GUARDIAN OF THE END

Once he had examined the dark mana carefully, Jason had learned it was almost an identical copy of his mana.

The only difference was that the mana used by his clone contained tiny particles of divine energy.

This particles of divine energy belonged to Veritas and Cerberus who were responsible for summoning the clones.

It was their power which was being used to keep the clones alive and functioning. The mana inside them also came from the divine energy being supplied to them.

After confirming things with the system, Jason realized that since the mana was similar to his own mana, he could initially use it on himself.

That was the reason he was able to suck the two thunder dragons inside him. The pain had been caused by the divine particles which didn't want to enter his body.

But after putting enough force and pressure into them, Jason ended up absorbing both the mana and the divine particles.

"You shouldn't lose focus on a battlefield." Jason grinned, his hand pointing towards the boulder that had been chucked by Amber.

When he had jumped towards the dragon, he had sent a message to her and had asked her to slow down the boulder.

Through their coordination, Amber was able to time the boulder. It hit his clone straight in the face and sent him flying away.

C-Jason's neck was bent at odd angle, probably due to the shattering of its bones. The arrows which had been stuck to the shield boulder came in contact with the clones's skin.

Jason focused on the arrows and controlled them from a distance. The dark arrows acted like an extension of his body, allowing him to control them in any way he wanted.

One by one, he let the curses from the arrows enter the body of the clone. Its skin turned a sickly shade of pale before slowly disintegrating.

After a minute, nothing remained of the clone that had been created by the two deities. Jason and Amber exchanged a glance before looking on Flamey's end.

The magma salamander had been holding on without putting much effort. She was simply using her tail to block any advances made by C-Amber.

[ We will use the same strategy but you will be the one defeating your clone. Flamey told you to do it so it must be important. ] Jason stated before the two of them launched forward.

[ How did you absorb those dragons? ] Amber questioned in case she needed to do the same thing with an attack thrown by her clone.

[ If the clones are a copy of us, it means that they contain the same mana as us. I simply gambled on that theory and succeeded. ] Jason replied with a grin.

Amber didn't know whether to congratulate him for his bravery or stupidity. She realized that one situation could definitely be looked at from multiple viewpoints.

[ So after experiencing hellish pain, you figured out that you could absorb the mana… ]

[ In a summarized version, yes. ] Jason replied with a smile.

[ You are crazy. ] Amber sighed. Despite that, she couldn't help but feel the itch to do the same thing herself.

The red-head knew that she wasn't a masochist yet she still wanted to absorb the mana released by her clone.

[ Its an instinct. It contains divine energy which is reacting with the thing I gave you. ] Flamey's voice echoed inside her mind.

Amber blinked in surprise. She didn't have any visual ability to help her see the divine particles and her sensory skills weren't that high either.

[ So will the particles of divine energy activate it? ] she asked eagerly.

[ Truth be told, I don't know. I shouldn't be able to hand out my divinity since technically, I am not supposed to hold one. The one inside you is my original divinity. Perhaps a bit of a divine energy can charge it. ]

[ So basically, we are playing a gamble as well. ] Amber sighed mentally.

[ Once you are older, you will realize that life is simply just a gamble. Every situation you get in and every decision you take changes things. But what do I know about philosophy? I am just a fat salamander who loves heat. ] Flamey replied, emphasizing the last sentence.

[ Ha… we will talk later. ] Amber finished just in time to see Flamey vanish from her spot.

C-Amber immediately looked at her two new opponents and frowned. The clone was likely projecting the emotions of Cerberus who was frowning in his seat.

"Veritas, will we let them go once they clear the trial? We will have to tell them all the things we promised to them." Cerberus said in a concerned tone.

"Don't worry about that. I said that I will get our freedom and I only speak the truth." Veritas replied casually. "There is no need to be worried or concerned."

"You got us this far. Can't argue with that." Cerberus agreed.

It was the goddess of truth who had come up with a plan for their escape. Not only that but she was the one responsible for carefully setting everything up.

