Chapter 286 - Medusa, Saber (2.4k words)
"Hmm? You're asking about what happened afterward?"
Within Avalon, strolling through an endless sea of flowers, Melly, with white hair and violet eyes exuding an ethereal beauty, raised the corners of her lips into a faint smile.
"Well, of course, everything ended."
"Whether in the past or the future, after all, that world was never meant to exist in the first place."
That day, the morning light never fell again.
The Lostbelt: Fairy Britain—its existence severed by the Holy Sword, forged by Promise—was erased.
All traces of it were wiped away.
And at the very last moment of its destruction, the Goddess of Fate stayed beside him.
"This is a short story, one that will never be recorded or passed down. It's a legend that, aside from a select few, no one will ever know."
"The Winter Queen fell beneath the Holy Sword, but in truth, the one who truly killed her... was her past self.
Because in the end—it was she who rang the Bell of Atonement."
Still smiling, Melly plucked a flower from the roadside, only to toss it away carelessly.
"Not that she minded too much. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself.
After all, how lucky was she to have met that child beloved by the gods—
To have gained his friendship?
In that moment, the fate of that tragic queen... was already rewritten."
"As for the one who ended it all, the one loved by the Goddess of Fate, he closed his eyes in embrace of the goddess... and perished along with the world."
"The Goddess returned to the temple where she weaves the fate of all things."
"And he... returned to the place where it all began."
As Melly spoke, she plucked another beautiful flower.
But this time, instead of tossing it away casually, she held it delicately in her hands, turning it over thoughtfully.
She recalled that brief journey, the things she witnessed and experienced beside Promise as a watcher.
Slowly, she lifted the flower toward the sky.
Gazing at it, she smiled.
"Ah, indeed truly interesting."
"He's a mischievous, troublesome brat who enjoys playing pranks and making people mad.
And even though he made promises to meet all of them again,
He deliberately skipped over me, ignoring me completely.
How unfair."
Her tone was lighthearted as she spoke.
"But... whatever. That's part of what makes him so adorable, I suppose."
"So, just pretending not to see it... would be far too much of a waste, wouldn't it?"
Slowing her pace, she turned around and carefully tucked the flower away.
"Speaking of which, the 'other him' seems to be one of Ritsuka's most devoted spectators."
The person she referred to was the 'her' she had encountered in the Lostbelt—
The Magus of Flowers, Merlin.
With that thought, Melly turned back toward the path leading home.
"Well then, in that case... I suppose I'll go be that boy's most devoted spectator myself."
"After all—just the thought of it already sounds so entertaining~~"
As she spoke, Melly laughed softly, her voice carrying a fairy's incantation, a spell that echoed through the flower fields—
A whisper of melancholy, fading into the wind.
And then—
She left the ever-open Land of Eternity once more.
In response to this, the Counter Force, which should have stopped her, did nothing to intervene.
Singularity F – Fuyuki City
Amidst a burning winter city, within a land of ruins—
Promise awoke amidst the ruins.
Nope..
To he precise, he was awakened by the clash of cold steel—the sound of battle.
At this moment, the remnants of his last memories lingered in his mind—Fairy Britain fading into nothingness, and the incomparably soft and fragrant lap pillow of the Goddess of Fate, Clotho.
"What the hell...?"
Still immersed in the pleasant aftertaste of that moment, Promise frowned as he was rudely awakened, his irritation evident as he opened his eyes.
So, raising his voice instinctively, he grumbled,
"Melly, Baobhan Sith—can you two keep it down when you're messing around...?"
But mid-sentence, his clear emerald-green eyes finally registered his surroundings and his words came to an abrupt halt.
A short-haired pink-haired girl, wielding a massive shield, or perhaps, more accurately, something the size of a dining table—
Dressed in heavy violet armor, she was struggling to hold back an onslaught of undead creatures.
Behind her stood another girl,
Red-haired, orange-eyed, clad in a magical formal uniform.
Just moments ago, he had been in Fairy Britain.
Now, as Promise stared at the scene before him, he blinked in confusion, his mind momentarily blank.
At that moment, perhaps hearing his voice, the red-haired girl turned her head toward him and their eyes met.
For a moment, she was stunned—drawn to the star-like brilliance of his emerald-green gaze.
But given the urgency of the situation, she quickly snapped out of it.
"Mash! Thank goodness—he's awake!"
