Marvel's master of cosmic magic-Chapter 608
The next day, Rowan did not follow Shirou.
Instead, he buried himself in books.
Stack after stack of grimoires vanished into his memory as he read at inhuman speed. By midday, he possessed a surprisingly complete picture of this world’s magical structure and the so-called Holy Grail War.
This world was not inhabited by humans alone.
There were vampires. Phantasmal species. Artificial lifeforms created through ancient alchemy.
Vampires were rare.
Most phantasmal beings had retreated to the "Reverse Side of the World," a hidden layer separated from human civilization.
Homunculi, meanwhile, were artificial humans crafted by mage lineages long ago.
Despite the variety, modern society was dominated by humans and human magi.
Magi themselves were divided into two categories.
Those who practiced magecraft.
And those called true Magicians.
Magecraft referred to techniques that, in principle, could be reproduced through sufficiently advanced science.
Magic referred to phenomena that science could never replicate.
In ancient times, nearly all practitioners were considered Magicians. As technology advanced, most fell into the lesser category of magecraft users. True Magicians had become almost mythical.
Regardless of title, all magi required one fundamental trait.
Magic Circuits.
Biological structures that converted life force into mana.
Without circuits, a person could never cast spells.
Elemental alignment in this world followed a different classification than most Rowan had encountered.
Earth. Water. Fire. Wind. Ether. Void. Nothingness.
Different names. Similar functions.
What fascinated Rowan was the concept of Attributes.
Instead of merely manipulating elements, magi imprinted conceptual properties onto their spells.
Enhancement applied to fire increased combustion.
Enhancement applied to water multiplied volume and acceleration.
According to the texts, truly powerful Magicians did not fight with raw force.
They fought with concepts.
No wonder the libraries lacked city-destroying spells.
They were not chasing destruction.
They were chasing understanding.
Rowan approved.
The origins of the Holy Grail War traced back to the Age of Gods.
An era when divine beings still ruled the world as manifestations of natural laws.
How the gods vanished was unclear.
What followed was humanity’s obsession with reaching the Root.
The Root was described as the ultimate origin of all existence.
Reaching it supposedly granted immortality, absolute knowledge of reality, and the authority to create worlds.
Countless methods were attempted.
The Holy Grail War was one of them.
Three great mage families created the system.
The Tohsaka family provided the land.
The Matou family developed the Servant summoning framework.
The Einzbern family constructed the Grail itself.
Together, they became known as the Three Founding Families.
Time, however, had eroded them.
The Tohsaka line was represented by a single high school girl.
The Matou family consisted of an inhuman patriarch, a talentless grandson, and a girl who did not truly belong.
Sakura Matou, Rowan learned, had originally been born a Tohsaka.
The Einzbern family was stranger still.
Centuries ago, alchemists serving the Third Magician accidentally created an artificial being of unparalleled purity.
Justina.
The "Maiden of Winter." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Unable to reproduce such perfection, they eventually sacrificed her.
Her body became the core magical engine known as the Greater Grail.
Powered by ley lines, the Greater Grail allowed the Matou summoning system to reach the Throne of Heroes.
Seven Masters were chosen.
Seven Servants summoned.
Saber. Lancer. Archer. Rider. Caster. Assassin. Berserker.
The Masters fought until only one remained.
The victor obtained the Lesser Grail and a wish.
Records showed an inconvenient truth.
The first four Grail Wars had all failed.
The fifth was underway.
Rowan closed the final book.
"So the promise of omnipotence is still theoretical," he muttered.
Disappointing.
But not meaningless.
The ritual itself was extraordinary.
If it truly connected to something resembling this world’s Root, then studying or hijacking the process could yield tremendous insight.
Even a partial success could allow Rowan to fully complete his own inner world.
Reaching that threshold would push him into an entirely new tier of existence.
And if nothing came of it?
He lost nothing.
After all, in a godless era like this...
Rowan saw nothing capable of truly threatening him.
Even a summoned god would simply become another experiment.
