Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain

"You are better at controlling mana than I expected," Femradiel said, visibly impressed. "Hydromancy and the draconic form certainly are helping you, but even so, to be able to control such a large-scale magic attack on the first try…"

          Ryan ignored Femradiel's remarks since he was having a hard time making the mist decrease in size fast enough. He was also trying to freeze the specters before they could find him, but the little bastards were resisting more than he had expected, that or Ryan really couldn't do two things at the same time.

          Although Ryan failed at making the mist colder, the attack became colder the more the mist got thick. Little by little, the specters began to freeze and dir, but it looked like things wouldn't proceed in Ryan's favor for long."

"I am going to give you a hand. I am sensing some weird presences leaving the dungeon," Femradiel said."

            Ryan couldn't even complain or say no since his whole spell could be easily undone if the sphere gets attacked from outside. Femradiel did the same as Ryan and duplicated the effectiveness of the cold mist. In fact, it got several times colder since Femradiel was much better than Ryan at using magic.

          Just as Ryan had expected, the ice sphere began to break in several parts, but it took a while for the spell to be undone, and when that happened, all the specters had been killed, and Ryan was back to his domain.

            A few dozen humans were flying in the sky when the mist dissipated. All in all, those people had more or less the same level of strength, and the guy Ryan had appraised before… in any case, Ryan made his golems return since those guys didn't start with an attack.

"My name is William," a random man suddenly moved a bit forward and then said. "You are a human, aren't you?"

"What about it?" Ryan asked while frowning.

"As I suspected and that voice… you are the one who always would come and leave the secret base as you please," William said and he seemed quite hesitating. "Did you come to kill the deserters?"

"Nope, I came to clear the dungeon that is about to break," Ryan replied. "So, you guys consider yourselves deserters, your life must be pretty bad, huh."

"If that is the case, I am certain we can reach an agreement," William said. "You want to clear the dungeon to obtain more power and can provide that."

"Really?" Ryan slightly frowned. "Well, I am listening."

"You understood that humans are doomed, that is why you travelled in search of power and even found a dragon to make a contract," William said. "You are smart and have the willpower to withstand this… if you show your guts, not only you will gain power easily, but you will also obtain immortality. All you have to do is drink a tiny drop of our master's blood, the god of death, Thanatos."

            Ryan frowned when he heard that… drink the blood of a god… that was probably why everyone there looked weird with that tone of hair and eye color. Regardless, to think that the dungeon master this time would be such a foe… while he had a late start, Thanatos and his minions obviously had the upper hand against most monsters.

"What did he demand from you guys?" Ryan crossed his arms and then asked.

"Not much, just loyalty and the hard work to make others join us," William replied. "While some people will refuse us, eventually they will understand that there are no demerits in serving our god Thanatos. Only someone who has full control over death can grant humanity the chance to survive when our planet is in this chaotic situation."

"Didn't he mention anything in particular?" Ryan insisted.

"... Yes, but only those who pledge loyalty to him have the right to hear his plans," William replied after a few seconds of hesitation, upon noticing that Ryan didn't seem too eager to accept that offer.

"I will give you guys one chance to walk away and never step on Earth again," Ryan said. "If you don't do that, well… the so-called god of death will be the least of your worries."

          William looked at his friends for a few seconds, and they looked back at him without saying a single word. Ryan didn't have to be a genius or be able to read minds to understand that those people wouldn't listen to his offer.

"Let's go, Femradiel," Ryan said.

"Are you sure about that?" Femradiel asked.historical

"Yes, I can't save everyone, but I can at the very least, defeat those who might doom our species from inside," Ryan replied.

                Suddenly, lightning bolts fell from the sky and hit the place where the targets had been. However, all of them used Intangibility and escaped unscathed. Soon after, those thirty or so reapers began to fly around the barrier and drain its mana by using Mana Steal.

"Femradiel, try to raise that cold mist again," Ryan said. "I will buy you some time."

"I don't think the same strategy will work twice against humans," Femradiel said.

"They are no longer humans," Ryan said. "Besides, the same strategy could still be effective by showing different results."

                Femradiel could more or less understand what Ryan meant by that, so she focused on making her mana slowly gather around the barrier at the ground level. The mist appeared and began to become thicker out of the reapers sight since they focused on attacking the barrier.

"I will make you the temporary domain master, I can't let them keep decreasing the mana from the barrier," Ryan said. "Use what you can to offer some support."

"I am a dragon; I am not suited in the least to offer support…" Femradiel said and then sighed. "So, don't expect much from this."

              After saying that, Ryan teleported to the outside of the barrier, and all the reapers finally focused their eyes on him.