"Its a good thing that you met the kid during the trial of fear. It helped us in communicating with Phobos." Veritas added.

"That was your plan…" Cerberus paused. "You are trying to make me praise you, aren't you?"

"No, I am just making you state the truth." Veritas grinned. "Now sit back and enjoy the battle."

On the ground, Jason and Amber were following the same strategy as before. C-Amber was a bit sluggish after her fight with Flamey but the guardian had made sure that no major damage was dealt to it.

Flamey knew that if she had dealt any threatening damage to the clone, Veritas might find a way to exploit them.

After all, truth could easily be exploited and manipulated.

[ I draw her attention while acting weak while you finish her. ] Jason instructed and launched himself in the air.

However, instead of using thunder, he summoned Ariadne's thread. Jason remembered the structure of the dark arrow and tried summoning them.

He was able to create five such arrows and tied the thread to all of them. Jason directed the arrows towards C-Amber and used the thread to cut her incoming attacks.

However, he was only acting as the decoy while Amber went in for the kill.

'Focus. You have to absorb one of her attacks.' Amber thought with a calm mind.

She used her earth powers to manipulate the ground and opened a hole beneath her clone. C-Amber, who was busy fighting Jason, was forced to move away from the ground.

Amber used this moment to advance instead of directly attacking the clone from a distance.

C-Amber sensed that Amber was coming closer and released a fire attack. A fire Phoenix was released from its hands and directly shot towards Amber.

[ Jason, don't cut it down. ] Amber instructed Jason who was about to cut the Phoenix in half.

The silver-haired boy didn't say anything and simply continued to fly above the ground. Amber steeled her nerves and jumped in the path of the Phoenix.

Her resistance to fire was similar to Jason's resistance towards lightning. But similar to him, she was weak against magma flames at her own level or stronger than her level.

Her body started burning from both inside and outside. Amber gritted her teeth and let her skin get burned.

The sleeves of her shirt and the bottom of her jeans burned away and the fire directly came in contact with her skin.

But instead of burning her skin, they simply boiled her body without damaging her outer skin.

Amber released a low shriek due to the sudden pain that spread inside her. Her nostrils and throat were burning yet she held on.

Flamey watched this with a sad expression. She knew that Amber was doing it for her sake and though she could stop her vessel, she didn't do it.

'You have already suffered. Asking you to stop at this point would be a betrayal.' Flamey sighed, her eyes continuously staring at her vessel.

C-Amber, unlike Jason's clone, wasn't fazed. It had seen the same happen to the other clone and knew that this was the best moment to attack.

Sadly, Jason wasn't going to let it pass. He knew what pain Amber was going through so he decided to protect her until she was able to absorb all of the magma flames.

Two minutes passed by in this manner before Amber started absorbing the flames. They entered her body in less than a minute and supplied her with energy.

Her eyes burned with power as she joined her palms together. Amber split her hands and formed two circles with them.

Raising her right hand, she struck empty air. Jason was confused for a second but when he saw the result of her actions, a smile appeared on his face.

The ground shattered in two parts and lava oozed from the cracks. The lava suddenly rushed forward and wrapped around C-Amber's legs.

Before she could react to it, the lava pulled her down in the boiling pit. Amber joined her palms again and in the three blinks of an eye, the land closed.

Jason landed on the ground and clapped Amber's back.

"That was kinda cool," he praised.

"Thank you." Amber smiled. "Also, thank you for protecting me."

"No need for saying that. We have been doing that for quite some while and I have to say, we make a good team." Jason grinned.

Amber simply nodded, a warm feeling spreading through her chest.

[ Smooth… ] The system said in a shocked voice.

'No need to sound so shocked.' Jason mentally facepalmed.

"Well, the fighting is over." Veritas's voice entered their ears as the goddess of truth landed on the ground. "Congratulations, you have won the fight. Its time for me to held up my end of the deal.