One of them noticed that a small portion of its power lost control after being swallowed, but it did not care. A being close to their level should not be affected by a bit of power from Clone. Besides, it was only a small amount.
Belial stood there stunned, mouth open on reflex as red-black energy poured in endlessly. The churning blood sea and black sky finally found an outlet and rushed into the mouth of the Great Dragon with twisted smiles. The scale difference defied any simple comparison.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
Belial was completely baffled and could no longer tell if these were enemies. What kind of enemy tried to defeat you by force-feeding you? What a vicious plan, trying to stuff him to death.
Tears of suffering streamed from the corners of his mouth as he opened wide and actively drew in surrounding power. He temporarily disabled his electromagnetic shield so he could absorb everything through Energy Field. Once removed, absorption efficiency skyrocketed, and nearby wills and forms desperately pushed inward, trying to stain this domain with their own presence.
This meal was not given for free. They intended to leave back doors, and complete puppetization would not work since some self-awareness was needed for future advancement. Soon, amid furious roars, the Great Dragon was forcibly polluted by endless blood and darkness, with parts of its domain seized and stable channels established for corruption.
"People these days are too polite. Free food, and they even install an intake port inside my Energy Field. Such good people."
Completely overwhelmed by hunger, Belial nearly gave up thinking and just waited to be fed. Then he suddenly looked up at the sky of this space. This place could not truly trap him, and he could sense what was happening outside within a certain range.
Just now, he had received familiar orbital bombardment coordinates. That meant family had come looking, and there were even two incidents outside. He finally reacted. Eating outside meant telling family first, and also killing the two brats outside who tried to trick him.
They then saw the black Great Dragon roar in refusal to be corrupted, pushing its domain with all its might. White light shone from its claws as chaotic rules and shattered Shard space were grasped like solid matter. A corner of the seemingly unbreakable space was torn open by force.
They immediately acted to stop him. Countless black chains wrapped tightly around the Great Dragon, and after only two breaths escaped, he was dragged back and forced to keep eating. Once everything was settled, Belial lay down contentedly on the altar, eating while sleeping.
Merging the third template required massive energy, just like before. Existing configurations had to be adjusted, and this time the changes were major. A stronger System was installed, so the hardware had to keep up.
Reshaping the body and growing again consumed huge amounts of energy. Belial estimated that after this development, his size alone would surpass even the big one from before. Planets were just that big, and the template said so.
The interesting part of the planetary template was its growth potential, expanding from fifty meters long ago to three hundred meters later, with more growth possible over time. In reality, such templates were future-oriented, but this one ignored reason and followed its written settings. Even if he could not reach three hundred meters at once, surpassing one hundred was certain.
The surrounding sea continued to supply energy through Energy Field. At the same time, those trying to interfere also attempted to seep their power into his body. They wanted to break him down and rebuild him to leave back doors, but this step failed because his Laws was impossibly stubborn.
After repeated failures across many layers of space, they gave up for now and chose slow infiltration instead. Then Belial sensed something different. He rolled over slightly, examined the massive darkness inside him, and raised a finger.
Starting from the tip of his claw, his entire body began to disperse into tiny black points.
"…"
"Sorry, our Barrier has been fully repaired. Due to risk, we cannot stay to guard you any longer, so we must take our leave."
"We will send some of our people to observe from afar. You will also be a friend of the entire Elven Race, and there will be poems about you in the Sacred Tree Hall library."
"That's fine. I understand. Thank you for your kindness."
Lilith looked at the mountain range slowly being dyed gray-black. Three months had passed since Belial fell into the self-service cafeteria. During this time, she spoke with the Elven Race's Grand Elder and Vivian, who expressed deep thanks for the orbital strike that saved them.
She also searched the Sacred Tree Hall library to identify the object suspected to be an abyssal Rift. The good news was that they found the answer. The bad news was that it was real.
Another piece of good news was that it was not an abyssal Rift. The bad news was that it was even worse. Based on analysis by Bella and instincts from World Tree sensed by Luna, they concluded it was an extra-dimensional space where the Evil God directly exerted power.
The Elven Race had records of abyssal Rift incidents. Normally, such events caused demonic energy to invade, warping bodies and minds, leaving curses even on descendants. The largest recorded incident created a new race, Demonkind.
When the Elves learned this, they chose to repair Barrier at all costs and evacuate as fast as possible. No one could predict whether it would explode, and the newly born World Tree could not be put at risk. Lilith fully understood their choice, since no one liked staying near a magical nuclear leak.
"Then goodbye, Lilith sister. When that big one wakes up, remember to call me to play."
Luna waved before being picked up by Vivian. The Barrier closed, light flashed, and the forcibly dragged Elven Barrier returned beyond the world. Bella jumped down from the floating castle and asked with curiosity.
"They left first. So, Lilith, when are we setting off?"
After studies by Bella, Lilith, and elite groups from the Elves, the first conclusion was that it was no longer a simple Spatial Barrier. It was an actual Extra-Dimensional Space. This kind of space had its own internal flow of time and would form a time difference with the Material World.
That meant if Belial ever came out, no one could tell whether it would be the next second or thousands of years later. Standing around and waiting was clearly not an option. The situation was further affected by the fact that Lilith had recently received a gift.
"First, I have confirmed that over the past three months, my condition has been gradually stabilizing. If nothing unexpected happens, as long as I hold the Magic Staff for a sufficient amount of time, it can almost be completely halted."
Lilith turned her head to look at the new Magic Staff in her hands. It was taller than she was, faintly glowing all over, crystal clear in material like pure crystal. The Magic flowing inside turned into streams of light that lit up extremely fine and complex circuits arranged into an artistic matrix, clinging to pale gold crystal branches, while the head of the staff extended with elegant feather-like spikes.
Just holding it made Lilith feel her Magic and even her the Lord driven to flow along with the Magic Staff. The crystallization inside her body was suppressed and even resonated with it. The material came from Belial's back spines, the processing involved Bella, and after meeting Luna, it was further modified.
In the end, it became Lilith's birthday gift. Its conductivity and amplification were beyond question, to the point that it refreshed her understanding of materials. It could also passively absorb Lilith's Magic to suppress Crystal Sickness, storing it in the Magic Staff for later use, with capacity equal to dozens of Liliths at minimum.
Later, it was enhanced with the blessing of Luna, a newly born World Tree, and refined with the techniques of the Elven Race. It was in no way inferior to mythical divine artifacts. Due to the special nature of Belial's body tissues, it was practically a bound exclusive weapon, with only one requirement for use, namely Lilith herself.
As for performance, Lilith liked it a lot. What she liked even more was that it was a birthday gift from several new friends, beautiful and perfectly to her taste, which was enough for her. Because of this gift, she planned to stop living as a shut-in for a while and travel across the continent, something Bella also wanted to do.
More importantly, they needed to find a way to break the seal on the Extra-Dimensional Space. Standing around and waiting had never been the way of mages, a group with extremely strong the Lord initiative. "The Elven Race have said before that the World Tree is extremely susceptible to the surrounding spatial Laws, and a Extra-Dimensional Space has never been a place that follows normal Laws."
"We should retrieve the dragon before anything happens to him."