In the desolate and uninhabited outskirts, everything finally calmed down.
"Cough, cough...!"
Rozen lay on the ground, coughing. His face was pale, and his eyes showed signs of exhaustion, indicating he couldn't stand up.
"Akikan...!"
"Are... Are you okay...!?"
Natsume and Suzuka, only now realizing what had happened, quickly ran to Rozen's side. One helped him up, while the other inspected his body, eventually discovering something surprising.
"What kind of chaotic act did you do? Your spiritual energy is completely depleted, and there are signs of blood loss!" exclaimed Suzuka, an expert in research.
"Blood loss?" Natsume was alarmed, hurriedly asking Rozen, "Are you injured, Akikan!?"
Saying this, Natsume anxiously wanted to inspect Rozen's body but was stopped by Rozen.
"I'm fine," Rozen shook his head weakly, saying, "Although I have indeed lost a lot of blood, it's not from an injury, but rather the cost of using a secret technique. Don't worry."
This statement reminded Natsume and Suzuka of something.
They remembered Rozen with red wings on his back, eyes glowing red, and ten solid, frighteningly powerful threads extending from his fingertips.
That version of Rozen was no different from a deity.
"That was..."
"A secret technique...?"
Natsume and Suzuka exchanged glances.
Upon this, Rozen smiled slightly and nodded.
"[Crimson Wing Formation]—that was its name."
Rozen had finally completed the mystery of the Akabane Clan, the [Crimson Wing Formation], after decades of research, and successfully mastered it.
In fact, Rozen had almost completed the practice of the "Crimson Wing Formation" back in the world of Sword Art Online.
Because in the Automaton world, Rozen had already glimpsed a possibility of mastering the "Crimson Wing Formation".
To master the "Crimson Wing Formation" technique, the primary requirement is to possess the "Crimson Wing Blood", followed by the ability to perfectly control one's own magic power.
After all, this technique fundamentally involves amplifying magic power. If one cannot have precise control over their magic power, an instantaneous tenfold increase in magic power output, leading to a tenfold increase in force, would result in immediate loss of control over the body.
Given this, perfect control of one's magic power is crucial to truly master the "Crimson Wing Formation". Otherwise, even if one knows how to use the technique, they won't be able to utilize it.
Of course, if one doesn't possess the "Crimson Wing Blood", even aspiring to master it is unattainable.
Rozen was not a member of the Akabane Clan, making it impossible for him to learn the "Crimson Wing Formation" technique.
However, the reason the Akabane Clan could use this technique wasn't primarily due to their bloodline but their physical constitution.
In the Automaton world, when puppeteers manipulate puppets, they usually extend their palms towards the puppets, infusing magic power into the puppets' bodies.
That's because the palm is the part of the human body most receptive to magic power. Whether engraving magic runes or casting seals, one needs to use their hands. In the practice of magic, the hands are where magic power most commonly flows through, making them the most receptive to magic power in the human body.
However, in history, there were individuals who could achieve the same effect with their "fingers" as with their palms, meaning each finger was equivalent to a palm.
In this way, if each finger could release magic power at the same intensity as a palm, not only could one control ten puppets simultaneously, but if all ten magic powers were concentrated on a single puppet, it would result in ten times the magical power.
This is the principle of the "Crimson Wing Formation".
Though it's not just as simple as increasing the instantaneous power output of magic power to tenfold, it allows for more precise and delicate manipulation, similar to ten people controlling the same puppet together. This is the miraculous use of magic power that the Akabane clan is proud of and has passed down through generations.
Ordinary individuals cannot achieve this; only those with a special physical constitution can do so.
Therefore, the Akabane clan has been hailed since ancient times as a family with extraordinary abilities. The term "Crimson Wing Blood" fundamentally refers not to bloodline but to physical constitution.
In that case...
"If I change my physical constitution, will I be able to use the 'Crimson Wing Formation'?"
That was Rozen's initial thought.
An extremely imaginative idea.
The reason was simple.
"For a magus, abnormal feedback from the magic circuits to the body is quite common."
Like Rozen, where the magic circuits were too excellent and developed, resulting in a significant transformation of vitality into magic power, which led to naturally powerful magic power but an extremely weak physical constitution. This had been consistently mentioned as a manifestation in the past.
Given this, Rozen's attention turned to his own magic circuits.
"If there's any external factor affecting the magic circuits and thereby causing some influence on the body, altering my physical constitution, then I might be able to use the 'Crimson Wing Formation'."
This was an extremely dangerous and imaginative way of thinking.
Leaving aside whether this can be achieved or not, just the thought of interfering with the magic circuits and letting the magic circuits influence the body is utterly absurd.
Who knows if doing this might not confuse or break the magic circuits?
Who knows if doing this might not cause the body to collapse directly?
Who knows if the ultimate impact will be good or bad?
Who knows what terrifying consequences changing one's physical constitution might bring about?
Isn't this incredibly dangerous?
To achieve this, Rozen had to tread as cautiously as walking on a tightrope to find a method that wouldn't harm himself yet would effectively alter his constitution.
The challenges, difficulties, and obstacles involved in this were something one could fathom just by thinking about them.
Luckily, Rozen eventually succeeded.
Thanks to Rozen's complete analysis of the "Crimson Wing Blood", he obtained ample information, allowing him to know how to adjust the required constitution.
Thanks to Chaldea's summoning system, Rozen, through study, ultimately found a way to interfere with magic circuits.
"Command Seals."
Those were magical crystallizations directly connected to the magic circuits.
Back in the Automaton world, Rozen was inspired by his own Command Seals, which sparked the idea of using Command Seals to interfere with magic circuits.
"As long as I engrave Command Seals that can connect to the magic circuits and then adjust the formula of the Command Seals, the magic circuits will definitely be interfered with, ultimately affecting the constitution, achieving the purpose I desire."
That was why Command Seals would appear on Rozen's left hand.
Through meticulous research of Chaldea's summoning system, Rozen ultimately mastered the technique of engraving Command Seals with his own power. Though it required a significant amount of magic power and was extremely perilous and daunting, Rozen ultimately succeeded.
As for the issue of perfectly manipulating magic power, that was solved long ago when Rozen acquired "Mind's Eye".
Thus, Rozen smoothly grasped the secret technique of the "Crimson Wing Formation" and acquired this long-envisioned magic power amplification technique.