Chapter 2470: Divergence of the two positions

Inside the Soul Society—

"Heavens..."

While Renara was speaking with Marlik, the enormous swarm behind him continued to arrive without any sign of slowing down, and humans and non-humans continued pouring out of those vessels without pause, filling more and more of the distant space with every passing moment.

Tens of thousands descended from the space vessels and immediately began spreading out like ants searching for food, moving in every direction without any obvious organization. The only consistent pattern governing their movements was their insistence on never advancing past Marlik no matter what happened, as though his position formed an invisible boundary none of them dared cross. Other than that single restriction, everything seemed perfectly fine to them, and everyone simply chose wherever they wished to stand.

The Dominators and Royal Soul Masters above seven stars advanced confidently and individually, separating themselves naturally from the masses behind them until they stood only a few steps behind Marlik, their arms folded across their chests as they waited for what was coming, openly displaying their strength and enormous numbers without making the slightest attempt to conceal either.

Behind them came the Nexus States, whose numbers had already surpassed 30,000 and continued to increase as more vessels emptied their passengers, followed by the World Cataclysms, who had exceeded 70,000, and even those astonishing numbers were still rising!

"Aaaaaaah, this is so exciting!!"

"My god, I feel like I’m watching a ground invasion between two mortal kingdoms, except everyone descending onto the battlefield is a monster capable of terrifying entire worlds. Since when could great masters be gathered in numbers like these?!"

It wasn’t only those following the broadcast inside the Grand Hall, where they had to pay thousands of pearls just to gather in one place alongside all the elites of the universe and witness the event together. The broadcast was also being displayed on enormous screens in the local hall of every Sector, and even every solar sector; the Soul Society clearly wanted to make absolutely certain that the broadcast reached everywhere it possibly could, allowing practically no inhabited region to remain unaware of what was happening.

Even someone who knew absolutely nothing about the matter—which was practically impossible considering the scale of everything that had happened—could simply open their private window and find the broadcast already playing before them, immediately placing the enormous confrontation directly in front of their eyes!

Everyone’s mouths were hanging wide open as they watched the overwhelming Horde Army continue assembling, their eyes fixed on the endless stream of figures descending from the vessels, while smiles stretched from ear to ear and the excitement visible on their faces continued to rise alongside every new group that appeared.

"How many fleets just appeared? I counted 30,000, and more are still coming out! How many did they even bring here?!"

"The number of Dominators is absurd. There are 450 in total!! When has anyone ever seen so many gathered on one battlefield?!"

"The Nexus States have reached 33,000, hahaha! Look at those numbers! The side of good will win today!!"

"Fools! You’re all fools, and what’s inside your heads is no different from what’s inside your asses!" an anonymous person in the Grand Hall suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice carrying clearly through the surrounding clamor. "Since when does a weasel protect chicks? Since when would the damned Hidden Hand Syndicate and their even more damned leader Sevar work to protect us?! Have you all suddenly forgotten who they are just because they’re standing on the other side from Robin Burton?!"

"...Times change. Perhaps they’re afraid for themselves because of the spread of that greater evil represented by Robin Burton! Even they might have realized what will happen if that evil is allowed to continue spreading without anyone stopping it."

"The Hidden Hand Syndicate, which has been riding all of us for millions of years, is afraid of the evil of a human researcher who appeared only a few centuries ago? You actually believe that? Ptooey!"

"....." ℯ

"...Have you guys noticed something? Stop looking only at their numbers for a moment and look carefully at the formations of the two armies."

"....?"

The Shadow Swords were using the latest equipment sold by the Soul Society to film the battlefield from every possible angle, providing countless perspectives of the unprecedented gathering, and there was one particular angle that revealed both colossal armies within a single enormous frame, with a vast empty space stretching between them where only Renara and Marlik stood facing one another.

There really was a noticeable difference between the two sides, one that became increasingly difficult to ignore once someone stopped focusing entirely on the staggering numbers...

The forces behind Marlik were greater in both numbers and equipment, with several times as many combatants in every branch and an extremely broad deployment that seemed to cover everything behind him, as though they were countless raindrops suspended across the sky and merely waiting for the moment when they would finally begin to fall.

But despite all that numerical superiority and the terrifying number of powerful individuals gathered together, there was one obvious detail that became increasingly glaring the longer anyone looked at them...

They weren’t in a unified formation at all.

The Syndicate’s followers formed something resembling an enormous wall directly behind Marlik, standing in completely random positions without any visible arrangement and wearing their usual clothes as they always did, each person seemingly concerned only with maintaining their own place... but what truly drew everyone’s attention was that a considerable portion of that wall consisted of people from Behemoth Antares’s galaxy, standing among them while clearly maintaining their own presence.

