The "Demon King" followed the scent trail left by the Gold Crown Diablos across the Desert, while the Knowledge Seeker hovered close overhead and never strayed far from it.
This continued for several days. The group followed the pair from the barren sand sea in the western Great Desert to the rocky terrain of the north-central region, where stone shelves and outcrops stretched across the landscape.
The female Gold Crown Diablos, not yet fully transformed into a Black Diablos but with her carapace already noticeably darker, finally returned to her original nest.
It lay within a labyrinthine network of rocky caves.
Dark-red sandstone blocked the dry, powerful winds blowing in from deep within the sand sea. Small amounts of nutrients had accumulated around the caves, forming a thin layer of topsoil, while an underground river supplied the area with water and created a sizable oasis around the rocky hills.
Large plants such as trees still could not grow there, but thorny shrubs, creeping vines, cacti, and other drought-resistant plants were everywhere.
Adhesive termites and dung beetles crawled through the shade cast by the desert plants. Palm-sized lizards basked on the rocks, and even traces of Kelbi could be seen near the small pools.
Compared with the barren sand sea, where someone could walk for days without seeing a trace of green, this place was a paradise teeming with life.
(It felt much like the Wildspire Waste.)
The Gold Crown Diablos had gone days without food or water. She gorged herself on shrubs and cacti, then slipped into a semi-open cave, curled up, and entered a dormant state.
With ample water and food, as well as comfortable shelter from the wind and sand, the caves in this oasis were the ideal nesting ground for a Diablos.
Only an individual as powerful as a Gold Crown Diablos could win such a coveted site through repeated competition.
As they studied the lush oasis with its abundant water and vegetation, the scholars aboard the Knowledge Seeker once again let their imaginations run wild.
Diablos were typically solitary creatures, with no concept of forming families or sharing territory.
Could the "Demon King" have followed the Gold Crown Diablos from a distance so it could find her home and claim it for itself?
Such behavior might seem unethical by human standards, but Monsters did not concern themselves with morality. In nature, the strong preyed on the weak.
However, the "Demon King's" next move once again defied the scholars' expectations.
It did not charge into the Gold Crown Diablos's nest, thrash her, and drive her out, as many had expected.
Instead, it wandered around the oasis, found enough food to satisfy its own ravenous hunger, then lay down wherever it pleased and went to sleep as well.
This unusual behavior prompted some of the younger scholars aboard the Knowledge Seeker to propose another theory.
Could the "Demon King" actually be an exceptionally responsible father?
Perhaps finding a suitably large mate had been difficult, so it had followed her all this way to stand guard at the pregnant female Diablos's den and ensure their offspring were born safely.
Alva dismissed the theory as nothing more than human logic.
From a human perspective, the idea was logical and, on the whole, fairly reasonable.
From a Diablos's perspective, however, their simple minds and fiercely independent tempers made such a tender decision almost inconceivable.
The Hunters reached much the same conclusion as Alva.
In their view, the "Demon King" was a violent wanderer without even a fixed territory. The idea that it had traveled all this way simply to serve as a devoted guardian of its family seemed difficult to believe.
It was more than a little naive...
The Hunters were not particularly concerned with the real reason behind the "Demon King's" abnormal behavior. Their attention was fixed entirely on the oasis.
Compared with the soft sand outside, which offered no cover, made movement difficult, and could swallow their feet if they stepped carelessly, this oasis was an ideal battlefield.
The firmer ground would make it easier to walk, run, and put their full strength behind an attack. The giant boulders and rock shelves scattered throughout the area could obstruct an enemy's charge, while the connected expanses of solid rock could block any attempt to ambush them from underground.
If they could fight the "Demon King" here, their chances of victory would be at least twenty to thirty percent higher than in the open Desert.
Naturally, the Hunters had no intention of passing up such a perfect battleground. After a brief discussion with Alva and the others, they set to work.
