Belial gathered power as his dorsal spines melted under heat, tearing half of Divine Kingdom apart. The humming Reactor neared its limit, the sun in his chest clearly visible.
Cells and flesh melted away, revealing a crystal skeleton glowing red. Flames across the land gathered into a vortex around him like a corona. Light poured from his eyes, nose, and mouth, brighter than the sun itself.
It was the most overwhelming bloom of the Heisei Era, the final light that ended Destoroyah.
"Infinite Ray!"
Between the cracks of the world there was nothing at all. There was no matter and no sense of time, and even calling it emptiness was only a rough way to describe the idea. Some beings would occasionally glance this way, but only rarely, since most had no reason to look at a place with nothing in it.
Recently, however, something new happened. Things that might or might not have been people noticed a striking red beam burst through, carrying the trace of an unlucky soul from long ago. The source of that red light was a slowly falling sun.
In a brief eruption, the exhausted sun was reignited and hurled countless corona-like fragments outward. The swollen, blazing sphere released drifting points of soul light, like a supernova tearing itself apart. After shining for a while, all that light and heat suddenly collapsed back toward the center.
It was as if everything was falling into something of extreme density, drawn into a black hole and compressed until it was almost impossible to see. In the original place, only a black-red heart remained, pulsing steadily. In this airless void, there was still the sense of heavy heartbeats, one after another.
There was also a sigh. "Ha…"
Faint threads of light extended from the inner wall of the world, fragile yet stubborn. They slowly wrapped around the heart and, at an almost imperceptible speed, dragged it back into the world. It merged like a drop of water returning to the sea.
"Everything is handled. This is the letter I wrote myself, and the token. If anything comes up, you can ask me for help." "Thank you very much, Vann…"
With her luggage packed and the Teddy Bear tied on top, Fei'er Li rode in a carriage that slowly departed from Proletto. At last, things had come to a temporary close. She leaned back and let herself relax, feeling that the long stretch of trouble was finally over.
Vandar had to argue with politicians and nobles over the large-scale monster attack, while Dotleivy stayed behind in the Northlands to guard the seal. There was also the hunt for the remaining members of the Abyss Church and the Fire of Decay faction. Fei'er Li had heard rumors that people in several cities of the Northlands had suddenly burst into flames on the streets, causing widespread panic.
According to inside information, those who died that way were very likely Abyss cultists. What that meant was unclear. Still, Fei'er Li felt there were probably no remnants left who could cause trouble, since none had been found recently and they might all be dead.
"Hey, you seem to know a lot. Where are you going next?" "I have not decided yet. the Lord feels a bit lost right now."
Icelis sat atop the pile of luggage in the carriage. After completely cutting ties with her former self and signing a contract, she simply chose to follow along. Her old memories had been cut away as well, otherwise Fei'er Li would have wanted to ask her about secrets no novel ever mentioned.
It made Fei'er Li realize that the contents of that trashy book could no longer be fully trusted. There were many settings she had never heard of, and even basic common sense differed, so it was better to see things for herself. She never would have imagined that traveling to Otherworld, a fantasy she only had during her embarrassing phase, would really happen after she grew out of it.
At the same time, she had seen plenty of absurd things in Otherworld. If what she had seen before was real, then things would only get more ridiculous. As for the Great Dragon that had beaten both sides equally in Canyon, she learned from a dazed Icelis that the dragon had rushed into a Rift.
After that, there was no more news. When Fei'er Li later talked with a mage about dragon lore, she specifically asked about that Great Dragon. When she mentioned that the recent White Dragon in the Northlands was actually a Black Dragon, the mage's legs shook and her expression looked very similar to Icelis's.
Later, when the mage explained that every breath of a Great Dragon formed several ring-like structures similar to a Magic Array in front of it, it was Fei'er Li's turn to feel her legs trembling. The implications were far too obvious.
"By the way, Icelis, do you know the lowest cultivation tier for humans?" Flipping through the blank book, Fei'er Li asked what sounded like a foolishly simple question.
Icelis rolled her eyes. "I am not human, and I do not cultivate anything. Why are you asking me? Even I know that. It is Black Iron, right? You just got here, are you trying to show off with such a basic question?"
"Really…"
After some time of training and allocating points, a tier finally appeared in the blank book that turned effort into something concrete. Black Iron, Silver, and Gold were listed, simple to an extreme but with huge gaps between them. Fei'er Li had not asked on purpose, though.
"Is the naming for levels in this book different from Otherworld?" She held onto that doubt for now, because the tier shown was not the lowest Black Iron.
Instead, it was called Black Soil.
A meteor streaked across the sky above the carriage. A massive black-red heart, still pulsing, fell like a shooting star toward the ground, glowing faintly from friction with the air. Its trajectory seemed to be heading toward a very familiar place.
It was a Snow Mountain. A Snow Mountain that once buried light and carried snow and ice. The heart, larger than a person, plunged straight toward the mountain, but at the moment of impact it shed all momentum and heat, hovering gently instead.
It came to rest inside a cave, beating slowly and steadily. A tired hand carefully set it down. "…Ha, finally…"
A faint voice echoed, though listening closely revealed only wind, snow, and the sound of the heart. With each beat, thin gray mist seeped from openings in the vessels, and faint points of soul light appeared before drifting away.
The gray mist formed vessels around the heart and continued to spread outward. At an extremely slow but steady pace, it began to build something immense. From vessels to muscle to bone, the process continued.
It took an unimaginably long time, long enough for thousands of cycles of sun and moon to pass. Outside, the wind and snow never changed. Inside the cave that no one ever entered, the heartbeat grew softer.
In its place came deep, heavy breathing. Beneath layers of snow, a black mountain-like shape rose and fell faintly, enormous beyond measure, and it even seemed to grow larger over time. Belial fell into the longest sleep of his life.
After the explosion of his Burning Mode form destroyed the Divine Kingdom, and God of Destruction forcibly locked his life, Belial was left with only a heart. Under the power of the God of Destruction template, the vast number of forgotten souls, resentments, and memories he had absorbed began rapidly repairing his body. Without that, the process would have taken far longer.
His muscles and bones redeveloped, but under the combined influence of two templates, they became different from before. The swallowed Divine Kingdom and Authority of Decay also played a role, merging physical reality with soul Laws. The result made him feel almost reborn.
Three years later, a skeleton based on the bloodline of a Great Dragon was rebuilt. Its structure was similar to before, but its size was different. The material had changed as well, becoming thicker and more jade-like instead of crystalline.
The effects of Wraith Constitution were not just numerical boosts. The bones became harder, heavier, and far better at conducting energy. It even granted Belial the ability to directly control his skeleton instead of relying on muscle pull, with more traits yet to appear.
After the skeleton came the muscles, which took several more years. Blood-red muscle fibers wrapped around the bones, the heart pumped faster, and vessels spread throughout the body to form a basic circulation. The new sg muscles were stronger and far more controllable, with output shifting instantly based on thought alone.
New neural System under the boost of Wraith Constitution reached zero delay, allowing instant response regardless of size. The wing muscles were reinforced as well, letting them withstand greater force and handle energy more effectively. Other organs, including new energy storage structures, were mostly completed.
Some structures were judged unnecessary and optimized away by g cells, which took additional time. Regrowing the surface scales was much faster than before. Sharp, neatly arranged scales covered the massive body, stretching dozens of meters.