Another close-range flame impact blasted Belial backward, and Fire of Decay fired scattered white beams directly from the wound in its chest.
"Damn it! You think you can bully me just because I cannot spray a bunch at once like that other guy?"
Belial fired back with Spiral Heat Ray, intercepting the beams midair. The Photon Reflection Shield propped up around him deflected several shots, but a few still hit his body.
The pain made him bare his teeth, and the situation worsened further. This Rodan was clearly breaking the rules by forcefully powering up, and after changing the color of its flaming skin, its threat level rose sharply.
Not only had its raw power increased, but its close combat became wild and relentless. The flames coating its body were not just extremely hot, they also weakened Belial's energy attacks like Spiral Heat Ray and Space Claw.
Belial's original plan was to drag things out, relying on the energy supply from the surrounding Crystal Domain and the rapid regeneration of his g-cells. In a long fight, he should have had the advantage, especially since Rodan looked half-dead from the start.
But several large-scale flame storm impacts not only destroyed his Crystal Domain, they left wounds that were hard to heal. Some kind of force lingered at the injuries, and combined with the growing internal energy chaos, it caused constant damage.
Now it looked like Belial was the one who could not last. He was only holding on thanks to the terrifying stats from stacking two templates, and without the boost from Wraith Constitution, even his space-g form might not have held up.
Worse still, due to his current energy state and repeated heavy firing earlier, his energy supply was starting to fall short. Still, he suddenly thought of a simple way to fight.
And it was a way to keep dragging things out.
"Where did you crawl out from, some dark supreme being? You stir up chaos, get attacked at your door, and then pull out a full extreme evolution?"
"If I do the same, how will you deal with it!"
"Roar!!!"
Fire of Decay pounced again, and despite its pterosaur-like shape, it suppressed Belial in close combat. The white flames covering it dealt constant area damage to everything nearby.
The two beings exchanged blows, shattering the surroundings of the Divine Kingdom, even grinding away at Laws.
"You sealed my healing, right? Then you do not heal either. Today I will use you as a blood pack!"
Belial hated enemies with fast recovery, and once his own healing was blocked, his temper snapped. The Black Dragon opened its ferocious jaws and bit straight into Fire of Decay's shoulder, tearing off a chunk of lava-like flesh.
He chewed it a few times and swallowed it whole. After rapid digestion, the massive energy surge lifted his spirits, and he fired a point-blank Spiral Heat Ray crackling with orange-red currents.
That was his crude but effective plan. If he ran out of energy, he would steal it from the other side.
Relying on his massive health pool, he stayed in close combat and bit into his enemy. A blow close to Corona Beam blasted away nearly half of Fire of Decay's head, yet it only let out an even more frenzied roar and slashed Belial's chest with a vicious claw, spraying blockbuster sparks.
Space Claw collided with the flame-wrapped claws. His legs braced, powerful arms locking down Fire of Decay's forelimbs, but his flexible tail, coated in crystal spikes, suddenly whipped overhead.
In an instant, it stabbed straight into the gaping wound in Fire of Decay's chest.
"Roar!!!!"
This wound was severe, with sharp crystals nearly piercing through its back. Behind Belial, energy light surged as he instinctively learned from Godzilla's traditional enemies.
He wrapped close and siphoned energy directly. Space-g crystals had strong energy absorption to begin with, and the ones growing on his own body were even stronger.
With his supply restored, Mephist ignored the cost and fired another point-blank Spiral Heat Ray. The explosion swallowed both of them in a massive shockwave of fire.
"Roar!!!"
Fueled by stolen energy and growing stronger as the fight went on, Belial forced Rodan to the ground. He drove his claws deep into its body and tore open a massive wound with Rend.
Unknown high-temperature matter poured out, and within its maddened mind, it evaluated the Black Dragon before it. Even after burning itself this far, it could not crush the opponent by sheer energy level, nor could it shake his underlying rule structure.
