Shinji Matou At Your Service - Chapter 512: Going All Out

The highest grade of Mystic Eyes.

The Mystic Eyes by the Gorgon Medusa.

The ultimate form of petrifying Mystic Eyes, praised as impossible to replicate through magecraft: “Cybele.”

When these Mystic Eyes open, the world is drained of all color, leaving only shades of gray.

Only those with Magic Resistance can maintain their existence in this gray world. A-grade Magic Resistance grants immunity to petrification but imposes a heavy pressure effect, reducing all abilities by one rank. Those with B-grade must pass a resistance check to avoid petrification. Magic Resistance at C-grade and below results in unconditional petrification.

Undoubtedly, this is an extremely rogue ability.

In the past, countless heroes sought to defeat Medusa, including many renowned warriors. However, these warriors were turned into statues by Mystic Eyes before they could showcase their skills, dying in bitterness. Those who weren’t petrified saw their abilities drastically reduced and were ultimately crushed by the Gorgon.

Let’s look at the situation of those covered by the petrifying Mystic Eyes.

Phantasmal Puppet: No class, no Magic Resistance, unconditional petrification.

The army of golems entangled with the Phantasmal Puppet: No Magic Resistance, unconditional petrification.

Red Archer Atalanta: Magic Resistance level D, unconditional petrification.

Red Rider Achilles: Magic Resistance level C, unconditional petrification. It’s unclear whether it’s because simple petrification isn’t considered harm that Andreias Amarantos doesn’t activate.

This is why Shinji said, “If given a chance, he can kill Achilles”—Medusa, cursed by Athena, is no longer the beautiful goddess but a Gorgon monster devoid of divinity, thus not sealed by the “Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē” barrier.

However, due to considerations of hiding his identity, conserving strength, and not wanting to see a hero he admired die so miserably, he hadn’t used this ultimate trump card.

But now, to reclaim Justeaze, he has thrown all concerns aside, revealing all his cards—anyone in his way, no matter who will be killed without mercy!

Realizing the danger, Achilles and Atalanta used their incredible speed to hide at the corners of the corridor and behind the platform, respectively, barely avoiding the expanding gray world and the visual range of the Mystic Eyes.

This is the only way to cope with Cybele when Magic Resistance is insufficient. No matter how strong the petrification is, it remains a Mystic Eye—it can’t work outside its line of sight.

However, only Achilles and Atalanta could make such a response. Being from Greece, they could recognize the shield immediately and had the speed to react. Others either got petrified before recognizing it or recognized it but lacked the speed, eventually being engulfed and assimilated by the gray world.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Red Lancer Karna: The only one maintaining his color in the gray world. Although his Magic Resistance is the same as Achilles’ at C-grade, his Golden Armor reduces all interference to one-tenth, effectively multiplying his Magic Resistance by ten. Thus, the debuff only reduces his abilities by one-tenth of a rank.

This minor decrease doesn’t affect Karna’s immense power. Swinging his hands, his immortal blade shone like the first light of dawn, cutting through the gray world and striking the center of the shield, Medusa’s eyes.

Then, the spear’s shadows shattered the gray world into fragments, forcing Shinji to retreat repeatedly.

Facing Karna, who had perfected his Uncrowned Martial Arts, even with Chiron’s special training and wielding the divine shield and Serpent-Killer Scythe, Shinji struggled to defend.

Since he couldn’t defend, he chose not to. Attack met with attack!

Shinji, already filled with rage, had no intention of tangling with Karna any longer. He retracted the Scythe and swung a Golden Cudgel directly at Karna’s face, which was even paler than that of a Caucasian.

Seeing the signature weapon of Indra, the father of his archenemy Arjuna, and a deity with whom he had a complex history, Karna finally lost his usual composure. The highly compressed flames of the sun rose from his Golden Spear, clashing head-on with the golden lightning emanating from the weapon.

The divine might of the Sun God and the Thunder God swept through the entire corridor. This pair of ancient adversaries from the distant Age of Gods battled once more in the modern era, where mysteries had faded. This time, the victory did not go to the trickster Thunder God Indra but to the Sun God Surya, who had bestowed the gift of fire upon humanity.

“How did you come to possess Indra’s Vajra?”

Karna asked, deflecting the thunderbolt with his spear.

But Shinji was no longer in his original position. Seizing the moment when the solar flames and divine lightning were clashing, he had already bypassed Karna and continued deeper into the corridor, with the vampire Dracula following him.

There was no way Karna would let the two pass easily. He merged with his spear and began the pursuit.

However, the vampire was faster.

Still retaining the primary thoughts of Vlad III, the vampire knew that whatever this ever-cautious Assassin was planning, they now had to work together. Otherwise, reclaiming the Greater Grail would be impossible.

Compared to Achilles and Atalanta, who had retreated before the petrifying Mystic Eyes, Karna, who was unafraid of petrification, posed a greater threat to the Assassin. Thus, the vampire’s course of action was clear.

The vampire used his body as a springboard, launching wave after wave of supersonic stakes. In the confined corridor, the destructive power of these stakes was even more terrifying than his noble phantasm.

Under such a dense assault, even someone as strong as Karna couldn’t maintain his offensive and had to switch to defense, repeatedly shattering the stakes fired by the vampire.

On the other side, Achilles and Atalanta were not idle either. They launched a coordinated attack.

Achilles charged forward, holding the Shield of the World, while Atalanta closely followed with her Bow of the Heavens.

Before the small world created by the World Shield, even the highest grade of petrifying Mystic Eyes was ineffective. Under the shield’s protection, Atalanta could shoot arrows without worrying about being petrified. This was the only offensive strategy Achilles could think of.

Unfortunately, the petrifying Mystic Eyes’ ineffectiveness did not mean Shinji was out of options. His goal was never to fight the Red Faction Servants; he had always intended to find the Greater Grail first. Whether to reclaim it or start a chaotic battle to quickly complete the ritual could be decided later.

Using his winged sandals, he flew over Achilles and Atalanta without engaging them directly.

The vampire followed suit, transforming into an invisible mist and gliding along the ceiling.

The three Red Faction Servants, of course, wouldn’t allow the two to leave so easily. They immediately regrouped into a three-person team.

Thus, the Holy Grail War finally had its first true team battle!