The [Divinity of the Dark Room] not only offered a mental palace where Tristessa could feel safe and organize her memories, but that place also drew on all experiences through methodical categorization and analysis. It was a way to optimize the acquisition of experience so that nothing was wasted, like, for example, Katriel Strauss's combat tactics.

That entire unfair fight against him in the previous loop hadn't just been a near-Death experience. Or a map of scars across her body that now, in a new loop, she no longer had.

Every movement, every tactic, every attack, every defense, and every motive behind everything was part of an album of photographs, and film to be played on the projector. And analyzing those resources translated into learning; interpretation and acquisition of knowledge that no book could offer in that way.

"Hahaha! I admire your determination!" the bandit laughed as he brandished Reiden's dagger at her, trying to stab her. Tristessa saw these attacks as replays of past events and moved the way he had in the previous loop: dodging and deflecting the weapon with precise counters, confident that one of those hits would make him drop the dagger. "Good, good! But is it enough?!"

Katriel changed tactics and slashed upward from below, aiming to cut her face.

"Grr!" Tristessa defended herself with her dagger, intercepting the impact at an angle that allowed her to maintain momentum. Katriel was in constant deterioration, that blow dozens of times weaker than she remembered, but the tip of the dagger still managed to slice into her left shoulder. And the burning sensation instantly erupted in her brain. "Fuck!"

There was one clear disadvantage to her Divinity: all that knowledge was purely theoretical. Her muscles, weak and untrained, lacked the memory of attack and defense befitting a school of martial arts, having never experienced it. The same extended to the rest of her body.

She could only acquire muscle memory and real movements with practice. Blood, sweat, and tears, that whole combo she was shedding herself at that moment.

"Are you alright?!" Reiden asked her, ready to spring into action the instant Tristessa asked.

"Y-yeah, it only hurts a little."

"Be careful! He may not have the ability to use [Essential Dilution], but he's still a very dangerous murderer, so don't underestimate him!"

Tristessa had no idea what the veteran was talking about, and it wasn't the best time to start rambling about the worrying possibilities of unknown abilities from her enemy. Her shoulder hurt like hell, and she felt a warm dampness beginning to spread through the upper part of her shirt and trench-coat. But she could still move her arm freely; the cut hadn't been deep enough to compromise any tendons, and therefore, she could continue fighting, at least for the time being.

"Wonderful, remarkable, astounding! You are in pain, and yet you carry on! IT'S AMAZING! Tell me, tell me… That wound must hurt, right?!" Katriel asked, then performed his iconic taste of enemy blood by running his tongue over the blade of Reiden's knife. Only this time, to Tristessa's horror, the bandit ran the edge of the blade against his tongue and, with indifferent brutality, cut it in two. Flooding his mouth with blood and still smiling. "THIS HURTS TOO, HA HA HA!"

Screaming and spitting blood nonstop, Katriel attacked her again with simple, basic slashes that she blocked with the dagger. His laughter was devilish, as if a hell full of demons had taken control of his body after discarding his soul infected with insanity. His movements were erratic, lacking logic, and he made the same mistakes Tristessa had made in the previous loop and continued to make in this one, being a beginner. But he wasn't taking advantage of it; he wasn't reasoning with it, having lost the ability to do so.

The gray-eyed girl, in addition to beginning to feel the difficulty of moving her arm with increasing pain, also felt the muscles in her entire arm vibrating with sharp pangs of pain with each impact of her dagger blade against Katriel's. She knew she couldn't afford to waste any more time and risk being hurt again. Or getting killed.

And yet... She grew increasingly convinced that she could win. It was inevitable, as every second that passed made it more difficult for Katriel to continue fighting. It was more strength drained, more skill and experience erased from his mind and muscle memory.

Katriel was his own enemy in that battle, not Tristessa.

That's why she was able to easily dodge the tip of the dagger that was meant to stab her chest, and in retaliation, she managed to carry out her first successful attack ever: the hunting dagger sank between the ribs on the left side of the bandit's abdomen, penetrating the interior.

Tristessa again felt that strange sensation against her fingers and hand. Pressure and mass giving way to her dagger, as it cut through protective muscle and reached the division between the thoracic and abdominal cavities, causing severe damage. She quickly acknowledged the success of her attack, so she withdrew her weapon from the surprised Katriel and took several steps back.

"Huh? That was some lucky s-strik…!! Gesturing was difficult for the criminal with his tongue cut in half and still bleeding. It was even more difficult when he took that first breath with his thoracic diaphragm compromised, resulting in a mist of blood that shot out of his mouth. "Ugh…ah…!!

