Tristessa hadn't yet recovered from the stress of having the reanimated albino Vilecross under her influence for so long. Thus, when the false light called the remnants of Ludvig's soul back into his body, she didn't know how long she would be able to withstand the torture inflicted on her soul.

Forcing him to rise from the ground, as the strain twisted her spirit. Dragging and pulling, like joints about to snap by the pressure. Her soul on the verge of being frayed, polluted by a maddening influence from beyond.

"Just to buy a few more minutes..." she thought, gritting her teeth as she felt that crushing sensation descend upon her, along with the loathing emanating from Ludvig, now a revenant. The grip of her hands on the handle of the hunting dagger became so tight that even the blood stopped flowing to the ends of her fingers, white as a ghost. "Attack the Dullahan!"

"Ludvig?! You're alive!" Katriel screamed, seeing him on his feet and slowly turning around, his hood and mask covering the lower part of his face allowing him to see only his eyes, their irises abnormally yellow and bloodshot. So he could see his henchman grasp the handle of his dagger and pull it out of his chest without expressing any pain. "L-Lud…?"

"Grrrr… GRAAAAAA!" With that eerie roar, the revenant rushed toward the dark knightess and leaped onto her back, then began to plunge the dagger into the part of her shoulder armor that Reiden had damaged. "Blood of my enemy, flow! Flow until not a drop remains!"

"It can't be…" Katriel whispered, confused and disturbed, even more so when he saw Reiden attacking the overwhelmed Dullahan, who could do little to shake off the undead bandit without leaving her front exposed. "How…?"

The most obvious clue to the source of what was happening was the massive amount of Discord that had begun to emanate from Tristessa's punished soul. Impossible to ignore, alerting every living being with a spirit within. Katriel Strauss was no exception, and his dark gaze focused on the gray-eyed young woman, who had placed a hand to the side of her temple and a grimace of deep suffering on her dirt-stained face.

"It's you! It must be a Divinity of yours, right?!"

"So what if it is?! Go and help Reiden!" she yelled at him, then felt her insides twist in agony and vomited a large amount of blood that stained the entire front of her trench coat. She could still stand, but not for much longer. "GO!"

The only remaining member of the Ghost Daggers had no choice but to nod and launch himself into the attack again. He lunged at the Dullahan, making her believe he was going to attack her legs as he slid across the ground. She had no choice but to take the slashes and hope her armor held up, as she was more occupied defending herself from the insistent barrage of attacks Reiden unleashed on her with his two weapons.

"Ha, stupid bitch!" Katriel launched himself off the ground with a superb maneuver of leg dexterity, leaping and directing both dark mineral daggers straight at the knightess' arm. Toward that head protected only by her full-helm, but within the bandit's reach. "You're mine!"

The tips of both daggers struck the visor, shattering it and penetrating inside. And the deafening scream the Dullahan let out made clear the effectiveness of the attack.

"Ugh, fuck!" The black-haired bandit began to bleed from every orifice in his face at the supernatural influence of that pained wail, but the madness that lay by default in his immoral mind was more than enough to make him refuse to drop his daggers or back away from the Dullahan, as Reiden had done. "Just die, will you?!"

Katriel twisted the blades inside her helmet, while a chaotic and violent mist of Discord and darkness enveloped them. He only released one of his weapons to stop the Dullahan's arm as she prepared to bring her sword down on him.

"GRRRAAAAA, IT STAINS, BLOOD ALL DARK AND MURKY!"

Meanwhile, the revenant continued to hang from the knightess's back and stab her in the shoulder, reaching so deep and causing so much damage that even her sword's grip began to weaken…

"It's still not enough, isn't it?" Tristessa thought, asking the question out of nowhere as she watched, disheartened, at Katriel being thrown through the air after being unable to continue attacking due to the Dullahan's shrill screams. As she watched Ludvig getting knocked to the ground and decapitated, breaking the connection with her Divinity. "Yes, it will never be enough... Unless I..."

