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

Two more enormous monsters emerged from the seabed, identical in appearance, identical in nature!

Two more Hydras!

Now, they were surrounded by three Hydras!

Piercing shrieks came from the sky as well. They were bizarre bird-men with women's upper bodies—the monsters known as Harpies!

There were countless of them, densely packed like dark clouds, blotting out the sky above everyone!

A dragon's roar rang out. A hundred-headed dragon appeared above the Harpies, its massive body exuding an overwhelming sense of pressure!

The moment they saw that dragon, no matter how heroic or fearless the people aboard the ship were, they could no longer endure it.

Fear spread through their hearts, like death itself descending upon them all!

Taking Action

At that moment, Mephistopheles became certain of one thing: something had definitely gone wrong with this adventure. Even if Mushroom had a screw loose in his head, no matter how deep that screw hole was, he shouldn't have written the age of Greek mythology like this!

With this lineup, unless the gods themselves intervened, the Argo would probably sink here!

Of course, that was assuming he wasn't here.

At that moment, a bizarre roar rose from the depths of the sea, a distinctly feminine voice!

All the monsters moved aside, as if welcoming their king!

It had a mountain-like body, a white female form, and enormous breasts grotesquely swollen to unnatural proportions, as though diseased!

Below those bizarre maternal features was something like an octopus head, and below that were two snake tails!

This monster was even much larger than the Hydras. Before it, the Hydras looked like infants standing before adults!

Perhaps doubling that difference would have been more accurate!

Everyone was stunned by the monster that had appeared. Their shock surpassed the combined shock caused by all the other monsters!

Even Artemis could no longer fully control her expression. She quietly spoke the monster's name!

"Echidna!"

When Mephistopheles heard Artemis's words, a thought flashed through his mind.

So it really was it!

Echidna, Typhon's wife, had birthed countless monsters together with Typhon and was known as the Mother of All Monsters!

All the monsters here had been born from her. Aside from the Harpies and the Hydras, that hundred-headed dragon was Ladon, guardian of the golden apples, who had later been slain by Heracles.

But Mephistopheles wasn't sure whether it was that very one. With so many Hydras already appearing, this dragon might have been something Echidna had just given birth to.

That was right. He could now be certain that the three Hydras that had suddenly appeared had also been born from Echidna, because the octopus-like head beneath Echidna slowly opened, and another monster emerged from within!

A monster with two dog heads and a snake tail!

It was a Two-Headed Hound!

Like Cerberus, it was one of Echidna's children!

As for why she hadn't given birth to a hellhound, Mephistopheles guessed it was because they were at sea. Ordinary dogs probably had difficulty fighting underwater.

Jason's expression turned extremely ugly. "I really want to say that I'll leave everything to you from here on out, but obviously, there's a huge problem with that..."

Even the strongest heroes had to admit that they had fallen into the direst of situations. In the most dangerous place, they had encountered the enemies they should never have met!

The ocean weakened their strength, but their enemies were unaffected!

Unless Poseidon appeared at this moment and bestowed his blessing upon everyone, allowing them to fight atop the water, there was no way to reverse this disadvantage!

The dragon opened its mouths. Flames gathered within those hundred draconic maws. It intended to burn the ship to ashes with its fire!

Once the ship was destroyed, they would truly have no chance to resist!

Mephistopheles sighed. He looked at Echidna in the distance, still functioning as a barracks that produced troops. He could feel her gaze, filled with hostility.

Hostility toward him!

He now understood why these things had appeared. The other side had clearly come specifically to block him!

"Because I killed her husband?"

Mephistopheles muttered softly. He gently patted Artemis, who was preparing to act, telling her not to move for now. Then he gently reassured Medea before taking out the gemstone from his robes.

"Perfect. Let's see whether this thing works."

As he spoke, Mephistopheles held the gemstone in his left hand and placed it against the left side of his body, roughly where his abdomen was.

Then he recited the incantation.

"9!"

Raging flames descended from the sky, a massive blaze capable of engulfing an entire city!

Twenty-seven heads spewed venom, seeking to break through the protective barrier surrounding the ship and poison everyone to death!

