Beerus hadn't missed the flicker. It was a momentary lapse, a microscopic dip in the pressure weighing down on the vacuum around them, but to a God of Destruction, it was as loud as a scream. Gogeta's aura had spiked and then instinctively retracted, stifled by the harsh reality of the void.
Deep space was no place for a mortal. Between the absolute zero temperature, the lack of oxygen, and the searing cosmic radiation, Gogeta's body was fighting a war on two fronts.
Beerus, however, stood unbothered. To a god of his standing, the vacuum was as comfortable as a summer garden. Even the likes of Frieza's kin could endure this environment, yet here was the pinnacle of Saiyan evolution, struggling to catch his breath.
Beerus clasped his hands behind his back, his voice carrying clearly through the divine medium of their clashing spirits. "You interest me, fusion. Truly. But I can feel your fire flickering out."
He tilted his head, his yellow eyes narrowing with a hint of genuine melancholy. "When you first appeared, you actually managed to surprise me. But if you're restricted by something as trivial as the atmosphere, then I suppose I expected too much. I thought, finally, a battle to satisfy my soul."
The God of Destruction's gaze dimmed. He looked less like a predator and more like a bored king finding his favorite toy broken.
In the Sacred World of the Kai, the atmosphere was even more suffocating. Through the Old Kai's crystal ball, Shin and his ancestor watched the exchange with sinking hearts. The brief spark of hope that had ignited when Gogeta appeared was being doused by the cold water of logic.
"He's right," Shin whispered, sweat beading on his brow. "No matter how much power they possess, Goku and Vegeta are still flesh and blood. They can't rewrite the laws of nature."
But on the surface of the crystal ball, Gogeta's expression didn't match Shin's despair.
Gogeta's lips curled into a smirk. He didn't bother with a verbal retort. Instead, the coarse, crimson fur covering his torso began to pulse with a rhythmic, rhythmic glow. From the core of his being, a vein of divine ki erupted, wrapping around him not as a weapon, but as a shell.
The shimmering barrier solidified, sealing him in a pocket of his own power. Instantly, the tension in his shoulders vanished. The suffocation was gone, replaced by the boundless confidence of the ultimate warrior.
"Don't write me off just yet," Gogeta said, his voice ringing with a dual-toned resonance. "A minor hitch like that is easily cleared."
The disappointment vanished from Beerus's face, replaced by a sharp, predatory grin. He crooked a single finger, beckoning. "Better. Now, don't make me wait."
Gogeta didn't blink. He vanished, leaving nothing but a streak of golden-red light in his wake.
Beerus's eyes darted left and right, tracking the afterimages that began to proliferate in the void. Within seconds, the high-speed blur ceased, and the vacuum was suddenly crowded.
Nine identical Gogetas surrounded the God of Destruction in a perfect sphere. In the palms of each clone, swirling vortexes of gold and azure energy began to grind together, shrieking with the friction of two different types of power.
Beerus sensed the trap closing. He attempted to blur out of the center, but the nine fusions moved in perfect synchronicity, their auras interlocking like a cage of "sticky" energy that refused to let him slip through.
Excitement flared in Beerus's chest. The more he was pushed, the more the blood of destruction sang in his veins.
"Big Bang... Kamehameha!"
Nine voices roared in unison. Nine pillars of devastating energy converged on a single point in space. To a distant observer, it looked like a supernova blooming into a flower of light, with the God of Destruction at its burning heart.
Beerus closed his eyes for a moment, letting the sheer pressure wash over him. It had been eons since a mortal had made him feel this sense of weight, this genuine thrill. This, he thought, is the Saiyan from my dreams.
As the beams were inches from vaporizing him, Beerus opened his eyes. He didn't look afraid; he looked amused.
"I think I'll skip the dodging this time," he muttered.
A violent, purple aura exploded from his skin. Beerus tucked his limbs and began to spin with the ferocity of a collapsing star. He became a whirlwind of Hakai energy, creating a centrifugal shield that ground the incoming Kamehamehas into harmless sparks.
But he wasn't done. Reversing the momentum in an instant, he flickered out of the center of the explosion and reappeared behind the circle of clones.
He raised a hand casually toward the nine fusions. "Hakai."
The word was a whisper, but the effect was absolute. The nine Gogetas didn't explode; they simply ceased to be, their forms unraveling into purple dust.
Beerus frowned, looking at his palm. Too easy. Was that it?
Then, a sudden, searing heat bloomed against the back of his neck.
A blade of pure, concentrated energy, a Soul Punisher refined into a shimmering broadsword, cleaved through the darkness. The real Gogeta had been hiding in the shadow of his own light, and the blade was already descending toward the God's skull.
Clang!
The sound was like a hammer hitting an anvil. The blade stopped dead, caught between two of Beerus's fingers.
"A feint within a feint," Beerus conceded, a smirk playing on his lips. "You actually have a brain to go with those muscles."
"Save the commentary," Gogeta growled, his eyes burning with intensity.
He knew the truth. Despite the scale of the battle, Beerus was still treating this like a sparring match in his pajamas. But Gogeta didn't have the luxury of time; the fusion dance was a ticking clock.
"Let's see you catch this!"
Gogeta roared, and the combined spirits of Goku and Vegeta fused at a molecular level. The red fur of Super Saiyan 4 began to stand on end as his power climbed into a new, terrifying stratosphere: Full Power.
The sudden surge was so violent that Beerus's fingers actually trembled. For the first time, the God of Destruction was forced to plant his feet in the void, sliding backward as he brought his second hand up to catch the glowing blade.
Their eyes locked, gold meeting yellow.
"You're strong," Gogeta admitted through gritted teeth. "Stronger than anything I've ever dreamed of. So tell me the truth... how much have you been holding back?"
Beerus leaned into the blade, his expression unreadable. "You really want to know? Fine. I'll be honest with you, mortal. I'm using roughly seventy percent of my power right now."
Gogeta stared at him for a heartbeat, then his face contorted. He felt his intelligence had been insulted more than his strength.
"Seventy percent?" Gogeta's aura flared, turning the surrounding space into a sea of red fire. "If that's seventy percent, then I'll just have to hit you seventy times harder! HAAAAA!"
The vacuum groaned under the weight of his ascending power. Beerus didn't look insulted; he looked delighted.
(End Of This Chapter)
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