The fabric of reality was screaming.
Faint, jagged fractures began to spiderweb through the vacuum of space where Beerus and Gogeta clashed. To an observer, it looked like glass under a hammer, but to Gogeta, it was the opening of a door.
This was his endgame. He didn't just want to hit Beerus; he wanted to tear the canvas they were standing on.
BOOM, !
Another heavy, dull explosion echoed as their knuckles met. For the local space-time continuum, it was pure agony. The cracks multiplied, bleeding a strange, iridescent light that didn't belong to the stars.
Beerus felt the shift. For the first time, a flicker of genuine hesitation crossed the Destroyer's heart.
He knew the laws. If this sector of the universe shattered, it wouldn't just be a planetary catastrophe, it would be a cosmic sin. If Zen-Oh caught wind of such a reckless display of power, the punishment wouldn't just be death; it would be erasure. Space-time would spiral into chaos, and Beerus would be the one holding the bill.
"What's the matter, Beerus?!" Gogeta's voice was a jagged edge, cutting through the static of the battle. "Why so timid? Where's that Godly dignity I heard so much about?!"
Gogeta could feel it, the weight behind Beerus's strikes was waning. The God was holding back, pulling his punches to keep reality from snapping.
In response, Gogeta doubled down. He funneled every ounce of his Boundary-Breakthrough energy into his right hand, shattering the barrier of Beerus's defense and slamming his fist squarely into the God's jaw.
Beerus's head snapped back. He ground his teeth, his eyes burning with a mix of fury and disbelief. He finally saw it, the intent written plainly on Gogeta's face. The Saiyan wasn't clashing with him out of necessity; he was using Beerus as an anvil to break the world.
"You bastard!" Beerus roared, spittle flying. "Do you have any idea what you're courting? This isn't just a fight! Breaking space will bring down the King of All! You're signing your own death warrant!"
Gogeta let out a cold, mocking laugh. "How pathetic. I thought a God of Destruction feared nothing in heaven or earth. Turns out you're just a dog on a very short leash!"
The name Zen-Oh sparked a dim memory in the back of Gogeta's mind, something from the depths of Goku and Vegeta's shared consciousness, but he shoved it aside. There was no room for ghosts in a fight like this.
"I don't care about your 'King of All,'" Gogeta spat. "All I know is this: if I don't break this space, I can't protect Earth. This universe can't handle us, Beerus. And the only reason we're in this position is because you pushed us there!"
Beerus stiffened. He couldn't wrap his head around the logic. Breaking space to protect a planet? What kind of insane Saiyan math is that?
"Why should I care about your perspective?" Gogeta continued, his voice dropping to a predatory growl. "You're a god who destroys on a whim. If you won't fight me for real, then I'll just beat you to death while you're standing still. Choice is yours."
It was a ruthless, open gambit. Gogeta unleashed a storm of blows, his fists moving so fast they became a blur of crimson light. He hammered into Beerus's chest, his stomach, his face, unrelenting, devastating strikes that would have pulverized a galaxy.
The pampered God of Destruction was taking more punishment in ten seconds than he had in ten million years. His dignity wasn't just being challenged; it was being trampled into the cosmic dust.
High above, reflected in the crystal orb of Vados's staff, the scene was playing out in high definition.
Champa was doubled over, clutching his stomach as he howled with laughter. "Hahahaha! Look at him! Beerus is getting worked like a training dummy! Why isn't he hitting back? This is the best thing I've ever seen!"
But while the God of Destruction laughed, the Angel beside him went cold.
Vados, who had been gliding toward the battlefield with her usual serene grace, suddenly skidded to a halt in mid-air. Her constant, playful smile vanished, replaced by a look of sharp concern.
"Vados? What's the hold-up?" Champa grumbled, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "I was just getting to the good part."
Vados didn't answer. She closed her eyes, her consciousness expanding.
Across the cosmos, in the heart of Universe 7, Whis felt the same shudder. Almost simultaneously, the two siblings connected. The Angelic link hummed with a sudden, urgent frequency, bypassing time and distance to center on a single, terrifying truth.
Vados's voice echoed directly into Whis's mind, sharp and devoid of its usual playfulness.
[Whis. End this. Immediately.]
