The Petrifying Evil Eye. I believe everyone who knows Medusa through mythology is familiar with her legend.
Anyone who looks upon Medusa's face will turn to stone, and this is true for Medusa in the Rider class as well.
Although the rank of her Evil Eye has slightly decreased due to class limitations, it still maintains an [A+] level.
The moment they were gazed upon by the Evil Eye, Mana and Tokisaki Kurumi's bodies began to petrify. In just a few seconds, Mana's body had completely turned to stone.
"Mana!"
Seeing Mana turn to stone, Shiori cried out in alarm, reaching out to touch her.
"I advise you not to touch her, or any missing parts of her body will be an irreparable damage."
A clear, cold voice came. Hearing that doing so would harm Mana, Shiori stopped her movement and looked at Medusa.
Although Kurumi was also hit by the Evil Eye, she escaped the petrification command through the power of Fourth Bullet. However, she dared not look at Medusa; with just a glance, she almost turned to stone like Mana.
"You are very lucky. During this time that Master has fallen into a coma, I will be in control of Master's body. If it were anyone else who came out, you would probably all be dead by now."
Medusa twirled the dagger in her hand. Although she wasn't wearing an eye mask, looking directly into her eyes wouldn't turn one to stone when she wasn't using her Evil Eye ability.
If another heroic spirit were to control Inaba Tsukiyo's body, the entire Amamiya City would pay the price in a severe case, and in a minor case, everyone present would die.
She merely petrified those who had harmed Inaba Tsukiyo this time, which was the lightest possible outcome.
Oh, I almost forgot about the barrier.
When this barrier is fully activated, humans inside the barrier will rapidly dissolve.
However, doing so would surely incur Inaba Tsukiyo's blame, so Medusa did not intend to fully activate this barrier. Instead, she just wanted the people of Amamiya City to take a nap before she finished teaching a lesson to those who wanted to harm Inaba Tsukiyo.
"Master? Who are you? What happened to Mana? Why did Mana become like this?"
"Because she looked into my eyes, she was petrified. It's that simple. Although it's not something glorious, you should have heard my legend in some stories."
That inglorious life was not something worth singing about.
However, when introducing herself to strangers, it was better to use these legends to help the other party get to know her.
"My name is Medusa."
"Medusa? The Gorgon from Greek mythology?!"
Shiori immediately thought of Medusa from Greek mythology, the legend stating that anyone who looked into Medusa's eyes would turn into a stone statue.
Mana's situation was exactly like this; she turned into a stone statue because she gazed into Medusa's eyes.
"Medusa... How could someone from mythology appear!"
Kotori, in the Bridge, heard Medusa's words and stood up from the Commander's seat in disbelief, looking at Medusa on the screen.
"Calm down, Commander. Legend says that anyone who looks into Medusa's eyes turns to stone, and that's exactly what happened to Mana."
Murasame Reine explained from the side, but she looked at the petrified Mana, her right hand clenched, her eyes becoming extremely serious.
Kotori, too worried about Shiori, didn't notice Murasame Reine's state, but instead looked anxiously at Shiori on the screen.
Even if Shiori possessed her power, facing Kurumi, who wanted to devour her, and Medusa, who could turn people into stone statues, it couldn't be considered safe no matter how she thought about it.
Kotori, not wanting anything to happen to her dearest sister, struggled for a moment before finally making up her mind.
"Hmm, since you understand my situation, I don't need to specifically introduce myself. I remember you are Itsuka Shiori, aren't you? You didn't attack Master, so I won't make things difficult for you. You just need to stand aside and watch how I teach a lesson to this person who wants to harm Master."
Medusa looked at Kurumi. This time, the Kurumi who wanted to harm Inaba Tsukiyo was mainly her Original Body.
The Kurumi who first met Inaba Tsukiyo was her Original Body. Although the Kurumi that Inaba Tsukiyo just protected was a clone, it was undeniable that Inaba Tsukiyo considered Kurumi a friend.
However, Kurumi disregarded Inaba Tsukiyo's kindness and wanted to use Inaba Tsukiyo's unique characteristics to make her an eternal tool for absorbing time, which Medusa could not accept.
"Wait a minute! Miss Medusa! Can you lift Mana's petrification! She's still a child, can you forgive her!"
Before Medusa and Kurumi started fighting, Shiori came before Medusa, grabbing her wrist and pleading.
"...I must say, you are truly courageous, human. However, as Master's friend, I won't do anything to you. It's just that, I cannot fulfill your request to lift her petrification."
