My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 448 True Self
Roland sensed something was wrong the moment the ashes appeared before him.

A deep tremor from the very depths of his soul plunged him into a rare state of unease and panic.

Roland had forgotten how long it had been since he had felt this way.

His heart rate began to rise steadily, and the long-awaited experience made Roland's breathing become rapid. He reached the upper floor at almost the fastest speed he could muster at that moment.

Sure enough, this was where the ashes began to spread.

Little Gray stood against the wall, head down, panting heavily.

"Are you okay?"

Roland stepped forward and asked.

Little Grey looked up and shook its head at Roland: "It's nothing... I'm just a little tired..."

Roland frowned slightly: "You know I'm not asking about that... Using power in a place like this, you... should know the possible consequences, right?"

"..."

Little Grey fell silent for a while before speaking, "I can't just watch you get overwhelmed by those slimy, disgusting monsters, can I?"

"If anything happens to you, won't I be finished too?"

"Don't overthink it... I'm just helping myself."

"But what about you? Have you figured out a way to get out?"

Roland didn't answer the question immediately, but instead pulled Little Gray up: "Let's talk somewhere else, at least somewhere safe and high up."

……

Five minutes later, on the rooftop of the cinema, Roland took out the banknotes he had just found inside the cinema and began to reverse-engineer the magical structure on the ground.

He hadn't thought of any new methods.

The easiest way to escape the prison of memories is, of course, to completely erase them from your memory. Without memories, you won't be trapped.

But this self-destructive fighting style is not suitable for Roland, and he doesn't want to touch his memories again.

If we don't do that, we can only study our own weaknesses and then find a way out on our own.

Alternatively, Roland could look forward to Kalia displaying her prowess and rescuing the hero.

Prisons may be something that prisoners themselves can't find ways to destroy, but that's not the case for people outside the prison.

However, Roland is finding it difficult to calm down and study these structures now.

Even if one is very familiar with these techniques, reversing their effects does not require any complicated adjustments; only minor modifications to a few key points are needed.

But he still couldn't help thinking about Xiao Hui's condition.

Even though she appears to be in relatively good condition, she looks somewhat tired and is sweating a lot.

In other words, the recreation of this strange cage is really well done.

Even the vending machine and the drinks inside were recreated.

Roland smashed the machine and stuffed several bottles of water and a bottle of salt soda into Little Gray's hands.

However, drinking plenty of water and replenishing salt did not alleviate the symptoms.

The person in question gave up trying. After finishing his salted soda, he leaned against the railing at the entrance to the rooftop and said weakly, "Roland, what do you think happens to people after they die, and where do they live?"

"Will I turn into one of those undead warriors and continue living in a city in the underworld?"

"If that's the case, then it doesn't really count as death, right?"

"It sounds like they've just moved to a different place."

Roland, who had just completed the structural reversal of the spell interference and spell counter, paused upon hearing this, and his train of thought about the spell structure and magic flow of the World Tree's protection was also interrupted.

Roland wasn't angry. He paused, then turned around with a light laugh to look at the gray-haired girl who was leaning against the railing and sitting on the ground looking at him.

"I've been to the underworld. I've seen Death."

"...Just as you thought, there is a vast kingdom built for the dead, and everywhere there are beautiful white flower fields, planted one by one by Death."

Xiao Hui wiped the sweat from her forehead and smoothed out the matted strands of hair: "Really?"

"Haha, you're not a liar at all... There's nothing there, right?"

"There is no kingdom of the dead, but perhaps a sea of ​​flowers exists... but I probably won't be able to see it, will I?"

"After all, for me, that wasn't death, it was just a merging of consciousnesses."

"I just didn't expect... that the result would be like this... I thought... the impact would be more direct."

After making a few self-deprecating remarks, Xiao Hui laughed helplessly, then looked down at her hands: "I really want to live... but I don't know why... I just can't bring myself to abandon you."

"I've disliked you from the beginning until now, as if you owe me millions of gold coins."

"but……"

Little Grey looked up at Roland, and was about to continue what she was saying when she saw Roland's expression. She paused for a moment, then smiled happily: "You're not sad, are you?"

"Even counting from the very first second we met, we probably haven't spent more than a day together, right?"

"To be precise, I only met you this morning, and then after lunch we came here..."

"Ah...it could have been last night, after all, a long time has passed."

