Type-Moon at the Start, but A Certain Magical Index Magician

After saying that, he glanced at everyone and asked loudly, "Isn't that right?"

His somewhat humorous words finally gave everyone a place to put their awkward expressions, and they hurriedly chimed in.

"Yeah, if you keep talking, I'm going to want to kill myself, Heracles!"

"We'll set off after this meal!"

Seeing them say that, Heracles finally nodded in satisfaction. Then, he gave Hypsipyle a slight bow. This woman's courage had surprised him somewhat.

Only then did he leave, heading for the ship ahead of everyone else.

He believed these people would keep their word. He had only come here to remind them, and since they had said so, they would surely return to the ship after eating.

Mephistopheles watched everything unfold in secret and could not help complaining:

"Heracles really doesn't mince words. Though he isn't wrong, and he speaks his mind, he really doesn't give anyone any face. Someone is definitely going to be unhappy about it."

Artemis nodded slightly, but she did not seem too concerned. "It's fine. He's incredibly strong, and nobody can beat him, so they can only put up with it!"

Mephistopheles rolled his eyes, only to hear Medea say, "That's right. Heracles is so strong that they can only endure it. Besides, they really were at fault in this matter!"

"I'm telling you, you two should pay a little more attention to social etiquette," Mephistopheles said with a sigh.

Atalanta asked curiously, "What would you do?"

Since graduating, she had stopped calling him Teacher. Mephistopheles thought that was quite nice. Being called Teacher all the time created an inexplicable sense of distance.

Well, except during certain intimate moments.

"If it were me, I'd probably tell them that I'd written their actions into a story and was about to publish it in Athens. Completely true, with no embellishment whatsoever. And I could give them ninety percent of the money I made."

Mephistopheles added, "I mean ninety percent of the profits. The costs definitely have to be deducted first."

The three women stared at Mephistopheles for a long time without speaking. They only felt that what he planned to do was even more infuriating than Heracles's actions, enough to make people flee immediately.

Heracles was merely mocking them. Mephistopheles was prepared to expose everyone here and even make a profit off it!

"If you really did that, they'd probably want nothing more than to beat you to death," Atalanta said softly.

Mephistopheles spread his hands. "It's not like they can beat me."

Atalanta could not help mocking him when she heard that. "Where's that magician who kept saying he was weak? Aren't you pretending anymore?"

"There's no one else around anyway. At least before I start fighting them, I'm still weak. If my strength suddenly rises after the fight starts, that's perfectly normal."

Atalanta truly knew how powerful Mephistopheles was. Precisely because she had learned Mephistopheles's magic, she understood just how terrifying he was.

Thus, they returned to the ship and ate with Heracles. After waiting for a while, they saw everyone return to the ship under Jason's lead.

As for Jason, though he still could not bear to part with Hypsipyle, seeing the support in his beloved's eyes, he gritted his teeth, turned around, and shouted, "Set sail!"

Mephistopheles sat quietly at the bow, feeling the sea breeze. Medea was condensing fine threads from magical energy. Under her control, those threads were woven into garments.

Then, once Medea ended her control, those garments dispersed and became Ether in the air.

She was practicing her magical control, though she also seemed to be playing.

As a god, Artemis naturally had no need to practice such things. She walked curiously over to Mephistopheles and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm wondering why Theseus is here."

Artemis looked at Mephistopheles in confusion and replied naturally, "Because he was invited? And retrieving the Golden Fleece is an amazing quest. As a hero, of course he would come."

"I know that." Mephistopheles sighed. "It just feels like this is still very chaotic."

"Very chaotic?"

"The order of events is wrong." Mephistopheles shook his head. "Maybe I'm overthinking it. Don't mind me."

Artemis pursed her lips. "Something you can't tell me again?"

"Yeah, you're really smart."

"Hehe."

Seeing how easily the moon goddess could be coaxed into happiness, Mephistopheles relaxed. Then he rested his head directly on her thighs, feeling their soft touch as he considered the issue he had just thought of.

According to Heracles, Theseus had already completed his adventures. Yet according to the history Mephistopheles knew, along with various records corroborated by different texts, Theseus should still have been just a little brat at this point.

