The information obtained through Su Mo's time rewind explained most of the questions.
Kyubey was from another world, not another planet, so there was no need to worry about this world being invaded by other aliens.
Of course, this information also brought new questions.
"If the reason for your existence is to save the world, then aren't you a gift sent to this universe by a higher civilization?" Su Mo commented with some surprise. "At the very least, a gift similar to Pandora's."
Because of the tragedy of the magical girls, Kyubey had always been seen as a demonic figure in the eyes of those who knew the truth.
People usually believed Kyubey was a villain who deliberately deceived young girls with unequal terms, making them sacrifice themselves for the sake of the universe's end.
Although this impression wasn't wrong, from a macroscopic perspective, Kyubey's actions could even be considered heroic.
Like Pandora's Box, it contained all sorts of curses like plague, war, weakness, and disease, but it also held the single flicker of hope.
"Even so..." Homura pursed her lips, her gaze towards Kyubey still filled with hostility. "That can never be forgiven."
She didn't care about the end of the world; she only cared about the safety of Su Mo and Madoka. And without a doubt, in that regard, Kyubey was not to be trusted.
"A gift? I do not know." Kyubey shook its head. "I have no memory of my creator, nor do I know their purpose in creating me... However, since no information was left behind other than to resist the end of the world, and no other means for us to cross universes was provided, it seems my creator had no intention of us reporting back after completing our mission."
This was strange.
If Kyubey's creator gave it such a mission, they should have at least arranged for a mission report, not just toss Kyubey into another universe and abandon it. It was less like a deployment and more like an exile.
However, considering the emotion-to-energy conversion technology Kyubey possessed, its potential was quite high, even if it seemed somewhat incomplete.
If the creator civilization truly wanted to save other universes, they shouldn't have omitted a mission report procedure. If they were just casually exiling Kyubey, they shouldn't have bestowed upon it such a valuable technology.
Unless...
"Unless your home civilization itself encountered some kind of apocalyptic crisis, and you are the last embers they left behind to save the world," Su Mo offered as a theory.
The emotion-to-energy conversion technology Kyubey possessed could, under normal circumstances, only produce planet-scale energy.
Its upper limit wasn't that high. Only after stacking various bugs from the original world's timeline could it achieve a multiverse-level miracle.
Clearly, the civilization that created Kyubey couldn't have predicted this.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have needed to deploy Kyubey; they could have reached the multiversal domain on their own.
For a civilization to suddenly spread an immature, unfinished technology in the form of Kyubey to other universes, without giving it any similar memories or a means of return, and without any expectation of it giving back to its home world after it matured... this indicated that the civilization was very likely on the brink of annihilation.
Any hope of Kyubey returning would expose the existence of this backup plan.
Only a civilization in complete despair would make such a choice, burning all its bridges.
"This speculation has considerable validity." Hearing Su Mo's words, Kyubey nodded calmly.
It had no emotions, so it held no particular feelings for its creator civilization.
Whether its home civilization was dead or alive, as a tool, Kyubey didn't really care. It only cared if its home civilization could help solve the problem of the universe's end. If Su Mo's guess was correct, then it was likely useless.
"If this reasoning is correct, they surely left behind more than one ember. They might even be constantly multiplying," Su Mo continued to speculate.
"In other words, it's very likely that multiple, even multiversal-level universes, have all seen your appearance. In these universes, you would follow the same pattern, delaying the end of the universe by incubating magical girls."
"Ah? So, Kyubey exists in many universes?" Madoka was a little surprised. Even in the chat group, this scale was too grand. Not even the world of Honkai: Star Rail had such a multiversal background!
"If we follow Su Mo-kun's speculation, perhaps. But until we master the skill of crossing universes, this theory cannot be verified and has no value. What is the point of discussing it?" Kyubey asked Su Mo, puzzled.
It acknowledged the possibility of Su Mo's reasoning but didn't see the point in discussing such a castle-in-the-sky theory.
"Who knows," Su Mo smiled.
Perhaps to Kyubey, this matter wasn't important, but to him, it was. If his theory was true, he could analyze the foundation upon which the Law of Cycles from the original story was built.
A mere collection of the wishes of all magical girls and witches throughout history in a single universe could, at best, create a three-digit, omnipotent-domain-level existence.
But if it was a collection of the wishes of all magical girls and witches across all timelines in an infinite multiverse, then it truly had the fertile ground to birth a multiverse-level existence.
In a sense, a foundation of this level was comparable to the soil from which all the god-groups of Little Garden were born.
If he could make full use of this soil, perhaps this time, Su Mo could truly grasp multiverse-level power without the help of Little Garden.
---||---
The discussion between them ended there.
Although Kyubey didn't know why Su Mo was so interested in this question, it wouldn't delve too deeply into information it judged to be valueless.
It only needed to confirm that it had fulfilled its promise, that both parties were satisfied with the exchange, and that Su Mo would continue to provide it with new ideas.
