Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain

 Ryan couldn't help but freeze in shock due to that lightning-speed attack. It was so fast that he only felt the pain once his arm fell on the ground. Even in his draconic form, it looked like he didn't have any chances of protecting himself against Thanatos' attacks. Regardless, Femradiel acted fast enough before Ryan could lose too much blood, grabbing the arm using ice magic and then healing it after attaching it back to its original place.

 Before Ryan could even sigh in relief when the pain disappeared. Both of his arms began to fall once again. At that point in time, there was no denying it… Thanatos was much more powerful than they had predicted. If they didn't know any better, they would have said that his attack was instantaneous and he could damage anything that he could see. 

 Before Femradiel could heal Ryan's arms again. She felt shivers and then activated the Mana Barrier. Soon after, her barrier began to suffer damage, but then it stopped when she moved away a little bit and then was hidden behind Ryan's head.

"It looks like he can attack anything directly just by seeing the target," Femradiel said. "I guess it is a part of his god of death powers… he can kill anything just by thinking."

 Femradiel was strangely calm despite the fact that Thanatos' power was crazy stupid and almost didn't make any sense. All in all, Thanatos could damage all things in his field of vision, perhaps his field of vision wasn't the limit, and he could do that even by using Clairvoyance. That certainly was the most god-like ability Ryan had seen so far. Still, even Thanatos wasn't all-powerful. He couldn't damage Femradiel without seeing her, and skills like Mana Barrier could get in the way as well.

 Ryan activated Mana Barrier and then teleported to the right behind Thanatos before punching him. However, his mana suddenly decreased to a dangerous level even though Thanatos wasn't looking at him directly. Ryan couldn't even understand the reason for that, but if he had to guess, he would say that the closer he is to something, the faster Thanatos can kill it.

 Ryan used Teleport to move away from him and tried to keep his distance, and confirmed that Thanatos caused a lot less damage to his Mana Barrier. Even so, it looked like his power as a death god had a minimal amount of damage that he could cause.

"It seems your plan to recover your energy in a close fight won't work," Femradiel said. "We will have to use the usual strategy of relying on potions."

 After sighing, Ryan summoned his Magic Bows and activated Vital Hunter. However, when he tried to bombard Thanatos, his projectiles were destroyed. Everything in Thanatos' line of sight would be destroyed. Ryan summoned a Hydra's Bow and then pointed upward and then fired. However, after a few seconds, the massive arrow still fell right above Thanatos… but it was destroyed, and Thanatos didn't even have to look at it. There was no mistaking it. Thanatos' presence alone could cause damage to anything that approaches him. He just has to wish for it.

 Femradiel helped Ryan with mana and DEX potions. Still, even though his power increased, the projectiles didn't get closer than fifty meters from Thanatos. Ryan decided to approach Thanatos again, but this time he flew while using Ice Breath. His attack almost hid his entire body from the god of death. Still, Thanatos' power completely nullified the effects of Ice Breath. That tactic wasn't going to work…

"Mmm?" Thanatos frowned.

 Thanatos finally realized that Ryan used the blood that he lost on the first attacks to surprise Thanatos. However, when the small pool of blood was ten meters behind him, he suddenly turned around. Then the pool of blood was completely destroyed.

"Shit… it seems he has some skill that warns him of danger," Ryan clicked his tongue in annoyance.

 Still, at least that made Ryan notice something. Thanatos could only cause damage to things that he was aware of. If he doesn't know that an attack is coming, Thanatos can't destroy it. Ryan bombarded Thanatos with his Spiritualist's Crossbow. Amidst it, Ryan used the Mirage Crossbow and his power to fire invisible bolts. However, not even those hit Thanatos.

"Try to keep him busy for a while," Femradiel said via Telepathy. "I want to try something."

 It looked like it was time for Ryan to see Femradiel do something unexpected without knowing what it was. Usually, that was something he often does. Still, in the end, Ryan decided to give Femradiel the chance to do whatever he wants. He won't feel satisfied unless he kills Thanatos himself, but in the end, Ryan couldn't let his pride get in the way of his goal: free his parents' souls.

 Ryan began to fly around Thanatos' castle, hoping that it would decrease the damage on his mana pool, but that wasn't working. In the end, he decided to use fire against fire. Still, upon noticing that it could cause problems for Femradiel's plans, Ryan decided to hold it back for a while.

 Thanatos wasn't feeling like taking Femradiel and Ryan seriously, so he didn't move from his spot and only looked around to damage them. Suddenly, a massive ice spear coming from the sky fell on Thanatos. The speed and attack of that projectile couldn't be compared to the Ice Meteors. In the end, it completely blocked Thanatos' field of vision.

 In the the last moment, Ryan couldn't help but frown when he saw Thanatos stopping the projectile with his spear. He wasn't struggling, but it was the first time he used his weapon to do something in that fight.

"We will need big attacks like that if we want to cause any real damage," Femradiel said. "Unfortunately, an attack like that once a minute is the best I can do."

"Not a problem, we will manage," Ryan said. "Somehow…"

 The difficulty was increasing by the minute since, little by little, Ryan and Femradiel were discovering Thanatos' true power.