Night fell swiftly.
As darkness shrouded the entire North American continent, the temperature plummeted instantly, giving the night wind a bone-chilling feel.
Above the night sky, devoid of stars and the moon, only an eternal halo-like glow remained suspended in the high atmosphere, as if staring at it could potentially draw one's soul into its presence.
"Fou!"
Atop a hill, Fou stood near the cliff, emitting cheerful cries towards the sky's everlasting halo, a sound that could be interpreted as either gratitude for the rare light or a complaint about its captivating nature.
Observing Fou in this state, Mash, wielding a hefty shield, couldn't help but relax her expression, then immediately tensed her nerves, maintaining vigilance over their surroundings.
As for Rozen, he was in a small forest on the hill.
"Hum!"
Amidst the atmospheric hum, Rozen infused a tremendous magical power into the ground in front of him. Since he achieved the "Mind's Eye" of the Divine Realm, Rozen rarely utilized magic power on such an extensive scale.
However, at this moment, Rozen unhesitatingly squandered a massive amount of magical energy, using it to drive a large source, creating surging magical torrents that flowed into the ground before him.
Upon closer inspection, an intricate magic circle was etched there. For those within Chaldea, this magic circle would undoubtedly be recognizable in an instant—it was the summoning circle of "Heroic Spirit Summoning."
Rozen, relying on his own abilities, was attempting to use the mysterious art of "Heroic Spirit Summoning."
Thus, with the support of substantial magical energy, the summoning circle radiated a dazzling brilliance.
"—I hereby declare—"
Rozen maintained the infusion of magical energy, closed his eyes, and began chanting.
"—Your body shall serve under me,
My fate shall be your sword—"
"—If you will submit to this will and this reason…Then answer!—"
"—I hereby swear—"
"—I shall be all that is good in this world—"
"—I shall be the disposer of all evil in this world—"
"—Thou, clad with the great trinity, Come forth from the ring of restraints—"
"—Guardian of the heavenly scales!—"
With the progress of the chant, the radiance from the summoning circle before Rozen intensified, becoming brighter and more potent.
Then, an intangible yet formidable force instantly gathered on the magic circle. It seemed as if a pathway had opened, stretching infinitely into the depths of the world, making contact with the records of the "Throne" situated on the outer edge of the world.
"Clang—!"
In an instant, the brilliance surged on the magic circle, and the intangible yet powerful force took on a tangible form.
Witnessing this, Rozen's eyes brightened, a joyous expression on his face.
If this force were to materialize, this summoning would declare success, and Rozen would have summoned the first Servant in history with whom his soul was intricately linked—a Servant bound by an absolute contract.
This meant that Rozen would officially step into the realm of "Heroic Spirit Summoning," becoming the only modern individual to successfully summon a Heroic Spirit solely through his own power.
Ordinary Masters seeking to summon a Heroic Spirit typically required the assistance of the Holy Grail's power and were restricted to the period of the Holy Grail War. Once the war concluded, the contract would be annulled, and the Heroic Spirit would return to the "Throne," not lingering in the mortal realm.
Even if one attempted to summon without utilizing the Holy Grail's power, most magus could only evoke a portion of the Heroic Spirit's power for utilization, with no one having succeeded in summoning a Heroic Spirit solely by their own capabilities. Even Chaldea relied on the facility's technology to support an entire summoning system before achieving success.
If someone could successfully summon a Heroic Spirit solely through their own abilities, it would undoubtedly be a monumental achievement surpassing any magus—a feat signifying mastery over mysteries beyond the divine.
For Rozen, summoning a Heroic Spirit held significant meaning. Success would mark his entry into commanding numerous Heroic Spirits, the first step towards acquiring many Servants.
However, at that moment...
"—"
The power converging in the magic circle suddenly trembled and came to a halt.
"Not good!"
Rozen was slightly startled, hastily continuing to infuse magical energy into the magic circle.
Unfortunately...
"Bang—!"
Before long, the radiance in the entire magic circle shattered like glass, disappearing entirely.
"Clang..."
The magic circle dimmed until it lost all its radiance.
Seeing this, Rozen couldn't help but understand.
"Failed again, huh?"
A hint of regret and disappointment leaked from his mouth.
Since the arrival of "Mind's Eye" in the Divine Realm, Rozen had begun studying the techniques of "Heroic Spirit Summoning," preparing to formally summon a Heroic Spirit, gain a Servant, and enhance his own power.
