As soon as Belial soared out of the snowy mountain where the shard had been sealed, he immediately noticed the temperature outside had risen sharply. The freezing cold that once dominated the area had lifted.
The raging blizzards had died down, almost like they were never there in the first place. Clearly, this was the result of him absorbing the shard.
Now able to control the ice element, Belial discovered that the snow and wind around him weren't just obstacles, they had become his allies. The icy air fed him details about the surrounding area, much like how a radar works, giving him a sense of things far beyond what his eyes could see.
It wasn't perfectly clear, but it covered a lot more ground than normal vision. It was no stretch to say that the ice and snow had become part of his body. But when he thought about the kind of creatures he'd likely meet, all snarling teeth and claws, he dropped the idea of calling them his new limbs.
Maybe if they were cute girls, he might've been more excited. He dropped down to about two thousand meters, barely flapping his wings.
The wind and snow carried him like a royal escort, flowing around him under his control. He didn't need his eyes to find his way, his connection to the ice element picked up everything around him on its own.
In no time, he locked onto the biggest creature nearby, one pulsing with strong magic. After being holed up in that cave for at least three days, his stomach was growling.
"Alright... who's the lucky snack today, huh?"
He flew toward the source and stopped in his tracks when he saw the target.
A deep growl rumbled.
A massive white beast stood in the snow below, nearly invisible against the frozen landscape. It moved like a giant cat, sleek and deadly. Its body was wrapped in icy armor, built like a tiger, but with saber-like fangs that gleamed amber.
Sharp blades jutted from the sides of its claws, slicing through the air every time it moved, darting around like a bolt of white lightning.
"Whoa... a white Groot?" He stared in disbelief. It wasn't a perfect match, but the shape triggered a weird sense of familiarity, like something deep in his memory was trying to surface. He started to wonder if the system had stirred up some strange connection again.
But then he felt something stir inside his blood. A faint reaction. This creature… it might be related to dragons.
A distant cousin, maybe. It had the feel of dragon blood, and the cold aura around it made him think it could breathe ice too, just like he could now.
Without hesitation, Belial shot down toward the creature, might as well call it the Icefang Dragon for now. He came crashing down like a meteor, slamming into the ground right in front of it.
The Icefang Dragon let out a roar. Its fur bristled. Tail up, it leapt back in a flash, crouching low, muscles coiled, letting out a deep, warning growl.
But the thing standing in front of it wasn't something this snow kitten could afford to pick a fight with. Belial was over twice its size. His wings stretched wide, casting a shadow that swallowed the ground.
A massive black dragon stood tall, radiating heat from its snout. Light shimmered off the curve of his horns, and sharp fangs glinted in the cold air. His huge frame and swaying tail made the snow beneath him tremble. His eyes were fierce, looking down at the Icefang Dragon with a mocking smirk, like he was daring it to make a move.
Still, Belial had something else on his mind. "Why aren't you running?"
He tilted his head slightly, genuinely puzzled. Were monsters in this world just fearless?
Even wild animals usually thought twice before picking fights based on size. He was nearly double this thing's size! Where was the fear?
This wasn't the first time either. When he was five or six meters long, smaller monsters still came at him. When he reached over ten meters, some backed off, but not all. And now, at over thirty meters, he was huge, a real monster. Yet these things still stood their ground.
Were they just used to seeing giants? Or were they just that bold?
Belial didn't know. But one thing was clear, he wasn't as intimidating here as he expected.
The confusion in Belial's mind came down to two main reasons. First, before activating his atomic furnace, he gave off no magical energy at all.
Every bit of it was being consumed internally, so to creatures like the Icefang Dragon, it probably looked like he had zero magical power. Just a big body with no real punch. That alone took away much of the intimidation factor his massive size should've brought.
In this world, many monsters judged strength by the magic they could sense. Magic wasn't just a power source, it shaped how battles played out, introducing unpredictable elements through spells and abilities. Physical size and raw muscle didn't always win fights, especially when magic was in the mix.
So when they didn't feel any energy coming from him, most monsters would've either run the moment they saw his size or ignored him altogether, assuming he was just bluff and no bite. But the Icefang Dragon didn't back down.
In fact, the absence of magic only made it more confident. Maybe it thought Belial's size was all for show. That kind of mistake... was about to get it killed.
After all, the Icefang Dragon wasn't just some random beast, it was the top predator in these icy plains, a creature born from powerful lineage, with traces of dragon blood running through its veins.
It had faced off against bigger opponents before and still come out on top. One more slightly larger enemy? No big deal. It had done it before. Why not again?
Without warning, it lunged, muscles snapping into motion, claws striking the frozen ground with enough force to leave a crater. In a blur, it swung its sharp forearm blades straight at the towering black dragon in front of it.
Despite its size, the Icefang Dragon moved with lightning speed. Each strike packed a punch strong enough to smash stone or cut through steel. But what made it even more dangerous was the frost coating its blades, one scratch, and the freezing magic would seep in, turning blood to ice from the inside out.
The blades sliced through the air in a blink. Then there was a strange sound.
'Wait... what?' The Icefang Dragon froze mid-motion, its expression twisting with something it had never felt before , confusion.
It looked down at its blades, they'd hit. That much was clear. But there was no resistance, no feeling of flesh giving way, no familiar sensation of cutting through a target.
Instead, it heard that cracking noise. Had it hit a mountain? A wall? Something was wrong.
Those blades, sharper than razors and harder than most metals, had slain countless prey. And now? Now they had cracked, just from hitting something that hadn't even moved.
Belial glanced down, raising a brow at the Icefang Dragon's frozen reaction. It hadn't moved since attacking.
Was it in shock? Did it not realize what it had hit? His body, coated with a dense layer of magic and ice energy, had barely even registered the hit.
The strike might've been fierce, but Belial hadn't felt a thing. He was no featherweight anymore. Even without pushing his full power, he weighed several thousand tons.
To compare, this oversized cat might be something like a Gundam… and he was an entire orbital colony crashing through the atmosphere.
Still, seeing his opponent so stunned, Belial figured it was time to return the favor. "Okay, you've had your turn. My turn now, right?"
He casually scratched the side of his skull, then slowly opened his mouth. Instantly, the air around him shimmered as ice energy gathered, flowing into him and lighting up his dorsal spines with a cold, blue glow.
A second later, he released a devastating blast of ice. It wasn't just cold air, it was a blizzard compressed into a single breath, surging forward like a frozen tsunami.
Even though the Icefang Dragon was built for the cold, it stood no chance. The breath tore into it at point-blank range.
In just seconds, its body was frozen solid, ice creeping into its blood, its organs, its bones. Every layer, even the thick armor-like hide, turned brittle.