[Courage that you feel no fear and no pain; therefore, you are free from lethargy].

[You are released from the condition].

With the activation of my courage, I felt my strength return to my briefly limp body.

That wasn’t all.

[You fall into an aberration due to the influence of the tainted Aphoris].

[You lose all motivation and fall into a defenseless state].

[The overwhelmingly powerful Absolute absorbs your power].

‘Absorb my power?’

A dreadful notification flashed through my mind.

‘I’m not an idiot, do you think I’ll stay still?’

I quickly tried to gather my magic power.

But as expected, I felt no power.

‘What, am I going to lose my power to the ancient witch Rose?’

I gritted my teeth.

Time passed, but nothing happened.

‘What?’

I tried to gather my power once more.

This time, it didn’t bend to my will.

But that didn’t seem to drain the power from my body.

At that moment, the notification popped up again.

[Courage, you regain your will to survive].

[Defensive magic is activated!]

[The overwhelmingly strong Absolute has failed to absorb your power!]

At the same time, a huge amount of magic power gathered on me like a burst of water.

‘Oh……!’

Courage was stronger than I thought.

‘I didn’t realize that my courage would allow me to escape the spell of the Ancient Witch Rose.’

[You never lose your courage no matter what].

I read the words the system showed me once again.

That alone made me feel incredibly strong.

‘I can do this.’

All the hesitation and fear that had been lingering just a moment ago was gone.

‘I can. It doesn’t matter if the ancient witch Rose goes on a rampage, I’ll subdue her.’

But first, there was still work to be done.

I checked on Argention, who was sweating profusely.

‘He hasn’t regained consciousness yet. He must be badly injured.’

I then attempted to summon.

[Please specify the item you wish to summon].

“I need something to heal Argention’s wounds, but it’s dark and I can’t see all the places where he’s hurt, so it needs to be powerful.”

I give the example of an item that can be consumed like a healing potion to heal all wounds on the body.

[Summon using 100 Fate Energy. Remaining Fate Energy: 80]

[Summoning…….]

[You have obtained a healing potion summoned from an unknown world].

[Summoned items are stored in your inventory].

Luckily, the summoning was successful.

I hurriedly took the healing potion out of my inventory.

I poured the healing potion into the corner of Argention’s mouth, and his complexion visibly improved.

“Argention. Wait here.”

I placed a circle of magic around him.

‘This should be enough to keep anyone from attacking him.’

As he had done for me, it was my turn to protect him.

Ready, I scanned my surroundings and stepped through the gap.

Whoo! Whoo

The air was already drenched in the thick magic of the ancient witch Rose.

‘It’s getting stronger.’

Ancient Witch Rose’s aura was endlessly powerful.

[The overwhelmingly strong Absolute is furious with you!]

And just then, Ancient Witch Rose seemed to have noticed that I was no longer hiding.

This was especially true when I saw a familiar figure approaching in the distance.

His gray long hair swayed with each step he took.

“Warden.”

His purple eyes were glassy.

As if brainwashed and controlled by something.

“Do you dare to stand up to Ms. Rose?”

“What?”

“It’s a reckless idea. You can’t even stand on Ms. Rose’s toes.”

It was absurd to say the least.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“Get down on your knees and surrender to Rose. The merciful Rose will spare you.”

“She’ll just absorb my power and throw me away. What’s merciful about that?”

The warden did not answer.

Instead, his gaze sharpened.

I seized the opportunity and called his name.

“Aphoris.”

The warden’s eyes flickered with disbelief.

“I know you have a connection to the ancient witch Rose, and perhaps she has reached out to you.”

Judging by the warden’s blindness, Rose must have saved his life.

“Of course you liked her and followed her.”

“My feelings for Rose were more like…….”

“Then you must be the person who knows the most about Rose the Ancient Witch right now.”

The warden arched an eyebrow.

He didn’t know why I was saying this out of the blue.

“Are you sure that the Rose who is controlling you now is the same Rose who saved you back then?”

“How rude! How dare you doubt Rose, I will never forgive you!”

“Rose wants to destroy the world, was this the same person you knew who wanted the world to end?”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m only here to help Ms. Rose do what she wants.”

The warden didn’t budge.

‘I thought you might have some sense.’

I gave up trying to convince him.

‘He can’t think straight right now, and I’m not going to be able to talk to him even for the rest of my life.’

Instead, I made another plan.

“Okay. Then lead me to that Rose.”

“You mean you’re going to surrender to Rose?”

“Yes. I intend to.”

“I see.”

Of course I wasn’t.

But I followed the warden without a word.

‘The Ancient Witch Rose is a very strong person.’

The system called her an overwhelmingly powerful absolute.

‘Then she could have found me long ago and destroyed me.’

But she didn’t.

She allowed Argention to flee with a fainted me.

‘You want my power, but you let me get away with it? That doesn’t make sense.’

Of course, the ancient witch Rose tried to absorb my power.

‘But she failed.’

Then she must have gotten angry and impatient.

‘And yet she sent her warden, not herself.’

Did this mean that Rose, the Ancient Witch, was in no condition to go out on her own?

Moreover, it was her emotions that I didn’t understand.

‘Why would she want to destroy the world, when she created it?’

Rose, the most powerful of the ancient witches.

She had the power to create.

Rose, the ancient witch, created everything with godlike power.

The world worshiped and loved her for bringing them into existence.

But now she’s turned and wants to destroy everything she’s created.

All she had left was a rage that burned unquenchable.

‘What the hell happened?’

If she could figure it out, she might have a way to defeat the ancient witch.

“Rose is inside.”

After a long walk, the warden pointed to a place.

It was the room where the essence of Aphoris was hidden.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“……Do not offend her, or you will be in danger.”

As I made my way toward the Essence of Aphoris, I heard the Warden muttering.

“What?”

“What did I say?”

But when I turned around, the Warden’s eyes were as cloudy as before.

‘Are you coming to your senses for a moment?’

I felt sorry for him.

His face was pale and lifeless, even though he was reunited with the Rose he’d so longed for.

He didn’t look like a man who’d just met someone he’d missed.

‘I’d rather be the crazy one.’

I clicked my tongue and traveled to the essence of Aphoris.

“Ugh…….”

The energy of the ancient witch Rose exploded out of me.

It was so virulent that the air was acrid.

Smoke filled the otherwise white space, blurring my vision.

“I’m sorry. Were you surprised?”

A familiar voice came from beyond the smoke.

“You’re…….”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rose.”

A tiny shadow walked out of the smoke.

I was stunned to finally see Rose face to face.

‘This feels vaguely familiar…’

There was a person standing there who looked exactly like me.

Even identical twins couldn’t be this identical.

‘It’s like there’s another me in the world.’

I couldn’t get over the shock.

‘Reincarnation doesn’t have to look the same.’

But their voice was the same.

What did this mean?

“Since you came here on your own two feet, does that mean you’re willing to be absorbed by me?”

Just then, Rose, the ancient witch, strode up to me.

Her voice was bubbly, yet somehow chilling.