Starting in Type-Moon, but a Magician from A Certain Magical Index

Moreover, these spells did not merely include long-range magic. They also had support techniques, such as blinding opponents with intense light.

More importantly, there were special spells that could heal and strengthen the caster, granting their body formidable close-combat abilities.

Even though Medea's body was frail, with the enhancement of such magic, she could transform into a powerhouse—perhaps even a powerhouse clad as if in armor—and directly brawl with monsters!

Apollo had indeed delivered on his word. His promise had been perfectly fulfilled. As long as Medea learned these spells, her combat ability would undergo a qualitative leap!

At this moment, Medea, who had finally recovered from the mental interference, suddenly remembered something else.

"Ah! We still need to save Mephistopheles and Artemis!"

"We're already here." Seeing Medea's flustered, guilty expression—blaming herself for becoming so absorbed in solving the puzzle that she forgot everything—Mephistopheles waved with a grin.

Medea looked toward the voice and saw Mephistopheles and Artemis standing there. Her face lit up, and she immediately ran over, throwing herself into Mephistopheles's arms without hesitation.

She was so happy that she hugged him tightly. "Mephistopheles, you're back!"

"Yeah, I'm back. And it wasn't actually dangerous over there. It was just a sealed-off space." Mephistopheles smiled and briefly explained what had happened to him.

Medea was puzzled for a moment. "So the place you were in was just a sealed area, and then you two..."

Only then did Medea notice that Artemis was also holding Mephistopheles's arm. Her eyes widened slightly before an understanding look crossed her face. She looked back and forth between them.

Meanwhile, Apollo, the owner of the temple, had already quietly left, leaving the place to the three of them.

Mephistopheles had expected Medea's reaction long ago. He naturally had no intention of hiding anything, so he used this opportunity to tell her what had happened between Artemis and himself.

He had expected the girl to attack him angrily, but to his surprise, she merely nodded. "Just as I thought. I said Artemis liked you, and you clearly like the Moon Goddess too. Why didn't you make a move? You've already eaten me, after all."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Mephistopheles could not help coughing. He had never expected Medea to say something like that.

"What's so strange about that? Is someone being with the person they love really something to get angry over?" Medea asked in confusion.

Mephistopheles remembered how Medea had once been wary of Artemis, yet now she was not angry at all. That only made him more confused.

Medea put her hands on her hips and said, "Back then, we were rivals. Wasn't it normal to be wary of others because I was afraid of losing? If you accepted Artemis and then said you didn't like me, wouldn't I be finished?!"

He could not refute that. Mephistopheles found that Medea made far too much sense!

Relax. Take it easy. This is Ancient Greece—the Ancient Greece of myth. People viewed love freely here, even more freely than any system of one husband and multiple wives. You could love however you wanted, and even divorce and remarry.

Mephistopheles muttered to himself, and the worry hanging over his heart finally settled.

But then she fiercely grabbed his waist again. "You're in for it tonight!"

It was hard to say who would be the first to surrender in the end.

Mephistopheles thought silently, but he did not dare say it aloud.

Then Artemis, who had heard that, immediately shouted, "Me too! I want to join too!"

Hearing that, Mephistopheles looked forward to the night even more.

It seemed he would have to properly study Blood Mother, the great goddess Babalon's sex magic tonight!

In the Ancient Greek lands of the Age of Gods, there was a place called Thessaly, near the sea.

In Thessaly's coastal region, a man named Cretheus founded a kingdom called Iolcus and passed his throne to his son, Aeson.

Though Aeson was upright, he was indecisive. As a result, the powerful Thessalian lords beneath him rebelled, leaving him no choice but to ask his half-brother Pelias to help.

After Pelias helped him suppress the rebellion, Aeson appointed him captain of his guard. Yet Pelias used schemes to overthrow Aeson's rule and murdered Aeson along with his bloodline.

When Aeson's queen Alcimede gave birth to a son, Diomedes, she summoned servants to wail around the infant as if he had died at birth, thereby saving the child's life.

Then, to prevent the truth from being exposed, Alcimede sent Diomedes to the centaur Chiron and had the learned and formidable centaur raise him.

Chiron had originally been a god, but after being struck by one of Hydra's poisoned arrows, he gave up his immortality to escape the suffering caused by the poison and became a mortal from then on.

However, none of that could obscure Chiron's importance, for he had taught many influential heroes, such as Heracles and Achilles.

Diomedes spent his childhood on Mount Pelion, where he also gained a new name: Jason.

Under the tutelage of Chiron, who had taught many heroes, Jason learned many things, including the arts of combat. At the age of twenty, he finally left his master, determined to avenge his father and reclaim the throne.

The aging Pelias received a secret oracle telling him to beware a man wearing only one shoe, but he had never understood what it meant.

One day, Pelias was holding games in honor of his father Poseidon. Jason also happened to arrive at Iolcus, where, beside the Anauros River, the goddess Hera transformed into an old woman and begged Jason to help her cross.

Jason carried her across the river, even losing one of his shoes in the water and failing to retrieve it.

Hera revealed her true form, praised Jason, and told him that she would support him in reclaiming the throne.