Shaking her head, Medusa couldn't undo the petrification on Mana. Although she had the ability to petrify people, she didn't have the ability to un-petrify those she had turned to stone.
"How could this be... Then just now... What about that ability just now? That ability to heal people, that ability can restore Mana to normal, right!"
"Theoretically, yes, it can. But I don't think Medea would heal this person, because she harmed Master. Not letting her die completely is already our benevolence."
"So don't hinder me from teaching this fellow a lesson, or even if Master cares about you a lot, I won't show mercy."
Shiori was thrown aside, and Medusa tossed the dagger in her hand.
Kurumi easily dodged the dagger's attack, but the chain connected to the dagger, under Medusa's control, moved like a flexible snake, continuously attacking Kurumi from various tricky angles.
Even if Kurumi summoned clones from other time points to protect herself, she couldn't defend against Medusa's controlled chains. Their combat experience difference was too great.
"The First Bullet!"
Unable to merely defend, Kurumi, after applying The First Bullet to herself, rushed towards Medusa at a speed close to instantaneous movement.
As Kurumi launched her attack, numerous Kurumis appeared from the surrounding shadows, all raising their weapons and firing at Medusa.
Facing the vast number of bullets, Medusa simultaneously used her dagger to deflect them and moved agilely among the bullets with her flexible body.
Like a graceful dance, Medusa could clearly see every bullet fired at her and dodged them.
Her [Agility: A] was not a joke. Although Medusa didn't have a one-hit kill method, she hadn't yet seriously dealt with Kurumi, not even using her noble phantasm.
While dodging attacks, Medusa also approached Kurumi.
Whenever she got close to a clone, she would deal with those clones blocking her way.
Although her Strength was only D, her inherent skill [Monstrous Strength: B] could increase her Strength. Even steel bars, Medusa could destroy.
Tokisaki Kurumi was powerful because she possessed an Angel that controlled time, but knowing Kurumi's abilities, dodging Kurumi's attacks would allow one to defeat Kurumi.
Kurumi's Original Body was finally hit by Medusa, and she fell heavily to the ground, struggling to get up.
Medusa looked indifferently at Kurumi on the ground. The surrounding clones had already been dealt with. Before Kurumi could use any other means, Medusa had to deal with this fellow.
"Come forth! Pegasus!"
A pure white horse with wings appeared before Medusa. Legend says this phantom beast was born from Medusa's blood.
Medusa rode Pegasus to the high school, gazing down at Kurumi below, then controlled Pegasus to dive towards the ground at an extremely fast speed.
"Bellerophon," this was Medusa's greatest attack method, launching an assault on enemies on the ground at speeds of 400 to 500 kilometers per hour, sweeping through a large area of enemies.
As for Shiori still being nearby, Medusa didn't care.
She had already warned Shiori to leave quickly, and she had controlled the noble phantasm's attack range; as long as Shiori was outside this range, she wouldn't be attacked.
If Shiori was accidentally hit by her noble phantasm, it could only be blamed on her bad luck.
Just as Pegasus was about to hit Kurumi, Shiori suddenly rushed out from the side, using her small body to shield Kurumi, seemingly wanting to take Medusa's attack in her place.
Shiori's action was undoubtedly like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, but she did it anyway, doing something that seemed very foolish to others.
However, Medusa did not stop Pegasus. If Shiori wanted to be a hero, then she could go ahead and be one.
What Medusa hated most were these people who wanted to be heroes.
"Camael!"
Just then, scorching flames struck Pegasus, who was diving. The powerful impact changed Pegasus's flight path, diverting the attack that was originally meant for Kurumi far away.
"Boom!!"
A violent tremor came from the ground, and the area where Pegasus crashed was leveled, everything around it completely vanished, leaving a missing patch in the forest.
Kurumi and Shiori looked up at where the attack on Medusa had originated.
Kotori, clad in a pink Spirit Dress, with sparks fluttering around her, floated in mid-air like a fairy.
"Ko... Kotori?"
Shiori looked at Kotori in disbelief. So many things had happened today; she felt like she had experienced more shocking moments today than in her entire life.
"Honestly, I didn't expect to have to make an appearance in the end. You really like to cause trouble, Shiori."
Kotori landed, holding a giant axe wreathed in flames. She looked at Medusa, who had returned on Pegasus, a ferocious look flashing in her eyes.
"Now then~ Let our war begin."
At the same time, Origami, who had been trapped in the Imaginary Space by Inaba Tsukiyo earlier, witnessed Kotori's transformation into a Spirit.
Her entire body engulfed in flames, just like the great fire in Amamiya City years ago.
"Efreet!!!"
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