Babidi stared at Dabura through the control room monitor and barked, "What are you doing standing there in a daze? Attack!"
"Yes!" Dabura's teeth had been grinding for ages, but he kept his eyes locked on Piccolo, searching endlessly for an opening. Yet Piccolo simply stood there calmly, not even adopting a fighting stance, and there was no gap to exploit.
Piccolo smiled coldly. "Why don't you attack? If you won't move, I'm coming for you!" As he spoke, Piccolo kicked off the ground and vanished instantly. A section of the spacecraft's reinforced floor collapsed where he'd stood, as if a hole had been burned through it. Lightning flashed through the air—too fast to follow with the naked eye.
Dabura was terrified. He could only glimpse Piccolo's afterimage passing by, unable to keep pace with that speed. BOOM! Suddenly, tremendous force slammed into his abdomen and launched him skyward. The impact was so heavy and overwhelming it shook his internal organs. Only then did Dabura finally see Piccolo clearly, but it was far too late.
Dabura, the King of the Demon Realm, felt pain like being torn apart, and the cloak on his back exploded into fragments two seconds later.
In this world, one person wearing a cape was enough.
Piccolo extended his fist, and a ki wave surged forth, striking Dabura directly!
"Not good! Move outside!" Seeing Piccolo's ki blast, Babidi hurriedly uttered a spell. His spacecraft couldn't withstand such punishment—if the ship was wrecked, that would be disastrous.
Furthermore, he feared waking Majin Buu before he had sufficient energy.
As the ki wave struck Dabura, the entire environment transformed, instantly shifting to the wilderness on the planet's surface. However, though the environment had changed, the attack remained just as powerful. The ki blast hit Dabura squarely and sent him flying.
Babidi screamed in disbelief, "You couldn't even dodge that? Useless!" Sweat poured down his bulbous forehead. His ultimate trump card seemed ineffective—forget resurrecting the demon, his own survival was now in question.
But only Dabura, who'd received Piccolo's punch, truly understood its strength. He'd thought himself physically powerful, but even he felt his joints fracture under that single blow. He hadn't possessed the strength to dodge the subsequent ki wave at all.
After being blasted away, he tumbled several times before hitting the ground. His limbs still couldn't provide strength, and agonizing pain assaulted his entire body, especially his abdomen—as if a blade had been thrust inside and was cutting him open. But... most importantly, his spirit had suffered a devastating blow! It was inconceivable that the magnificent King of the Demon Realm had been brought to this state by a single punch.
"You... you..." Dabura's face was deathly pale as he stood up trembling, clutching his stomach.
He was humiliated, covered in smoke and dust.
However, Piccolo moved before him with a swift "whoosh," extending one hand, about to finish him with a single strike.
"Haha! Did I say Piccolo wouldn't need to take off his weighted clothing?" Nappa couldn't help laughing, seeing the battle all but settled.
"Not necessarily." Raditz saw that Dabura didn't seem ready to give up yet. "Let's wait and see. Piccolo might still bleed."
What Raditz said shocked everyone. Even Vegeta exclaimed, "How is that possible?"
In terms of raw strength, Piccolo had already crushed the Demon King by a considerable margin. Even the perpetually proud Saiyans had to admit that Super Namekians possessed comparable power to themselves.
But Raditz actually said Piccolo would bleed? Everyone's attention to the battle suddenly intensified.
At that moment, Piccolo's palm was already glowing with energy as he faced Dabura without wasting words. But at this life-or-death moment, Dabura simply opened his mouth and shouted, "Ptooey!"
Spit? Piccolo was startled. What a shameless method of attack!
The unexpected assault caused Piccolo to instinctively block with his hand, but Dabura's saliva splattered across his forearm.
"Not good! Dabura's saliva turns people to stone!" the Kaioshin suddenly cried out.
"What? There's such an ability?" People finally understood why Raditz had said it wasn't certain.
Piccolo's arm had already begun to petrify, and the speed was abnormally fast—half his body was consumed in mere seconds. After a moment's thought, Piccolo understood the principle behind this technique and immediately blew off his arm and half his torso.
His entire right arm collapsed, and the right side of his body looked like a large scoop had gouged out a watermelon. Blood splattered everywhere.
Dabura laughed loudly. "Foolish creature! Did you think I couldn't handle you? I am the King of the Demon Realm! Die!"
He conjured a scimitar from thin air, raised it high, and slashed downward with such sharp momentum it could split the earth and cleave the entire planet. Babidi had already begun preparing magic to relocate them again.
"The one who'll die is you!" Piccolo stood firm, shouting as his body rapidly regenerated. The damaged half stretched out intact portions and blocked Dabura's blade.
Dabura's offensive couldn't advance any further. His expression froze on his face, eyes widening. How was this possible? A person missing half their body had instantly regrown their hand and torso? Even denizens of the Demon Realm couldn't do that!
This violation of common sense left Dabura frozen in shock, and Piccolo's killing intent made him feel like he was falling into an abyss, ice-cold throughout his entire being.
In the next second, a broad palm aimed at Dabura. Piccolo's energy surged like a tidal wave, and a yellow beam of light studded with bright stars blasted the King of the Demon Realm into nothingness.
"NOOO!!!" With that final scream, the Demon King ceased to exist.
Endless pressure spread outward, and the entire planet trembled. Even Raditz and the others felt slight vibrations.
"Piccolo's gotten even stronger." Goku gazed at Piccolo's towering figure and couldn't help pursing his lips with a smile. It was a kind of fortune for him that his rival from the very beginning remained a warrior worthy of admiration.
"But he still didn't take off his cape! Haha, I win!" Nappa was overjoyed at winning the bet against Raditz.
"Not necessarily."
"What else could there..." Nappa's eyes widened halfway through his sentence as he watched Piccolo tear off the blood-stained and dust-covered cape, then use his abilities to materialize a fresh one.
Raditz smiled leisurely. "You don't understand the pride and... flair of Namekian warriors."
Babidi, in the control room, was paralyzed with terror. His jaw hung open and closed repeatedly, every nerve twitching.
"This... this... impossible!" Babidi trembled while clutching his crystal ball.
His subordinates had been almost completely wiped out. The strongest among them, Dabura, wasn't even a match in a one-on-one fight, and Majin Buu had yet to awaken. If this continued, he would die.
The Kaioshin would never spare him!
Babidi truly panicked. For a moment, he even considered abandoning Majin Buu—maybe if he fled now, he'd have a chance at survival. But... he wasn't willing to give up his years of painstaking effort.
He'd spent so much time searching for Majin Buu, invested countless resources in the preparatory stages to recruit Dabura—he truly wasn't willing to let it all go.
However, while Babidi struggled internally, Raditz and his group had already reached his door. Babidi was so frightened he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Unusually, the Kaioshin walked at the front of the group, pointing at Babidi majestically. "Your time has come!"