Chapter 42: Beast Tide Inference, The Prudent Giant Dragon

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Beast Tide Inference, The Prudent Giant Dragon This bear’s intelligence really was limited.

It didn’t provide much information, but what it gave was still quite important.

First, in the Unihorned Demon Bear’s territory, there was a Rabbit-headed Demon Beast to the west no weaker than the bear, and a somewhat stronger Flying Eagle near the cliffs to the east.

As for the north—deeper into the Demon Beast Mountain Range—powerful Demon Beasts seemed to become rarer. However, the stronger a Demon Beast was, the more powerful its perception, and the larger the territory it typically occupied.

However, in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, under normal circumstances, whether it was a Low Tier or even a Middle Tier Demon Beast, these Lord Level Demon Beasts wouldn’t stop them for simply passing through their territory, even if they were heading deeper into the mountains. They certainly wouldn’t attack each other without cause.

Just like in the Wilderness, conflicts between Lord Level Demon Beasts were rare as long as no one was trying to seize another’s territory.

However, the situation here in the Demon Beast Mountain Range was slightly different from that in the Wilderness.

In the Wilderness Territory below the Demon Beast Mountain Range, Low Tier Lord Level Demon Beasts protected their lands simply to guarantee they could hunt enough food to satisfy their appetites and fuel their growth.

Here in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, however, simply hunting for flesh and blood could no longer satisfy the growth needs of Middle Tier Demon Beasts.

Therefore, the main purpose of territorial disputes for the Demon Beasts here had shifted to fighting over Magic Crystal Ore and even rare Magic Plant Elixirs.

The deeper one ventured into the Demon Beast Mountain Range, the denser the ambient Magic Power became. Consequently, the quality of the rare Magic Plant Elixirs and Magic Crystal Ore improved as well.

Therefore, hunting same-tier or Low Tier Demon Beasts was clearly less beneficial than fighting for Magic Crystal Ore or guarding Magic Plants until they matured and could be consumed.

Thus, in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, battles between Lord Level Demon Beasts almost always revolved around these resources.

Besides, Demon Beasts already grew much more slowly than humans. If the Demon Beasts in the Demon Beast Mountain Range all followed a "big fish eats small fish" rule of devouring each other to grow, they probably would have gone extinct long ago. The Human Race could have won without even fighting.

Of course, there was another, more critical reason for this.

As a Demon Beast grew stronger, if it devoured the Demon Core of a beast with a different Attribute Affinity, most of the Energy would be lost. Often, less than a tenth of the Energy could actually be absorbed.

This, then, was the true reason why Middle-High Tier Demon Beasts didn’t readily fight and devour one another.

At the same time, because powerful Demon Beasts had little appetite for their low-tier counterparts, the population of Low Tier Demon Beasts in the Demon Beast Mountain Range naturally grew over time. This led to overcrowding and a steady decrease in the concentration of ambient Magic Power.

Once the Magic Power concentration in a territory dropped to a critical point, the Lord Level Demon Beast would typically drive the excess population of matured Low Tier Demon Beasts down into the Wilderness.

Any that refused to leave? They would naturally become the Lord Level Demon Beast’s dessert.

Thus, in the Wilderness, the closer one got to the human border, the weaker the Demon Beasts became.

This also created a pyramid-like power structure with the Demon Beast Mountain Range at its apex.

As for the "Beast Tides" that humans spoke of...

They were directly related to this phenomenon, but the primary cause was the commanding roar issued simultaneously by the several Quasi-Overlord Level Demon Beasts residing on the peaks of the outer range.

The Spiritual Sound carried within these commands conveyed a single, shared message.

"Hunt the humans! Drive out the humans!"

And so, nearly every Demon Beast below Tier Six in the entire Outer Mountain of the Demon Beast Mountain Range would swarm out.

Each Demon Beast Tide eruption numbered in the millions.

However, since the Beast Tide attacked many different human territories at once, it naturally split into countless streams of varying sizes.

The Beast Tide faced by the Western Border Silver Lion Duchy wasn’t considered particularly strong.

The reason was simple: the Western Border Silver Lion Duchy was just one of many duchies on the human frontier and wasn’t particularly powerful. Therefore, the scale of the Beast Tides it faced was usually smaller and weaker.

The Beast Tide twenty-five years ago had only featured one Tier Five and two Tier Four Demon Beasts.

Lince pieced together these conclusions by combining the fragmented information from the Unihorned Demon Bear with the intelligence he had from York.

’Quasi-Overlord Level? Tier Six?’

’They’re the ones who order all the Demon Beasts to start the Beast Tides?’

