Returning to Fuyuki City once again felt like a lifetime had passed. I looked at Tokiomi Tohsaka's residence; it now belonged to the Genji Clan. I also visited the place where I had fought Mapo and Gilgamesh. It had been rebuilt, filled with memories.
I came to the Genji Clan branch in Fuyuki City and asked about the condition of the Ley Lines. After checking on the Greater Grail and estimating the earliest possible time for the next Holy Grail War to begin, I set off for the Einzbern Household.
Arriving at Einzbern Castle, I said to the Homunculus at the entrance, "The Genji Clan is here to visit the Einzbern Household. Please announce us."
Before long, the gates opened, and a more advanced-looking Homunculus came out and said to me, "Please come in."
Without another word, I followed him. As we drew closer and closer to the center, we finally reached the heart of the castle and met Jubstacheit von Einzbern.
Jubstacheit von Einzbern, the eighth head of the Einzbern Household, "Acht."
Since inheriting the position of eighth family head, Jubstacheit von Einzbern had been commonly known as "Acht."
By continuously extending his life, he had lived for nearly two centuries. He led the Einzbern Household after its pursuit of the Holy Grail had shifted into the Holy Grail War.
Jubstacheit was an artificial intelligence created by the disciples of the Third Magician to control the castle's core. His full name was Automaton Jubstacheit.
He was also the father of every Homunculus created by Einzbern. "Acht" was the eighth humanoid terminal produced by "Jubstacheit."
His personality no longer existed. At most, as an existence that "operated the castle" and "reproduced the Third Magic," he implanted the necessary "humanity" into each generation of humanoid terminals, making them imitate human speech and behavior.
Jubstacheit's essence was an automaton that could continue operating forever at the cost of being unable to advance. His mode of existence resembled an ancient clock that recorded time every moment, yet had vanished from people's memories long before it collapsed.
In short, "Jubstacheit" was the workshop's central control program. "Acht" was its terminal.
I remembered his ending. After even Illya, the Homunculus representing the pinnacle of all Einzbern technology, failed, Jubstacheit would abandon the Greater Grail, shut off his own power, and meet his end.
"Chief of the Genji Clan, I am Jubstacheit von Einzbern. You may call me Hyde. May I ask what brings you here?"
I said, "Then I'll gladly accept, Mr. Hyde. The Holy Grail War has been held four times. Do you know why it has never succeeded?"
Hyde said, "It has merely been poor timing. The next time, Einzbern will certainly win."
I smiled. "May I ask what the Einzbern Household wishes for if it obtains the Holy Grail? To reproduce the Third Magic?"
The Einzbern Household's long-cherished wish was to reproduce the Third Magic. On the eve of the Common Era, the last user of the Third Magic left this world, and the Third Magic was lost as a result.
The Einzbern workshop had been built by the disciples of the Third Magician and had endured since the first year of the Common Era.
The Third Magic was "Materialization of the Soul," "turning the soul into a perpetual-motion engine." This meant gaining an endless source of magical energy and achieving true immortality.
A Magician could accomplish the Third Magic, but the Magician's disciples could not. As an alternative, they planned to create an individual identical to their master and have that individual reproduce the Third Magic.
About a thousand years later, the Homunculus Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern was created and successfully reproduced the Third Magic. She possessed abilities almost equal to those of that Magician from long ago.
Justeaze herself would not age, but her body was frail, so she could not leave Einzbern Castle—the Winter Castle.
Although Justeaze had proven the Third Magic, the magi could not rejoice.
Because Justeaze had been born by chance, the magi believed her birth had nothing to do with their techniques or efforts.
Although Justeaze had successfully reproduced the Third Magic, her Third Magic was severely limited: "a Magic limited to one use and one generation."
Using the Third Magic to save even a single human took many years, let alone achieving "the salvation of all humanity."
Unwilling to accept the status quo, the magi continued their experiments, hoping to use their own system of techniques to create a Homunculus surpassing Justeaze. In the end, however, they still had to yield to "the limits of their own talent."
They also accepted that "even if humanity can create something surpassing humanity, it cannot create something that saves humanity."
In the end, Einzbern, Zouken Matou (Matou Zouken), and Tohsaka Nagato established the ritual of the Holy Grail War under the witness of Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the Zelretch.
Before Hyde could speak, I said, "Give it up. Do you know why Kiritsugu Emiya abandoned the Holy Grail?"
Because the Avenger you summoned during the Third Holy Grail War corrupted the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail was no longer something that saved humanity, but something that would exterminate humanity.
To protect his ideals and humanity, Kiritsugu Emiya ultimately destroyed the Holy Grail. Do you understand?
Hyde said, "Impossible. Absolutely impossible. We are the inheritors of the Third Magic. We exist to complete humanity's salvation."
Hyde seemed close to breaking down because of my words. He could not break down yet.
I shouted, "You are now trampling upon the wishes and ideals of your predecessors! You need to atone for your sins. Help me destroy the Holy Grail!"
I had examined the Greater Grail. In one year, it would have enough magical energy to begin the Holy Grail War once more. Let us bring this illusory wish to an end.
Hearing my words, Hyde said, "If it truly is a sin, then we should bear responsibility and atone. But I cannot fully believe your words. I will arrange for someone to verify the truth."
"If things are truly as you say, I will help you destroy the Holy Grail. But if you have deceived us, Einzbern will not let you go."
"Please rest assured. Then make your preparations. In one year, I will begin the Holy Grail War once again."