Apart from our tussle with the priesthood, our exploration of the capital is relatively uneventful. Alright, it’s almost time for my praetors to return to the flux rift we arrived through. Are you all ready to leave?" Nobody has any qualms with departing. Besides, if we stay any longer, the church will definitely send more priests and soldiers after us.

After we’re a good distance away from the city, I concentrate and open a flux rift in front of me. Maria and Jack step back in shock, but calm down once they see the others walk through without a second thought.

We wait by the origin rift for about an hour before I see my praetors returning from all directions. I also see a few new faces with them. Some are humanoid, and others are animals. "Good work," I say to them all. Victor walks up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Sir, we were able to bring these folk back, but… some of them didn’t make it back here." He says. I sigh, but now is not the time for melancholy.

"They are on God’s intended path now. Gather the misplaced souls in front of me. I want to talk to them." Victor and the praetors dig about a dozen animals and humanoids in front of me. "I don’t know most of you, and none of you know me. I am the Thaumaturge. I have come to take you from this world, if you desire it, and back to your homes. Alternatively, you could stay with me and help me reach Heaven." I take some time to explain to them how the universe works and the cosmic hierarchy.

Most of them look at each other in silence. After a moment, a young boy stands up and says, "I haven’t been here long, but I’d like to help you in any way I can. There’s nothing for me here and nothing for me back home." They all seem to share the same sentiment.

"I see. Those of you who wish to be freed of the Voice of God’s plan, follow me through this rift and to my base of operations. There we will outfit you for our missions." I reopen the origin rift and walk through. I am followed by Ican, Jack, Julius, Winter, and Maria, as well as all my praetors and almost all of the new recruits.

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Leviticus and Victor handle the newcomers as I retreat to my study with Winter.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Open your chest cavity. Let’s see how our dragon friend is doing." His eyes flash and he opens his chest up with his metallic hands. The brain is still alive; good. I hook it up to the device I originally created for Winter’s brain.

"Ouch… hey, I heard that! I can see again! Where am I?" Says the dragon’s brain.

"Welcome to my study. I’ll be researching you quite closely for a while."

After a few hours of chemical and psychological experiments, I have discovered that dragons are quite proud and think themselves above even gods. I also learned their brains are much more durable than the normal human brain. Finally, their media signature far surpasses the might of even the strongest-willed mortals.

Having enough of research for the day, I decide to start on Maria’s transmutation. The new animal recruits we’ve brought in won’t be so easy. I’ll have to repeat the process I did for Julius. I have Winter bring Maria in.

When she enters, she immediately kneels on the ground to me. I am a bit taken aback, as nobody besides the crimson cultists have done anything remotely similar. "Thank you so much," she says. "You’re giving me a chance to go back to my old life… I can never repay you…" She begins to tear up.

"No need for all that," I say. "Let us begin."

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Maria stands in front of me. I take a few tissue samples from her scales and mouth to study. Let’s see. Her flesh is a mixture of Bestia (Beast), Humanus (Human), and Praemunio (Protection) Essentia. If I convert the Bestia and Praemunio to Humanus with Permutatio (Change), it should cause a painless physical transformation back into a human form.

After a bit of tinkering, I manage to recreate my transmutation device that I gave away during my first excursion. I place it on my hand and press it against Maria. Slowly, she begins to change. Her scales turn into white flesh and her extended muzzle morphs into a flat face. After three minutes, she is fully human. She touches her face and feels her body in amazement.

"Thank you… so much! It’s just like my old body!" She cries in joy.

"Of course. Now take this mirror and picture your house. I can’t warp you there without a clear image in my mind." I hand her my scrying mirror and she closes her eyes in focus. A faint, wavy image of her home appears. "Are you ready?" She nods. "I wish you the best of luck. It will be hard if everyone thinks you’re dead already, so I hope you’ve come up with a good explanation." She nods. I open the flux riff for her. She looks back at me, smiles, and walks through.

Through the image she left on the mirror, I can see she’s appeared in her house. A man who I assume is her son walks into view and, after a moment of shock, they embrace. I would say that whole mission was worth it just for this.