Chapter 141: A Second Path

The **「Idol Worship」** theory originates from the **Toaru** (A Certain Magical Index) universe. Its core idea is that as long as there is similarity, it can have an effect. For example, the **「Saints」** in that world possess **「Stigmata」** and become **「Saints」** because they share certain traits with Jesus.

Koyanskaya's existence undoubtedly opened up a path of transformation for Li Mo. This was the second path of advancement he had encountered, distinct from the uncertain path of the **「Divine Eye」**. The prospects of this path were clear: becoming a **「Beast」**. The level of an **Evil of Humanity** was not weak by any means. The only downside was that walking this path would make him a target of the **Counter Force**.

But so what?

Can the **Counter Force** of the **Type-Moon** universe cross multiverses to punish me? Are you some kind of international police?

The significance of this path was extraordinary. The more paths to transcendence he had, the more options he would have in the future.

The only trouble was how to imitate **Tamamo-no-Mae**. However, there were ways to solve this problem. **Tamamo-no-Mae**, the white-faced, golden-furred nine-tailed fox, was one of Japan's three great yokai. At its core, one of her attributes was that of a fox. Li Mo had the **「White Fox Bloodline」** in his possession, and with the help of magecraft, it wasn't impossible to transform himself into a fox.

Secondly, **Tamamo-no-Mae** had a deep connection with **Amaterasu**, the Sun Goddess, meaning she was also associated with the **「Sun」**. Li Mo possessed the **「Sun Breathing」** technique, which could loosely tie him to this connection.

**「Sun Breathing」** was a breathing technique with immense destructive power against demons. In the past, demons could only be truly killed by the sun. This was the beauty of magecraft: as long as the process was plausible, one could skip directly to the result.

**「Sun Breathing」** could be interpreted as **「Sun」**, but could something from another world be used to define a concept?

Li Mo fell into deep thought.

---

"Master, you're not from this world?"

When Li Mo brought up the question to Medea, she responded with surprise.

She was shocked by this revelation. While Medea was aware of the concept of people from other worlds, she had never actually met one.

"Miss Medea, can we set that aside for now? My question is…"

"It should be possible."

The essence of magecraft lies in leveraging widely recognized concepts and combining them with vague magical energy to achieve the desired outcome. With the expertise of a magus from the Age of Gods, Medea could construct the necessary spells. This would allow Li Mo to transition from an ordinary human to a state approximating **Tamamo-no-Mae**, enabling him to follow Koyanskaya's method to walk the path of becoming a **「Beast」**.

However… this path still had uncertainties. Koyanskaya herself was a unique existence, a personification of the entire ecosystem. In other words, she was a collective being with high adaptability and plasticity. She had chosen a rabbit as her vessel. As a human, Li Mo was far less adaptable and malleable than her. He would need to rely on magecraft to increase his chances of success.

Should he take this path? He could also wait for the system to provide a new path after leveling up…

If he asked Medea to perfect this spell, his progress in studying magecraft would slow down again. Moreover, he had already crammed through the magecraft books he obtained from Atlas.

Thanks to the mental training from studying the **「Divine Arts of the Yougou Shrine」**, the system's unique nature, and Medea's guidance, his progress had been rapid. However, this was still rote learning. For example, **「Projection」** was just **「Projection」**, far from the level of **Emiya Shirou**, who had taken **「Projection」** to an entirely new level.

---

"Miss Medea, how many Servants have been summoned so far?"

"Currently, five."

"Five? Then we're still missing **Archer** and **Saber**," Li Mo muttered to himself.

Koyanskaya asked, "Master, since not all the Servants have been summoned yet, why don't we go shopping in the New City? Staying in this cave for so long has made my tail feel damp and uncomfortable."

"Shopping?"

Li Mo blinked. Unlike **Sasaki Kojirou**, who was bound to a specific location, Koyanskaya was a result of Medea exploiting a loophole in the Holy Grail system after studying it. She was free to move around Fuyuki City.

Going shopping was a risky move, but thinking about it, Li Mo had been holed up in the cave for quite some time. He hadn't even been doing his usual morning exercises. A proper Holy Grail War had turned into a wilderness survival scenario for him?

—Well, bringing your own food doesn't really count as wilderness survival.

It wouldn't hurt to go out for a bit. Given the magus principle of **「Concealment」**, the Holy Grail War typically took place at night, so daytime was relatively safe. Besides, with two Servants by his side, how could they lose in a two-on-one fight? After Medea's magecraft enhancements, Li Mo's physical abilities were roughly on par with a Servant.

Of course, all of this was just him trying to convince himself.

He wanted to go out.

Li Mo was certain of that.

"Then let's go to the New City for a walk."

Recently, his magecraft training had hit a bottleneck. Further progress would be incremental rather than qualitative. He didn't need to learn too many spells, as that would only clutter his mind.

It wouldn't hurt to take a break and clear his head.

---

"You two go ahead. I'll stay here," Medea said.

She was accustomed to her life of studying the Greater Grail in the cave, reminiscent of her childhood days learning magecraft under **Hecate**. The days of researching **「Mystery」** were simple and beautiful.

Unfortunately, the arrow of love had changed everything.

"Miss Medea, come with us. You're always wearing that cloak, hiding your face under the hood. Is that really okay? I'm sure Master would like to see you in other clothes," Koyanskaya said.

"Assassin, I don't think Master shares your thoughts," Medea replied.

Even though Koyanskaya was a Servant she had summoned, Medea had handed control over to Li Mo. The relationship between the two Servants wasn't particularly friendly. For Medea, Koyanskaya's command authority had already been transferred to Li Mo.

The irregular summoning was quite intricate. In reality, Medea had obtained a Command Seal. Normally, a Master would first gain the Holy Grail's recognition, receive Command Seals, and then summon a Servant. Medea had reversed this process, summoning a Servant first and then obtaining a Command Seal.

However, due to the act of deception, the Holy Grail's error-correction mechanism activated, resulting in Medea only obtaining one Command Seal. This Command Seal was later transferred to Li Mo, along with the contract with Koyanskaya.

If not for Medea's ability to extract magical energy crystals from the greater source, Li Mo's magical energy would have been completely drained.

Given this, the relationship between Medea and Koyanskaya was merely that of colleagues.

"Medea, I think it's a good idea to go out. If we don't go now, we might not get another chance. And, as Koyanskaya said, I'm also looking forward to seeing you in modern clothing."

It seemed he wasn't entirely serious either.

Li Mo sided with Koyanskaya.