Dimly, Sophia knew Murphy was about to reveal a terrible truth. She bit her lip instinctively, but did not stop him from continuing.
"I've already seen that future," Murphy said.
"After hearing me explain the whole chain of cause and effect, you chose to become the Holy Grail's guardian, and an observer of the timeline. Your soul and your existence will be bound to the Holy Grail's authority, becoming an anchor that fixes the timeline to that victorious future."
"For more than a thousand years, you will guard humanity's frontier alone on the far side of the moon, fighting the gods and suppressing them, keeping them from breaking out of the Holy Grail and protecting humanity from their influence."
"Ever since I successfully forged the Ring of the Nibelung, only two people have been capable of doing this: you and me."
"On the one hand, as the Holy Grail's control nexus, the Ring of the Nibelung has always been under my control. But because its immense power was born from an epic love story, as the token of love between the hero Siegfried and the Valkyrie Brunhild, you also inherently possess control over it."
"Only you and I can control the Holy Grail and suppress the gods' counterattack."
"On the other hand, we are also the only two time travelers to have crossed these thousand-odd years. Only you and I can act as observers of time and ensure that the future follows the course we know."
Sophia still struggled to understand. "But are you sure the future we know is the best possible future?"
"Magic still exists. Those thousand-odd years merely suppressed the gods without destroying them. Why didn't you simply erase magic from existence, instead of leaving the loophole of wizards?"
"Isn't that precisely what led to the gods'