Transformation

'He's... dead?' Medusa kept repeating this question inside her mind. After processing her words and the cause of his death, an unprecedented swirl of emotions welled up inside her. The series of self-blame, hate, rage, and grief left her in the bottom of abyss heartbroken.

"No..." Refusing to believe what Teny just said, she desperately looks for reasons that could turn around such a conclusion, "No! That isn't true..."

Teny looked back to Medusa who is making a desperate face and was taken aback, "Hmm? What's this? Why are you so desperate now?"

"No... He isn't dead... It's Kisuke after all... He could walk out of the Dimensional Gap just fine..." Medusa ignored her and kept muttering to convince herself, but it's not very successful. For one, Kisuke never showed her any technique or ability that could help him survive the Dimensional Gap. Second is she knew how terrifying that emptiness is due to that is the place where she would suffer for the next three generations after she dies.

"...Wait..." Teny inspected her more closely with gleaming eyes, "Could it be that... you fell in love with that guy?"

"...What?" Medusa unconsciously muttered.

A few moments later, Teny started shaking and laughed out loud, "Ahahahaha!!! Now, this is the best! Who would have thought that a man-hater like you would fell in love with some random man!?" Alongside with her laughter and mockery, she started seeing a bit of light to achieve her goal. She didn't think that Medusa would react greatly after saying that some random man died but immediately used this chance to aggravate her emotions more. If she's successful at drawing 'that' out, Athena would take over and she would only harvest her bounty later, "What? Can't believe that he just died? That guy isn't even a Sacred Gear user. And to survive that empty space as a human, you have to at least have a Longinus. And Longinus is impossible to find just anywhere~."

"No... Kisuke can survive... He can find a way to survive..." Medusa refuted her words but her voice is minuscule. Even she doesn't have much confidence.

'How annoying... Well, it's not like I have to tell the truth. Even if he survives, it's impossible to return to this space with Athena's olive tree present.' With a large smile, Teny continued speaking, "Hmm... Let's say that he did survive..."

"Then..." Medusa found a bit of strength and stood up and waited for Teny to finish her words.

"Then Athena would finish the job~. He is, after all, an outsider that knows far too much~. Erasing him is just a matter of fact."

"..." Medusa stared at her blankly. Her mind went empty trying not to accept those words.

"You could say that because he got involved with you, he died miserably~." Teny hammered the final nail in the coffin.

Medusa's head dropped down and they couldn't see her reaction anymore, 'What? It's not enough? Should I insult that guy more?'

Just as Teny was about to say more, they noticed that the air around Medusa started to change and black and golden scales started to appear on her limbs while her long purple hair started to form snakeheads, "Everyone! To the olive tree!" Teny shouted as she hurriedly retreated towards the olive tree with the cloaked figure. Theodore dragged Elexa who still trying to resist so he knocked her out and signaled her mother to follow suit. Petter not far behind them reached the olive tree first and golden specks of dust suddenly burst out of the olive tree.

Just as they retreated, the silent House of Harpe suddenly made their move. The father and son duo rushed towards the unmoving Medusa while both of them is carrying a large Harpe, "Hahaha!!! Idiots letting this chance pass by! The House of Harpe will take their victory with this replica of the legendary Harpe!" Dennis shouted with great vigor. His father and he are already waiting for this chance to snatch a kill. This replica of their House's Harpe has 10% ability of the original. It's not enough to kill an immortal but it's sharp enough to cut almost everything. This is the trump card they're hiding all this time. Even if Medusa uses all of her chains to block the Harpe, she would only be cut along with her weapons.

Thinking that their victory is in their hands they rushed, using all of their strength for a single strike. It's not like they didn't notice Medusa's changes but they were confident that they could end her with a single slash.

However, before they could even reach her, Medusa's hair, in the form of a snake, opened its mouth towards them. Both Dennis and his father couldn't react when a beam of purple light suddenly went through them. Next moment, the spectators witness them tumbling down... headless. Even the blade of the Harpe was destroyed by the purple beam.

Everyone reeled in shock, including Teny as she knew from the information she has how good and durable is that replica actually is. With their combined effort, they wouldn't be able to nick its blade. But in an instant, it was destroyed by a seemingly casual attack of Medusa.

"What's that!?" Theodore asked out loud. Even though they can feel Athena's protection from the olive tree. They can't tell if it is enough to actually defend from that purple laser beam. Seeing Medusa's transformation, Theodore got a clue, "Is this your goal!?" He directed this question towards Teny.

Now that she's under the olive tree, Teny heaved a sigh of relief, "Yep~. I didn't think that I would succeed though after the initial failure. Now we know that the monster is actually in love~. That's hilarious~."

"Why are you still so calm!? Those idiots just got instantly killed! Aren't we also in danger here!? Let's leave now!!!" Theodore shouted. Petter nodded from the side having the same suggestion.

"No need~. Athena would be here soon. And this olive tree is enough to block her attacks for quite some time. I already said it earlier, right? You can't leave. Even I can't survive in the Dimensional Gap for more than a minute. Let's just wait here and watch the show. Later, I'll give you some consolation prize when I get rewarded later."

'This crazy bitch... How did she become Elexa's sister?' Theodore silently thought. If he were to know everything else that Teny did in the shadows, he'll question if she's still a human.

They all witnessed Medusa's strange transformation. Medusa grew a golden snake tail with a black underside on her backside and her limbs and sides of the neck got covered by golden scales with black tint on all of her hands and feet On her head, five snakes formed from her hair which is black in color with red outlines. Her attire is still the same tattered maid uniform which gave her an alluring look despite her monstrous appearance.

Medusa looked up and towards her hateful enemies with two streaks of tears on her face while wearing a crazed smile. Her left hand is covering her chest, more specifically, the pendant that Kisuke gave her. Despite losing most of her rationality after her transformation, she still wanted to subconsciously protect it.

"Die!" Medusa suddenly shouted and all of the snakes on her head opened their mouths and shoot out laser beams towards the group huddling around the olive tree.

"Crap!!!" Theodore held Elexa tightly ready to dodge any time if the lasers come closer to him and her. But outside of his expectation, the beams of the purple light curve after reaching the olive tree's influence diverting it towards outside leaving them unharmed.

Seeing this, Medusa's crazed smile change into an unfathomable rage and kept attacking, "Die! Die! Die!" But all of her attacks were diverted away, making Medusa rage even more.

Hitting the limit of her patience Medusa suddenly cast large scale magic without preparations, "Thousand Demon Eyes, release.

"I will return unto you your curse. Be melted down.

"Pandemonium Cetus! Fuhahahahahaha!"