Belial felt that Fire of Decay was the one breaking the rules by powering up mid-fight. Yet from Fire of Decay's perspective, the one truly breaking the rules was the Black Dragon in front of it.
Without realizing it, Belial's own strength was growing at an extreme pace during the battle, otherwise he could never have kept up with the burning Fire of Decay. His resistance to high-temperature flames was also rising at an exaggerated rate.
By now, the flames were exponentially stronger than at the start. And yet this dragon was only being pushed back, not rendered unable to fight.
Worse still, it ignored the rules clinging to Fire of Decay's body and directly plundered its energy. Its already shattered soul was injured again, and the power flowing into the opponent was instantly stripped of will and fully absorbed, even its soul digested.
It was like someone else used your key to drive your car once, and afterward your own key no longer worked. It was absurd.
Even the power gained from sacrifice could not overwhelm the opponent, so what was the point of continuing. It also sensed that this dragon's bloodline was weak like an ant, yet its essence resembled beings of their own level.
There was something familiar about it. A newborn god, perhaps.
While its soul analyzed and its body fought, Fire of Decay finally felt its Authority touch something crucial within the opponent. It knew the outcome was decided.
I have won.
"Ugh…!"
A sudden flash erupted from Belial's body, sharp pain tearing through him as he was blasted away from Fire of Decay. Multiple wounds opened at once, and he stared in confusion.
I just copied the behavior. How did I copy the consequences too?
His expression changed immediately. The energy chaos that had once stayed near the surface now spread rapidly inward, as if breaking through a threshold and flooding his entire body.
Even vital internal areas were affected, with some energy storage organs torn apart by Rend and exploding inside him. The damage was severe.
"What is going on? Is the energy poisoned?"
In a single moment, bursts of destructive light exploded across his entire body.
It worked.
Fire of Decay's face twisted into a smile. During their repeated clashes, by pushing power into the opponent's body, it had searched for weaknesses.
What it found was shocking. These organs and this durability were not something a dragon should have.
Looking closer, it realized this was not even a true Great Dragon. It was an ancient, primitive dragon type from its era, and a flawed one at that.
The shock aside, it found the key to turning defeat into victory. Burning itself for power and shattering the Divine Kingdom for rule suppression was one path, but what if the concept of decay within Authority of Decay itself decayed?
Though cruel, this was a god's Authority, and for believers it could even be a Blessing. When that Blessing itself decayed, it turned into a curse.
This was the final curse of a dying god of decay, sacrificing everything, including soul, Divine Kingdom, and Authority.
"Roar!!!"
Another blazing white flame blast sent Belial flying. He spat blood midair, his internal condition worsening by the second.
Fire of Decay stood up again, its Rift shining brighter as it spread its wings and roared in premature victory. This was a victory of mechanics.
After realizing that external debuffs barely worked on the opponent, it chose another method. Since its Authority could not affect Belial directly, it changed the rule of judgment itself.
What if this was not a debuff at all?
Its past self, and even other beings of the same tier, would have found this approach unthinkable. Even after igniting itself and everything left, including the Divine Kingdom, it was not certain it could win before turning to ashes.
So it changed tactics. After igniting itself, it handed all of Authority of Decay and its remaining power directly to Belial.
That power was the true cause of the chaos inside him. While shocked by his internal structure, it also saw a dazzling reactor like a newborn star and grasped the key point.
This thing brought immense power, but it was a double-edged blade, a fragile balance. All Fire of Decay had to do was add a tiny weight.
"Ugh…"
Belial lay on the ground, destructive light surging across his body. Authority of Decay was causing his internal System to collapse, and multiple energy storage organs were decaying.
The situation was getting worse by the second. He could barely move, and even releasing simple energy carried huge risk, let alone fighting.
Even the spreading force began to decay the ice-based organs that formed part of his cooling System. Fire of Decay let out a cold laugh.
Good. Just like this.
Keep burning, decay like I did. Bury this Divine Kingdom with me in this empty gap.