Chapter 451 - Prison
Since defeating the reapers wasn't something the current Ryan or Femradiel could do, there was no reason to pull back his punches. Ryan wouldn't gain a single coin anyway, so he could use Power of Money to buy a little time, and so he did it. To prevent the reapers from stealing his mana, Ryan used Power of Money on their necks and beheaded them. However, the others noticed that Ryan was using a new trick and spread it around again.
When Ryan teleported to behind another reaper, the creature reacted fast enough to block his hands and drain his health. A few moments later, the others quickly found him as well. When Ryan was about to leave the monster alone…
"Now! Toss him toward the barrier!" Femradiel said.
That seemed like insanity, but Ryan did exactly that. While the reapers and he now had more or less the same amount of strength, the mass of his body was much more significant. A single swing of his arm had been enough to make the reaper fly toward the barrier. Before the monster could hit it, Femradiel enveloped the creature in the blink of an eye in mist and turned its body into a crystal statue… that was a pretty powerful ice attack. While controlling the ice, Femradiel made the monster enter the barrier, and for some reason, the spell wasn't broken. Ryan found that weird, but he decided to think about it later.
Ryan repeated that same action four more times before the reapers finally could notice that their friends weren't going to return to the fight. For the first time, Ryan saw the hesitation in their eyes… it wasn't like they were afraid of anything now that they were immortals, but from their perspective, there were certain things worse than death…
"They are thinking of running away, you can't let them escape," Femradiel said.
"That goes without saying," Ryan said.
There was another trick that Ryan has been hiding until now. While it annoyed him since it would make him think that Yahiko helped him indirectly win the fight, Ryan didn't hesitate to copy him.
"Here comes a big one, Femradiel!" Ryan said.
The very moment the reapers began to move away from Ryan was the moment they used Telekinesis to make them stop. Once that happened, he teleported the remaining twenty-five reapers to inside the thick cold mist Femradiel had created. They turned into crystal statues immediately, and then Femradiel moved them to inside the barrier.
"Finally…" Ryan said and then sighed in relief.
While the fight didn't last that long, it wore Ryan out since the enemies couldn't die by any normal means. However, the relief disappeared when Ryan returned to his human form and felt his whole body going asleep…
"What the hell…" Ryan said.
"Relax, that is what happens when you use too much mana beyond your current capabilities," Femradiel explained. "This is a common occurrence when people like you obtain draconic powers and use them for the first time. You should be all right in just a few minutes."
"I see…" Ryan said and then sighed. "Anyway, what did you do this time? I tried to freeze them, but it didn't work."
"I used a lot of mana to freeze their entire bodies down to every single atom," Femradiel replied. "Every single part of their bodies possesses some level of mana, but if all those parts are frozen, not a single skill can be activated, not even the passive ones will work. That is probably why I decided to become a true ice dragon."
"I see… I thought you were born with that kind of affinity, but I guess I was wrong," Ryan said.
"No, you are not wrong," Femradiel said. "While we were born with some talents, it doesn't mean we can obtain others, but usually, it is more effective to train the things that we are good from the very beginning."
That made sense. Regardless, while it required some preparation, Femradiel had a way to imprison their enemies if that is the only alternative. In any case, Ryan won't give up on trying to find a way to turn the reapers into magic weapons. For the time being, they will be sealed away underground the domain, in a place no one aside from Ryan and Femradiel will be able to reach.
"It would be great if I could register them as my minions," Ryan said. "But I guess it isn't possible without their volition. Anyway, let's repair the defenses for a while before trying to clear the dungeon."
This time, Ryan made sure to keep summoning golems and increase the size of his army. During the fight, he worried too much about the barrier, and that probably delayed the end of it to some extent. Perhaps if it had more mana, Femradiel could have helped Ryan earlier, or even Ryan could have found another way to defeat the reapers by himself.
When the sun started to rise, Ryan and Femradiel had finished their jobs. Ryan even had time to bring back Furball and the Steel Eagle and wake up the idiots guarding the dungeons by using Purification. However, Ryan decided to wait for a few more hours.
"Sometimes you are so cautious and sometimes you are so imprudent…" Femradiel said.
"… What do you think about what they said, Femradiel," Ryan furrowed his eyebrows while looking at the entrance of the dungeon. "Do you really think the reapers drank the blood of the god of death?"
"While you humans are really versatile, I don't think something like that is possible," Femradiel said. "My guess is that those guys fused themselves with the dungeon bosses that probably is a lifeform created by using a small part of the dungeon master's body."
"I guess so, that would explain why we didn't find any bosses and the number of specters wasn't that high," Ryan nodded. "Those guys caused dungeon breaks, but only to obtain power for themselves."
"Why the sudden interest regarding that?" Femradiel asked.
"… Nah, it was nothing," Ryan said.
Although he said that, Femradiel could easily think by his expression what Ryan was thinking, he wanted the power of the god of death to himself.
Class: Hunter Lv 93 (+ 03 UP / Elementalist Lv 65 (+ 05 UP) / Monk Lv 16 (--)
Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--)
Rank: 74th
Health: 2702/2702 (5, 51/s)
Mana: 4250/4250 (5, 51/s)
Stamina: 4372/4372 (5,51/s)
Strength: 31 (+186) (+130)
Dexterity: 2950 (+2830) (+220)
Speed: 320 (+1260) (+48)
Intelligence: 381 (+972) (+33)
Endurance: 128 (+162) (+160)
Control: 226 (+1399) (+10)
Mentality: 208 (+79) (+70)
Luck: 320 (+20)
Recovery: 1500 (+1872) (+360)
Willpower: 230 (+71) (+40)
Coins: 12.452.365
Status: 00
Skill List
Offensive Physical Skills:
Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Improved Intelligence Lv 08 (+ 07 UP),
Spells: Water Manipulation Lv 39 (+ 06 UP), Water Transformation Lv 35 (+ 07 UP), Draconic Transformation Lv 15 (+14 UP), Water Creation Lv 29 (+ 08 UP), Teleport Lv 25 (+ 24 UP) Fireball Lv 01, Earth Wall Lv 01, Wind Blade Lv 01, Blessing Lv 01, Prayer Lv 01, Delay Lv 01, Ice Prison Lv 01,
Support Skills: Hydromancy Lv 15 (+ 14 UP),
Classes:
Combat: Sage Lv 67 (+ 04 UP), Sorcerer Lv 35 (+ 06 UP), Enchanter Lv 12 (+ 07 UP), Mage Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Cleric Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), and Wizard Lv 08 (+ 07 UP),
Non-Combatant:
Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon