"Lord Merus, Lord Ken, let's head back," Gowasu suggested. "Zamasu, you too."
Zamasu said nothing.
The Barbari native's eyes bulged; he shrieked and hurled curses at Zamasu.
Murder flashed hotter in Zamasu's gaze.
Snap!
Zamasu let his right hand fall. A violet, blade-like ki edge bloomed along his palm.
"Zamasu, what are you doing?" Gowasu barked.
"Raaah!"
The Barbari warrior howled like a beast and lunged straight at him.
Unhurried, Zamasu lifted his hand-knife, posture set to cleave.
"Zamasu, stand down!" Gowasu thundered.
The blade flashed—Zamasu's stroke split the attacker from crown to tailbone.
The Barbari's eyes slid apart; even in death he couldn't believe how brutally he'd been ended.
Zamasu's mouth twisted into a feral grin.
"Y-you… Zamasu… look at what you've done!" Gowasu gasped.
This was bad. Really bad.
Merus was the Grand Priest's own son. And Zamasu had just crossed a line in front of him.
"How am I supposed to explain this if the Grand Priest hears of it?"
"We're leaving." Gowasu's face darkened.
Zamasu kept his thoughts to himself, shooting Gowasu a puzzled glance.
I just saved this trainee angel.
If I hadn't acted, he might have been struck—maybe not hurt, but humiliated—by a mere mortal, right?
And I'm the one getting scolded?
"My apologies, Lord Merus, Lord Ken," Gowasu said quickly.
"It's fine, Lord Gowasu," Merus smiled, letting it go. He had no interest in judging Gowasu's pupil; he only cared about training his own Supreme Kai candidate.
"Let's return," Gowasu urged.
"Alright." Merus nodded.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, Gowasu brought them back to the main timeline and teleported to the Supreme Kai Realm.
Universe 9 — Deep Space
Having absorbed Broly, Majin Buu poured everything into speed, raking the void with a brilliant trail.
Mosco tore after him.
But as the chase stretched on, a grim truth dawned on Mosco: he was falling behind—if only by a hair.
The gap kept growing.
"How?! Why can't I catch him?" Mosco blurted.
Vwoom—
Sidra streaked up from behind, stroking his red beard, amused. "Those two really surprised me. Fusing like that put him right around God of Destruction level."
"GoD level?" the lights in Mosco's visor jittered. His voice shook.
"He may already be stronger than you," Sidra mused.
"Impossible. Absolutely not!" Mosco snapped.
"Own it, Mosco," Sidra chuckled. "If he weren't wary of me, he'd have stopped and finished you by now."
"Tell him you won't meddle!" Mosco gritted his teeth. "I refuse to believe an old-guard God of Destruction loses to two trainee GoDs mashed together!"
"Sure you want that?" Sidra's eyes glinted. "Don't ask me to bail you out if it goes south."
"I won't. I won't lose!" Mosco barked. "And they didn't even use Potara. It's just a bodily merge—simple stacking, maybe a bit more."
"You're sure?" Sidra smiled.
"Sure."
"Alright. I'll go tell him."
Sidra surged forward, blazing past Mosco, closing on Majin Buu fast. His edge wasn't huge on paper, but in practice that slight level gap let him own the chase.
Sensing Sidra closing, Buu glanced back—
Fwoomp!
He spat a dark-green blast.
Sidra snatched it out of the air with a casual sweep of violet-red Hakai, the shot unraveling to motes.
Buu's face tightened. He pressed harder.
"Uh… what did Broly tell me to do after I absorbed him?" Buu muttered as he flew. "I know he said run… but there was something else…"
"Hey, Buu!" Sidra called from behind. "Listen up—I won't interfere. I actually think you can take Mosco."
Buu ignored him and kept accelerating.
"I'm serious. This is between you two," Sidra coaxed.
Buu stuck out his tongue.
"Don't you want payback? He—Mule—worked you over pretty bad. Don't you want to return the favor yourself?"
Temptation flickered in Buu's triangular eyes.
Sidra used the opening, sliding up alongside him. "I mean it. Settle it here. I won't step in—unless someone tries to run."
Buu wavered.
"What? You don't believe me?" Sidra smiled brighter.
Buu was about to answer when a voice rang through his mind:
Don't trust him! Don't trust him!
Broly.
Even absorbed, the kid could speak into his awareness.
"I don't trust you!" Buu pulled a face and poured on speed, carving a blazing line through space.
"Tch. Ungrateful brat," Sidra growled—and struck.
Wham!
His palm crashed into Buu's shoulder, sending Buu windmilling through the void.
Buu reacted fast, body ballooning into a giant pink "parachute"… but vacuum offered no drag. He kept sliding until—
Thud!
Mosco arrived and punted him, launching him flipping end over end again.
By the time Buu steadied, Mosco and Sidra had boxed him in, front and back.
"Nowhere to run," Mosco rasped. "You beat me up earlier—I won't forgive you."
"As I said: your grudge, not mine," Sidra said mildly—then let steel creep into his voice. "But if anyone tries to flee, I will act."
He drifted back, beard-twirling spectator once more.
Buu glanced between the two GoDs. Escape was out. He'd have to fight.
Contact Ken. Contact Ken—or Merus!
Broly's voice again.
"Uh… how?" Buu scratched his head.
The suit has Ken's contact built in—call him! Broly groaned. I can only talk to you; I can't steer.
"I can let you drive," Buu brightened.
Really? Broly perked up.
Buu nodded hard.
"Scheming how to run?" Mosco sneered. "Don't bother. You won't get away."
And then—
Shlrrrp!
Buu's body liquefied and reshaped, pink yielding back to armored contours.
Boom!
Steel flashed with dark-green light.
Seeing that armor, Mosco's glow turned icy with hate. "Tell me where you got that suit."
"Found it," Broly said flatly—now in control.
"So you're Broly again?" Mosco's lenses narrowed. "That pink lump really is something—he just handed you the wheel."
Broly didn't bother responding. He pinged Ken through the armor's comms.
Universe 10 — Supreme Kai Realm
Back from one thousand years ahead, Gowasu's patience had thinned.
Especially after Zamasu crossed that line right in front of the Grand Priest's son.
"Zamasu, why did you do something so pointless?" he scolded. "We didn't need to act. We only had to return."
"They're worthless creatures," Zamasu shot back. "They poison their worlds. They're thrash. And striking at Lord Merus would have been an insult to a god. That's why I killed him."
"Actually, he couldn't hit me—I'd have dodged," Merus said, helplessly.
Zamasu: "…"
"A god dodging a mortal's blow… and you call that proper?" Zamasu stared. "Is that worthy of a god?"
"I don't see the problem," Merus said genuinely. "You don't counter every swing. To them, we were intruders."
Zamasu looked at him like he'd never seen a more naïve deity.
"Humans have no value," Zamasu muttered.
"If something had no value, it wouldn't exist," Gowasu softened his tone. "Even earthworms enrich soil or feed others. Nature leaves little without purpose."
"But earthworms don't try to become human," Zamasu deadpanned.
Gowasu's brow beaded with sweat.
A professional contrarian—did I take a pedant as a pupil?
Merus dabbed at his own sweat. No wonder the Grand Priest said he's ill-suited for Supreme Kai… Ken read him perfectly.
Merus glanced at Ken.
Ken blinked. "Why are you looking at me? I didn't say a word."
Merus looked away; he'd only wanted to confirm Ken's earlier judgment.
"I was giving an example, Zamasu…" Gowasu sighed, then worried he'd been too harsh. Maybe Zamasu was raw from losing to mortals.
"Why do you hate humans so much?" he asked more gently.
"Give a human wisdom and he destroys his world," Zamasu said. "These worlds are ours—we made them—"
"We did, but they aren't our private property," Gowasu replied.
Zamasu fell silent.
This old man is even more stubborn than I am.
"So you'll just ignore Barbari?" he pressed.
"We watch from afar," Gowasu said softly. "What is fated to perish will perish on its own."
"Then what is a Supreme Kai's job?" Zamasu asked.
"You still don't know?" Gowasu's voice firmed. "We safeguard peace and balance, and guide those who drift dangerously from it back toward the mean."
"Isn't that too meek? We should be proactive—crush evil with strength," Zamasu countered. "There are more unruly people than planets."
"That's the God of Destruction's work," Gowasu said.
Zamasu: "…"
Maybe I should apply to be a GoD's apprentice.
"Zamasu, strong justice is fine—but rigidity curdles into zealotry," Gowasu urged. "A broader heart leads to peace."
Zamasu stared. Do you hear yourself? Why should a god broaden his heart for wicked humans?
"So… your answer is to pretend we didn't see it," he said, head lowering.
"You do have power to conquer evil," Gowasu admitted. "But do not be arrogant, or it will consume you. A Supreme Kai needs a calm heart more than might. Do you understand?"
Zamasu's head dipped lower. "Then… what meaning does my long training have?"
"Consider it an expansion of your inner room," Gowasu offered.
Zamasu didn't reply. He felt utterly alone—misunderstood by his master, dismissed by a trainee angel, and stared at by an insufferable human.
He lifted his eyes and glared at Ken.
Ken: "???"
Dude… I've barely spoken. You glaring just because I'm human?
Annoyance sparked in Ken's chest. Peaceful heart or not, being poked over and over wore thin.
"I understand… My apologies for earlier," Zamasu said at last, bowing low—while resentment quietly took root.
"Mmm. Forcing a thousand-year jump at my age was tiring," Gowasu sighed. "Make some tea, Zamasu. I spoke harshly—about actions, not about you."
"Yes, Master." Zamasu bowed again and went to brew the tea.
[End of Chapter]
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