GUARDIAN OF THE END

"Amon, you felt that?" Risa asked with narrowed eyes.

"I did. I think that was the apex beast of the forest." Amon replied, his eyes turning towards the west.

"Julian must know about us now. I am pretty sure he will be waiting for us at the capital." Risa sighed. "Let's use mana to increase our speed. We will reach the capital by night if we try hard enough."

After saying that, Risa touched the foreheads of the three teenagers with her right index finger. A small circle appeared right in the middle of their forehead before vanishing.

"This will allow me to sense your location no matter how far you are. Jason, if you need help, you know how to contact me and so do you Amber. Zeke, say my name thrice before dropping a small amount of your blood on the ground.

I will appear and save you then. These are just general instructions in case any of us get separated. After all, only Jason can keep up with me and Amon, that is if we don't use divine energy." Risa explained.

"I won't be able to use divine energy though because that speed will deal damage to Amber." Jason reminded.

"I know. Neither me nor Amon would be using divine energy since a magic formation embedded in the walls will repel the energy at us. None of you should use it either since it serves as a trump card as well. Got any questions?"

"Am I the only one here who can't use divine energy?" Zeke asked awkwardly.

"Yes, you are," Risa replied in a sympathetic voice. "There's a chance that you might get called up by a god or a goddess at the temple. Maybe you will be able to create a contract with a god."

"After hearing so much about Julian and personally meeting him once, I don't want to go anywhere near contracts." Zeke shook his head.

"Your wish. Let's go now." Risa instructed as she turned on her light element.

Golden light gently wrapped around her body before she started moving forward at a blurring speed.

Amon didn't actively use his powers yet he too moved at a similar pace. Amber sank inside the ground and started following the duo by sensing their auras.

Zeke had to use his wind element to boost his speed. Since his affinity wasn't that high, he simply froze the ground in front of him and used wind magic to push himself forward.

Jason watched all of them go before using his thunder as well. His speed could have easily matched that of Risa and Amon without needing to tune on to his divine energy.

However, if he did that, he would end up hurting May's body which couldn't bear such high speed.

[ What if I protect myself with the help of divine energy? ]

'Can't do that. Its best if you keep it hidden until we reach the temple. Risa already denied us from using it anyways.'

[ All right... ]

'Don't be so disappointed. Once we have made sure that you return to normal, there are going to be plenty of opportunities for you to fight. Make use of all the divine energy during those fights.'

May fell silent as Jason continued to move forward. He was moving at the back of the group and kept an eye on everyone with his mana vision.

Since no one was using divine energy, it was easy for him to know their locations.

They continued to travel until they reached the peak of the hill. From there, they could see the coliseum in the middle of Troyalias.

Jason could tell that it was the backside of the city because he could see a palace of sorts situated close to the coliseum.

"It should take us around two hours to reach that place. Make sure to use all of senses because Julian might have deployed traps all around the city. Stick close to each other." Risa warned before they continued moving ahead.

Just like she had said, unexpected traps started popping in front of them. Magic seals, beasts and special mages continued to obstruct their paths.

But with their coordination, all of them easily cleared the obstacles and reached the back entrance of the city.

[ Now the troublesome thing is how we can enter the city. The walls have a barrier generated around the city at all times and it can warn the royal palace when unregistered mages enter the city. ] Risa said telepathically.

[ Grandma, there is no need to create so much suspense. Since you were so keen on moving today and had the rest of the things planned out, I know that you have a plan for this situation as well. ] Jason sighed.

[ At least let me create a melodramatic scene before getting started. ] Risa pouted. [ Amon, please proceed. ]

Jason simply rolled his eyes at Risa's reaction. Even during such a tight situation, she wanted to create a melodramatic effect.

On the other hand, Amon closed his eyes and touched Jason's forehead with his right index and middle finger.

Jason noticed that the silver ring restricting Amon's power was gone. The sin of wrath sent some strange energy inside Jason's body before doing the same thing with the rest of them.

[ We should be able to pass inside the city unnoticed. Just don't use your own mana or divine energy. ] Amon instructed before he directly walked towards the entrance.

Guards were stationed all around the gate and the barrier at the entrance was there as well. However, Amon managed to walk inside the city without any problems.

The others followed him with confused expressions, except Risa who had seen the same thing numerous times.

They kept on walking till they entered the nobility region. The Bloodthorn mansion was empty at the moment due to no member of the four families being present outside Duphia.

[ Sensory magic would be used at the mansion but if we go inside a specific room, we won't be caught by anyone. Amber, can you take us all to the basement from under the ground? ] Risa questioned.

[ Easily. Just guide me to the room and I will take us there. ]

[ Good. Let's start then. ]

_{𝑓r𝘦𝘦𝘄eb𝒏𝙤vel.c𝙤𝙢}

Amber immediately made the entire group sink under the ground. All of them had their normal vision cut and had to rely on other visionary or sensory abilities to see or tell things about their surroundings.

Risa slowly guided Amber under the mansion before asking her to take them up into the basement.

The group emerged inside a medium-sized hall full of emergency supplies ranging from food to clothes to magic scrolls.

"This is a safe room that we created in case we ever need to use the mansion as a safe spot." Risa explained. "It has beds stored inside space rings as well."

"Nice." Zeke whistled lowly.

"That was the goal behind this room's creation. It should give us some time to rest, get ourselves in battle ready condition as well as allow us to strategize. Do any of you require weapons?"

"No, I can create my own weapons." Jason shook his head.

"Me too." Amber shook her head as well.

"I used magic best without any weapon, so I don't need any weapon either." Zeke denied as well.

"All right. Let's eat something and plan what we are going to do." Risa instructed. "Tomorrow, we make our way to the entrance of the temple and hopefully, defeat the guardians there. Or else, things will get complicated for us."