GUARDIAN OF THE END

"Every God has something important related to them. Sancus, for example, has a pen since pens are used to bind contracts with signatures." He explained before smiling.

"A divinity can be given even if you are uncontracted. It surrounds you with the aura of its owner while you are here."

Jason fell silent after getting the explanation. He stared at the two objects in his palm, wondering how two simple household objects could contain that much power.

"So that means that no God will come and become my patron?"

"Unless it's someone at a higher level than these two, you are not getting reincarnated," Erebus replied.

"Why did they even give me their divinities in the first place?" Jason asked Erebus with hopeful eyes as he expected the bartender to know the answer.

Sadly, that was not the truth.

"Don't look at me like that kid. I am just a mere bartender whose job is to guide the beings chosen to be reincarnated and occasionally serve drinks to the Gods." It was clear that Erebus was no longer interested in the conversation.

He summoned a beer bottle for himself and chugged it down directly.

Jason calmly waited for him to finish his drink before asking one last question.

"If you can just make things appear out of nowhere and teleport instantly, you must also be a God unless the bartenders have suddenly become overpowered."

"Would you believe me if I said that I'm just a humble bartender?"

"No."

"I was going to act ignorant for some more time and though I still can, I foresee that you will keep bugging me." Erebus sighed as the empty bottle in his hands vanished. "Yes, I am a God too and my name is Erebus."

As soon as Jason heard his name, a spark of lightning traveled through his body.

Previously, he had only been referring to him as the bartender but hearing his name awakened something inside Jason.

'I have heard that name before.' The memory was stuck in the corner of his mind, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get to remember it.

"Can you become my patron then?" Jason decided to try his luck.

"Listen, kid, I can't have followers for myself so I can't become your patron god. Just get reincarnated like this or keep waiting for someone else to pick you up. Why do you think I am stuck as a bartender?" He asked while raising his eyebrows.

"Cause you like to be one?"

"No one wants to be a bartender, especially in a godly place like this." Erebus was tempted to teleport Jason to the Reincarnation Room but he refrained from doing so.

His purpose was to only act as a guide therefore he couldn't force anyone out.

Jason on the other hand decided to push his luck or rather, his bad luck. He continued to stare at Erebus until the latter had enough of it and gave in.

"To form a contract, both the God and the person they are signing the contract with must sign on a Contract Paper using anything they have, for example, a pen, some blood, etc."

A sheet of white paper appeared in his hand as he glanced at its contents with nostalgia. He then passed it to Jason.

It only had two things written on it. The first one stated that Erebus would become Jason's patron god and oversee his reincarnation.

The second thing was that Jason was not allowed to have any other patron god but didn't have to become an exclusive follower of Erebus.

"If you want, you can try using Sancus's pen to sign it," Erebus explained while raising his right hand above the contract.

No sooner did a golden drop fall on the paper than it transformed into Erebus' name, appearing at the bottom of the contract.

Jason stared at the scene with slightly parted eyes before opening the lid of the ball pen. He started bringing his hand beside Erebus's name on the contract.

'Now, he will get repelled.' Erebus sighed while looking at the hopeful teenager.

Though he didn't mean to be pessimistic, he had seen the same scene repeat itself multiple times.

An invisible barrier would repel Jason as per the jade emperor's decree and Erebus could only stand and do nothing.

'Wait… What?!' Erebus's pupils shrank slightly when he saw Jason's right hand hovering right above the contract.

The boy then brought the tip of the pen down on the contract and moved his hand to sign his name.

The contract had been formed.

"That wasn't too hard," Jason muttered before lifting his head and looking at Erebus.

The God come bartender looked as though he had just been kicked in the balls. Erebus never expected to gain a follower again, especially in such a manner.

Suddenly, both the names started glowing on the contract.

'Is it because he signed it with Sancus's divinity? Did the heavenly emperor forget to prevent it from happening?'

Erebus was expecting someone to pop up in front of him and drag Jason back to the other side of the small room.

However, no such thing happened and the glowing of the contract slowly started to recede.

"Well, congratulations on becoming my follower." Erebus then left the counter once again as he appeared beside Jason.

Currently, he had to take his newly gained follower to the hall of reincarnation where he would choose the world he wished to reincarnate into.

"Close your eyes kiddo."

Erebus then snapped his fingers as a black light surrounded the two of them. Jason felt his stomach churn as he was lifted off the ground. The feeling was similar to that of going too high while swinging.

A few seconds later, he felt his feet touching the solid ground once more.

"You can open your eyes now," Erebus announced as Jason opened his eyes to see himself standing in a completely new room.

Surrounded by misty portal-looking things, he saw many people wandering around.

"This is the place where you can choose your new world and enter the portal to get there. Only gods along with their followers can come here. Those without a contract can also come here after searching for twenty-four hours." Erebus's eyes scanned the entire place.

It had been ages since he had entered the room since he hadn't had any followers in a long, long time.

Now looking at the portals, Erebus was hit with a sense of nostalgia as if he had just seen an old picture of himself.

There were a total of hundred portals in the place, each of them connecting the place to a different world.

Not every world was as it seemed. There was a portal that led to a world where pigs were the rulers. They would eat anything they saw.

Then there were a few portals that would guarantee eternal punishment to those who dared to enter them.

There were also three portals that the new followers couldn't enter unless they had a high-level god as their patron.

Only such Gods were allowed access to such portals and the world beyond them. Erebus knew that he didn't fill the criteria.

"Well, you can choose any one of them." He then looked at the dreamy-eyed Jason, lost in thought.

Presented with so many options, he didn't know which one he should choose.

"Can I get a hint?" Unfortunately, Jason's luck pushing had reached its limit.

"Kid, you have no idea what would happen if I told you that. Things are already bad enough, the Jade emperor might just app-"

No sooner did Erebus speak those words than the entire place started rumbling. The hairs on his body stood up as there were only a few entities who dared to do anything to the hall of reincarnation.

And the one who had done it was none other than the heavenly emperor.

The ruler of the divine temple and gods was the heavenly emperor, also known as the Jade Emperor. He was the being who stood above every single person in the entire world.

Also, he loved making the rules and punishing those who broke his rules.

"You have broken one of my rules, Erebus." A cold voice resounded inside the bartender's head as he clenched his fist.

All of a sudden, Jason felt his body being pulled forward as though being attracted by a magnet.

Erebus's expression turned grim as he stared at the ceiling. His black eyes seemed to glow a little and a silent killing aura was released from his body.

No matter how many restrictions he had, he was still a god.

"I don't know how he managed to sign a contract with me but it was fair and square. It's your powers that are growing weak, old man!" Erebus shouted at the ceiling as he heard a chuckle resounding through the place.

p "You are still too short-tempered of a person." The same voice said again before Erebus felt its presence vanishing.

Jason's body jerked to the north as he flew past a few portals. He came to half in front of a coal-black mist and halted.

At the same time, Erebus raised his middle fingers and pointed them towards the ceiling.

"May you get cucked." After cursing, Erebus saw Jason's body being thrown into the portal.

"Erebus, I am doing both you and the world a favor. Read its name and also, this isn't even a punishment."

Erebus then glanced at the portal as his eyes widened a bit.

"Clover..."

He then clenched his fists before closing his eyes. His newly gained follower had just been thrown into a world where things were going to be very hard for him.

That was unless…

Erebus then focused on the contract that connected his soul with Jason to find his location.

Once he had done that, he opened his eyes and looked at the portal.

'Don't worry Jason, I will help you a bit.'

Erebus looked at the ceiling one last time, wondering what the Heavenly Emperor was planning, before he stepped inside the portal.