Whenever the wall of Syndicate Dominators advanced slightly, those from Behemoth Antares’s galaxy immediately advanced with it, refusing to allow the Syndicate’s people to stand ahead of them and constantly jostling against them for position, to the point that several disputes had already broken out between the two groups right before the spectators’ eyes, making the complete absence of unity between them impossible to overlook.

To the right and left stood the Dominators sent by the Council of Thrones, keeping themselves noticeably apart from the others after the humiliation they had received, gritting their teeth and remaining uncertain about what they should do next. They were still standing there because they had orders from the Lord of Thrones to participate

Behind them stood the vast Horde Forces, coming from nine different Behemoths, dozens of Millennial Empires, and hundreds of Centennial Empires, each bringing its own people, forces, and fleets into this enormous gathering. Every force gathered closely with its own people and randomly took a side or claimed an empty position for itself, without showing the slightest intention of integrating with the others; there were no unified battle arrays, no clear ranks, and no proper arrangement between the different groups, and unlike the Dominators who wanted to seize the front and make their presence known, those forces were doing the exact opposite, constantly trying to retreat and distance themselves from the front lines, where everyone knew the greatest losses would inevitably occur once the battle truly erupted.

Thus, an increasingly strange and almost ridiculous scene appeared... the Dominators were on the verge of touching Marlik from behind because of their constant crawling forward and their refusal to allow anyone else to stand ahead of them, while the fleets at the opposite end were on the verge of retreating all the way back into the buffer zone because of their equally persistent crawling backward!

There was only one truly organized faction among this enormous gathering. It had quietly found a suitable place for itself at the heart of the formation and neither advanced any further nor retreated with the others, standing tall and steady while its children and army remained behind it in a perfect formation, every part maintaining its proper position, with no intention whatsoever of moving even an inch until the proper moment finally arrived... the Relativity Behemoth, Asteron.

Asteron was holding a strange spear, composed of a long wooden shaft pierced by three perfectly spherical objects, each one slightly larger than the one before it by only a small difference, while the spearhead itself was unusually short and split... anyone with a sufficient level of knowledge and experience with such objects would immediately recognize from a glance that this was no ordinary weapon, but a fifth-grade artifact.

With long black hair flowing freely down his back, a powerful yet remarkably well-proportioned body, and a piercing gaze that was neither hesitant nor excessively agitated by the enormous confrontation unfolding around him... Asteron continued looking around without even needing to move his head, his eyes observing everything happening among his followers while simultaneously watching the movements and arrangements taking place throughout the enemy army.

His expression slowly worsened as he continued watching.

Compared to the disorderly circus surrounding him, the other side was organized, silent, and prepared, with every group seemingly knowing where it should stand and what it should be doing... it was painfully obvious even before the battle properly began that they had plans, arrays, and preparations already in place rather than simply gathering everyone they could find and throwing them toward the enemy.

Meanwhile, their own scattered side, led by the Syndicate and the Butcher Marlik, paid no attention whatsoever to things of this sort, with each separate force maintaining its own position and behaving according to its own wishes.

This was the enormous difference between working under the command of the same person, with everyone moving according to the same arrangements and preparations, and merely gathering numerous different powers together because they happened to share a single objective.

And that difference was dangerous.

That was what Asteron noticed almost immediately with nothing more than a careful glance across the two sides... and it was also what everyone watching the live broadcast gradually began to notice one after another as their attention shifted away from the terrifying numbers and toward the actual formations of the two armies.

And just like Asteron, whose expression had continued to worsen as he observed everything... their overwhelming excitement began to fade little by little as well.

If the children of the Relativity Behemoth and the missions sent by the other Behemoths were included in the calculations, then the number of Dominators gathered on the Horde’s side would reach nearly 550, a number that was already difficult for anyone watching the broadcast to properly comprehend.

And yet, despite that terrifying number and the enormous superiority that had seemed so obvious only moments earlier, something was telling them that this battle would not be nearly as easy as everyone had initially imagined.

Beside the buffer zone—

"...Where is Hedrick? Bring him out." Marlik spoke calmly with his head raised slightly, showing no particular interest in the enormous armies continuing to gather behind him.

"Oh? I’m not enough for you?" Renara revealed a small smile as she looked directly at him.

Marlik casually waved his hand, dismissing the idea without giving it much consideration. "A little Unbound who has barely begun to recognize herself? No, you’re not enough for me. Your neck will be severed and your blood will spill today."

"Strange." Renara raised her eyebrows slightly, the small smile remaining on her face as she examined him. "That’s exactly what I think about you, just someone with an inflated reputation whose blood will be spilled today. That’s precisely why I told Hedrick to remain in his region and not come today unless one of the Four Greats interferes... You’re mine."