It was not until Medea and Jason fell out that Theseus went to Athens and accomplished the great feat of killing the Minotaur.

So normally, Theseus should never have joined the Argo...

But after thinking about it for a moment, Mephistopheles soon gave up dwelling on it. Type-Moon mythology had its own logic, even if he could not understand how that logic developed.

Rather than think about that, enjoying Artemis's thighs was the most important thing right now!

Another world, another timeline.

Japan, Fuyuki City.

A somewhat dejected man looked at the woman before him. He deeply loved this woman named Aoi Zenjou, but she was now married and known as Aoi Tohsaka.

He had always believed that she had chosen to be with the man named Tokiomi Tohsaka for happiness. But now, he realized that perhaps he had been wrong—or perhaps not.

Aoi Tohsaka truly loved Tokiomi Tohsaka, but it was also different. It seemed that she loved the sickly Tokiomi Tohsaka who would stop at nothing for his family, rather than a Tokiomi Tohsaka who would love her.

And that love surpassed even her love for her own children!

The outcome brought by such twisted love would most likely not be good. It might even bring tragedy...

Kariya Matou loved this woman and wanted to do something for her, but there was not much he could do now.

"Sakura is no longer my daughter or Rin's little sister. She... has gone to the Matou family..."

"Do you really not know why the Matou family wants a child who inherited a magus bloodline?"

"The head of the Tohsaka family decided to accept the request of the Matou family, our ancient allies. I have no room to offer an opinion."

"When I decided to marry into the Tohsaka family, when I decided to become a magus's wife, I had already prepared myself for such things."

"A family that has inherited a magus bloodline should not seek the happiness of an ordinary family."

"This is a matter between the Tohsaka family and the Matou family. It has nothing to do with you, who escaped the world of magi."

"If you meet Sakura, please treat her well. That child has always liked you very much."

The woman's words still echoed in his mind. No matter how resolute she had been earlier, in the end, she still hoped to give her child even the slightest bit of hope.

Kariya Matou pushed open the door he had not personally opened in a very long time. After escaping this twisted family for so many years, today was the first time he had pushed open this door.

And the old man he loathed stood not far away.

Mephistopheles Takes a Shortcut

"You failure, you actually dare to shamelessly appear before me." Zouken Matou, the head of the Matou family, looked at him with utter mockery. "I remember clearly telling you not to let me see that face of yours again!"

Kariya Matou did not get angry. He merely said coldly, "I heard you adopted the Tohsaka family's younger daughter."

Zouken Matou smiled. "You're quite well informed."

Kariya Matou's tone remained unchanged, as cold as ever. "You would go so far as to do this just to preserve the Matou family's magus genes?"

"Anyone else would be one thing, but you're questioning me?" Zouken Matou's tone was filled with ridicule. "Who do you think caused the Matou family to fall to this state? If you had obediently inherited the position of family head and the Matou family's secret arts, things would not have become so dire. It's all because of you..."

Before he could finish, Kariya Matou cut him off without any politeness. "Stop talking nonsense, vampire." His words were full of disgust and disdain, even mockery. "You only want the Holy Grail so that you can remain young and immortal, don't you?"

The mockery made the old man laugh again. He stood and began explaining what would happen next. "The sixty-year cycle will arrive next year, but the Matou family has no piece capable of participating in the Fourth Holy Grail War. You barely qualify. Someone like your brother cannot command a Servant.

"But even if we give up this war, we still have a chance at the next one sixty years later. Surely an outstanding magus can be born from the Tohsaka family's daughter's womb. As a womb, she has great potential."

Kariya Matou's expression did not change. He knew how disgusting this man was, and he understood the desires in his heart. Thus, he said, "As long as you obtain the Holy Grail, you won't need Sakura Tohsaka anymore, right?"

"What are you planning to do?"

"This is a deal, Zouken. I will bring the Holy Grail to the Matou family in this Holy Grail War. In exchange, release Sakura Tohsaka."

"What a joke. With no training whatsoever and only one year, do you think you can command a Servant?"

