The marble of the temple reflected the sunlight, casting a white glow throughout the hall.
Emily stood before the Herald.
The crowd did not move.
No one wanted to miss what was about to happen.
The Herald raised one hand.
"Emily Carter."
His voice did not fill the temple.
It did not come from his throat.
It simply appeared inside the minds of everyone present.
"The Goddess has chosen you. She has seen the goodness in your heart."
Emily felt a chill.
"Your current affinity: Delta."
A pause.
"Receive the divine blessing. Receive the guidance of my Lady, the one who will illuminate your path and bring your enemies to their knees."
The light descended upon her.
Emily had no time to react.
Her body began to glow.
The mana within her suddenly stirred.
For an instant, she felt as though something enormous had entered her body and begun reorganizing it from within.
The flow changed.
It became purer.
Denser.
More... foreign.
Emily clenched her teeth.
An invisible pressure traveled through every part of her body.
And then it disappeared.
The pain ceased.
But something had changed.
The Herald continued.
"You will serve the Goddess of Light."
A pause.
"Your affinity has increased."
The mana began moving again.
"You are now Omega."
Emily's eyes widened slightly.
Around her, the mana began to respond.
She wasn't controlling it.
She wasn't even trying to.
It simply obeyed.
The air vibrated around her fingers.
As if the distance between her will and the mana had ceased to exist.
The Herald slowly lowered his hand.
"Saving humanity will be your mission."
His voice once again resonated directly within everyone's minds.
"Carry my Lady's kindness to those who need it. Protect the light wherever darkness seeks to prevail."
Silence.
The crowd began to kneel.
Emily lowered her gaze to her hands.
She still didn't understand what had just happened.
The Herald began walking.
Emily followed him.
"From this day forward, you will have three duties."
His voice was calm.
But it left no room for argument.
"Protect mortals from the dangers they face."
"Guide their hope when everything else fails."
"And walk without straying beneath the will of my Lady."
Emily remained silent.
Then the Herald stopped.
He turned toward her.
The air seemed to freeze.
"And I have been authorized to release the oath that binds you to that man."
Emily raised her head.
"What...?"
The Herald extended one hand.
"The mark will disappear."
A faint light appeared in his palm.
"Your destiny will become completely divine."
Emily felt her chest tighten.
"No..."
The word escaped as barely a whisper.
The Herald remained motionless.
"Do you have feelings for him?"
Emily did not hesitate.
"I have... gratitude."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"When I could no longer see any light... he was the one who showed me where to find it."
The Herald inclined his head slightly.
He did not seem surprised.
Nor did he disapprove of her answer.
He was simply evaluating her.
"Feelings can be a strength."
A pause.
"Or a wound."
The light in his hand disappeared.
"I trust that you will know the difference when the time comes."
Emily nodded.
She gave a small bow.
"If my faith is to guide me... then I will let it illuminate what I feel as well."
She slowly raised her gaze.
"If Light represents compassion, then I don't want that compassion to have limits."
The Herald remained silent.
He did not approve of her decision.
But neither did he do anything to change it.
There was still time.
Time to teach her.
Time to shape her.
Time to show her that, above all, there was a will greater than her own.
The Goddess.
Emily did not understand it yet.
But someday she would.
Because, to the Light, she was not destiny.
She was its instrument.
Its chosen one.
Its... utility.
The Herald began walking again.
Emily followed.
"Your current level is insufficient," he said.
Emily blinked.
"Insufficient?"
"You have barely reached the threshold of what a human being can achieve."
The Herald continued walking.
"But that no longer matters."
He glanced at Emily.
"The blessing has destroyed that limit."
Emily said nothing.
"What you once called effort will be almost irrelevant to you."
A pause.
"And mana will no longer resist your will as it did before."
Emily slowly nodded.
She still didn't understand what that truly meant.
She could only imagine that it had to be an immense power.
They reached the temple's training grounds.
The Herald stopped.
"Try it."
Emily raised one hand.
She concentrated her mana.
She cast the spell.
Magic appeared.
And Emily froze.
Something was different.
Before, every spell had a price.
She could feel the mana leaving her body.
She could feel the effort.
The exhaustion.
The internal pressure that forced her to measure every spell and every movement.
Now, there was none of that.
