Chapter 635: Stepping into the Extraordinary
"Roar...!"
A deep and resonant roar surged in waves.
That sonic wave carried a strange psychic tremor, delivering a sudden blow to any unguarded prey.
Unfortunately, the Abyssal Demonfish didn't expect that what came knocking this time weren't unprepared, panicked meals, but a group of well-trained lethal hunters.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The psychic shockwaves only stirred ripples on the mana barriers. The residual mental tremors didn't affect the Dragon Warriors at all.
Before they came, they had already undergone psychic resistance training and mastered at least two psychic resistance feats.
Facing this soul-snatching Abyssal Demonfish, they withstood its first wave and immediately deployed large magical crossbows.
Dragon Warrior Combat Rule #4:
"Prioritize ranged attacks, identify enemy weaknesses, assess strength, and weaken enemy combat capability."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bowstrings tore through the water, channeling all their force into the bolts that spun as they flew and pierced into the charging Abyssal Demonfish.
A murky water shield formed in front of the Demonfish, distorting the bolts as they struck.
But the bolts emanated shimmering magical light.
The inscribed anti-magic runes forcibly tore through the water.
With trajectory correction, they fiercely penetrated the Demonfish's skin.
"Roar...!"
The Abyssal Demonfish roared in pain.
Its three cruel eyes gleamed with dazzling brilliance.
Its massive body twisted and thrashed as crimson blood spread through the water.
With multiple spells enhancing the bolts, their armor-piercing power was on full display.
Whoosh!
Another wave of bolts flew—not at the huge body, but toward an apparently empty zone ahead to the left.
The Dragon Warriors hadn't missed!
Ten-plus brilliant splashes bloomed in the seemingly empty water.
The Abyssal Demonfish's true body was revealed right there!
The figure that had charged the warriors vanished on contact like a bubble.
"An illusionary clone? This dumb fish is kinda interesting!"
Seeing this, Matthew couldn't help but curl his lips. Watching it charge in anger, he sighed and said:
"Too bad—this isn't your peak form!"
Creatures like the Abyssal Demonfish with high intellect and intelligence had excellent growth potential.
In Matthew's memories—
This powerful Abyssal Demonfish had killed countless adventurers.
In just three months, it broke through to the Legendary tier.
After becoming Legendary, it enslaved many monsters and truly became a commander.
Eventually, it even escaped the Death Desert's annihilation crisis by digging into an underground river and fleeing to the wider world.
Matthew had only learned its final tale by chance.
That terrifying behemoth ended up becoming the guardian of a wild island, reaching demigod level.
Back then, Matthew regretted that his territory was too far to take revenge.
Now, this twist of fate... was a karmic encounter from a past life!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Crossbow bolts glowing with magical light howled into the Demonfish.
Driven mad by pain and rage, it ignored the bolts and charged at the Dragon Warriors.
Staring at the sweeping tentacle, Jifan calmly and decisively shouted:
"Spears ready!"
"Charge up thunder, 3, 2, 1!"
"Throw!!"
Thirty spears of crackling thunder, trailing blue tails, enveloped the charging Demonfish.
Sensing the mortal threat, it snapped out of its fury and chaos, twisting like a serpent to dodge.
Too bad—it was too big and had charged too fast.
With only 12 Agility, it couldn't evade the javelins thrown by warriors with spear mastery!
Zzzap!
The javelin struck the water shield around the Abyssal Demonfish, erupting into a massive burst of surging thunder.
With powerful penetration, the thunder energy tore straight through the Demonfish's shield and ruthlessly pierced into its body.
Electric charge surged inside, and the heavily wounded Demonfish instinctively curled up.
Before it could recover from the paralysis, another wave of bolts howled through the water and struck it again.
In no time, the Abyssal Demonfish looked like a pincushion, its entire body covered in bolts.
Its strength waned rapidly from the devastating injuries.
It felt the wounds all over its body turning cold and numb.
A growing sense of dread swelled within as it sensed the cold and calm hearts of these small enemies. Memories buried deep surged up, stirring even more terror.
It remembered!
Their kind had been brought here by those small enemies in metal shells, dragged out of the Atlantis Trench!
They had returned!
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Abyssal Demonfish began to thrash wildly.
It had to escape, to save its life and warn the others.
While they fought amongst themselves at times, nothing mattered more than survival as a species.
Sensing the Demonfish's attempt to flee, Jifan glanced at the time, surprised by the creature's resilience. To be safe, he gave a signal to capture it.
Ten Dragon Warriors from the first squad closed in, gripping thunder-charged javelins, and hurled them at its tail.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four javelins struck its tail, erupting into bloody sprays.
The thunder surged once again, forcing the Demonfish to curl up tightly.
Its three hideous eyes glared helplessly as the warriors cast a giant metal net woven from thick iron chains over it.
Clatter!
Several arm-thick chains cinched the net tight.
What truly broke the Demonfish's spirit was that the Dragon Warriors controlling it ignored its "enslavement" power.
None of them harbored strong emotions, let alone exploitable desires.
Before it could devise another strategy, several warriors leapt onto its body.
Splurt!
Crack!
Pain exploded through its nerves, making it tremble violently.
In a spray of blood, the barely-conscious Demonfish made a terrifying discovery:
One of its tentacles had been chopped off!
Watching the severed tentacle twitch away, it fell into despair and thrashed in a final frenzy.
Too late.
A flood of paralyzing toxins kicked in simultaneously.
Its grievously wounded body could no longer resist the tightening bonds.
