It was an incredibly simple answer, yet one that had been overlooked by everyone.
Kyubey had no emotions and could not make wishes. It could only serve as an Incubator, the fundamental mechanism for the birth of magical girls. But as an existence itself, its concept was tied to magical girls and witches, making it a cornerstone of the multiverse domain as well!
If Madoka alone could not bear the price of having her existence diluted on behalf of all magical girls, then wasn't Kyubey the perfect target? In the domain of existence, at least, it was at a multiverse level.
"That makes sense..." Homura was quickly convinced. Her gaze towards Kyubey shifted from boiling murderous intent to an unyielding coldness.
Even knowing that Kyubey's goal was to save the world, the sins it had committed were unforgivable in Homura's heart. If this thing could be of use, helping Big Brother Su Mo and Madoka step into the multiverse domain, it could barely be considered atonement.
"If it's Kyubey..."
Even Madoka, who didn't want to involve others, was tempted by Su Mo's idea. Other beings might be innocent, but Kyubey... involving it didn't seem to be anything worth feeling guilty about.
Everyone present unanimously agreed with Su Mo's opinion. The only one who might have reservations was probably Kyubey itself.
"That's right. I want you to pay the price," Su Mo said, nodding with exceptional frankness in response to Kyubey's implied question.
"And how do you plan to achieve that?"
Without asking why, or if it could be spared, the emotionless Kyubey lacked the instinct to beg for mercy. Its question wasn't a challenge, but a genuine inquiry.
"Although I haven't confirmed it, according to what you said earlier, Su Mo, your power can only interfere with me across all timelines in a few worlds at most, right?"
"Even if you could twist the entire perception of my counterparts in a few worlds, it wouldn't be enough to meet your requirements. To interfere with all of me across the multiverse, you would first need to possess multiverse-domain-level power."
"Therefore, this should be something absolutely impossible to achieve."
The conversation had come full circle. To obtain multiverse-domain-level power, one must first interfere with the Kyubey of the multiverse. But to interfere with the Kyubey of the multiverse, one must first obtain multiverse-domain-level power.
Faced with this catch-22, the plan Su Mo proposed seemed impossible. Kyubey stared at him curiously. It believed that with the intellect Su Mo had previously displayed, he couldn't have failed to realize this. Yet he had still proposed it. Why?
"Absolutely impossible?" Hearing this, Su Mo chuckled and shook his head. "Don't use the word 'absolutely' so casually. It only proves your rashness and foolishness."
"So you're saying you have a way to solve this problem?" Kyubey pressed on.
"Of course," Su Mo nodded easily. "To leverage a multiverse-domain-level cornerstone is actually very simple. Haven't I said it before? Just like Madoka can do it, you just need to guide and fulfill a multiverse-domain-level wish."
The cornerstone of multiverse-domain-level power had always existed. If even an ordinary person like Madoka could leverage it, how could it be difficult for Su Mo?
"But the 'Law of Cycles' theory you mentioned is built on the premise that all magical girls share the same wish and will resonate with it," Kyubey said, still somewhat puzzled despite Su Mo's simple explanation.
The establishment of the Law of Cycles wasn't achieved by Madoka forcefully dominating the other magical girls with her will, but by those magical girls contributing their all to support her. "Those magical girls voluntarily contributed their power, which is how a multiverse-level miracle was possible. If you want to imitate that model, Su Mo, you..."
Halfway through its sentence, Kyubey fell silent, finally understanding Su Mo's meaning. After a few seconds of processing, its voice wavered. "Don't tell me you intend to make all versions of me, in all worlds, voluntarily give up everything, just like the magical girls?"
If the mountain will not come to me, I must go to the mountain.
Being unable to actively interfere with the Kyubey of the multiverse didn't mean the Kyubey of the multiverse wouldn't actively offer up everything to support Su Mo.
In fact, whether in the world of Madoka Magica or Little Garden, the foundation of higher beings came from the wishes of the masses. The masses, with their piety, enshrined one god and buddha after another.
It wasn't that becoming a multiverse-level existence allowed one to fulfill the wishes of the masses, but rather that only those who could fulfill the wishes of the masses could achieve the multiverse domain. This was true for the Asura and Buddhas, the Aeons, and the God Madoka.
Hearing Kyubey's words, Madoka and the others stared with wide eyes, finding the idea somewhat absurd. Get all the Kyubeys in the multiverse to voluntarily contribute their power like the other magical girls? Was that really possible? No matter how you looked at it, the cunning Kyubey didn't seem like the type.
But soon, like Kyubey, they realized.
Just like the magical girls on the verge of despair and witchification, every single Kyubey, in every world and every timeline, actually shared the same wish. If that wish could be fulfilled, it would indeed make all of them across the multiverse voluntarily give up everything.
Which meant...
"Su Mo, do you have a way to overcome the apocalypse?" Kyubey asked, its voice trembling slightly.
Overcoming the apocalypse was the very meaning of Kyubey's existence. If Su Mo could truly show it that future, that hope, then no Kyubey would hesitate for a moment. It was the meaning of their existence, and they would naturally give everything for it.
"I do," Su Mo nodded calmly under Kyubey's intensely focused gaze. "But, as I said before, it requires cooperation and patience."
"Note, this is not an equal exchange. It's not that you pay the price after I succeed in overcoming the apocalypse. It's that you must first give everything for a chance to overcome the apocalypse with me."
A method to overcome the apocalypse was something that even the Law of Cycles from the original story had not grasped. After all, the Law of Cycles itself didn't involve the operation of the universe and thus couldn't rewrite the established rule of the apocalypse.
But Su Mo was different. The mythological Cosmologys he had mastered, especially after being enhanced in the world of Little Garden, were fundamentally born to overcome the apocalypse. Although he couldn't do it now, as long as they were completed, they could completely defeat eschatology and fulfill Kyubey's wish.
And Su Mo's meaning was now obvious: he wanted them to get on the bus first and pay the fare later.
In short, he wanted to freeload.
After all, by the time he could truly overcome the apocalypse, he would likely have already cleared Little Garden and reached the multiverse domain. In that case, he wouldn't need Kyubey's sacrifice at all. Only before he could overcome the apocalypse did Kyubey's contribution have any meaning.
Hearing Su Mo's confident answer, Kyubey hesitated for a moment, but ultimately spoke. Anyone could see that it was genuinely tempted.
For such a long time, it had relied on the energy gained from deceiving magical girls to delay the arrival of the apocalypse, but it had never once found a true hope of ending it. Under these circumstances, what Su Mo proposed might be its only hope.
Even if it knew it might be false, it wouldn't let it go, let alone the fact that what Su Mo said was very likely true. Even with the risk of being freeloaded off of, if Su Mo could convince it, could show it the possibility of overcoming the apocalypse, Kyubey would truly sacrifice its all.
"No problem," Su Mo nodded. He had no intention of deceiving it on this matter, nor did he need to. Eschatology itself was a problem he would have to face eventually.
"First, you need to understand what a Cosmology is, how a Cosmology itself is completed, and finally, how to reach the level of completion required to overcome eschatology..." he began to explain patiently, as Madoka's eyelids grew heavy.