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

Without waiting for Chiron to answer, Hercules couldn't help but continue muttering, "Besides, Promise has never been a reckless person."

Hearing this, Chiron suddenly froze, and memories of everything Promise had done until now flooding his mind.

He had never let anyone down...

If it were Athena, the goddess of justice Themis, or even Artemis, they wouldn't be wondering if Promise could catch Hermes.

They would be curious about how he planned to catch him!

Athena would have understood the moment Promise mentioned a three-day time limit that this wasn't a simple game of chasing a god.

Promise didn't do what Hera and Chiron expected by riding Pegasus to chase Hermes.

Instead, he reached out and retrieved a painting from the night sky, and threw it towards the moon.

From the moon emerged Artemis, the moon goddess, looking slightly confused until she saw Promise.

Her eyes lit up, and she happily embraced him, exclaiming, "Little Promise, you finally came to see me!"

Hermes watched this scene in surprise before understanding dawned on him.

Of course, Promise was different now; he had acquired the painting.

Because of that painting, both Artemis and Apollo could not refuse any of Promise's requests.

"So, you're planning to have them help you catch me... I must admit, it's a clever plan."

Realizing this, Hermes still smiled confidently, "But Promise, you might be underestimating me. Even if you have all the gods help you, you'll never catch me!"

Artemis, upon hearing the voice, finally noticed Hermes.

She tilted her head slightly, also noticing Hera, Hestia, and the others at a distance.

"So, it's like this, Artemis..." Taking advantage of the moment, Promise quickly explained the game to her.

"Oh, I see!" Artemis nodded, "So, we need to catch Hermes, right? No problem!"

She was about to chase Hermes when Promise stopped her,
"Wait, beautiful Goddes Artemis, I don't want you to help me catch Hermes. By the way, do you really think you can catch him?"

Artemis thought seriously for a moment. "No."

Promise was speechless, but given that it was Artemis, he quickly regained his composure.

"That's fine. We don't need to catch him," he smiled, pointing at Hermes, "We'll shoot him!"

"What?" Hermes almost thought he misheard.

Hera, Chiron, and the others were equally stunned.

Even Artemis was momentarily speechless.

"Shoot him?" Artemis pointed at Hermes, her beautiful blue eyes wide, "Promise, you want me to shoot Hermes?"

"Yes," Promise nodded, "We shoot him. If we shoot him down, we can catch him, right?"

"So, you want me to shoot Hermes?" Even Artemis felt something was off.

"Would you not want to?" The boy's clear green eyes meet hers as he asked.

"Of course, no problem!"
Seeing them, Artemis drew her bow without any hesitation and nocked an arrow, aiming at the now thoroughly bewildered Hermes.

The moonlight in her hand transformed into a sharp arrow.

And with a gentle twang, the arrow shot towards the bewildered Hermes.

Under the night sky, Promise watched the goddess, dressed in a light silver divine robe, her silver hair swaying gently in the night breeze, drawing her bow to its full extent.

And couldn't help but admit that she was truly beautiful, worthy of the title Moon Goddess.

Unfortunately, she was a hopeless romantic fool who loved to strangle!

"Ah, I missed... Hermes, why did you dodge?" Artemis, with her sky-blue eyes, pouted unhappily as she saw Hermes narrowly avoid the arrow at the last moment.

"If I didn't dodge, you would have shot me through!" The latter exclaimed, wide-eyed at Artemis.

Before he could say more, another arrow zipped past his ear.

Hermes froze, looking down dumbfounded at Artemis, who had already drawn her bow again.

"Hermes, stop dodging and let me shoot you down so that little Promise can catch you," Artemis said, her voice soft yet determined. "Promise asked me to shoot you; I can't let him down."

During her speech, Artemis shot two more arrows, both narrowly dodged by Hermes.

Hermes was indeed incredibly fast, no wonder he wasn't worried when Promise called for Artemis.

But as her arrows continued to miss, Artemis grew increasingly frustrated.

She began drawing her bow faster and faster, each arrow sharper than the last, until the ground itself began to crack under the force of her shots.

"Hermes, stop dodging and let me hit you!" Artemis demanded angrily.

"Are you kidding? Getting hit by you hurts a lot!" Hermes found Artemis's insistence outrageous, but then again, this was Artemis—he was used to it.

"Promise, don't stand there watching and persuade Artemis!" Hermes pleaded with Promise.

Promise considered it and stepped forward, saying, "Beautiful Artemis, that's enough. There's no need to be so hasty in shooting him down."

Hearing this, Artemis stopped immediately, fearing the residual force of her arrow might harm Promise.

Just as she was about to assure Promise she could hit Hermes with the next shot and secure the win for him, the boy continued, "We can take our time. After all, we have three days."

Promise smiled gently, his usual soft expression on his face, and said, "In these three days, we can keep hunting Hermes... Oh, I'm sorry, beautiful goddess, I misspoke. I meant chasing Hermes."

The moment Promise said this, the area fell into a stunned silence.

Even Artemis stopped, blinking her sky-blue eyes in confusion.

The spirits and nymphs gathered to watch were dumbfounded.

They couldn't believe what they had just heard... Hunt Hermes, the god?!

"Um?"

