Axis nodded in satisfaction at the sight before him.
He saw the raging bolts of lightning and the power that had swelled to a hundred times its normal state. It was the hallmark of the Super Saiyan 2 transformation.
Kratos hovered in mid-air, a torrent of violent golden lightning crackling around him. He felt an overwhelming, seemingly endless flood of power surging through his veins.
Power. An unimaginable degree of power.
"I… I've done it! Father!" Kratos exclaimed, his face alight with excitement.
He never would have thought his father's golden Super Saiyan ability possessed a hundred-fold amplification.
Ordinary members of the Legion could only manage a five-fold amplification at best. Captains and higher were considered exceptional if they could reach six or seven times their base strength.
Among them all, only Khârn had managed to surpass the ten-fold mark. Kratos had believed his father's fifty-fold increase was already an unbelievable feat, the very limit of the transformation.
He never imagined an even more formidable state existed beyond it.
"Calm your pride, my son. Super Saiyan 2 is not the limit," Axis said with a great shout, "Let me show you a form that surpasses it. This is Super Saiyan 3."
As he spoke, Axis's aura erupted, and a pillar of golden energy shot toward the heavens. His eyebrows vanished, his hair grew down to his waist, and his gaze sharpened.
Powerful currents of electricity coiled around Axis's body.
"..."
"Father, you… you have yet another transformation?" Kratos stared.
"This state is called Super Saiyan 3. It multiplies my base strength by more than four hundred times and its combat potential is immense. However, it consumes a tremendous amount of stamina and is not a form that can be maintained for long. It is a transformation I no longer use," Axis explained, before reverting from the Super Saiyan 3 state.
"Father, can I… can I also achieve that form?" Kratos asked, a storm of thoughts raging in his mind.
Just how many transformations are you hiding, Father? How immense is your true strength?
"You inherited my bloodline, so in theory, it is possible," Axis replied, "However, you still do not posses ki. You can only rely on your life force and psychic power to achieve these amplified states."
Kratos's Super Saiyan 2 transformation was fundamentally different from that of Axis. For Axis, the transformation enhanced his ki and his physical body. For Kratos, who lacked ki, it amplified his own life force and psychic abilities.
In terms of destructive potential, psychic power was by no means inferior to ki. In fact, in some respects, it was even more versatile.
While ki could be used to shatter a planet, a sufficiently powerful psyker could draw upon the power of the Immaterium to just as easily annihilate a world, or even warp a star. Kratos's psychic abilities, now amplified by more than a hundred-fold, were not far off from those of Magnus.
Such was the boost granted by the Super Saiyan transformation.
"I understand, Father. I will focus on developing this Super Saiyan ability," Kratos said with a firm nod.
"Next, I will show you my most powerful state of transformation," Axis continued, his tone growing serious, "I call it the Legendary Super Saiyan. This state is even more efficient in its stamina and ki consumption than a standard Super Saiyan, yet its power is far greater." He took a deep breath.
A golden-green brilliance ignited on the surface of his skin as his body and muscles expanded with explosive speed. In a flash, he had become a towering brute, three and a half meters tall.
A terrifying and dreadful aura emanated from his every pore. His eyes turned a milky white, his pupils vanishing completely, and his expression twisted into one of extreme ferocity.
"HAAAA!"
With a ferocious roar, Solus Prime trembled. Green light flooded the training chamber as Axis's hair, now a golden-green hue, stood on end and fanned out like an explosion.
"This is the Legendary Super Saiyan, the warrior of legend from our people. Only a Saiyan of the purest bloodline, one whose heritage is the most primal and untainted, can achieve it. This is the most savage and berserk state of our race, also known as the Demon Saiyan," Axis said, his voice a low growl.
The moment Axis transformed, Kratos's body began to tremble. His eyes widened, and a cold sweat beaded on his forehead and ran down his back.
In that instant, he was no longer looking at his father but at a violent god of destruction, a true Despoiler. The sheer pressure of that aura plunged Kratos into a dread from which he could not escape.
I'll be killed. I will die. It's impossible to win. I can't fight him. These thoughts consumed Kratos's mind.
"Do not be afraid, my son," Axis's voice cut through the fear, "The aura of a Legendary Super Saiyan has an overwhelmingly suppressive effect on ordinary Saiyans and even half-bloods like yourself. You must overcome this fear, your fear of me."
The presence of the Legendary Super Saiyan was profoundly malevolent. The stronger one's perception and the purer their Saiyan blood, the more intensely they could feel the sheer barbarity, savagery, and might radiating from Axis.
Kratos had undoubtedly received some genetic optimization from the Emperor after his birth, but as he was not a pure-blooded Saiyan, he could never become a Legendary Super Saiyan. Even so, his Saiyan blood ran deep, allowing him to feel the true terror of the aura Axis unleashed.
"Father… I… I was so scared I couldn't even move. This… this is horrifying! For a moment, I thought you would kill me without a second thought," Kratos stammered, trembling as he forced himself to his feet. He looked up at the monstrous form of his father.
"You have no need to fear. Overcome this terror. I will never harm you. You must remember that. The fear comes from your bloodline, but you inherited half of your lineage from your mother, from the Emperor of Mankind. Be confident, for you can be immune to my pressure," Axis said, offering his son a word of encouragement. The oppressive aura of the Legendary Super Saiyan was indeed intense.
"I understand, Father. I just need to get used to it," Kratos said, "Father, how much does your strength increase when you use this transformation?" This form was far more terrifying than the Super Saiyan 2 and 3 he had just witnessed.
