No matter how you looked at it, this cyber bait was clearly different. Belial thought for a moment and decided he could not just sit there doing nothing, and might as well make some preparations for when the fish bit. After considering it, he lowered himself on all fours and began to gather strength.
The fluctuation continued to spread outward, reaching quite a distant point, though distant was relative. In terms of actual range, it probably did not even cover half of the Solar System. But bait did not need the fish to see it, only to smell a little of it, and the question was whether any fish would bite.
They would. Or rather, there had always been fish nearby, since long ago there were already existences that noticed the bait Belial scattered around. None of them were blind, and changes in a place they had occupied for so long were easy to notice.
Yet not a single one took the bait. They only watched coldly from the darkness, wary of any possible trap, or waiting for some unlucky peer to step on the mine first. As expected, when everyone adopted the strategy of not moving until the enemy moved, the result was that everyone just stared at each other, each catching some clues about the others but not daring to act.
When everyone threw bait into the same river, no one caught any fish, and the fish probably never imagined they would get a free buffet in their lifetime. How long would this stalemate last? No one knew, perhaps until some existence symbolizing darkness, one everyone paid attention to, tore open the veil.
Then, an accident finally happened. A mechanical click sounded as something shut down. In that instant, all the anglers surrounding this fishing ground sensed the extremely familiar aura of a broken crimson soul belonging to their own kind.
Their eyes widened. A red soul, filled with poisonous resentment, yet even so something they wanted to devour completely without leaving a scrap. A soul starved for so long roared, driving their bodies to move and swallow the flesh and soul of a fellow being in the distance, eating it clean.
This desire from the very foundation of the soul slammed into their already thin rationality and calm, like a student hungry all morning hearing the bell for the last class. Move. The step went out, then was pulled back.
Calm down, do not act on impulse. That was someone else's bait. Rationality born with difficulty from countless mad and chaotic memories barely restrained the hungry beast, but that crimson soul of equal rank was far too tempting.
In just this short moment, at least two or three had already locked onto this inconspicuous corner, all wondering whether it was someone else's bait. Releasing such an obvious temptation at a time like this was suspicious at best, basically announcing a trap in plain sight, some thought, while others recalled whether they had sensed something similar before.
As fragmented Shard memories were painfully pieced together to judge truth from falsehood, the rationality holding back the beast froze for a second and then slapped itself hard. Damn it, why hesitate, this was the real thing. Anglers might use any kind of bait, but who had ever seen someone use their own body as bait?
It was not hunger making them stupid, but a rational conclusion. The nakedly exposed soul fluctuation, as if still being tortured and wailing miserably, could not be faked. If this sound were fake, it would be no different from the real thing.
The fluctuation continued to spread, eventually drawing only three or four gazes. It was not that it could not attract more, since letting it continue would have drawn at least half their kind. The reason it stopped there was that those who sensed it all sealed the signal within this range, determined not to let other peers know.
A delicacy was meant to be eaten alone. This behavior also caused several existences to expose themselves to each other, since masking the aura allowed reverse deduction of approximate positions. The first to arrive were two, one because it was closer, the other because it was faster.
By coincidence, these two were enemies. Anyone who survived this long had grudges with many, but the hatred between these two ran a bit deeper. From a crimson vortex came thunderous waves, countless wingbeats turning into sharp howls.
"Waah!!!" "—Ugh!"
Two opposing roars once again churned the dark power of this part of the Void into chaos. This was not an ordinary roar transmitted through vibration, but a collision of authority, concepts, and immense power. Spiked crimson vortices collided with green cutting shadows in what could be called a deadly greeting.
One advanced straight ahead, locking everything into its path, while the other seemed thin yet consisted of countless combined concepts, forming a life-and-death struggle. The impact was unimaginable yet small, because this was the Void. If it were on the surface, the aftermath alone would have wiped out half of Earth.
Green killing shadows darted rapidly, repeatedly cutting themselves, cutting others, even cutting the concept of cutting itself, cycling endlessly until countless fragmented shadows merged as one. Then a strike fell, visibly straight even in the directionless Void, plunging into the depths of the crimson vortex.
Stirring tides was the only way to describe it. The being here, the the Lord, swung its massive claws, twisting everything that entered into layers of distortion until only a vortex remained. The green blade shattered like fragile glass, twisted beyond stability, broken into Shard fragments that fell onto mottled red armor.
"—Waah!!!"
The momentum did not stop. Countless wingbeats merged into one, each sharper than a blade. The dark green figure within the storm looked small but was intensely sharp. The massive entity in the vortex raised its head like a leviathan surfacing from the abyssal Abyss, their size difference like an elephant to an ant, yet somehow they felt equal.
"Roar!!!"
The great claws snapped as tides of its own Divine Kingdom surged forward, countless small vortices forming a super vortex capable of twisting anything inside into powder Shard. The other did not yield, unfolding a giant maze of overlapping prisms into a spherical Barrier like a massive kaleidoscope.
Each beam of light was a blade, countless overlapping cuts radiating outward and piercing the bottomless crimson sea. The collision sent violent shockwaves spreading through the endless Void, but it was clear neither had used full strength, as this was only probing.
The closer they got, the clearer it became that the crimson soul fluctuation was real and extremely weak. Some unlucky peer had been beaten nearly to death, not killed, and had exposed their aura. Such a prize was meant to be seized, and as for whether it was bait, the logic was simple, if it were real, most would eat it immediately.
As for fishing, who could suppress so many at once anyway. At worst, everyone would gang up together. "The soul will be mine," both thought at once, abandoning attacks on each other and rushing toward the target at full speed.
Why fight this idiot now, better to eat the soul, recover, then kill the other afterward. Laughing coldly, none of them believed in being someone else's easy catch, they were all ancient survivors, not fools. As for stepping on a trap, that was simply impossible.
Authority of the Lord of Vortex Tides was not suited for travel, so he fell a bit behind his old rival. That tiny gap already meant several Earth-Moon System in distance. He felt anxious, yet he believed there was still a chance, since the soul fluctuation of his kind meant the target was near death, not necessarily completely gone.
He could still sense it, and as long as he delayed that rival for a short time, his own chances were not small. The first to feel it, God of Division, quickly scanned the surroundings. The enormous compound eyes, precise beyond any life form, were useless in the lightless Abyssal Void, but the habit remained.
Where was the soul? No, it was not about position, but that he could not sense the usual key traits a the Lord should have, such as Authority or a Divine Kingdom. This place still felt empty, as if there was nothing at all.
So which unlucky one was it? Why could he not see anyone even now? God of Division began to identify the mark of the soul fluctuation, and at this distance it was easy to tell who it was. Oh, it was that bastard from Stagnation.
No wonder he could not run. He was slow to the extreme, and his only escape method was making others slower than him. In this half-dead state, he really could not go anywhere. It felt like fate itself was helping.
Even so, while searching nonstop, God of Division raised his guard to the highest level. Last time, this guy had been beaten so badly that even his Divine Kingdom and aura were reduced to a trace. Who could have done this to him, when his defense was among the best of his level?
His thoughts did not slow his actions. Whoever it was did not matter, he would grab the benefit in front of him and run immediately. The position was clear and the route was straight, and driven by hunger, he rushed forward without doubt.