"Did something good happen, Miss Firefly?"
Sella, sitting in the living room, watched Xia Yu walk through the door. Holding her teacup of black tea with both hands, she asked with a smile, "You seem to be in a very good mood."
"You could say that," Xia Yu walked in and sat opposite her as Sella slowly rose to pour more tea.
"It's three-thirty in the morning. What kind of 'good thing' happens at this hour?" Sella pushed the teacup toward Xia Yu. "Don't tell me you've already taken out a competitor?"
"Not quite," Xia Yu shook her head, picked up the cup, and took a gentle sip. "Sella, your skills are truly impressive."
"Thank you for the compliment," Sella gave a reserved smile. "Miss Illya loves the tea I brew most of all."
"Speaking of Illya... what do you think she's actually planning?" At this, Xia Yu rested her chin on her hand, her other hand lightly tapping the teacup. "Honestly, with my strength, ending the Holy Grail War overnight would be easy."
"Please, you must not do that," Sella lowered her head, pleading. "We still have plenty of time... If it ends too quickly... don't you think it would be too boring?"
"Interesting. As a member of the Einzbern family, shouldn't you be the one who wants to end the war fastest and hold up that Heaven's Feel?" Xia Yu looked at her with interest. "Why suggest I delay?"
"...Why ask when you already know the answer?" Sella smiled helplessly. "Actually, you know everything, don't you? Acht didn't die in vain; it just so happens that your compatibility with Miss Illya is the best."
"As a fellow Homunculus, would a great figure like you also feel pity for us?"
"A great figure? You're overthinking it," Xia Yu shook her head with a laugh. "The Firefly of the past—no, AR-26710—was just an ordinary member of the Iron Cavalry of Glamoth, a force vast enough to blot out the sky."
"Among those countless warriors, she was actually quite nameless."
"Is that the Interstellar Era?" Sella let out a sigh of admiration. "An Empire that actually possessed so many warriors like you simultaneously."
"Don't look down on Glamoth," Xia Yu sighed. "It was an Empire sitting on tens of thousands of light-years of territory. Oh, do you understand the concept of a light-year?"
"The distance light travels in a single year," Sella's eyes were filled with shock. She had tried her best to imagine how developed Glamoth was, but measuring territory in units of light-years... it exceeded her wildest imagination.
"A Magus Family isn't necessarily ignorant of modern knowledge, it's just... tens of thousands of light-years. Did they rule the entire Milky Way?"
"Pretty much," Xia Yu nodded.
"Such a powerful Empire... but how was it destroyed? You said you are the last of the Iron Cavalry of Glamoth, right?" Sella couldn't fathom it. "Was it lost to external enemies, a Catastrophe, or a man-made disaster?"
"It was both an external enemy and a catastrophe," Xia Yu replied. "We encountered The Swarm."
"The Swarm? Insects?" Sella was puzzled. "Just insects..."
"They were insects capable of igniting a Swarm Disaster, Sella. Beyond this planet, things are very exciting," Xia Yu shook her head. "At the peak of the disaster, boundless insects swept through almost every corner of the universe."
"Can you imagine such a scene? The Swarm known as Propagation swept over everything like an invisible, colossal wave. Under their influence, every planet touched by The Swarm faced a crisis of survival."
"The word 'Propagation' isn't just for show."
"Does it mean the insects were endless? Killing batch after batch?" Sella asked curiously.
"Imagine this: on a planet set upon by the Propagation Swarm, every concept related to 'reproduction' is contaminated," Xia Yu said softly. "The rice seeds a farmer plants no longer grow into seedlings, but into insects."
"Regardless of whether animals are oviparous or viviparous, what eventually crawls out is an insect. A woman carries a child for ten months, and what she gives birth to is also an insect. Even on a factory assembly line, items made of various metals and industrial materials eventually become insects."
"Generally speaking, once a planet is infected by The Swarm, the only solution is to completely disintegrate it, turning it into worthless space junk."
"...Is that the Interstellar Era?!" Sella was profoundly shaken.
