Max played with his beard as Lucien made his choice.
"I'll ask you again," Max said with a serious expression on his face. "You want a random High-Tier Skill as your freebie, correct?"
"Yes." Lucien nodded. "I choose this one, Your Excellency."
The Angel who had her arms crossed over her chest raised an eyebrow when she heard Lucien's choice. Clearly, she didn't expect the young man to choose this option.
"Understood." Max smiled.
"And you young man. What is your decision?" Max asked Valentine.
"I will go for the same, the random High-Tier Skill." Valentine said with confidence.
"Ok, you both know that once this is done there is no going back."
Valentine and Lucien nodded. After seeing this, Max clapped his hands thrice.
Suddenly, the forms in Lucien's and Valentine's hands were set ablaze. The embers flew toward the young men's chests and merged with their bodies. However, Max wasn't finished yet.
The form that they had filled up earlier burst into flames, and its remains also flew toward their bodies.
Valentine felt his body become warm as an unknown power surged within his soul. While he was still basking in the afterglow of the surreal experience, he suddenly found himself floating in space, underneath the countless galaxies that he had seen a while ago. Lucien also seemed to be shocked.
Standing on his right was Max, the God of Gamblers, and standing on his left was Himea, Angel.
"Lucien, Valentine, do you know why I chose you out of the countless souls in the multiverse to become the first candidates to take part in the Heaven's Gate Project?" Max asked as he stared into the countless stars.
"No," Lucien answered, while Valentine remained silent. He already knew the answer to that.
Max smiled as he patted Lucien's shoulder. "It's because you struggled to live until the bitter end. You could have given up anytime, but you didn't choose the easy way out and end your life with your own hands."
"And you. Although your life was not as full of struggles as his, you suffered even more before your last breath."
Lucien looked at Valentine with a serious expression on his face. He didn't know what could be even worse than what he has experienced his whole life.
"What matters is that both of you maintained your will to live, even when all the odds were against you." After saying this, Max went near the two boys and patted their shoulders.
Lucien bit his lip because he felt like crying. He didn't know if souls could cry, but he would be damned if he let others see him cry.
Valentine just looked into Max's eyes and nodded.
"Thank you." was all he said.
A few minutes passed before Lucien finally regained his composure. He then looked up at the God of Gamblers and asked the question that had been on his mind since he entered this unknown space, shrouded in mystery.
"Your Excellency, you still haven't said what the purpose of the Heaven's Gate project is," Lucien said.
"Lucien, you are right. I think even our silent friend here wants to know it. The goal of the Heaven's Gate Project is to change the Fate of a world. You are the chosen ones that will usher in a new era and that will lead it to a better and brighter tomorrow."
"Beautiful women are waiting for you in that world! If you're lucky, you can even have more than one wife!"
"Leave this to me, Your Excellency!" his attitude completely flipped. Before, he was like a scared dog and now he seemed to be ready to take on an entire army. Lucien patted his chest as if he was a general that was about to go to war.
The angel stared at the two useless lust-driven idiots with scorn as she looked at Valentine.
'Maybe there is still hope. Not all of them are perverts.' What she didn't know, was that Valentine was more of a pervert than Max and Lucien combined.
She summoned a giant cannon. Her patience was already at its limit and she wanted to end this job as soon as possible.
When Max saw the Angel's expression, a bitter smile appeared on his face as he made a gesture for Lucien and Valentine to come closer.
"Come." Max ordered. "It's time for you to start your journey."
The God of Gamblers waved his hand and a door appeared in front of them. He then opened it and walked inside.
The Angel told them to follow him, after they passed the door, she entered and closed it behind her. They were headed to the testing area where the Hyper-Super-Mega-Rebirth-Cannon was waiting for them.
—-
"Wow!" Lucien's eyes sparkled as he looked at the giant cannon in front of him. "T-This is so cool!"
"Yes, it is." Valentine couldn't maintain his composure, it was awesome.
Max laughed and patted the boy's shoulder because he was very pleased with his reaction.
"This thing cost a lot to build," Max said with a smile. "Himea, dear, can you start up the cannon and check if everything is ready?"
"Okay," the Angel replied.
She then went towards the control panel and started pushing the buttons to let the cannon warm up and gather energy. While she was doing this task, Max was busy telling Lucien and Valentine about how the cannon was made.
