Fate: I Heard After Death, You Can Ascend to the Throne of Heroes?

(Words: 2124)

"Well, that's that!"

As everyone stood frozen, too stunned by what had just transpired to speak, Promise acted as though he had merely performed a trivial task.

He clapped his hands, stored away his paintbrush, and turned to Jeanne with a grin.

"Well, now you owe me a favor. In the future, you'll have to work hard to pay off your debt!"

"...Huh?" Jeanne blinked in shock, confusion, and speechless as she stared at Promise.

"What do you mean, 'huh'? I just dealt with someone who bullied you in the past," Promise replied casually.

Then, turning to Police Chief Orlando, he added, "By the way, Chief, would you mind if I make a quick call to your Servant?"

Before Orlando could respond, the police station's phone began to ring.

Promise walked over, picked up the receiver, and answered.

"Brother! You're amazing! That was incredible!"

From the other end came the excited shout of Caster, Alexandre Dumas. Startled by the volume, Promise instinctively moved the phone away from his ear.

After a moment, he raised his chin proudly. "Of course! Impressive, wasn't it?"

"Incredible, incredible! By the way, brother, can I ask you a favor? Let me stay until the end. I want to witness you finish this Holy Grail War tonight!"

"Nope," Promise replied flatly.

We're not that close.

"Don't be like that, brother! Give me a chance—"

"No."

"...Fine, I'll drop it!" Dumas clicked his tongue but quickly became excited again as he said "Still, just seeing you complete this trial has been a privilege. When I get back, I'll definitely write a masterpiece about this!"

"But won't you forget everything about this Holy Grail War once you return to the Throne of Heroes?" Promise asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

Normally, Servants who participated in the Holy Grail War, except for Rulers, would lose all memories of the event upon their return.

"Don't spoil the mood, brother!

Sure, the memories might fade, but the inspiration and emotions of this moment—they'll never disappear! You, as a god of art, should understand that, right?"

"Inspiration, huh... That's true." Promise nodded in agreement.

Inspiration was indeed eternal.

"Well, if we meet again someday, I look forward to hearing your story. Oh, by the way, just curious—how would you like to go out?"

"Crushed to death by Pegasus, the ultimate symbol of artistic grandeur! Make it as spectacular as possible!" Dumas shouted excitedly.

"Alright, I'll make it happen."

Promise nodded, and the next moment, the silver streak of Pegasus descended from the night sky, crashing precisely into Dumas's location.

And with his departure, the counterfeit Noble Phantasms held by the 28 police officers vanished as well.

"...Perhaps, when you hunted the Pale Rider and the goddess, we shouldn't have stood by idly,"

Sheriff Orlando, who had been watching Promise silently and had not spoken a word from beginning to end, spoke at this moment, speaking in a steady voice, word by word:

"Maybe we should have tried to stop you... or even joined forces with them. That might have been our only chance in this Holy Grail War."

Hearing this, Promise merely smiled faintly and did not respond.

After all, it would be called arrogance but, even if they all came together, they wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Instead it would have been more easier for him to sweep everything all together..maybe it would've saved him some time.

He turned toward the entrance, where Pegasus, with its white wings folded was already waiting for him.

"Jeanne, don't forget you owe me a favor. Next time, you'll have to work for me!" Promise called out cheerfully as he walked away.

Without giving Jeanne a chance to reply, he added with a smirk, "And if you don't, I'll add your name to my grudge list!"

Jeanne opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but hearing Promise's parting words, she quietly closed it again.

She stood there, looking at Pegasus carry Promise away, leaving behind a streak of silver light in the night sky.

Her gaze then shifted to Orlando and his officers as they began tidying up the remains of the police station.

With a soft, somewhat resigned smile, Jeanne turned toward the moonlit path.

Stepping into the silvery glow, she left behind a gentle murmur:

"Until we meet again."

About ten minutes later, Pegasus descended onto the battlefield where Gilgamesh, Heracles, and the others had been fighting.

The results were actually not that surprising.

What had once been a towering skyscraper was now reduced to rubble.

Heracles sat amidst the debris, while Shirou Emiya lay sprawled on the ground, his clothes tattered and his body utterly drained.

Gilgamesh was nowhere to be seen.

His Master, Tiné Chelc, was directing her subordinates to clean up the area.

Though her eyes betrayed a hint of melancholy and disappointment, she quickly straightened up upon noticing Promise's arrival.

She respectfully bowed and gestured for her team to step aside a little to give them time to talk.

Promise glanced at Heracles, then at Shirou Emiya, who was lying on the ground gasping for breath and not wanting to lift a finger, and asked with a bit of amusement, "Where's Gilgamesh, and...where's Jason?"

By all logic, shouldn't Jason stand out triumphantly at this time, with pride written all over his face?

"They've both left," Heracles replied with a faint smile.

Hearing this, Promise paused in surprise.

Gilgamesh's departure di not come as much of a surprise to him, after all, let's not forget that he had stolen the Chains of Heaven from Enkidu earlier.

The purpose of orchestrating this battlefield was to give Heracles a chance for revenge, a repayment for the grudge from the Fuyuki City war.

But Jason...

Promise furrowed his brow, unable to make sense of it.

"Promise, have you finished Jason's painting yet? This time, he truly looked heroic. He left with a laugh, protecting your honor in your stead,"

Promise paused, falling silent for a moment. Then, he smiled and replied to Heracles. "I have finished painting it a long time ago. The plan was to give it to him after he joined you all for this event. But... I suppose it'll have to wait until next time."

