GUARDIAN OF THE END

After the betting session came to a halt, the entire Syrward family descended down the stairs.The basement was exactly how Jason, Zara and Ray remembered it.

A room the size of a basketball court with a plain white bed having enough space to fit five to six people is positioned in the middle.

"Jason, stand in the center of the room," Issac ordered before stepping back. "All of you, go around and stick to the corners of the room."

Everyone followed what they were told as Jason remained standing in the middle of the room. He was both excited and nervous about knowing his elements.

[ Everything will be alright, host. ]

'Are you sure?'

[ I think… ]

A sigh escaped Jason's lips as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in both of his eyes. It was as though someone had just rubbed chili powder into his eyes.

The clock struck midnight the next minute as tears started forming in the corners of his eyes making his vision blurry.

Through his blurred vision, Jason saw the anxious expressions of his grandparents. Risa gave him an encouraging nod as he managed to survive through the pain.

A few seconds later, he saw black mist appearing in every corner of the room.

[ Only you can see it, host. ] The system informed before going silent again.

The black mist slowly started gathering in front of his chest. However, he noticed that there was another hidden mist inside the black colored one.

Jason had no idea how he managed to see that through his blurred vision yet it was clear that there was another color of mist hidden in the first one.

The hidden mist was white as it seemed to be merging with the black one.

Both the mists formed a sphere in front of Jason's chest before passing directly into his body.

---

< Dark element has been acquired >

< Dark mage job class has been acquired.

To unlock the job class, learn how to control dark element. >

---

System notifications rang inside Jason's head but they didn't end there.

---

< Light element has been acquired. >

< Light mage job class has been acquired.

To unlock the job class, learn how to control the light element. >

---

After the entire sphere of energy had vanished and Jason had read all the system notifications, the system finally spoke up.

[ You won the bet, host. ]

< Quest: A Normal Bet has been completed. >

< 10 system points awarded. >

< Total system points: 432 >

"Jason, do you feel something strange inside your body?" Issac asked while taking a step towards his grandson.

Only he and Risa had been able to see a glimpse of the sphere that had appeared in front of Jason.

Judging from that, all the family members had lost the bet but Issac no longer cared about that.

He had been told that noble demons went through a special thing once they turned five. Despite being a half-demon, Jason still fell into that category which made him anxious.

"No, I am all ri…" Jason's voice suddenly trailed off as he felt the sharp pain return.

This time, everyone present in the room could see his right eye glowing red. The glow started to brighten before all of a sudden, Jason vanished.

Nobody moved from their spots. They were completely still as they had been frozen by what had taken place.

'Jason, please don't die.' Risa prayed inside her head, hoping that her grandchild would remain safe.

She had heard Astryn explaining a few things to her which had worried her too. But she could only wait to see the outcom.

"We can only wait now." Issac spoke her thoughts aloud while tightly clenching his fist.

Hopefully, Jason will return alive.

***

Meanwhile…

'Beautiful.' In front of Jason was a garden full of different kinds of flowers.

Although he didn't know the name of half of these flowers yet the entire place was extremely beautiful.

Like the calm before the storm, winds started blowing all around the garden. Jason's hair was ruffled by the blowing wind as he looked around with slightly narrowed eyes.

Knowing that something was wrong, Jason tore his gaze away from the beauty of the place and looked around.

"Nice day, isn't it?"

Jason suddenly jumped to the side as he heard a man speak behind him

He turned around only to meet the gaze of a man wearing a coat.

The man had silky black hair and blood red eyes. He had the aura of a high class person or a noble surrounding him. His clothes matched his aura too.

Black trousers and a white shirt alongside a knee length velvet coat.

The coat had a symbol etched on it yet Jason couldn't understand what it symbolized. All he could see was a black diamond and a red drop falling on it.

[ It's a drop of blood falling down on a stone. ] The system said before going quiet.

Jason wanted to question what it meant but the man seemed to be staring at him. He knew that he couldn't stay mum for long and decided to ask a question.

"Who are you?" Jason asked the first question that entered his mind

The man fell deep into thought before deciding to reply to Jason's questions.

"I have many names. The prince of darkness, the destroyer, the void user, the calamity bringer and what not," The man sighed. "However, my real name is Aiden."

"Ok… My name is Jason." Jason then extended his hand towards the man who raised his eyebrows with an interested expression.

'Been a long time since someone didn't recognize me despite hearing my name.' Aiden thought while shaking the boy's hand. 'He is also not a pure demon but a human and demon hybrid. Interesting.

DING!!

The moment their fingers touched, a sound echoed inside their minds, surprising both Aiden and Jason.

[ A fellow system holder has been detected. ]

Aiden blinked for a few seconds before suddenly started laughing as he looked at Jason in a new light.

He couldn't believe that he was meeting someone like Jason despite having seen countless noble prodigies.

'I wonder which family he belongs to.' Aiden thought curiously as he noticed that Jason was on the verge of asking a question.

"Except that message, you can ask me anything you want." Aiden intercepted with a wink, making Jason widen his eyes.

[ He has a system too… ] Albeit a bit late, the system finally expressed its shock at what it had seen.

'Tell me something I don't already know.'

[ But I only know what you… I will go research a bit. ]

"What is this place?" Jason barely managed to prevent himself from rolling his eyes.

"This place is called the Garden of Myths but that's just a myth. This is just the domain where I am stuck for eternity."

"Eh?" Jason didn't understand half the things Aiden had spoken yet the latter didn't seem too interested in explaining more.

"Don't hurt your brain thinking too much about this." Aiden then turned his head towards the northern direction as though anticipating someone's arrival. "Jason, what elements did you awaken?"

"Dark and…" Jason hesitated for a few seconds before revealing his second element. "Light."

He didn't know why he had told Aiden his elements yet there was something they had told him that it was the right thing.

Perhaps it was his intuition or just someone pulling the strings.

Aiden suddenly started laughing for the second time when he heard the two elements the child had unlocked.

He had sensed that Jason had a dark element but never could he have expected the child to possess a light element as well.

It almost reminded him of what happened in the past which cut his laughter short.

"Ha, sorry for that," Aiden said while wiping tears off his cheek. "Looks like you are a member of a family directly descended by me. Do you know the last name of your demon parent?"

Jason shook his head at that since he had no idea what his mother's last name was. However, Aiden had already expected this to happen.

Looking at the child, Aiden couldn't help but feel that something about him would change the world. Maybe because he had a system or the fact that he reminded him of the past …

'To think that someone like him would appear thousands of years later…' He thought before bending down on the ground so that he could directly look into Jason's eyes.

"Jason, can you promise me one thing?"

"Depends on the promise." All of Jason's senses were screaming that he should get away immediately yet he maintained his stand.

Hearing his reply, a smile appeared on Aiden's face.

"Whatever you do, never reveal to anyone that you have those two elements. I guess the people living with you will tell you this sooner or later but still, don't tell anyone about it."

"Why?"

"Because there is a reason light and dark are not supposed to meddle together." Aiden stood up and stared at the distance once again. "Looks like my time with you is about to end. Whatever you do, do not attack it with your own attacks."

"What?" Jason asked with a confused look as Aiden shook his head.

"Good luck, my descendant." Just like the way he had appeared, Aiden vanished from his place.

Seconds after he vanished, a howl echoed through the entire place as the hair of Jason's back stood up.

He turned to look towards the north and what he saw was enough to send shivers running down his spine.