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Tristessa lowered her gaze, giving her full attention to her hunting knife. That weapon that had accompanied her on every loop since she set out to save the Mercer-Archeos from inevitable death at the hands of the Coven.

The pristine edge, new and untainted... That was it, if not counting the previous loops.

The blade had caused the Death of the Imperial Assassin Stormcrow. It had been crucial in giving a grievous wound to Katriel, who now writhed on the ground, covering his eyes with both hands as Reiden tried to help him to her feet. And it had been shattered when she attacked that Dark Knightess once -just once-, losing also her hand in the process.

"It's me…"

She had already come to that conclusion long ago, after listening to that dark knightess tell her so many times… The same message, but no willingness to listen until now.

"I'm really the one who must defeat you," she whispered, raising her tired gaze again and watching the Dullahan pull the bandit's blades from inside her severed head. She met those gray eyes of her enemy through the haze of darkness, untouched and easily visible due to the broken visor. The ordinary, unremarkable eyes of a young girl. Just like hers. "Is that so, Dullahan?"

"So it must be, my Nemesis. You and only you can destroy me…" Surprising Tristessa, the dark knightess replied. "It is your destiny. I was born as a result of your every failure to overcome adversity. I am the convergence of your fears, your doubts, your desperation. Everything you don't want, but that yet, it is still there. It is inevitable... You and I are the same, and yet, opposites. Like the sides of a coin that it is spinning in the air."

"…and you know which side that coin will land on?" she asked, unaware that, simultaneously, a tear escaped from opposite eyes. Her right one, and the Dullahan's left. No painful emotions had caused it. Just listening to her mortal enemy.

"It will depend on you… Always remember, you and I are united. Connected by the Mark, the [Baptism in Ruins]. Two corpses, one grave."

"…!" Tristessa stifled a sigh, her eyes wide open. "How do you know I gave that name to…?"

But before she could conclude her question, an unnatural sound engulfed the clearing, accompanied by a wave of magical energy that meant only one thing: a thaumaturge was nearby, ready to cast a spell.

"VENDRA ERAS!"

Like a windowpane shattering into a thousand pieces, the ring of dark glyphs the Dullahan had conjured was nullified. The shadows dispersed like a bad dream, and the Fireclaw Company mercenaries entered the clearing, led by Melian.

"Boss!" The thaumaturge saw corpses and Reiden threatened by a dark, unknown entity. That's why he didn't hesitate for a second to give the order. "Attack!"

Lufreya began firing her multi-shot crossbow, unloading the entire barrel to force the Dullahan away from her leader, while Bran and Dom rushed toward him and the fallen Katriel.

"Are you alright, Reiden?! Here, drink the elixir!" Bran offered a small flask of golden liquid to his leader, and he downed it in one gulp. "Melian!"

"Yes! Ein Attractor!" the thaumaturge bellowed, conjuring gravitational glyphs at the Dullahan's feet, which together created a gravity well that immobilized her. He bought them precious seconds of respite, while the dark knightess screamed and struggled to break free from the magic's influence. And she was succeeding. "Quickly, attack…"

"NO! Don't fight, that demon cannot be defeated!" Reiden stopped Bran by grabbing his arm, before he could charge at the Dullahan, intending to lash out with his great axe. "We must flee!"

"Flee? Boss, don't be a weakling!" Dom complained, but the mercenary leader grabbed the end of his metal breastplate, forcing him face to face with him so he could see that he wasn't joking or playing around. So the flamberge wielder could see that the risk of death was more than real.

"RUN, NOW!"

The mercenaries obeyed, sheathing their weapons and heading back the way they came. There was no longer a barrier trapping them, and Reiden had recovered the spiritual energy he needed to use his [Divinity of Shadowstep] again. He helped the bloodied Katriel up from the ground, and the two disappeared into the dark dimension.

And Tristessa had barely seconds to take one last look at the Dullahan, her enemy and Nemesis, before Reiden's arm appeared in the shadows around her and pulled her into the empty but swift interior of darkness.

Moving at high speed away from that clearing tainted with Death, and a dark phantom who awaited her fated doom.

At the hands of her Nemesis.

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