Guardian Of The End

[ Someone is listening to us from below the ground. ] Amber informed.

[ Someone is listening to us from above. ] Jason muttered.

Both of them exchanged a surprising look as they hadn't expected the other to reveal the location of someone else.

'I guess its kinda expected since her main element is magma.'

Jason stood up from his place and gestured for Amber to follow him. Flamey and Hestia vanished from their spots to who knows where.

Amber and Jason then left the room while keeping an eye on the person below the ground. The person slowly started following them from under the ground.

The one moving above them couldn't follow them, meaning that he or she probably belonged to one of the four families.

[ I think that the person following us from below is a spy. ] Amber said with a grim expression.

After what had happened in the glass box, Amber had been expecting someone to follow and spy on her.

It was safe to assume that the spy was in cahoots with someone who had watched the event inside the glass box.

[ Let me lead him to a place it where he would be trapped. Talk casually and don't act as though we are hurrying towards a location. ] Jason informed.

[ I know. ] Amber replied. Perhaps it was Jason's imagination but he was sure that he saw her pout slightly.

[ Ahem, you don't tell ten year olds what to do, especially when they already know it. ]

'Its good to remind someone just in case they make a mistake.' Jason countered.

While having idle talk, Jason and Amber led the guy to the room where Risa had been sitting.

Risa was about to leave the room soon since she had cleaned it. However, when Jason and Amber walked inside the room with alert expression, Risa understood something was wrong.

She didn't ask the two children anything and spread her mana all around the room. Her mana spread in a spherical manner and Risa instantly caught the person lurking below the ground.

Before he or she could make a move, Risa went ahead and paralyzed the person.

"Amber, can you ask your guardian to manipulate the ground a bit and pull this person up?" Risa inquired while holding the person in place.

"I can do that." Amber nodded and asked Flamey to help.

She could've taken the person out on her own but that would've been risky. She wasn't completely sure in her powers and would've to rely on Flamey.

Furthermore, there was a chance that the person could've something dangerous. It turned out that she had taken the right decision.

"Flamey said that he could pull the person up but its best if we all stand back. He says that there is an explosive scroll inside the mouth that he will detonate the moment we pull him up." Amber explained as the three of them retreated to a corner of the room.

'If the man dies, we will only have his body left for identification which would be meaningless considering his face would be blown up.' Jason thought silently.

The ground suddenly collapsed a few meters away from them. The head of a person was made visible and soon enough, the figure came out in front of them.

"Grandma!?" Amber suddenly exclaimed when she saw the face of the figure.

​ It was none other than her grandma, Ariana.

"Now that's unexpected. I was thinking some spy would be captured but it turned out to be an old hag." Risa clicked her tongue in disappointment.

Flamey gently set Ariana's body on the ground. Jason noticed the scroll Ariana was tightly clutching inside her mouth.

Risa frowned slightly when she saw that Ariana's pupils were covered with some sort of mist. Something clicked inside her brain, making her jump forward in hurry.

Risa placed her hand on top of Ariana's forehead and let her mana wash inside the latter. Risa had a bad feeling about the mists clouding Ariana's eyes.

Jason soon shared the same feeling when his eyes fell on the mists covering Ariana's pupils.

Due to the recent events that had happened with Hecate, Jason was fearful of mists. Seeing Ariana in that condition triggered that fear too.

'Hestia, didn't you say that Hecate can't enter this world for at least ten years?' Jason asked calmly. He took a few deep breaths while keeping his eyes fixed on Risa.

[ What I said was the truth. We don't know that those mists belong to Hecate. ] Hestia assured.

Jason then saw Risa removing the scroll from Ariana's mouth before glancing at Amber. Her eyes soon met with Jason's and both of them came to a silent agreement.

"Amber, let's go outside." Jason softly said and placed his hands of Amber's shoulders.

Her body was shuddering when Jason guided her out of the room and closed the door behind him.

The hallway was currently empty since most people had eaten what they wanted. They had set out to explore the capital one last time before they had to go back to their domains.

Jason kept his hands on Amber's shoulders while speaking, "You need to calm down or your grandmother will feel extremely guilty afterwards. I know you are feeling helpless but trust me, the best you can do is calm down."

Jason's voice was soft and calming which allowed Amber to get a hold of her mind. She forced herself to stop shaking before she looked into Jason's eyes.

"Thank you…" she murmured and took a deep breath.

Jason lifted his hands off her shoulders and nodded. He had went through something similar and knew how hard it was for Amber to watch her grandma in such a condition while knowing that she couldn't do anything about it.

[ You've made a breakthrough in controlling your emotions, host. ] The system praised, making Jason smile.

'It was necessary for me to do that. I am still super young and have all the time in the world.' Jason replied before taking a look at Amber.

He was concerned how she would handle something like this while being ten. It was clear that she had never seen anyone related to her in such a state.

"Don't worry, my grandma is the best healer in the entire kingdom. She will try her best to heal your grandmother." Jason reassured her.

"I see…" Amber's mood seemed to lift up a bit after hearing his words.

The funny thing was that Jason hadn't confirmed that Risa would be able to help Ariana. He had just twisted his words to reassure Amber.

[ It's kinda devious considering that she is ten. ]

'Bah, I just did it so that she doesn't feel bad and calms down.' Jason shrugged.

The two of them continued to wait for the next ten minutes before the door opened from the inside. Risa walked out of the room and looked at Amber with a grim expression.

"Good or bad news. What do you want first?" she asked.

Amber swallowed hard before replying, "the bad news."

"Your grandmother isn't waking up," Risa replied. "The good news is that she is completely safe yet the reason for her not waking up or responding is unknown."

Amber's shoulder sagged as she took a deep breath.

Jason had already predicted what would happen next when he saw Amber dashing away. He asked the system to keep an eye on her before looking at Risa.

"So do you think its her?" Jason asked slowly.

Risa's expression somehow turned even grimmer before she replied.

"I don't know for sure but their was a strange aura surrounding her body. I'm fifty percent sure that it belonged to Alexa…"