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

With his eyes covered by the blindfold, Promise, empowered by Themis, temporarily held the authority of the goddess of justice.

The pure white courtroom enveloped everyone within.

Promise stood at the highest point of the courtroom, while Themis, just as she had before, quietly stood behind him.

Under the court, there was the water nymph holding her head with a confused look in her eyes.

Under the power of the goddess of justice, she had woken up from her decadent madness, but she was only temporarily free. 

The phantom of the sea demon Scylla loomed behind her like an ominous presence.

Next to the confused water nymph was Circe, who was rubbing her eyes in confusion.

With pink hair and eyes as beautiful as a rainbow, she is a demigod in Greek mythology, overseeing the moon and love, while also being a witch of temptation and corruption.

She is the student of the goddess of crossroads, Hecate, and the aunt of Medea.

At this moment, she seemed to have just woken up and was still in her pajamas, drooling slightly from the corner of her mouth.

One word is enough to describe her:

The most famous loser in Greek mythology!

Apart from the two of them, there was another person.

That was the man whose body was covered with seaweed and whose hands were bound with chains.

His name was Glaucus, and he was the fisherman who fell in love with the water nymph and was later loved by the witch Circe.

After the sea goddess Thetis found out everything, she sought him out and punished him by permanently imprisoning the man on a stone pillar deep in the sea.

Thus, the current appearance of Glaucus had nothing of the handsomeness that could once charm both the witch and the water nymph. Instead, he now looked like a prisoner who had finally seen the light of day.

With this, the people on stage were all present, but the audience below was not yet complete.

Since this was a trial, there must naturally be jurors and an audience as witnesses.

This time, the audience was just as crowded as ever, but they were not living beings—they were the spirits of the dead.

The power of the goddess of justice temporarily brought them out from the abyss of the underworld.

They were the spirits who had lost their lives to the mouth of the sea monster Scylla.

Besides them, there were also some spectators sitting among the relatives.

The goddess of crossroads, Hecate, looked bewildered at the scene, with Medea sleeping sweetly on her lap, and the sea goddess Thetis, who was covering her mouth in shock.

They were all people who should have been there, but there were a few people in the audience who shouldn't have been there.

The Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, dressed in a pure white gown, looking immaculate, Hermes with a smile at the corner of his mouth, holding onto his feathered hat, Hera, the queen of heaven, and Demeter, who was sitting together with her daughter.

Even the goddess of fate, Clotho, was here, sitting alone in a corner with her crystal ball, with a pegasus lying beside her.

Promise's lips twitched twice. Though his eyes were covered by white cloth, this actually made him 'see' even more clearly.

He didn't invite them, these guys just smelled the scent and came here on their own.

Athena even waved cheerfully when she noticed the boy looking over, clearly delighted.

If it weren't for Hera's intense glare from the side making her uncomfortable, she might have run directly to the trial seat to find Promise.

In this way, everyone was finally gathered.

In the brief silence, as everyone gradually returned to their senses, a round of inevitable commotion followed.

Athena and the others were having fun watching from the sidelines while the undead began to communicate with each other, or perhaps they were screaming because they saw the phantom of the siren behind the water nymph.

"Ah, I knew I shouldn’t have come."

Hecate, scanning the scene with her red eyes and quickly figured out everything and couldn't help but pinch Medea’s face with a depressed expression, causing the girl to wail in pain, feeling like she was in the midst of a terrible nightmare.

On the stage...

"Circe?!" The water nymph widened her eyes in disbelief as she stared at Circe.

Upon confirming it was indeed her, the water nymph gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with hatred.

In response...

"Mm... Huh, who are you?"

Circe, who was yawning and obviously not awake yet, looked at the water nymph in front of her with a confused face.

Then, noticing the shadow behind her, she frowned in disgust and said, "Wow, don't come over here, stay away from me, you’re so ugly!"

"Circe?!"

Hearing the water nymph's voice, Glaucus, who couldn’t stand, with seawater dripping onto the stage, his hands shackled in chains, was equally excited.

"Save me, Circe, save me!" 

