Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain

                                                      Who prevented Ryan from falling was Alissa. She grabbed him by the shoulders and then used a healing spell. Ryan was completely dizzy thanks to the attack, so she used Purification as well, and that happened.

"It seems he is kind of familiar to Thanatos, even his combat style," Femradiel said.

"Oh, yeah," Alissa said. "You guys defeated his brother, so, what do you mean by that? Maybe we can find a way to counter his attacks by recalling this fight of yours."

"Thanatos can control death itself, so he can cause damage just by thinking," Femradiel said. "As long as he can see you, he can damage you just by thinking and you can't do anything about it."

"That seems like a real pain, so how did you manage to defeat him?" Alissa asked.

"Well, Ryan got mad and became a cursed dragon for a while when he saw Thanatos breaking my neck," Femradiel said. "He got so wounded during those moments that when Ryan woke up, he was basically dead."

                                                      Ryan was about to contest that, but then he felt an attack on his neck. It almost looked like Hypnos wanted to hear more about it… Regardless, Ryan didn't have to think because a hit in the neck was even more agonizing than a kick on the balls.

Congratulations! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up.

Congratulations! The skill Pain Immunity has leveled up.

…

                                                      At least the notifications confirmed that he was actually being damaged and wasn't just hallucinating about it. Hypnos didn't seem like a proper fighter, so he definitely was using a spell similar to Thanatos. Ryan suddenly had an idea. He decided to use Vengeful Explosion and reflect the damage that should stop Hypnos for a while and then give them his current position. However, Hypnos noticed that Ryan was planning something, so he focused on attacking Alissa. When she tried to do the same strategy, Hypnos just didn't attack, and that worked pretty well since neither of them could keep Vengeful Explosion active for long. Soon after, Ryan returned to be Hypnos punching back. Since Ryan didn't have any other strategy, he decided to annoy the heck out of his enemy.

"Although apparently, you two have similar powers, you are completely different," Ryan said. "Let me guess, you were always the scared little brother, right?"

"You like to use your tongue, don't you?" Hypnos suddenly said. "Perhaps, you don't need it anymore."

                                                      As expected, Ryan found a touchy subject. Still, for an elder god, Hypnos sure was naïve to fall for that. Regardless, couldn't tell the direction the voice came from, and before he could try anything again, he felt three consecutive impacts on his chin. Once again, his vision began to spin, but since he was prepared for the attack, Ryan endured it.

"You will have to try harder to keep my mouth shut," Ryan said while he massaged his mouth.

"To someone like, to stop someone like you from breathing is a simple matter," Hypnos said. "So, don't flatter yourself with useless bravado."

"You think so?" Ryan asked as he looked around. "Do you think that you can judge what is useless bravado and what isn't? I mean, you are completely hidden in this darkness. I mean no offense, but this sure looks like a plan of a coward."

"As expected, you have better eyes than most," Hypnos said. "Perhaps instead of your tongue, you don't need your eyes."

                                                      Ryan couldn't help but feel shivers. That wasn't an empty threat. However, he couldn't just react to Hypnos's words like that, so he didn't try to protect his eyes. Fortunately, Hypnos didn't go for them either for some reason.

                                                      Ryan activated Draconic Eyes, but he only saw a massive layer of mana covering everything. As expected, finding traces of Hypnos would be useless in that dream world. Finding Hypnos by looking for his voice was useless as well. Since he could attack like that, he probably could make his voice come from any direction. He also could use Telepathy…

"Hey, Alissa, didn't we have experience in a situation like this?" Ryan asked. "Remember, when we were facing the skeletons, why can't you use your skills like that again?"

"Are you comparing the skills of a bunch of minions with the skills of an elder god?" Alissa asked. "Are you stupid or what?"

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter, if all he is good at is hiding and punching like a little girl, we won't lose," Ryan said.

                                                      Soon after, Ryan was bombarded with a rain of those weird attacks. His groin, stomach, ribs, and neck… every possible place he could be hit and receive massive damage, was hit. But amidst the pain, Ryan managed to use Vengeful Explosion, and he felt a lot of the damage being reflected toward the ceiling. The ceiling broke, but then it didn't hit anything. It just revealed a hole that would lead them to another part of the cave.

"I guess we are making some progress," Ryan said while he was using Full-Heal.

"That is very manly of you Ryan, but you can stop now," Femradiel said. "You are not anywhere good at receiving damage, so you are only killing yourself."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence," Ryan said.

                                                      Once they realized that the cave they were in had many layers, Ryan, Femradiel, and Alissa began to destroy all the ceilings they found on their path. Despite doing that for quite a while, they never found the way out of that hellhole. Naturally, Hypnos didn't leave them alone, even for a single moment. He kept attacking Ryan as if that was the greatest sport in the world.

"I know that I pissed him, but… this is starting to get annoying," Ryan thought.

                                                      The damage he was receiving wasn't critical, but thanks to that, Ryan's body was starting to get exhausted. Just suffering damage and not being able to cause any sure was a bitch since it exhausts him mentally.