Host of Light

Samael and Lily watch as the gate closes and shield them from the bloodthirsty Vivian.

A loud thud reverberated to the surroundings as the gate closed and Vivian's silhouette disappeared. Both of them were stunned for a moment, they can't believe that they somehow managed to successfully enter this place and escape their enemies' vicious grasp.

Even though it was at the cost of the other mages, their sacrifices would not be in vain.

But even though the two of them were dazed from the dire situation that they managed to meddle through, the scene when a brilliant light exploded from Samael's body and protected him from the infiltrating dark element is still stuck in their heads.

It was very convenient, almost as if God itself lend a helping hand for Samael.

Lily was the one that believed that it was due to the nature of the light element inside of Samael and also a stroke of luck that he manages to clutches through. But Samael takes a more religious approach, he believed that it was God that helped him on his last step.

'God will always choose the side of good...' Samael thought in excitement, he was very thankful.

Many that would be put in his place would lose faith completely in the three Divine Axioms that are regulated by the Divine Sanctum of Divinity itself, but also the teachings that his father believed. But Samael didn't waver, the people of the Divine Sanctum of Divinity might be sinners, but God's teaching is always true.

Due to that, he puts his belief in the third and last Divine Axiom and he was rewarded for it.

A blossoming hope of faith is starting to regrow back inside Samael's heart, he managed to clutch through the last detrimental moment against Cyrus and Vivian's evil forces thanks to believing in the third Divine Axiom.

Samael then looks at his hand, still confused as to what is that power which protected him earlier.

It was definitely the helping hand of God but it also indicates that there's something more inside of him. Samael can feel that his body reacted automatically in response to Vivian's dark elements, he's quite sure that the brilliant light is not the normal light element either.

As his family is composed of light mages, he couldn't be wrong about this.

'Just what is that brilliant light...? But whatever it is, I'm very thankful that it helped me'

Even though he's quite curious about the brilliant light, he decided to stop asking questions and feel grateful instead. No matter what that brilliant light is, he believed that it was a good sign that his life would change for the better.

"Arggh..." Samael grunted while holding his arm that was grabbed by Vivian earlier.

The light managed to propel Vivian's power, but it was still able to wound him.

Upon hearing this, Lily abruptly comes back to reality and looks at Samael's arm only to find that despite the brilliant light guarding him, the dark element had still managed to melt his skin and muscles deeply, causing a quite serious injury.

Reaching into her waist bag, Lily takes out a blue elixir and quickly opens the lid.

"Here, it might not heal it completely but it will lessen the pain" Lily said and prepares herself to pour the elixir onto the wound. But Samael quickly raises his hand, denying Lily's concerned gesture towards him.

"Don't waste it, I can manage this pain" Samael said, he's quite okay with the pain in his shoulder.

But that is mostly thanks to the exhilaration inside of him for reaching this Canyon of Virtue, his adrenaline is pulsating through his blood which results in the pain lessening greatly. With that, the two started to make their way down the stairs.

While being supported by Lily, the two make their way down through the dim-lighted place.

It was devoid of light until they reach a certain point where they were surprised to find the skated torches on the wall burning with white fire, a kind of fire that has never been seen before. Mesmerizing to the eyes, and lighting up the entire place.

As they make their way down, more of these torches blaze with white fire and guides them.

Samael and Lily descend the stairs with their eyes darting left and right to inspect the place, the walls are made of some kind of material resembling normal stones but it's glistening and smooth on the surface.

On top of the cackling of the white fires, the sound of water can also be heard from a distance.

Each of their steps echoed in the entire closed space, the place should be very ancient judging from the unknown carved symbols on some parts of the wall, and also the architecture that seems more advanced than the current era.

But despite the natural eeriness of the place, the two keep on going with immense anticipation.

In about fifteen minutes of going down to the depth of the earth, the two finally reaches the end of the stairs and stepped onto a single wide path with deep blue water on either side. Samael and Lily were curious about how deep the water is, or whether there was something inside of it.

But they don't intend to find out, this is not a place to be curious.

Upon taking their first step, strings of blue light can be seen appearing at the edge of the path.

"Magic...?" Lily thought out loud upon seeing these light strings.

