He spat out a mouthful of ice grit and decided to forget about using his mouth. The ice elements here were too dense, and one hard inhale caused them to condense into near solid shards. If an ordinary monster tried this, its internal organs would have shattered from freezing.
He obediently relied on Energy Field instead. The surrounding Magic rushed in as if drawn into a funnel, dragged in by the firm and violent intent wrapped within the field. Feeling the Magic flow into his body like a gentle stream, Belial closed his eyes in comfort, convinced once again that lucky encounters were the fastest way to grow.
There was a bit of cold during absorption, but it did not matter much anymore. He gradually adapted and soon fell asleep. Every part of his body was breathing in and out, easily handling Magic that could freeze most monsters into ice dust.
Around him, the ice crystals lit up one after another as the stored Magic was squeezed out at an alarming speed. In the end, they were drained into piles of dull fragments that lost all light. Unlike the previous mine, however, the high concentration of ice elements contained in the Magic also flowed into his body along with the absorption.
This could not be avoided, since absorbing Magic had to pass through his body. The sticky and stubborn ice elements within it were inevitably carried inside as well. Ordinary elements caused no problem, but ice of the same type at such high concentration began to harm him.
First, his capillaries clogged, then larger blood vessels, muscles, and even internal organs started to freeze. For most monsters, this would have meant death. His body, however, had its own emergency responses, passively expelling the elements through extremely fine control.
Compared to before, he now had an extra step of pushing excess ice elements out. As a result, his outer scales became coated in thick white frost, turning the entire black dragon white from the buildup of expelled ice. Fortunately, he was fused with SpaceGodzilla, a being adapted to the cold of space, so this environment posed less danger than it would to other lines.
The following days were simple enough, absorbing Magic while handling the ice elements, which slowed things slightly. With the influx of Magic, his body entered another rapid growth phase, increasing his need for food and pushing him to hunt more often. This time, growth was not focused on length, but on density, with thicker muscles and a heavier build.
He remained a bit over thirty meters long, yet broader and sturdier than before. His internal functions improved, though he was still small by the standards of SpaceGodzilla. Compared to the theoretical height of one hundred and twenty meters, he was indeed only a quarter sized youngster.
He often slept through the absorption process, but after developing to a certain point, he felt strangely energetic and unable to rest. Left with no better option, Belial went back to practicing magic. In a space where ice elements occupied nearly all elemental room, his casting was heavily restricted, as even released Magic felt like it was being frozen.
Other elements suffered the same problem, scarce and weak under such overwhelming ice presence. It felt like being under extreme pressure, similar to the deep sea, which at least gave him some interest. Even within the range of Energy Field, his magic was delayed and rougher than before.
Previously, he could easily construct free moving three dimensional models with Magic. Now he could still do it, but the quality felt warped, with lines hard to keep clean and straight. That was fine, since it was just practice.
His life settled into a simple loop of absorbing Magic, practicing magic, and hunting whenever he got hungry. Occasionally, he used his claws to carve the high density ice crystals formed from expelled elements. Since he had never learned how to make figurines, the results were extremely creative.
In moments of frustration, he crushed them into powder. As time passed, the dragon did not realize that not all ice elements were expelled after absorption. A considerable portion settled inside his body, stubborn and hard to remove, but his cells accepted foreign energy almost without resistance.
Those ice elements were soon absorbed by an organ called the energy storage crystal. Originally meant to store Cosmic Energy, it quietly took in large amounts of ice elements and began to change, like a seed taking root. Under extreme cold, his body adapted quickly and even turned the environment into fuel.
Without noticing, Belial found he no longer needed to actively expel ice elements to prevent freezing. He assumed he had simply adapted. That was true, but the situation was a bit different than he thought.
Seeing no harm, he happily increased the absorption output of Energy Field. This caused even more ice elements to pour in, but the growing seed like organ eagerly absorbed them instead. Any invading ice element was immediately swallowed whole.
After some time, his growth stabilized again, and his organs needed adjustment, signaling another period of sleep. During these naps, he did not see the ice elements slowly merging into his body, nor the dorsal spines on his back becoming clearer and glowing with a soft ice blue light. All of it was hidden beneath thick frost.
He had nearly consumed all the Magic from the outer ice crystals and gradually moved closer to the central fragment. The nearer he got, the richer the Magic became, along with even colder temperatures. Lately, he felt an increasing urge to eat that fragment.
He had planned to do so anyway, since it was obviously a priceless treasure. Now, however, the desire felt instinctive, stirred by his body itself. It was like Godzilla seeing a mushroom, an uncontrollable impulse to eat it.
That left one problem.
"How am I supposed to get over there?"
Belial stared at the central area surrounded by black chains and fell into thought.
The first problem was that this Black Chain was made of some unknown material and was extremely tough. He clenched the chain with his giant claw and squeezed hard, yet it did not shatter at all. That squeeze alone carried enough force to crush a mountain peak, but the chain showed no reaction.
Even in an incomplete state, this was still the power of Godzilla. Steel and alloys were no different from rotten tofu in front of him, yet this thing did not even deform. Seeing that brute force failed, he immediately activated Space Claw.
Crackling sounds followed as small explosions went off one after another, and Arcane Lightning jumped wildly across the surface. The Black Chain still did not give him the slightest response. What kind of material was this, to be so solid that it rivaled mechanical g?
With a thunderous roar, Belial opened his mouth, and a blue white glow lit up deep in his throat. From the bone spikes at the tip of his tail to the twin horns on his head, his dorsal spines shone with a brilliance that even the ice could not hide. A low hum like a nuclear reactor filled the cavern as he fired a very low power Spiral Heat Ray straight into the chain.
The violent energy surge nearly caused the entire cavern to collapse. The remaining heat instantly turned the frozen cave into a blazing hell, and ice that was harder than steel sublimated on the spot. He closed his jaws slightly as white mist drifted from both sides, water vapor boiling from the intense heat.
Crystals grew out from the surrounding rock walls, propping up a cavern that should have collapsed. Belial kept staring at the Black Chain he had struck, which remained completely motionless after all that punishment. There was not the slightest change on its surface.
He muttered about what kind of thing could be forged to be this hard. It was not just strong but also highly resistant to heat, remaining unaffected in such extreme conditions. If this material were used to build mechanical g, there would have been far fewer problems later.
He still refused to give up and stared at the Ice-Blue Shard imprisoned at the center. His body was far too large to try picking it out with his fingers, and despite the chaos outside, the space within the chains remained untouched. Clearly, the chains isolated internal and external space, and physical attacks alone were useless.
This was deeply frustrating, like a delicious cake right in front of him that he could see but not eat. The closer it was, the more annoyed Belial became. He continued to stare at the chains in silence.
Suddenly, he tried activating Gravity Tornado to pull the fragment out directly. Invisible gravity spread from his body, forming tendrils that slipped through every gap the chains could not cover. The chains shook slightly, but his gravity felt like mud sinking into the sea, never touching the target.
Even so, his spirits lifted. The chains had moved just now, which meant gravity did have an effect. If influence was possible, then everything else could be worked out.
Excited, Belial gripped the chain and unleashed Gravity Tornado at maximum output. The massive mountain trembled faintly, its balance disturbed enough to trigger an avalanche. Whether the mountain collapsed or not did not matter to him, since he would survive either way.