Before dusk fell on End-World, the setting Sun almost obscured by the darkness that reigned in the stormy heights, Tristessa saw for the first time, in the distance, the great walls of the Dominion's main city, Entrana, along with a giant super-structure inside that reached up to pierce the very dark heavens. Such structure undoubtedly was an Evil-Warding Pillar, which she had heard about in the Imperial-transmission warning about the dimensional shift event.

Only an Imperial vista remained to reach the city, but for the girl, it was an eternity of walking, running, and more walking.

She had saved a lot of time with her quick, hurried pace, thanks to the shadowy imaginary hourglass that foretold inevitable doom. Also because the misfortunes she had experienced, instead of delaying her journey, had served as extra motivation to run without looking back.

The fear of Death gave people wings, there was no doubt about it.

Tristessa's path was hampered only by the rain that fell in a gentle and steady pace, turning the road into a river of mud that was very difficult to navigate, especially on the sides where she was forced to move to in order to let the wagons pulled by vilecrosses pass. The bipedal demons pulled thick chains, obediently and with their hornless heads bowed, maintaining a steady pace coordinated by a driver.

"Try not to get your hair wet, miss!" a man on top of his wagon mocked her, taking off his hat to greet and laugh at her.

"Asshole…"

She kept the insult inside her mouth and kept walking, wet from head to toe, covered in mud splashed by the recurrent traffic. It was impossible, in those conditions and in the rain, to see that she was crying.

Her lower limbs hurt. A lot. Inside her damp and dirty boots, the soles of her feet and heels were covered in blisters, cuts that kept stinging. And her legs' muscles burned with every step she took, as if they were on the verge of tearing.

The effort to reach Entrana quickly, and the emotional strain of the horrific experiences she'd endured in the last few hours, was taking a very negative toll on her. Tristessa felt sick, her head was hot, she was suffering from constant chills, and the cold rain didn't help her constitution at all.

"Just a little more… So close, I can't faint here," she thought, finding courage where there was none, just to take a step. One more, and so on, ad infinitum, as the walls of Entrana grew ever larger. "So close…"

She crossed over a stone bridge, beneath which ran a river that eventually paralleled the road and reached the city. This time, the directional signs were in perfect condition, albeit with glyph writing that Tristessa couldn't read.

The northern end of the Meridion Highway had several rustic wooden houses along the sides, with their own plots of cultivated fields and metal windmills. Unlike the neglected fields to the south, these fields had plants of wheat, corn, potatoes and other crops. Tristessa even saw herds of Farross behind sturdy, well-maintained fences.

Within a few minutes, the southern towering walls of Entrana were in front of her. Black stone giants, with large fixed crossbows and iron military equipment with enormous power crystals as cores.

The walls had clearly been made to withstand prolonged sieges, and covered an almost circular perimeter, a few kilometers long. The only visible opening was a dark culvert protected by thick metal bars where the river that had accompanied Tristessa in parallel along the road disappeared under.

Behind the walls, the pillar protecting the city from the Evil Dream was a massive tower of white stone carved with countless glyphs. It was dizzying to stare at, the way it rose into the clouds, buffeted by the strong winds that carried the storm.

"Finally… The end of the road…"

Her tired whisper, said upon the culmination of that highway that turned from a river of mud to a perfectly leveled black brick path, into the southern entrance to the city. A large gate of black iron and steel that split in two, just enough to allow the movement of stagecoaches in between. The gate bore carefully carved illustrations of ancient Imperial lords and a large black shield in the center.

The Shield Against Darkness. The symbol that represented the Empire of the Night's Watch.

"Severus, I'm coming..." the girl muttered, dragging her legs and going directly to that great gate. She didn't notice the sentries watching her from the upper towers of the wall, nor the single soldier guarding the entrance. "I... I'm here..."

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She stumbled. She had reached her limit, extreme fatigue breaking her will. Luckily, she'd fallen to her knees, although the brick floor was so hard that she felt the pain like two electric shocks. The raindrops falling from the sky hurt against the back of her head, the back of her neck, her shoulders... She was so tired, so exhausted, so depressed, that thinking had become a heavy burden.

Sleep didn't seem like a bad idea after all. Even dying didn't sound so bad...

"Hey, you. You can't stay here. Kindly go away."

