Chapter 233: Phantom Memories

As Rose sat down in the chair next to her desk, she clutched her head in her hands.

It had been five and a half months since Johann destroyed a large portion of the city...

And at the same time, Rose couldn't stop getting these headaches...

They were always accompanied by memories that she didn't experience and images of people she swore she had seen before but never met.

She began having strange thoughts that felt like they weren't hers.

"YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!!! YOU IDIOT!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?!?" A voice in her head screamed.

"SHUT UP!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! YOU'RE NOT REAL!!!" Rose yelled aloud.

Just then, her mind was assaulted by images again...

She saw herself standing in front of a man by an altar. There was a priest.

Walter was there and...

Arvild came in to stop whatever was going on.

The man protected her and fought Arvild in an arena after that.

He nearly died...but he won the fight.

Next, she was laying in bed with her head on his chest.

After that, she vaguely recalled feeling extremely tired for a while and being taken care of by this man.

Rose couldn't figure it who he was...

She would get so close to remembering the name and then...

It would vanish like a puff of smoke.

"Who...are you...?" Rose said aloud.

Tears flowed from her eyes as she saw the man again...protecting her from some kind of monster.

Then she used Bravery to protect him instead. They fought together and defeated the monster.

Rose began to feel another skull-splitting headache after that.

"Ngh...AH...MAKE IT STOP!!!! IT HURTS!!!" She cried.

Then she saw herself standing beside a table...she felt horribly embarrassed...insulted and belittled.

A bowl was sitting on the floor with her former name on a tag next to it. She felt like she wanted to cry.

But...just as always...

The man from all of her dreams pulled out his chair for her.

She took his seat and took turns feeding one another as the angry crowd at the table glared at her.

More tears fell from her eyes as she then saw herself chained up in a dungeon. She was in her underwear and several men were standing around looking lustfully at her.

She kicked and thrashed while she screamed the name of the man...

And before things got really bad... He arrived just as he always had.

He fought off the men. He killed every single one of them.

And he set her free.

The next thing she saw was a monster standing in front of her.

It was huge...it had arms as thick as tree trunks and a gigantic mace on the end of one of its arms. It reminded her of the monsters the Source of the Corruption made.

It knocked her to the ground and breathed a horrible gas into her face.

Soon, she was convulsing in pain as her mind began to fade.

She heard the sound of an explosion. The man was shouting desperately...trying to save her with every ounce of power he had.

The last thing she heard was the sound of him speaking.

But his voice sounded distorted...

"Who...please just tell me...who you are..." Rose whimpered.

She fell from her chair onto the floor as her head began to hurt again.

Images of standing atop a wall and fighting monsters and the sights of a great city reduced to rubble.

But she stood by his side always.

Protecting him with her shield.

She saw the image of a black dragon...the man protected her then, too.

And finally....she saw was the temple of the Oracle.

She stood frozen in place as she saw Grandma Oracle raise her staff to the man. Energy shot through his chest and he fell to the ground as time began to slow...

There was a bright flash of light from him and everything went dark.

At this point, Rose was a mess.

She couldn't stop crying her eyes out as she gritted her teeth and clawed the floor.

"WHO ARE YOU!? WHOSE MEMORIES ARE THESE!?!?" She screamed.

"You ruined all of it. You destroyed what we worked so hard to build... YOU TOOK [-----] AWAY FROM ME!!! YOU MADE HIM HATE ME!!! HOW COULD YOU!?!?"

As Rose lay still on the floor, the door to her room slowly opened.

Grandma Oracle was standing there.

"Rose, dear? Are you well? You've been screaming a lot, lately..." She said.

Rose slowly sat up and dried her tears on her sleeve.

"I-I don't know who I am, anymore... My headaches keep getting worse! Ever since I used Crown of the Hero for the first time, I've been having these problems! Please...help me, Oracle!" Rose said desperately as her tears started forming again.

"Oh, you poor thing! Please...tell me more about this. Let Grandma Oracle help you, dear," The Oracle said.

"I keep seeing things. They're like memories, but they never happened! And also...I keep seeing someone in them. A man... I can't hear his voice clearly and I don't know who it is..." Rose said.

"Really? Who do you think this man is?" The Oracle asked.

"If I didn't know any better... I'd say that he sort of reminds me of...Mizik? But that's impossible..." Rose said.

"It seems like that abominable demon might be trying to infect your mind," The Oracle said.

"SHUT UP!!! DON'T YOU DARE CALL HIM THAT, YOU LYING, MURDERING BITCH!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO!!!" Rose screamed.

Then she immediately put her hands over her mouth.

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that! It just...came out!!" Rose said as she looked fearfully at The Oracle.

The Oracle sighed.

"How meddlesome... Tell me, Rose, do you still want to be a hero? What is it that you're fighting for?"

"I...I don't know anymore..."

"What is it that you want, then?"

"I don't know!!! I don't know what I want... I just...every time I try to think of what I want...the image of that man appears in my head. What's happening to me!? Who is he...? Please help..." Rose said.

The Oracle ignored her question.

"If you don't want to fight for everyone's sake, I won't force you. But...you're quite literally the only person I can count on to face Mizik in battle. He is both clever and highly dangerous. And if he gets his wish, all of creation will suffer. Do you want to fail everyone? Do you think they would simply forgive you for not acting?" The Oracle said.

Rose buried her face in her hands as she wept bitterly.

"I don't want to fail everyone!!! I know I can't...but I'm still worried about Cassandra...about my family...and the ones I killed... They might be evil, but they're right about me! I'm a murderer! I've killed so many innocents!!! I'M A MONSTER!!!" Rose wailed.

The Oracle placed her hand on top of Rose's head.

