Chapter 469 – Ultra Instinct Unleashed!
Jaco stared at Merus in horror as more and more of his body dissolved into light. "W-Wait! Merus, you're disappearing!"
No one else knew what to say. Gohan, Piccolo, Kale, and even Vegeta could only watch as the Angel's form became increasingly transparent, while Goku stood frozen beneath him, unwilling to accept what was happening.
"Goku," Merus said, turning toward him with the same gentle smile he had worn throughout their training. "With the strength you possess now, if you can complete the true Ultra Instinct, it will be far more stable than what you've been using. Whether your opponent is Moro or someone else, you won't lose so easily anymore."
His body was already breaking apart into countless points of light, yet his voice remained calm.
"This galaxy I came to love, and this universe that always gave me something new to look forward to... please protect them for me."
Before Goku could answer, Merus vanished completely.
The remaining light scattered into the air and faded.
Jaco's voice cracked. "Merus..."
Gohan looked shaken. "He really disappeared."
Vegeta's expression tightened, while Piccolo watched the place where Merus had vanished with a thoughtful frown. Something about the entire sequence bothered him. Merus had known exactly what would happen if he used his Angel power, yet he had still chosen to go that far.
"There has to be more to this," Piccolo said.
Gohan looked toward him. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure yet, but Merus didn't do all of that without a reason. We'll understand soon enough."
Kale suddenly grabbed Gohan's arm and pointed toward Goku. "Gohan-nii, look at him."
Angel power had begun gathering around Goku.
Jaco, who was still standing much too close, finally noticed that everyone else had instinctively backed away. "Uh... Goku? Why am I the only one still standing here?"
Goku lowered his head as the energy continued building around him. "Merus taught me something important."
"What?"
"I'm not fighting alone."
At the same moment, one final point of Angel light drifted away from the place where Merus had vanished and appeared beside Ken.
Merus's voice emerged from within it. "How is Goku?"
"Now we see whether he can control his emotions," Ken replied.
After a brief silence, Merus said, "Then I should go."
Ken nodded. "Go ahead. Rebuild your body."
"All right."
The point of light vanished, leaving Ken alone beside the grill as if nothing unusual had happened.
Goku, meanwhile, remained motionless.
Vegeta had saved him. Ken had restored his energy. Merus had seemingly sacrificed his very existence. Yet none of them had done those things merely for Goku's sake. They had done it because they were trying to protect the universe from Moro.
The realization made anger rise sharply inside him. His hands clenched, his body began to tremble, and for several seconds it looked as though the emotion might overwhelm everything Merus had taught him.
Then Goku remembered the lesson behind Ultra Instinct.
He slowly opened his hands.
Instead of clinging to the anger, he allowed it to pass through him. His breathing steadied, the tension left his shoulders, and when he finally raised his head, his eyes were completely clear.
"Jaco, can I ask you something?"
Jaco blinked. "Right now?"
"Why did you become a Galactic Patrolman?"
"What kind of question is that after Merus just disappeared?" Jaco wiped the sweat from his forehead, but Goku continued looking at him until he finally gave in. "Fine! Because I want to protect the galaxy. Obviously! And... well, the Galactic Patrol uniform looks really cool too."
A faint smile appeared on Goku's face.
"Yeah. Merus was the same."
He glanced down at the Galactic Patrol emblem on his chest.
"He spent all this time protecting the galaxy too. And right now, I'm one of you. So I have to protect this universe. I'm not letting Moro do whatever he wants anymore."
Moro rose back into the air, still furious over what Merus had done to the crystals embedded in his body. He rubbed the broken crystal on his forehead and tried once more to regenerate it, but the Angel power sealing it refused to yield.
"What ridiculous technique did that bastard use?"
Only then did he notice Merus was gone.
"Where did that Angel go?"
"Merus is gone," Goku answered, his voice calm. "I'm the one who's going to defeat you."
Moro scoffed. "You?"
"I'll carry on what Merus believed in."
Power erupted from Goku.
A brilliant pillar of silver light shot into the sky, flooding the battlefield with overwhelming pressure and forcing everyone nearby to brace themselves. The earth trembled beneath their feet as Goku's ki climbed far beyond anything he had shown with Ultra Instinct Sign.
Piccolo stared at him. "That power..."
Gohan's face lit up as he understood what was happening. "Dad's finally doing it. He's completing the real Ultra Instinct!"
Kale clenched her fists in excitement. "Goku finally reached it!"
Vegeta said nothing, though the look on his face made his thoughts painfully obvious. Of course this had been part of Ken and Merus's plan. He and Kakarot had both been pieces on the board, yet somehow Kakarot was the one walking away with the complete Ultra Instinct.
Once again, the universe had found a way to irritate him.
Then the enormous pillar of light suddenly collapsed inward.
All of that violent energy was drawn back into Goku's body, and the trembling ground became completely still. The atmosphere changed with it. Instead of overwhelming pressure, there was only a strange, effortless calm, as though Goku had stopped fighting against the world around him and become part of its natural flow.
His hair had turned silver, and his eyes were clear and tranquil.
Ultra Instinct was complete.
Moro stared at him, unable to hide his shock. "What... what is that?"
Goku gave him no explanation. He simply began walking forward.
For reasons Moro couldn't immediately understand, that quiet approach unsettled him more than the enormous display of power had. His body moved backward on instinct before he caught himself and realized what he was doing.
Fear turned quickly into anger.
Why was he retreating from a mortal? He had survived Merus, absorbed Seven-Three, and become stronger than ever. There was no reason to fear Goku.
Moro roared and threw a powerful punch.
Goku moved before the attack could fully develop, appearing at Moro's side and catching his wrist so cleanly that Moro barely understood how he had been stopped.
"Don't hurt Earth anymore," Goku said.
Moro snarled and kicked at him, but Goku rose lightly above the attack without releasing his arm. When Moro followed with another punch, Goku blocked it with his forearm and pushed forward in one smooth motion.
The movement looked almost effortless, yet Moro was sent flying across the battlefield.
He crashed through a distant formation of stone pillars, shattering them one after another before finally slamming into the ground. For several seconds he remained among the rubble, stunned less by the damage than by how completely Goku had controlled the exchange.
Then fury took over again.
Moro forced himself back to his feet and charged.
The fight had resumed, but the balance between them was no longer the same.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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