The girl immediately turned back and called out to the armored Shielder, the Sub-Servant of Chaldea—Mash Kyrielight.
Hearing this, Mash also turned her head.
When she saw that Promise had indeed regained consciousness, relief flashed across her face, but she quickly became serious again.
"Senpai, now that he's awake, we need to escape!"
Having said that, without even waiting for the red-haired girl to process her words, Mash turned, retracted her shield, and—
With one hand, she grabbed Ritsuka Fujimaru.
With the other, she grabbed a still-dazed Promise.
And then—she leaped high into the air, taking both of them with her, breaking free from the undead horde.
As Mash carried him, Promise's gaze swept across the scene below, and as his mind finally cleared, he instinctively entered battle mode and understood the situation.
A Singularity.
A burning, polluted Fuyuki City.
The journey to restore human order had begun.
Mash Kyrielight... which means—
She's Ritsuka Fujimaru?
That realization struck him, and as Promise glanced toward Fujimaru, another important question suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Wait a second.
Doesn't this mean... the bomb already exploded?
Wait—no—hold on—
HOW DID I ALSO UNDERGO SPIRITRON TRANSFER?!
A horrifying thought struck him.
Was he the same as Director Olga Marie...?
Had he been killed in the explosion and was now just a lingering spirit?
At that moment, Promise's expression shifted dramatically.
If that were the case, then this was seriously quite funny...
Not, not that..it would be a bad news.
If he was already dead, then he would be forced onto the Throne of Heroes—
Then all he could do was wait for someone to summon him.
No! That can't be right!
But, soon this idea was rejected by Promise, because at that moment, he suddenly remembered something crucial—
He had used an Heroic Spirit Class Card to steal the power of this world.
His engraving into the Throne of Heroes didn't consume time.
No matter how long he had journeyed, whether it had been—
A day, a month, a year, or even several decades—
When he completed his engraving, he would wake up at the very next second after initiating it.
He had already traveled through Greek Mythology, training under Chiron for years and later embarking on an endless journey.
Yet when he woke up, it had still been the same night he had left.
So, in theory—he shouldn't have woken up in this first Singularity at all.
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Someone stole my time...
No, more precisely—
'Someone must have put me into stasis at the exact moment my Heroic Spirit Engraving ended... and only just woke me up now.'
'And the only kind of person capable of doing that...'
As Mash landed gracefully on the ground with both him and Fujimaru, Promise's thoughts reached their conclusion.
At the same time, two Heroic Spirit Class Cards, visible only to him, appeared in his hand.
Two cards.
One from his journey through Greek Mythology—
Where he wore Athena's flawless sacred armor and wielded the Blade of Judgment, later jokingly dubbed by historians as the "God of Painting".
Class: Painter.
And the other—
From a world remembered only by a select few—
Where he wielded a Holy Sword engulfed in divine flames, a blade that destroyed everything.
Class: Saber.
The moment he saw these two cards, Promise completely calmed down.
After all,
No matter what had happened.
No matter who had orchestrated all of this.
Right now—
He had the power to resist everything.
As soon as they landed in a temporary safe zone, Mash immediately released both Fujimaru and Promise.
Then, she turned to Promise, and spoke with a slightly apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry, Promise-senpai...
You got dragged into this, and now you're in danger because of us..."
Just as Mash was about to explain the current situation to Promise—
"Let's talk about this once we get back... Mash, don't forget, even though I'm not a magus, just an ordinary person, I am still a student of Lord El-Melloi II."
With a smile, Promise interrupted her.
"Since I've come to Chaldea, I naturally have some understanding of its situation, so I can more or less grasp what's going on right now. But I do have one question."
"Mash, do you remember seeing me yesterday?"
As he spoke, Promise looked at Mash in front of him, seriously.
Hearing this, the latter instinctively tried to recall, but her face quickly became blank, her expression shifting to confusion.
Because she realized that not only yesterday—but even her memories of Promise from much earlier were becoming unclear.
The only memories she could recall were from when she first met Promise—
In other words, everything before Promise's journey to Fairy Britain was crystal clear.
But after that, it was as if something had cut those memories off completely.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember anything.
Yet, despite this, Mash didn't feel anything was out of place.
It felt natural, as if things were always supposed to be this way.
In fact, it wasn't just Mash—
If Promise were to ask Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, or anyone else, they would all give the same answer.