[If they shatter the spatial fabric of Universe 7, the cascading timeline failure will be irreversible. You know as well as I do what happens when the King of All loses his patience with a messy universe.]
Whis gripped his staff, his eyes fixed on the flickering images of the carnage. He understood the stakes better than anyone, but he also knew the stubborn pride of the cat he served.
[I'm afraid Lord Beerus isn't in a listening mood, sister,] Whis replied, his mental tone tinged with a rare touch of apprehension. [He's been backed into a corner. If I interfere now, his fury will only accelerate the collapse.]
He paused, watching Gogeta prime another world-ending strike.
[I have a proposal. I need your assistance to anchor a transit. What do you say we shift their stage to the World of Void?]
The World of Void, a realm of absolute nothingness, existing outside the boundaries of the known universes. It was a place without time, without life, and most importantly, without a ceiling. It was the only arena capable of containing the heat of two dying suns.
Vados hesitated. She watched the mortal on her screen, Gogeta. He was a fascinating anomaly. She could feel that he was still holding something back, a final gear he hadn't yet shifted into. If he truly crossed that threshold, this would no longer be a god disciplining a mortal; it would be a clash between two equals in the art of destruction.
The prospect was too tempting to ignore. She wanted to see if this "human" could truly reach the summit.
[Very well,] Vados signaled. [I agree. I am moving into position now.]
Back in the fray, Beerus was drowning in a sea of his own humiliation. Gogeta was relentless, his fists carving a path through the God's defenses with a ferocity that bordered on insulting.
Gogeta had realized the truth: Beerus was terrified. Not of him, but of the consequences. The great Destroyer was so haunted by the shadow of Zen-Oh that he was letting a mortal use him as a punching bag.
"Still holding back, Beerus?" Gogeta's voice was a low snarl. "Fine. Then take this and see if your 'King of All' can find your ashes!"
Gogeta threw his arms wide. Between his palms, a sphere of swirling, iridescent light began to churn, a multicolored star that pulsed with the purifying rhythm of the Soul Punisher. He wasn't just aiming to hurt Beerus anymore; he was looking to erase him.
The sight of the spark snapped something inside Beerus. The foremost Destroyer of the universes, the man who had brought civilizations to their knees with a flick of his finger, could not endure this disgrace a second longer.
"Enough!" Beerus shrieked, his purple aura exploding outward in a violent, jagged corona. "You arrogant brat! Don't you dare look down on a God!"
Beerus thrust his hand forward, a concentrated orb of Hakai energy shrieking into existence. He didn't care about the cracks in space anymore. He didn't care about the rules. He just wanted to wipe that smirk off Gogeta's face.
The two ultimate techniques collided.
The impact didn't make a sound, it was too powerful for air to carry. Instead, the universe simply turned white.
Massive plumes of energy bled off the collision point. Shards of Hakai energy sprayed outward like shrapnel, streaking across the sector. Distant planets, miles from the epicenter, were caught in the crossfire. They didn't explode; they simply ceased to be, reduced to fundamental particles in a heartbeat.
Gogeta felt a pang of white-hot rage. He saw the stars blinking out, the silent screams of worlds being snuffed out because of a God's tantrum.
"What kind of protector are you?!" Gogeta roared, pushing his weight against the clashing spheres. "You claim to be a god, but you're just a selfish, petty child. I've already executed one 'God' like you... and I have plenty of room for another!"
Beerus's eyes widened. Executed one? He's killed a God of Destruction? He didn't know about Zamasu, and he didn't know that Gogeta had experience breaking the world. Under the combined weight of their fury, the space around them finally buckled. The fractures turned into a gaping, obsidian maw, ready to swallow Universe 7 whole.
Gogeta grinned, his teeth bared. He was ready. He was going to shove Beerus through that crack and into the unknown.
But just as the void reached out to claim them, the pressure vanished.
The screaming light, the shattering stars, and the crumbling vacuum disappeared in a blink. The sensory overload was replaced by a cold, heavy silence.
Gogeta blinked, looking around. The stars were gone. Earth was gone. There was only a vast, endless expanse of green-tinted nothingness.
They had arrived in the World of Void.
(End Of This Chapter)
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