The effect was a sleek teardrop, shaped airflow field that wrapped around him, cutting wind resistance and boosting speed.
It also helped keep his posture stable in the air. He could even form little nozzles from magic to give himself a quick directional push when needed.
Since his appearance was pretty hard to miss, he recycled the steam spell from before. This time, he mixed in ice and lightning elements, tweaking the formula to do something new.
Fixing the spell into his airflow shell, he let it continuously release a dense curtain of mist. The ice and lightning gave it a crystalline texture, turning it into a thick cloud that clung to him like a personal fog.
It was a clever disguise, but flying fast made it tricky to keep steady. The icy mist and scattered lightning crackled through the air, sometimes lighting up around him like a moving thundercloud. The whole thing buzzed and shimmered, refracting light as he soared ahead.
From the outside, Belial looked like a living storm cloud tearing across the sky, thick, dark mist wrapped around him with streaks of blue and purple lightning flickering through.
It was the kind of image that stirred déjà vu. A dragon hidden in a thundercloud, flying at high speed, trailing lightning behind him… why did that feel so familiar? No, best not to dwell on it right now.
Despite his escape, Belial couldn't help feeling a little lost. He had no idea where he was headed or what he was supposed to do next.
Honestly, that confusion matched his mindset before he even crossed into this world. Back then, once a big event ended, he'd mentally shut down, like a kid reluctantly returning to school after a long break.
His current dilemma boiled down to one simple thing: he had no real plan.
His only long-term goal was to hide, grow stronger, and one day live a carefree life. That was it. No big ambitions, just quiet survival and maybe some fun.
He gave it some thought. Finding another spot rich in mana would be smart, but with how little he knew about this world, places like that were probably rare.
He'd already experienced how effective it was, and now that he'd had a taste, the idea of sleeping through his entire growth phase didn't sound so appealing anymore. With magic flowing steadily, he could evolve much faster.
Sure, his atomic furnace was already running, and even doing nothing but eating and napping would boost his power, but if there was more magic to absorb, why not speed things up?
He briefly considered whether shedding a scale or claw could be useful for crafting something, then quickly stopped himself. "Whoa… there I go again, almost diving straight into nonsense. How long has it even been, and I'm already thinking of stirring up trouble?"
Scrapping that idea, he made a clear decision: keep it low-key. Stay out of sight. Blend in.
Granted, being a thirty-meter-long dragon didn't exactly scream stealth, but hey, if he spoke politely and didn't act like a threat, maybe others wouldn't treat him like one.
That didn't mean avoiding all contact, though. He wouldn't mind chatting with someone intelligent, like a human. And first impressions meant everything.
So from now on, he figured he'd act a little more cautiously. After all, what he really wanted was a comfortable life, not endless battles or chasing some ultimate power.
Step one? No more eating like a black hole.
That earlier feeding frenzy that nearly collapsed an entire ecosystem. Yeah, not doing that again.
Not only was it way too easy to spot, but it also turned out to be a pain, hunting every time, sneaking around, risking exposure. Way too much work.
After experiencing how efficient absorbing ambient energy was, the old bite-chew-swallow method felt prehistoric. There had to be a better, lazier way to get stronger.
"Hmm... maybe there is." Belial scratched his head mid-flight.
He could copy Radon and chill near a volcano, soaking up heat from the lava. Lava wasn't a threat, not to someone who could withstand atmospheric re-entry.
Seriously, with the kind of durability Heisei Godzilla had, lava was like a warm bath.
There was actually one setting Belial remembered where humanity had managed to pull off something crazy, they came up with a way to reflect Godzilla's atomic breath right back at him.
The idea was to bounce the beam back using some high-tech barrier or reflector, hoping to catch him off guard.
What happened?
A flash of light, a huge explosion, and Godzilla dove underwater for a second. That was it. No screaming, no staggering. Just a short dip like he'd stubbed his toe and didn't feel like dealing with it.
But here's the wild part, reflecting the beam didn't just send it back—it actually amplified it. The blast came back stronger, like the reflection somehow gave it an extra kick. And Godzilla still took it like it was nothing.
Honestly, Belial wasn't sure how that even made sense. That kind of stat probably shouldn't work for normal creatures. But for Godzilla? It was just another Tuesday.
And now, Belial grinned to himself. He was pretty sure that logic applied to him too. If someone tried to bounce his beam back now, it'd only end up worse for them.
Still, tracking down a big enough, active volcano might be a challenge. And even if he found one, the energy gain might not be as impressive as last time.
For now, he decided to just go with the wind, literally. He could afford to wander. At his current level, he was basically a high-end boss monster. As long as he avoided any protagonist-looking people, he should be fine.
After all, normal folks wouldn't randomly pick a fight with someone who looked this majestic… right?
If only he could talk to people properly. The language barrier was still a huge issue.
So, he kept flying, propelled by his gravitational tornado and magic-fueled jets. He couldn't match Space Godzilla's Mach 3 speed yet, but cruising around 300 to 400 kilometers per hour wasn't bad.
Once he got used to it, he could probably go even faster.
That's when he really began to understand how massive this world was. He thought sweeping the skies would help him find some signs of civilization, but after flying for half a day, there wasn't a single human town in sight.
No intelligent life either, just a bunch of magical creatures. Most of them weren't worth his time. A single breath of his radioactive heat would be enough to wipe them out.
Not that it was surprising. He was basically a cheat code, built off a Space Godzilla DNA. If he couldn't beat random wild mobs, something would've gone very wrong.
That said, he figured it was best not to casually fire off radioactive blasts anymore. Nothing he'd run into so far was strong enough to need it, and it definitely wasn't efficient. It drained too much mana, and he wasn't sure if it even refilled itself afterward.
"Man, I'm still stuck in the basic brute role. I want to fire fancy beams too!"
Still, once he grew into a true cosmic menace, he'd be able to spam those beams to his heart's content. Now that was the life.