This was not over yet. Forbidden weapons called nuclear devices, buried deep underground, resurfaced, their silos opening as missile swarms like meteor showers launched and rained down on the spot where Belial lay. Countless suns rose from the ground, mushroom clouds towering into the sky, yet the barrage did not stop, and on the other side, The God of Scars revealed a cruel smile.
See, it was nothing more than this. Once I truly act, an ant like this is nothing to fear. Just as it was about to inspect the impact site, a sudden change occurred.
A huge, hollow vortex appeared in the center of the crater, greedily swallowing all the immense heat and radiation left by the earlier bombardment. Missiles and lasers still flying through the air were frozen by an even greater force, then mercilessly crushed into Shard and devoured as well.
"Crack… Crack…!"
It sounded like something fragile breaking apart, followed by chewing noises. Near the center, metal dust kicked up by pulverized shells obscured everything, making it impossible to see clearly, though a massive silhouette could be faintly discerned. What was certain was that a terrifying monster inside was feasting, constantly absorbing the energy spilling out around it.
Then something even stranger happened. The metal weapon-covered ground was rapidly coated in a layer of Crystal, and the weapons themselves quickly decayed, corroded with tiny pits. From those small Rift grew things that should not exist here.
Were they plants? It did not seem so, as their surfaces were covered with fine scales, their bodies made entirely of Crystal, with leaf veins visible inside. The ground began to rumble for another existence, as sprouts emerging from Rift grew rapidly, consuming heat, metal, and everything around them as nourishment.
They spread like mad, becoming vines, then thick trees, and finally rising into a strange and gorgeous forest of Crystal. Huge Crystal structures entwined with bizarre plants kept rising, forming towering spires one after another. This strange ecosystem spread outward at an astonishing speed, and in a short time, a peculiar patch appeared on the planet.
What the hell is this?
A huge question formed, but the God of Scars did not intend to sit idle. He sensed that those bizarre things were rapidly eroding his domain. Even if he could not understand how they could erode a planet made of scars and weapon concepts, confirming that the enemy was not dead and was still causing trouble meant there was no need to hesitate.
"Roar!!!"
Under the roar of the the Lord of this domain, the orbital weapon platforms circling in the asteroid belt slowly turned, and the other two satellites began to approach the the Lord planet. On the planet itself, forbidden powers buried deep underground were unsealed, the surface split open with Rend into several vicious Rift, while sun-like brilliance shone from one side.
These were massive missile arrays and various laser weapons. The previous world had been blasted into ruin long ago, its rules shattered into Shard, making many weapons unusable. After seeing that Belial was unaffected by the remaining rule-based weapons, it adjusted to its Authority traits and manifested the domain as weapons that relied purely on kinetic force and heat.
The first wave of attacks targeted the proliferating Crystal ecosystem, with orbital strikes falling from the sky and swarms of Magic Fusion Bomb denser than rainfall streaking across the horizon. Warships and megastructures unleashed bombardment, including mass strikes hitting the ground at over a hundred Mach, massive laser beams, and decay warheads all fired together.
Countless flashes and scorching heat became the first gift given to this new Crystal ecosystem, delivered with overwhelming enthusiasm. Since it was a gift, it was only right to accept it all.
"Then I won't hold back, ah…!"
Countless blazing lights turned into huge fireballs that scattered and ravaged the land, and the extreme heat and spreading energy shockwaves swallowed every inch without mercy. Even underground was not spared, as orbital strikes from the sky and bunker-busting missiles detonated below wiped everything clean. Even the underground Crystal roots were cleared out, forests and mountains were set ablaze, and High Tower collapsed.
But it was not over yet, because the bombardment aimed at total cleansing did not stop and instead grew even fiercer. The God of Scars had survived to this day precisely because of this level of caution. Even Belial had to admit that an initial ecosystem built only for expansion could not withstand such high-intensity attacks.
However, that was only true if he did nothing to guide it. "Since ordinary ecology cannot adapt to this environment for now, then it just needs to evolve."
Chewing on Nuclear Rice inside nuclear explosions, Belial focused his will and activated his Ecological Corrosion ability, letting strands of black mist spread from his body. As long as it evolved far enough to adapt, the time ordinary life needed for evolution was meaningless to him. The so-called G cells dismissed such concerns entirely and treated them as insults to intelligence.
