Mooncell… could actually speak?
This was something Avia had not anticipated. In his memory, this spiritual photon crystal was never supposed to have a consciousness of its own—by design, it was something that must never develop self-awareness.
Still, his surprise quickly faded into calm. Perhaps this was nothing more than a mechanized prompt. After all, the MC was a construct of hyper-advanced technology.
"Was it you who summoned me here?"
Avia stood atop one of the tilted stone pillars, a faint smile of interest flickering across his face. He did not immediately answer Mooncell's question.
"You came into contact on the surface with the residual data of the Astral Vanguard, Wilpa-02's fragment. Its erosion within Serial Phantasm diminished as a result, and thus, it chose to guide you here."
Serial Phantasm—abbreviated and more commonly known as SE.RA.PH—was a pseudo-spiritual world constructed within the lunar spiritron crystal. It functioned as a city-sized operating engine encircling the Moon, designed for the management and operation of the Mooncell itself, its terminals scattered throughout its crystalline body.
In ages past, the starship bearing the Astral Vanguard Cephalus pierced into the Moon's far side, invading the interior of the Mooncell. Once it reached a state that could not be physically expunged, it established contact with the Mooncell's photon network, corrupting it as an information-based entity and claiming dominion within SE.RA.PH.
At the same time, Cephalus' true body rampaged within the Moon, while dispatching avatars down to the Earth's surface. Being a pseudo-spiritron lifeform from its inception, Cephalus existed only as data—recognized as a "lifeform" only on record.
Thus, to human eyes, Cephalus was nothing but information. For it to act on Earth required the manifestation of a vessel—an embodied form.
And so, exploiting the Mooncell's functions, Cephalus produced avatars and manifested them upon Earth.
It was much like using the Mooncell as a colossal 3D printer—printing "Earth-born avatars" out of "Moon-born Cephalus data."
Before the wielder of the holy sword annihilated the fragment of the Giant on Earth, the Mooncell had already suffered devastating defeat at the hands of the astral starship. Its systems were deeply scarred and corrupted. Yet fortune turned: the fragment on Earth was destroyed, which left the true Cephalus—synchronized with its avatar—immobilized for several precious moments.
In those moments, the Mooncell created an internal quarantine zone, sealing the Astral Vanguard within an "Unknown Domain," isolating its body as if hollowing out part of itself.
"I see… so that's how it is."
Avia was hardly shocked. He already knew: the Giant Cephalus, though confined within the Unknown Domain, had spent countless years staring into its own memories of the Earth's surface—memories of the time it annihilated the gods, memories of when it was Attila.
"Mooncell. Then, I ask this of you—lend me your aid. With your seal, help me prevent the descent of those from beyond the stars."
This was one of Avia's aims. Ever since learning from the Old Man of the Jewels that Famine was backed by "planetary reinforcement," he feared the inevitable. In the final battle, the one hidden behind the curtain—Beelzebub, who had bargained with the Outer Gods—might exploit this loophole, piercing the planet's defenses and granting the alien deity passage.
"Assistance permissible. But—current priority is full suppression of Astral Vanguard Wilpa-02. To prevent its emergence, and detection by the Astrals, my functions cannot be divided."
After the Giant's defeat, the Mooncell cast an immense interference across the galaxy, ensuring the Astrals would not notice this solar system. But if its functions were to falter, or if the Giant escaped its seal, then the Astrals would inevitably rediscover it.
"Well… in truth, that's exactly why I came here."
Avia's silver gaze swept across the boundless chamber.
Come to think of it—wasn't it a thousand years later, in the FE-world, that Tavis H. Peaceman, bearer of the Savior's qualification, fought here with his Servant against the so-called King of the Moon, to determine the victor of the Lunar Grail War?
The thought struck him suddenly: what if he claimed control over the Mooncell now? After all, this world was not fated to suffer the premature depletion of the Root like in FE.
Perhaps sensing Avia's stray thought, Mooncell's mechanical voice echoed once more:
"But be warned. The 'me' that exists here is but one locus among countless parallel worlds beneath the False Moon. To seize me in one world is to seize me in all. The shadow that reaches the throne elsewhere will be mirrored here. If you desire it, decide swiftly."
…So you can respond to my thoughts directly, huh.
Avia muttered in his mind without meaning to.
The implications puzzled him—did this mean the FE-world's Mooncell affected this one? He dismissed it quickly. It was, after all, just a fleeting whim.
If the Moon King of the FE-world gained the authority, bringing peace to that world, then so be it. He had no need to rob even that from them.
And so, Avia spoke again:
"Mooncell, send me to the Unknown Domain. I wish to see her."
"Permission granted. Caution: the Unknown Domain lies beyond my control. Entry carries extreme probability of no return. Prepare yourself."
Avia fell silent, thoughtful… then the image of Attila crossed his mind. Resolve steeled within him, and he gave a firm nod.
"Send me."
"Confirmed."
At that, white light enveloped the silver-haired youth. In the next instant, the radiant clarity of the Moon's crystalline halls dissolved into a darkness vast as the void of space itself.
Avia gazed upon the unfolding scenery—pitch-black, infinite, swallowing the horizon.
It was a scene utterly alien to reality. No breath of life, no trace of matter. A place on the verge of dissolution, as if any moment it might melt into the dark abyss, severing all thought and consciousness.
Merely beholding this landscape of the Unknown—this terrifying, unnamable vista—was enough to make one's heart feel as though it faced the world's very end.
Yet Avia simply placed one foot forward.
Beneath him, ripples spread outward. Even in this endless night, his steps stirred faint waves, each stride sending another trembling across the abyss.
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