Unlimited Power 02 – The Ranger's Domain

"Man… your ability to get beaten up sure is something else," Merlin said.

Even though the world was on fire, Ryan couldn't even breathe, and everyone had been killed. Merlin still was acting the same as ever, as if nothing was his problem. That attitude sure was unnerving…

"How do you feel getting your ass kicked like this by an enemy that isn't even trying to kill you?" Merlin asked.

If Ryan could speak, he would, but he couldn't. Still, if he actually could do anything, he would smack that annoying little creature. While Ryan wasn't an endurance-type warrior, for the better or for, the worse, his vitality had reached stupid levels. Even though he always focused on increasing his attack power, he still got some impressive defensive boosts. He also had the blood of Asgardians and the Olympian gods… no wonder he could live in such an environment and even survive when thousands of fragments of the moon smashed him.

"Well… I can't say that I don't understand you," Merlin said.

"How could you possibly understand… asshole," Ryan said via Telepathy.

"Well, you see… I also failed miserably like you many times," Merlin said. "I lost good friends, some where even turned into zombies to face me. Those I wanted to protect forgot me when I was stayed away from Earth for so long… in the end, I was also defeated and exploded when the last boss just snapped its fingers."

"Last boss? What the hell are you talking about?" Ryan frowned.

"Let's just say that I understand your situation because I also experienced similar things," Merlin replied. "Oh, well… there is no point in trying to hide all this. I am the creator of the classes system. I am not his creation, this device is just a tool I created to communicate between universes."

Somehow, Ryan believed in that quite easily. After all, Merlin was supposed to be an alien-like conscience. Still, he failed miserably in keeping his behavior in check most of the time. In any case, Ryan didn't expect that the creator would be trash-talking him all this time. That fucking asshole…

"Don't worry about it, I hide your presence from Chronus, and right now, you are living beyond the time of your universe, so you don't have to rush anything," Merlin said. "Let's talk for a while, I am sure you have many questions."

"Are the answers going to help me solve this mess?" Ryan asked.

"Probably not," Merlin replied.

"Then, I am not interested," Ryan replied, and then he began to heal his wounds.

"Don't be that way, if anything, you will grow even angrier at me and you will make the Wrath Demon King class level up," Merlin said. "Obtaining power just to listen to someone? I wish I had that chance. Ah, it wouldn't work… I was too prideful to let myself gain power that way."

"I see now why everyone looked oddly at you, you are something that isn't supposed to exist here in this universe," Ryan said.

"That is right," Merlin replied. "For a mage, I am quite dumb. I always thought that the concept of multi-verse means that there are other universes out there with other versions of me. However, things are more complicated than that. The concepts of multi-verses and time lines creating an infinite number of realities and humans out there. That is why at first, I thought that I didn't have to intervene directly on other universes. However, eventually I learned that they are very different from each other. For example, my friends and I didn't exist in this universe. Not even my predecessors and their predecessors."

"What is your point?" Ryan asked.

"My point is, certain people that have the power to exert to much influence over the universe, they don't in other universes, not even the people who are their ancestors," Merlin explained. "That is why you didn't exist in my universe as well. The elder gods, the demons, the angels… they didn't exist there as well. I don't quite understand why yet, but it seems that the more your existence belong to a single reality, the more you can affect it. You survived until now, so that means that you are supposed to do more than you already did it."

"I don't believe in crappy motivational speeches," Ryan said.

"Wow, so edgy… I wonder how you didn't defeat Chronus with that edginess," Merlin said. "Anyway, I am also a part of the reason why you had such a hard time over the last year. You see, Lucifer wasn't supposed to get this powerful. However, he obtained a good part of the power and memories of the last boss I mentioned. That is why the balance of power of this universe broke and that is why Chronus began began to see the end of the universe."

"… If Lucifer can leave this universe, then why he always cause its destruction?" Ryan frowned.

"He can't, not unless he destroys it," Merlin replied. "When my friends and I were defeating the last boss, the battle affected the nearby universes. That is what Chronus was reffering to when he said that one day he suddenly felt something weird in the universe. It seemed that the battle connected our universes through the void, and Lucifer obtained that power. He discovered that he can obtain unlimited power if he destroys this universe and then heads for the next one, but his still is incomplete. Since it is a power that came from another reality. That is why Chronus, Ymir, and Lucifer noticed that my power and Lucifer's power are similar."

"So… everything is your fault…" Ryan glared at Merlin with murderous intent.

"I told you, it is only a part," Merlin replied. "Besides, you can't blame me for trying to save my universe."

"Why didn't you come to solve this mess, then?" Ryan asked.

"You want a hero that badly?" Merlin asked. "I fought for far too long. I am tired of fighting. Besides, sooner or later, your world would face annihilation. Lucifer was the one who started the war and killed others like Chronus and Ymir, but many of them were keen on decimating races.. In one way or the other, your world would face the changes that mana would bring."