Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain

            Ryan compared those words to what Chronus said earlier: "You might change the future a little bit with the knowledge and the power you just obtained, but in the end, you will only prevent your deaths for a few minutes. You can say that the future isn't set in stone, but big events are a culmination of uncountable small events. Once those take place, it is impossible to prevent the result."

            It made sense. Those primordial creatures had the power to make many things happen. Maybe sooner or later, mana truly would return to Earth, and humans would have to face those problems without the help of the features created by Merlin. Without his rank and classes system, humans would never obtain the power to fight back so fast, nor would they be able to create domains that could protect thousands of survivors.

"It seems you have to realize that certain things are just bound to happen," Merlin said. "However, not all things are absolute. You managed to wound Chronus, didn't you? That means that in his physical form, not even time is absolute against you."

"… There are a few things I don't understand," Ryan said. "You said that you are a mage, so why you don't have the knowledge of all classes. You should have considering that you lived for thousands of years."

"But I have. However, some laws in my universe doesn't apply here and the inverse is also true," Merlin explained. "That is why Lucifer's power is incomplete and he can't move between universes. The creature he stole the power from, could do that, after all. Ah, come to think of it, by defeating that monster, I saved your universe, since this was pretty close to mine. Where are my thanks?"

            Merlin was so annoying… despite the situation, he was so unnerving relaxed… still, Ryan more or less could understand where he comes from. He endured many things and survived the end of his universe, or prevented it, it was hard to say. So, those significant incidents seemed like a normal occurrence to him.

            Ryan finished healing himself and then looked around to see what he could do. If he could use the souls around, he probably would be able to gather a lot of mana, enough to go bain in time. However, he wasn't the one who killed the elder gods or the others. So he had to find another way.

"If you Teleport to the world where Loki created those herbs, you will solve your problem of mana, but you need to hurry up," Merlin said.

"I don't need your help," Ryan said.

"Dear me… you are almost as prideful as I am," Merlin said. "Whatever you try to do, you will only have a couple of seconds once I dispel this domain."

            Ryan looked around and made sure to engrave that scene in his eyes. He failed in defeating Chronus, and he obviously was someone who, due to his goals, would be a lot less troublesome than Ymir and Lucifer. 

            Diamond Crossbow would work better if Ryan hit something valuable or full of energy. Aside from the flames that covered Earth now, nothing fit the criteria. However, there was something else Ryan could use to obtain mana: the sun.

            Ryan teleported to the massive sphere of fire nearby and felt his body melting even though he was thousands of kilometers away from it. Still, thanks to Solar Absorbtion, Ryan prevented his death.

Congratulations! The skill Solar Absorbtion has leveled up.

Congratulations! The skill Solar Absorbtion has leveled up.

Congratulations! The skill Solar Absorbtion has leveled up.

…

            Ryan bombarded the sun with two hundred copies of the Diamond Crossbow, and Ryan saw his mana being filled at an astonishing speed. In the end, it was better to have a normal weapon like that that could be replicated than a cursed one that could talk and couldn't be replicated.

            It didn't take long for Chronus to notice what Ryan was doing, but in the end, before he could approach, Ryan used Reset. For the first time, Ryan made the spell work and made the time go back for several minutes, and thanks to that, he finally noticed the nature of the spell. It didn't make time go backward… it was hard to explain, but it only influenced some targets that Ryan had previously had been in contact with. Since Ryan had been on Earth, all the events caused by Chronus had been undone. However, he could Chronus also following him while the skill was working. It seemed that those who had the same level of control over Reset also experienced the event. It made sense since Ryan didn't lose his memories when Chronus used the spell before. However, it became evident that Chronus had other hidden cards.

            After a couple of seconds, Ryan saw himself standing in that moment when Femradiel was holding her belly. It seemed like she was about to finish her sentence, but she didn't because she was already knew what was about to happen. The same could be said about the others, be they humans or elder gods. They knew the next events. Even though they didn't have the power to use Reset, their future memories returned with them.

"You are almost there, Ryan," Chronus said. "However, you didn't buy as much time as you think. I didn't mention before, but those two also can use Reset."

            Earth was back to normal, but it seemed that soon enough, it would face its imminent doom. Unlike Chronus, Ymir and Lucifer won't hold back now that they know that Ryan could do that much. It was too dangerous to let another force emerge right now…

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" Ryan asked after he hugged Femradiel gently.

"I wasn't sure, but I got this feeling just now…" Femradiel said after she returned the hug.

"I suppose it can't be helped… I am sorry for failing you," Ryan said.. "Let's fight together, and make sure that such a thing won't happen again."