Chapter 672.5: The Secret of the Catachan Demons
Although she was a bit bummed about not claiming more spoils, she still couldn't help but give a thumbs-up to the Subdragons chasing down the Catachan Demons.
"Come on, everyone, go for it!"
"I'm counting on you to refill my lair with gold coins!"
The battle atop Aso Volcano was gradually coming to an end.
Fewer than a quarter of the Catachan Demons managed to escape into the volcano's cracks and caves, and the Subdragons were chasing them down relentlessly.
The rest had already become spoils and merit for Bay Territory.
Meanwhile, the fighting around the volcano's perimeter—
Was growing more intense.
The twisted plants and monsters that had received orders to attack at all costs surged forward actively or were driven to charge.
But Bay Territory's army, already prepared, followed their combat plan to the letter, executing effective and well-practiced steps.
Raise high walls!
Using the high-quality volcanic ash and volcanic rock from Aso Volcano—
They mass-produced incredibly strong, high-quality magical cement.
With it, they began constructing a massive wall to surround the entire volcano.
Set up cannons!
Even for a force as mighty and armed as the Catachan Warriors, without sufficient area-damage weapons—
It was hard to rely solely on bare walls to withstand their assault.
If the enemy launched an all-out offensive—
Failure was inevitable.
So the wall construction had to be supported by firepower, gradually advancing and expanding with cannon cover.
Building walls and deploying artillery simultaneously was also an extremely efficient way to push forward.
With artillery support, the combat troops could conserve time and energy, face fewer enemies, and reduce risk.
Even twisted monsters and plants couldn't stop Bay Territory's advance under such dense firepower.
The Bay Territory army had already taken part of Aso Volcano.
Now they were expanding outward on both sides, aiming to fully surround and occupy it.
However, clearing out the twisted creatures while also conducting intense construction work—
Left the vanguard a bit short-handed.
So calling reinforcements was the obvious solution!
Besides, there weren't that many twisted creatures or plants at the moment.
The battle wasn't especially fierce.
The pressure was still within manageable limits.
It was the perfect time for Bay Territory's newly trained soldiers to arrive and get some live combat experience.
And for some exhausted troops, a chance to rest and adjust.
To prepare for the fierce fighting that was sure to come.
Bay Territory's battle plan had been ready for a while, and they'd even rehearsed the mission execution videos in advance.
Matthew, who had originally planned to join the battle himself, now saw the outstanding performance of the Subdragons and Yaya No.1 and instead focused more on helping Angela with battle planning and deployment.
The roar of cannons echoed constantly.
The howls and screeches of the twisted monsters rang out around Aso Volcano.
In the city rising from the ground—
Various structures were being steadily completed under the construction of engineering golems.
At the center of the empty city—
A massive teleportation zone continued to deliver materials and a growing number of soldiers and professionals.
In the operations war room next to the teleportation zone—
Angela was carefully studying the overall battle movement map.
The green dots representing Bay Territory had already secured nearly half the volcano's base.
Their U-shaped horseshoe formation was about to close into an irregular circle.
Unit leaders were rapidly reporting on the progress of their assignments.
"Wall construction is 47.5% complete. Structural strength is up to standard, firepower deployment is up to standard, ahead of schedule by 2 hours and 32 minutes."
"Material transportation is 11.7% complete. Types and quality of materials are up to standard, ahead of schedule by 12 minutes."
"Scouting operations are 67.3% complete. Patrol density and intel feedback are up to standard, ahead of schedule by 37 minutes."
"Aso Volcano occupation is 91.75% complete. One Legendary Catachan Demon and six others remain. They are suspected to be controlled and hiding in crevices inside the volcano. We are ahead of schedule by 4 hours and 12 minutes."
"Soldier teleportation is 22.15% complete. Soldier type and evaluation meet standards, ahead of schedule by 18 minutes."
"Golem construction tasks..."
"Wounded treatment and placement tasks..."
"Adventurer recruitment and teleportation tasks..."
"Magic circle construction tasks..."
"..."
Nearly all operational teams were ahead of schedule.
Angela, whose heart had been tightly wound, finally relaxed a little. But she didn't show it outwardly. Instead, she issued even stricter and more rational orders based on each unit's performance:
"We must gather more experience and do even better, even faster!"
She didn't issue new plan adjustments herself but delegated that authority to each task leader for finer tuning.
Angela had a more critical mission:
To draft and refine the battle plans and objectives for the next incoming wave of twisted monsters.
The previous plans had been thrown off by numerous variable factors and required timely adjustments.
Changes in Bay Territory soldiers' combat power, new magic artillery formations, adjustments in Wyvern battle roles—
All had to be re-evaluated and redistributed.
Though Bay Territory's forces were strong, they weren't infinite!
The seemingly endless twisted monsters kept getting stomped by Bay Territory.
