Hit strolled across the battlefield with his hands buried in his pockets, the picture of casual confidence. A mechanical warrior from Universe Three detected his approach—sensors flashing red as targeting systems locked on. The robot's metal arms swung into motion, spinning its entire torso like a turbine. Sparks and electricity crackled around its frame as it built devastating momentum.
Hit glanced at it, barely interested.
Time froze.
Point-one seconds later, reality resumed. The robot's targeting system lost its lock—the target had simply vanished. Before its processors could recalculate, Hit reappeared behind it, one hand emerging from his pocket to seize a critical joint.
Time-Skip. Against mechanical opponents, the technique was almost unfair.
Hit hurled the robot off the arena with minimal effort, then returned his hand to his pocket and continued walking as if nothing had happened.
That made eight eliminations.
"YES! That's Hit!" Champa leaped to his feet in the spectator stands, practically vibrating with excitement. "See that?! My universe's ace is unstoppable!"
The God of Destruction's mind raced ahead to victory. At this rate, Universe Six might actually win the whole tournament! They just needed to eliminate Universe Seven's Goku, and—
"Lord Champa." Vados's gentle voice cut through his celebration like a knife. "I wouldn't celebrate just yet. Look over there."
She pointed her staff toward another section of the battlefield.
Champa's face fell. In the distance, Renso, Cabba, Caulifla, and Kale were fighting for their lives—and losing.
Their opponent was Frieza.
Four Super Saiyans—including two who'd achieved Super Saiyan 2—were being systematically dismantled by a single fighter from Universe Seven. Frieza moved with practiced cruelty, using telekinesis to manipulate debris into projectiles while his fingers fired Death Beams with surgical precision. Even in close combat, the tyrant dominated completely. His fighting style was elegant and brutal in equal measure.
Cabba's Super Saiyan transformation meant nothing. Frieza's boot caught him square in the face, driving the young Saiyan into the ground hard enough to fill his mouth with dirt and blood.
"BEERUS!" Champa whirled on his brother deity, whiskers trembling with rage. "You did this on purpose! You knew Frieza would target them!"
"Frieza's always had issues with Saiyans," Beerus replied with infuriating calm. "That's not my problem. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for fielding a universe full of monkey-tailed warriors."
"Damn it!" Champa's fists clenched. "What kind of monsters does Universe Seven even have?!" His eyes darted to Broly, who appeared to be engaging with Dyspo from Universe Eleven. At least that particular nightmare was occupied. Small mercies.
"Vados," Champa hissed, leaning toward his attendant. "Did you give them what I asked?"
"I did, Lord Champa." Vados's smile never wavered, though her tone carried a warning. "However, the tournament rules explicitly forbid—"
"I don't care about the rules anymore!" Champa's voice dropped to an urgent whisper. "We need every advantage we can get. As long as we don't get caught—"
"We will absolutely get caught," Vados said mildly. "But if His Majesty Grand Zeno finds it entertaining? The rules might be... flexible."
Champa swallowed hard but nodded.
On the battlefield, the situation deteriorated rapidly. Frieza parried attacks from all four Saiyans with a contemptuous smile, his movements flowing like water. A spinning kick caught Renso in the temple, dropping him instantly. Frieza's tail whipped out and slammed into Kale, sending her tumbling away. Then he dropped low, driving both fists into Cabba and Caulifla's chests simultaneously.
BOOM.
The impact was sickening. Both Saiyans crashed into the ground, blood spraying from their mouths to stain their lips and chins.
"Ohohohoho!" Frieza's laugh echoed across the arena—cruel and delighted. "Are the Saiyans of Universe Six truly this pathetic? Or is this simply your absolute limit?" His grin widened, revealing too many teeth. "Either way, it's disappointing. I was hoping for more entertainment."
As he spoke, malicious intent surged through Frieza's mind—dark, vicious thoughts about how best to prolong their suffering. The curse from Raditz's wish activated immediately, sending white-hot agony through his skull. But Frieza had learned to endure it, even enjoy it in a twisted way. He kept smiling, kept speaking, savoring both his victims' pain and his own.
Facing other universes produced no such reaction. But Saiyans—especially these Saiyans who so resembled the ones from his own universe—awakened something primal. The desire to torture, to humiliate, to destroy burned through his veins like acid.
"Why..." Cabba gasped, struggling to rise. "Why do you hate us so much? We've never even met you!"
"Hehe." Frieza's smile turned razor-sharp. "If you want to know the reason, ask the people over there." He gestured lazily toward Universe Seven's section. "Especially the one sitting in the stands."
Before anyone could process that statement, Frieza moved.