"To you, I'm just a dangerous person you met by chance, right? Even so, will you be sad?" "You should have known my fate long ago, although I really wanted to escape this fate... Even though you brought me to the Papal City, I hoped things could turn around."

"But when it really came down to me choosing my own fate, it was my own fault for not living... Maybe I didn't really want to live."

"In the end, the being you call Little Gray has never truly lived."

"If you've never lived, how can you say you want to live?"

"Okay, okay, I don't even care anymore... why are you still so upset?"

The night wind blew across the rooftop.

Blow up the remaining ashes underneath.

The blood moon in the sky disappeared for some unknown reason at this moment, and the normal moonlight returned.

The weeping willows along the river swayed in the wind, and the rustling sound reached Roland's ears in a muffled way.

Looking at the calm smile on Xiao Hui's face, and the body that was beginning to transform into illusion and about to disappear, he felt as if something in his heart had been unlocked.

At that moment, the previously interrupted ideas about constructing the spell for the World Tree's protection were almost instantly activated.

Even if it was just a fleeting glimpse a few months ago, even if the research was only conducted to enhance the effect of the technique's intervention at the time.

But at this moment, the technique he had once glanced at appeared in his mind with unparalleled clarity.

Even the World Tree Runestone appeared in his palm at this moment, floating and emitting a faint emerald green light.

Then, as if some kind of shackle had been broken, the "World Tree Power" within Roland's body, which previously required magic to transform and then propel, appeared in his body more abundantly than ever before.

No… it didn’t happen; the “Power of the World Tree” began to replace the magic within his body.

Wait... is this a replacement?

Although I lack understanding of the changes in my body, this is clearly not bad news.

Because Roland had never felt such a powerful force emanating from within his body so clearly.

This was not an amplification from spells, runes, or holy swords, but rather Roland's own genuine power.

Then, something happened that terrified Roland.

The first star ring he had created, constructed using a plan provided by the Grim Reaper and supervised by the Demon King through the Star Ring Law ritual, shattered into dust at that moment, and the compressed magic power within it was instantly transformed into "World Tree Power".

Although there was no discomfort, this situation was still quite unusual.

But these are not the issues we need to consider right now...

He looked at Little Gray, who hadn't completely disappeared, and reached out his hand to her.

At this moment, in this place... something is calling to him, responding to him, connecting with him.

The cage of memories began to crumble, the scenery of my hometown turned into fragments and vanished, then turned into a pitch-black space.

Then, a tender sprout emerged from the darkness.

……

……

Even from the Chalk Wall, hundreds of kilometers away, the scene of Kalia's battle with the Ash God Child was still clearly visible.

The world outside the white chalk barrier has now turned into a world of black and gray.

The writhing shadows collided with the storm of ashes, and this cycle of battle had been repeated countless times.

More than two hours had already passed.

However, in terms of strength, Kalia still has the advantage.

At least she even had time to steal a moment from her busy schedule and, during a lull in the battle, use her shadow to send the high-ranking officials trapped in the Papal City to the edge of the battlefield, allowing them to walk back to the White Chalk Wall.

At this moment, apart from those who had to stay at their posts, everyone who could come stood on the city wall to watch the fierce battle between the two unparalleled powerhouses.

Of all these people, the Vatican officials must be the most distressed.

The evil god's son, whom the Holy See was responsible for sealing, went out of control and broke the seal. However, the one who helped him was the son of the evil god worshipped by the Chaos Brotherhood... Moreover, he had close ties with the Empire and the Demon Clan. Putting aside whether they wanted to get involved or not, even if they wanted to, they were powerless to do so.

Judging from the current battle situation, the role that a saint and an ordinary imperial soldier can play is about the same.

Because there's nothing you can do. The only outcome of rushing into the battle is being swept away by the aftershocks.

Saints can withstand many hits, but soldiers can only withstand one.

However, if we were to say whose feelings were closest to those of the Papacy, it would probably be Iluvia.

She never imagined that Kalia's strength had developed to this extent.

Well... there's a subtle sense of unease.

However, the two forces that had been evenly matched were soon disrupted by a sudden disruptor.

A golden light instantly broke through the boundary between the black and gray colors. Then the golden light dissipated, and a touch of emerald green appeared. Then, a towering tree rose from the ground, connecting heaven and earth.

But the changes did not end there.

After the giant tree rose, golden fruits began to hang from its branches.

(End of this chapter)