GUARDIAN OF THE END

A wave of shock traveled through every single part of Jason's body as he visibly shuddered.

< An unknown mana has entered the body. >

< The mana has been processed and identified as the host's aunt's mana. >

< Precautionary measures have failed. >

Zara then closed her eyes before she focused the mana to travel through Jason's body.

It slowly started gathering near his heart as she concentrated the mana into a small cube beside Jason's heart.

"This should be enough." She muttered before standing up and looking down at Jason. "Please say 'transform', Jason."

"Transform." Jason did as told as the cube beside his heart suddenly expanded. A few seconds later, the mana from the cube reached his head before pouring out.

[ Host, you now have fox ears… ]

'EH?!'

Jason lifted his hands to his head before patting down his hair.

He suddenly felt two fluffy ears coming out of the top side of his head, making him stare at Zara for an explanation.

"We are going to act that you are our firstborn child while Nora is our second-born child. Demi-humans, both half and full, get their ears at the age of five.

Their tails then develop when they are ten years old. Those ears were necessary for you to play the part."

Jason looked from Zara's face to Ray's to Astryn's face. He could tell that they were trying not to smile at his behavior despite the situation they were in.

"Now, you have to act dumb if they ask you any question you don't understand. As for Nora, we will pretend that he is sleeping." Astryn explained before looking at the door with an anxious expression.

At the same time, the system warned Jason that seven living beings had entered its sensory range and were quickly running towards the house.

"Won't they find it suspicious that no one is there in the city?" Jason asked aloud as Ray shook his head.

"The entirety of Duphia stays inside their homes on Sundays and spend time with their families or do something alone. No one would suspect that all of the citizens have been evacuated."

Jason sighed in relief as he was thankful for having his fifth birthday on Sunday. In this way, no one would ever suspect anything.

He then kept track of the new guests with the help of the system and went on guard when a knock on the door was heard.

*Just so you all know, I am invisible and will speak to you through this method.* Astryn spoke casually inside their minds as though it was an everyday thing for her.

Ray nodded before he turned the doorknob open.

Standing outside were seven men dressed in formal black clothes and matching caps.

The one who had rung the bell stood in the center of the group and gave Ray a small bow.

"Are you by chance the Baron of this land?" The man asked in a polite voice, pointing his cap down a bit.

Jason and the others immediately realized that the caps were there to hide the demons' horns.

This meant that they had released their true powers since a demon's horns only appeared when they had released all of their power.

It was clear that they weren't there just to talk so Jason didn't see any point in keeping his fox ears. Regardless, he kept them there.

"I am afraid that might be my father, Issac. I am his son, Ray Syrward." Ray replied in the same polite tone. "How can I be of any help?"

"Hmm, we were just wondering if you sensed any shift in the natural energy around the place."

"Natural energy? I am sorry but this barony doesn't have spirit magic users so we can't really sense changes in the natural energy."

Both Jason and the system were left confused by the new terms being spoken but they didn't have the time to ask for any explanation nor was it the right place to do that.

"I see…" The man replied as he brought his right hand to the top of his cap. "In that case, I am afraid that we might have to ask some more questions."

*Ray!*

"I know," Ray said with a smile as he stared at the seven men.

They had released their auras in perfect synchronization which would have made most normal humans drop down on their knees.

Contrary to that, Ray straightened up a bit as he raised his right hand and pointed out of the house.

"If you want to play power-up, go do it outside. Get out of my home." Alongside the words, Ray flicked his index finger in the group's direction.

A swirling storm the size of a basketball was released from the tip of his index finger as it hit the group.

The storm expanded in a matter of seconds and took them away.

All of them started spinning with the storm before they were thrown away in random directions.

They landed in the garden around the manor as a symbol awakened below them. The next second, their bodies caught fire and died of spontaneous combustion.

'Uh system, please don't think of such terms while watching the rune being activated. I don't want to be reminded of science in a magical world.'

[ Sorry. My bad. ]

The system had been muttering a few words ever since the rune had been activated. Jason wouldn't have minded it if not for the fact that most of them were scientific terms.

'It's right though. They definitely died that way.' Jason looked at the ashes sprayed across the part where the group had stood.

The kill had been instant and quick which made Jason want to learn how to create runes himself.

After all, who wouldn't want to learn such things for protection as well as an assault?

[ Good thing this place doesn't have mind readers or at least those who we know. ]

'Yeah.'

Jason then saw Astryn appear in the same spot as she quickly carved the rune again before appearing back inside the house.

In the process, she had also managed to make the ashes vanish, making it seem as though nothing had happened.

*It's just the beginning. The demons who just died were most likely test subjects. Though I have a feeling that we didn't need to worry after all.*

Astryn muttered as both she and the system suddenly sensed multiple demons approaching the house from different directions.

She decided to play it safe and waited for all of the demons to reach the house.

The moment all of them had stepped inside the fence, she used her runes and turned them into ashes.

She continued this process until more than sixty demons had died.

'Are they testing the limits of the runes?' A frown appeared on Astryn's face as another group of demons appeared inside the fence.

They kept appearing one after the other which made the entire thing look staged.

Astryn decided to let the demons approach the house and relayed her thoughts to the other three.

Zara, Jason, and Ray shared the same opinion as they waited for the group of demons to reach the house.

However, the entire group vanished when they were just ten meters away from the house.

Thousands of demons then appeared inside the fence at once as Astryn nodded her head slightly.

'So they were waiting to see when the runes would run out. If I kept on using the runes, I could have kept them running long enough for them to get suspicious.'

Astryn slightly praised herself for thinking of that before telling the others that there was no need to worry.

All the demons gathered outside weren't exactly throwaways but they weren't too far away from being called such.

*I am sure only Ray alone could handle them. But I guess it was a good thing that I appeared here as a precaution.*

Astryn was thinking of telling Issac that everything was fine but decided to let the old man do whatever he wanted.

She instead focused her attention on the strongest demon in the mini army while trying to figure out which noble house he belonged to.

"So what should we do now that we know they are all rather weak?" Zara asked while sighing as an idea suddenly appeared inside Astryn's mind.

*Until the time Issac shows up, why don't you both do some target practice?*