A Conflicting Dilemma

Samael stands under the rain as he looks over across the open place where his enemies stand.

Across the numerous encounters throughout the years of being chased around by the decree of the Divine Sanctum of Divinity, they adapted against each other occasionally which ended in either side's victories but never reached total victory.

One of the most important parts that they learned is Vivian's ability of tracking.

Vivian is a dark mage in the Wizard realm that can use myriads of offensive and support spells, she was devastatingly strong in close-quarter and has an excellent ability to track the person that she was searching for through unknown means.

It was her that makes it hard for Samael and the others to escape from them for long.

Now it seems Vivian's ability comes into play again as they managed to find Samael and the others in this dense forest. Despite trying their hardest to be meticulous to not leave any track, it was not enough to hide from Vivian's terrifying tracking skill.

Cyrus stepped forward with a fierce glow in his eyes, "No more place to run, this is the end..."

Even though Samael knows the outcome if a fight broke out right here, he was reluctant to admit it. Nobody can help them right now, the only mage on his side that can be on par with Cyrus and Vivian has been killed about a month ago.

'I- I know what would happen, but I can't let it end like this!' Samael thought while gritting his teeth.

Knowing that the mages on his side would gladly sacrifice their lives in order to protect him, surrendering right now and letting Cyrus kill him was the best answer. As he was the only target, the others can leave.

Out of everything, Samael also doesn't want Lily to be hurt and would rather be killed instead.

Glancing to the side, he finds Lily trembling and hiding behind his arm while fearfully looking at Cyrus and his goons that are filled with killing intent. It was a huge dilemma for Samael, he doesn't know what to do, but he was so close to reaching the System that would turn his entire life around.

'No, I need to keep going. God always chooses the side of good' Samael reassure himself.

The Third Divine Axiom dictates that God will always choose the side of good, and thus in times when the good and bad clash for the last time, the good would always win no matter what. Samael would only need to believe in himself.

It was God's guidance, and he needs to seize it so that he can restore justice once more.

"Oh? Are you not going to surrender yourself, Samael? Are you going to let these good mages that have the potential to do good in the future die for you?" Cyrus asked, casting a mocking grin at Samael that is clearly troubled by the situation he was in.

As if the world responded to the dilemma, the rain poured even harder and drenched their bodies.

But Norman was the first one to react and shouted fiercely without any hint of hesitation in his thunderous voice, "Don't listen to him, Lord Samael! Go inside and claim your destiny, we're going to hold them off enough for you to get in! Your father has done the same to us, and now it's our turn to repay his kindness!"

Upon hearing this, Cyrus frowned as his eyes landed on a white map in Samael's hand.

Realizing what the white map in his hand is, a mysterious glint can be seen sparkles in his eyes. With a light nudge, the same spark can also be seen in Vivian's eyes as a devious smile appeared on her lunatic face.

"What are we going to do, Sam?" Lily whispered lightly, waiting for Samael's decision.

Pausing for a moment to steel his resolve on the decision he was about to make, he clenched the white map in his hand before he grabs Lily's hand and turns around, intending to sprint to the gate and seize his fate.

With quick reflexes, Cyrus and Vivian alongside the other mages in their ranks charge forward.

Norman gripped the sword in his hand before his hand started burning with flames that blazes stubbornly under the pouring rain, the power of the flame was reduced thanks to the rain but it was still strong enough to cause damage.

"Get ready, we're going to hold this line with our lives!" he shouted and lets out a mighty cry.

Also having the same amount of vigor as Norman, the six other mages beside him that stands in a barricade formation to protect Samael and Lily does not have any fear in their eyes. Each one of them is ready to die for a noble cause, Fedele would thank them in heaven for what they would do here.

"Raarggh!!"

Firing the first spell to hinder the attackers' way, a fight quickly breaks out.

But being outnumbered and outclassed was enough reason for them to be overwhelmed in a few moments, their spells are only effective against the other mages but not against Cyrus and Vivian that are mages a realm above them.

Knowing that they don't have much chance of buying time, one of the mages charges forward.

Standing at Cyrus' path with a stubborn look, a concentration of mana can be seen as his chest glowed with a red light. Upon seeing this, Cyrus frowned for a bit before he clenched his jaw realizing what the mage was about to do.

Kaboom!

Aiming for more explosive power, the mage overflows his magic core and explodes himself.