The Harpies screeched as wave after wave of sonic attacks struck at the group like invisible blades!

The Two-Headed Hound roared, opening its enormous mouths as it tried to bite through the Argo's defenses!

Even though everyone aboard the ship knew magic, even though they had given the vessel immense protection, cracks still appeared in the barrier under such attacks!

Those cracks were like a heavy hammer smashing against everyone's hearts!

No one doubted that once the barrier was breached, every one of them would be buried here!

Unless a miracle occurred!

Atalanta stared at the flames that had already engulfed the entire ship. The air grew hotter and hotter. She took a deep breath, feeling death draw near, yet she was strangely calm.

"Although Lady Artemis said I could try falling in love and getting married in the future, it looks like I won't have that chance... Honestly, I still haven't met anyone I could truly fall for..."

As Atalanta thought this, the image of the person who had taught her magic flashed through her mind. She could not help but shake her head.

"What am I thinking? That's impossible. Still, since we're all going to die anyway, what is he planning to do now?"

Thinking that, Atalanta turned to look into the distance. Then she saw that person holding a gemstone in his hand as he softly spoke a number.

"9!"

In the next instant, the world seemed to come to a standstill!

Then came a tide that rose from the sea out of nowhere!

The raging waves roared, transforming into a tornado-like torrent that swept toward the flames enveloping the ship!

The flames were extinguished, but the torrent did not disperse. The waves continued flying into the sky, accelerating faster and faster, growing more and more violent. As they flew, they transformed into spikes like arrows of ice crystals, blasting toward the hundred-headed dragon in the sky!

That was the power of the archangel Gabriel. Using the gemstone Artemis had helped create, Mephistopheles had used layered markings to solidify the concept of the moon, then used that concept to summon the archangel Gabriel's power. The attempt had succeeded!

Compared to the power of Gabriel he had previously summoned with his own magecraft, the power of the archangel Gabriel he had summoned this time was not only greater in quantity, but even easier to control.

He could now wield more power than before. Just as he was doing now, he could rely on Gabriel's power to unleash an incomparably exaggerated attack!

The ice crystals burst apart in the air, becoming a hundred arrows. Every one of them precisely pierced a dragon head. In an instant, all hundred heads were robbed of life. The dragon lost its life, fell from the sky, and crashed into the sea!

This sudden scene left everyone dumbfounded. All of them instinctively turned around to see who had acted, only to find Mephistopheles standing behind them, surrounded by faint light and dense magical power!

Jason froze. He had never expected the one to act would be Mephistopheles.

He had originally thought Mephistopheles was merely someone who knew a little prophecy but possessed little combat ability. Yet the current situation left him unable to stop his jaw from dropping.

What kind of terrifying combat strength was this? He had killed that mountain-sized dragon in a single strike!

And just look at Mephistopheles now. He wore an utterly relaxed expression, as though he had merely brushed dust from his clothes.

Only then did many people suddenly realize that they barely knew Mephistopheles at all. At most, they had exchanged greetings. They did not even know where he came from or why he had joined this adventure.

Heracles let out a sigh of relief. He knew that as long as Mephistopheles acted, they would definitely overcome this crisis.

In truth, he had not been all that nervous to begin with. He knew how many monsters were hidden aboard the ship. Whether it was Mephistopheles or Artemis, either could resolve this crisis.

The only concern was whether they would regard this as a trial for everyone and choose not to intervene.

Atalanta had watched Mephistopheles's entire process of casting magic. She had clearly studied under him before, yet as she watched this scene, she realized she could not understand it at all.

The only thing she could comprehend was that a powerful existence had descended here and become Mephistopheles's source of power. Then, under Mephistopheles's control, that power had transformed into the towering waves!

But slaying the dragon was not the end. Several more waves swept up from the sea, wrapping around the three Hydras. Then, in an instant, they froze. Blades of ice crystal pierced through the Hydras' bodies, one after another, penetrating every part of their insides and every blood vessel!

Even their heads were frozen in ice. Their immortal blood, brain matter, and everything else were frozen as well!

