So strong… The pressure bearing down on her was suffocating.
Is this really an opponent I can withstand? I can't even fully use the vast power inside me… Did Young Master Levos give me this power for nothing? Was it… wasted on me?
A flicker of hesitation rose in Puar's heart.
The next second, she slapped herself hard across the face.
How could she think something like that?!
Puar let out an angry shout, forcing her head up against the crushing pressure as she looked toward her companions.
Every pair of eyes was filled with worry yet hidden within that worry was a faint trace of expectation.
Everyone trusts me this much… Why? Why can't I do it?!
Her eyes reddened, her chest tightening with agony.
The energy inside her was no longer obeying her command. It tore at her body from within, wrenching at flesh and bone.
Wave after wave of pain sharp enough to drill into the marrow washed over her. Puar understood it clearly now.
Her body was already on the verge of collapse.
And what made it worse was that a terrifying, crazed monster was closing in on her.
Bam!
A massive fist slammed into Puar's abdomen. Her organs churned violently.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
A relentless storm of blows crashed down and she could do nothing about it.
Right now, she was like a bomb with a burning fuse. If the power inside her broke free, she would detonate and be erased in her own self-destruction.
Goodbye, everyone… goodbye, Young Master Levos…
Just as Puar's mind reached its limit stretched to the breaking point
A grotesquely familiar laugh echoed across the entire arena.
"Ohohohoho…"
"Mr. Levos, you really miscalculated this time. I told you long ago never trust anyone, especially a useless little brat like this."
"Frieza, that's too far!" Goku glared at him. "Puar is our teammate!"
"Oh? Oh my." Frieza's expression turned cold. "I don't recall us being that close."
"In my eyes, we're nothing more than a temporary group with a shared objective."
"If you say that, Mr. Frieza, Lord Beerus might be heartbroken." Whis smiled, eyes half-mooned.
"Hmph. No matter what you say, it doesn't change the fact that there's trash in this group!"
"Frieza, what the hell is wrong with you?" Beerus's eyes gleamed dangerously.
"Lord Beerus. I'm not questioning your decisions." Frieza's tone was smooth, almost polite. "But surely you won't stop a team member from venting a little, will you?"
"Venting is your problem," Beerus said icily. "But if you affect the fighter's emotions on that stage, I won't spare you."
"Rest assured, Lord Beerus. I know exactly where the line is."
With that, Frieza curled his lips, his gaze sliding toward Levos.
Levos could vaguely guess what Frieza was doing but he didn't understand why Frieza stopped short instead of pushing harder and continuing to provoke Puar.
Then, in the next instant, Frieza's private transmission hit Levos like a hammer.
"Mr. Levos… you don't want Miss Puar to get hurt, do you? Things are urgent right now. So I assume you won't refuse a small request like adding another five centimeters, correct?"
On the ring, Puar was getting beaten to the edge of exploding.
The situation was already a fire licking at the eyebrows imminent disaster.
Did Levos really have room to refuse?
He could only grit his teeth and agree.
Whether Universe 7 won or lost didn't matter that much.
But if Puar got hurt…
How was he supposed to face Yamcha afterward?
Sorry. The pet that's been with you for decades… I "borrowed" her.
And she died less than a day after following me.
That was beyond ridiculous.
And it made Levos realize something even more clearly.
His companions' lives mattered far more than transformations, far more than winning or losing.
From the very beginning, demanding that Puar win the match had been a mistake.
He himself was nothing more than a chess piece in this divine game. He shouldn't have placed that kind of pressure on her.
After all, Puar wasn't like Goku someone whose whole world was nothing but martial arts.
"Puar… give up."
Levos let out a long sigh. "We're done. We're not fighting anymore. We'll all go home together."
At the same time, he sent her a private message, explaining his overall plan for the Tournament along with the truth that Earth was actually unlikely to be erased.
So it wasn't that Universe 7 was doomed no matter what.
It was that Universe 7 should have been erased outright until Young Master Levos convinced the gods to hold this tournament, to let the universes fight for survival…
And in doing so, he lowered the risk of Earth being wiped out.
So he's done all of that… in the shadows.
Back then, he kept struggling in a world with no hope, testing again and again, defeating enemy after enemy… until Earth finally returned to peace.
And now he's running himself ragged for the survival of the universe.
And me… I can't even do something as small as turning into a Super Saiyan…
The more Puar thought about it, the angrier she became at herself.
"I want to become someone like you, Young Master Levos."
Puar turned her head toward him, her voice grave and utterly sincere.
"Please… let me finish this match."
Levos frowned.
Puar's condition had already crossed into dangerous territory.
While she gritted her teeth and endured Kale's assault, she also had to suppress the violent, rampaging energy inside her body.
And at this point, Levos no longer had any expectations of Frieza at all.
Puar had no margin for error.
If she continued forcing a transformation, she would only fall into a situation she couldn't recover from.
There was no such thing as a last-second miracle here no way to turn the tables from the brink.
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