Both mistress and assistant entered the Room of Knowledge, where a more than evident change had occurred: the room had expanded in length, leaving a table for comfortable sitting and reviewing photographs, and a large whiteboard on little wheels, ready to be filled with photographs and annotations with markers.

"You tell me what (information/facts/data) you want to consolidate, and I'll do the rest, my lady," the woman in a lab coat instructed.

Nodding, Tristessa crossed her arms and meditated in front of the smooth, empty surface.

"Bring what you have from the Coven, the Dullahan, and Aurelia Eramisaptor."

Lenore obeyed and soon brought three photo albums with her in her arms. She selected the photographs and attached on the board the main images of those three great obstacles that would inevitably cause the deaths of her and everyone she cared about.

"The Coven. Those witches led by Daiana…That twisted bitch," Tristessa hissed, looking at that photograph of the bald Priestess, who was smiling like the creep she is, her spectral weapon hovering next to her right arm, manifested by her [Divinity of the Hand of the Umbral Edge]. "She must die. She and all her minions, before they have a chance to murder us all, or every refugee at Entrana like in the last loop."

"Beware of the (blessing/benediction/gift) she received from the Lord of Forbidden Knowledge, mistress," the assistant said, pointing at the photograph of the disgusting eye that protruded from the Priestess' palm. "Her omniscience may not work on you, but who knows what other horrors it can conjure..."

Tristessa nodded, and then she shifted her gaze to the photograph of that dark knightess mounted on her steed, over the murky waters of the corrupted version of the Lonely Lake.

"The Dullahan. I must defeat her and put a stop to her curse," she said, with a hand over the mark of Death on her chest. "If not, every nightfall I'm going to be weakened until the only thing she needs to do is claim my life hanging by a thread and return me back to the start. Forever."

"The Daughter of the Angels of Chaos must be your top priority, mistress. With her out of the picture, you can focus on the other two (threats/foes/enemies)."

"You're right," she agreed with -as weird as it sounds- herself.

Then came the turn of the last threat to appear. That woman that was an expert in fighting on foot and over her aracross mount. The Lady of the Dominion of End-World, the She-Dragoon.

"Aurelia Eramipsator. Someone who won't show me or the Mercer-Archeos any mercy. And she's surrounded by an army, and those Wraiths…," Tristessa shivered upon thinking about those masked assassins, specially Stormcrow. There was a picture of that eerie woman, her silhouette stalking in the dark. "Dammit…"

Looking at it from a general perspective, she viewed the three main photographs with concern.

"I must overcome them, otherwise I will never be able to advance on my path. As long as these three obstacles are holding me back, I will never be able to free myself from these loops… Or find the truth about what I am doing in this world," she explained to Lenore, who listened attentively. "I thought I could do it alone, but not only was I wrong, but there is no doubt that I am not welcome in the Empire. The moment Aurelia Eramisaptor learned I was a Stranger, she condemned me…and worse, once she discovered my Divinities. That ultimately ensured my Death."

"And what will you do to prevail, (my mistress/owner/sovereign)?" the attendant asked. A very general question, but one that, fortunately, Tristessa thought she knew the answer to.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Something I should have done from the beginning... Bring me everything you have on Severus Malak Drakan, Auron Casimir, and Astoria Silverthorn."

A minute later, holding the photographs, Tristessa smiled as she saw them three, illustrated by the first impressions she had of them. The blood elf floating in the air between trees and summoning glyphs of elemental electricity. The knightess guarding the southern entrance to Entrana. And the gunslinger lying on the ground inside his sleeping tent with a soul-jewel between his fingers.

"Here, Lenore. Take it, or I will cry my eyes out."

"Right away, my lady."

"And add the Mercer-Archeos. Connect them to Aurelia, the Coven, and Severus," she instructed, prompting Lenore to work quickly, jotting down valuable information on the board. Now its surface was crowded, with lines connecting the photographs and comments everywhere. "Finally… Connect me to everyone, and the word [Stranger]."

That word was the key to it all. It was what linked every element on the board to her, in one way or another.

Whether it was hatred, unknown agendas or hopes of messianic nature, her status as a visitor from another world was the cornerstone of this entire setup.

The Stranger. Someone who warriors like Astoria and Auron even risked their lives and lost them to get the help of such otherworldly visitor in achieving their most desperate desires.

It was the most powerful piece on the chessboard… And at the same time, the most fragile.

"What do you think, my (empress/queen/ruler)?" Lenore asked, approaching her from behind after several minutes of silent meditation. She began massaging Tristessa's shoulders, and she let out a sigh of guilty pleasure. "Do you know what to do now?"

The young adult opened her eyes, the gray in her irises bright and determined. Lenore released her, and she stepped forward to place the photograph of a shadowy silhouette, then connect it with a marker to Severus, to the Coven, and a single word.

Soul-shard.

Stepping back and looking at that board, Tristessa could distinguish a logical order among so many variables. A possibility, a chance to break the space-time stagnation that fate had imposed on her.

"That's right, Lenore… I think I know how to achieve the victory I so desire," she murmured, focusing on the photographs of the blood elf, the gunslinger, and the imperial knightess. "I didn't know before. I was so alone… So desperate, so scared. But I lacked perspective. Now I understand that I can't do it on my own. I never will, not in a million iterations."

Taking a deep breath, she felt her dark soul fill with hope, rooted in those three people. Without them, there was no chance of survival. Without those three, everyone was doomed to die.

"Take the Dullahan, for example. The last time, I felt that she could be defeated. Severus and Auron's revenant, they almost did it… But it wasn't enough."

"Perhaps with one more helping hand, you can achieve "victory/triumph/success)."

"Yes, I agree."

Smirking, Tristessa's attention was fixed on the three warriors, her new, made-in-Nekrom memories manifested in those pictures. Setting a foundation upon her persona, one she hoped to be someday proud of.

They inspired her to reach new heights. She saw Severus' thaumaturgy with fascination, even if those colleagues around him see him as a talentless joke, and his thirst for revenge darkly attractive. She saw Auron's unspoken love for that woman named Melinda a beacon of persistence, and his skill with revolvers very admirable. And she saw Astoria's struggle with the legacy of her family as a monument to solidity, unbreakable, even with the entire world is against her.

Fighters who won't back down. Even to the point of defying a Lady of a Dominion far more powerful than them.

"Being a relationship bound by ulterior motives or an honest desire to save innocent's lives, that's irrelevant in the end," she said. "I need them, and they certainly need me."

Tristessa turned around, her face brimming with determination for the first time since she arrived in this world. Nothing could break her spirit now, not even feeling the structure of her mind palace shake due to Tiara's certain entrance into the guest room.

"I'll make sure this loop is the last. This time, I won't allow anyone to die."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.