"The name of this cannon is Hyper-Super-Mega-Rebirth-Cannon, SIMP for short," Max stated. "Beautiful isn't it?" 10
"Um? Max, isn't it supposed to be HSMRC instead of SIMP?" Valentine asked back.
"Boy, don't sweat the small stuff. If I say this is a SIMP Cannon, it is a SIMP Cannon."
"Sure, you are the one in charge."
Himea rolled her eyes at the God of Gamblers who was talking crap as always. If not for the fact that Max had taken care of her ever since she was born, she might have left him to serve other Gods who were more "normal", and didn't have mental issues.
After checking the status of the cannon, Himea deemed that everything was in order.
"Your Excellency, the status of the cannon is all green," Himea reported. "We can start anytime."
Max nodded. He then patted the boys' backs to tell them that the time had come.
"Are you ready?" Max asked in a teasing tone. "Your new journey is about to begin."
"I'm ready," Lucien answered.
"Me too." Valentine answered.
"Good! Now, time to load you into the cannon."
"Who wants to be first?" asked Max.
"I don't mind it." replied Valentine
Max grabbed his waist and flew up the tip of the cannon.
"Fire in the hole," Max shouted as he tossed Valentine's body inside the barrel of the Cannon.
"Boy, are you fine?" Max asked, "Does it hurt?"
"It is bearable." Valentine shouted back.
"It's good to know that you're fine. Any last words?"
"Wish me luck."
Max snickered as he gave Himea the okay signal.
"Heaven's Gate Project initiated," Himea said as she started tapping on the keypads of the control panel. "Setting course…"
The SIMP Cannon suddenly turned to its right side, aiming at a purple galaxy in the distance. 2
After the coordinates had been properly calibrated, Himea opened the glass casing that held the firing mechanism of the cannon. "Sir, Cannon is ready to fire!"
"Start the countdown!" Max ordered.
"No countdown please, just fire me." Valentine said with a bored tone.
"Ok" Himea nodded.
"Hyper-Super-Mega-Rebirth-Cannon Fire!" 8
The beautiful angel pressed the red button, instantly starting the firing sequence.
Valentine found himself turning into a ball of light as dense layers of concentrated magical energy wrapped around him. 2
Not long after, a giant ball of energy appeared on the cannon's tip. It then started to gather the power of Divinity in order to shoot Lucien's soul across the multiverse.
The firing sequence was completed. With a loud rumbling sound, a beam of magical energy streaked across the Celestial Realm, followed by a loud explosion.
In the Heavens, a crimson-black comet streaked toward the purple galaxy creating a trail of light.
"What is Valentine's status?" Max asked as he stared at the equipment that was still working.
Himea typed on the keyboard and brought out the status of Lucien's Soul.
"Good, all seemed to be going fine. Now is your turn, I will make it so you two can be together in your new life" Max said to Lucien.
The process repeated itself, but this time problems occurred.
Black smoke started to appear in the cannon before Lucien was fired and just after he was fired the cannon exploded.
Max tried to catch Lucien with his divinity but couldn't reach him in time. Lucien could be seen as a blue comet streaked toward the purple galaxy.
Lucien's soul had received a serious injury during the firing sequence and was on the verge of breaking. Only the safety mechanisms that Max had added to the cannon on a whim were keeping his soul from disintegrating completely.
"Y-Your Excellency, I'm afraid that Lucien wouldn't be able to undergo a normal rebirth in his current state," Himea started to panic. "In the worst case scenario, his soul might cease to exist."
Max took a deep breath because he was fully aware of Lucien's current situation. However, there was nothing he could do. The world he had sent the boy to was a world that had been abandoned by the Gods.
Right now, there was only one person that could help them and that person was none other than Max's best friend, Eriol, the God of Games.
"Himea, look for Eriol," Max ordered as his body floated in the air. "Once you find him, explain our situation. He will know what to do."
Himea could see the resignation on Max's face and it made her feel anxious.
"Your Excellency, where are you going?" Himea asked.
"This is my fault," Max replied as he gathered his Divinity around his body. "The least I can do is to ensure that Lucien's soul won't cease to exist."
As soon as he finished his declaration the God of Gamblers transformed into a golden comet and shot towards the Blue Comet that had started to enter the purple galaxy.
This was a race against time, and the God of Gamblers was betting everything he had to save the boy he had chosen to save this world.