GUARDIAN OF THE END

p Once Jason arrived in the village of the monkeys, he directly went to the king's house.

Though he got many strange looks, no one dared to approach him. Jason felt confused since he knew that there was no chance that any of the monkeys could easily recognize him after four years.

[ The beasts can tell that you a vessel. My aura is coming out of your body in thick amounts and all beasts can sense it. ] Hestia explained.

Jason had to admit that the ability was kinda cool. He could use it to put some pressure on the beasts at his level or below him, that was if they knew who his guardian was.

Once Jason arrived in front of the monkey king's house, he knocked on the door and waited for someone to come out.

'Hmm, no guards are present here.' Jason observed silently.

The door swung open a few seconds later to reveal a depressed looking monkey king. The red-butt monkey king's cheeks were hollowed while dark bags were present under his sleep deprived eyes.

But when his gaze landed on Jason, the monkey king perked up. "You finally came here!"

Without any warning, he dragged Jason inside the house. The latter let himself get dragged while his eyes were searching every inch of the house.

'System…'

[ Yes, host, you are seeing things correctly. ] The system replied immediately.

Jason's expression grimed as he input more of his mana into his irises. Faint particles of gray energy suddenly popped up in his vision, all of them leading to a certain room inside the house.

[ Divine energy. So much divine energy is abundantly present inside this house… ] Hestia murmured. [ I don't think even I can release this much divine energy in my current state. ]

"What happened here?" Jason asked aloud.

"Since the past week, a weird energy has been leaking out of May's body. Most of my monkeys were knocked out by it and I am the only one who is still conscious. But I am afraid that I will crash down as well." The monkey king replied.

He led Jason to May's room whose door was shut close.

"Go inside. I am afraid that I won't be able to stay conscious if I enter the room." The monkey king explained before sitting beside the door.

Jason's hand touched the door knob and slowly turned it open. The door opened by a crack and an immense amount of divine energy suddenly blasted his body.

Fortunately, Jason was already used to having divine energy inside him and was able to repel the incoming divine energy.

He opened the door by another crack and slipped inside, closing it behind him. His entire body was once again blasted by divine energy.

This time, it was more thicker and dangerous.

'I'm feeling dizzy…' Jason blinked a few times to make sure he kept his focus.

[ Leave it to me. ]

[ And me as well. ]

The system tried focusing on the connection that bonded it and Jason together. Since it was also powered up by Erebus's divinity, the system itself had access to a limited amount of divine energy.

Using this connection, the system started emitting a divine aura which combated the divine energy present in the surroundings.

Hestia did a similar thing and erected a protective shield around Jason. Both of them combined were able to prevent the silver-haired boy from crashing and losing consciousness.

[ Though you are used to experiencing divine energy, this one is a bit different. It is coming out of a demi-god's body plus May has no idea how to control it. I am pretty sure her birthday is about to come soon, hence the release of energy. ]

'Can you or Hestia guess the exact date? I would be able create a plan if I have a fixed date.'

[ I can't tell birthdays of people just by looking at them. It requires a profound knowledge of astrology or something like that to tell people's birthdays quickly. ] Hestia replied with a sigh.

[ I can't tell something like that either. Fortunately, there is one guy who we can ask to help us. ]

'You aren't talking about Erebus, are you?' Jason slowly asked.

[ Yes, I am talking about Erebus. In fact, I am sure that he is already searching for Wukong. In the meantime, why don't you sit down and meditate? ]

'Will that do anything?'

[ I will open small portions of the barrier and let your body get familiar with the divine energy bit by bit. It will serve as good timepass until Erebus responds. ]

'And what if he doesn't?'

[ Don't be a pessimist. ]

'I take it you don't know.' Jason sighed and sat cross legged on the ground. He closed his eyes and started meditating.

Simultaneously, the system removed a small portion of the barriers and let Jason's body come in contact with the divine energy.

