A profound sense of loneliness and emptiness settled over the universe. Raditz floated in the void, looking around at the silent aftermath.
Below him, the few remaining Saiyan rebels had exhausted their strength. Raditz knew their fate: without Yamoshi, they would eventually be hunted down and wiped out by the opposing Saiyan factions. The resistance had failed, marking the transition into a new, darker stage of Saiyan civilization.
However, the seed had been planted. The legend of the Super Saiyan God would be passed down by the survivors, whispered from generation to generation, until it one day reached a Saiyan named Goku.
As for the wizard Bibidi and his creation, the Majin—who would later be known as Buu—the force of the explosion had flung them into the far corners of the cosmos. They, too, would meet a new destiny in the distant future.
The historical trajectory was so clear it was almost embarrassing.
Raditz stood at the epicenter of where the final Big Bang had occurred. He compressed the residual chaotic energy, wiping it from the material world with a technique akin to a Seal of Creation, calming the turbulent space. He couldn't help but feel like a mere causal symbol—a paradox loop linking the entirety of history together. The Super Saiyan and the Super Saiyan God... in the final analysis, these were his legends, passed backward through time to Yamoshi.
Thinking of this, Raditz felt a heavy weight settle on his shoulders. It was the crushing weight of fate. He had changed many things in his journey—Frieza, the Androids, Piccolo, Broly—they had all been influenced by him. Yet, there were some fixed points in time that even he could not alter.
"Hehehe... tell me, how does it feel to witness such a tragic moment?"
Suddenly, Raditz's melancholy was interrupted by a treacherous voice.
It seemed to come from the void itself—ethereal, empty, and chilling. It echoed right next to Raditz's ear, as light as a feather brushing against his skin.
Raditz's instincts screamed. He spun around instantly, throwing a punch fueled by terrifying killing intent. The blow carried enough power to pierce the universe, tearing open a massive void of nothingness in the darkness.
His orange hair fluttered in the cosmic wind, but his fist hit nothing but empty space.
Raditz stared at the figure who had casually sidestepped the blow. His expression hardened into a scowl.
"Zamasu."
The entity floating before him possessed a face that combined the features of Son Goku and the Core Person Zamasu. It was a face Raditz would never forget. At this moment, Zamasu wore his signature dark tunic and Potara earrings, a look of supreme arrogance plastered across his face.
After falling out of the vortex of time and space, they had been separated by the collision. Raditz hadn't expected Zamasu to find him so quickly.
Zamasu smirked, looking down at the ruined planet below. "Look at it. How 'glorious' the history of the Saiyans is. To think they acquired the ability to approach the realm of the Gods as early as ancient times... It is truly disgusting."
His brow furrowed with extreme dissatisfaction, his eyes burning with resentment. "But as always, you mortals wantonly destroy the universe, causing nothing but slaughter, ruin, and pain. Inferior races only use power to vent their base desires. This is the ultimate sin of mankind!"
"Here we go again," Raditz spat, shifting his stance. "Your preaching doesn't work on me. Save your breath."
"It is true that one cannot preach to the stupid," Zamasu sneered. "One must simply use strength to beat them into submission."
"You are overconfident. Do you want to taste the Mafuba again?" Raditz bluffed toughly, but deep down, he felt a flicker of unease. The Zamasu standing before him felt different than before. His temperament had shifted—he was colder, sharper.
"Hmph. Raditz, your God of Destruction energy is exhausted. Do you really think you can remain stubborn?" Zamasu was not stupid. He knew that while he had failed in their last encounter, Raditz had also drained his reserves. This time, Zamasu was sure of his victory.
"Besides... I have become far greater than I was before!"
Zamasu clenched his fists. Instantly, his aura transformed into a deep, majestic rose-red. Shimmering fireworks enveloped his body like a blooming flower—shockingly beautiful, yet terrifying. The violent, unstable aura he once possessed was gone, replaced by a restrained, vigorous power.
He had ascended to another level.
Cold sweat dripped from Raditz's forehead. "You... you went to another timeline!"
"That's right!" Zamasu spread his arms wide, looking open and honest, as if confessing a holy truth. "I visited the time nodes that could be modified. I found the Zamasus existing in those time fragments and integrated them all into myself! I have met the conditions set by Shadow Emperor and promoted myself to a True God!"
Because he was now fearless, revealing his secret only served to increase his opponent's despair.
Zamasu admired the changing expression on Raditz's face and laughed loudly. "I let you witness history so you would be satisfied. Now... it is up to me to create the future!"
"Don't bet on it!"
Raditz silently flared his power to its maximum level. His energy fluctuations rolled through space, shaking the surrounding stars. The momentum of the two warriors collided in the void, the friction forming invisible blades that cut through the vast starry sky.
In an instant, Zamasu vanished.
Raditz's eyes darted, and he snapped a punch to his side. The strike possessed enough penetrating power to smash a galaxy. He attacked without reservation, knowing that a single mistake would mean death.
But... Raditz missed.
His light-speed strike only hit an afterimage. Zamasu's speed had surpassed Raditz's limit. The real figure appeared directly in front of Raditz, violent rose-colored flames licking at his body.
Snap!
Zamasu clamped his hand over Raditz's face. The power of Chaos surged, pinning him in place. Raditz trembled violently, his body locking up under the pressure.
"HAA!" Zamasu yelled and surged forward.
His figure blasted open a space-time vortex! Still gripping Raditz's face, Zamasu dragged him into the vortex, the two of them flying like arrows of flame. Their combined velocity was enough to shatter dimensional barriers.
Zamasu slammed Raditz into a planet. BANG! The world shattered and exploded under the massive impact, but they didn't stop. Zamasu dragged him through the molten core, out the other side, and continued the charge, smashing him into another planet!
Silent pyrotechnics blazed brilliantly, lighting up the vast, dark universe in a chain of destruction.
Through the ringing in his ears, Raditz heard Zamasu's divine voice projected directly into his mind. "Raditz! You cannot resist me!"
Collisions and annihilations continued to occur around him. Raditz faced the impact of starbursts again and again. He couldn't break free from Zamasu's iron grip. It was an overwhelming, absolute power—a sensation Raditz had only felt when facing Whis or Beerus.
Zamasu had truly reached the Realm of the Gods.
By merging the Zamasus from different timelines, he had taken that final step. Moreover, with the help of the mysterious "Benefactor" behind him, obtaining such divine power was likely trivial.
Zamasu shuttled Raditz across the universe, tearing apart space, penetrating worlds, and impacting matter at will!
Blood flowed freely from the corner of Raditz's mouth. His internal organs were shifting and rupturing under the intense pressure. Desperate, he tried to bombard Zamasu with point-blank ki blasts, but the mighty God remained unmoved.
When Raditz's energy touched Zamasu, it didn't explode. It shattered directly, turning into nothingness.
Raditz's eyes widened. He had only seen this ability in one place. It was the signature technique of a Destroyer.
"You are..."
"You finally noticed," Zamasu smiled cruelly, his hand tightening around Raditz's skull. "I, too, possess the power of Destruction!"