According to Rozen's expectations, among the numerous Heroic Spirits, there were strong ones reaching the pinnacle of strategic levels that even Rozen couldn't rival.
The weak ones would only be at the level of upper-tier familiars, some possibly even at the level of mid-tier familiars. With Rozen's current abilities, summoning a Heroic Spirit at this level and making them his Servant shouldn't be very difficult.
However, unexpectedly, Rozen hadn't successfully summoned a single Servant to date.
The reason was simple.
"The summoning of a Servant is not fixed but rather random. Unless there is a catalyst with a deep connection to a specific Heroic Spirit, allowing the summoning of that particular Servant, it will only summon a Servant compatible with the Master. This enables the Servant to manifest."
Such a voice resounded from behind Rozen.
"Your manipulation and mastery of summoning techniques have reached the highest level, even bordering on perfection. In theory, you shouldn't fail. However, due to the nature of 'Heroic Spirit Summoning,' your summoning is declared a failure because the Heroic Spirit compatible with you doesn't seem to be an ordinary one, making it not so easy to summon."
Speaking, the Otherworldly Queen with a magic spear in hand appeared behind Rozen, seemingly out of nowhere. Her eyes, watching Rozen, were full of joy as if she had discovered a rare gem.
"Then there's the magical power. Although your magical power is outstanding, it pales in comparison to the Holy Grail. Summoning a Servant consumes a massive amount of magical energy, and the power of a mere magus is insufficient. It will only be drained. If you couldn't harness the vast source of magical power, you would probably have already collapsed due to magical energy depletion, or even died from your life force being drained dry. Failing is not surprising at this point."
The Queen of the Shadow Realm, who had once taught countless heroes and champions, couldn't help but offer this advice to Rozen, her tone resembling that of a teacher almost entirely.
"Miss Scáthach..."
Rozen looked at this Slayer of Gods, feeling a sense of helplessness.
Now, Rozen possesses an immense knowledge of magecraft and a vast understanding of various magical techniques. His expertise in various spells is unparalleled globally. In terms of the quantity and variety of knowledge as well as the number of techniques, not even modern magus, let alone those from the Age of Gods, can surpass Rozen.
Therefore, Rozen is well aware of why his "Heroic Spirit Summoning" has been failing repeatedly.
One of the reasons, as Scáthach mentioned, lies in the catalyst issue. Without a catalyst, the "Heroic Spirit Summoning" will randomly summon the Servant with the best compatibility with the Master. Due to this randomness, practitioners cannot summon a specific Servant, and progressing gradually from weaker to stronger is impossible.
Thus, if the summoned Servant is too powerful, failure is inevitable.
Furthermore, the issue of magical power is indeed stringent, and Rozen has no solution.
Typically, summoning a Servant requires complex magical rituals, a mysterious process beyond human capability. Only with the assistance of the "Holy Grail" can such summoning become feasible. The summoning itself is a process conducted by the "Holy Grail." Otherwise, humans are incapable of conducting such large-scale rituals.
Chaldea, through various technological advancements, has systematized the summoning of Servants. However, the Heroic Spirit summoning system has remained imperfect, with only three successful cases so far. One Servant is missing, one can only become a pseudo-Servant, and only Da Vinci's summoning was successful, proving its immaturity.
This is why Rozen has consistently refrained from using Chaldea's Heroic Spirit summoning system to summon a second contracted Servant.
"Although Chaldea analyzed various 'Holy Grails' obtained from the Singularities and has gradually improved the Heroic Spirit summoning system, it would be even better if I could accomplish the summoning on my own."
Even though Rozen's self-summoning wouldn't benefit from Chaldea providing magical energy, and he would bear the entire magical energy consumption required for the Servant's manifestation, Rozen believes he can handle it given his current ability to harness vast magical energy. Before the transformation of "Mind's Eye," Rozen wouldn't have been confident in this, but now, with the ability to invoke the vast source of magical energy, he should be able to manage.
Rozen thought so, which is why he began delving into the "Heroic Spirit Summoning" rituals.
However, the result of this attempt left Rozen realizing...
"It's really much more difficult than I imagined."
Rozen felt truly helpless.
Apart from the problem of not being able to summon a specified Servant, which leads to a high degree of randomness and a low success rate, the main reason for failure is the issue of magical power.
