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(Fate) Chapter 239: The last Servant—Enkidu
🕑 Added 2024-12-26 15:49:28 +0000 UTCTime passed quickly, and soon, night had fallen.
However, before darkness fully descended, Promise left the Clock Tower alone.
Under the vast expanse of stars, he summoned the white Pegasus, its ethereal form descending like a dream from the heavens.
"I’ve more or less pinpointed the location. It’s in Antarctica,"
Promise said, climbing onto Pegasus’s back and addressing the creature’s questioning gaze.
"It’s built in the icy wilderness, and it’s called the Chaldea Security Organization. Once you get close, you should feel the significant magical energy waves coming from that area.”
Pegasus didn’t understand what Promise was saying, nor did it grasp what Chaldea was.
But it didn’t try to think too deeply about it.
Spreading its wings wide, it carried Promise into the night sky, their forms vanishing into the shadows of the stars.
Even though this was no longer the Age of Gods, where goddesses would mark paths to guide them, Pegasus instinctively sensed the direction of Promise’s destination.
Several hours later, just before dawn, it brought the boy to a structure hidden amidst the endless snow and ice—a celestial observatory built to oversee the Earth from the void.
Hovering above Chaldea, its wings spread wide, Pegasus stood unaffected by the howling blizzard below.
Promise looked down at the building beneath him and murmured softly, "Chaldea… so it really does exist after all.”
It certainly existed; in fact, regardless of any parallel world, it existed.
In 1950 AD, before the Holy Grail War erupted in Fuyuki City, Chaldea had already been established.
It was jointly funded by various nations, with 70% of the funds provided by the Mage's Association in London—the Animusphere family, the ancestral home of Director Olga Marie.
As Promise contemplated these matters and reviewed the information and materials about Chaldea that he had gathered over the past two days, Pegasus suddenly gave a soft call toward him.
Following Pegasus's gaze, the boy looked into Chaldea with a puzzled expression.
He then saw the reflection of a young girl near the window.
The girl was wearing a short white work uniform and had short pink hair.
At this moment, she was looking up at him with a dazed expression.
Finding the situation too absurd to believe, she even took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes incredulously.
Recognizing her identity in an instant, Promise couldn’t help but chuckle softly as he turned to Pegasus and said, "Let’s leave for now, Brother Horse."
Pegasus nodded indifferently.
In the next moment, before the girl had time to put her glasses back on, it transformed into a meteor and vanished without a trace into the stormy night sky.
"…An illusion?"
Seeing thus sudden scene, the girl was deeply puzzled, but what she had seen felt far too real so, after a moment of hesitation, she decided to submit a report about her experience, but her report was instantly dismissed.
After all, this was Chaldea, equipped with magical instruments specifically designed for observation.
Yet none of them had detected anything unusual.
And based on the other party's description, that creature was Pegasus, and as everyone knew, Pegasus was an entity absolutely impossible to appear in this era.
So this thought was simply inconceivable!
As a result, everyone naturally assumed that the girl had been mistaken.
Even she began to think the same in her heart. However…
The fleeting glimpse of that figure, along with those emerald-green eyes, had been etched vividly into her mind at that moment, never to fade.
"By the way, Brother Horse, would you like to meet Medusa?"
Having left the snowy lands behind and without the cover of the night, Promise had Pegasus stop for a brief rest in a remote, untouched forest as the latter tilted its head in confusion at this sudden question.
"Hmm… If I recall correctly, she might actually be your mother!"
However, even after hearing this, Pegasus’s expression remained utterly blank, as though it didn’t understand what Promise was talking about.
"Never mind, it’s nothing important." Promise had only intended to tease it a little. Seeing no reaction, he quickly lost interest.
He then perched himself on a large tree within the ancient forest, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Pegasus cautiously tried nibbling on some grass nearby, but after just two bites, it spat it out with a look of utter disdain.
Because it was too disgusting!
"Brother Horse, what do you think I should do next? In the past, my goals were always clear, so I moved forward without hesitation. But now, I feel like there are too many crossroads ahead, leaving me a bit indecisive and aimless."
Upon hearing this, Pegasus tilted its head in confusion and looked up at Promise, letting out a couple of soft neighs.
"You’re saying I should act as I did before?"
Promise froze for a moment, then let out a wry chuckle.
Shaking his head, he replied to Pegasus, "This era no longer celebrates heroes, and I no longer have any need to be one."
Upon hearing this, Pegasus neighed again.
"You’re asking me whether Athena is still my goddess and if the agreement between me and goddess of fate still holds?" Promise was stunned for a moment, then frowned and thought about this question seriously.
If he were to answer that Athena was no longer his goddess...
Promise could already envision a future far worse than just receiving a "choking punishment" from her.
After all, statues of her weeping likeness now adorned the entire world. Given her prideful nature, Promise thought she’d probably want to kill him on the spot.
As for his agreement with the goddess of fate... Although he had already lived through an entire life, technically fulfilling that promise, there was something about it that lingered.
After all, that promise was tied to seeing the cute goddess of fate's face turn red with both shame and anger as she bit her lip in frustration.
Losing that would truly be a pity.
With this thought, Promise sighed deeply with emotion.
Then, as if realizing something, he looked intently at Pegasus.
Under the latter's confused gaze, he smiled faintly and said, "I think I understand now why you were the first to return to my side... Perhaps it’s because this is also what I’ve secretly desired all along."
And so...
As the night fell once more, Pegasus did not carry Promise back to the Clock Tower in London this time.
Instead, it headed directly toward Snowfield City, the fabricated setting of a false Holy Grail War.
