"If I lose here, I don't deserve to be Cabba's teacher."
Vegeta clenched his teeth. He had promised Cabba that if they won, he would use the Super Dragon Balls to restore Universe 6. Now, staring down Jiren's cataclysm, he forced his wrecked body upright.
"Rrrraaaah!"
He roared and forced himself back into Super Saiyan Blue. He stretched out a trembling hand and poured what remained of his power into Android 17's barrier. The dome flared a pale azure and hardened at once.
Another surge of Jiren's scarlet tide crashed over them. This time the sea of ki could no longer shake the shield born of their combined strength.
At last the red deluge ebbed. Silence, then ragged breaths. They had lived through it.
"So that's Jiren. He'd been holding something this monstrous back. With teammates still in the ring he kept the brakes on, but now he can go all out," 17 said, face set. Even he was winded. He lifted both palms and formed several motes of energy, sending them into his allies' bodies. "This should buy you a little stamina. My power doesn't run dry, but this is all I can do for now."
Goku and the others flexed their fingers as strength trickled back. "Thanks, 17."
They barely had time to exhale before a new pressure detonated across the arena. Even the gods in the stands went wide eyed.
Jiren stood above them, his power after that release rising by steps, then by stories. Heat shimmered around him like sheets of flame.
"Zeno, look, Jiren is lighting up."
"Yeah yeah, Jiren's on fire."
The twin Kings pressed their faces to their tablets, delighted. The air around Jiren buckled. Stone beneath his boots began to soften and slump.
"So this is his true power," Piccolo whispered. The sheer malice in that aura made his skin crawl. It wasn't the austere, contained force of a Destroyer. It was a battle fanatic's furnace, smothering the lungs.
"Jiren, Jiren… how much more were you hiding," Beerus rasped, sweat beading along his temples.
All five from Universe 7 stared at the crimson inferno walking toward them.
"Full power Jiren," 17 muttered, all traces of ease gone. "That aura is unreal. Is he even a person anymore."
Jiren's fist clenched. The arena shuddered.
"Even here in the seats I can feel it," Krillin said, arms crossed tight over his chest. "Can Goku and the others even stand against that."
Bootsteps rang on broken tile. Vegeta's paced rhythm drew every gaze.
"Your teammates are gone. I see you finally decided to get serious," he said.
"Vegeta," they called, worry threading their voices.
"If we knock you off this ring, it's over," Vegeta said. His voice steadied, eyes locking on Jiren alone.
"Don't be absurd. You're covered in wounds. You cannot defeat me."
Jiren's dismissal matched the doubt gnawing at Universe 7's own.
"Don't you dare look down on me."
Vegeta's shout cracked the air. His ki surged, drinking down every scrap 17 had just lent him. Pale blue boiled around him. In a blink he stood in Super Saiyan Blue again.
And still he climbed.
The pressure didn't stop at the usual peak. It thickened, condensed, grew weight.
Crack.
Gravel popped around his boots. Vegeta bellowed, and his aura shifted shade. The blue deepened, richer and denser, like hammered steel.
"He actually broke through," Beerus breathed.
Before the words finished, Vegeta was already moving, driving a straight at Jiren's chest.
"That idiot," Vincent hissed as Vegeta rushed in alone. He flared and launched beside him. Goku and 17 ignited in tandem.
All four crashed in at once.
Jiren clicked his tongue and met them head-on.
Frieza had already slipped from sight.
Fists and feet blurred. One against four, Jiren still held the center and began to press them back. Only by attacking without a heartbeat's rest could they keep from being overwhelmed.
Smack.
"You sly pests."
Jiren caught Vegeta's fist and drove a cross into his face. Vegeta flew. Pressure dropped at once. Two quick kicks and a palm strike sent Goku, Vincent, and 17 skidding in different directions.
Jiren straightened, then hissed as a stab of heat bit between his shoulders. He brushed at his back and slapped out blue-red flames.
"You."
His eyes fixed on Vincent, who was still clutching his ribs.
"Nice, right. How did it taste," Vincent shot back, grinning through the ache.
"I underestimated you. But if you think a few sparks will decide this, you are delusional."
Jiren lifted one hand over his head and casually absorbed Goku's incoming ki blast in his palm.
"If you want to avoid needless pain, jump off the edge yourselves."
"Save the bragging. Take this."
Vegeta stepped from the smoke, stance rooted, palms blazing with golden light as he gathered every last volt of his newest power into a single point.
"Final Flash."
----------------------------------------------------
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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