Even with Rozen's extraordinary skills, mastering the "Heroic Spirit Summoning," a large-scale ritual beyond human capability, enabling a direct connection to the records on the "Throne of Heroes," is not enough. As Scáthach mentioned, summoning a Servant requires an extraordinary amount of magical power. A regular magus cannot afford it.
The spiritual foundation constituting a Servant requires an immense amount of magical power.
The spiritual core constituting a Servant requires an immense amount of magical power.
Maintaining a Servant's manifestation requires magical power.
Maintaining a Servant's strength also requires magical power.
In the Holy Grail War, aside from maintaining the magical energy required for the Servant's manifestation and providing the magical energy needed for battle, the Holy Grail handles all other aspects of consumption.
Although the burden cannot be considered small, it is not too great.
If it were within Chaldea, all the magical energy consumption could be provided by Chaldea, and the Master's magical energy could be used to enhance the Servant's strength.
Therefore, anyone with the qualifications of a Master would initially be summoned to Chaldea, and even ordinary people could participate in the task of laying the foundation of humanity. This illustrates the situation.
But if Rozen performs the "Heroic Spirit Summoning" himself, he must provide all the required magical energy.
In this case, even if he can channel the vast source of magical energy, summoning a Servant is still not a simple task.
Now, Rozen needs to see himself as a system similar to the "Holy Grail," completing all the engineering and work required for the summoning.
Saying it is simple, but how could the actual completion be simple?
Moreover, Rozen is currently conducting not just an ordinary summoning ritual.
This is precisely why Scáthach couldn't help but reveal that joyful look.
"Are you performing the ritual of 'Spirit Descent Ritual · Heroic Spirit Summoning' instead of the usual 'Heroic Spirit Summoning'?"
Scáthach unexpectedly spoke these words.
"Do you know about the Spirit Descent Ritual?"
Rozen was first surprised, then couldn't help but be astonished.
There was no way.
This was something not even Chaldea knew before.
"Originally, 'Heroic Spirit Summoning' is a grand magic meant for the decisive battle to save the human world."
Scáthach revealed this secret.
"Life and death are the basic forms of existence for anthropoids, and sometimes the world faces great disasters that hinder its own development. Therefore, when the world encounters a crisis, a grand magic to subdue the great disaster hindering the development of the anthropoid world emerges."
Its origin can be traced back to the Age of Gods and even the dawn of the world.
Among the countless records in the Clock Tower, it is similarly noted that 'Heroic Spirit Summoning' is meant to summon those who protect the continuation of humanity and allow them to manifest.
Initially, only seven Heroic Spirits existed for confronting great disasters. They stood atop all Heroic Spirits as messengers of the heavens selected by the "Root."
"For the convenience of humanity, attempting to reach the vortex where the 'Root' is located, a ritual named the 'Holy Grail War' was developed. That ritual was merely a summoning system derived from downgrading this type of magic."
Scáthach spoke as if she could penetrate the past and future, revealing such a fact.
"Perhaps Chaldea's summoning system is also the same, derived from the true 'Heroic Spirit Summoning'?"
Indeed.
If the true 'Heroic Spirit Summoning' is the origin magic to deal with the enemies of the world, then the modern 'Heroic Spirit Summoning' is the product derived from downgrading it for various purposes.
This applies to the ritual of the Holy Grail War.
This applies to battles protecting human principles.
Therefore, whether it is the summoning system of the Holy Grail War or Chaldea, both have their flaws to a certain extent. Not to mention summoning the origin's Seven Servant, even summoning a regular Heroic Spirit has significant restrictions.
Rozen has known this from the past.
Because...
"You are using the true 'Heroic Spirit Summoning' technique, one of the greatest mysteries in this world."
Scáthach looked directly at Rozen, making this assertion.
"So your summoning has consistently failed. Aside from the fact that the ritual's scale is too immense, the fundamental reason is its difficulty, which is fundamentally different from the usual 'Heroic Spirit Summoning.'"
This is a significant factor contributing to Rozen's continuous summoning failures.
"With the body of a mere human, trying to accomplish such a feat is not an easy task."
Scáthach said so, but her words were filled with excitement.
"Although you have failed, you have truly mastered the technique. In you, I can see the possibility of success. It seems I may have underestimated your talent. Perhaps in the field of summoning, your innate ability is already close to the divine."
Faced with such natural talent, Scáthach could hardly contain herself.
"It makes me want to train you into something truly exceptional."
Scáthach's eyes gleamed as she observed Rozen.
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