"You did what had to be done. And I'm sure you'll continue to do so. Something I once told Mizik before he turned evil, was that he wouldn't be able to help others if he kept forming attachments to them," The Oracle said.

"Y-you said that...to him?"

"I did. It means you must close off your mind and slay everyone in your path to reach your goal. Whether they be friend or foe. You must become a heartless and decisive killing machine if you want to save everyone. If you allow it, I will help you achieve this goal," The Oracle said.

Rose slumped her shoulders as she gritted her teeth.

"Will...that truly bring them back...?" She asked.

"I promise that it will. Slay Mizik Iratus just as I told you to, and everything will be back to the way it should be. My power will make it so," The Oracle said with a smile.

"Then do whatever needs to be done..." Rose said.

Right after she spoke, she felt a haze come over her mind.

She felt her consciousness torn away from her.

As she fell to the ground, she saw herself surrounded by a dark void.

There was a woman standing in front of her.

When she looked up at her, the woman looked down in angry disgust.

It was...her.

Rose was staring at an exact copy of herself.

"You disgust me. Because of you...[-----] is our enemy when he should be our greatest ally! INSTEAD, YOU FOLLOW THAT EVIL AND VILE ORACLE!!!" Isabella screamed.

"WHY ARE YOU BOTHERING ME!?!? WHO ARE YOU!?!?" Rose screamed.

Isabella leaned in close.

"Who do you think I am? Who do I look like? You've been using my body and powers to kill and massacre so many people. To hunt down the one I love like a dog. All the while blindly believing and following the will of that evil old woman."

"Lies... IT'S ALL LIES!!! GRANDMA ORACLE WILL PURGE YOU!!!" Rose screamed.

"She can't purge me. She can only temporarily suppress me. As long as you continue to use my body, I'll return. I can promise you that," Isabella said.

Suddenly everything changed to a shade of dark green.

Rose felt the memories that she had been seeing torn away from her.

The other Isabella also began to fade.

"Try thinking for yourself, for a change. Are you really going to be a slave to this murderer? Her sins will fall upon you like rain. You'll be drenched in the blood of innocents and forced to live a lie. You'll never be happy and those you killed will never return. The Oracle is a monster. Just like you..." She said.

Then she disappeared.

And as she did, she heard the Oracle speaking.

It was like she didn't know Rose could hear her.

"How troublesome... To think that old Isabella is still in there. Try as you might, I'll never allow you to reunite with Mizik. You will be purged. And from your corpse, my greatest weapon will rise to destroy him. I'll reset everything again and again...as many times as it takes... Mizik will slay the Source. I just need to reset things one more time...I'm already so close..." The Oracle said.

"What...?" Rose whispered.

Then she blacked out.

* * *

When Rose awoke, her head felt really sore.

She slowly sat up and saw The Oracle smile at her.

"Hello, Rose. Did you sleep well? You passed out after you asked me to help you," The Oracle said.

As hard as she tried...Rose couldn't remember anything about what happened.

"What...happened?" Rose asked.

"You were talking about how much you wanted to kill Mizik. Please...tell me more about that," The Oracle said.

"Yes. I will kill Mizik. I'll kill him if it's the last thing I do... I'll save everyone and restore the natural order. That is my duty," Rose said.

Her voice expressed no emotion. Only a desire to carry out what she said she would do.

"Delightful. I'll just continue making sure it stays that way from now on. You have nothing to fear, my dear Rose. Grandma Oracle will keep you stable. I will provide everything you need to complete your task," The Oracle said.

She smiled at Rose.

Rose did not return it.

She only had one thing in mind, now...

"I will kill Mizik. That is my only purpose in life. I exist to slay the demon known as Mizik."

"Of course, Oracle. I will not fail you. If I may ask, could you please locate the abominable demon known as Mizik? It is my purpose to end his life," Rose said coldly.

"I am currently working on it. For some reason, no matter what I do, I cannot seem to find him. It's as if he has simply exited the known areas of creation... I know he is alive, otherwise I could...well...put everything back to the way it should be. I will keep you informed and send you to his location as soon as I find out where he is. He cannot hide from me forever," The Oracle said.

"Of course. Now then, can you tell me if he has any fears? Any weaknesses?" Rose said.

"As far as I know, Mizik does not have any phobias. He is quite prone to facing anything that causes him fear head-on. It's what makes him so...effective. As for weaknesses, your sister will do just fine, for now. Although I still question whether or not it would be possible for you to end her..." The Oracle said.

"I will not hesitate to slay Cassandra on sight."

"Good, but that isn't what I meant. She is more than capable of killing you from what I witnessed in that battle months ago. I may still be able to use Abbadon for that purpose as I am unsure of her real power. Hopefully, Johann stays out of it... I will have to gather as many of my forces as possible..." The Oracle said.

"Am I not enough?" Rose asked.

"No. You are not. I can fight as well, and I'm more than capable of Killing Mizik, if needed. Additionally, the Source will be unable to enter Excelsis as long as the barrier stays up. Honestly, Johann and Iris are my biggest concerns. Iris has her Enforcers, but they will be child's play compared to the gods of this realm and my Faithful. Each of our soldiers and guards are equal to or greater than any of her Enforcers. Aside from that, there is the walking paradox."

"Who would that be?"

"The one named Vakra. He seems to be able to bend reality to a certain degree... And from what you've told me, he has done something to Mizik and Cassandra that increased their power drastically. I cannot pinpoint what he is, exactly... But I am also doubtful he will be a problem in his current state," The Oracle said.

"According to this Vakra, you will have to kill him over two hundred thousand times to fully end his life," Rose said.

"Truly meddlesome... I will make the arrangements for that to be possible after his capture. Once everything is set right, I will deal with him. Now...prepare yourself. Train hard for the day you finally face Mizik in battle, Rose."

"It will be done."