If they are going to die no matter what then there's no need to hold back. Due to the mage's magic core exploding, the fire was enhanced and it actually managed to charred Cyrus' skin despite him already creating a light barrier to protect himself and flung him away.

"Bunch of lunatics! How are they so unswerving like this?!" Cyrus cursed out loud as he crashed.

But as he recovers from that explosion that devastated quite a big area, his eyes are fixed on Samael that is trying to open the gate and get inside. In response to this, Cyrus quickly glanced at Vivian, "Stop him!" he shouted.

Upon hearing this, Vivian's eyes squinted as she dashes straight at Samael.

While the fight is happening, Samael is trying to figure out a way to open the gate with the map in his hand. "Come on... Come on! How can I open this gate?!" Samael exclaimed in frustration, searching for a way to enter the Canyon of Virtue.

As he was trying to read the writings on the gate, Lily's eyes caught something.

"Sam, look at the back!" Lily said in hurry, pointing at a glowing sentence at the back of the map.

Samael quickly flip over the white map and saw what Lily was talking about, his eyes then brightened up as he realized that this must be the key to opening the gate. Although he doesn't know what it meant, he decided to just chant the words out loud.

"By the chosen host of light, the Canyon of Virtue will be opened! By the chosen host of light, the System will be activated!"

Immediately after he chants that, the writings on the gate light up with brilliant light that encompasses the entire place. A light that Samael has never felt before, it's purer than the light his father can manifest.

More than that, this light seems to be resonating with him, and he can feel the power it contains.

Just then the gate slowly opened inwards and reveals stairs down that were deep enough that the end can't be seen. Samael's eyes flickered as he looked at Lily, "Come, Lily! We need to get inside!" he shouted.

Under no circumstances that he would leave Lily behind, it's better to die than let that happen.

Letting herself be pulled by Samael, the two of them intend to do a last dash for the entrance. A translucent barrier can be seen separating the inside of the gate and the outside, and Samael is confident that the barrier would be able to protect them.

But as he looked over to Lily, his eyes widened seeing Vivian is already right behind her.

"Even if I can't reach you, I can still reach this lovely girl right here" Vivian said with a sadistic smile, she knows how important Lily is to Samael. And even though Samael is out of reach right now, grabbing Lily would seal her victory.

Samael wouldn't leave Lily behind, and she was counting on that.

The shock and crisis were depicted in his expression clearly as Vivian's hand which is shrouded with dark energy was about to reach Lily's shoulder, Samael's mind was spinning when he saw this. 'No... I can't lose her too! She's the last family I have!' he exclaimed inside his head.

Gritting his teeth with dilated pupils, he pull Lily and let Vivian grab him instead.

Brak!

Lily was surprised by the sudden force that pulled her into the place beyond the gate, she looked back and saw Samael letting himself be grabbed by Vivian instead of her. It was an act that puts a clear shock on her face. "Samael!" she shouted.

Upon seeing this, Vivian can't hide the grin on her face as she was not expecting it to go like this.

Even though it was a pity for her that she didn't manage to see the look on Samael's face when she killed Lily in front of him, this will do at the very least. 'I can still kill Norman in front of him...' Vivian thought evilly.

As her lethal hand grabbed Samael's arm, her intrusive dark element spreads to him swiftly.

"Rrraarghh!" Samael shouted, feeling his arm being swallowed by the darkness.

Just as Vivian was about to crush Samael's arm with a small chant of her spell, something weird happened. "Hmm...?!" Vivian eyes jolted open when she saw Samael's skin glittering with light that is unbreakable, her hand was slowly being propelled by this weird force.

It was not a normal light either, something is clearly off based on the energy from this light.

Vivian has been a mage for years, she has numerous encounters with light mages.

From her experience with the light mages such as Cyrus that she's working with right now, she can tell that this light that covered Samael's skin is not the usual light element, it was definitely something way stronger.

"Argghh!" a painful groan escaped Vivian's mouth as the light burns her.

A light shockwave also exploded from the point of contact which flung Vivian away. Samael was surprised by this as this was not out of his own violation, but he was glad and reacted quickly as he ran back into the gate.

Vivian looks at her hand and finds it was charred, and this makes her recover slowly.

But that small gap of time resulted in the gate closing once again.

Samael and Lily's silhouette across the translucent barrier looked back as the gate closes on them, and the only thing Vivian can do is watch as the two of them were swallowed by the gate before she punched the ground in sheer anger.

"Damn it! He got inside!"