After the conversation ended, it was almost time for class. Su Mo didn't stay. He waved, entrusted Homura to Madoka, and left.
Watching Su Mo's departing figure, Kyubey swished its tail and looked at Mami again. "Mami, are you sure you won't accept my previous proposal?"
"What proposal?" Mami was still reeling from the fact that Kyubey was an alien and didn't immediately register what it was saying.
"To reproduce with Su Mo to create more magical girls!" Kyubey said naturally, without a hint of personal emotion. "I recall you've always wanted companions, Mami, haven't you?"
If she followed its proposal, she would not only gain companions but a whole host of daughters. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Considering Su Mo's special nature, Kyubey was even willing to consider forgoing Mami's witchification to allow her to pass on more of Su Mo's genes.
Unfortunately, Mami did not appreciate Kyubey's "goodwill."
"Wh-What are you saying?! No wonder Su Mo-senpai said you don't understand emotions! How could you suggest something like that for such a reason? Your timing is completely wrong!" The blonde girl's cheeks burned as she glared at Kyubey. "Kyubey, if you don't know how to talk, you can shut up!"
"..." Kyubey tilted its head. Although it still didn't understand, it chose to remain silent.
Beside them, Homura glanced sideways at Mami, her eyes filled with vigilance. She didn't completely deny the possibility of agreeing!
Her killing intent towards Kyubey instantly doubled. As I thought, Kyubey must die.
Noticing Homura's dangerous gaze, Mami was taken aback and also put on a wary expression. "Homura Akemi-san, you heard what Su Mo-senpai and Kyubey said just now, didn't you?"
"So what?" Homura gave her a cold glance.
"Since you heard them, you should know that even if Kyubey has no emotions, it's an angel that exists to save the world. Faced with such a Kyubey, you still haven't given up on attacking it?" Mami glared at Homura, her eyes filled with incomprehension.
Before, it might have been a misunderstanding, but now that the misunderstanding was clearly resolved, Homura still wanted to attack Kyubey?
At this moment, Mami didn't have a very deep understanding of Kyubey's lack of emotions. In her eyes, Kyubey was like an angel or a saint, bearing the mission of saving the world.
Aside from villains like witches, it was hard to imagine anyone wanting to kill such a being.
If it weren't for the fact that Homura seemed open to communication and had a good relationship with Su Mo and Madoka, she would have already made a preemptive strike against such a dangerous individual.
"...You call this thing an angel?" Hearing Mami's naive words, Homura's eyes turned cold and sarcastic.
Even if its goal was grand, Kyubey's crimes were still unforgivable.
The only reason Mami could still say such things was that the previous discussion hadn't touched upon the subject of witches. If it were to involve the true nature of witches...
"What, is it not?" Mami retorted. She felt that a being that fought to save the world deserved that title. "Even Su Mo-senpai said earlier that Kyubey was a gift from another civilization. I don't know what a Pandora's gift is, but that's enough to show that Kyubey has no malicious intent, right?" she said, her limited cultural knowledge showing.
"Heh..." Homura, however, could understand Su Mo's hidden meaning. Although hope was stored at the bottom of Pandora's Box, what was released first was utter despair.
"With your level of understanding, you are not qualified to know the truth," Homura said coldly after glancing at Madoka.
She had no intention of telling Mami the true nature of witches, not because she wanted to be a cryptic riddle-master, but because Mami was too dangerous.
In previous loops, she had tried telling Mami the truth to gain an ally.
Then, this mentally fragile young lady had instantly collapsed. In the moment she fell into despair, Mami had unleashed an unprecedented level of combat power.
To prevent her comrades from falling into witchhood, she had chosen to become the engine of a total party kill on the spot, slaughtering almost all the magical girls present.
Not even Walpurgisnacht could instantly kill multiple magical girls like she did. The title "God of Infighting" was earned from that.
From then on, Homura had always been extremely wary of this emotionally unstable senior. Even now, she had no intention of getting entangled with her. As long as Su Mo was here, this loop had a chance of being broken.
"Hmph! Just making excuses because you're speechless?" Faced with Homura's "no comment" attitude, Mami tried to use taunts.
Such a clumsy technique, of course, had no effect on Homura.
"Mami-senpai, Homura-chan, please don't fight..." Caught in the middle, Madoka carefully tried to play peacemaker.
However, before she could finish, Homura and Mami's expressions suddenly changed, and they both looked towards the door.
"The presence of a witch!" Mami's face turned grim.
"Crap, Su Mo left in that direction!" Kyubey also panicked. Su Mo was a rare existence who could guide it in its mission. He absolutely could not be killed by a mere witch.
"Big Brother Su Mo!" Homura's pupils constricted. Without hesitation, she activated her time-stop ability.
"Wait for me!" Mami subconsciously grabbed Homura just before time stopped, allowing her to enter the time-stopped domain.
They exchanged a look. There was no intention of conflict or delay. They each grabbed Kyubey and Madoka and rushed out together.
Right now, protecting Su Mo was the number one priority.