Starting in Type-Moon, but with A Certain Magical Index Magic Chapter 9

"Wait a second, would people be shocked that Heracles and I had this kind of promise, or would they be shocked that I actually knew Heracles from the Age of Gods, then mistake me for some ancient fossil and say I was robbing the cradle?!"

Clearly, someone had already set in stone the fact that he would find himself a young, beautiful girl in the future.

"Wait a moment, this potion needs to simmer for a little while longer." Medea spoke with an extremely serious expression. At that moment, she looked like a professor conducting an experiment, carefully watching every step and striving to avoid the slightest mistake.

Finally, after everyone had remained quiet and waited for around ten minutes, Medea happily poured the medicinal liquid from the apparatus into a cup and handed it to Heracles.

"Drink this. Once you do, your madness will be cured," Medea said. "You have to drink it all in one go without any hesitation. That is the only way to maximize its effect!"

Heracles looked at the potion in the cup. The green liquid was incredibly viscous and gave off a pungent odor. Just smelling it inspired a kind of fear—the fear of terrible food.

Still, after hesitating for several seconds, Heracles opened his mouth and drained the potion in one gulp.

He swallowed the potion with his eyes closed, then revealed a surprised expression.

"It actually tastes pretty good!"

"It tastes good?!" Mephistopheles cried. "That thing tastes good?!"

Medea walked over in displeasure and pinched the flesh at Mephistopheles's waist, protesting, "This potion only smells bad. It actually tastes good!"

Heracles nodded as well. "It really is good. Miss Medea is right. To me, it tastes like a drink made from grape juice mixed with water. The flavor is faint, but it really does taste like grapes."

"It tastes like grapes, but that pungent smell..." Mephistopheles shook his head. He could only say that this kind of potion was truly hard for him to accept.

Medea snorted unhappily, then said to Heracles, "Now we wait a few days. If it does not flare up again over the next few days, that will prove your madness has truly been cured."

"Mm. In that case, I will have to trouble you all over the next few days." As Heracles spoke, he looked toward his sister. Artemis merely smiled in his direction without showing any inclination either way, making it difficult for him to judge whether the potion truly worked.

"Enough of that. Heracles hunted a huge wild boar today, so we can feast tonight!" Mephistopheles said with a grin. Heracles patted his chest as well. "I'll deal with the prey. You can rest for a while first."

As someone who had traveled and adventured everywhere since his youth, Heracles was highly experienced at preparing ingredients.

However, it was clear that they would not be having dinner today, because at that moment, a woman appeared in Heracles's courtyard.

Artemis froze when she saw that person. Heracles was stunned as well, then immediately said respectfully, "Greetings, great goddess Athena."

"There is no need to be so nervous. I came here for you, Heracles." Athena looked at Heracles and slowly said, "Disaster has arrived once more. The being that destroyed civilizations in the past has awakened again. Its monsters are advancing toward Mount Olympus, and the gods need your help!"

Heracles said solemnly, "To help the gods and protect this world is my duty!"

After saying that, Athena looked toward Artemis. "Artemis, it is time to return. Monsters born from Sephar's fragments—the giants known as Gigantes—are coming toward us. We need to fight them!"

Artemis's identity was exposed at that moment. Medea had already known who she was, so she was not overly surprised. She merely expressed her respect to the goddess according to proper etiquette. Megara, however, stood there in stunned silence for quite a while. She had never imagined that the gentle girl who had come into her home was actually the moon goddess.

She hurriedly bowed respectfully to the moon goddess and Athena, not daring to say anything more.

She knew that her husband had to leave, to take part in this war that already sounded so grand!

Following the oracle, Athena had originally intended to leave directly after finding Heracles, but someone called out to stop her.

"Please wait, Goddess Athena."

Athena looked at that mortal—though he was a mortal, he was also an otherworldly visitor: Mephistopheles.

The gods had noticed him long ago, but they had not paid that mortal much attention. Only gods like Artemis, who could never sit still and were always looking for fun, would specifically go down to meet him.