His boot came down on Cabba's chest, pinning him to the ground. Then he stomped. Hard. Repeatedly.
"I hear he taught you," Frieza hissed, venom dripping from every word. "Raditz. That insufferable Saiyan. Since I can't hurt him directly right now, I'll have to settle for his precious students!"
"AAAAAHHH!" Cabba's scream tore through the air, raw and agonized. Blood erupted from his mouth as his ribs cracked under Frieza's heel. His golden aura flickered and died, Super Saiyan transformation collapsing as consciousness threatened to flee.
"BASTARD!" Caulifla couldn't bear it anymore. She thrust both hands forward, channeling everything she had into a point-blank energy wave aimed directly at Frieza's face.
The attack was too close to dodge. Fire and ki exploded against Frieza's features, smoke obscuring him completely. The proximity and fury behind the blast made it genuinely powerful—no way to defend, no time to counter—
Caulifla's moment of triumph lasted exactly one second.
Frieza's hand emerged from the smoke and backhanded her across the face. The slap carried enough force to crater the ground where she landed.
"Parlor tricks," Frieza said, brushing imaginary dust from his shoulder. The smoke cleared to reveal his face—completely unmarked. "How tedious."
Then his instincts screamed danger.
Something was coming. Something fast. Power that dwarfed the Super Saiyans he'd been toying with—not even the same category of strength. Frieza spun, eyes widening—
A massive fist filled his vision.
He had time to register size, build, presence. His mind screamed Broly—but no, the power signature was different, the aura green but not quite the same shade—
Kale.
The punch connected with devastating force. Frieza's face snapped to the side, his entire body launched horizontally across the arena. He skipped across the ground like a stone on water, each impact creating new craters.
Cabba, Renso, and Caulifla stared in absolute shock. They looked at Frieza's tumbling form, then at Kale, then back again. Their minds couldn't process what they'd just witnessed.
Kale had transformed. Her slender frame had become bulked with muscle—not grotesquely, but powerfully. Her aura blazed emerald green, crackling with barely contained fury. She looked almost identical to Broly in his Legendary Super Saiyan state.
"YOU DON'T GET TO HURT BIG SIS!" Kale's roar shook the battlefield. Her foot slammed into the ground, creating a crater. Then she exploded forward, closing the distance to Frieza in an eyeblink. Her fist came down like a hammer.
BOOM.
The arena floor didn't just crack—it collapsed. A crater hundreds of meters in diameter appeared instantly, fissures spreading like spiderwebs across the entire battlefield. The shockwave knocked nearby fighters off their feet.
In the stands, Champa erupted with joy. "HA! HAHAHA! Did you see that, Beerus?!" The God of Destruction's laugh bordered on manic. "That's our Kale! That's the Legendary Super Saiyan of Universe Six! She's going to destroy your precious Frieza!"
He knew this transformation's power. It represented at least a full tier above regular Super Saiyan 2. Maybe more.
Beerus glanced at his brother with something approaching pity. "Idiot."
"What?!"
"You really think Frieza's only at that level?" Beerus's smile was knowing. "Watch carefully."
"Huh?" Champa's celebration faltered. He looked back toward the battlefield, dread creeping up his spine.
In the massive crater before Kale, Frieza rose slowly to his feet. Dust and debris fell from his body like water. Then energy began pouring from him in visible waves—not purple, not white, but golden.
Light enveloped the tyrant's frame. His white and purple bio-armor shifted, reformed, transformed. Every surface gleamed with metallic gold, as if he'd been dipped in molten sunlight. The pressure emanating from his body eclipsed even Broly's earlier display—refined where the berserker was raw, controlled where Broly was wild.
This was something else entirely. Something perfect.
"Kale, was it?" Frieza's voice carried absolute confidence. "Remember this transformation well. I call it..." He spread his arms, golden aura blazing. "Golden Frieza."
"GRAAAAAAH!" Kale didn't care about names or transformations. She only saw the monster who'd hurt Caulifla. Her fist shot forward with all the fury and power of Legendary Super Saiyan might behind it—
Snap.
Golden Frieza caught the punch between two fingers. Casually. Effortlessly. As if Kale were a child throwing a tantrum.
The difference in power was insurmountable. Golden Frieza operated at Super Saiyan Blue level—touching divine ki, transcending mortal limits. Kale's Legendary transformation put her somewhere between Super Saiyan 3 and regular God ki.
They weren't even fighting in the same weight class.
"How disappointing," Frieza murmured, examining Kale's straining fist as if it were a curiosity. "I expected more from a berserker transformation. But I suppose even legendary power has its limits when facing an emperor."