GUARDIAN OF THE END

Somewhere in the universe…

A black river with still water was present in an enclosed place. Except for the river, the place was covered in a curtain of darkness, making it impossible to see anything.

The only reason the river was visible was due to the large amount white balls floating on its surface.

,m All of them were glowing and buzzing with energy. Some were extremely bright while others were extremely dim. Out of all the white balls, five were shining the brightest.

"I always wondered how the Cycle of Reincarnation looked here." In the blink of an eye, Erebus appeared above the black river and glanced at the balls beneath him.

His eyes then focused on one of the brightest balls as he hovered above it.

Erebus didn't dare touch the black river lest he too got sent to the world as a baby. Gods could be omnipresent due to the number of believers and followers they had in different worlds.

However, Erebus didn't have any believers, so if he was reincarnated in the world of Clover, he would be forced to live there until he died.

He could always kill himself and return.

"So let's see, what should I give him? Perfect talent in all paths of power… No, that would put him at the center of attention and would practically make him a tool to be used by everyone.

Maybe I should give him perfect talent in a single field… But that sounds too weak. Maybe a young master? On second thought, he will probably be forced to survive despite that since his luck doesn't seem to be that good. After all, he ended with me being his patron god."

Erebus was thoroughly confused as to what he should give Jason. He only wished for the boy to have a good life yet not be forced by anyone to do anything.

'There are quite a few souls here with divinities.' Erebus thought with a surprised expression as he looked around the souls floating in the river.

He could see some familiar and unknown divinities around him. Erebus fell deep into thought as he looked back at the soul in front of him.

He could see the pen and the ring being inside the soul and all that was left was his gift. Erebus would have given Jason a divinity if he had one.

'Maybe I should just look at his memories to see what he wants.' Though Erebus had looked through Jason's life briefly, he had only seen the brief details.

It took him seventeen seconds to see his follower's entire life starting from birth to death.

'So his best friend, the person to whom he was the closest, died during a war. He was also abandoned at the orphanage by his mother who had an accidental child.

He never experienced parental love, from his parents at least. I am surprised he managed to remain sane after all those shocks.'

After thinking for some time, an idea suddenly popped inside Erebus's mind.

He raised his right hand and twirled his index finger clockwise. A small opening appeared above his finger before vanishing a few seconds later.

'This is all I can do for you. Hopefully, the small restrictions will prevent me from getting in further trouble with that old snot-covered pansy.'

With a last glance at the soul, Erebus departed from the Cycle of Reincarnation.

In front of the soul, multiple blue rectangular-shaped windows popped up. Words started appearing on the screen yet the soul couldn't see them.

< Soul found >

< Initiating soul merging >

< 10% >

< 25% >

< 50% >

< 64% >

< 88% >

< 94% >

< 100% >

< System is on standby >

-----

Meanwhile, somewhere in the world of Clover…

Plop!

"It's a baby boy!" A cheerful voice said while picking up a baby. The voice belonged to a beautiful lady with flaming red hair and sea-green eyes.

In her arms was a newborn baby wrapped in two layers of blue blankets. The baby's eyes were closed while his gentle breathing brushed the skin on the lady's hand.

"Why is he not crying?" A worried male voice asked as a man in his twenties anxiously looked at the red-haired lady.

Sweat lined his forehead as he pushed back his silver hair and looked at the baby. He was not the only one feeling anxious as the lady and the other people present in the room shared the same feeling.

"Risa, try smacking his butt." Another male voice, one sounding older than the former came from the corner of the room.

Standing there was a man with gray hair and firm amber-colored eyes. His eyes were focused on the baby and the woman holding him.

< Due to circumstances the host has been forcefully awakened. >

Jason's eyes suddenly flew wide open as he was blasted with the light of the room. His infant eyes couldn't help the sudden blast of colors as he quickly closed them.

< Host, be prepared. >

A voice echoed inside Jason's head but before he could register its meaning, something hard hit his butt.

