It was like locking the safe with the key inside. How could this fail.
"Next is waiting to see if the countermeasures from the other Clone work. But for now, I need to send these two items to the main body."
A low boom echoed as the sky outside dimmed. Lightning began to fall, and the wind started to surge in strange patterns. Normally this would not matter, since ever since that dragon arrived, storms had been common.
The problem was that this storm came far too fast.
"What is this weather?"
While Ludwig was building an escape body, only a few minutes passed before the already dark sky was covered in rolling black thunderclouds. Blue and purple lightning twisted through them, thin snow began to fall, and freezing wind howled as rapidly expanding tornadoes formed. It felt like a huge black beast was approaching, silent, showing its fangs.
Although Otherworld sometimes produced strange weather due to elements or Magic, this was clearly abnormal. The situation grew worse as dozens of puppets in the camp were struck dead by lightning, and many magic machines began to fail for unknown reasons. Some kind of wave destroyed delicate components, causing most machines to turn into scrap.
At this point, it was no longer something that could be explained by rare weather. The roaring tornadoes swept into the camp, the ground shook, Rend split the earth open, and sharp snow and hail poured down. A twisted black vortex appeared in the sky, swallowing everything as it advanced, crushing hope just by its sight.
This was truly wrong.
Ludwig noticed multiple puppets disconnecting, not due to malfunction, but because extreme mental pressure caused collapse from negative emotion. That should have been impossible, since these puppets had their emotions erased. Yet fear strong enough to cause collapse had appeared.
There was only one answer.
"Really found me already. How is it this fast?"
He crushed the window frame with a Shard grip and turned sharply inside. The crystal containing Lilith began to glow faintly.
"So that's it!"
Because the crystal blocked all communication, he thought it was safe. But the crystal itself was a coordinate.
A roar split the sky as the clouds were torn apart by the voice of the Black Dragon. Thunder, ice, and storm crashed down, and a white point of light fell from the sky. In an instant, sound vanished.
A huge white half sphere expanded like an explosion, swallowing everything on the surface. Shockwaves mixed with six elements tore through the land, nearly flattening all structures.
"Dragon!"
Ludwig screamed.
Belial dove from the sky.
Earlier, when Belial returned to Sky Island, he found that the crystal Magic Array he had set underground had triggered defense, leaving massive craters. The island was scarred, and all the metal he had brought back was gone. It was clear that his base had been robbed, and Lilith's presence could not be sensed.
After anger came a strange calm, and he searched for any trace. There was no scent, and no remaining Magic energy. The support Magic Array collapsed after losing power, leaving nothing behind.
"Nothing? No, there should be something."
He thought of scanning outward, but remembered that the enemy might have more than one Clone. He needed information. The last possible source was inside.
He split open the center of Sky Island, revealing a hollow space that had been emptied. The Crimson Core stored there was gone. Still, something remained.
"Found it."
Gravity Tornado gently lifted a small ice sphere. It was an image recording spell he had invented. Light information was etched into the ice, allowing it to work even without Magic, though decoding was troublesome.
This was the last clue Lilith left behind.
Decoding showed only a short scene. A tall, thin man stood before Lilith, and then she sealed herself completely in crystal. Belial recognized the seal, which blocked everything inside and out, and could only be opened by Lilith herself, or by someone who could do the same as her.
That was enough.
Belial rose into the sky and expanded his domain. White light formed in his hand, the result of six elements mixed together, matching Lilith's domain. In the past he could not hold it long, but now anger and calm gave him unusual stability.
"Bastard."
"I'm here to kill you."
As he moved, his control over Magic slipped, darkening the clouds again. Using preset spells, he replaced engines with reactors, damaging the structure but gaining extreme speed. He broke past Mach fifteen.
The white light resonated with Lilith's crystal, guiding him. He arrived quickly. Death followed just as fast.
"Die."
He tore through the clouds and threw the unstable elemental reaction downward, wiping out half the puppet soldiers. His eyes were fixed on the crystal's signal and the one who had to die.