Jason entered the kingdom, and when the people saw that he wore only one shoe, they spread the news far and wide until it reached King Pelias's ears. It reminded Pelias of the oracle.

Jason directly demanded the return of the throne and royal scepter, even revealing that he was Aeson's son. Though Pelias was terrified, he showed nothing on the surface and instead received Jason courteously.

Jason's demands were simple. He wanted only the throne and the king's scepter. The land, including all the livestock, could remain Pelias's. But Pelias was clearly unwilling, so he lied. "Phrixus's soul requires me to bring it peace. Go to the king of Colchis and bring back the Golden Fleece. Once you accomplish this feat, I will hand over the king's throne and scepter to you."

Thus, the expedition of the Argo officially began in pursuit of that goal.

Medea's Speculation

Heracles, having received the invitation to adventure, was preparing the things that might be needed for this battle. Mephistopheles, upon hearing of it, had long since made preparations and was eager to give it a try.

Medea seemed rather confused by the stories Mephistopheles had told about the past.

"Is this Jason an idiot?! It's obvious this was meant to set him up, yet he agreed to it? And that man murdered his father! Not only did he trust him, he even thought that if he asked for the throne back and gave the land and property to that man, he would gratefully agree?!"

Clearly, she was not merely confused—she was full of contempt.

"This isn't just a simple problem with his brain. It's more like something smashed into his head and caused severe mental impairment. Maybe his brain has already died!"

As she said this, she even began doubting another person she had not originally been very concerned with.

"How did his teacher teach him? To produce someone of this caliber, is Chiron really that impressive?!"

Perhaps because she had spent so much time with Mephistopheles, Medea's attitude toward gods had changed somewhat. She would still show respect to gods standing before her, but toward an existence like Chiron, who had lost his divinity, she immediately began questioning and mocking him without a second thought.

Mephistopheles said helplessly, "Shouldn't you be more worried about your father right now? The Golden Fleece is under your father's care. If it's taken away, those dissatisfied with his rule will have an excuse to rebel."

Medea put her hands on her hips. "No problem. With me here, they won't be able to rebel!"

Medea was clearly brimming with confidence in her own strength. Mephistopheles suspected that if he disappeared now, she might become the new ruler of Colchis. With Apollo's blessing and even a portion of Apollo's authority, Medea was undoubtedly among the strongest in Ancient Greece.

Not to mention that she was now also Babalon's priestess, wielding the power of a supreme feminine existence. That power was not affected by the Root, either. As she was now, she truly had more than enough qualifications to become a queen.

But then Medea became puzzled again. "Why would the Queen of the Gods help Jason? It can't just be because he carried her across a river once, right? She obviously came down looking for an excuse!"

Mephistopheles spread his hands. "In the past, Pelias and his brother killed their step-grandmother in order to save their mother."

Medea frowned. "That's nothing, is it? Even if that woman was descended from the Queen of the Gods, it shouldn't be enough for her to truly hold a grudge..."

Revenge was perfectly normal. That alone really should not have invited trouble.

"Normally, it wouldn't have been. But the two of them chased her all the way, and she ran until she reached Hera's temple and begged for protection. A temple was a god's domain, but those two barged in, killed her directly, and never even apologized."

Medea finally understood why Hera had decided to cause trouble.

Pelias had desecrated a god and shown no remorse whatsoever. The fact that Hera had waited so many years before taking revenge only showed how magnanimous she was.

In fact, if Pelias had accepted Jason's proposal, he would not even have suffered any losses!

"I have a feeling Pelias will meet an extremely miserable end because of his greed for power... even if he is Poseidon's son."

At this moment, however, Mephistopheles was thinking about something else.

If his knowledge of Greek mythology still applied in this world, then the reason Pelias had been able to kill Aeson and seize the throne was that he had received Zeus's assistance. Later, Pelias exiled his full brother Neleus because Neleus had competed with him for the throne.

After being exiled, Neleus fled to Messenia and became the progenitor of the kings of Pylos. He developed quite well on his own.

Pelias had indeed governed the country well, but his greed still led to his eventual downfall. Looking at it this way, Zeus seemed to have secretly replaced him with a suitable king in order to prevent the kingdom from collapsing.

But none of that mattered anymore. No matter how much he considered it, one thing could not be changed: the expedition of the Argo was about to begin, and this time, the main villain would be Medea's father.

After all, Ares had clearly issued an oracle: "As long as the Golden Fleece remains, you remain. Once the Golden Fleece is gone, you are finished." Even if Mephistopheles and the others told him, "Even without the Golden Fleece, you will remain," he certainly would not believe them, because it was an oracle!

Thinking of this, Mephistopheles suddenly muttered, "Ares didn't actually kill him according to the oracle... He merely died naturally of old age? So perhaps Ares took back the power of immortality?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Medea immediately leaned closer and asked.

Artemis heard Mephistopheles's words and smiled faintly. "Your guess might actually be right."

"Why only might?"

"Because I don't know either. We would have to ask Ares himself!"

