Fate: I Heard After Death, You Can Ascend to the Throne of Heroes?-Chapter 279: Awakening God

"So... that guy has been trying to rewrite fate this whole time?"

Melly, the only one who remained relaxed among all, was the first to speak.

"All that talk about wanting to destroy the Lostbelt was a lie?"

"No... not a lie. More like... a side effect?"

Thinking about all this, she couldn't help but recall Vivian's words.

And then—

She thought back to the legends.

The stories of the hero Promise.

And then she muttered—

"Ah, I should have realized it sooner."

"Of course, this is exactly the kind of thing he would do."

"Rewriting fate... creating miracles... painting the gods themselves—"

"In this world, only he could achieve that."

With just a few words,

The shape of Promise's past was drawn in the air.

And as Morgan was attracted by Mellie's words..

"But there's one thing I don't get."

"If he's already done all this—why is he so fixated on that god, even risking his life for it?"

After saying that, Mellie's gaze turned back to Clotho as she asked.

"Given his current situation, if he takes us along, with the strength we have now—"

"It should not be impossible to take down Cernunnos, right?"

Upon hearing this, Clotho turned her head as her gaze shifted toward the world outside.

And then she answered..

"Because the source of the curse is not hatred."

"It is anger—and 'responsibility.'"

Even... even when he was killed by the very fairies he was protecting, he still chose to protect them."

At that moment—

Clotho revealed another truth.

"As long as his remains exist beneath this land—"

"The Abyssal Worms that could truly destroy this world will never emerge."

"And in reality—"

"That so-called curse can be lifted whenever you truly repent."

"He never gave you true death."

Clotho was really a very honest goddess of fate.

She never speaks in riddles like some other goddesses.

As long as you ask her, she will give you an answer.

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

But for all her honesty,

Her truths could be painful to hear.

Because this was fate.

A predetermined future that—

Even knowing it now—

Could not be changed.

Except..

For Promise.

"So he's trying to reach Cernunnos, not to awaken him—"

"—but to put him to rest forever?"

Following this line of thought, Morgan responded in a calm tone,

But her expression was no longer frozen.

"Because in his eyes, Cernunnos is a benevolent god."

"And he should never have been made into a symbol of disaster."

.

.

.

And at this moment,

Somewhere deep underground—

When the unknown witch appeared, she took Promise away and headed to the abyss of the big cave.

And when Promise opened his eyes—

The world before him was not darkness.

It was—

A paradise.

A vast, boundless garden.

And at its center was a small shrine, built to honor a god.

"Gong—"

Just as Promise was looking at everything in front of him with some confusion and bewilderment, the sound of bell suddenly rang in his ears.

Drawn by the sound—

Promise slowly stepped toward the shrine and saw something.

Inside the sacred temple..

He saw a priestess kneeling before a statue, praying.

He did not need to think that it was a statue of Cernunnos.

And the priestess—

Her face hidden,

Her entire body bathed in a harsh crimson glow—

As if he had thought of something, Promise stepped forward and also prayed to the god Cernunnos.

But at this moment, a chuckle suddenly sounded in his ear.

"Your prayers are all wrong."

"Our god will never answer you."

Promise smiled.

"Then, Priestess—"

"Won't you teach me the right way to pray?"

The priestess chuckled.

And then, with a soft, sorrowful voice—

She spoke.

"Even if I taught you—"

"—it wouldn't matter."

"Because he left this place long ago."

"His soul has already vanished."

"All that remains—"

"—is his body."

The priestess sighed lightly, her voice carrying a tone of resignation.

And as Promise gazed at the priestess, whose face couldn't be seen properly, he already knew, who she was.

Well it wasn't hard to guess, she was the last human priestess of Cernunnos.

A woman with an unshakable sense of duty,

Who had once devoted her entire life to teaching the six original fairies to recognize their sins.

However, what she didn't expect was the she would be hated and resented, for that very act,

Until, while still alive,

She was torn apart piece by piece by the very fairies she tried to save.

Not only that..

Her body was used as material,

To create the only 'humans' in this world—

A race of beings without reproductive capabilities, unique to this world.

In other words—

She was the "Mother" of all humans in this world.

Born from a vicious joke, a cruel irony.

"He has already left."

"Then why are you still here?"

Hearing this, Promise couldn't help but instinctively ask.

"I cannot leave."

"And... I do not wish to."

The faceless priestess seemed to be smiling bitterly at this moment.

"My suffering made my god angry."

"And so, he cursed this world."

"As the time time went by, that curse festered, grew—until it became the monstrous force that now threatens to consume everything."

"But he was never meant to be like this."

"He was supposed to be a gentle, kind god."