Which meant...
"So it's really like this."
Even though Mash hadn't given a verbal answer, the expression on her face told Promise everything he needed to know.
If this wasn't the work of Melly or the mastermind behind the Singularity—
Then the only explanation was that this was the prank of a god rewriting reality itself.
'If it was Melly, she wouldn't do something like this.
As for Goetia... if he really knew about me, his first reaction would have been to come for me directly.
Which means... if it was a god...
This indescribable and inexplicable sense of familiarity...
Could it be...?
For a brief moment, countless thoughts flashed through Promise's mind.
And under the guidance of wisdom, he suddenly arrived at a terrifying realization.
The possibility that surfaced in his mind made Promise's eyes widen in shock,
Nearly making him jump up in panic.
Even his face paled slightly.
For the first time, his emerald eyes showed an unusual fear—
Yet at the same time, there was a faint trace of expectation.
"Promise-senpai?"
This time, the one who spoke with doubt wasn't Mash, but Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had been standing nearby in her white magus uniform.
Promise snapped back to reality at the sound of her voice.
Turning his head, his gaze naturally met Fujimaru's.
Their eyes locked and as Fujimaru looked into his eyes, she was mesmerized for a moment.
As I thought, Promise Senpai's emerald-green eyes...
So beautiful...
She couldn't help but think this to herself.
Then, Mash naturally took the opportunity to introduce the two of them.
Well it was Promise, who spoke.
"I am Promise, a student of Lord El-Melloi II from the Clock Tower... though, to be honest, not a very successful one.
After all, I don't have any magic circuits, nor am I qualified to be a Master."
With a smile, Promise introduced himself to Fujimaru.
At the same time, his eyes subtly glanced at the Command Spells on her hand.
Hearing him casually mocking himself, Fujimaru followed his gaze, looking down at the Command Spells on her hand.
Immediately, her face flashed with slight panic, as if she didn't know how to respond.
"Senpai, it's fine. Promise-senpai was just joking."
Mash reassured Fujimaru, then turned toward her and said,
"Promise-senpai is actually an incredible person. Not only did he once participate in a Holy Grail War, but he even won it!
Oh, and I also heard that Promise-senpai is a really talented artist!"
As she recalled details about Promise, Mash earnestly tried to explain to Fujimaru.
"An artist?"
Hearing this, Fujimaru was slightly surprised.
"Just an insignificant one, not worth mentioning."
Promise responded indifferently before he smiled lightly, and turned to look at Fujimaru Ritsuka and said,
"But if you don't mind, Ritsuka, one day in the future, I'd like to paint a portrait of you... and you too, Mash."
If people who 'knew' Promise were here, they would definitely be shocked at this moment.
After all, this was a glory even acknowledged by the gods, something many had struggled their entire lives to obtain.
Even the proud hero Jason, whose name was deeply engraved in myth and legend, had long sought out Promise for a single reason—
To obtain one of his paintings.
But at this moment, neither Mash nor Fujimaru were aware of this.
Without much thought, they both readily agreed to his request.
And just then, they heard a familiar cry for help.
Hearing the sound, they looked at each other and rushed towards the source of the voice.
There—
They saw a woman frantically fleeing in panic.
The moman was off course, none other than the Director of Chaldea—Olga Marie Animusphere.
But what truly made Promise freeze in place and his his emerald-green eyes widen little by little—
Was the Servant walking calmly behind her, pursuing without urgency.
To Promise, a transmigrator, that was a being he could never mistake.
Even though, in reality—
They had never met before.
But still—
Their connection ran deeper than most.
Whether it was because of that goddess—
Or because of his grass-eating Brother Horse, Pegasus—
But in fact, Promise had long prepared himself for this moment.
As a transmigrator, someone with foreknowledge, he had already anticipated that she would appear as a Servant.
So in theory, he shouldn't have been this shocked.
Yet, at this moment, Promise's eyes widened in shock.
Because the figure in front of him was slightly different from the one in his memories.
She was not summoned as a Rider as she always did in Type-Moon.
Nor did she appear in the Lancer class.
Instead,
She stood before him in an even younger form, her appearance more modern and stylish.
And in that instant—
A thought Promise had been suppressing suddenly began to feel more real.
Because this confirmed his suspicion.
She was Medusa.
And at this very moment—
The Class she had manifested in was...
Saber.
.
.