Chapter 672: The Secret of the Catachan Demons
Crack!
A Catachan Demon lunged forward and bit hard onto Yaya-01's tail.
A sharp, grating screech pierced into Blackshell the Dragon Turtle Black Armor's ears.
He instinctively reacted, flinging off a Catachan Demon's tail and opening his mouth to unleash a stream of scorching breath.
Like molten lava, the breath slammed into the demon's head. The lethal heat and forceful impact knocked it aside.
"Nice teamwork!"
Orianna, slightly surprised, gave Blackshell a curious look.
Without even glancing back, she raised her foot and stomped the screaming demon beside her, snapping its neck, ignoring its twitching body as she rushed toward the next target.
Blackshell felt a spark of joy as he watched the smaller Yaya-01 rampaging through the horde of Catachan Demons.
The explosive strength and wild energy output were far beyond anything he had imagined.
He was utterly shocked—and strangely thrilled.
The shock was obvious.
He truly hadn't expected the Bay Territory's golem-mechanical modification tech to have advanced this far.
They could now create a being like Yaya-01, not at all inferior to peak Extraordinary dragon-blood creatures—maybe even stronger!
The thrill came from just that.
The Bay Territory's unexpected growth brought both joy and awe.
What he was most grateful for—
Was that he had, in time, aligned himself with the Bay Territory's pace, integrating gradually into their fold.
By watching Yaya-01 fight, Blackshell could already guess a lot.
Yaya-01 grabbed a Catachan Demon's neck with both hands and roasted its face with elemental breath.
Just like a fire dragon would do to an enemy or prey!
This method maximized the destructive power of the breath attack.
A brutally dominant finisher!
Yaya-01's execution was just as ferocious!
A legendary-tier Catachan Demon was snatched by the smaller Yaya-01.
It didn't even have the strength to struggle before its head was scorched off.
This killing power wasn't just from breath—it relied on another powerful move.
That was the long-tail wrap and bind!
Blackshell, always eager to learn everything the Bay Territory offered, had studied math, magical creature biology, anatomy, and other analytical disciplines.
At a glance, he saw that Yaya-01's muscular, powerful tail used the same mechanics and structure as the mighty Azure-Leg Serpent Subdragons.
A small form, low power usage, but explosively strong restraint force.
Also—Yaya-01's insanely tough back-shell defense!
As the one whose tech was used as a reference, Blackshell could see it even more clearly.
It wasn't just the ultra-dense defensive material, but the spikes, modular shock absorption, and even clever force-dissipating mechanics.
Just having the material—could that match his defense?
Hell no!
Yet on Yaya-01, Blackshell could clearly feel it.
The details and essence mimicked his own—and even improved in ways he hadn't considered.
This realization excited him beyond words.
It meant he could use similar enhancements to improve his own talents and strength.
This was his bloodline ability!
And he was confident he could break its ceiling and reach a new height.
Such upgrades thrilled him to no end!
Realizing how far the Bay Territory's tech had come, he fought with renewed enthusiasm.
What was the point of holding back?
His own skills probably had already been seen through by Lord Matthew!
The Bay Territory had already combined all "technology" and "power" to climb toward even greater peaks.
If he didn't step up, he'd miss the chance to keep up.
"Molten Armor!"
With a roar, Blackshell was suddenly clad in a red-hot layer of molten rock, charging into the horde right behind Yaya-01.
Despite his massive body, a closer look revealed that his four limbs were fully spread, with his belly tucked slightly inward.
His galloping movements had the feline coordination of a big cat.
Just a slight tweak to his physique—and his speed became astonishing.
Not just fast for a turtle!
Faster than nearly all Subdragons!
Like a lion in flaming armor, Blackshell slammed into a legendary Catachan Demon.
That massive 25-meter-long beast was actually knocked clean over!
Boiling lava splashed onto its grey armor, sizzling on contact.
The sheer impact stunned the legendary demon, leaving it numb.
Before it could recover, Blackshell displayed shocking agility, circling to its rear-right side.
A very deadly spot!
Because it was a blind zone for the Catachan Demon's vision and senses.
Where it sensed danger the slowest, most sluggishly!
The reason Blackshell knew this and could exploit it—
Was because he had full access to the Bay Territory's Catachan Demon data!
That exact spot was one of the demon's three vital weak points.
As the demon tried to lift its head and steady itself—
Blackshell bit down hard!
Crack!
The thick grey-black armor split wide open under his bite.
Corrosive blood spurted out, but only hissed lightly on Blackshell's body before vanishing.
The wounded demon shrieked, slashing with claws and stabbing with its venomous tail.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The claws dug into the molten armor, knocking loose chunks of glowing lava.
But Blackshell moved like he wasn't hurt at all, spinning skillfully.
He slammed his spiked flank into the demon's rear claw, the one supporting its body.
The impact flipped the demon over again.
Its rear half twisted unnaturally—one limb smashed nearly in half. With no support, it toppled.
Blackshell didn't give it a chance. As it struggled, he slammed into it again.
Boom!
The venomous tail jabbed, but like the claws, it only made a dull sound.
