Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain

Ryan never tried that before because he worked alone, and it was impossible for him to use a bow or a crossbow with a single hand and keep drinking potions. However, now that he knew that potions didn't have to be drunk and they can be absorbed by skin, things changed more than a little bit.

Starting to charge the most amazing Power Shot he had ever used, Ryan couldn't help but frown when the bow began to tremble after twenty or so seconds. Power Shot was at level seventeen, but that doesn't mean Ryan could only charge it for seventeen seconds. As long as he has stamina, he could charge indefinitely.

"I wonder if my bow won't break, if that happens, then I will just accept being eater alive the dragon," Ryan sighed. "Because that would be a plan that only someone very stupid would try to pull off."

Although the boss was trembling, there were no signs of cracks in the weapon. However, when Ryan used Analysis, he noticed that the weapon was losing one point of durability every two seconds. That wasn't so bad… at least it would resist until Ryan fires his arrow.

At that point in time, even though the giant beast noticed that Ryan was preparing one hell of an attack, it didn't slow down or tried to run away, even though the chances of him dying due to the fall weren't that small. It was a matter of pride now for the red dragon. A puny human challenged its power not once or twice and even dared to blind the dragon, that small man needed to die, or the dragon wouldn't have the right to live as a dragon any longer.

Ryan felt thankful for the dragon's stupidity; his most powerful attack would definitely cause some damage against the target that was coming from the opposite direction at unbelievable speeds. The problem was what would happen during and after the impact, but Ryan could think about it later… even though that later might never exist to him.

When the beast was five hundred meters away from Ryan, he fired his arrow. There was so much energy in his attack that the sole act of letting the arrow loose caused a powerful shockwave that hit Ryan and even makes him fall faster. The impact had been so powerful that Ryan's health fell to dangerous levels… if he was having doubt that he could survive the fall with his current body and status, now that he was almost falling unconscious, it became quite evident that he wouldn't survive. Still, before Ryan pass out, he saw his bone arrow hit the dragon. A massive explosion occurred, and at the last moment, Ryan smirked. His attack reached a level where it could be considered at the level of a tactical missile. The explosion covered the dragon's whole body, and the entire area vibrated until it even reached Ryan.

Strangely enough, the smoke caused by the explosion wasn't grey or black. It was blue and green as if the use of Ryan's mana and stamina had caused that. It was quite a sight, but it couldn't be compared to the sight of the red dragon falling down without its head. Ryan closed his eyes in satisfaction, even before he could receive his notifications.

----- -----

Five minutes earlier…

Daniel, Mia, John, and another number of survivors were heading to the city's Eastside. Although their previous homes could be found in that area, they weren't heading there for the sake of nostalgia… they were trying to escape from the dragon.

"Shit… why now of all times?" Daniel asked with a dark expression on his face.

Several survivors had left Shreveport in order to obtain their classes in the dungeons. Since things have been progressing so well, the people there decided to even create a base near those dungeons in order to prevent forced dungeon breaks from happening. Still, that decision came back to haunt them much sooner than anyone could have imagined. Currently, the number of survivors at Shreveport who could defeat Sahuagins alone were didn't even reach the number ten. So, the only thing they could do was to run away from the monster.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Suddenly, those three heard that scream and felt shivers. That was one hell of a scream that came from the depths of the dragon's soul. It has been so powerful that Arthur, who had been sleeping until now, woke up and began to cry.

"What was that?" John frowned. "Did that beast bite its tongue or something?"

"It must have received considerable damage if its scream reached us this far…" Mia said, showing a worried expression and while it was trying to calm down Arthur.

That was obvious, but none of them could even imagine how such a beast could suffer enough damage for that to happen. Just the steps of the dragon were enough to make the earth tremble, after all. Still… Daniel quickly understood what had happened.

"Ryan came back… and he is fighting that dragon," Daniel said and then stopped running.

None of them wanted to admit it, but that sounded pretty logical. Ryan had been fighting day in a day out alone, and since the very beginning, no one obtained strength faster than him. Still… so what? Ryan couldn't defeat such a beast even if all the survivors of the are fight alongside him. Those three were having a hard time imagining them emerging victorious without losing at least half of their forces.

"We have to help him!" Daniel declared.

"… I understand the feeling, but we can't," John said. "We can't fight battles that can't be won. We don't have enough numbers even to consider doing something like that."

"Then we at least need to buy him some time to retreat," Daniel insisted.

"That is no longer possible," John shook his head. "If Ryan was the one who damaged the beast and made it scream like that, the dragon will chase him until one of them die. We can only hope that he obtained some skill and will be able to…"

Suddenly, the red dragon soared through the sky. Danie, Mia, and John couldn't help but stare in amazement while the beast was flying at supersonic speeds like a missile. Yet, they couldn't understand why the dragon suddenly acted like that. Among those three, only Mia saw Ryan on the back of the dragon since she also increased her dexterity and her eyesight improved considerably.

"Ryan…" Mia muttered.

Daniel and John had a hard time believing in Mia's explanation. Still, they knew that Ryan was crazy enough to put himself on the back of a dragon. Unfortunately, their surprises didn't end there. After the red dragon disappeared in the skies, it reappeared while falling down… alongside a small, dark point. Before both of them could hit the ground, an explosion happened, and the dragon lost its head. At some point, even Daniel and John realized that the other point falling was Ryan… they tried to help him somehow, but before he could land, another dragon appeared and took him away.

John, Cole, and Lilian's group looked for him in the area for days, but they never found him.