Miracle Summoner

Over the following hour, Rozen recounted the process of forming his contract with Altera, as well as his experiences across the various Singularities.

Although he only briefly mentioned some parts, when it came to crucial and key events, Rozen spared no detail and explained them thoroughly to Ishtar.

This was also because Ishtar had been listening to Rozen's story with a particularly serious expression the entire time—one could clearly tell that this goddess was genuinely interested in these matters.

Thus, after gaining a rough understanding of what Rozen had gone through all this time, Ishtar finally nodded in comprehension.

"I see. It really hasn't been easy."

That was the sentiment she expressed.

Perhaps this would be the most genuine reaction from anyone who heard these epic tales.

"In order to reclaim the future of human history, even though you were just a magus not yet fully independent, you were forced to journey through eras turned into magical wastelands—fighting alongside and against countless heroes, legendary figures, and even divine descendants. You staked entire ages, your dignity, and your beliefs, and made it all the way here to the Seventh Singularity. Just imagining it, one can tell how difficult it must have been."

Ishtar's tone was unexpectedly gentle.

Rozen, still gazing at her, gave a faint smile.

"You could say all of it was fate," Rozen said calmly.

"From the very beginning, we Masters of Chaldea were gathered through various means for the sake of protecting Human Order. So, to come this far, to go through these battles—it's not so hard to imagine."

This was Rozen's truest sentiment.

From the start, Rozen had understood the reason he was in Chaldea, and so he never once felt resentment or unwillingness in the face of the crisis of Human Order Incineration.

To Rozen, battle and war had long since become commonplace.

Others might think that surviving six Singularities and reaching the seventh was an incredible feat, but in other worlds, Rozen had experienced conflicts and wars even more brutal and perilous than those within the Singularities.

So, he had long since grown used to it.

"This time is no different," Rozen said. "The enemy is a goddess—no, three goddesses in total. To others, it might seem like a hopeless situation. But I've defeated gods before."

This statement made Ishtar fall silent for quite some time.

Because of Rozen's earlier explanations, Ishtar now knew that he had once battled a goddess head-on.

"You mean the goddess of the Sixth Singularity," Ishtar murmured to herself,

"Rhongomyniad, the Lord of the End, transformed from divine authority through the Tower at the End of the World... A goddess with such divinity and power appearing in a post-Common Era age—astonishing. And you actually managed to defeat her."

Given the divine nature of Rhongomyniad, even within the Mesopotamian pantheon, she would be considered extraordinary.

After all, she was a god incarnated from the Holy Lance that held the world's surface in place—the goddess of storms at the edge of the world. Her divine stature was no less than Ishtar's, perhaps even greater.

A goddess of such caliber appearing in the Sixth Singularity was essentially cheating.

However...

"If we're talking about cheating, you lot aren't much better," Rozen gave Ishtar a deep look and said, "Even if this is the end of the Age of Gods, the gods had already departed from the Earth and ascended to higher dimensions. For three goddesses to manifest in the mortal realm under those conditions—it's truly unreasonable."

This point had been raised previously.

Even if this was the twilight of the Age of Gods, an era where anything could happen, Rozen had already prepared himself mentally to encounter divine beings here. Still, when he actually met them, it was hard not to feel a certain way.

Ishtar clearly understood his sentiment. After a moment of contemplation, she finally spoke.

"Actually, the reason us three goddesses were able to manifest in this era... was due to some special methods."

Ishtar admitted it candidly.

"Special methods?"

Rozen raised an eyebrow.

"That's right." Ishtar nodded and gave a faint smile.

"You're smart. You can probably guess a little, right?"

"More or less," Rozen didn't deny it.

"A god manifesting naturally would be unthinkable even in this age. But if it was due to artificial means or under unique circumstances, then it's not so surprising."

Just like how the Heroic Spirit Summoning—a form of final magical combat for humanity—was a miracle virtually impossible to achieve in the modern era, and even its degraded form, the Holy Grail War, or the Fate system, could only summon Servants under extreme conditions.

Yet in this era, where mystery had not yet faded, Gilgamesh could still barely realize such a summoning.

If someone had intentionally conducted a divine descent ritual, it wouldn't be strange for gods to manifest in this time.

"I was summoned in just such a way," Ishtar said with a charming smile.

"When the army of demonic beasts occupied Mesopotamia and humanity was in crisis, the Head Priestess of Uruk used the city's resources in secret, without the King's knowledge, and gathered the full strength of the temple to summon me, the Urban Goddess of Uruk."

According to Ishtar, because the thin thread still barely connecting the Age of Gods had finally snapped and the path between heaven and earth had been severed, plus the limited power they had, in order to successfully summon an urban deity, the Head Priestess of Uruk used an unusual divine descent ritual.

Since Uruk had become a Singularity, it had been removed from the normal timeline of human history—time and space, even the era itself, had become unstable.

So, the priestess first summoned a girl from a distant age who shared an extremely high affinity with the goddess Ishtar, and then allowed the goddess's Spirit Origin to descend into that girl's body—thereby forcibly completing the summoning.

"The shield-bearing Servant beside you," Ishtar continued, "She also had a Heroic Spirit summoned into her body and merged with it, becoming a Pseudo-Servant who gained the power of a Servant, right? This is the same principle. The Head Priestess of Uruk summoned the goddess into the body of the original owner of this form and merged them. The only difference is, unlike a pseudo-servant where the host's personality dominates, here the summoned goddess takes the lead. If you think of me as a Pseudo-Servant, it should make sense."

——Pseudo-Servant.

A being possessed by a Heroic Spirit, gaining their power and becoming a Servant—that is what a pseudo-servant is.

Ishtar was a goddess summoned to this land via the pseudo-servant method.

"The other two goddesses also had similarly unusual circumstances."

Ishtar explained very earnestly.

"For example, the Goddess of the Jungle—she originates from South American mythology. Given the unique nature of South American mythos, it's not impossible for her to fully manifest on Earth."