Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain
Chapter 223 - Cerberus

                        Ryan opened his eyes widely when a single word popped inside his head: Cerberus. The watchdog of the underworld… Ryan recalled Tristan's words… Cerberus was the offspring of Echidna, and Echidna had marked him… Ryan was getting popular, but he didn't feel happy about it.

                        Without wasting time, Ryan used Water Manipulation and Water Transformation to create a platform beneath his feet, and then he began to levitate. He had to stay away from that creature, and fortunately, Cerberus didn't have wings… However, when the monster was one hundred meters away from him, the creature leaped toward Ryan, who was fifty meters above the ground. 

Ryan used Wind Manipulation to block the monster's attack while he moved to the side, but the creature barely slowed down. For the first time, Ryan jumped from his platform and soon after used Extra Jump. Somehow, he dodged the attack, but he managed to see the creature up close, and that didn't help him.

                        Cerberus was five meters long, and his fur was completely dark while it also emanated a purple-like miasma. The creature had some sharp-looking claws that made Ryan felt shivers, but what scared the crap out of him were those red-blood-like eyes… not even dragons managed to scare him so much in the past. The creature looked at him as if he couldn't even be considered a worthy foe.

                        Before Ryan could fall, he used Wind Manipulation, recovered his shield, and began to fly again while standing over it. More mana was being used thanks to that, but it was better than getting close to the ground where Cerberus had the total advantage.

                        Ryan used Appraisal to confirm what were his chances against that beast. Unfortunately, he didn't obtain a single piece of information since the skill failed. That hadn't been the first time, but for the first time, Ryan felt pretty annoyed.

"Fuck… why those tough bastards always manage to counter Appraisal?"

                        When Cerberus landed, Ryan was fifty meters above the ground again, but he didn't stop. He increased the distance over them while also heading North. However, Cerberus fired some massive Magma Spheres toward Ryan, and his speed decreased in order to dodge the attacks. Although the monster didn't have a good aim, its attacks still damaged Ryan quite a bit due to the heat.

"Not good…" Ryan bit his lips. "This creature has the same power as dragons, but it is much scarier and more troublesome."

                        For a single moment, the head that was firing the Magma Spheres stopped. That was on the left side, the head on the right side moved, but Ryan didn't see anything happening. However, his instincts still warned him of the danger. Ryan used Flash and moved. When he turned around, he saw a massive block of ice falling from the sky and passing through the place he had been half a second ago.

"Fire plus earth magic equals magma, and now this freak can even use ice magic to create instantly something that massive… I can't win fighting fair and square…"

                        Ryan recognized that fact a bit too fast, but thanks to it, he managed to take away the beast's momentum. When he looked at Cerberus again, Ryan used Power of Money as fast as he could on the middle's head. He aimed at the beast's eyes, but as if the creature could see the invisible attacks, it always moved its head to prevent being blinded by them.

                        Little by little, the head of the middle was getting dirty with blood. Although Ryan didn't destroy the monster's eyes, at least the blood would make things a bit difficult for it. However, much to Ryan's shock, at some moment, the monster stopped dodging the attacks, and he finally destroyed one of its eyes. However, the left head fired several Magma Spheres. Ryan managed to dodge them, but for a single moment, he lost sight of the right head… he knew that the monster had planned that. Ryan looked upward and saw several massive blocks of ice falling over him. Ryan froze…

                        In the end, Ryan recovered and used Flash to escape the attacks. However, by doing so, he used all his mana. While he was falling, Ryan managed to grab and use some mana potions on his backpack, but he was fully aware that he couldn't win… he was just stalling for time.

"Shit… who could have thought that I would be this pathetic when I can't deal the first blow. Maybe I relied too much on that tactic to finish off tougher opponents, and now I had too little experience to replace a way out of this mess."

                        After thinking as fast as he could, Ryan found a way to seal those annoying spells of the beast… he just had to fly on the ground and close enough to the monster. At the very least, Cerberus won't be able to create those massive blocks of ice since the monster also would get wounded by it. 

                        As for the Magma Spheres, Ryan was confident that those wouldn't kill him. Why? Because Cerberus never fired several of them to hit the same spot on him. That wouldn't make sense since the blocks of ice could smash him to pieces, but Ryan had a feeling that Cerberus had come to capture him. Waiting for him to get away from any dungeon, in a place where no one will be able to help him… the monster considered those factors, so it looked obvious that what was its goal.

"I am using too much mana while flying… I will have to rely on stamina to dodge Cerberus attacks and use mana to attack. It is the only way."

                        Ryan jumped and then spread around his magic weapons. The same way that fucking beast could try to surprise him, Ryan could do the same and attack by several angles. When Cerberus attacked again, Ryan used Flash and grabbed his Paralyzing Spear. He was determined to pierce that up the monster's eyes… or at least die trying.