Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain
Chapter 729 - Speed Manipulation

While the fight against Belphegor wasn't as dangerous as Thanatos', at least in some way, it was even more nerve-wracking since Belphegor basically never attacked first. In a sense, it only showed how big was the difference in power… or how much lazy Belphegor was.

"I want to try something, so focus on getting his attention," Femradiel said.

 Ryan nodded, even though he didn't want to let Belphegor's hands touch him due to his unknown powers. At that point in time, they needed to do anything and obtain more intel regarding his skills.

 After approaching the demon by flying, Ryan began to feel the effects of his powers when he was inside the mist. In the end, Belphegor couldn't make use of his powers without a certain range and without his eyes. Still, Ryan couldn't help but sweat cold as his speed dropped and his mind began to work slowly. However, Ryan knew that would happen, so before Belphegor could attack him in any way, Ryan used Ice Breath.

 Much to Ryan's surprise, even a non-concentrated magic attack like that suffered under the effect of Belphegor's power. Ice Breath became an ice pillar since it didn't approach his body. Suddenly, a massive Ice Spear fell on Belphegor. Femradiel acted faster than expected… Still, the attack only scratched the top of his head before losing all momentum.

"Despite being a lazy demon, he has good reflexes," Femradiel said after Ryan moved away from the creature.

 Instead of attacking, Belphegor checked the wound on his head after he threw away the Ice Spear. In the end, he only sighed, but then the look in his eyes changed. Before Ryan and Femradiel could do anything, they suddenly saw themselves surrounded by two hundred demons. They exploded even faster than Femradiel could react.

 The chain explosion made for the first time the mist tremble. It was made of mana, so it was natural that such massive amounts of mana would cause that. When the smoke in the area decreased, Belphegor saw Ryan standing and mostly intact. Still, the look in his eyes changed, and his body was emitting miasma.

"Hey, Ryan," Femradiel said. "Calm down… don't get worked up yet."

"I am not… I am trying to calm down, but… something inside me," Ryan muttered as he watched his vision slowly darkening.

 Weirdly enough, even Femradiel was unscathed. Even though she had better reflexes than Ryan, she almost missed when the miasma appeared and worked like a shield that protected Ryan's whole body. Ryan's anger controlled that and protected him and even Femradiel. Still, she couldn't help but feel worried since all that anger apparently had a will on its own.

 As if that wasn't troublesome enough, neither Ryan nor Femradiel could understand how Belphegor summoned and allocated so many demons around him. Forcing all of them to explode like that soon after shouldn't be something that can be done instantly either. 

 Fortunately, Belphegor didn't do anything while Ryan was trying to control his fury. In fact, he seemed more interested than usual while seeing Ryan struggling against the corruption.

"What a messed-up human…" Belphegor said. "To think that his anger could become this powerful… humans truly have fallen low."

 Before Ryan our Femradiel could see what had happened, both of them suddenly were spinning in the air. Ryan suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from his stomach, and then he spat blood. After rolling on the ground and moving away, who knows how many kilometers of the lake, Ryan finally stopped, but his body was aching all over. A single impact on his stomach caused damage to his entire body, and he had no idea what hit him.

"Shit… what was that?" Ryan asked.

"… I don't know, I didn't see anything," Femradiel said.

 If even Femradiel's eyes didn't see what happened, then it truly was a crazy attack. Fortunately, Belphegor only used it once, and he was lazy enough not to approach Ryan and finish the job.

"I didn't feel the mana in the surroundings changing in nature, so it probably wasn't an elemental attack," Femradiel said. "Most likely, it was a physical attack…"

 Belphegor didn't look like someone who was good at fighting with his body. It would be weird if that weren't the case. How can a lazy demon be good at moving his body? Regardless, Ryan had to see that attack in order to come up with a way to counter it. However, the very moment Ryan approached the lake, he was hit by something. Once again, he went flying and then rolled on the ground for many kilometers.

"Fuck… fuck!" Ryan said.

 The miasma, who had calmed down a little bit, returned with full force. Fighting up close was no good. Using his best long-ranged attacks wasn't better either. It was not surprising that Ryan would get impatient. However, Femradiel stopped him from losing his head by hitting it with a massive ice hammer.

"Ouch… what was that for?" Ryan asked.

"Calm down, dumbass," Femradiel said. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Easier said than done," Ryan said.

"I have an idea," Femradiel said. "Give me Chronos' Ring."

"It didn't work against Thanatos, why do you think it will work here?" Ryan asked.

"Just shut up and give it to me already!" Femradiel said.

"Why are you getting so bossy as of late?" Ryan frowned.

 Ryan didn't have the confidence that he could use the ring before he gets attacked, but perhaps Femradiel could. Still, it was hard to imagine changing anything. However, when they approached the lake, Ryan saw Belphegor disappearing, and then in the next moment, he was fifty meters away from him, looking a bit confused. After blinking a few times, Ryan confirmed it… Femradiel had used Chronos' Ring.

"This power… how do you have it?" Belphegor asked.

"I knew it, he just punched you Ryan," Femradiel said. "His demonic powers give him full control over the movement speed and reaction speed of those around him. He used his powers to slow us down our reaction speed and increase his own movement speed. That is why we didn't see the other two attacks."