Miracle Summoner

"This is…"

Standing at the broken entrance of the temple and gazing down the blood-scented corridor, Rozen's expression completely changed.

What lay before him was a corridor that reeked of blood, resembling the innards of a monster. All along the walls were objects resembling cocoons.

Each cocoon was just large enough to hold a human, and their surfaces were semi-transparent, allowing Rozen to see a portion of what was inside.

However, what was visible within them were shadow-like figures.

The shadows appeared to be struggling, howling, weeping, and wailing—constantly writhing and shifting in form.

Through the use of Spirit Vision powered by Wise Eye, Rozen could see that the spiritual energy emanating from those shadows was both familiar and strange.

At that moment, Rozen understood.

He understood what these things were.

He understood why, upon first arriving at this Singularity and entering the city, although he had seen bloodstains and ferocious magical beasts everywhere, there had not been a single trace of human remains—no limbs, no bones.

Because the victims weren't eaten.

They were taken.

Taken here.

"Senpai…"

Mash's voice trembled as it reached Rozen's ears.

"Those... those shadows... don't tell me...?"

Mash too seemed to realize something, her expression filled with disbelief.

Even the group at Chaldea sent back voices filled with horror.

"No way…"

"All of them are…?"

"...You've got to be kidding."

Olga Marie, Da Vinci, and Roman had all scanned the biological signatures within the cocoons and understood what they were looking at.

"I see now."

Altera's voice echoed, as cold as ever, but tinged with killing intent: "This temple is not only the residence of the Beast Goddess, it's also a factory for producing magical beasts."

That's exactly what it was.

The Beast Goddess's method of producing magical beasts was to capture primate lifeforms from this era and bring them here for transformation and processing—turning them completely into her children, her weapons. Then, they were released into the outside world to continue collecting more "materials" for further transformation and production, allowing magical beasts to be born endlessly.

This temple was the womb of magical beasts—the factory of a goddess.

"Are they... are they still alive? Are they being turned into monsters while still conscious, inside those cocoons?"

Mash's voice trembled with fury, fear, and an irrepressible grief.

Rozen's face also darkened, becoming expressionless and ice cold.

"Beast Goddess…"

Rozen uttered the title word by word, carrying an emotion no one else could understand.

Undeniably, at that very moment, Rozen felt a killing intent unlike anything he had ever felt before toward this goddess.

The same kind of killing intent he'd once felt in the Automaton World, when he saw the Orphanage of the Divine Works, where human children were used as test subjects by Bronson.

But this time, it was even stronger.

He restrained his emotions, took a few deep breaths, and then raised one hand.

Without anyone noticing, a stack of talismans had appeared in that hand.

The people at Chaldea were alarmed by the action.

"What are you doing?" Olga Marie's voice wavered with panic.

"Wait, Rozen, I understand how you feel, but if you act now, not only will you fail to save them, you'll also alert the Beast Goddess!"Da Vinci warned sternly.

"Their lifeforms have already been altered. Even if they're still alive, they're no longer human! You…!"Roman cried out urgently.

But all of their warnings were met with only one reply.

"Don't stop me."

Rozen's voice was devoid of emotion.

"I absolutely cannot watch this happen. I can't sit by and do nothing. Don't tell me you don't understand that."

That single sentence silenced everyone at Chaldea.

They were silent, their faces grim. No one could say a word in protest.

Especially Olga Marie—even though she had taken the form of an owl, her suffocating grief and helplessness were still apparent.

All three of them knew.

Just as Rozen had said—this was the one thing he could never turn a blind eye to, the one thing he could never tolerate.

Because once, he had been no different from the people inside those cocoons.

And so, without hesitation, Rozen threw out large handfuls of talismans. Each transformed into a streak of flowing light, darting through the air and sticking to every cocoon.

And still, Rozen did not stop. He kept throwing more and more talismans as though they cost nothing, unleashing a torrent of spells that flooded the temple corridors, attaching to every cocoon—including those out of sight, in the deeper parts of the temple.

This was a divine feat only Rozen could accomplish, with the combined powers of Heaven's Eye and Mind's Eye, allowing him to perceive all the cocoons' locations and the temple's complete layout.

Thus, every cocoon within the temple was marked by Rozen's talismans.

Once this was done, Rozen formed a hand seal.

"Order!"

With that low chant of activation, every talisman began to glow.

Boom!

An explosion erupted without warning.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Within the blood-stained temple, explosions rang out one after another, detonating all of the talismans.

Thanks to this, every cocoon was forcibly blown open.

From within, the shadowy figures spilled out like chicks hatching from eggs, falling to the ground.

"Ugh…"

"Ah…"

Soon, pained and delirious moans echoed from the floors of every corridor in the bloodstained temple.

Upon closer inspection, those who had emerged from the cocoons were in horrific states: some were covered in blisters, some had limbs transformed into beast-like forms, some had horns sprouting from their heads, others were entirely covered in fur. Some were even half-melted, twitching and writhing in agony on the ground.

The sight was unbearable—even the people at Chaldea turned pale.

Some of the victims, already nearly turned into magical beasts, let out beastly roars and leapt at Rozen in a frenzy.

Seeing this, Rozen took another deep breath and rolled up the sleeve on his right arm.

Clang!

Revealed on his arm was a glowing Magic Crest, labyrinthine and star-chart-like in pattern, radiating beautiful light yet so complex and mysterious that it could shatter a normal human's mind.

"Sleep."

Rozen whispered softly.

In that instant, a wave of invisible power rippled from Rozen's body.

—!!

All the half-human, half-beast figures touched by the wave froze in place—and then collapsed to the ground one by one.

Then something miraculous happened.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Those lying on the ground, caught in the wave, began to shine.

Within the light, their anguished cries faded.

Because their bodies were slowly returning to normal.

They were turning back—back into human form.