Tristessa heard a female voice in the distance, drowned out by the sound of the rain. It sounded bossy and not very friendly; she was giving her an order, but her body wasn't responding. Luckily, she was still conscious enough to try.

"Come on, move! Damn it... Very well, do you need any help, miss?"

Amid the haze that filled her half-closed eyes, the black-haired girl saw a hand near her face. A pale white hand, partially covered by a white glove with small steel plates protecting the phalanges.

"…I-I'm sorry. Don't hurt me, p-please…" she begged, forcing her battered brain to prevent her consciousness from fading away. Agonizing with pain in both legs and tiredness, Tristessa looked up and forgot how to speak. "…!"

In the freezing rain, in front of her stood the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, offering her hand.

A tall knightess wearing a white trench-coat reinforced with gleaming silver plates, armored pants of the same color, ankle, elbow, and shoulder guards, and heavy boots. At her waist, on her left side, she had a longsword sheathed, her other hand gripping the handle without hostile intent. And on her back, a long black cape which was slightly billowed by the fury of the storm.

White, pale skin and silvery blonde hair—completely wet from the rain—falling to her waist. Her eyes were red as rubies, and her facial features were so delicate and perfectly proportioned that the beauty she emanated was divine and breathtaking.

"I don't have all afternoon," the woman urged her, her expression filled with annoyance that made Tristessa blush deeply and accept her hand.

"Th-thank you…" she stammered, as nervous as she was tired, being lifted from the ground by the woman with such ease. And embarrassed, aware of her ragged and grimy condition next to someone so sublime, so attractive, despite being completely wet from the rainwater. "I-I need to…go inside… Please…"

"Do you have a certificate of citizenship or a permit signed by imperial authorities?" the knightess asked, her voice emanating firmness and authority. At Tristessa's silent refusal, the woman pursed her lips. "Sorry. Without one of those two documents, no one can enter the city. No exceptions."

"B-but…!"

"No exceptions. Stay in one of those refugee tents and don't cause any trouble," the woman instructed, clearly assuming that now that Tristessa couldn't enter the city, she had nowhere to go. "...you look like you had a rough time out there."

She tried to maintain a stern and professional demeanor, but Tristessa's condition made her soften a little. Sighing, the knightess searched in her pockets and left in her hand a small vial full of a bright red liquid.

"Please stay safe and don't do anything to force my hand."

Without waiting for the girl to reply or present any argument that might justify her access to Entrana, or even wait for her to thank her for that unrequested gift, she turned her back and returned to her post in front of the large black gate.

She was the guardian of the southern entrance, or at least for those few hours. A gorgeous and divine knightess that Tristessa couldn't stop staring at, her mouth half-open and a light blush decorating her cheeks and ears. She couldn't help but smile warmly at the small flask whose content was a complete mystery, bound to be solved a later time.

"Alright, alright, that's enough, you fool!" she admonished herself, shaking her head and taking advantage of the falling rain to briefly wake herself up. All the fatigue she'd been carrying returned, reminding her that nothing she'd done in the last few hours had been for free. "What tents was she talking about…?"

Tristessa had been so focused and exerting all her strength to reach the large gate that she hadn't even noticed that along the sides of the paved street were dozens of old leather tents where people lived in abject poverty. Men, women, children, and the elderly, surviving as best they could, all sheltering from the rain and busy with their chores.

They had all been turned away from entering the city, and they hadn't even noticed the newcomer who had suffered the same fate as them.

Except for one man. Someone who was watching Tristessa almost from an imaginary straight line between her and him, inside the tent he lived in alone.

"Hello!" the man greeted her from the shadows of his makeshift home, raising his hand in a friendly gesture. "Would you like to share?! Hurry, it's a limited offer!"

In case she hadn't heard him over the rain, he gestured her to come closer. Tristessa looked at him with absolute distrust, but the reality was there were no other unoccupied tents nearby, and she felt like she was going to faint at any moment. It was too risky, but at this point, she had no choice but to accept an unknown person's offer or lose consciousness on the side of the road.

Slowly, and with one last glance at that beautiful woman, standing like a statue in the rain, Tristessa made her way to the tent. There, its inhabitant was looking at her with extreme curiosity reflected in his dark eyes and scratching his chin, hidden alongside half his face behind a gray handkerchief.

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