A city where a distorted version of the ritual had summoned more than ten Servants into a chaotic, all-out battle, heralding the arrival of a true Holy Grail War.
.
.
.
.
A few days later, in the forests of Snowfield, a city on the western continent of America.
Night had fallen, and the moonlight rendered the forest deep and mysterious.
Under its silvery glow, a creature—a wolf with a silvery-white coat, was sprinting desperately through the woods.
This wolf was a synthetic beast created by an Egyptian mage.
Initially, it had been intended to serve as a catalyst for summoning an Egyptian deity, as part of the mage’s preparations to participate in the Holy Grail War in this city.
However, to the mage’s shock, the Command Seals, which were symbols of being chosen by the Holy Grail to summon a Servant and participate in the war; appeared on the body of this synthetic beast instead!
Determined to reclaim the Command Seals, the Egyptian mage began hunting the silvery-white wolf.
However, at this moment, as magic-infused bullets pierced the wolf's body, its cries of pain and desperate will to survive echoed throughout the forest.
In that moment of anguish and yearning to live, the sixth and final Servant of this false Holy Grail War, Lancer, descended into the night-shrouded forest.
A dazzling brilliance illuminated the entire forest, and a whirlwind shook the surrounding trees.
Then, from the light emerged a figure, clad in simple yet elegant garments, exuding a beauty that transcended any logic and gender.
This was a Servant whose origins lay in Sumerian mythology, a weapon crafted by the gods to bring the hero-king Gilgamesh back to their side. A divine construct, a doll fashioned by the gods themselves.
Their name was Enkidu.
(Their or Her??You decide.)
"With this, the six Servants of this false Holy Grail War have all been summoned.
Their arrival will herald the onset of a true Holy Grail War in this city…"
At that moment, a man's low whisper echoed through the forest.
He was hidden in the shadows, observing everything that unfolded.
His name was Faldeus Dioland, a young man appearing to be in his early twenties, clad in a long robe of blue and black hues.
He was also one of the few privy to the true conspiracy behind this Holy Grail War, a member of the Union States’ clandestine forces.
This was a false Holy Grail War.
The so-called Holy Grail War is traditionally a battle centered around the "Holy Grail," a relic capable of granting its possessor’s deepest wish.
It involves seven mages, each summoning a Servant to fight for the ownership of the Grail.
Under normal circumstances, there are seven Masters, each paired with a Servant representing one of the seven classes.
However, this ongoing Holy Grail War was labeled false because it was incomplete.
One Servant was missing in the war and there were only six Servants in total.
So, even if a victor emerged, the Holy Grail would not manifest.
However, this incompleteness was deliberate—a necessary precursor to summon the true Holy Grail and initiate the real Holy Grail War.
So, to put it simply, this Holy Grail War in the western regions of the American continent involved six Masters and Servants participating in the false war, alongside seven Masters and Servants who would join the true war.
That means, a total of thirteen Servants, thrown into chaotic combat all at once.
And Enkidu, who was summoned as the final Servant of the false Holy Grail War, marked the completion of this preliminary ritual.
Their very appearance signaled the true Holy Grail War's descent upon the bustling city of Snowfield, with a population of over 800,000.
"From this point forward, my work begins," Faldeus murmured as he glanced at the fleeing Egyptian mage, still under Enkidu's serene gaze, and then at the synthetic wolf nestled peacefully in the green haired figure's arms, its once frantic demeanor now calmed.
“What a gentle creature,”
As he spoke, the young man named Faldeus, lowered his gaze, and pulled up the hood of his robe, preparing to finish his task—eliminating the troublesome Egyptian mage.
But then, he stopped abruptly, sensing something amiss.
"Huh?"
His footsteps ceased, and he lifted his head to cast a puzzled glance toward Enkidu’s direction.
At the same time, Enkidu, who was still cradling the silver wolf, seemed to have noticed it as well.
They raised their head, their emerald eyes peering through the darkness of the forest toward the unseen presence.
Suddenly, a hauntingly beautiful melody resonated through the silent woods.
The sound of a harp echoed beneath the moonlight, its ethereal notes blending with the silvery glow that illuminated the clearing.
From the shadows of the forest, a young man stepped forward, clad in a white shirt and a pale blue jacket. In his hands was a silver harp, its strings glimmering faintly.
His presence was akin to that of a bard from an ancient legend, stepping forth as if summoned by the romantic allure of the moonlit night.
"...A Servant?"
Looking at the boy before him, who seemed entirely out of place in this era, as if he had stepped out of a painting, Faldeus Dioland couldn’t help but have this thought flash through his mind.
But he quickly dismissed it.
After all, he already knew all six Servants participating in the false Holy Grail War, and this boy wasn’t one of them.
As for the Servants of the true Holy Grail War, it was far too early for them to have been summoned.
If he wasn’t a Servant, then he had to be a mage… or so Faldeus reasoned.
But again, as he looked at the young man, he frowned and rejected the notion.
Because the young man Faldeus soon discovered that the young man, who had suddenly broken into the Holy Grail War and had appeared in front of Enkidu, wasn’t radiating any magical energy at all...
That meant that he did not have any magical energy unless he was hiding it exceptionally well.
At that moment, the boy, now standing before Enkidu, stopped playing his harp.
Then, he raised his head, offering a gentle smile, his emerald eyes reflecting the figure of Enkidu like countless stars.
“Hello, beautiful…”
Comments
ABnox
I'm definitely using her
Naga
He definitely changes the term of godslayer
paladar blade
I say her since it would be funny if Enkidu was the next goddess Promise 'slays' with his charms.