’Their intelligence is actually quite high. These guys are even constantly monitoring the Human Race’s development of the Wilderness.’

’The moment they detect human expansion crossing a certain threshold must be when they unleash a Demon Beast Tide.’

’To be this coordinated, they must be acting under the direction of an even higher-tier Demon Beast.’

’It’s conceivable that deeper within the Demon Beast Mountain Range, there’s a powerful force uniting all the High Tier Magical Beasts, constantly monitoring events outside the mountains.’

Connecting these dots, Lince felt overwhelmed.

’If the Tier Six Demon Beasts are the eyes for the High Tier Magical Beasts deeper inside, then I can’t act recklessly here at the foot of the Demon Beast Mountain Range.’

At that moment, Lince felt he had been a bit too reckless. ’It’s a good thing I chose to form a contract with the Demon Bear right away.’

’At my current power level, the proper course of action is to quietly gather Low Tier Demon Beasts in the Wilderness.’

’Although I’m technically part of the Demon Beast faction right now...’

’...I now possess a pure Giant Dragon Bloodline and form. Who knows what the High Tier Magical Beasts inside the Demon Beast Mountain Range would think if they discovered my existence.’

After all, Lince still didn’t know the current standing of Giant Dragons within the Demon Beast faction.

According to York, even the tracks of Pure-blooded Giant Dragons had vanished a long, long time ago.

At the same time, according to existing human records, Giant Dragons were in a class of their own during ancient times. They disdained living among Demon Beasts, let alone ruling over them.

After all, a Pure-blooded Giant Dragon possessed Saint Tier power the moment it reached adulthood.

Therefore, it went without saying that the Giant Dragon Race looked down on Demon Beasts; they naturally held the Human Race, Elves, the Sea Race, and even Beastmen in contempt.

And as for Sub-dragons? They were merely the mixed-blood offspring resulting from lonely Giant Dragons "messing around" with High Tier, Saint Tier, or even Divine Tier Demon Beasts.

Even among humans, there were families within the human kingdoms who possessed a Giant Dragon Bloodline; they were known as the Dragon Nobles.

One could only imagine the terrifying uproar that would ensue if Lince’s identity as a Pure-blooded Giant Dragon were to be exposed.

Therefore, Lince had already decided not to reveal his Giant Dragon form so easily again.

The Gale Flying Leopard form solved this problem perfectly.

Thinking about all this, Lince sighed. ’Plans can never keep up with reality, especially since I still know so little about this world.’

"Alright, this operation is over for now. It would be bad news if I get targeted by the Tier Six Demon Beasts on the mountain peaks."

"Big Bear, just keep watch over your territory for now. I’ll let you know if I have any orders for you."

"Remember not to wander off. More importantly, don’t tell any other Demon Beasts that I exist."

The Unihorned Demon Bear didn’t understand at all.

All it knew was that it seemed it really wasn’t going to die this time.

So, after feeling a dangerous, unknown shackle suddenly clamp down on its soul, it immediately began nodding its head frantically, like a chicken pecking at grain.

"Bear... understand... Bear no tell... obey..."

Lince found the big, oafish bear rather endearing.

Lince then checked the cooldown timer on his Gale Flying Leopard ability.

’Six hours have already passed?’

’Time really flies. I need to get back, and fast.’

It couldn’t be helped. Communicating with the dumb bear had been a real hassle; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been delayed for so long.

During that time, Lince also managed to see how many Demon Beast servants the oafish bear had.

It was a pathetic sight—only a dozen or so, and all of them were bears.

One Tier Two, three Tier One, and fourteen Tierless.

This couldn’t be helped either. After all, Demon Beasts didn’t have the clear cognitive abilities of humans and didn’t know how to properly cultivate subordinates.

Moreover, the Demon Beast faction was comprised of countless different species. Even Middle Tier Lord Level Demon Beasts were more inclined to care for and cultivate their own kind. As a result, their followers were typically limited to members of their own clan.

As for other species of Demon Beasts living in their territory, they were largely ignored as long as they posed no threat—or sometimes even treated as a snack. Thus, they had very few direct underlings.

Lince wasn’t too bothered by it.

This would have to do for now.

And so, under the dumbfounded gaze of the Unihorned Demon Bear, the Rock Steel Giant transformed directly into a Gale Flying Leopard and soared into the sky!

Lince left the foot of the Outer Mountain of the Demon Beast Mountain Range and quickly returned to the Swamp Territory.

After Lince gave York some detailed follow-up instructions via the Oracle, his third day in the game came to an end.