Vados stared at Kaito's back, utterly shaken.
The aura she sensed from him was far stronger than when he had last faced the two Gods of Destruction.
That was the terror of the Legendary Super Saiyan bloodline—its power constantly growing with no end in sight.
Ordinary Saiyans could only achieve significant power boosts after suffering near-fatal injuries, and even then, the increase had its limits. But the Legendary Super Saiyan bloodline completely bypassed such constraints—it was a full-blown cheat in itself.
Sensing the terrifying energy radiating from Kaito, Marcarita didn't dare underestimate him. She drew in a breath, and a thin layer of luminous white light enveloped her body.
As an Angel, she had long since mastered the Perfect Ultra Instinct.
She fixed her gaze on Kaito, who was walking toward her, gripping her staff tightly without realizing it.
Kaito's figure began to blur. By the time Marcarita reacted, he was already behind her.
Her pupils dilated sharply.
Not good!
Even in her Perfect Ultra Instinct state, she couldn't dodge in time.
Kaito was faster.
His hands shot out and grabbed both of her twin ponytails, then with a violent swing, he hurled her straight out of the planet's atmosphere.
Vados instinctively reached up to touch her own high ponytail. She recalled how Kaito had often stared at it before—and couldn't help but shiver.
Locking onto Marcarita's aura, Kaito vanished again in the next instant.
Marcarita barely managed to stabilize herself, finding that she was now floating in the vacuum of space.
Reaching up, she touched her hair in disbelief, then shouted angrily,
"That bastard! He pulled my hair! That hurt!"
Before she could finish, Kaito appeared behind her again. This time, she reacted quickly. Her staff flared with multicolored light as she swung it at his waist.
Kaito blocked with one arm, his other hand darting toward her neck.
Marcarita's twin ponytails suddenly extended, transforming into two white serpents that wrapped tightly around his arm.
Kaito raised an eyebrow—he hadn't expected that trick. So even hair can be used like this, huh?
The strands tightened more and more, and for a brief moment, he couldn't pull his arm free.
Seeing this, Marcarita smirked triumphantly.
"Serves you right! Let's see how you like my hair now!"
With that, she whipped her head around violently, spinning Kaito through the air by her ponytails.
Kaito gave up on struggling and thought to himself,
Fine, if it's a hair fight you want, I'll play along!
Before Marcarita's stunned eyes, Kaito's wild white hair began to grow at an insane rate. Within seconds, her entire field of vision was filled with a storm of white strands.
She froze.
"What in the world—?!" she muttered blankly.
Countless strands of hair condensed into sharp white spikes, surging toward her at blinding speed.
Marcarita had no choice but to release him. Gripping her staff with both hands, she swung it repeatedly, unleashing multicolored bursts of energy that shattered the incoming spikes one after another.
Just as she caught her breath, Kaito's next attack came.
Two golden beams tore through the darkness, shooting straight at her. Marcarita twisted aside, but her skirt was grazed—two large, smoking holes burned clean through the fabric.
Looking down at the still-smoldering holes in her robes, Marcarita's anger flared.
She let out a furious shout, and the terrifying aura of an Angel erupted from her body. Space itself around her began to crack apart.
From the shadows, Kaito emerged. His expression was calm, though faint traces of golden light still flickered in his eyes.
Marcarita pointed her staff at him, divine power swirling at its tip as she roared,
"I don't care who you are—you've gone too far! Die!"
Hummmm!
A massive torrent of rainbow-colored energy erupted from her staff, powerful enough to erase an entire galaxy.
Kaito snorted coldly.
Bringing his hands together, he spread them apart to reveal a glowing golden sphere floating between his palms.
"Don't get too full of yourself. Go back to your own universe!"
He thrust his hands forward, sending the golden sphere streaking outward like a blazing comet. It collided head-on with Marcarita's radiant beam.
The resulting explosion was cataclysmic. The very fabric of the universe trembled, countless planets vanishing in an instant.
On Earth, Vados raised her staff high. A pillar of rainbow light shot into the sky, quickly expanding into a massive, multicolored barrier that enveloped the entire planet, shielding it from the apocalyptic shockwave.
When the aftershocks finally subsided, she turned to Bulma and the others.
"I have to go. If those two keep fighting, the entire Seventh Universe could be destroyed!"
Eighteen suddenly asked,
"Will you help Kaito?"
Vados froze. She had almost forgotten—Marcarita was her younger sister. If Kaito and Marcarita fought to the death, what choice would she make?
She shook her head hard, shouting inwardly,
"No! I can't let it come to that! I have to stop this fight!"
Without another word to Eighteen, she transformed into a beam of light and shot into the heavens.
...
Back at the battlefield,
Kaito and Marcarita now faced each other amid a desolate gray void. The surrounding space was dead and silent.
Marcarita's deep blue angelic robe was torn and tattered, the lower half barely clinging to her body like a short skirt.
By contrast, Kaito looked almost untouched—aside from a bit of dirt on his shoulder, he appeared just as he had when the battle began.
Marcarita glanced around, then looked back at him and said solemnly,
"I admit it—you're strong. Unbelievably strong. But do we really have to keep fighting? You've seen how much destruction we've caused. You don't want this entire universe erased, do you? Let's stop."
It was clear she was backing down.
Kaito crossed his arms, his tone calm but serious.
"We can stop. But first—answer me one thing."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Are you still planning to tattle to Vados?"