To begin with, Belial's Ecological Corrosion environment was formed by combining traits from several different Godzilla. It represented a planetary plant ecosystem, Space-based Crystal bodies, and inorganic corrosion all at once. Darkness, in the simplest sense, meant stronger recovery and greater immortality.
The law of conservation of matter was not absolute in this world, but the current attacks had clearly not reached that threshold. The destroyed Crystal environment and terrain were not truly erased. Instead, they persisted in a strange state far smaller than fine dust, forming microscopic Crystal bodies surrounded by faint magnetic fields and energy fluctuations that filled the air and debris.
Centered on Belial, an ecosystem survived in an alternate form, rapidly absorbing energy and analyzing incoming data to choose the most suitable path of evolution. Unlike the earlier bright and radiant Crystal, black coloration began to spread rapidly, standing out even amid light and heat. "Alright, this will do."
After finalizing his intent, Belial rubbed his hands together and got to work.
"...?" While still controlling the entire Weapon Planet and carrying out saturation bombardment, The God of Scars suddenly froze for a moment. Something had become impossible to ignore.
Amid the endless explosions, a mountain slowly emerged. Its surface was pitch-black, jagged, and covered in mottled scars, and although The God of Scars had no idea what it was, he immediately decided to strike it once the anomaly was confirmed. Under dense firepower, the black mountain crumbled inch by inch, yet it regrew even faster, and the damage from the bombardment kept decreasing.
"Roar..." Two more mountains rose from the ground, moving like living beings. They even began to form structures resembling heads and limbs, with blockbuster-like dorsal spines protruding from their backs.
The leading one seemed to open its mouth and let out a low roar, then triggered something like a self-destruction switch. Giant Crystal peaks burst from the ground and spread outward like waves. The largest one took a step forward as Crystal forests and plant forms spread beneath its feet, while another became shrouded in aurora-like colors before being dyed into terrifying black.
The incoming heat and firepower were now completely swallowed, like mud sinking into the sea. Even when parts were destroyed, they regenerated at extreme speed and grew more luxuriant than before. "Ugh...!!!"
The largest peak was not a mountain at all but a near-living construct made of densely compressed Crystal. Thick fiber-like structures bulged across its surface, its color settling into deep dark green. Standing upright like a dinosaur with a mountain on its back, it lifted its head and opened its mouth as electric light surged through its fibers, releasing a powerful Electromagnetic Pulse.
"Roar!!!" The instantly fired Charged Particle Cannon swept across space, detonating several massive electromagnetic rail cannons far away. Metal mountain ranges along its path were pierced and melted into a vast crater.
That roar also carried a strange force, producing visible ripples in the airless Void and shattering the dense incoming barrage into fragments. The newborn Crystal ecosystem spread like a virus, far more aggressive than before, while the mountain-born giant continued to grow as it walked, surpassing two hundred meters in height.
From the forests flew dragon-like creatures and various strange beasts that charged forward under the giant's command toward defensive lines formed by countless artillery units. Orbital platforms tried to intercept them from above, only to be detonated by chaotic orange-red lightning. The resulting fireballs swallowed several kilometers at once.
The lightning triggered chain reactions that carved out a blockbuster-scale vacuum zone in midair. The virus-like Crystal ecosystem had even spread across the asteroid belt. Weapons platforms and warships corrupted by Crystal immediately turned their guns on untouched areas, firing shells composed of the same microscopic Crystal particles, accelerating the spread even further.
Dozens of warships breaking free from asteroids attempted to purge the Crystal zone with maximum firepower, but it was clearly futile. A meteor hundreds of meters wide, covered in sharp Crystal spikes, smashed through multiple warships in an instant. Hulls and armor tore apart under its kinetic force as if made of paper.
Orange-red lightning erupted from its spikes, dragging everything into a sea of destruction. From the resulting vortex emerged a giant beast over a hundred meters tall, with massive Crystal structures on its shoulders. It roared, unleashing blazing white Lightning Magic while the expanding Photon Reflection Shield swallowed incoming energy attacks.