Belial had figured something out a long time ago. You know how in web novels, they always say things like "the deeper you go into the forest, the stronger the monsters get"? Turns out, that's not really how it works.
After crossing over into this world and doing some exploring himself, he realized there was no neat little structure like that.
Sure, the strength of monsters varied from place to place, but there wasn't some magical rule where the deeper you went, the scarier the creatures became.
And thinking about it, that actually made sense. If something got stronger, why would it just stay put in some deep, dark corner forever?
Why not move around? Roam the land?
There's no real benefit to hiding in some remote zone unless it wants to. Otherwise, why stay there?
He had been flying for quite a while now. The monsters he'd seen along the way came in all shapes and sizes, with no real pattern in terms of strength.
Some were strong, some were weak, and it didn't matter how far he went, it was all mixed up.
His ability to sense magic had gotten a lot sharper lately. He couldn't tell you exact numbers, but he could clearly feel when an area had more or less mana in the air. And yeah, places with a lot of mana usually had stronger monsters, but it wasn't like mana made them strong.
It was more like they were drawn to it. Not that it was always the case. He'd seen tough creatures hanging around dead zones before too.
Even animals do weird stuff sometimes. Birds don't always poop in the same places, after all.
Eventually, Belial started to notice the temperature dropping. The higher he flew, the colder it got.
Cold winds tore through the sky, and even though the chill couldn't hurt him thanks to his resistance, ice still formed on his scales, clinging to the tips of his wings.
His normally dark, gray-black body was now dusted white with frost, and the clouds around him were getting heavier and darker.
"It's snowing," he muttered.
The further he flew, the thicker the snow became. His body didn't care about the cold, but his visibility was starting to take a hit.
Still, there was a small spark of excitement. Back in his old life, he had lived on tropical country and had never seen snow before.
This was his first time seeing it with his own eyes. This world had a sky, a sun, and a moon—none of that fantasy nonsense about flat planets.
It worked a lot like Earth. He was probably flying toward one of the poles now—north or south, he couldn't say for sure.
The planet itself was way bigger than his old one. He had already flown over a thousand kilometers and hadn't seen much change. There weren't many people around, and the gravity felt about the same.
"…Is that a Mammorest?"
He dropped altitude a bit. The snow-covered ground below looked bleak and empty. Trees were sparse, and even the leaves on them looked off, more black than green.
From above, the whole scene looked drained of color, just black and white stretched across the land.
A herd of giant creatures marched across the open snowfield. There had to be a few dozen of them. They were huge, bigger than any elephant he'd seen back on Earth.
Their bodies were coated in thick gray-white fur, and the fronts of their heads were shielded by big bony plates. Their tusks curved down and flattened out at the ends, kind of like shovels.
They reminded him of Mammorests, but not quite. They were close, just… off.
"So this really is another world," he said to himself. "Weird."
His vision was sharp, better than any hawk's. Even in a snowstorm, he could make out every detail. But what caught his attention wasn't how they looked. It was how a place this empty could support a herd that size.
Assuming they were herbivores like Earth's Mammorests, they'd need to eat a lot, dozens of kilos of plants every day, not to mention how much waste they'd leave behind.
If all of them stayed together in one spot for too long, wouldn't they just wreck the ecosystem?
Belial didn't have the answers, but one thing was clear.
"In order to protect the environment, I'll have to take action."
***
"Grrr…" The sound echoed faintly.
The Mammorest Alpha paused mid-charge, its massive legs digging into the snow. Something had growled nearby. For something to get that near without being noticed... it shouldn't have been possible.
Then came the roar.
A crack of power split the air, followed by a bone-deep rumble. The Mammorest's instincts screamed louder than any command. It stopped cold, its huge frame trembling slightly.
It didn't understand what it was sensing, only that it was wrong.
Their kind weren't built to look up. Eyes low, heads down, they followed ground tremors and scent trails.
Vision was poor, but hearing? That was sharp. And what it heard now was unlike anything before.
It was the sound of something huge, slicing through the sky with unnatural speed.
Then it felt it. A pressure. Crushing and absolute.
Like a giant hand had wrapped around its chest and begun to squeeze. Its tiny eyes widened in sheer panic. Breathing became hard. The air felt too thick. Too heavy.
It tried to call out, to warn the others, but it's Too late.
The sky above exploded.
Snow was blasted outward in a violent ring as a monstrous shape came crashing down like a divine punishment.
The Mammorest's entire body froze as the storm clouds parted for just a second, revealing a silhouette so massive it didn't make sense.
"ROARRRR!!!"
The roar was the sound of the world ending. It shook the snow, the air, even the Mammorest's bones.
Wings spread wide like curtains over the sky, horns like frozen spears, and eyes that burned through the blizzard. The dragon's body was wrapped in frost. Its mouth, black as a bottomless pit, stretched open like it could swallow the world.
The Mammorest couldn't move. It didn't matter how big it was. It didn't matter that it was the Alpha.
Against that thing, it wasn't a predator. It was prey. And prey don't fight gods.
It squinted, trying to make out the dragon's form through the swirling snow.
Was it raising a claw? Was it just shifting? It didn't matter. The snow only offered half a view, just enough for terror to take full root.
The Mammorest didn't know what was coming next. Only that it wouldn't survive it.