A painful sensation spread through his lower body and a cry of pain escaped his lips. As soon as the voice echoed around the room, four consecutive sighs of relief were heard.

The next moment three figures stepped closer to peer at the baby's face.

"I say it here and now, he will grow up to be handsome like me." The gray-haired man's words managed to earn him three glares.

"I pray that he doesn't get your narcissistic side, Issac. It would be better if he turned out like Ray." The silver-haired man said to Issac. The latter rolled his eyes while muttering that he was not narcissistic.

"You would love to make him a good demon noble like yourself."

"You said something true for once."

The two men locked eyes which made them look like relatives considering how Fel looked like he was in his early twenties while Issac looked like he was about to enter his forties.

"Gentlemen, do both of you want a spanking too?" An irritated voice asked as a silver-haired woman glared at the two men.

"Don't bother yourself with such trivial things, Astryn."

"We will handle this ourselves Astryn."

Issac and Fel replied at the same time before breaking their stare. Astryn sighed before she turned to look at Risa.

The two women exchanged a knowing look and mentally sighed. Their husbands didn't like each other and it was clear from the exchange that they had held back.

Risa and Astryn decided to let the two husbands do what they wanted while they poked the baby's cheek.

"Doesn't this feel like when we had a child for the first time?" Astryn asked curiously as she saw Jason's hands closing around her index finger.

His entire hand was barely one-fourth the size of her finger yet it was fascinating to see the baby trying to enclose her entire finger with his small hands.

'I hope this passes as something that babies do…' Jason thought while taking deep breaths as he could tell how small his lungs were.

The voice that had spoken inside his head had vanished the moment after speaking. It had left him with a single message asking him to open his eyes.

Infant Jason couldn't control his body the way he was used yet he somehow managed to open his eyes.

< On standby mode >

A single blue screen awaited Jason as he read the words on it. The screen disappeared the next moment and he was met face to face with two women.

Due to not knowing the language, Jason hadn't been able to understand what the four people had been talking about.

However, there had been many similar words to English that he was able to recognize.

< language learned: 1% >

< Upon hearing more words, the system will be able to decipher the language thus enabling the host to understand what is being spoken around him. >

Two more blue windows appeared in front of Jason yet they disappeared the moment he finished reading them. He instead looked at the faces of the two women looking at him with curiosity.

"It's been some time since I have seen purple eyes," Risa muttered before looking at the eyes of every single person in the room.

She had green eyes while Issac's were amber. This meant that Jason hadn't received his eye color from his paternal grandparents.

Astryn had black eyes contrasting her silver hair while Fel had light blue eyes. This ruled them out as well.

"I wondered the same thing when I saw Michael's purple eyes," Issac suddenly chuckled. "It's quite common considering what element we share."

"True."

The room then fell silent as the four grandparents turned their gaze towards the last figure present in the room.

The baby's mother, Evelyn. She too had the same silver hair like her father and mother while sharing her father's light blue eyes.

Currently, Evelyn was lying spine-first on a bed while her eyes closed. Two one-meter (3.2 feet) tall horns were protruding from the top of her head yet none of the present figures seemed surprised by them.

She had exhausted quite some amount of her power while giving birth and was exhausted in the entire process.

"Can someone let me see my baby?" Evelyn asked a few minutes later when she had gained the strength to sit up.

Risa handed the black-covered baby to his mother as she looked at his purple eyes. The baby mirrored her actions and stared into her eyes which made Evelyn smile.

'His eyes are the same as His.' Evelyn suddenly looked lost in thought before she shook her head and stared at the baby.

She could tell that her parents and parents-in-law were waiting for her to name the baby. They had many suggestions in case the name was something like Sunny or Bartholomew but they trusted in Evelyn.

"I and Michael had decided on a name the moment I tested positive for pregnancy," Evelyn suddenly announced. "He was born in a difficult world with many broken things. I want him to be able to heal some of those broken things like his father and I did. That's why his name will be Jason Syrward."