Combining image and link fields, both with multiple values

This problem occured while trying to create a Views Slideshow, but imho it is actually an issue with Views, which is why I am posting it here.

I have a Drupal 7 page that consists of three subsections (main page and two big product pages), each with their own slideshow. Every slideshow displays different slides that link to different nodes within the page, like in-depth descriptions of the product, special offers, etc.. Up till now I have been using a separate slideshow module, but it's 1. just too bulky to handle if you have not only multiple slideshows but also multiple languages to show them in (plus new products with their own potential for slideshows on the horizon) and 2. I intend to switch to the use of Views across the whole page anyway, so I decided to give Views Slideshow a try, too.

After getting to know the modules I formulated two strategies on how to handle the slides and slideshows:

1. Add an image field to the page node type so that I could add a slide-image to any page I want to promote. Let Views link back to the node the slide is attached to. And use taxonomy to filter out the ones I want to use for each slideshow.
2. Create a new node type called 'Slides' and give it an image field that accepts unlimited values, then filter by the node the images are attached to.

I went for the second option, because to me it seemed easier to maintain and bulk edit.

Setting up the slideshow to show the slides I wanted was easy enough, adding a numbered pager needed some roundabout thinking, but I do now understand the logic behind it... but once I came to linking the slides, I ran into a wall.

My first thought was to find a module similar to Image Field Caption (which I already use to add captions to the slides) that just adds a textfield to the Image Field so I could just add the url/node to link to (after all Views lets me output the slides as links). I did not find such a module. Instead I discovered the Image Link Formatter module. This one does exactly what I need in the node's output, but sadly it does not work with Views yet.

Having installed the Link Field module to try out Image Link Formatter, I started to play around with this one and managed to output the slides as links using the urls from the link field, but then it outputs all possible combinations. Since I have 3 images and 3 links in my test case, I get 9 slides.

So.. regarding to Views I'd like to know if there is a way to combine two fields with multiple values in the way that value1 only goes with value1, value2 only in value2, etc. or at least filter out the slides I don't want from the output I can create with both those fields. I have some ideas in that regard, but my knowledge of Views itself is too limited to properly implement them.

I'd also be thankfull for pointers on other ways to add a link to an image field in a way that Views will recognize it.