Gravity Tornado crushed Ludwig's metal body into scrap, but Belial knew he was not dead. He set that aside and carefully lifted the crystal, placing heavy Gravity Tornado protection around it. He handed the key to Lilith inside, letting her undo the seal herself.
"Now for the rest. That core of Magic energy is your goal, right."
He stomped the ground, cracking it with Shard force. Gravity Tornado followed the Rift downward to dig out the core. Then something moved.
A red beam swept past him, and the ground collapsed. A massive metallic claw emerged, followed by a huge machine crawling out of the earth. Its flat head resembled a Great Dragon, metal spines glowing red, steam pouring out, and a bright Crimson Core embedded in its chest.
"Haha, dragon, you're too late."
"This is enough to deal with you."
Ludwig had transferred his consciousness into the underground body made from the remains of two MOGUERA units and the core. He knew he could not escape at this distance, so he chose to fight.
Though the temporary body could not use the core fully, he was confident it was enough.
Belial stepped forward after moving the crystal to safety.
"Red core, piles of metal. Yeah, it's you."
He unleashed Spiral Heat Ray, and the Mechagodzilla answered with a red beam of its own. The two attacks collided violently.
Blue and red beams of destruction collided in midair, both carrying ruin as they locked together without yielding. Both sides pushed more power, but Belial was clearly stronger now, and the blue-white light slowly pressed the crimson back. The balance tilted as the air shook under the strain of the beams.
Belial stepped forward again, and the beam from his mouth shifted from Spiral Heat Ray into Spiral Heat Ray. The more piercing and higher-output Spiral Heat Ray tore straight through the center, blasting the crimson beam into several broken streams. Those fragments hit the ground and caused massive explosions as the main beam drove forward without slowing.
The chest of Mechagodzilla took the hit head-on, and its tens-of-thousands-of-tons body was blasted backward. Armor plates on its back snapped open as multiple thrusters fired, and with its own mechanical output it forced its legs into the ground, stopping the slide and bending back upright. The ground cracked under the pressure.
"Roar!"
A hole had been blown into its chest, not fully pierced, and it began to repair itself at a slow but steady pace. Red light flared brighter between the armor seams as the core activated further and pushed out more energy.
"Without being installed in its original position, I cannot use maximum power, but it is more than enough to deal with you."
Feeling power surge like never before, Ludwig laughed wildly and charged forward on roaring thrusters. Belial did not dodge, stamping the ground as crystals spread and rushing to meet him. Flesh and steel collided with a deep, crushing impact that echoed outward.
Having already learned from earlier fights, Ludwig released missiles from his back to destroy the surrounding crystals and prevent terrain control. Metal particles peeled from his body and formed a field that suppressed crystal growth, while a steel fist wrapped in crimson energy fired its boosters and smashed toward Belial.
"Boom!"
The strike failed to land cleanly as blue and red clashed again. Space Claw locked onto Mechagodzilla's arm, holding it fast, and under Ludwig's shocked gaze, the arm was forced open inch by inch.
Dragon claws dug deep into the steel, energy surging along them and tearing apart the outer armor. Metal structures wailed as they gave way under the strain, ending in the harsh sound of tearing and Rend. The machine trembled as its strength failed it.
"Damn it, this dragon was not even using its full strength last time?"
With output not yet at peak, pure strength alone could not match the dragon. Another punch flew toward Belial, only to be blocked again. Metal screamed as the wrist was crushed into scrap, the repair speed completely unable to keep up with the damage.
Mechagodzilla opened its jaws to fire, but a headbutt slammed it shut, caving in its face. "You machines can suppress legends, that is true, but you picked the wrong Godzilla!"
A point-blank Spiral Heat Ray washed over it, and despite lowering its head as much as possible, half of its skull was blown away. The trapped metal arm detached at the elbow, and the shoulder joint flowed into a liquid form, twisting as thrusters lifted the massive body into the air.