"They gave up? Then what about the Einzbern homunculi? How did those come about?" Waver pressed on.
"The homunculi were created by the magi themselves. After the magi gave up on the Einzbern family and left, only the homunculi remained. Eventually, the magi all died out, and the homunculi fully inherited the Einzbern will and carried it forward. Since homunculi are more like machines, they're purer and more stubborn than humans. After 500 years, they came up with a new plan: to make Justeaze into the Greater Grail itself. Justeaze was already the embodiment of the Third Magic. Since she was a one-time accident and couldn't be copied or reproduced, they decided to turn her into the Greater Grail so that the Third Magic could benefit all of humanity."
"Benefit all of humanity?" Alexander the Great raised his brows slightly.
"Yes. The Einzbern wanted to reproduce the Third Magic to bring salvation to humanity. Matou Zouken's original wish was also to save humanity, so 500 years ago he and the Einzbern agreed to work together, planning to use Justeaze to create the Greater Grail tied to the Third Magic. So the original will of the Greater Grail was actually Justeaze's own. But to create the Greater Grail, they couldn't let outsiders know. Otherwise it would become the target of every major force. To avoid the eyes of the Holy Church, the Clock Tower, and others, the Einzbern and Zouken came to Fuyuki, found the ancestor of the Tohsaka family, Tohsaka Nagato, and used the leylines there to successfully build the Greater Grail."
"So, at the very start, all three of the Great Families wished to save humanity?" Waver confirmed.
Tia shook her head. "The Tohsaka family only ever wanted to reach the Root. The Einzbern, when the original magi were alive, really did aim to save humanity, but after the homunculi took over, their only focus was achieving the Third Magic. Only Matou Zouken's original wish was truly to save all of humanity."
"The Root… can people really reach it?" Waver muttered. Of course he knew all magi wanted to reach the Root, but he himself never believed in it.
"Of course. Justeaze herself was the Third Magic, so she could touch the Root. As the Greater Grail, she could even help others reach it. If the plan went smoothly, the souls of Servants who fell in the War would go into the Lesser Grail. When those souls returned to the Throne of Heroes, they would open a hole to the world beyond. The Greater Grail's power could then fix that hole, letting the Three Families reach the Root outside the world. The idea was fine, but the magi summoned to the Holy Grail War didn't care about that. They only wanted to fight over their wishes, killing each other without end."
As Tia spoke about the Root, her thoughts naturally drifted to Ryougi Shiki, another person connected to the Root. She recalled that sometime next year, that one called "Shiki of the Root" would briefly appear in the world and meet Mikiya Kokutou.
Although Ryougi Shiki had nothing to do with Tia, once the Fourth War ended, if there were no more Grail Wars, Tia might lose her purpose in life and just wander the world. Why else would she want to keep Lancelot, and even hope to keep King Arthur? That was her purpose. Unless there was a Fifth War where King Arthur could be summoned again, giving her something to look forward to.
Maybe later, while searching for her purpose, she'd meet the King again, or even join some other Holy Grail War, going as far as Chaldea…
At first, when she left home to join the War, she was just reckless, wanting to meet the King, never even thinking she'd survive.
Now, though, she would definitely live on—so she could meet the King again, and fight alongside Lancelot for the King's sake.
That's why she thought of Ryougi Shiki. Maybe she could bring her into a Holy Grail War. As someone also linked to the Root, if Shiki met the Greater Grail, maybe it would open a chance to see the King at the Throne of Heroes… of course, only if the King was summoned in that war.
Uh… am I thinking too much nonsense? Wouldn't people call me crazy, insane, a fool? Am I starting to lose it too?
"It's just a pity that during the Third War, the Greater Grail was corrupted. After that, the Three Families completely changed, didn't they? They became more crazed, more obsessed. Since the magi didn't respect their wish, they decided not to respect the magi either," Waver summed up after hearing Tia out.
Tia nodded. "To the Three Families, their wish was everything. The magi who joined the Grail War were the ones destroying it. But to us and the Servants, the Three Families were just liars, tricking us, our feelings and our lives, only for their so-called great plan. And now, with their fall, it's not even a great plan anymore, just selfish obsession."
"In the end, this Greater Grail is useless. Tia, little one, don't you know how to destroy it?" Alexander asked.
Tia shook her head. "We can't just smash the Greater Grail. Inside it is nothing but corruption—the All the World's Evil. If it bursts out, Fuyuki will be finished. The Greater Grail must never be allowed to descend, and its hole must never be opened. To get rid of it, you need to use a dismantling ritual. But that ritual… I don't know it."
Waver frowned. "Dismantle the Greater Grail, huh?"
"So, boy, do you think you can do it?" Alexander turned to him.
"If Justeaze is the main consciousness of the Greater Grail, then that thing inside—the All the World's Evil, Angra Mainyu—must be the foreign element. Couldn't we find a way for Justeaze herself to drive Angra Mainyu out? Then we could kill it together, and convince her to dismantle herself afterward?" Waver was only voicing a wild guess.
These two chapters are meant as a bridge to connect toward Kara no Kyoukai later on, maybe even bringing Shiki into the Fifth War.
(End of The Chapter)
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