"You have a way, don't you? Such as the Worm Manipulation you specialize in."

Those words made Zouken Matou pause, then he laughed. He laughed happily, knowing that the man before him had taken the bait.

But he still wanted to torment him further.

"Unfortunately, you came too late."

It was a worm chamber, a place where insects were bred. Countless worms burrowed into the little girl's body. She looked so young, at an age when she should have been laughing, yet her eyes were already lifeless, with no reaction at all.

"For the first three days, she could still cry and scream from time to time. Starting from the fourth day, she could not even make a sound. This morning, I put her into the worm pit. I only wanted to see how long she could last, but after being ravaged by the worms for half the day, she's still breathing. It seems the Tohsaka family's material truly is irresistible."

Kariya Matou wanted to rush down and carry her out, but the old man stopped him.

"So, what will you do? This little girl has been thoroughly ravaged by worms from head to toe and is only one step away from breaking down. If you still want to save her after all that, I can consider it."

"Of course I want to save her!" Kariya Matou answered without the slightest hesitation.

But the old man's malice exceeded ordinary imagination. "However, until you produce results, Sakura's education will continue. I will still place my greatest bet on the next Holy Grail War."

It was both a statement and a threat.

"Still, if you truly obtain the Holy Grail, then this little girl will be useless. In that case, her education only needs to last one year."

"You won't go back on your word, will you, Zouken Matou?"

"First, serve as a breeding bed for the worms for a week. If you don't go mad and die, I'll acknowledge that you're serious."

Perhaps to show a little sincerity for the moment, Zouken Matou allowed the girl to leave the worm nest temporarily. Looking at the girl, who no longer showed any expression, Kariya Matou clenched his fists tightly. He walked up to her and bent down.

"Don't worry, Sakura. I won't let you be hurt again!"

But the girl could no longer feel anything. As though no one stood before her, she stared vacantly into the distance.

Yet Kariya Matou still smiled and gently stroked the girl's hair. Then he said, "You know, I've been to many places. And I bought a charm that was said to bring good luck."

As he spoke, his hands reached behind his neck, as though he were about to remove a necklace.

Then he truly removed a strange necklace and personally placed it around Sakura Matou's neck.

"My luck has been pretty good these past few years. I think it really works, so I'm giving it to you now. It will definitely bring you good luck!"

After Kariya Matou said that, he turned and left. He was going to the old man's worm nest to endure the worms' torment!

The girl lowered her head and looked at the necklace on her chest. It was a strange necklace, like an eyeball, like the eye of some bizarre creature.

Could this really bring her good luck? Abandoned by her sister, abandoned by her parents, forced to endure the worms' torture—would someone like her, who received no rescue even when she was nearly tortured to death, really still have good luck?

As Sakura Matou thought this, her little hand stroked the necklace in her hand, unwilling to let go.

A faint coolness flowed from the necklace, making her body, ravaged by the worms, feel slightly better.

At night, she lay quietly on the bed, resting for once.

"Perhaps they don't want me to die too quickly." Sakura Matou looked at the necklace hanging from her chest.

Though she had already lain down and taken off her clothes, she had kept the necklace on. The coolness from it was indeed constantly suppressing the pain in her body.

She felt that her body seemed to be recovering, as though she were about to become her former self again.

Then, she gradually fell asleep.

Sakura Matou had a dream, a very wondrous dream.

She dreamed that she had arrived in a strange place. It was completely dark here, and she could not see anything.

"That is nothingness, or you may call it the void." The voice that suddenly rang out was so gentle that it made her feel at ease.

Sakura Matou wanted to turn and look, but she could not see anything. Only then did she remember that it was completely dark here and that she could see nothing.

Then she saw flames. Blinding flames appeared from above and fell at tremendous speed, landing somewhere in the distance!

Everything was engulfed by dazzling light!

She felt as though something covered her eyes. She could see the light, yet it did not hurt her eyes.

"That is the birth of the universe. The world appeared at that very moment."

That voice continued explaining.

Sakura Matou looked behind her curiously. This time, she finally saw the figure behind her.