Pressed close, Ludwig forced open the abdominal armor under extreme conditions. The most powerful cannon on the entire body fired without regard for cost. Gold Rank lightning-like lasers blasted the Great Dragon away, pushing Belial hundreds of meters back.
The clash of the two giants shook the land, and even some puppets were crushed by the shockwaves alone. "Pretty good, not bad," Belial said.
He had fired at close range without deploying Photon Reflection Shield. Touching his abdomen, he felt damage that was already rapidly repairing. A moment later, light rained down from the side.
Turning his head, he saw large numbers of magitech soldiers, tank-like and humanoid, bombarding him from afar. Some melee types even rushed in without caring for their lives. "It feels a bit like humans surrounding Godzilla," he said. "But it is still lacking."
Normally he would not the Lord act against humans. When they came with killing intent, however, he showed no mercy. "You are a bit overheated. Calm down."
He released a long-unused Freezing Breath, and a white expanse instantly swallowed the humans and machines that dared fire at the monster. Whether they lived or died was no longer his concern. Tall white crystals burst from the ground, and seeing these familiar formations, Ludwig's eyes twitched. "So it really is related to you."
The brief time bought by the puppets was enough. The interface of the severed arm writhed like liquid, and the shoulder blown into Shard was already reattached with a new arm. This metal's terrifying ability allowed endless repair as long as energy remained, and Ludwig now commanded his own power plus the combined Magic of thousands of soldiers.
He did not intend to grind against a Great Dragon that likely had a core. He decided to settle it with firepower as fast as possible. Realizing the current output was still insufficient, the entire machine shifted again, mounting more and stronger weapons as several main cannons increased output.
"Die!" Ludwig roared.
Eye lasers, arm cannons, the abdominal final weapon, and every other firing point unleashed a storm of light. Missiles carrying destructive Magic launched from metal racks, while several high-level Magic of different attributes formed within the simulated domain. High-temperature Light Cannon, cutting wind blades, and raging lightning rushed forward in a blinding display.
The overwhelming Light Cannon and mixed attacks looked like something straight out of a Tokusatsu film. Seeing this, Belial Rend curled the corner of his mouth. "Photon Reflection Shield."
Like a wall of sighs, the prism shield expanded under the amplification of Crystal Domain, covering his entire body. Weaker attacks bounced off and were even reflected back. The main destructive beams clashed with the shield but could not break through.
At the peak of his effort, Ludwig shut down all other weapons and poured everything into the abdominal Light Cannon. He glared fiercely, determined to break through. "Those crystals amplify this monster's power. They must be destroyed."
Several missiles struck the tallest crystal pillars, shattering them. Gray-white smoke spread over the crystals, trying to suppress their glow. "Oh, interesting," Belial said. "That feels like human cheat anti-G weapons."
He recognized the smoke as fine metal particles that absorbed and isolated energy, suppressing Crystal Domain. That would work only if he allowed it. "You used this to blow up my nest, right? Then let me return the favor."
The light surged stronger, breaking the field and spawning even taller crystals. Guided ghost crystals shot out like missiles toward MOGUERA. "What?" Ludwig exclaimed.
The fast-moving crystals pierced the hastily raised Barrier as if it were paper and slammed into the outer armor. The Light Cannon was interrupted, and Belial seized the moment. Energy crackled along his dorsal spines as he opened his jaws wide.
Blue-white light shifted toward orange-red as a strengthened, pseudo-spiral Spiral Heat Ray fired, accelerated and constrained by Magic Circle and Energy Field. He had not only learned how to use Magic but also studied his native abilities deeply. In this process, the spiral heat ray was reproduced in a rough but deadly form.
The rotating beam drilled through the abdomen of MOGUERA with unstoppable force. Neither Barrier nor the hastily reactivated destructive beam could stop it. The intense heat and penetration ignored the metal's regeneration, punching through the entire machine and even the mountains behind it.
Ground and rock melted into a massive hole, carving a red-hot lava path across the land. "How can this be?" Ludwig shouted. "The calculations said it was impossible."
Before the thought finished, the spiral ray swung like a light blade. Like a hot knife through Gold Rank oil, it cut off half the body. Chain explosions echoed as the structure collapsed, and the threads could not prevent such destruction.
"No, not yet, I can still…" Ludwig struggled, trying to stitch the corpse-like wreckage back together. Several follow-up Spiral Heat Ray erased that hope. "Finishing blows are a good habit, and I happen to have one," Belial said.
Tired of endless revivals, he spat several more heat rays at the wreckage. Key weapon sections were burned down under focused fire, triggering violent reactions in the chaotic Magic. The remains exploded into countless Shard fragments.
"No… no!" Ludwig's scream vanished in the heat as his link to the puppet was severed, proving he was truly dead. "Again," Belial said calmly. "Make sure there is nothing left."
Only after the entire wreck was reduced to a sky full of Shard did he relax. The planned model figure was gone, but leaving a potential threat nearby was worse. The self-repairing metal seemed lifeless now, though he had seen the process and found it interesting.
Maybe someday he could build a figure of his own. "I will take some back to look at," he said. "It might be useful."
A heavy crash rang out as several massive gray-white metal blocks slammed down in front of her, each pile at least several times taller than Lilith. Along with them came the twenty-third life-size Lilith statue molded from the same metal, this time wearing a Lolita-style dress that made her eye twitch. The gifts this guy brought were getting less and less proper, and strange things were clearly starting to appear.
"All right. Let me see what you dragged back this time," Lilith said. She glanced at the enormous Black Dragon squatting beside her, then looked back at the gray-white metal blocks covered in melted scars.
Thanks to her broad knowledge, Lilith recognized the material, and her eyelid twitched even harder. "Ancient Steel?" She could not help reaching out to touch it, letting Mental Power and Magic seep inside, and the hard metal surface rippled like liquid.
She pushed her hand in and pulled it back out, drawing forth a vivid metal flower that even dripped silvery dew. With slight adjustments from Lilith, the gray-white surface carved itself into fine textures and turned green, finally becoming a flower no different from a real one. Everything matched the traits described in ancient texts, and Lilith froze in place.
"Is this really Ancient Steel? This…" According to the records she had read, this material only appeared in lost ancient ruins and was extremely rare. It could absorb Magic, even take in part of external heat and impact, store it, and then restore itself to its original shape when energy remained.
At first, people used it by draining its energy again and again and forging it into the desired form, letting it stabilize before making armor or weapons with self-repair. Later, mages discovered that with sufficient Mental Power, the metal could be directly controlled and reshaped at will, even changing color and adjusting its absorption traits. Its versatility made it one of the most coveted materials among mages.
It worked equally well as a Magic Staff or as a casting aid, and some believed it was an alchemical product of ancient civilizations that could no longer be reproduced. Lilith herself owned a piece about the size of a fingernail. Now she looked up and saw a pile so large it formed a small hill, its shadow completely covering her.
She swallowed hard. This was not friendly to the heart at all. Had he dug up the stockpile of an ancient civilization?
"You are serious. These are for me?" Lilith asked the dragon above her, even though Belial could not understand the words. He nodded without hesitation.
To Belial, it did not matter. For him, this metal was at best material for making figurines, and armor like a metal jaw would only get in the way since he could break it himself without effort.
After playing with the pile for a while, Belial felt that the one who could truly make use of it was Lilith. He had troubled her before and learned a lot, so treating it as tuition felt fair, and he could always come back later to see what she made. Even if it was valuable, it was not useful to him.
Lilith took a deep breath to steady herself. Tuition like this was not something she had ever planned to collect, but this material was far too useful, especially to her. "In that case, I will take part of it," she said.