Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain

"Ouch… that hurt," Ryan said while he was massaging his face. "That also scared the crap out of me, but...what exactly happened?

In the end, Frost Armor saved Ryan's face. It was weird that a sloth demon could appear inside the Mana Barrier. Still, considering that he was inside Belphegor's domain, it wasn't that unexpected. He could move his monsters inside it as he saw it. The only real troublesome thing about it was the fact why he didn't do it sooner and only did it once.

"It was a warning," Femradiel said. "Stay away… that is what Belphegor is trying to say."

"Whatever… it seems we are finally getting close."

Ryan resumed his flight, and then several other demons suddenly appeared and exploded near his face. Ryan was expecting that, so he punched all of them, but they exploded on his hand anyway. The power behind those explosions couldn't even be compared to the ones caused by Ryan's magma Golems.

"Mmm… Let's check that," Ryan said.

The next moment the demons appeared in front of him. Ryan used Niffelheim and froze them. Before they could die, he used Seal and created a new crossbow.

Tiredness Crossbow (+05)

Effect: at the cost of 200 points of mana, this weapon can fire special bolts that put the target under the tired status. Their speed, attack, and defense will decrease by five percent per thirty seconds.

Dexterity + 550, Intelligence + 250.

Durability: 350/350

"Tired status effect? This one is new…." Ryan frowned.

It was even weirder, considering that Ryan didn't feel tired or anything when the demons caused damage. Maybe it was because his willpower increased exponentially in his Draconic form. It wouldn't be weird if Ryan could crush that type of monster with a single hand and with no arrows. So, it would make sense that such effects were useless to him.

The more Ryan flew, the more the attacks increased. To the point where he began to stop to heal himself… that was troublesome since Ryan couldn't even use Teleport to move in that mist. Still, eventually, Ryan and Femradiel found their target. Right in the middle of that massive forest and hidden in the mist, they found a lake. The mist wasn't that thick, so they could find their enemy floating at the center of the lake, right above what seemed to be a massive leaf of the largest tree Ryan had ever seen.

Belphegor

Health: ???/???

Mana: ???/???

Stamina: ???/???

Strength: ???

Dexterity: ???

Speed: ???

Intelligence: ???

Endurance: ???

Control: ???

Mentality: ???

Luck: ???

Recovery: ???

Willpower: ???

Coins: --

Status: --

Skill List

Offensive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???...

Passive Physical Skills: ???, ???, ???...

Spells: ???, ???, ???...

Support Skills: ???, ???, ???...

Belphegor was a weird demon; he didn't look ominous like most of the demons Ryan had seen until now. He was humanoid, but his body was covered in gray fur from head to toe. He was also naked, so that made Ryan wish to unseen the scene of a Male creature that was three times his size in all aspects naked. The creature's most demon-like features were the two horns on the sides of the head and the absolute dark eyes, the same pattern that Ryan found on Lilith and Baal that probably showed the level of corruption of demons.

Belphegor seemed pretty relaxed there. He didn't even take a look at Ryan and Femradiel. Regardless, despite the situation, they knew that the enemy this time would be difficult.

"Why did you come?" Belphegor asked. "Can't you when someone doesn't want to be bothered?"

Instead of being angry, Belphegor looked weirdly tired. His voice had no energy, and even though Ryan and Femradiel came to fight, he didn't look that interested in defending his domain.

"First, you invade my world, I forgave that, but then you tried to destroy my fence," Belphegor said. "I forgave that too, but then you felt the right to enter my home… Humans sure are despicable. No wonder he wants to exterminate all of you."

"Who would be he?" Ryan asked.

"Lucifer, who else?" Belphegor frowned. "Anyway, he gave me the task of protecting this domain, so unless you want to be tormented by him, you should leave now."

"Why don't you inform him that we are here?" Ryan asked.

"That is too troublesome," Belphegor shook his head. "I like this place, so I don't want to turn it into a battlefield. Go away now, I have better things to do."

That certainly didn't look like the case. In any case, Ryan couldn't help but feel a bit troubled since he was facing an enemy that wasn't that interested in fighting. Regardless, the very moment when Ryan used Wolf's Greed to steal Belphegor's dexterity, he looked at him, annoyed. Then the blue crystal that was the core of his domain appeared close to him. Belphegor touched the crystal, and in the next moment, dozens of sloth demons appeared around Ryan. They glued on his body like cicadas and then exploded.

When the curtain smoke disappeared, Ryan appeared semi-unscathed. Frost Armor saved him again. With lightning-like speed, Ryan summoned several Magic Bows and then bombarded Belphegor. Still, before the bolts could hit him, the sloth demons appeared out of nowhere to serve as meat shields.

"For a lazy demon, he sure is fast in using that crystal…" Ryan said.

It was a smart tactic to save mana, but the problem was why Belphegor was saving mana when he never used it. While that might be dangerous, Ryan wanted to see Belphegor's skills as soon as possible. That way, he will be able to devise a plan to take him down.

Ryan began to teleport around to escape the damage caused by the explosions, and Ryan succeeded in evading most of the damage by moving randomly. Despite that, his bolts were yet to land on Belphegor. Ryan clenched his teeth in annoyance since his bolts could easily pierce the demons, but the explosion caused by those repelled the attacks. In the end, it seemed that Ryan will have to take matters into his own hands, literally.