Sebastian's age alone made the situation difficult to comprehend. He came from a remote region, and he was no prophetic figure blessed with omniscience. Across the entire Endless Star Territory, countless civilizations had studied this mystery for millions of years without uncovering the truth. Under normal circumstances, Sebastian could never have deduced it on his own.
But he possessed the System. And through the System's relentless calculations and deductions, the answer became startlingly clear. The number of Abyss Demons was so small because only a handful could survive the process that created them.
"Do you know what the Gu Theory is?" Sebastian asked, offering only a small hint.
"Gu Theory?" The unfamiliar term left everyone stunned. It was obvious that most of them had never encountered the concept before. Sebastian himself was slightly surprised; maybe this practice did not exist here.
After a brief silence, an old Level 3 Planetary Lord spoke up. "I have heard of something similar on a remote, primitive Planet."
All eyes turned toward him.
"There is a savage world inhabited by a race that grows Gu worms," he continued slowly. "These creatures are not born naturally. Instead, thousands of insects are placed within a sealed environment. To survive, they slaughter and devour one another. The killing continues until only a single worm remains alive."
He paused, his voice growing heavier. "That final survivor is called the Gu worm."
A chill swept through the room. The explanation had been brief, but everyone present was a creator who had personally cultivated species on their own planets. They understood exactly how horrifying such a process would be. To emerge as the sole survivor from thousands of competitors required unimaginable brutality.
"Killing machines," Sergey said in a low voice. "A worm raised in that manner possesses no emotion, no weakness, no fear… and almost no flaws. Its combat instincts become terrifyingly sharp. It is cunning, patient, and calm. It will never give you an opportunity, yet it will seize every opportunity you reveal. Its entire existence is devoted to killing."
"So, Captain…" Kanna looked toward Sebastian. "Are these Abyss Demons created through the method of raising Gu?"
"Correct." Sebastian nodded.
The atmosphere instantly became oppressive. Everyone had already estimated the Abyss Demons' strength, but hearing the truth made them realize their previous estimates had been too optimistic. The enemy was even more terrifying than they had imagined. The battle ahead would be unimaginably difficult, yet retreat was no longer an option. The war had already begun.
"Captain, I recommend a fully defensive strategy, with counterattacks only when opportunities appear," Bailey said. Her experience made her cautious; she feared that the younger Planetary Lords might be tempted into a reckless confrontation.
Now everyone understood why, during the war millions of years ago, so many fortresses had been constructed. The only viable answer had been to transform the battlefield into a defensive grind and force the enemy to attack prepared positions. If they fought the Abyss Demons head-on, even the strongest would eventually be overwhelmed, and most other races would be slaughtered outright.
"Captain, we should fight defensively," Augustus agreed. Earlier, he had felt frustration and humiliation after watching his units be crushed, but the explanation had startled him.
Sergey added, "There are probably very few species capable of resisting the Demons in a direct clash. The Golden Dragon is certainly one of them. However, the Golden Dragons Augustus has tended to have not yet reached their true peak, so they cannot stand against the Demons on equal footing."
The words sounded comforting, yet they carried a deeper warning: Augustus was extraordinarily talented, and the Golden Dragon race possessed immense potential, but compared with the legendary dragons developed by the greatest Planetary Lords of ancient eras, he still had a long road ahead.
"Augustus, do you still possess the Sacrifice Scroll?" Lando asked.
Everyone immediately looked toward him. During the finals of the Star Competition, Augustus had once used a Sacrifice Scroll to summon an incomparably powerful dragon whose combat strength far exceeded others of the same level. That creature had also possessed astonishing regenerative abilities. If such a monster could appear again, perhaps it might contend with the Demons.
"There are no scrolls left," Augustus replied helplessly. "I only had one. And even if another existed, I no longer have enough dragons to use it properly."
Bitterness crept into his voice. In the finals, the core dragon army he had painstakingly built had been annihilated by the bomb launched by the Astra Militarum. The explosion had erased everything so completely that not even ash remained.
"That is unfortunate," Kanna, Jörn, Sergey, Lando, and the others said with genuine regret. If they could confront the enemy directly, none of them would choose to hide behind walls and endure a beating.
Sebastian finally made his decision. "Assume defensive positions and wait for the enemy to attack."
The order spread across the battlefield. The Golden Dragons understood the situation as well. Realizing that they could not match the Demons in frontal combat, they abandoned their usual pride and descended from the sky, tightening their formation.
Nearby, the Wine Pandas and Bear Warriors had already established a defensive line. Together with the Golden Dragons, they formed mutually supporting positions. After witnessing the dragons nearly wiped out in a single exchange, those two races were even more terrified; none of them dared act recklessly.
"We may be weaker in close combat," Kanna reminded everyone, "but we still possess long-range firepower. The Ice Moon Elves and the Frost Ice Spirits can continue launching attacks from a distance."
Her words brought a faint glimmer of hope to the otherwise suffocating battlefield.