Hearing her words, Promise fell silent for a moment, before, he asked a question few would dare to ask.

"Then, have you never thought about revenge yourself?"

To be torn apart bit by bit while still alive.

To have your very body used as material.

To be denied even the peace of death.

If even this doesn't warrant revenge then what would?

The priestess was not angered and emotional by his words.

Instead, she answered his question quite calmly.

"At first, of course, I did."

"When I saw my god's curse descend upon this world—"

"—I even felt a kind of twisted satisfaction."

"But... it has been too long."

"The fairies who wronged me are already dead."

The priestess spoke calmly.

"Initially, I was merely waiting."

"Waiting for the future I foresaw—"

"The future where this world is destroyed."

"So I remained asleep."

"But I never thought that you would actually come here."

Her gaze, though faceless, seemed to pierce into his soul.

"Your presence here is an anomaly."

"A variable that should never have existed."

"Your arrival alone has already changed fate—"

"—so much so that even the gods beyond this world have begun to watch."

"You wish to change everything, don't you?"

Promise did not hesitate and nodded firmly.

"Just like you said, your god should never have been turned into a symbol of calamity."

"And besides—"

"The Goddess of Fate is watching me."

"So how could I allow myself to let her down?"

Hearing this, the priestess laughed softly.

And then—

The tolling bell rang once more.

A deep, echoing sound—

Reverberating through the void.

And in that moment, Promise closed his eyes.

When he opened them again—

The world had changed.

Darkness.

He found himself in endless, overwhelming darkness.

And at the same time—

Cernunnos awoke.

The slumbering god rose from the abyss.

And as he emerged, he stepped forward—

Into the land of Fairy Britain.

Cernunnos "awoke."

As the sun rose and the night receded,

He climbed out from the depths of the earth—

No—

To call Cernunnos "He" would be wrong, hm..it should be It.

Because the Cernunnos that awakened today—

No longer had a soul.

It was no longer a god.

It was merely a curse.

A final curse left behind by Cernunnos,

Upon this accursed land of Fairy Britain.

A curse that had festered for thousands of years,

Its malice had gathered into an unstoppable tide.

Now, it spilled forth, from the entirety of his body, spreading across the entire continent.

The fairy knight, Baobhan Sith, had become its sacrificial core.

The moment the god's corpse stirred,

She was gone.

Thus, when it appeared, crawling out of that massive abyss, its mountain-like colossal body blocked out the sun, reaching all the way to the sky.

The twelve holy spears—Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, floating in the sky, were unable to descend immediately to unleash a thunderous strike upon Cernunnos.

At this moment, even the ever-composed Queen Morgan couldn't help but bite her lip lightly as she stood atop the walls of the Fairy Kingdom of Camelot, staring at the terrifying deity before her, watching as both her 'daughter' and Promise were swallowed into its body.

For a moment, she was unable to decide whether to launch an attack.

To strike now was to destroy everything.

But just then, at the very moment when the sun rose and the cursed deity climbed out from the depths of the earth—

The Pilgrimage Bells suddenly tolled.

1st Bell – Banishes Darkness

2nd Bell – Dispels Lies

3rd Bell – Casts Away Medals

4th Bell – Unveils Reality.

5th Bell – Cleanses Sin

6th Bell – Final Toll

Ringing out—was the bell that called for the atonement of original sin!

Six bells tolled in succession at the very moment of Cernunnos' awakening, resounding across the entirety of Fairy Britain, echoing in the ears of every living being.

At that instant, even Oberon, lurking in the shadows, could not remain hidden.

He reappeared in an instant,

His face filled with shock as he rushed over to Paradise Fairy—Artoria Caster.

At this moment, the latter was standing alongside the Goddess of Fate and Lady Mellie of Avalon, on the walls of Fairy Camelot, not far from Morgan.

"You did this?" Oberon asked, his face filled with disbelief as he turned toward Artoria Caster.

However, Artoria was just as shocked and at a complete loss.

Because—she had been standing right here the entire time, and along the way, she had no opportunity to ring the bell of pilgrimage!

It wasn't just them—when the bells tolled and every fairy in Fairy Britain heard them, they all looked at one another in confusion, having no idea what had just happened.

As for the fairies and knights within Camelot, they were paralyzed with shock, overwhelmed by both the bells' tolling and the appearance of the deity before them.

For a moment, they didn't even know how to react.

Yet, just then—Melly suddenly laughed.

That delicate face bloomed into a smile as brilliant as a field of blossoming flowers.

She stepped forward lightly, and in an instant, the morning breeze swept past, stirring her white hair.

Her drunken red eyes gazed at the god before her, as though seeing something far beyond.

"When the bells toll, the truth is finally revealed...

This moment has finally arrived!"