Long Live Money in Anime Crossover

"Since you don't want to take action, then leave it to me."

Just then, a voice rang out, and heroic spirits began to appear around the two of them. Floating beside Misaka Mikoto were Mugino Shizuri and her Item squad. Mugino Shizuri was wearing a light purple dress, with several bright white specks of light floating around her, clearly ready for battle.

However, unlike the Mugino Shizuri of the past, this Mugino Shizuri has completely lost her former ruthlessness and eccentricity. All that remains is her seriousness in the face of enemies and the calmness of a warrior.

"Oh my god, is Mugino going to officially challenge the third place? Mugino's aura is incredibly imposing!"

"Go Mugino! Mugino, I support you! Even though we're no longer in Academy City, our goal is still to defeat the third-ranked player!"

Kinuhata Saiai and Frenda flanked her, seemingly eager to make things worse, while Mugino Shizuri's somewhat provocative gaze instantly made Misaka Mikoto's veins bulge on her forehead, and her previous hesitation vanished. After all, Misaka Mikoto was no longer a simple middle school student at this point; she had made up her mind to face war and cruelty with unwavering resolve.

"They've turned this world into this mess... Their hands are stained with the blood of tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, millions of people. Even if they were alive, they deserve to die..."

Misaka Mikoto muttered to herself, finally making up her mind.

"Yui!"

"I've been ready for a long time, Misaka-mama!"

As Misaka Mikoto finished speaking, a strange sphere appeared in front of her. Then, like a cannonball, she blasted the sphere away, sending it crashing into Iskandar in the distance.

Iskandar was startled by the attack. He had already witnessed the power of Misaka Mikoto's attacks and didn't want to experience it again. So he instinctively dodged, and his personal guards bravely rushed forward, raising their shields in front of him. Even the countless Heroic Spirits shrouded in black mud were startled and hurriedly avoided this unidentified object.

However, to everyone's astonishment, the unidentified object did not react at all after landing. Only after several seconds was a "whoosh" sound heard, and a cloud of gas was ejected.

"Poison gas?"

Iskandar's doubt turned into a contemptuous smile.

Poison isn't entirely ineffective against Heroic Spirits, but only if it's a poison carried by another Heroic Spirit. Toxins concocted by ordinary humans are indeed meaningless to Heroic Spirits whose bodies are entirely composed of magic. Perhaps, if a Heroic Spirit ingests such a poison, it can even be transformed into a substance to replenish its magic power.

"You're being mocked, Misaka. Aren't you going to do something about it?"

Seeing that Misaka Mikoto had finally made her move, Mugino Shizuri watched her with a smile. Misaka Mikoto, however, felt a chill run down her spine from being called "Mikoto" by Mugino Shizuri. After glaring fiercely at Mugino Shizuri, she finally activated her ability again, unleashing the strongest attack she could muster at that moment.

"Don't worry, you'll definitely see a huge firework!"

At this point, Misaka Mikoto had already shouted it out. At the same time, the mass of gas amidst the countless enemies underwent a strange change. An invisible and intangible force, called an electromagnetic field, enveloped the mass of gas, instantly endowing it with enormous kinetic and thermal energy.

However, under Misaka Mikoto's perfect control, this mass of gas could only move while being enveloped by her. As a result, its energy accumulated higher and higher, eventually causing a huge change in the gas.

The negatively charged electrons and positively charged nuclei in the gas atoms have completely separated and are moving independently, becoming plasma. The invisible gas has gained color, as if it has become a luminous sprite.

This beautiful sight stunned all the Heroic Spirits for a moment. They couldn't quite understand the meaning of this small ball of light. Had their enemy given them a little firework? After all, the Heroic Spirits at this time were not summoned, and had not been endowed with sufficient knowledge of modern science. In addition, Misaka Mikoto's actions actually had little to do with science; at most, she was just using some existing scientific principles.

However, some people realized the problem, with Archer (Red A) being the first to react. Archer, after all, was a modern-day Heroic Spirit and had been exposed to these things in his studies. Although he later entered the magical realm, he still understood the basic principles of science.