Which only highlighted the importance of well-executed strategy and task division.
Even if all you do is spam attacks!
Subtle adjustments can make a world of difference.
After many battles, Angela's command and strategy skills had impressed Matthew greatly.
He soon shifted his focus to something else—Yaya's discovery.
A giant Catachan Demon nest!
Bay Territory had long suspected the existence of such a nest in Aso Volcano.
After all, many Subdragons could fly.
Once safety and stealth were ensured, those Subdragons had scouted the area extensively.
Over more than a year, they'd mapped much of the surrounding thousand kilometers.
Naturally, Aso Volcano became a top scouting priority.
In a half-plane almost entirely swallowed by jungle—
Apart from essential rivers, no significant geographical features existed.
Except this volcano!
Even more telling, Subdragons had frequently spotted active Catachan Demons on its surface.
Seeing so many of these elusive creatures here made the implications clear.
So when planning their strategy, Bay Territory made special note of the possible presence of a large nest here.
And what's more, Yaya piloting Yaya No.1 hadn't hunted these demons just for gold.
She aimed to reduce their numbers and combat power—
While gathering valuable data on their lairs and behaviors.
Matthew analyzed the information collected by Yaya and Orianna and formed a bold hypothesis.
That Aso Volcano housed a "special" Catachan Demon nest.
Now half-confirmed: the nest was huge.
But Matthew believed there was more to the story.
It wasn't just about size!
Without hesitation, Matthew headed to the location Yaya had discovered.
Surprisingly, it wasn't the distinctive volcano crater but a hidden cave at the mountain's base.
Yaya didn't stumble upon it by luck. She had tracked the last remaining Legendary Catachan Demon straight to it.
Holding the barely-alive demon in her claws, she bragged excitedly to Matthew:
"Its scent, clumsy digging technique, the noise it made, and its obvious baiting trick—I saw right through it all."
"This guy never had a chance!"
Matthew praised her without hesitation and handed over the promised 2 million gold coins.
As Yaya cheered in delight, Matthew took the demon's still-struggling head and stared into its twisted, blood-red eyes.
Cold.
Calm.
Matthew's teasing voice came through the thunder-armored loudspeaker:
"I know you're self-aware. That's what makes you my favorite kind of opponent."
"This is just Bay Territory's welcome gift."
"Whether it surprised or scared you—just accept it."
"Because this is the last bit of peace you'll ever have."
Then, without waiting for a response, Matthew twisted the demon's head clean off.
As Yaya stored the twitching body and caught the severed head, she asked curiously:
"Why tell them we already know they exist?"
Matthew just winked and, instead of speaking, answered through their bond as he walked deeper into the nest:
"Simple—whatever reaction they make will shift them from their preferred combat style."
"And that's a huge advantage for us."
"Change isn't always good!"
Yaya, remembering the distorted monsters, nodded in realization.
Matthew stepped into the dark, damp underground nest.
The first thing he saw—damaged giant white eggs.
"Catachan Demon Eggs. Extraordinary peak-tier. Damaged."
Though some were ruined—
Matthew still gathered plenty of data from the remnants.
Thanks to Yaya's timely arrival, the Legendary Demon hadn't destroyed all of them.
Six undamaged eggs remained.
And contrary to expectation, the intact eggs weren't grotesque or twisted.
They just looked like oversized chicken eggs—
Except with fleshy tubes feeding nutrients into them.
Exactly what Matthew had suspected.
He'd done deep research on the demons' bodies—
Discovering not just powerful organs but something else curious:
Nearly all of them were incredibly "young."
Not in maturity—
But in actual age.
The youngest one was just 1 year and 9 months old.
The oldest, strongest one—only 8 years and 7 months.
That's old for many magical beings—some would already be grandfathers.
But for extraordinary-tier monsters like Catachan Demons?
Shockingly young!
And the reason was clear.
They could go from birth to fully-grown and battle-ready in under 18 months!
Sometimes even faster!
Bay Territory's meat pigs grew slower than that!
To Bay Territory's druids and researchers, this was an alarming revelation.
Growth and development in creatures—
Didn't always rely on "normal" methods!
These giant eggs and their half-formed contents gave Matthew plenty of surprises.
"These things really are just like bug monsters from all those games."
"Fast-growing, fast-morphing, easy to control—ideal weapons."
But Matthew didn't care about their combat use.
Sure, they were dangerous monsters—
With terrifying ambush strength in jungle terrain.
But they had glaring weaknesses and no countermeasures.
They were decent backup troops—
But terrible mainline units.
"Count on them every year, and they'll disappoint you every time."
"These guys are only good for latching onto stronger allies—they can't carry the field alone."
Still, Matthew had another reason to be intrigued—
The substances being pumped into the eggs through those nutrient tubes.
He recognized one dangerous, familiar substance!
From the New World—the mutagen from the Spore Wyverns!