Though a chunk of armor broke off, the dark turtle shell beneath was untouched.
As the tail recoiled, Blackshell's limbs pulsed with mana, channeling into the lava-coated ground.
The ground suddenly cracked open.
A massive, dark-red lava hand rose and grabbed the immobilized demon.
It screamed as smoke rose from its burning body.
Blackshell took the opportunity—leaping high into the air.
He twisted midair—
And slammed down!
His spiked shell crashed onto the upper body of the demon.
The flailing demon shattered like glass, breaking into pieces with a crisp crash.
"The vitality of a Legendary Catachan Demon is incredibly tenacious. Even if its head and upper body suffer fatal injuries, it can still counterattack or survive."
Dragon Turtle Blackshell, keeping this in mind, stretched out his limbs covered in rough skin and pinned down the back of the Legendary Catachan Demon.
His downward-curving mouth suddenly opened wide!
Who can't breathe dragonfire?
"Roar...!"
Dragon Turtle Blackshell had once believed he had reached the peak of an ordinary Dragon Turtle, with no further path to advance in the Extraordinary tier.
Moreover, he was confident that his back-shell defensive techniques and capabilities had surpassed those of his ancestors, reaching a pinnacle.
Although his thinking had been a bit biased, after encountering Yaya and Matthew, he realized how mistaken he'd been.
But his strength was undeniable!
Challenge Level 24+ Commander!
In terms of concrete strength, he stood out like a crane among chickens compared to all the Subdragons captured by Bay Territory.
Matthew had seen his "extraordinary nature" with a single glance.
So Dragon Turtle Blackshell's belief that Matthew had already seen through him was actually correct.
How could there be such a strong Extraordinary "ordinary" Wyvern!
This was strength that even surpassed some Legendary beings!
Precisely because of this, Matthew placed high hopes on this batch of Subdragons, expecting them to deliver even more surprises.
At that moment, Matthew watched as Dragon Turtle Blackshell rose from the corpse of the Legendary Catachan Demon, a glimmer of emotion and wonder in his eyes.
"Well, well, a Dragon Turtle who's mastered new combat techniques? And can even perform self-evolutionary modifications to his body?"
"Although the degree of modification isn't huge, and the techniques aren't especially advanced, they're a perfect fit for his physique and traits."
"This is really interesting..."
Dragon Turtle Blackshell certainly hadn't expected that his all-out performance would surprise Matthew this much.
But even if he knew, he wouldn't worry—he'd just be more excited.
Because even Dragon Turtle Blackshell himself was shocked at the raw strength and destructive power he had just demonstrated.
"So I'm already this powerful?"
Pressing a paw on the struggling body of the Legendary Catachan Demon, Dragon Turtle Blackshell cheerfully tore off its limbs and tail, and dumped them all into his storage space.
Never in his wildest thoughts did he expect it.
The Legendary Catachan Demon, which should have been a formidable foe, ended up so feeble before him—barely putting up any real fight.
But when Dragon Turtle Blackshell looked over—
Yaya No.1 had just casually snapped another Catachan Demon's neck in the distance.
That's when he came to a realization.
That string of tight, powerful killer moves he'd unleashed earlier—
It wasn't just the result of habitual thinking and practice, but also his imitation and emulation of Yaya No.1's combat style.
Though he felt a bit conflicted about it, the real improvement in strength and combat ability still made him thrilled.
And he couldn't wait to charge toward the next Catachan Demon.
The more of them he killed, the more merit and rewards he could earn.
Maybe the many questions that had long troubled him would finally be answered by the Lord himself.
As for Dragon Turtle Blackshell's performance, quite a few Subdragons were surprised.
In their own fights with the Catachan Demons—
Although things were clearly easier than before—
None of them had achieved the kind of overwhelming dominance he had.
It wasn't until they noticed the number of Catachan Demons pouring out of Aso Volcano dwindling—
That some had even started retreating, diving back into the cracks and lairs of the volcano—
That they finally realized—
Dragon Turtle Blackshell was hogging all the merit!
"That guy was hiding this deep? We totally didn't see it coming."
"This battle is too important. He had no choice but to go all out."
"We need to snatch more merit too!"
"Damn right! That guy's probably been saving up tons of merit and perks, just waiting to pull ahead during this campaign."
"He's shown his hand! No more pretending!"
"Charge!!"
So, under Dragon Turtle Blackshell's lead, many Subdragons held nothing back anymore and launched full-force charges.
Having just taken down her fourth Legendary Catachan Demon, Yaya happily stuffed the corpse into her storage space.
She was about to hunt her next target when she realized—the battlefield around her had suddenly become empty.
What happened?
Where did all those Catachan Demons go?
You couldn't blame Yaya for being slow—
She had just been fighting one against four!
And even with the Legendary Catachan Demons' formidable vitality, she still took them all out one by one in under fifteen minutes.
And Yaya herself hadn't suffered much damage.
With power like that, she totally lived up to her status as a "Destined True Dragon" and her ability to crush Legendary Catachan Demons in every stat!