Guardian Of The End

"The promise I broke?" Jason asked in a confused tone. Sancus sighed once before snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, the floor beneath Jason's feet slipped away as he appeared on a snow-covered road.

He immediately recognized the area as it was a short walk away from the orphanage he grew up in.

Two children around ten sat in the snow with their backs leaning against a tree trunk.

"Jason, do you think our parents will ever come back for us?" Asked a girl with bright red hair and black eyes.

Looking at her best friend beside her with an innocent expression, she waited for him to answer. The friend was none other than Jason, just ten years younger.

"I don't think so but I promise you, we will get out of poverty one day and achieve what we want." He replied seriously while the girl nodded.

The scene faded in front of them as Jason and Sancus appeared at the bar once again.

"I never managed to fulfill it." Jason then turned to look at Sancus's face. The god of oaths and promises didn't look angry as he smiled sadly.

"Humans make and break promises as often as they breathe. They say things like "I will do it later" or "I will write it later" and then forget about it. I don't care about such things. However, you broke a serious promise."

Jason was about to protest, but looking into Sancus's gaze, he realized that the god felt pity for him.

"The real reason I came here to meet you was to give you this," A purple ball pen appeared in Sancus's left hand. "Make sure you uphold the promises you make. However, do pay those back who try to take advantage of your kindness."

Sancus then raised the ball pen in Jason's direction.

No sooner did Jason take the pen did Sancus vanish from his spot, leaving him alone in the middle of the crowd once again.

Jason stared at the pen curiously. Though he couldn't sense any otherworldly or godly powers coming out of it, he could deduce that it was something special.

He pocketed the pen and continued on his journey to find a patron.

***

"Why did you give him that?"

Outside the crowded room, Sancus sat in front of the white-haired bartender.

The God of Oaths didn't answer the bartender's question. He instead summoned a golden pen in his hands and started rotating it.

"Why do you keep handing out your divine artifacts like lollipops?" The bartender asked once again while summoning some purple wine for Sancus.

The latter happily took it and started drinking.

"Every summoning, I hand out two such pens. This time, I handed three pens. Know why?" A red flush spread through Sancus's cheek as he set the empty glass down on the counter.

Even though gods never got drunk, they pretended to feel that way. For what reason? They have their reasons.

"I can't read the minds of Gods, dumbass." The bartender waved his hand as the glass-filled itself once again." However, I know you. All broken promises remind you of the one you broke?"

"Yes and till this day, I regret it. That's why I hand out my divinity to those who were forced to break the promises they made to their loved ones or to themselves to prevent history from repeating itself." Sancus emptied the glass again. "Your wine is too addictive Ere."

"It's Erebus!!" The bartender sighed as he looked at the room again and wondered if Jason was having any luck finding patron gods. "Since you handed out a third pen, will it have the same power as the two before it?"

"Only the boy will know." Sancus smiled before he started drinking the wine again.

***

'I am dead in a good way…' Jason was currently in the embrace of five beautiful women who each had a black tail coming out from behind them.

In search of a patron, Jason had somehow been surrounded by five tailed beauties. If he remembered correctly, they were known as a succubus.

So if they had gathered around him for that reason, he was most likely about to be sucked dry in a pleasurable yet unhealthy way.

From their silky pink hair to their heart-shaped pink eyes, the women oozed an aura of seduction. Their tails flickered behind their bodies in a fashion that showed that they were excited.

"Sadly, we can't play with you or our lady will kill us."

"It's a shame that we can't have a handsome youngling like you as our plaything."

"But then, you had someone you loved."

"We will still be free to have fun with you if you die once again."

Four of them spoke one after the other before falling quiet. The fifth one in the group suddenly grabbed Jason's right hand before placing her own hand over it.

Jason felt something being dropped in his palm as the five succubi smiled and waved at him. Then together, they left him alone and vanished away.

Jason on the other hand opened his fist to see a golden ring with a carved swan drawn on it. For some reason, he felt that it also was an important thing.

'I wonder why these gods just keep giving me things without explaining anything...' Jason put the ring beside the pen before he decided to be more careful while exploring.

This time, none of the gods approached him to sign a contract that surprised him.

The ones who seemed eager a few minutes ago were now avoiding him.

'My bad luck follows me here too...'

Despite, what he thought, he had a theory about why it was happening but decided to ignore it for the time being.

After a few minutes of roaming around, Jason's eyes caught a god that he was genuinely interested to meet.

'That is definitely Sun Wukong!' He felt his heart beating faster as though he was about to meet his favorite hero.

His eyes were glued on a handsome man, with a golden headband on his head, calmly sitting in one corner of the room.

Other than that, the man didn't resemble any of his persona shown on Earth.

Many humans like Jason would come and try to approach him. However, they would be repelled by an invisible barrier the moment they crossed a certain radius.

Despite seeing this Jason tried to go ahead and see whether he could cross the barrier.

Despite seeing this Jason tried to go ahead and see whether he could cross the barrier. Unfortunately, he couldn't and was also stopped by the invisible barrier. He had no choice except dejectedly leaving the place.

Sun Wukong on the other hand gave him a look of interest before he busied himself with his drink. To the monkey king, someone with two divinities wasn't that big of a deal.

***

"You know, you can ask Gods to get a contract too," Erebus suggested while summoning a cola for Jason.

After roaming around the other room for at least an hour, the boy returned to the door and entered the previous room.

Erebus was surprised when he saw Jason return back. He had only seen such a thing happening thrice in his entire life.

But after hearing the boy's story, he realized why it had happened.

Jason on the other hand had managed to learn a few things during his exploration. There were three types of gods: New Age Gods, Ascension Age Gods, and the Primordial Gods.

The Primordial Gods didn't take any more followers and never appeared in the room. They were the oldest of gods and rarely left their abodes.

That was all he could learn with no knowledge of the two other types of gods.

Furthermore, he learned that the room where the bartender had been sitting was the entrance to the living place of the gods.

The room beyond it was the Room Of Reincarnation where the Gods could contract followers from those who were about to reincarnate. Beyond it was what humans called Heaven.

It was where all three kinds of Gods lived and only a few of the humans being chosen for reincarnation could enter the place. There, they could talk to the gods more freely and choose one they liked.

Sadly, Jason was not one such person.

"Why didn't you go to the divine temple?"

"The temple?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"The place beyond that room is not called Heaven. Its true name is the divine temple as it's the place where the first God was born so it is a first worshiping spot. At the center of the place is the palace of the Heavenly Emperor, who is the ruler of all Gods. You might as well try your luck there."

"I tried asking a few Gods you know and they didn't want to sign a contract with me. Also, I can't cross over." Jason and Erebus both sighed at the same time.

The teenager then took out the two gifts he had received and held them in his palm. Erebus suddenly looked surprised when he saw the two divinities lying In Jason's hand.

"Now I know why none of them are approaching." Erebus sighed as he stared at the two divinities of bigger gods.

He could understand about Sancus but he had no idea why 'that woman' had given Jason her divinity. Even more surprising was that the divinity looked much more different than her normal one.

Sadly, Erebus couldn't ask the woman about it.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked in a confused tone. He had more or less guessed that both of them were artifacts or similar to them.

"Very few gods dare to approach someone who has the divinities of two bigtime gods. You're out of luck kid."