"This form is different from the standard Super Saiyan transformations. It is an inheritance of our bloodline and has no specific multiplier. The angrier I become, the stronger I get. Ki wells up from within me endlessly. Unless an opponent can overwhelm me with absolute power, I will only grow stronger and stronger as the battle rages. My speed, strength, and stamina all become monstrously high. I can even stack the Super Saiyan 2 and 3 states on top of this form. Doing so would grant me an instantaneous leap in power, but it would also place a great strain on my body. In theory, the standard Super Saiyan, this Legendary form, and the primal Super Saiyan 4 are the most suitable states for combat."
If he were to fight now, Axis would only choose to engage in his standard Super Saiyan form, his Legendary Super Saiyan form, or his Super Saiyan 4 form, though partial manifestations of Super Saiyan power were also viable.
"Super Saiyan 4? Father, do you mean to say there is a form even more powerful than this legendary transformation?" Kratos could no longer remain calm.
Just how many secrets did his father hold? The form before him already seemed terrifyingly absolute.
"Allow me to show you. This is the wildest, most extreme, and most primal state of a Saiyan. This is Super Saiyan 4." With those words, Axis initiated another transformation, building upon his Legendary form.
He clenched his fists tightly. A power far more ancient, far more savage, and far closer to the essence of life itself than the Legendary form erupted from him with a silent, thunderous boom.
There were no dazzling lights, no crackling electricity. Instead, a wave of energy, heavy as the pulse of a star's core, rippled out, seeming to shake the very fabric of space and time.
Axis's body did not grow any larger. Instead, it underwent a startling transformation. A thick coat of crimson fur, like smoldering embers, instantly covered his powerful torso, as if he were draped in a pelt from a primordial age.
A thick, powerful, scarlet tail writhed behind him like a living creature, lashing through the air with deep, resounding cracks. The ferocious snarl on his face faded, revealing a visage both wild and handsome. Most striking were his eyes. The sockets were shadowed with deep, feral crimson markings. His aura remained golden, but it was now tinged with flecks of red light.
An even more primitive, more pure, and terrifying pressure, as if from the very dawn of the universe, descended like an invisible mountain. This was not the oppressive, destructive malice of the Legendary form, but a wildness that struck at the very core of one's being, causing a tremor at the genetic level.
Kratos's body shook violently.
He had just managed to stand firm against the Legendary form's presence, but before this untamed power, he began to tremble uncontrollably once more. This time, it was not merely fear. It was a primal sense of insignificance and submission, born from instinct in the face of a completely superior form of life.
Such savage, pure, and primal power.
"Father… can I… can I also become a Legendary Super Saiyan, or achieve this Super Saiyan 4 form?" Kratos asked.
"The Legendary Super Saiyan is impossible for you. It is a transformation exclusive to the most pure-blooded and primitive Saiyans. As for Super Saiyan 4, in theory, anyone with a tail can achieve it," Axis replied, glancing at the tail coiled at Kratos's back.
Just like his own, Kratos had been born with a tail, which he now kept wrapped around his waist like a belt.
"My tail?" Kratos recalled, "My grandfather once told me that my tail is the key to our bloodline, the source of our race's power, and that I must never lose it."
He had heard that in the early days of his father's Legion, the sons had also possessed tails. While the tail was a source of power for a Saiyan, it was not so for them. It was this tail that allowed him to transform into a Great Ape.
Thankfully, the planet of Nuceria had no moon, so he had never undergone the transformation as a child. It was not until he arrived on Holy Terra and met his grandfather, the Emperor, that he saw Terra's moon and transformed for the first time. The Emperor, Malcador, and the others had been present, and though he had turned into a monstrous ape, he had been quickly subdued.
"So, you have already transformed into a Great Ape. How did it feel? You should have been able to retain your reason," Axis asked. The key to Super Saiyan 4 was the power of the Great Ape.
Only one who mastered that power could achieve the transformation. In this, half-bloods held a unique advantage.
"The first time, Father, I had no reason at all," Kratos admitted, "Afterward, under my grandfather's supervision, I experimented a few times. I was able to maintain a sliver of rationality, but the power increase was only ten-fold, far inferior to the golden transformation. So, after I came of age, I never used it again."
In his view, the Great Ape form was powerful, but it paled in comparison to the golden Super Saiyan transformation and its fifty-fold boost.
A mere ten-fold increase, and it was difficult to control. In that state, he could only cling to a basic awareness of himself.
"You are gravely mistaken if you think that!" Axis's voice held a note of admonishment, "The tail is the fountainhead of a Saiyan's strength, because it connects us to the power of the Great Ape! And that power is the very foundation of all Saiyan strength!" He pointed to his own fur-covered chest, a testament to raw, primal might.
"My current form is the perfect, ultimate manifestation of that Great Ape power!"
Super Saiyan 4 was the most primitive state of a Saiyan. In principle, a half-blood should not have been able to reach it, but Axis wanted to try. Perhaps his son would yield an unexpected result.
"I see, Father. Then, must I transform into a Great Ape first? What do I do after that?" Kratos asked.
"It is still too soon for you," Axis said, "You are only now beginning to control Super Saiyan 2. First, master that form, then break through to Super Saiyan 3. Only then should you begin to attempt the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. That state is completely different from the previous ones. It requires a perfect fusion of power, bloodline, wildness, and instinct. Since you lack ki and must rely on your psychic power, you must proceed one step at a time."
Axis looked at his son. The combination of the Emperor's power and the strength of a Saiyan… the boy's potential was immense.
"I understand, Father!" Kratos declared.
...
..
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Bonus chapter!