Seeing that Medea still did not understand what the two were talking about, Mephistopheles told her what he had just thought of. To his surprise, Medea nodded as well. "That is possible. If it was said that as long as the Golden Fleece remained, my father would remain, then as long as my father held the Golden Fleece, he would not grow old or die."

"But if the gods did not want someone who was immortal, then it would be inevitable for them to find a way to take back their blessing. That blessing was tied to the Golden Fleece, so as long as they had the Golden Fleece taken away, the gods would not be breaking their promise."

Mephistopheles looked at Medea as she analyzed the matter so calmly and remarked, "You don't seem to care at all that your father might die of old age..."

"Birth, aging, illness, and death are perfectly normal!" Medea said with a smile. "And although you usually try not to say too much, I can still sense some things."

At that, Medea's expression turned more serious as she looked at Artemis.

"Moon Goddess Artemis, I have a question."

Medea rarely addressed Artemis so formally anymore. After all, they had seen each other naked plenty of times.

Therefore, she must have had an important thought or matter in her heart.

"Are the gods planning to abandon humanity?"

"I don't know!" Artemis shook her head. "I don't pay much attention to things like that, but I can say for certain that the gods—at least the Greek gods—will not abandon humanity!"

Her assurance was firm and powerful. Yet just as Medea began to wonder whether her guess had been wrong, Artemis said, "Gods love humanity, you know. So sometimes, letting go is necessary too, isn't it?"

Medea finally understood. Her guess had been wrong, but not entirely wrong. The gods were not planning to abandon humanity. Rather, they intended to let go and allow humanity to develop on its own.

Just as when children finally grew up, their parents no longer restrained them and instead let them strive and keep moving forward on their own.

"Although my little brother loves hiding the future he sees, I still know some things!" Artemis said with a cheerful smile. "The future belongs to humanity. The world of the future also belongs to humanity! The future does not belong to the gods!"

Medea smiled at that answer. She glanced at Mephistopheles and shook her head. "If a king ruled forever without dying, then he would become the greatest obstacle in the human world. That blessing had to be taken back."

Thus, everything had an explanation. The king of Colchis, who should have died after the Golden Fleece was stolen, had instead been able to live normally until he died of natural causes.

And in this story, those who had crossed the limits of what could be tolerated all met tragic ends.

Whether it was Jason, Medea, or Pelias, none of them truly had a good ending.

But this story had only just begun, and from its very beginning, the key events had already changed drastically.

Medea was no longer the girl waiting in Colchis for Jason, who would eventually fall in love with him at first sight. The current Medea was already a mage with extensive adventuring experience. She had even met the gods, including the goddess of beauty who had originally been meant to compel her to love Jason.

Of course, most importantly, three additional people would be joining the Argo's journey to Colchis this time.

Mephistopheles, Medea, and Artemis, a goddess!

Heracles looked helplessly at his sister. Adventure should be filled with opportunities, but it should also be filled with danger. Yet if this adventure included his sister and Mephistopheles, then no danger could possibly exist.

Or rather, there would indeed be danger—the people who could have posed a threat to their group along the way would be the ones in danger.

A goddess was actually coming down to disguise herself as a human and take part in a human adventure!

Moon Goddess, you play around on earth every day. That's dereliction of duty!!

But Heracles only dared think that. Artemis was his sister and treated him well, while he could not defeat Mephistopheles anyway, so saying it aloud would be pointless.

As for Medea, this witch possessed extremely formidable magical skill. Her accomplishments in magic had risen wildly during this period, and she was much stronger than when she had faced the giants last time. He had heard that she had even gone dragon-slaying afterward. If they encountered any danger along the way, Medea alone might be able to resolve quite a few problems.

"Don't worry. I'll only show the strength I'm supposed to show!" Artemis patted Heracles on the shoulder and smiled.

Mephistopheles immediately added, "I'm merely an ordinary human adventurer. No one even knows me, so there's no need to care."

Medea obediently pulled up her hood as well. "I'm just an ordinary mage, not the princess of Colchis!"

Heracles looked at the three of them and forced out a faint smile. Three people pretending to be weak—were they planning to go there for fun?!

Still, he knew Mephistopheles was actually right. People knew Heracles because he was famous and many of his deeds were widely known. Although Mephistopheles's deeds were equally outrageous, very few people knew of them even now.

If the Gigantomachy might still become known in the future, then the matter of killing Typhon and gaining special effectiveness against dragons was something that, for now, truly only the gods knew.

Heracles knew about it only because Mephistopheles came over to visit every day. To everyone else in this world, Mephistopheles really was just an ordinary, even unheard-of person.

Yet clearly, this fellow pretending to be ordinary might be the strongest person present. Even Artemis, the Moon Goddess, was evidently no match for Mephistopheles. This was not merely based on what Heracles had felt during the War of the Giants; Mephistopheles killing Typhon this time had proven it once again.

Thus, the group set off together for Mount Pelion. Jason had invited many people, and many of them had been his fellow students when he studied under Chiron. Heracles was naturally Jason's fellow student as well.

After traveling for several days, they finally reached Mount Pelion. As expected, many people had already gathered there. Looking at them, Mephistopheles felt that every single one of them was a remarkable talent.