Ino's direct clash with the Demon Realm Supreme Kai had been brief. The moment they engaged, he'd opened with everything he had. She held on for two exchanges, decided she couldn't win, and played dead.
Still, that was enough to size each other up.
On Ino's side: water, wind, lightning, earth, fire, Yin, Yang, God Power, and Time Power — nine attributes in total. That was her absolute ceiling. She could deepen any one of them, but there was no room left to absorb anything new.
Mechikabura was in much the same position, except that he walked the path of an orthodox mage. The elemental affinities he'd absorbed ran toward frost, fire, and thunder — classical elemental types. His core energies were God Power, Dark Power, and his own Time Power, later supplemented by the Time Power drawn from Kuronoa and a portion of Light Power converted from Dark Power.
Ino couldn't absorb Light or Dark Power. By the same token, Mechikabura had no capacity for Yin-Yang Release attributes. To him, those two affinities were pure poison.
Which was exactly why the Yin-Yang Harmony Powder had been crafted specifically for him — a "wonder drug" that, once ingested, would give him the time of his life.
What's that? Would Frieza be affected? Ridiculous. The man wandered around pants-free every single day — a committed naturist through and through. The concept of gender simply did not apply to him; there was nothing below the belt to speak of. What possible effect could it have?
Frieza felt there were far too many variables in Ino's plan. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "All right. I'll handle it. Anything else?"
"Let me think... Right, Mechikabura has control over part of your body? In that case, you won't be truly free unless he's eliminated. Are you interested in working with me to kill the Demon Realm Supreme Kai?"
Frieza gave a cold laugh. "Do I have a choice?"
Ino answered with complete sincerity. "Probably not."
Frieza moved on to terms. "You said it yourself — he can commandeer my body. In this state, I can't fight him at all."
Ino had already thought of a solution. "That's not a big problem. I can brew you a special divine water. Drink it when the time comes, and it will temporarily suppress the autonomous will in that borrowed half of your body."
Frieza went silent.
Your tone is exactly like my mother's. Are you two wholesaling divine water together?
He had the distinct sense of jumping from one pit straight into another. The only difference was that some pits he'd fallen into without knowing they were pits — and some he could see perfectly well were pits, yet had no choice but to jump anyway.
Drinking poison to quench your thirst. One step at a time. "Fine. I agree."
——
Ino's spatial abilities were only average — but that "average" was measured against the rest of her skillset. By any honest standard, her Teleportation far surpassed that of mages from the Demon Realm who had devoted entire lifetimes to mastering the spatial arts.
The Yin-Yang Harmony Powder — fused with her Yin and Yang power, capable of sealing Mechikabura's Dark Power from within his own body — materialized quietly in Frieza's hand.
Mechikabura had been thoroughly battered by Guy-sensei's Eight Inner Gates. Dark Shenron had restored his body to the vigor of his youth, but after all the relentless harassment, he had aged several centuries right back again. It looked unremarkable on the surface, but the damage was real.
When dealing with Ino, he could dominate her, yes — but he couldn't finish her in a single move. Now, with his body showing signs of decline across the board, even that advantage had quietly eroded.
He was not pleased. Eating hits without retaliating was not the Demon Realm's philosophy.
He hid in the gaps between timelines for several days, running his battle plan through his mind again and again, confirming it was airtight — and only then returned to the main timeline, ready to lead his armies in another full assault on the Time Nest.
This time, he would not let Ino play dead and slip through his fingers again.
He summoned his officers, gathered in a vast hall for food and drink, and then turned to the matter of the coming campaign.
The Demon Realm's nature was chaos — betrayal and slaughter at every turn. If he showed so much as a flicker of worry on his face, his subordinates might defect on the spot.
So he sat in full imperious splendor, watching the maidservants sing and dance, occasionally exchanging quiet words with the mage-commanders who led his armies.
"Frieza is ready to serve you, great Demon Realm Supreme Kai, Your Majesty!" Frieza played the groveling lackey to perfection — fawning expression and all — every inch the picture of a loyal subordinate.
The Demon Realm Supreme Kai regarded him with genuine appreciation. After all, his core retinue consisted almost entirely of mages, and if a powerful enemy ever closed to melee range and started swinging steel, it would be a massacre.
He desperately needed capable warriors.
King Vegeta, Bardock, and Paragus were all decent enough — but only decent. In terms of aptitude, talent, cunning, and raw power, none of them came close to Frieza.
"Frieza. Is there something you want to say?" Mechikabura fixed his gaze on Frieza's eyes, as though he could see straight through to his innermost thoughts.
Frieza lowered his head, his expression heavy with contrition. "Yes, Your Majesty. Here in the Demon Realm, I have finally seen my own heart clearly. How narrow I was in my former life. If Your Majesty does not find my talents too meager, I wish to take you as my adoptive father — so that I may remain at your side always, receive your teachings, and learn from your every word and deed."
The Demon Realm Supreme Kai burst out laughing. The Celestial Mages around him laughed as well.
The laughter echoed through the hall — and then, just as it was beginning to fade, Mechikabura's smile vanished in an instant. His face turned perfectly grave. "Is there anything else?"
"There is..." Frieza, never one to hesitate, immediately pointed at the wine vessel nearby and declared with great agitation, "There's poison in the wine. That hideous woman called Ino ordered me to assassinate my adoptive father! I only pretended to agree. Your Majesty could feign being poisoned and injured — then I'll contact that woman, lure her out into the open, and we'll join forces, father and son, to kill that ugly witch!"
The Demon Realm Supreme Kai smiled — a cold, deep smile — and with a wave of his hand, the wine vessel floated up into the air. "Since you wish to be my adoptive son, then — dare you drink this?"
"This..." Frieza's thoughts raced. That cursed Yin-Yang Harmony Powder — could he actually drink it himself?
Ino had given him a rough explanation of the effects. Something about things getting "hard, hard" — Frieza had interpreted that as his fists getting harder.
Prolonged clenching of the fists could cause circulation problems. That was more or less what he'd figured.
Would drinking it right now kill him horribly? He didn't think so. Short-term, he'd probably be fine.
He was walking a tightrope. One misstep, and he'd be shattered beyond recognition.
After rapid deliberation, he said, "I'll drink—"
Before he could finish, a mass of black mist shot from Mechikabura's palm and dissolved the wine vessel completely.
"I believe you! From this day forth, you are my adoptive son! Once I..."
The Demon Realm Supreme Kai suddenly caught a faint, peculiar fragrance drifting through the hall. His gaze snapped immediately to the dissolved vessel — but the Dark Power had corroded it clean. Whatever had been inside was gone without a trace. The problem certainly wasn't there.
____
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