[ Hopefully, you were paying attention, Erebus… ]

***

'Being a patron god is such a burden…' Erebus grumbled while moving through the Bar of god.

The amount of gods and other species seemed to be much greater than usual. Fortunately, the god of shadows knew where to find Sun Wukong, May's father.

Erebus was curious to see what Wukong's reaction would be since the real monkey king ha long since left the realm of mortals behind.

'I wonder if it was due to that child and her mother that he left behind the mortal realms. He used to enjoy their drinking competitions and festivals a lot.'

Erebus had been a god for a much longer time when compared with Wukong. He had seen many things that the latter hadn't and had also experienced many deaths.

'The sad part of being a god is that except other gods and goddesses, you are not sure who will be alive alongside you. In the end, most gods end up alone and isolate themselves.'

Erebus reached one corner of the bar and smiled a little. Wukong was sitting in that exact corner and was drinking something out of a golden goblet.

"Oi, come with me." Erebus casually approached Wukong, passing through the other god's barrier with ease. "I have something important that I want to discuss with you."

"What a coincidence. I have something that I want to ask you as well." Sun Wukong smiled and dispelled the goblet.

The monkey king stood up and stretched his body a bit. His silver eyes sparkled with mischief which made Erebus crack his knuckles.

"I swear that if you ask me for the recipe again, I will smack you with that giant rod of yours." Erebus threatened.

"Chose your words wisely, Ere." Wukong grinned. "Also, no matter how much I try, I can never make the nectar taste exactly the same as yours."

"That's a given. I am a professional bartender." Erebus snorted before snapping his fingers.

Both the gods vanished from the spot and appeared in Erebus's special corner. The god of shadows snapped his fingers a second time as a glass made from gold appeared in front of Wukong.

A red liquid appeared inside the glass, making Wukong smile. He picked up the glass and slowly drank it, savoring the taste of the nectar prepared by Erebus.

"What did you want to ask, Ere?" Wukong questioned in a jolly tone.

"Tell me about your child named May." Erebus replied bluntly.

Wukong almost spat his drink on Erebus's face. He quickly swallowed the remainder of it down his neck and glared at Erebus. "How do you know about someone who died more than fourteen years ago?"

"You remember when she was born?" Erebus asked in a surprised tone.

Gods mostly didn't care about the things happening in the realms around the world. They didn't care much about mortals either, except for the occasional visits and one night swings.

"I cared a bit too much about her mother. She convinced me to leave her behind with my child and I did it," Wukong replied in a bitter voice. "Even though the child born would be half human, it would be extremely powerful."

"Some other god didn't like that and wanted to kill both the woman and the child. But they didn't expect the woman to be good fighter." Erebus continued. "But since she was cornered and had to escape."

"I told her that if she wanted to meet me once again, she just had to find any nearby monkey group and chant my name three times."

"So that's what she was trying to do when she escaped to the forest. That child was left behind and she tried to find a monkey to call you." Erebus muttered.

"She succeeded in doing and I appeared down on Clover. Unfortunately, it happened at the moment of her death. I killed her pursuers and thought that the child was dead." Wukong sighed. "But I guess she lived or else you wouldn't be questioning me about her."

"Indeed, she did survive and is currently sleeping a few feet away from my only follower. Its strange how things somehow end up together."

"Well, we have been alive for a long time and know that such things can both be taken as coincidences as well as work of fate." Wukong said with another sigh.

"Then I will ask the question. When is May's birthday in Clover time?" Erebus asked seriously.

Once he had relied this information to the system, his part would become passive. After all, even he had to follow certain laws and rules while helping his follower.

'Fortunately, I can bypass many laws and rules due to only having a single follower.'

"Her birthday is exactly six months later. Also, you might want to tell your follower to control my child's flow of divine energy. The divinity inside her will continue to leak otherwise and destroy everything in a two hundred kilometer radius after six months."

"Sure," Erebus nodded. "I'll pass on the message."

Sun Wukong sighed once before saying, "then listen closely…