He cried out, even crawling towards Circe, frightening her so much that she retreated again and again.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute! Who are you? You’re so filthy! Don’t come any closer or I’ll turn you into a pig!"

After saying this with a look of disgust on her face, Circe finally had time to observe the situation on the scene.

Upon noticing the gathering of gods watching the show, her body visibly stiffened.

Fortunately, she quickly spotted Hecate, who was turning her head away, clearly unwilling to pay attention to her.

"Eh, Goddess... Isn't that my goddess! Goddess teacher, it's me, your lovely follower! What's going on here, goddess teacher?"

With a face full of excitement, Circe began to move toward Hecate, but at that moment,

"Silence."

Promise finally spoke, and though his voice was soft, within this pure white courtroom, it carried the power of law, instantly quieting the once-noisy courtroom.

The water nymph, the fisherman, and even Circe were rendered motionless, unable to move. 

Promise then began to explain the circumstances and the reasons why everyone, except for the gods, who were merely watching for amusement, was gathered in this pure white courtroom.

Following the words of Promise, Circe, who had been dissatisfied earlier, was left stunned, and even the water nymph, who had been glaring furiously at Circe, was equally stunned.

She tilted her head and looked in disbelief at the 'spectators.' sitting on the stage around her.

They were all people who had died at her hands.

The water nymph's heart was naturally shaken by this, and the shadow of the sea monster behind her began to tremble continuously.

When everything was explained, Promise lifted the silence, and then...

"How... how is this possible..."

Circe looked in disbelief at the man covered in seaweed beside her, shock evident in her voice: 

"You’re actually Glaucus!"

This girl, who had been pleading for Glaucus' help moments ago, now lowered her head, unable to say a word, as Promise's words vividly reminded her of the past and that ultimate betrayal.

Circe stared intently at Glaucus, the one she once loved.

The latter kept his head down, unable to muster the courage to lift it again.

As for the water nymph, she no longer looked at them but instead turned her gaze toward the audience.

Because of the whole story stated by Promise, the spirit recalled everything and realizing that they were dead, they kept cursing at the water nymph and venting their emotions.

Amidst this noise situation, Medea woke up from Hecate's lap.

Seeing her goddess teacher’s helpless expression and the chaotic surroundings in front of her, she naturally found herself utterly confused.

With this, the trial officially began.

The case itself was not complicated, but because this was a gift for Themis, and Themis had also taken off the blindfold from her eyes, Promise had to accomplish one thing:

The verdict must convince everyone present.

And beyond that, the judgment must, as in the past, bring a smile to the face of the goddess of justice, Themis.

Only then would it be worthy of being presented as a gift to the goddess Themis.

"Glaucus, you are the root cause of everything."

Promise spoke again. 

This time, he did not impose silence, but as soon as he began speaking, all sounds disappeared at once.

Because by now, everyone clearly understood that he was the judge here.

"You fell in love with the water nymph because she saved you from drowning, but you chose to betray her because of the curse of the witch Circe... Is that right?"

The fisherman remained silent.

When everyone instinctively turned their gaze toward him, he, now free and easy, responded with a bitter smile as he answered sincerely, "Yes, I betrayed her, even though I once loved her so deeply.

I can never forget the scene, when I was drowning in the deep sea, she appeared by my side and saved me. 

At that moment, she was so beautiful, so beautiful that I couldn't breathe.

I once believed that my love for her would never change until she turned into that monster and came in front of me... Even though I knew that just one kiss, a kiss from someone who still loved her, would make her return to her original form, I still ran away."

"Because I knew that even if I kissed her, she would never return to the way she was."

When she turned into a monster, the love that once existed was already gone.

The fisherman’s words naturally earned disdainful glances from many in the audience as they looked at him with contempt. 

After all, the water nymph was his saviour, and it was he who persistently pursued her afterwards. 

But when the water nymph truly needed him, he was afraid and ran away.

However, when they looked at the monstrous shadow behind the water nymph, many fell silent once again.

It’s easy to speak, but if one’s lover became like that and they still had to love and kiss them, how many could really do it?

Even if they once loved each other, that kind of monster...