At that moment, dawn broke, bringing the first light of day. Promise looked up, gazing at the distant sunrise.

The Sun God Helios prepared to switch day and night with the Night Goddess, but he noticed something strange.

The Night Goddess seemed reluctant to leave, dawdling as if she were unsure of what to do.

"The sun is rising," Promise remarked with a smile.

He then drew another painting from the gradually brightening sky.

From the painting emerged the Sun God Apollo, adorned in golden attire, his radiant golden hair tied in a ponytail, glowing like the sun itself.

"Child, you summoned me... huh?" Apollo began, smiling, but then he saw Artemis with her bow, Hermes hovering in the sky, and Hera and Hestia nearby.

As Apollo stood there, bewildered by the scene, Promise addressed him, "Great Apollo, I am currently engaged in a game with Hermes. The goal is to catch him within three days.
However, Hermes is incredibly fast, claiming to be the fastest among the gods. I simply can't catch him."

Promise displayed a troubled expression before smiling and requesting, "So, great Apollo, could you help me chase and shoot down Hermes? Oh, and our game lasts for three days. Catching him at the last moment will suffice."

Upon hearing his words, everyone present, including the gods and sentient beings gathered, fell silent.

Even Artemis, usually carefree, seemed to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

"Hestia, I think I understand what my child intends to do," Hera remarked, her expression turning peculiar.

"Me too," Hestia nodded, her gaze shifting to Hermes, whose expression had drastically changed, and then back to Promise, still smiling calmly below. "Hermes, won't you call off the game?"

"Wait, can he even call it off?" Then her eyes widened as she looked at Hera. "The judges for this game are..."

"Hera, Hestia!" Hermes, now realizing the situation, tried to speak up.

"Hermes, I personally would love to call off this game, but..." Hestia shrugged, her innocent expression barely concealing her amusement.

Then giving Hermes a sidelong glance, she added only one word, "Golden Apple."

Hermes understood immediately—he was done for.

The judges for this game were indeed Hera and Hestia!

Realizing he couldn't appeal directly to the judges, Hermes saw only one way out: let Promise "catch" him.

Though it would end the game ignominiously, preserving some dignity seemed secondary to escaping the situation.

With newfound determination, Hermes darted towards Promise.

But before he could reach him, Promise called out, "Oh, God Apollo and Goddess Artemis, could you please protect me? Being caught by Lord Hermes would surely be painful. But be careful not to harm him. After all, we have three whole days."

In an instant, Apollo and Artemis drew their bows and fired arrows, carefully aimed to narrowly miss Hermes, forcing him to halt mid-air.

The twin gods smiled at each other, their arrows flying in perfect harmony.

Reflecting on the promise made due to the painting gifted to Artemis, both Apollo and Artemis couldn't refuse any of Promise's requests.

Now, with a chance to corner Hermes, they took great delight.

"Hermes, it seems your luck has run out," Apollo said, smiling brightly.

Hermes, remembering the words Promise had spoken during their encounter, couldn't help but swallow nervously. "Promise, do we really have to go through with this?"

Promise, still smiling softly, raised his thumb towards Hermes and then...

With a decisive gesture, he thrust his thumb downward.

"Great Hermes, let us enjoy this game for the next three days!"

'This is to repay you for messing with my friend, my teacher, my goddess!'

'And your reason?'

'Just because you found it amusing.'

'And then you shamelessly came to ask for my help!'

'But since you asked, I'll help you.'

'Plus, I get a painting out of it.'

'No matter how you look at it, there's no reason for me not to help, right?'

'So, Hermes, I promise Hera will forgive you and won't pursue the matter of the golden apple anymore. But the cost...'

"And I sincerely hope, Hermes, that you will enjoy this game I've prepared for you."

He spoke with a smile on his face; looking at which, even Pegasus couldn't help but shiver, looking at his little master in fear.

It began to worry, reflecting on whether it had been grazing too much lately.

After all, if it got too fat, it might not be able to fly!

"Hercules, you must be very careful in the future and never make Promise angry, understood?"
Chiron remarked, witnessing everything and understanding Promise's intentions.

"What do you mean, teacher?" However, Hercules, still confused by the conversations he couldn't hear, looked at Chiron.

"Promise is truly angry this time. He is hunting Hermes," Chiron replied, his expression peculiar.

He wanted to laugh but restrained himself because the target was Hermes, one of the Olympian gods.

"Hunting Hermes... wait, did you say hunting?!" Hercules' eyes widened in shock.

"Yes, and Promise is very smart. With Hera overseeing the matter, and after fulfilling his agreement with Hermes, Hera will forgive Hermes for encouraging you to steal the golden apple."

Therefore, Hermes not only has to continue playing this game but also cannot seek revenge on Promise later and must thank him by giving him the painting!

"So, Hercules, try not to anger Promise in the future. Who knew he'd handle it like this when he's really mad..."

Chiron trailed off, remembering Promise's little black book of grudges.

Thinking back, Promise had always been this way—paying back kindness and repaying grudges, never changing.

For a moment, Chiron looked at Hercules with pity, making Hercules feel uncomfortable.

Though Hercules didn't fully grasp his meaning or what Promise was doing, he soon saw it with his own eyes.

...