One by one, all four of its tentacles were severed, briefly cleaned, and stored into a spatial pouch.
Feeling its strength fade, the Demonfish weakly opened and closed its maw, panic and fear flashing in its eyes, as if pitifully pleading.
But its "charm" had no effect!
A brawny Dragon Warrior stepped into view, pulled out a golden steel spike as thick as an arm, and drove it down brutally into its skull.
Crack!
Darkness swallowed its vision. Consciousness ceased.
From a savage monster to a helpless victim, it had gone from attacker to butchered in mere minutes.
A challenge rating of 20+, and it only lasted five minutes.
And it had lasted that long only because the Dragon Warriors were holding back.
During the battle, they had been collecting its attributes and data to build a detailed combat model.
Once back at Bay Territory, they could use the data to devise extermination tactics against Abyssal Demonfish.
Next time they encountered such a creature, they'd be able to kill it faster and more efficiently.
Unconscious and unaware, the Demonfish could never have imagined—
It hadn't lost to its old foes or the thirty Extraordinary Dragon Warriors before it—
But to their top-tier enchanted gear!
To the thunder magic armor infused with Bay Territory's wisdom and collective industry!
To the combined tactical knowledge and experience of hundreds of thousands of Bay warriors!
And, of course, to Matthew—the unseen mastermind who knew of its existence all along!
That's why it was so utterly powerless.
Two Dragon Warriors majoring in "Magical Creature Research" used fearsome tools to collect and analyze data from its body.
"Muscle density is high—burst power exceeds 29 Strength. Will require full-power resistance from magic armor..."
"Primary weaknesses: eyes, jaw, abdomen, and underarms. Attack intensity must be high-tier or above."
"Its psychic sensing is strong—likely able to detect thoughts and intentions. Recommend full mental shielding in combat..."
"Excellent regenerative ability. Can heal moderate and lesser injuries."
"Resilient vitality—high resistance to paralysis toxins..."
"..."
The Dragon Warriors rested as they meticulously recorded the Demonfish's traits.
This unprecedented firsthand data might save their lives in future battles.
Jifan led his troops in quickly cleaning the battlefield and found a water-exit cave above.
He decided to use it as a temporary base and began carefully surveying the surroundings.
To better guard against unknown threats, Jifan pulled out a special product developed by Macaron Research.
A portable mini hidden outpost.
He retrieved a large box from his storage bracelet, opened it swiftly, revealing a fist-sized metal sphere.
Unactivated, it looked unremarkable—just a mass of intricate patterns.
Jifan then pulled out several more large crates, filled with magic cement and steel frames.
Then, he activated the portable mini outpost.
Glowing runes appeared across the metal orb's surface.
Three or four tiny mechanical arms extended and nimbly climbed into one of the crates.
Moments later, a large eight-armed construction golem stood before them.
Its arms varied in size and function, allowing it to perform four tasks simultaneously.
The humanoid arms expertly cast "Silence Barrier" and "Vibration Suppression."
The top pair morphed into long chainsaws.
They began slicing through the uneven rocks and terrain.
The lower arms, resembling shovels and mini scoops,
Collected debris and fed it into a mini magic cement processor.
The final two arms used tangible mage hands to assemble construction molds.
Two Dragon Warriors nearby documented and analyzed the entire process.
This vital data would serve to further refine the portable outpost.
Annie couldn't help but blink and turn her gaze away, her mind racing.
These advanced, complex mechanical golems were clearly one of Bay Territory's secret research results.
Only a select few had the clearance to know or use these military-grade products.
The ones seen in mass production must be the civilian decoys Matthew mentioned.
Which meant, all the other exposed technologies could also be "civilian versions."
As she realized how all of Cole Elves' meticulous plans had veered in the wrong direction before they even launched—
Annie suddenly understood how much of Bay Territory's actions were deliberate misdirection.
Their planning and foresight ran incredibly deep.
The intelligence behind it all made Annie fall into deep thought.
Comparing the strength of Bay Territory and the Cole Elves—though the latter had overwhelming advantages, they remained on the backfoot.
Because Bay Territory had maximized their edge.
They stirred up three major distractions for the Cole Elves: the Elven Kingdom of Ail, underground world incursions, and the Kantrew Mountain rebellion.
And Bay Territory exploited the Cole Elves' current inability to respond swiftly, raising their threat profile and keeping attention on them.
In this way, they constantly diverted Cole Elves' focus, preventing them from solving any one problem with full force.
Knowing how slow Ail Elf command was, Annie thought: since Bay Territory shattered the Cole Elves' undefeated image...
"Given their hierarchical system, lack of benefit sharing for the lower ranks, and inter-family conflicts, quick consensus will be nearly impossible."
She recalled how Bay Territory redeployed in the Rocky Mountains and had already gathered around 500,000 Ail Elf pioneers.
Her eyes lit up—that was the light of hope.
Just then, a Dragon Warrior scout reported to Annie:
"This is a massive underground lake. We're positioned at the mouth of a river feeding into it..."
"There's a large Abyssal Demonfish tribe nearby."
"Seventy-two adult individuals, approximately 2,720 juveniles. No nest located yet..."
"We also found twenty-three species of magical fish."
"They're numerous but haven't undergone major mutation. Threat level is low\..."
"The underground lake spans over 20 kilometers in radius. We'll need some aquatic transport..."
"Twelve types of valuable magical plants detected. Sample collection underway..."
"Abyssal Demonfish communicate every four to five days. We have roughly two days left."
"..."