The armored man swallowed, unable to imagine what that thing truly was. The man carrying the device looked up at the sphere, which had stopped spinning at some point and was now dull and dark.
Belial felt that his earlier self had been unbelievably stupid. He had eaten all the remaining Magic in one go, got too full and too excited, and then fired off a Spiral Heat Ray just because. The noise and scale were far too big, and it was painfully over the top. He even shouted something about destructive white light, which made him want to tell himself to shut up.
He had not expected that restraining it with Energy Field and accelerating it with Magic Circle would push the range and impact of the Spiral Heat Ray that far. Still, it did match the terrifying power in the settings, especially after absorbing an enormous amount of leftover Magic. One blast could punch through a mountain range and reach tens of kilometers away. That was not exaggeration, considering the original Heisei Era g template could flatten Tokyo Bay early on, and that power multiplied by hundreds later.
Yes, hundreds, maybe even two hundred times. As for the beam temperature, he estimated it was well over one hundred thousand degrees once special effects logic became real physics. He had not even managed to use the even more absurd Corona Beam yet. If the last shot had been at that level, the power would have increased by several more orders.
The settings around Godzilla only got more extreme step by step. SpaceGodzilla could fight two opponents at once, beating Heisei Era g and MOGUERA together when energy was sufficient. Even after its crystal weak points were destroyed, it could still hold even or fully surpass Heisei Era g. Looking at those numbers, it was ridiculous, and even with one hand occupied blocking MOGUERA, Space g was still unbeatable.
If he could grow into a true SpaceGodzilla, his strength would never be below Heisei Era g and would clearly surpass it. Of course, a Heisei Era g that had absorbed Cosmic Energy could blow him apart in three basic hits. And later, attacks of that level could not even pierce the skin of Destoroyah. That was just how special effects balance worked.
After absorbing all the Magic and causing such a huge incident, Belial immediately ran. He could fly now, even though his wings were still developing. No matter how hard he flapped, the wing membranes alone could never lift his massive weight.
So his current flight relied on Gravity Tornado to hold him up, and it felt more like floating than flying. If he hit something in midair, his balance would easily break and send him spinning in place. He still flapped his wings sometimes, and after grinding proficiency out of boredom, he could now release magic through them. He could even draw a Magic Array with the tip of his tail.
To avoid the embarrassing situation of hitting a bird and knocking himself out, he spread a thin layer of Energy Field around his body. Under its coverage, several wind-based spells he had figured out wrapped over him. They included fairing, thruster, air conditioning, and more, all stacked together. In short, it was a civilian airliner spell.
All of it formed a droplet-shaped airflow barrier around him, with a stable temperature inside. This reduced air resistance and increased speed, while also fixing his flight posture. Turning was easy, since he could just create temporary nozzle-like outlets and add a bit of force.
To avoid being seen in such a flashy state, he reused his earlier water vapor spell and fine-tuned it with ice and lightning elements. Fixed inside the airflow screen, it continuously released a thick curtain of water. With the added effects, it partially froze and formed a dense cloud mass that followed his movement.
Because of his high speed, it was not very stable. Lightning and ice mixed with his Magic scattered and refracted, crackling like wild sparks. From the outside, it looked like a heavy dark cloud with blue-purple lightning running through it.
For some reason, that description felt very familiar. A dragon hiding in a cloud, moving at high speed, with lightning. He decided not to think about it.
There was also an awkward problem. Although Belial was running away, he quickly fell into confusion. Where should he go, and what should he do?
It matched his mental state before transmigration. Once everything urgent was done, his mind went blank, like someone who had too long a vacation and started missing school. The reason was simple, since he had no fixed goal to complete. His only final aim was to lie low, grow into a complete form, and then enjoy himself without worry.
Belial thought it over. He could set a goal of finding more mineral veins rich in Magic, but he barely knew anything about the whole Otherworld. Places like that would not be common. After tasting the benefits, he postponed the idea of sleeping until full completion. With enough energy supply in the short term, he could grow quickly.
Once the Nuclear Reactor was ignited, even if Belial did nothing but eat and sleep, his strength would rise fast. Still, having a large amount of Magic would make growth even faster. Finding it was not easy, so he filed that idea away and thought about higher priority matters.
"Language... right." He clapped his hands and suddenly realized it. Learning the language and common knowledge of Otherworld was critical, since communication was a serious problem.
He was a thinking life form and needed social interaction. Unfortunately, the dragon memories taught him nothing about speaking or writing, and he had nowhere to learn. He also wanted to study magic in a more systematic way, since even his crude self-study had shown vast potential. Used well, it could rival the power of Godzilla.
Putting it all together, he probably needed to find an intelligent being willing to communicate and act as a teacher. But what teacher would want to teach a dragon? He also had no obvious payment to offer, though maybe scales or claws could work as materials.
Then again, if the goal was rapid growth, maybe... "Ugh, I almost drifted again. I have barely grown and I am already thinking about causing trouble." He shut down that line of thought.
Belial set a rule for himself. He would stay low-key and lie low. A dragon over thirty meters long could not really hide, but being polite and restrained would not hurt.
Staying low-key did not mean avoiding all contact. If possible, he wanted to communicate with humans and other intelligent races. First impressions mattered, and what he did next would shape how others saw him. In the end, his goal was simply to live well and have fun, not to chase power at all costs.
Behaviors like overeating before igniting the Nuclear Reactor, even to the point of damaging the local ecosystem, were no longer acceptable. It was inefficient and, in hindsight, an easy way to get killed. No one liked a guest who ate the foundation out from under them.
It was also a hassle. Sneaking around to hunt was tedious, and after experiencing idle growth like an afk build, he never wanted to go back. After tasting the high absorption efficiency of Energy Field, chewing and swallowing with his mouth felt like work. Was there a way to level up automatically while sleeping, without causing trouble?
"There actually is." Belial scratched his head in midair. He could copy Rodan and find a volcano to sleep in, absorbing heat from magma to grow stronger. Lava temperatures were nothing to fear for him.
He could pass through the atmosphere with his body, and someone wanted to talk about magma. The defense of the Heisei Era series g was absurd. In the settings, humans reflected Godzilla's beam back at itself. Godzilla felt some pain, sparked, and dove into the water, looking fine.
The reflection multiplier was absurd, but true or not, the template on him was real. The problem was finding a large active volcano, and the efficiency was uncertain. Belial decided to fly wherever for now. He counted as a high-level monster, and as long as he avoided anyone who looked like a main character, things should be fine.
Others should have some sense too. Seeing something this big, they would not provoke him without reason. If only he could solve communication with humans and other intelligent beings. Language was a real problem.
For now, Belial continued flying with Gravity Tornado and magic-assisted propulsion. His speed was nowhere near the three Machs of a true SpaceGodzilla, but it was still around three to four hundred kilometers per hour. With practice, it could go even faster.
Then he realized just how huge Otherworld was. He had thought that scanning from the sky would quickly reveal humans, but after flying for a long time, he saw no human settlements at all. He did not even see other intelligent races, only monsters.
Their strength was unimpressive, to the point that one Spiral Heat Ray could wipe them all out. That was not surprising. He was running a cheat build with the Godzilla template. If he still could not beat roadside mobs, it would be embarrassing.