"Even the disasters are so... terrifying. Is there really no other way?"
It wasn't just her. Xia Yu felt someone beside her quietly squeeze her hand. Based on the grip, that person's heart wasn't very peaceful either.
"There is. Kill their god," Xia Yu nodded. "As long as the Aeon of Propagation is killed, the strength of The Swarm will be drastically weakened."
"So the Glamoth Empire exhausted its strength to kill the god of the insects?" Sella asked.
"Glamoth? No, you overestimate us," Xia Yu shook her head. "When Glamoth was at its peak, the Swarm Disaster had already passed for who knows how many years."
"What we encountered wasn't the main Swarm led by the Aeon of Propagation; it was just a small stray branch of the Swarm left over from that ancient disaster."
"During the Swarm Disaster, Swarms of that scale were everywhere in the universe."
"...How terrifying," Sella patted her chest and spoke again. "As expected of the Interstellar Era."
"The feeling is mutual," Xia Yu thought of something and a smile touched her lips. "On Earth, Humans have pulled off some pretty wild stunts too."
Things like ensuring the continuation of Human Civilization at the cost of the surrounding universe... that kind of ruthless move would be seen as terrifying by other civilizations in this universe.
"We haven't even been able to step off this planet yet," Sella didn't know what she was referring to.
"So, do you have anything you want to say to me?" Xia Yu looked at her and suddenly asked, "For instance... a request or something."
"...You clearly know everything, don't you?" Sella lowered her head. "Only someone as simple as Miss Illya would believe otherwise; your understanding of this Holy Grail War is anything but ordinary."
"What do I want to say... come to think of it, there's nothing I really should say," Sella gave a bitter smile.
As someone who had watched Illya grow up, she couldn't bear the thought of Illya completing her mission at the cost of her own life.
But... she was also a Homunculus of the Einzbern family. Completing The Third Magic was an obsession engraved into her very bones.
"Well, then let's leave it at that. I'm going to rest," Xia Yu nodded and drained her tea. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Miss Firefly," Sella bowed.
Master, Medea's voice rang in Xia Yu's ear, you really have many secrets, don't you?
Otherwise, how could I be your Master? Xia Yu didn't mind.
Yes, she had brought Medea back in the end. Seeing her pitiful state, Xia Yu didn't have the heart to let her find a place to stay on her own.
In any case, she could just follow her in Spiritualization; it was safe and secure.
An Empire of the Interstellar Era, Medea sounded very excited. Do you truly come from such a distant future?
Actually, even I'm not sure, Xia Yu said, opening the bedroom door. This era always feels a bit strange.
You are also a Homunculus; can you let me research the technology within you? Medea was clearly dazed by this unexpected windfall.
"Don't even think about it," Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her and pulled back the covers. "The technology of the Iron Cavalry isn't exactly a good thing. And not every member of the Iron Cavalry has this kind of strength."
"As the Empress of Glamoth, the last ember of that glorious Empire, I think it's better if this technology disappears completely."
"Oh?" Medea manifested her form and lay down beside Xia Yu, curiously propping her head up with her hand as she looked at her. "Empress? So you just lied to that Homunculus? Master, you clearly said you were just an ordinary soldier."
"During the war, I truly was just an ordinary soldier," Xia Yu shook her head. "But after the war ended, I was the only one left in the entire 'Empire.' Naturally, I became the 'Empress.'"
"Then Master, do you have a wish for the Holy Grail?" Medea tilted her head and asked. "Since you've manifested in the form of a Servant, you must have a wish you want to fulfill, right?"
"If you're talking about something I need, there actually is something," Xia Yu thought seriously. "The Third Magic: Materialization of the Soul."
To resolve Firefly's Entropy Loss.
This was a method used by the Republic of Glamoth to control the Iron Cavalry homunculi.
The patient's body parts exhibit a space-time disorder with different flows of time, while the sensory system suffers a cognitive split—a 'left eye sees an apple / right eye sees the Swarm' kind of dissociation.