"What is it, mortal?" Athena asked.

"I hope you will allow Medea and me to take part in this war as well!" Mephistopheles said with a smile.

Athena was stunned by those words. Not only Athena—Medea was stunned as well.

"Mephistopheles, what are you thinking? You want to take part in a war between gods?!" Medea asked softly.

Mephistopheles nodded. "This is an excellent opportunity. I can test my magic, and you can experience enough battle to gain more experience."

"Gain more experience?" Medea blinked, unable to understand why he was so eager for her to improve her combat experience.

"This is an incredibly rare opportunity. Those are giants born from the monsters that nearly destroyed the entire Age of Gods thousands of years ago. Trust me, this will help you tremendously!" Mephistopheles smiled, his face full of confidence. "And you can rest easy. You will not be in danger, because I will protect you!"

The moment those words were spoken, Medea's face turned bright red. She lowered her head shyly. Her mind went fuzzy, and all thoughts of how to persuade Mephistopheles to give up vanished. She merely gave a soft, "Mm."

Artemis's eyes widened, and her mouth formed an O large enough to fit an egg inside.

Then she nodded excitedly and whispered, "That's right, just like that. Be more proactive!"

At that moment, she was clearly filled with the enthusiasm of someone watching a prime-time romance drama.

Athena was the first to calm down. She said solemnly, "Human, I know your identity is not simple, but remember this: Heracles was summoned because he possesses the power of a god and the body of a human, allowing him to wield greater power. As for you, I can only say that if you care about your life, do not join so casually."

Mephistopheles smiled and shook his head. "Please let me join. I do not believe those Gigantes can pose any threat to me. And I believe Goddess Hecate will be very pleased as well, because she will finally get to see my secret."

Seeing that he still insisted, Athena could only nod. She had already warned him. Since he remained so determined, she had no intention of continuing to persuade him.

Thus, Athena used magic to take them to their destination. Magic directly cast by a goddess was indeed extraordinary. It was as though they were wrapped in something like light, shooting into the distance like meteors.

While they flew, Artemis asked quietly, "You are not planning to use that light sword of yours, are you?"

"I plan to try it, but not just the light sword. I want to test more things." Mephistopheles's expression was natural. Artemis said, "That magic of yours is indeed powerful, but the Gigantes are remnants of Sephar, so they are still very strong. Be careful not to engage them in close combat. Your body is only that of an ordinary human, after all."

"I'll be careful."

By then, Medea had recovered somewhat from her dazed state. She hurriedly asked in a low voice, "Mephistopheles, how should I fight later?"

"Just pick off stragglers."

"Pick off stragglers?" Medea froze.

Mephistopheles nodded. "Yeah, just pick off stragglers. Find whichever one is about to die, then hit it hard and kill it."

Medea looked utterly puzzled. "Will that be useful? Can it increase combat experience?"

"Of course it can. Quickly identifying opponents you can successfully kill, then swiftly finishing off those who are dying but can still move and cause destruction, preventing them from doing further damage—that is experience in itself. It also tests your eyesight and judgment."

Mephistopheles spoke with great seriousness. He even began giving Medea advice. "You can continuously gather magical energy and keep chanting spells, stacking their power. Once you spot a target, directly smash it with the magic you have charged up!"

Besides her own magic, Medea also possessed Authority obtained from Hecate. If she used that Authority, she would certainly be able to harm the Gigantes. However, Mephistopheles's request was clearly for Medea to use her own magic rather than divine Authority.

Of course, he would not tell Medea that if she killed several Gigantes this way, then when she became a Heroic Spirit in the future, she would most likely gain a special attack against Sephar.

She might even gain special attacks against Divinity or enemies of the planet. In any case, since Mephistopheles still had not figured out how such targeted traits were obtained, all he could do was join every major event he could and see whether he could piece something together.

Not to mention that Medea, having left her name in this story, would surely become stronger in the future and be less subject to the gods' manipulation.