Despite his disbelief, he dared not gamble. He made an inexplicable move, rushing straight towards Iskandar, whose face was filled with question marks. Poor Iskandar, not only did he not know what was about to happen, he even subconsciously wanted to get closer to observe what kind of magic this seemingly harmless light was.

Unfortunately, this isn't magic.

This seemingly harmless light suddenly erupted.

Infinite light and heat erupted from this seemingly harmless sphere, a radiance and heat approaching that of the sun. This terrifying power swept over and engulfed everything in a fraction of a second, as if the sun had suddenly appeared, opened its maw, and swallowed all living beings in its path.

"It...it was a success?"

Misaka Mikoto stared in astonishment at her creation, a smile of excitement spreading across her face. However, this excitement lasted only a few seconds before turning into terror.

"It's too powerful... I can't stop it!"

040 I need everyone's help.

The boundless light frantically devoured everything around them, threatening to engulf Misaka Mikoto and the others in the blink of an eye. Misaka Mikoto was startled and momentarily at a loss.

"Really...didn't you calculate the amount of fuel and the power correctly in the first place?"

Mugino Shizuri shook his head helplessly and stepped forward to stand in front of everyone. Clusters of white light surrounded everyone, then expanded and extended into a huge white sphere, enveloping them all.

"Are you alright, Mugino? Should I lend a hand? My abilities have become super strong!"

Kinuhata Saiai asked Mugino Shizuri with a puzzled look, just then, a violent impact struck. Everyone felt their bodies sway violently, and a sense of weightlessness assaulted them. This feeling was like being thrown around, their bodies out of control, or like the discomfort of free fall.

"This is radiation. Even if your ability reaches LV5, you can't defend against this level of danger. Luckily, my ability is of the same type as Misaka's, so it's perfect for blocking this kind of attack. Alright, Misaka, stop using your ability now?"

Misaka Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the protective shield appear. However, she still looked at Mugino Shizuri with some dissatisfaction, really not wanting to answer him.

Undoubtedly, Misaka Mikoto's tsundere temper flared up. In fact, Misaka Mikoto's dislike for Mugino Shizuri is largely due to Mugino Shizuri's older sister aura. Although Misaka Mikoto slightly adjusted her physique towards a more mature look during her Heroic Spirit transformation, there's still a fundamental difference between her and Mugino Shizuri.

This is a difference in temperament, not something that can be determined by body shape.

"What does it matter... They're all enemies anyway, so there's no harm in not stopping."

"Oh ho ho, so you can't accept defeat, huh?"

Frenda covered her mouth and chuckled, causing Misaka Mikoto's forehead veins to throb again. At this moment, she was genuinely annoyed; there were four people opposite her, and where were her friends?

"That flat-chested loli who says she can't accept defeat, you'd better see for yourself. The power of Big Sister's attack isn't that it's increased, it's that it's decreased. Well, what can we do? Big Sister is Big Sister after all. Anyway, this kind of attack has made it clear to us what kind of enemy we're facing."

Just then, Shirai Kuroko suddenly appeared beside them. Immediately afterward, before anyone could react, the group vanished from the protective shield and reappeared tens of thousands of meters in the air, more than ten kilometers away.

After realizing her predicament, no one was surprised. After Shirai Kuroko's abilities were upgraded to LV5 by Kazakiri Hyouka and Takitsubo Riko, moving multiple objects over extremely long distances in an instant had become a piece of cake. At this point, Shirai Kuroko had even learned Kihara Awaki's calculation method, breaking free from the limitation of needing to touch objects to move them.

"Wow, that's really spectacular."

Also present here was the fully revamped Damocles airship, where all the combat forces of Valhalla, along with the sisters, stood ready. All of them were summoned by Momo after he broke free of the inherent barrier.