Stumbling, Katriel struggled to keep from falling. Breathing had just become a task requiring a titanic effort, and if there was one thing his brain didn't need right now, it was a lack of oxygen.

Thanks to Tristessa, whose dagger discreetly dripped drops of her victim's blood, the end of that fight was assured. A thief like him, reduced to someone who could no longer boast of being a great dancer who flourished in carnage.

A vile blade-dancer who could only perform in the dark with Death, his only partner that night.

"Well done." Tristessa heard Reiden congratulating her, and out of the corner of her eye, saw him sheath his sword. "End his miserable life."

Back in that position. Where she was forced to extinguish a life with her own hands. It had been difficult to kill Stormcrow at the time, and it was even more so now, with Katriel on the verge of shock, choking on his own blood and gasping for air.

She didn't have a revenant to obey and do her dirty work for her, like what had happened in the Sea of Trees with that witch of the Coven, Gwen. She only had that hunting dagger that had kept her company all those days, from bad scenarios to worse.

"I've killed someone before..." she thought, a phrase that sounded very wrong inside her head. It gave her a slight headache. Remembering her mother's vain smile. Forbidden darkness. "..."

Katriel was served on a platter. Reiden's stolen parrying dagger had fallen from his hands, and he could no longer control his legs. He had fallen to his knees, and his arms were partially raised, as if he wanted to reach his neck but there was an unbearable weight on those limbs that prevented him from lifting them. Blood could be seen flowing at a continuous pace from the wound in his abdomen; so much blood spilled, from that wound and from his decaying soul, made manifest through internal lacerations seeking escape through the various orifices of his body.

It wouldn't be long before Katriel went into hypovolemic shock and died of a heart attack, just as Tristessa herself had in a past loop, within the Evil Dream and in her first encounter with the Dullahan.

"Ha...do...it! Ha...ha...!" As she approached him, she heard babbling and laughter, amid his efforts to breathe and avoid choking on blood that had nowhere to go but out. In his wide-open, bloodshot eyes, she saw spider veins, increasingly dilated pupils, and tears. "HA...HA...HA...DO...IT!"

A plea, hidden between mockery and madness? Between that bloody smile and tears blending with blood?

"I'm sorry, but I don't know how to kill a person quickly. If this doesn't work... Bad luck, Katriel." Tristessa placed the edge of the blade against the side of his neck and, trembling and breathing rapidly, used all her strength to open a deep, horizontal gash, from side to side. "You had to die at the hands of a useless bitch who doesn't know how to dance... Thank you anyway for trying to teach me."

From the shape of the cut and the decompression of the arteries, Katriel's neck became a violent spray of blood that splattered almost all of Tristessa's front. She didn't flinch, having expected a messy job, and had no choice but to watch the bandit's maddened eyes begin to roll slightly upward, and then his body falling backward.

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The moment his head touched the ground and all the blood in his body began to flow from the wide laceration, spilling across that stretch of the Meridion Road, Katriel Strauss had died.

Killed by Tristessa. By her, who wanted to throw up. Whose hand that made the killing blow wouldn't stop shaking. She, who could gaze upon the black infinite of the void thanks to her Divinities.

His soul, tortured by Madness, sinking into the Abyss, where time did not exist. Where there was only everlasting darkness, which, perhaps, only Tristessa knew. For she could assure that, amid all that everlasting blackness, there were clinking chains made of gold, and a mechanical angel accompanied by her consort, rejoicing in the inevitability of Death…

Or, worse still, enjoying dragging souls back to Life, for who knows what twisted and mysterious purposes.

DIVINITY OF THE DARK ROOM

BLACK MIRROR – Stats after confrontation with the Dullahan and Katriel Strauss - Updates in Yellow

TRISTESSA IRANDELL

MAIN STATS

Strength: 1 out of 100

Dexterity:

4

(+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:

3

(+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: 80 out of 5000

Stamina: 45 out of 5000

Poise:

10

out of 1000

Immunities: 5 out of 500

Physical Resistance: 18 out of 500

Magic Resistance:

12

out of 500

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

Terror Resistance:

7

(+3) out of 500

Madness Resistance:

9

out of 500

Karma:

-27

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.

Fourth Echo of Viktor Enma: +3 Terror Resistance and Madness 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

Curse of the Evil Eye –

From the Empyrean of Dead Gods, the Shadow Queen casts her malevolent gaze over Nekrom, wishing for an Age of Eternal Darkness where everything bends to her relentless will

. (+1 point of Terror-status effect while a returned soul tainted with the malice of the Shadow Queen is active. Incremental in value the mightiest the soul to return.)

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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