, so overwhelmed by what he had just heard that even his fingers were trembling with anxiety. Meanwhile, the silver-haired knightess had brought a hand almost to her mouth, as if she had intended to cover it to hide her astonishment.

"S-Stranger...?" Astoria repeated, instinctively taking a step forward. "Are you serious?"

"Lady Aurelia believes her… By Valdrek, that is…" Auron tried to say, so agitated that he couldn't form his thoughts. "Lady…? Lady Aurelia!"

The gunslinger's scream made the gray-eyed girl realize that the She-Dragoon was coming straight for her: she swung her glaive and struck her on the nape with the long metal pole. A hit so hard that Tristessa felt a rapid wave of pain enveloping her head, followed by a complete distortion of her sense of vision.

Irremediably, she fell face first to the ground, feeling the warm contact of the damp earth with spilled terrdrak blood. And before she lost consciousness, before the sounds of the battle to defend the southern entrance to Entrana faded, she managed to hear a few last words from Aurelia Eramisaptor:

"You and I have much to discuss. Only after that I will grant you the right to die."

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