Athena saw the exchange between Artemis and Mephistopheles. Although Artemis was surprised by Mephistopheles's request to join the battle, she was not worried in the slightest. Noticing this, Athena began to form a few guesses.

She walked over and asked, "Artemis, does that person, Mephistopheles, possess some special ability?"

"A special ability? Hmm, I have seen him use a spell for cooking!" Artemis said with a grin, but her answer made Athena frown.

"So it is only cooking magic?"

"He really likes using that spell to cook. He makes teppanyaki with it, and it tastes quite good. I like it!" Artemis continued.

Athena was, after all, the goddess of wisdom. She sensed that Artemis was concealing something in her words, so she changed her question.

"Is that spell very powerful?"

"It is very powerful. I do not think many spells can compare to that special magic in terms of power." Artemis indeed answered what Athena wanted to know.

Hearing that answer, Athena was finally somewhat reassured. However, she looked once more at Mephistopheles, who was talking with Medea, and fell into thought.

The oracle mentioned only Heracles, but these two suddenly want to join... Perhaps I should have gone to ask Apollo before leaving. He would surely know something...

War of the Giants

Phlegra Plain, the place where the gods fought the Gigantes.

The vast plain was so immense that even giants a hundred meters tall appeared tiny upon it.

These monsters born from Sephar's corpse were raising torches and enormous boulders, hurling them toward distant Mount Olympus.

Not only that, they had even dragged over three mountains, intending to stack them together into something like steps so they could climb the towering Mount Olympus.

With Athena's magic, everyone finally arrived at the place and saw those giants in the distance frantically attacking the gods.

"Watch your own safety. Do not get too close. On this battlefield, the gods may not have the time to protect you."

Athena reminded Mephistopheles and Medea once more. Light flashed around her body, and she transformed from her original appearance into a warrior goddess clad in armor and holding a spear and shield, charging toward the battlefield.

Heracles had also drawn his weapon. He let out a thunderous battle roar to announce his arrival, then charged into the battlefield as well.

Artemis took out her bow and arrows. Drawing the bowstring, she fired. Under her control, the arrow became a silver meteor and flew straight toward a giant!

The gods, who no longer possessed physical bodies, could not display the science-fiction-like attacks they once wielded. What they used was magic, techniques that manifested their Authority through their connection to the Root.

The gods' attacks were not necessarily fully effective. As Artemis's arrow approached its target, the giant suddenly swung the massive stone in its hand. With a roar, it knocked the arrow off course. The arrow crashed heavily into the ground, blasting an enormous crater into the earth.

In the distance, Hecate raised her torch high. Blazing flames burned within it, roaring as they swept toward the giants. Yet intense magical fluctuations appeared around the giants' bodies as well, followed by crashing waves that surged toward the flames. Water and fire collided, falling into a stalemate.

The gods might have been powerful, but although they displayed their strength on this battlefield, the Gigantes were equally difficult to deal with. Their bodies seemed to possess overwhelming resistance to such attacks. Up to that point, not a single giant had been eliminated.

But soon, that disadvantage was reversed by one person.

As Heracles charged into the battlefield, he raised his weapon and smashed it into a giant's knee with incomparably violent force. His attack broke through the giant's defenses at that moment, dealing a crushing blow directly to its knee.

As the giant howled in pain, Heracles immediately leaped backward, drew his bow, and fired. This time, he aimed for its eye!

The arrow shot precisely into the giant's eye, piercing its eyeball and plunging into its brain!

As the giant's eye was pierced, the mysterious power surrounding its body began to recede. Seizing the opportunity, Zeus summoned his lightning and struck down fiercely.

"Boom!"

Dazzling lightning flashed between heaven and earth. The power of Divinity surged through the wound into the giant's body, then erupted from within and completely destroyed its flesh. After a long battle, the first dead giant had finally appeared.

That discovery instantly reassured the Greek gods, who had been under tremendous pressure. As long as these creatures could be killed, everything would be manageable!

