He fell to his knees. The bread flew from his hand. An invisible hand opened his chest, grasped his heart, squeezed it just enough to remind him it still beat.
A voice. Not in his ears. In his soul.
"Elias Kane, fear not."
Deep. Gentle. Absolute.
Elias blinked, trembling, hands gripping the stone ground.
"Who... who are you?"
A silence. Heavy. Not empty, but charged.
Then:
"I am Sanctus."
Simple. Direct. But each syllable resonated like a bell in a cathedral.
Elias swallowed, throat dry. His brain spun emptily.
"You are not hallucinating. And you are not mad. You are chosen."
Elias blinked.
"Chosen? By You? For what?"
"To enter the First Divine Trial."
The golden light began to dissipate. Elias could see again. But something had changed. The air around him vibrated. As if an invisible presence, massive, crushing, stood just beside him.
Elias rose slowly, legs trembling.
"A Trial? What's that? Like, an exam? Because I was never good at exams."
No immediate answer.
Then a notification appeared before his eyes.
Not an illusion. Not a projection. It was... there. Floating in the air. Written in golden letters, brilliant, impossible to ignore.
╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗
║ SUPREME FIRE SPELL – ACTIVATION ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝
[AWAKENING SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[Analysis in progress...]
[CANDIDATE IDENTIFIED]
[Name: Elias Kane]
[Age: 16 years]
[Status: Dormant]
[Current Rank: None]
[ELIGIBILITY CONFIRMED]
[You were marked at age 12.]
[Reason: Encounter with The Divine.]
[Nature of marking: Eternal Joy.]
[Welcome, Elias Kane.]
[You have been chosen to enter the FIRST DIVINE TRIAL.]
[FIRST DIVINE TRIAL – ACTIVATION IMMINENT]
[Objective: Survive in the Spiritual Realm and kill 100 demons.]
[Reward: Awakened Rank + Unique Aspect.]
[Failure: Death.]
[The Trial will begin in 10 seconds.]
[TRANSFER IN PROGRESS...]
Elias stared at the screen, mouth open.
"Wait... WHAT?! Death?! No no no, I didn't sign up for this!"
"Don't you remember what you told me four years ago ? The day you opened your heart to Me and called upon Me."
Elias froze.
Memories surfaced. He had been twelve. The stolen medications. The pain. The doctors. Death.
No. Not death.
Worse.
"No... No, it's not possible..."
And like a breaking dam, everything returned.
FLASHBACK: Clinical Death
Four years ago. Saint-Michel Hospital. 11:47 PM.
Elias had swallowed the pills without thinking. Just to calm the pain. The pain in his ribs (broken by a dealer). The pain in his hand (burned by a pimp). The pain in his soul (omnipresent since always).
He hadn't wanted to die. He just wanted... to stop feeling.
But the pills were too strong. Or too numerous. Or both.
He'd collapsed in an alley. Someone had called an ambulance. He didn't know who.
At the hospital, doctors shouted. Machines beeped. Blinding lights. Hands pressing on his chest.
And then... silence.
His heart had stopped.
Three minutes. One hundred eighty seconds. An eternity.
Elias found himself... elsewhere.
Not in his body. Above it. He could see the doctors continuing to try to resuscitate him. He could see his own body, pale, motionless, pathetic.
"I'm dead."
Strangely, he wasn't afraid. Just... curious.
He floated out of the room. Into the corridor. Drawn by a sound.
Weeping.
He followed the sound and arrived before a small chapel at the hospital entrance. A girl was there. Ten years old, perhaps eleven. Well-groomed silver hair. On her knees. Hands clasped. Tears streaming down her cheeks.
She was praying. For him.
Elias didn't understand why. He didn't know her. He would never have forgotten such a refined girl. But why was she crying for him?
He wanted to approach. Tell her everything was fine. That he felt nothing anymore.
But before he could move, voices called to him.
Soft. Soothing. Comforting.
"Come."
"You are free now."
"No more pain."
Elias turned. The voices came from outside. He left the chapel, floated through the walls, emerged into the night.
And he saw the light.
A soft light. Warm. Welcoming.
He smiled.
"This is paradise."
He advanced. The voices encouraged him. He felt light. Free. Happy.
But the farther he went, the more something felt wrong.
The light... was changing.
It became less bright. Less warm. More... dark.
The voices too. They no longer sounded gentle. They sounded... hungry.
Elias hesitated.
"Wait... Where are you taking me?"
The voices didn't answer.
But the environment changed brutally. The light disappeared. Darkness swallowed him.
And the hands emerged.
Hundreds. Thousands. Black. Icy. Clawed.
They gripped him. Pulled him. Dragged him into the darkness.
Elias screamed.
"NO! LET ME GO!"
The voices laughed now.
"You are ours."
"Come suffer with us."
"Forever."
He tried to struggle. But it was useless. The hands were too numerous. Too strong.
He was dragged deeper. Lower. Toward a place where light didn't exist. Where hope didn't exist.
A place of screams. Of absolute despair.
"I DON'T WANT TO! I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE!"
But no one heard him.
The darkness closed around him.
And then...
Light.
Not the false light from before. True light.
Golden. Pure. Blinding.
The hands retreated, screaming. The darkness dispersed like smoke.
And a voice resounded.
"ENOUGH."
One word. But the darkness fled whimpering.
Elias floated, trembling, alone in the void.
And then... He appeared.
Not a body. Not a form. Just... a presence. Immense. Infinite. But gentle.
A hand extended toward him.
"Do you wish to live?"
Elias, tears in his eyes, throat tight, whispered:
"Yes," he said. "I do."
The answer settled the air.
"Then follow me," the voice replied, "and I will shape you into more than you have been."
Elias exhaled, unsteady.
"You will not walk alone again."
He hesitated only a heartbeat—long enough for the choice to be real.
Then he nodded.
"I will."
"Good," the voice said, already turning forward. "Then return."
The hand touched him.
And warmth exploded in his chest. Not painful. Comforting. Like a bonfire in the depths of winter.
And for the first time in his life...
Elias smiled.
Truly.
Not a survival smile. Not a cynical smile.
A smile of pure joy.
RETURN TO THE PRESENT
Elias opened his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"It was You... You saved me..."
"Yes."
"I never had the chance to thank You. And to ask... why? Why me? I'm just a shitty liar. An orphan who steals to eat. Why did You choose me?"
A long silence.
Then the voice answered, and Elias heard something he'd never heard before in any human voice: absolute affection.
"Because you are precious in My eyes, Elias."
Elias felt his throat tighten. Words wouldn't come. For once in his life, he didn't know what to say.
"I... I don't know what to say."
"Then say nothing. Prepare yourself."
The notification blinked:
[TRANSFER IN PROGRESS...]
[9... 8... 7...]
"Wait! I have questions! Like, a thousand questions!"
"You will have your answers. But first... you must survive."
[5... 4... 3...]
"And You?! Will You be there?!"
A silence. Long. Heavy.
Then, just before the transfer:
"Always."
[1...]
[TRANSFER COMPLETE.]
The world twisted. Colors mixed. The ground vanished beneath his feet.
Elias screamed—a shrill, desperate cry.
And then... silence.