Samael shakes his head as he can tell that these strings of light are not products of magic, if so then he could definitely tell as he's a mage, "No, I don't sense any mana from these strings. It's something other than magic..."

Gazing at these blue light strings, they seem to beckon Samael and Lily to keep going.

Without a sliver of hesitation, the two started walking down the single path, expecting nothing but greatness at the end of the path that would give them the power to change the whole entire world and restore justice for everyone.

It didn't take long before they reach the end, they were presented with a gate towering over them.

Looking at the gate that blocked their way, Samael frowned but then he felt a warm sensation in his hand. It was coming from the white map, the white map glowed brightly before it trans morphed into a key of pure white.

Samael gazes back at the gate and finds a keyhole at the center, and he knows exactly what to do.

Along the way inside this Canyon of Virtue, Samael and Lily's hands are never separated. Each of them is holding onto the other tightly as Samael walked forward and insert the pure white key into the keyhole.

Immediately after he did that, the ground started to tremble as the gate lifted open.

"Do you know what exactly the power that is hidden inside this place?" Lily asked while looking at the gate that is slowly being opened, she has never heard the details of the place and for once becomes curious about the place.

Samael shakes his head, "I don't know exactly, but it should be an absolute power of good"

"From the bard that I heard about this from, this power can make even a normal human into an absolute force of good. It's a power from unknown times that has been lying dormant for thousands of years, and when one manages to hold it one would possess power that can change the entire world" he explained with his eyes fixed on the opening gate.

Oblivious to Samael, there was a weird flicker in Lily's eyes when she heard this.

"A normal human into an absolute force of good...?" Lily mutters silently, inaudible to Samael who is standing beside her. But her mind was disrupted when she heard Samael gasp, his eyes were clearly bewitched by the scene in front of him.

Like him, Lily gazes to the front and saw an enthralling scene that prison her attention to it.

Upon the gate opening their eyes bear witness to a round-shaped canyon with a single path with another set of stairs that leads to a small amphitheater at the center, there's a source of light on the amphitheater that can be seen by the two of them from below.

Above the amphitheater is an open ceiling pointing at the cloudy rainy sky.

None of the rain managed to reach the inside of the canyon, each of them was stopped by a force invisible to the eyes. At a rate visible to the eyes, the sky started to split open and extinguished the clouds that brought along the rain.

The light of heaven then seeped through and grace its divinity to the entire place.

Samael and Lily stand at the brace of this sight as the damp and moist air that licks their skin was instilled with holiness that eases their minds. A gentle wind brushes against their bodies, its blow is like angels whistling in tune and melody.

Despite the canyon's grandeur, a bad omen can be felt from the radiant deep blue water.

Out of the holiness of the entirety of the canyon, only the water was not cast by holiness but a bad omen instead. But it was minuscule and was overwhelmed with the holiness of the place, as long as they don't go into the water then they should be fine.

As they both marvel at the sight, their eyes were attracted above near the open ceiling.

Both Samael and Lily can see characters that they can read appears in thin air inside a blue-shaped holographic box, it was made by the blue light strings they saw earlier that don't contain any mana whatsoever.

[Welcome potential hosts of light, please state your name out loud]

'It must be the treasure called System, I'm excited!' Samael thought, his hands trembling.

In response to this, he quickly clears his throat before he followed these characters' instructions.

"Samael Varius Molantar!"

After waiting for a moment, there were no changes in the characters, and this spark a frown on Samael's face as he was in a trance. A moment later, he heard Lily say something softly, he wanted to ask whether she said something to him.

But the blue holographic box has already changed and fixed his attention.

[Please ascend the stairs and stand at the Platform of Chance!]

"Come, Lily! This is going to be the best day of my life, I will receive God's grace at last, and I want you to be there and watch me" Samael said excitedly before he started ascending the stairs. Not wanting to be left behind, Lily also follow behind him and ascend the stairs to reach this Platform of Chance.

Once again the sight of the Platform of Chance takes their breaths away but it doesn't last long.

Upon the two reaching the Platform of Chance the characters changed again, but this time the instruction makes the two of them subconsciously look at each other. Samael was excited whilst Lily has a forced expression on her face.

[By fate the host of light will be chosen on this day]

[Please step into the blue circle, and let the grace flow through you and awakens the System!]