Shirou Emiya, who was lying nearby, listened to the conversation, looking a bit stunned and conflicted.

He wanted to speak up.

Yes, Jason did indeed look heroic in the end, but the question was, wasn't his departure due to suffering too much friendly fire?

More than half of the damage Jason had sustained had nothing to do with Gilgamesh—it came from the various crewmembers of the Argo!

Is this the price of being friends with Promise?

'If it were me being summoned by Promise in the future then..'

As he thought of this, images of Jason, frantically dodging attacks and screaming amidst an onslaught of Noble Phantasms came into his mind, making him shiver uncontrollably.

Promise noticed Shirou's odd reaction and furrowed his brow in co fusion.

For reasons he couldn't quite explain, he suddenly felt like adding Shirou's name to his grudge list.

Turning his gaze away and looked at Heracles who was sitting quietly in the ruins, he couldn't help but smile as said, "And you, Heracles? Should we have a match?"

Though tempted, Heracles looked at the young man in front of him and shook his head apologetically. "I would love to, but… I'm afraid I can't. My body won't hold out any longer."

Because, five days ago, when the matter of Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven was concluded, he went back to talk to the Master, who summoned him and terminated both the contract and the master all together.

He had been pushing his limits ever since.

Upon hearing this, Promise nodded in understanding.

At this moment, the thunder of Zeus flashed in his golden eyes, and because of Athena, there was actually a hint of her flavor in his divine golden eyes.

Although it was very faint, it was also a symbol of absolute wisdom that could see through everything in the world.

"In that case, Heracles, let's meet again next time."

"Next time," Heracles agreed with a soft smile.

As he gazed at the young man in front of him, memories of their countless partings during the Age of Gods came flooding back.

With one final smile, Heracles' body dissolved into golden particles of magical energy.

"Until we meet again, Promise."

Heracles had departed.

.

.

.

Mounting Pegasus, Promise headed for the next battlefield: the forest.

Yet, before he could even arrive, he saw the entire forest beginning to glow faintly, with a single, magnificent flower blossoming in the center of it.

Noble Phantasm — Oh, People, Chain the Gods.

Enkidu had transformed herself into a weapon created by the gods, a flower blooming on the planet itself.

This act of departure, filled with beauty and blessings for Promise, was a grand and resplendent farewell.

She knew Promise loved it this way.

Such dazzling and elegant farewells, ones devoid of sorrow.

Because, after all, they would meet again.

Promise stood silently, watching the flower bloom and then fade into the night as a gentle smile tugged at his lips before he continued forward until he came before Tohsaka Rin and the others, as well as Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazon, who had been waiting for a long time.

As he descended, Hippolyta immediately raised her head, her eyes alight with battle lust, her War God's Belt fluttering wildly around her.

'Well, as expected of the daughter of Ares, the God of War, her personality is really similar to Ares'...Promise thought helplessly.

At that moment, a slightly frail-looking man walked out.

His name was Sigma..yeah, the Real and Original Sigma before it became cool..

This guy was the last participant to appear in this Holy Grail War.

He was also the Master of a unique Servant from the original Holy Grail War.

That Servant was called the Shadow Magus.

It was not a Heroic Spirit, had no combat capabilities, and lacked Noble Phantasms or skills, but it gathered extensive information through observation.

Sigma did not come here to fight.

He merely wanted to inform Promise that his Servant had already left.

The Servant said that the situation here was over and there was no need to continue observing.

Wel..true sigmas know when to advance and when to retreat.

After delivering his message, Sigma left, and Promise made no effort to stop him, even though there was a slight connection between him and Shirou Emiya.

Then, looking at the battle-ready Hippolyta in front of him, Promise gave a helpless smile as he took out a golden apple and took a bite.

There was no other choice.

If that's how it had to be, then he might as well fight seriously.

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The night was deep.

Promise returned to the suburban villa where Waver's students had gathered.

There, the last Servant and Master were waiting for him.

Under the illumination of the moonlight, the villa adorned with flower beds appeared tranquil and beautiful.

Sitting at a wooden table, a blond-haired Flat was pouting, sulking in frustration.

At the moment of Promise's return, Flat's face lit up with joy but quickly turned to grievance.

He even pretended to puff at Promise a few times to express his discontent.

After all, there were so many fun things to do, but he was not brought along. The reason was very simple: everyone had forgotten about this idiot.

There was nothing to be done.

Although this fool was annoying and prone to causing trouble, everything paled in comparison when Promise appeared.

"Alright, I didn't intentionally leave you out. Didn't I save the final spot for you so you could experience the Holy Grail War?"

Promise said with a smile as he looked at him.

Then, he sat down in front of him.

Thus began the final "Holy Grail War" of the night.

And how did this Holy Grail War conclude?

Flat's wish for participating in the Holy Grail War was simple.

He thought the Holy Grail War sounded cool and wanted to see many legendary beings. That was why he enthusiastically joined.

So at that time, Waver asked him a question.

He asked Flat how he intended to decide the outcome of the war and whether he was prepared to kill his opponent.

Flat, of course, had no such resolve and just replied with a single sentence.

"Then let's decide the winner using chess!"

And so now, Promise, standing in front of him, smiled as he raised the chess piece in his hand.

He gently placed it on the chessboard.

With a soft sound, this Holy Grail War came to an end.

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