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

At this moment, Promise's heart was hesitating,

Yes, he was hesitating.

Feeling his body getting worse, he became increasingly unsure how much longer he could hold on, so he hesitated whether or not to tear up the painting in his hands.

Do you remember the painting of the hundred-eyed giant Argus?

Promise tore it up, and then Argus appeared, helping him subdue the two gatekeeper lions.

And such a painting, he still had one more.

Yes, that was the Pegasus!

The gods indeed could not help him, but the Pegasus was a meteor tamed by Promise himself, a power belonging only to him!

Even if the trial is for Promise to walk step by step in front of Hades, the appearance of Pegasus could undoubtedly guide him forward.

He was not thoughtlessly agreeing to Demeter.

And the reason he had not yet brought Pegasus to the Underworld was that it was his only trump card, and it was still only the beginning.

As for whether tearing up the painting of Pegasus would make it appear, that was a very simple question.

Hades cannot intervene, but not preventing is also not considered intervening.

'It must have been a few hours by now.'

Promise thought to himself.

'My body is getting worse, but fortunately, I ate a golden apple before coming. However, dragging this out is not without its problems. Goddess Persephone must be getting restless; I can feel it. She has wanted to intervene several times if not for the vow.'

'Therefore, now my lyre playing absolutely must not stop, even if it's just a brief pause for a moment, she will definitely end this trial!'

Promise's feeling was not wrong.

At this moment, Persephone had forgotten her fear and her worries.

Her beautiful, bright eyes were fixed on Promise.

More precisely, on his hands playing the lyre.

Now, any misstep, any fall, any moment the lyre's sound stops.

She would intervene to stop this trial.

Promise could not see, so he didn't know, but Persephone beside him was seeing everything clearly.

He was now like a flickering candle exposed in the snow.

'I can't make any more mistakes.'

With that thought, Promise stopped.

Just as Persephone showed a look of surprise upon seeing this, and the gods also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking everything was about to end,

The boy crouched down, fixing the lyre on his body while carefully taking out the painting he had been carrying.

He threw the painting on the ground; now all he needed to do was step on it to shatter it.

But even so, Promise still hesitated.

Because he clearly understood that by doing so, he would no longer have the possibility of reaching Hades.

But the darkness, where he could hear nothing and see nothing, and the increasingly clear pain and the feeling of blood flowing, were slowly eating away at his sanity.

Now, Promise himself started to become uncertain whether he would give up.

'Hmm... actually, dying like this wouldn't be so bad; this time I would truly die like a hero.'

Such a thought then crossed Promise's mind.

He placed his foot on the painting.

'Just struggle a bit more, walk a little further, and I can die.'

Promise began to think.

But just as he was about to take action,

"Promise, you've grown up."

"You are no longer like before, only seeking death, but now when facing death, you choose to challenge it, so I naturally don't need to keep you on the mountain."

Promise suddenly remembered the conversation he had had with his teacher Charon.

"Then, teacher, I'd like to draw a painting for you."

"No need, because your growth, to me, is already the best painting."

...

In the silence, he withdrew his foot.

"Actually, I only recently found out."

Then, Promise began to mutter, as if speaking to the gods watching him and also as if speaking to himself.

"It turns out death is so much simpler than living."

Persephone, hearing this, was slightly stunned, looking at the boy with confusion.

"If this really is the last moment of my life, the finale I've always anticipated, it shouldn't be this mundane. I think... at the very least, I should draw a painting."

"This painting should be dedicated to all of you who have been watching me, the goddesses I made vows with, my teachers, my friends, and... myself."

"But now I have no brush, and no canvas, so what should I do?"

"Hmm... let's do it this way then."

As he spoke, Promise smiled, and then he broke the painting under his foot.

Pegasus burst out from the painting, unfolding its silvery white wings in the Underworld under the astonished gaze of Goddess Persephone and the gods watching this scene.

Protecting beside Promise.

Promise played his seven-string lyre, his face once again revealing a gentle, soft smile, and the sound of the lyre became more joyful.

"Just like that night when the night sky was my canvas, only this time, the canvas is not the night sky, but the darkness I'm currently plunged into.

And I... am that paintbrush!"

Using darkness as the canvas and himself as the paintbrush.

Promise smiled, his golden lyre playing a joyful melody, and then he took a gentle step forward.

At that moment, he felt that wonderful sensation... the same feeling as when he had once depicted the Goddess of Wisdom and drawn Pegasus and the hundred-eyed giant.

A step forward,

Like a drop of water falling into a lake as smooth as a mirror, causing spreading ripples.

Those ripples spread out from under his feet.

The surrounding darkness was gradually sketched out, and with the ripples spreading, the eternally dark Underworld began to be transformed into a painting.

That painting, visible to Promise, who could see nothing, plunged into darkness.

Thus, the unseen and unheard boy 'saw.'

He saw the entire Underworld being painted and presented.

And not just that,

As the ripples spread further and further, Promise felt tangible gazes.

Thus, he saw the gods on Mount Olympus, who were watching him in surprise.

They occupied a corner of the painting, their expressions of astonishment varied, some standing, some sitting.

Promise also saw the goddess Hecate, who had actually been hiding not far away, watching this scene all along.

Hmm... she really is a beautiful goddess.

Seeing her face beneath the veil for the first time, Promise couldn't help but think this.

At this point, a painting centered around the boy appeared.

Then Promise took another step,

As he stepped out, the pleasant sound of the lyre began to resonate in the ears of all the creatures watching this scene.

Under that sound of the lyre, even the deranged spirits halted.

Light broke through the Underworld, shining upon Promise.

That force healed the wounds on his body.

Seeing this scene unfold, Athena and others naturally turned their gaze instantly to Apollo.

"It wasn't me!" Apollo, who was equally surprised by such scene, waved his hands and said, "The boy's lyre playing called the seven-string lyre to respond to him!"

Promise naturally also 'saw' this sunlight, and he understood that it was the seven-string lyre in his hands responding to him.

Then, he looked into the distance at the Underworld and smiled.

"Goddess Persephone, let's go."

Promise softly said to Persephone, who was completely stunned behind him, with a smile, "Lord Hades must have been waiting for us for a long time."

.....