A pillar of white light flared.
Anilaza's hulking frame reappeared on Universe 3's stands like a meteor dropping into a crowd, scattering everyone in panic.
"Idiot, drop the fusion!" their Destroyer barked, pounding on the giant's torso.
Another flash. The titan unraveled into his original components. With the earlier robot fighters also restored, Universe 3's ten contestants were finally all accounted for on the bleachers.
The Grand Priest glanced over, then nodded.
"Mm. All Universe 3 contestants have been eliminated. Commence erasure."
"Okay," the two Zenos chimed. "Erase Universe 3."
They squealed with childlike delight as the avatars on their tablets gray-out one by one. Tiny fists clenched. A soft white radiance poured down, washing over Universe 3's bench. White halos bloomed around every figure.
Pop.
Contestants, gods, and the vastness of Universe 3 itself vanished without a trace.
"So it is just us of Universe 7 and…" Beerus turned, gaze sliding to the distant bench of Universe 11.
Belmod, the clownish Destroyer, was already looking back. His painted mouth stretched into a sly, unpleasant smile.
"Tch." Beerus looked away. They had been rivals too long for pleasantries.
"Time remaining in the match: nine minutes," the Grand Priest announced, voice carrying from above the ring. It was equal parts update to the stands and reminder to those still fighting.
On the shrunken stage, the remaining warriors of Universes 7 and 11 faced each other across broken stone. No wild charge. No last-minute hiding. Just wind hissing through the debris while the two sides stood in a silence that felt louder than any roar.
The Grand Priest studied the now-sparse bleachers and clicked his tongue. "Let us make this lively."
He clapped. Fighters flickered closer together as the platform itself contracted, spiraling inward until it was barely an eighth of its former size, just large enough to hold the survivors.
Beerus shot a sideways glare at Belmod, who had somehow ended up seated right beside him. Belmod met it with the same disgusted look.
"How is that, my lords?" the Grand Priest asked, seeking approval.
"Great," sang one Zeno. "So lively."
"Everyone is sitting together. I like it," chirped the other.
On the ring, Goku and Jiren walked forward until they stood face to face.
"Haah!" Goku shouted, power surging.
He transformed in a rising ladder of light. Super Saiyan. Then crackling blue arcs as he climbed to Super Saiyan 2. Hair lengthened, brows vanished, lightning thickened into a storm as he roared into Super Saiyan 3. The blaze guttered to a molten calm. Hair and eyes turned crimson. God ki flowed like magma.
Super Saiyan God.
Another shift. The serenity condensed into raw explosive force.
Super Saiyan Blue.
Blue ki speared the sky. Goku squared his shoulders at the man before him.
Boom.
The tiles beneath both men erupted. By the time anyone looked up, they were already trading blows in midair, the blast like a starting gun.
"Why?" Jiren's fists hammered forward as he spoke, eyes never leaving the man who had fallen a dozen times and risen a dozen more. "Why do you stand when you know you cannot win. Why do you keep joining battles that have no meaning for you."
"Maybe that is a Saiyan thing," Goku laughed, arms moving in a blur to catch Jiren's strikes.
Jiren was still Jiren. In the space between a word and a breath, he found an opening. His fist sank into Goku's gut and launched him across the ring.
Goku hit stone so hard the whole platform shook.
Arms folded, Jiren looked down from the edge of the crater. "Let us see if you stand again."
A streak cut in from the side. A flying kick scythed toward Jiren's head.
He slid back a step and the heel hissed past. Jiren frowned at the newcomer. "You."
Vincent Fox landed lightly on the shattered tiles.
"I took you for wiser than Son Goku," Jiren said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Perhaps all of Universe 7 is the same."
Vincent stared, baffled. Are you not supposed to be the cold, silent type? Since when do you talk this much?
He did not bother to answer. He moved.
His body blurred, a mirage peeling off the spot as he arrowed straight in. "Then I will show you the gap between us," Jiren murmured, planting his feet with absolute calm. His fists rose.
They fell like rain.
In an instant a wall of fists filled the space between them.
"Not good," Vincent growled, crossing his forearms. Armament flooded his skin, flame licked along his guard.
The impact slammed him back. He tumbled, but the braced block and hardening bled the worst from the blow. Bruised, not broken.
Jiren tightened his knuckles, gaze narrowing. Odd. He had landed flush. Yet the sensation had been… off, like striking steel that flexed and swallowed force in the same breath.
His posture straightened even more. Red energy curled into his left palm, condensing to a bead of killing light.
"Goodbye, you two anomalies of Universe 7."
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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