Mephistopheles and Medea stood to the side, watching the giants in the distance. He found their origins somewhat amusing.

Well, damn. So what should have been the Titans' revenge became Sephar's revenge here. This mythology has really changed a lot.

As he thought that, he said to Medea beside him, "Build a Temple and use it as a gun emplacement. You will not need to worry about any giants getting close!"

Temples existed in many forms of magic, but the Temple Mephistopheles used was completely different from the Temple Medea used.

Perhaps both contained characteristics such as "territory" and "defense," but whether in the way they were cast or the way they operated, they were entirely different.

"Be careful. These giants' outer skin is armor against civilization. It has extremely high resistance against magic, divine spells, and the like. If Heracles had not used his own strength to directly break through that layer of defense, it would have been very difficult for us to truly kill even one giant."

Artemis warned them from the side, then drew her bow again. This time, she aimed at a giant charging toward Heracles.

Artemis knew very well that her attack would most likely be ineffective, but she only wanted to draw its attention.

After all, these creatures were not the original Sephar. Although their resistance to civilization was incredibly high, sufficiently powerful force could still break through that layer of protection. That was why the giants dodged divine attacks or used other methods to weaken them.

Sure enough, with her attack, the giant assaulting Heracles had no choice but to turn and deal with Artemis's arrow. Seizing that chance, Heracles struck again. This time, he slammed his weapon viciously into the giant's toe!

With just one blow, the giant's toe was smashed completely inward. Its nail cracked apart at once, exposing a large expanse of soft tissue.

Medea had already begun establishing her Temple territory. She continuously cast spells, embedding every magical formula derived from Hecate's Authority into the surrounding area. She isolated the entire region, turning it into a fortress that could accelerate her spellcasting and even shield her from attack.

After finishing all of that, she looked at Mephistopheles with concern. "Be careful yourself!"

"Don't worry, I'll be careful!" Mephistopheles nodded, then raised his right hand. As magical energy surged through his body, a light sword appeared in his right hand—a light sword clearly shaped like a two-handed blade.

Then he gripped the sword with both hands and aimed at a giant in the distance.

Then, its power was released!

"Excalibur!!!"

A dazzling torrent of light became a flood, sweeping toward the distant giant. Violent magical energy became a hurricane, crushing everything around it along the way!

This was the ultimate torrent of magical energy, the final weapon forged from the power of the planet and the sorrowful wish of the species known as humanity!

At that moment, all the gods of Olympus stopped moving. They looked toward the place where that pillar of light had appeared, revealing expressions of disbelief.

"That is the Star Sword! The holy sword of the stars!" Zeus said solemnly. Though he tried his best to keep his voice steady, he could not conceal the shock within it.

"He is a wielder of the holy sword of the stars?!" Athena's eyes widened as she stared at Mephistopheles, completely unable to believe that this person possessed the strongest weapon forged by the planet.

Apollo's gaze was somewhat unfocused. He looked as though he were admiring a work of art. Proficient in prophecy, he had long foreseen certain things, but he had never expected it to be so beautiful.

Yes, beautiful. That torrent of light was like a river of stars, tearing through heaven and earth!

Ares, Hera, and the other gods all revealed astonished expressions. They had originally believed that Heracles would be the key to this battle, but another human had suddenly appeared—and that human had produced the strongest weapon that had slain Sephar in the past!

Artemis blinked. She knew what Mephistopheles's magic was, but the current scene still astonished her. That light sword not only possessed the traits of the holy sword of the stars, but also pure, immense destructive power and an enormous range. Combined, those three qualities had become a weapon for exterminating giants!

The giant swallowed by the torrent of light could not even resist. It was directly consumed by the flood and turned into fundamental particles.

As for the giants grazed by the torrent, their protective outer skin against civilization was torn apart one after another, exposing the vulnerable regions beneath.

Medea had kept Mephistopheles's words in mind the entire time. Seeing this, she immediately controlled her magic bolts and fired them out.