The flow left her without resistance.
No pull.
No exhaustion.
No pain.
Only execution.
The spell obeyed.
Emily stared at it in disbelief.
It was as if the world had stopped resisting her will.
As if the cost of magic no longer existed.
And somewhere within the temple, someone watched her in silence.
Not with devotion.
With interest.
Emily arrived at the Douglas residence before Lusian could even learn that she was coming.
She had insisted on going personally.
She needed to see him.
She needed to tell him.
When she finally found him, he was in one of the private rooms, reviewing several documents concerning the situation in the capital.
Lusian looked up when he heard the door.
And froze.
Emily was there.
She had thought of many people she wanted to tell.
But there was only one whose reaction she truly wanted to see.
Lusian.
Emily smiled.
"Lusian."
He looked up.
And for an instant...
he took a step back.
It was barely a movement.
So small that anyone else might have overlooked it.
But Emily saw it.
Lusian realized it too.
He stopped.
His expression changed quickly.
He stepped toward her and embraced her.
Emily smiled against his chest.
But then she felt it.
A slight tremor.
Lusian was shaking.
Not much.
Barely perceptible.
But it was there.
Emily pulled back slightly and looked at him.
"Are you all right?"
Lusian took a second to answer.
"Yes."
A smile appeared on his face.
Too quickly.
"I'm just tired."
Emily didn't seem convinced, but she didn't press him.
"I'm the Hero of Light."
She finally said it.
As if she needed to hear the words out loud.
Lusian looked at her.
"Congratulations, Emily."
She smiled.
"Thank you."
They walked to one of the nearby rooms and sat down.
For several seconds, Emily remained silent.
She still seemed nervous.
Lusian watched her.
"Tell me how it happened."
Emily nodded.
"The priests from the Temple of Light went throughout the city this morning."
"Looking for people with an affinity for Light?"
"Yes."
She folded her hands in her lap.
"They gathered everyone who had an affinity for Light and took us to the temple."
"How many were there?"
"I don't know. A lot."
Emily paused.
"I was only there because... well, they told me I had an affinity."
Lusian nodded.
He was listening.
Or at least, he appeared to be.
"There were several people standing before the Herald," she continued. "I thought they would choose someone with a higher affinity than mine."
"And then?"
Emily smiled slightly.
"He chose me."
Lusian remained silent.
"He said the Goddess had seen goodness in my heart."
She lowered her gaze.
"Then I received the blessing."
Lusian felt his fingers tense.
"What did it feel like?"
"It's difficult to explain."
Emily thought for a few seconds.
"It was as if something entered me."
Lusian stopped breathing for an instant.
A divine blessing.
His mind immediately returned to Kheris's words.
Puppets.
Avatars.
Tools.
And then another image appeared.
One he had spent months trying to forget.
The game's screen.
Emily.
Her sword.
The blood.
Lusian's body collapsing to the ground.
His fingers slowly curled into fists.
"Lusian."
He came back to himself.
Emily was looking at him.
"Are you listening to me?"
"Yes."
The answer came too quickly.
"Of course."
She smiled.
"So... what do you think?"
Lusian looked at her.
He wanted to tell her to run.
To reject the blessing.
To never go near a temple again.
Not to trust the Heralds.
But he couldn't.
He didn't know what would happen if he tried to interfere directly.
And above all, he couldn't tell her that, in some future, she would be the one raising a sword against him.
So he breathed slowly.
"I think you need to be careful."
Emily blinked.
"Careful?"
"Don't push yourself too hard."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Why?"
Lusian looked away.
"Because you've just received a power you don't understand yet."
He paused.
"Use it only when necessary."
Emily watched him for several seconds.
Then she smiled.
"Are you worried about me?"
Lusian looked back at her.
"Yes."
The answer came without thought.
Emily froze.
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Then..."
She lowered her gaze.
"I'll try to be careful."
Lusian nodded.
But while she continued talking about the temple, the blessing, and everything that had happened...
he barely heard her.
There was only one image in his mind.
A sword piercing his chest.
Emily holding it with both hands.
And the determination in her eyes.
The same girl who was now sitting across from him, smiling nervously, excited about having been chosen.
Lusian closed his eyes for a moment.
No.
When he opened them again, he looked at her.
Not this time.