GUARDIAN OF THE END

"It's coming for me." No sooner had the words left Jason's mouth that the mist around him thickened.

He couldn't even see an inch in front of him as several hands grabbed him from all directions.

'Wait…' Jason suddenly looked down to see a pair of hands grabbing him from under the ground. It was similar to a scene in a horror film.

"The mist is a powerful thing if you know how to use it correctly." Alexa's voice echoed inside Jason's head as he was suddenly pulled below the glass box by the pair of hands.

[ Breathe calmly and try to... ] Hestia started suggesting before all of a sudden, Jason felt her presence going away.

'She could've at least told me how to protect myself before vanishing.' Jason frowned as he found himself standing in the row of seats directly below the glass box.

[ I think you've more pressing matters to attend to right now. ] The system pointed out as Jason suddenly opened his thunder mage job class.

He remembered the passive ability that had been handed to him earlier and was curious to see what it would give him.

---

< True Lightning (Passive) >

- You have the ability to use the four different types of lightning.

- Currently available types:

White lightning: White lightning is the silent deadly type of lightning. With the help of this lightning, one can reach a speed fast enough to transcend the laws binding their bodies to a world, that is if their body can cope up with such speed.

Remaining types: 3

---

'So this was the type of lightning that helped me escape from Alexa earlier.' Jason observed as a piercing sound suddenly entered his ears.

It was the sound one might heard while writing too hard with a chalk on a blackboard.

All hair on Jason's body stood up as he heard words being spoken directly inside his mind.

"Jump down the railing…" the voice was a whisper at first but seconds later, it started getting louder and harsher. "JUMP down the RAILING! JUMP DOWN! JUMP DOWN!"

Jason clutched his head tightly as the voice kept on getting louder and louder.

[ Host, what is happening? ] The system asked in a worried tone as it couldn't hear the voice.

The words went undetectable and were only heard by Jason who slowly edged towards the railing in front of him. He felt as though the blood vessels in his brain were being torn by the voice.

[ Host, don't move! ] the system shouted as it realized what Jason was planning to do. [ I am sure that someone would soon come to get you. Just stay where you are. ]

The system tried to soothe Jason but it didn't work. The voice was too powerful in his head as Jason reached the ceiling and groaned a little.

"Fine, I'll jump down!" He shouted before using a bit of his lightning and jumping over the railing.

The voice immediately exited his head as Jason found himself falling from several meters of height.

His could only see the ground as the mist was still there to block his vision. Jason could think much more clearly as he took a deep breath while falling.

'Squashing to death couldn't be that bad.' He wondered.

In less than a few minutes, Jason would turn into a half-demon meat paste spread across the arena floor.

The only was to prevent that was to find a way to either safely land on the ground or go to some other place in the arena.

Jason feared that if he chose to return to any of the rows in the arena, the voice would return and haunt him. This left him with only the first option.

"Dark harpoon." He muttered under his breath and directed his hand towards the arena floor.

A harpoon made from darkness shot out from Jason hand as he made the end thicker.

'Hopefully, it doesn't strike anyone on the ground.' Jason thought while directing the harpoon towards the ground and letting it sink in the arena floor.

Once it was embedded in the ground, Jason raised his hand towards the arena rows and randomly shot another harpoon.

[ Direct it a bit up and towards the left. ] With help from the system, Jason managed to embed another harpoon in one of the arena's pillars.

He quickly joined the two harpoons together in the middle before using it to slide downwards.

Jason was able to control his speed due this and barely prevented himself from dying as his feet touched the ground a few seconds later.

"That was a close call." Jason muttered while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

The danger was still far from over as Jason felt as though someone was watching him.

"Zilan, are you here?" Jason asked aloud as he looked around the mist while trying to figure out where the presence was watching him from.

"Jason?" Zilan's voice replied as Jason's ears perked up.

"Yes, it's me." He replied while looking around with eager eyes. However, he soon realized that the voice could've belonged or not belonged to Zilan at the same time.

[ Be careful. ]

'Once again, thank you for stating the obvious.'

[ Hey, at least I'm wishing you luck. Without my wishes, you would be dead on the ground. ]

Jason was about to refute back when he noticed that the mist was receding. He summoned lightning bolts in both his hands as he noticed that his environment was different from that of the arena.

"You can drop those right there." Alexa's voice entered his ears loud and clear.

Jason whirled around to see that the female guardian was casually sitting on a throne made from wood and grass.

Her blue eyes seemed to be staring at his face, amusement clearly visible in them.

Jason found himself standing in the middle of a forest again, probably the Kamizel forest at that.

The mist was slowly vanishing as Jason stared directly into Alexa's eyes and threw the lightning bolt towards her.

As he had expected, the lightning bolt vanished before it could even reach her.

"Its futile to resist," Alexa smiled. "Your attacks can't reach me, meaning that you don't have any way to attacking me."

"Why do you want me as your vessel?" Jason asked aloud, hoping to provide the system with enough time to come up with a strategy. "Don't you have one already?"

"No, I don't have a vessel. This is my real body," Alexa replied before standing from her throne. "You are the best vessel any guardian could ask for. Your body is 99 percent compatible with all guardians."

"That still doesn't explain why you are chasing after me solely. Did my looks charm you too much?" Jason raised an eyebrow even though he knew that the chances of that happening were quite low.

That was unless Alexa was a shotacon. Though it didn't matter as he was simply trying to buy some time.

"You do look handsome but that isn't enough to charm me. The real reason I want you as my vessel is because you have a very compatible body with dark magic. I can unleash my true powers without any problems if I inherit your body."

'I guess that's the flag for us to run away. Any idea as for how we can run away?' Jason asked.

[ The best I could come up with includes you controlling your white lightning and dashing out of whatever this place is. ]

'That's not exactly a plan.' Jason sighed.

"What if I refuse to accept?" he asked Alexa in order to think of his escape himself.

"If you refuse to accept my offer. All of them die." Alexa raised her right hand and flicked her wrist over the entire area.

The remaining mist vanished in an instant as Jason got a clear look of where he was. However, he couldn't pay attention to his surroundings due to the scene on the ground.

Thousands of children were lying on the ground unconscious on the ground. One glance and Jason could tell that they were the children who had gathered in the arena.

Upon looking closely, Jason spotted Nora, Andrew, Zeke, and even Orion among those lying on the ground.

Amber was no where to be seen as Jason remembered that she had managed to regain her consciousness just like he had.

"How do I know that none of them are an illusion?" Jason slowly asked. "I know that you can change yourself to look like others. What if you converted some rocks into them?"

"Are you really ten?" Alexa asked back before sighing. "But I guess its my fault for doing that. I should have just used this plan from the starting."

Alexa suddenly started floating in the air as the blond woman made her way towards Jason. A child rose from the thousands lying on the ground as both of them appeared in front of Jason.

"Raise your arm." Alexa ordered and this time, Jason obliged as he raised his right hand forward.

Jason's eyes were set on the child Alexa had chosen as he looked at the little red-head boy with a grim expression.

The child was none other than Nora.

"You asked me whether they were illusions or not," Alexa grinned. "Now see for yourself."

She flicked her right hand in Nora's direction as a cut appeared on his lower arm. The cut ran from his wrist to his elbow as red blood dripped down from the wound.

'It's warm…' Jason thought as he the blood dripped down on his arm.

"Now you can either accept my offer or watch them die," Alexa stated as the wound on Nora's arm automatically closed. "I will start from him of course."

Jason was left stunned as he stared into Alexa's eyes. He had to make a choice before she changed her mind and decided to kill someone to make a demonstration.

The only problem was that no matter what he chose, he would lose in the end.