The process of physical structural dissociation is irreversible, manifesting as a retention of motor functions but a continuous fading of their traces, eventually leading to a mutual forgetting of their existence by both the self and the outside world.
Firefly suffered from Entropy Loss, to the point where being able to leave Sam freely could only be achieved in a dream.
So Xia Yu figured that since The Third Magic is the Materialization of the Soul—simply put, making the soul truly immortal and then, based on the massive energy provided by an immortal soul, perfectly optimizing a physical body to match that soul—it would ultimately achieve true agelessness and immortality.
Yes, true immortality was the goal of The Third Magic; the nearly infinite Magical Energy gained from the soul's immortalization was just a byproduct.
Perhaps this Third Magic could provide an alternative path to cure Entropy Loss. If so, if she ever went to the Star Rail universe in the future, wouldn't she be able to give her dear Firefly a buff?
"The Third Magic," Medea sighed. "That is indeed... a grand enough goal."
"But since I am here, I will certainly do my utmost to seize the Holy Grail for you. Combining the power of two Servants, we have a very good chance. It just depends on whether you dare to trust me, the Witch of Betrayal, Master."
"While I do trust you," Xia Yu sighed, "the problem is that something has gone wrong with the Holy Grail... heaven knows if it can even still function."
"Hmm? Something is wrong with the Holy Grail?" Medea tilted her head in confusion.
"During the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family foolishly summoned the Zoroastrian Evil God, Angra Mainyu, hoping to crush the battlefield."
"However, things didn't go as planned. The Angra Mainyu they summoned was just an ordinary young man with extremely weak power. On the fourth day, Angra Mainyu was defeated, and the Greater Grail was contaminated by the soul of All the World's Evil that Angra Mainyu represented."
Xia Yu spread her hands. "Now that Holy Grail is filled with the Black Mud representing evil. I'm afraid it'll be difficult to rely on it to grant a wish."
"That is truly..." Medea didn't know what to say.
"We'll take it one step at a time. It's not like I absolutely must have The Third Magic," Xia Yu was optimistic. "Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
"Even so, we should plan early," Medea said ambitiously. "We have two Servants now, and I have ways to summon more Servants outside the rules. As long as we occupy three seats, the probability of winning the Holy Grail War is very high."
"Only 'very high'?" Xia Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Master, don't you know?" Medea frowned. "Is the Einzbern's intelligence really this lacking? A month ago, a terrifying battle broke out outside Fuyuki. It's suspected that two Servants clashed by unleashing their Noble Phantasms. The secular government eventually categorized it as a meteorite disaster, but people like us can tell what it was at a glance."
"Even I saw the intelligence while I was with that fool. You actually didn't know? The strength of those two Servants is absolutely extraordinary. Judging by their Noble Phantasms alone, each is a top-tier figure among Servants. But after that battle, both disappeared without a trace."
Medea spoke as if facing a great enemy. "If we want to win the Holy Grail War, they are our greatest opponents!"
"Actually, one of them was me," Xia Yu scratched her cheek. "The one who used fire."
"Wait? It was you?" Medea turned to her, her face written with disbelief.
"Why so surprised? Do I really look that much not like a warrior?" Xia Yu tilted her head.
"But... sorry, what about the other one?" Medea still found it a bit hard to accept, mostly because the surprise had come too suddenly.
"The other was Gilgamesh. I've already sent him back to the Throne of Heroes. However, he wasn't a Servant of this war; he was left over from the previous one," Xia Yu explained.
"So we haven't actually lost a competitor," Medea calculated quickly. "If you possess such powerful combat strength, plus my Magecraft and the Servant summoned outside the rules... wouldn't we be naturally invincible?"
"If it weren't for wanting to play around for a few more days," Xia Yu nodded, "I could end the Holy Grail War tonight."
She mainly wanted to find a way to see if she could clean out the Black Mud inside the Holy Grail.
"Since you are so powerful, I cannot fall behind," Medea narrowed her eyes. "I'm going out right now to find a place to summon a Servant!"
"We must occupy three seats!"
After saying that, she spiritualized and left.