The Knowledge Seeker continued hovering high overhead as their main base.
—--
Meanwhile, the main squad's four Hunters loaded all their equipment, a large stock of provisions and ammo, and items such as traps aboard a small Airship, then descended to the ground.
They found a cave whose entrance was too narrow for a Diablos to squeeze through and established a temporary camp inside, where they could store supplies too cumbersome to carry with them.
After that, they split up.
Isis remained at the temporary camp to unload and organize the supplies and pitch the tent.
Her equipment and fighting style made her ill-suited to reconnaissance, but she was highly skilled at setting up camp.
Morgan used the Clutch Claw mounted on his Slinger to scale the tallest rocky hill in the oasis. As a Gunner, he needed a commanding view of the battlefield so he could identify suitable firing positions in each area.
Sajji and Clawdia searched the outskirts of the oasis for places to set Pitfall Traps. Those sites had to be chosen in advance because they were crucial to the retreat route.
Given the "Demon King's" size and strength, such traps would not hold it for long, but even a few seconds would give the Hunters a precious opening.
Altaïr and Serl had been assigned more demanding and dangerous tasks.
First, they carefully explored the entire oasis on foot. Its overall layout was easy to see from the air, but many areas with sharp differences in elevation could not be properly understood without walking through them.
Then came the most dangerous part.
The two donned their Ghillie Mantles and quietly slipped into the Gold Crown Diablos's nest.
They needed to examine her condition at close range because it would directly affect their plans for the upcoming Hunt.
They moved as softly and slowly as possible, closing the distance little by little. Both were prepared for the sound of their footsteps to wake her and force an emergency retreat. A Diablos's hearing was famously keen, after all.
The good news was that the Gold Crown Diablos was sleeping deeply, her breathing slow and even. They reached the side of her head without provoking the slightest movement.
They could observe her at their leisure.
The bad news was that her coloration had changed dramatically in the space of half a day.
Her carapace had previously been a dull grayish yellow. Now it was dark gray, almost black.
Clearly, she had rushed into a deep dormant state as soon as she returned to her nest in order to accelerate the transformation. It would not be long now, perhaps half a day, perhaps a full day.
By the time she woke again, she would be a Black Diablos.
After confirming the Diablos's condition, the two withdrew with heavy hearts and returned to the temporary camp.
Morgan had arrived a little earlier and was already disassembling his weapon for maintenance.
Isis had finished setting up camp some time ago and lit a fire. With nothing else to do, she had boiled a pot of water and blanched two cactus stalks.
She remembered Altaïr saying that this would remove most of their bitterness, and she was now peeling off the skin with a small knife as she ate.
Altaïr ignored her snacking and focused on the two new arrivals in camp. Alva and Alma had somehow left the Knowledge Seeker high overhead and made their way down.
When Altaïr opened his mouth to speak, Alva cut in first. "Having a Handler here to support you in every respect should make things easier, shouldn't it?
"As for the female Diablos, I have the authority to issue a temporary hunting permit on the Guild's behalf, allowing you to fight her without restriction.
"And as for our safety, don't worry. We're good at running away."
"...All right." Altaïr decided not to dwell on why the two of them were there. "That female Diablos has nearly completed her transformation. She'll become a Black Diablos soon.
"We discussed it on the way back and decided that we should begin the Hunt as soon as possible. Otherwise, she might complete the transformation and become even more troublesome."
Alva wore an expression that said he had expected as much. After a moment's thought, he said, "Hmm. Actually... I would advise you to wait a little longer.
"Miss Alma just proposed another theory. It sounds somewhat far-fetched, but based on my observations of the 'Demon King' over the past several days, I believe it might actually be possible."
"What is it?"
"An ordinary Diablos, even a Gold Crown specimen, is no match for the 'Demon King,' correct? Is it possible that the 'Demon King' mated with that Gold Crown female not to reproduce...
"But to create a stronger opponent for itself?"
"?"