Their consciousnesses were frozen. Even though the Hydras' heads had not died, they could no longer have any effect, because they had not only forgotten how to restore themselves—they had even forgotten how to think.

The Harpies did not dare remain any longer and scattered in every direction. As for the pitiful Two-Headed Hound, it was swept into the waves that had frozen the Hydras and became an ice sculpture alongside them.

At that point, the only enemy left on the field was Echidna, the Mother of All Monsters!

Her abdomen was still producing monsters, but Mephistopheles had no intention of giving her that opportunity. He immediately raised his right hand. A book appeared in his hand, and as its pages opened, a powerful force emerged in midair.

It was violent lightning. A vast quantity of lightning descended from the sky, then gathered in Mephistopheles's hand!

Rin Tohsaka Falls into Self-Doubt

"I call upon the great Zeus, ruler of gods and mortals, king of the gods!

"Great Zeus of Mount Olympus, king of thunder and power, king of the gods!

"In the name of the king of the gods, roar, Thunder Spear!"

The lightning had originally been blue, but as the incantation was recited, it all turned golden. It was lightning representing Zeus, king of the gods—lightning that tore through space and shattered all things!

The pages vanished. In their place, Mephistopheles tightly gripped the Thunder Spear. He aimed at Echidna ahead and hurled it with all his might!

A newborn Hydra appeared, using its enormous body to block the lightning. But it was useless. The Hydra struck by the lightning directly disintegrated under that blow, becoming the most basic particles!

This was not the power of Zeus from this world, but the power of Zeus, Lord of Omnipotence!

Not long ago, this power had slain Typhon. Now, it once again faced Typhon's wife, the Mother of All Monsters!

The Thunder Spear did not slow in the slightest. It blasted directly into the giant maw that birthed monsters. Cracks appeared across Echidna's body, growing more and more numerous!

Golden electric light emerged from within those cracks. Even as Echidna's body continually healed itself, it was utterly useless before this power. Her wounds continued multiplying and worsening!

In the end, violent electricity erupted from within her body. Amid the endless electric light, every inch of Echidna's flesh was devoured, transformed into the most basic Ether, and scattered between heaven and earth!

Everything seemed to be over!

If not for the magical formula that erupted from Echidna's body at the very end, then everything really would have been over.

Seeing the mark of that gate, Mephistopheles was startled. He was very familiar with what that mark represented!

An abstract gate twisted into a circle. Then more and more spheres emerged from within it. Space and time twisted along with it at that moment!

This distortion was incredibly powerful. At that moment, time seemed to stop, and everyone's movements slowed until they barely changed at all.

Mephistopheles looked around and discovered that only Artemis could still react somewhat.

"W-what is that?!" She stared at the spherical existence and asked in a low voice.

She had already aimed an arrow at it and fired, but the arrow merely entered the sphere before disappearing without a trace.

Artemis frowned. "Is this a wormhole?!"

"It's a gate, and we have to deal with it quickly... Otherwise, this place will be swallowed whole!" Mephistopheles said as he looked at what he had on hand. He did have a way to close it, though the method was rather clumsy.

"Artemis, we may not be able to see each other for a while..." As Mephistopheles spoke, his entire body rose into the air.

Artemis was startled and hurriedly shouted, "What do you mean?!"

"I said we won't be able to see each other for some time. I'm not sure how long, but it seems this is a signal urging me to leave quickly..." Mephistopheles smiled, then looked at Medea, who could barely react at the moment. "Keep an eye on her for me. Don't let her do anything foolish..."

At that moment, Artemis understood what Mephistopheles intended to do.

"You're going inside to close that gate?!"

"Yes. I can sense the power within. You can't stop it, and neither can I completely stop it. The only possible method is to close it from the inside!"

As he spoke, Mephistopheles had already flown near the spherical region of space. He could feel the suction growing stronger and stronger. If he had not been holding himself in place, he would have been pulled inside long ago.

He looked at Artemis, who wanted to rush forward, and shook his head. Seeing his gesture, Artemis stopped and gritted her teeth. "I'll watch over her!"

"Then that's settled!" Mephistopheles smiled and entered the spherical space.