Everyone was admiring the spectacular fireworks released by Misaka Mikoto, but unfortunately, there was no relaxed expression on their faces. Although the mini-sun created by Misaka Mikoto instantly destroyed everything within a one-kilometer radius and initially turned all the Black Mud Heroic Spirits to ashes, what happened next made the people of the Hall of Heroes anything but happy.

The spirits of the dead are reborn.

To be precise, the heroic spirits were reduced to ashes by the endless light and heat. However, when the ashes fell onto the black mud-covered earth, they merged with it. Soon, a humanoid mass of black mud reappeared. Who else could emerge from the mud but the heroic spirits that had just been destroyed?

"The heroic spirits are essentially incarnations of magic, and it seems that our enemies have now become incarnations of black mud. This is not hard to understand, as black mud itself is also a kind of magic. As long as the black mud is not destroyed, it seems that our enemies are immortal."

Patchouli analyzed their enemy intently, her face flushed with a healthy rosy glow. At this moment, Patchouli was enjoying the pleasures of good health; the rosy complexion wasn't just the result of Momo's efforts, but also because she was a little shy speaking in front of everyone.

"Artoria, in the Fate world, is there a mature way to deal with the black mud? It seems that the magic here in Gensokyo doesn't have any good methods."

Artoria smiled wryly upon hearing this, and said, "If there were a better way, the Fate world wouldn't have fallen to this state. In fact, I want to remind everyone that these Heroic Spirits are probably not in their worst state yet."

"Patchouli is right. Heroic Spirits are the embodiment of magic, and magic is provided by the black mud. So these corrupted Heroic Spirits will not disappear until the black energy is exhausted. However, there is another point: if the root of the entire world is polluted, then the world that provides magic to the Heroic Spirits is the entire root."

"In other words, as long as the root cause remains and the corrupted heroic spirits remain, we have no chance of success."

Artoria's words sent a chill down everyone's spines. This was something even more troublesome than an immortal Heroic Spirit. Just as their morale began to dip slightly, a somewhat disdainful voice rang out, saying, "I think this is perfect. Don't we need practice targets?"

Everyone looked and saw that it was CC. CC was dressed in a long black silk robe, the wide robe concealing her graceful figure. She wore a tall wizard's hat and held a beautifully crafted wand inlaid with jewels, looking every bit the luxurious witch.

However, everyone found it both funny and sad, feeling that CC's cosplay was more about the costume than the actual costume. But CC herself didn't seem embarrassed at all; on the contrary, she seemed eager to try it out.

CC, who has been slandered as a witch for thousands of years, is finally going to taste what it's like to be a witch. How could she not be excited?

Is it better to burn it or freeze it?

Or wouldn't it be good to control their minds?

"Besides, even if this world is truly corrupted by something like the Root, then we might as well destroy the Root along with it. Although this world is supposed to be leaning towards magic, we must believe in science. I refuse to believe that if Mikoto and Mugino blow up the entire planet, these scum will still be able to survive?"

The witch CC, dressed in witch gear, demands that everyone believe in science, a scenario that feels utterly absurd to everyone. Unfortunately, everyone knows CC is absolutely right, and their hearts even brighten somewhat because of CC's explanation.

"Yes, everyone. No matter what, we'll only know after we've fought it out."

Asuna stepped forward, drew her sword, and said, "Even if we can't truly destroy them right now, we must slow them down. We are Heroic Spirits, the people Momo loves. We should help him, not become a burden to him."

"Right, Momo?"

As she spoke, Asuna turned around with a smile. In the middle of the circle of Heroic Spirits watching the spectacle was the wise and insightful Momo.

"Yes, right now I really need everyone's help."

041 Let's survive first.

Amidst the sound of shattering stones, a creature struggled to emerge from the earth and black mud. Using this hand for support, its owner, Iskandar, abruptly stood up, throwing off the stones that were weighing him down.

"She really is... a terrifying little girl. Who are they? Why do they all have such great power? It was a good choice for the Knight King to join them. With such power, they should be able to avoid being corrupted."

If Momo were here at this moment, he would be surprised to find that although Iskandar's expression was somewhat ferocious, his arrogant aura from before seemed to have disappeared. Iskandar now seemed more like the Conqueror King Rider that Momo was familiar with.

Before him, Red A, who had been kneeling on one knee, trembled as he stood up, dispelling the final layer of Seraph's Sevenfold Rings defense and putting away the tattered light shield. Before him lay a terrifying cliff, as if some force had swallowed the ground in front of him whole. Countless streams of black mud cascaded down the cliff, giving the impression of a mudslide.

Just as Misaka Mikoto's artificial sun unleashed its full power, Archer appeared before Iskandar, who had just sensed the danger, and unleashed his strongest defense, Rho Aias, also known as the Seraphic Sevenfold Rings. The Seraphic Sevenfold Rings has seven layers, each possessing defensive power comparable to an ancient, thick city wall. However, facing Misaka Mikoto's attack, if Archer hadn't desperately channeled his black mud to replenish his magical energy, he would likely have already become part of the black mud by now.

"If I had known the opponent possessed such power, I wouldn't have cared about you, Conqueror King. Helping you was merely a matter of mutual affection; I had no intention of risking my life for you."

Red A said something somewhat nonsensical, but Conqueror King clearly understood it.

"Friendship..."

Iskandar's lips curled into a hearty smile. Although the black mud wriggling all over him made him look somewhat sinister and eerie, the scent of sunshine still emanated from him.

"Because of my Reality Marble, I was able to preserve a portion of my own will within it, thus preventing myself from being completely consumed by the Black Mud and turning into a complete madman. But you are different, I can sense that. Although you also have a Reality Marble, you maintain your sanity in a different way."

"I?"

Red A shook his head slightly and said, "I am only loyal to Gilgamesh. Madmen are certainly useful henchmen, but many things cannot be done by henchmen alone. I have reason, and Gilgamesh needs my wisdom, so I am still alive."

"Your loyalty? Hahhh—"

Iskandar laughed again without any restraint, saying, "If you are loyal to Gilgamesh, then I am the greatest scholar in history! You... cough cough, what the hell is this damned attack?"

Iskandar wanted to taunt Archer again, but the attack aggravated his wound. Even though Archer had just stood before Iskandar, the omnipresent radiation was far too powerful for a simple frontal defense to withstand.

"An attack by a scientific force, the force of the opposing administrators. This force should be similar to nuclear fusion. I originally thought that this kind of attack could only be triggered by building up large-scale equipment, but it turns out that it was launched by a single person?"

"That's truly... terrifying power!"

Iskandar was completely bewildered; without the infusion of modern knowledge, he genuinely didn't understand what Red A was talking about. However, Iskandar had his own way of interpreting it, saying, "Anyway, it's just a rather powerful ability, right? And you said the other party is an administrator, like the administrator who died in our world?"

"That's right, your straightforward mind can understand it that way enough."

"So... someone who can finally rival Gilgamesh has appeared? Should I be happy or disappointed? I was already somewhat desperate. Even with the protection of the Reality Marble, I'm afraid my will won't last much longer."

"Finally, someone who can rival Gilgamesh has arrived, but even if he really defeats Gilgamesh, it won't matter to us anymore, will it?"

Iskandar looked at the approaching floating warships in the distance with a hint of dejection and said, "After all, we've become like this, and there's no way we can be saved."

Hearing this, Red A's lips curled up, and he said, "Looks like you've forgotten someone. That little girl, the Knight King, whom you just provoked, was completely corrupted by the black mud back then. And you've seen her now; her aura is absolutely free of any filth."

"Oh oh oh!"

Iskandar's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "Could it be that they can restore us to normal? Ah, no... my request is very low. I'd even be willing to be a lowly Heroic Spirit doing dirty and tiring work! Before, my wish was to conquer the world, but now, I want to see even more worlds!"

“Indeed, it is possible,” Red A’s smile seemed to deepen, “However… I’m afraid this matter will be a bit difficult. I think you’ve seen it too, that manager you called a pretty boy, he really is a pretty boy, didn’t you see that there are only girls around him?”