"I will not lose. No matter what."
Jiren snapped his arm and flooded the air with blasts. They came so dense that even Ultra Instinct had nowhere to slip.
Boom.
The detonation swallowed Goku whole.
"Yes. It is over."
Up in the stands, Belmod shot to his feet, voice breaking with relief.
"Goku!"
Krillin stared into the rolling smoke and yelled until his throat burned. "However bad it gets, whatever the trap, you always fight to the very last, right? So please… stand up!"
"Do not kid yourself," Belmod sneered. "After a hit like Jiren's, even he would… what?"
A pale blue figure ripped out of the blast.
"Why?" Jiren's eyes narrowed. "After being crushed again and again, how do you still stand, Son Goku?"
"Because I am not fighting alone."
Goku tightened his fist. "Seventeen, Vegeta, and the rest poured their will into me. That trust is real. That is the power of comrades."
"Ridiculous. Comrades mean nothing."
Jiren's face twisted. "Only power decides everything."
A scarlet bolt spun from his palm, not at Goku but toward the spectators.
Even as an afterthought, Jiren's shot would obliterate anyone on the seats. Goku's heart lurched. He could not beat it there in time.
A silhouette flashed onto the dais, knuckles blackened and rimmed in flame.
"Serious Punch."
The flaming fist met the bolt and burst it apart.
"Thanks, Vance Hart."
Goku gave Vance a grateful glance, then set his eyes back on Jiren, jaw clenched. "I am no saint. I fight for the people beside me. If you lay a hand on them, I will not forgive you."
His aura spiked and he charged. Jiren answered in kind. Fists collided. Somewhere in the exchange, Goku's speed climbed again.
Jiren's teeth clicked. His shots went wild, discipline fraying into a storm of red. Goku wove through the hail and did not take a scratch.
"Down you go."
Goku's right hand crashed across Jiren's face.
They plowed through a chain of boulders before they finally skidded to a stop.
"I cannot lose."
Jiren roared, eyes glowing blood-red, and sent a forest of afterimages slashing in. Goku crossed, shoved, and unraveled them like threads.
"Kamehameha!"
Blue light bloomed between his hands and swallowed Jiren.
"He lost."
Belmod forced the words out. Jiren had been driven into the stone and pinned there by light.
"A fighter like you understands what I meant," Goku said softly, standing over him.
"Enough talk. Throw me out."
Goku stepped in, blue motes gathering in his palm. "Goodbye, Jiren. You are strong… ah!"
Pain hit like fire from within. Ultra Instinct's cost surged all at once. Goku's body seized and flared.
He toppled.
"Jiren, finish it!"
Belmod's shout cut through the ringing quiet. Jiren pushed to his feet and drew energy to a point.
"You are strong. If not for this match, I would have wanted a proper fight with you."
"Farewell, Son Goku of Universe 7."
Scarlet fell. What remained of the tiles shattered under the blast. Goku's limp body slid off the edge, down into the dark of the World of Void.
"Idiot."
A gold streak knifed in. Frieza's tail snapped and slapped Goku onto a drifting slab of rock. For the moment, he still counted.
"Frieza, could you be any rougher? That was personal."
Vance touched down beside him.
Jiren snorted. "So this is your trick. Send in the powerless to die."
"With what you have left, you are not so different from the powerless," Frieza shot back, voice like ice.
"Enough. Let us go, Frieza."
"Do not order me."
Gold light flared. He and Jiren slammed together. Knuckles and knees rang off armor and scales, but both were running on fumes.
"What happened to that stone face of yours?" Frieza taunted through the struggle. "Cracked and it all turned brittle? You will break again."
"Then let me test how brittle you are."
Jiren stamped Frieza's tail to the tile and dragged him into a hail of punches.
"Frieza, back off."
Vance blurred in, shouldered Jiren away, and tore the grip apart.
"I said stop ordering me."
Frieza wrenched free and vaulted clear.
Midair, Vance locked his arms around Jiren's waist and his forearms burst into flame. Heat roared in his palms as he pressed them hard into the small of Jiren's back. "This one will leave a mark."
Boom.
The fireball engulfed them both. Vance tumbled out of the smoke, skidding across stone until he dug in and stopped. When the haze lifted, Jiren lay smoking, strength spent, face-down on the floor.
"Looks like you emptied the tank on that last stand," Frieza said, stepping up beside Vance, energy gathering in his hand.
"Pretty much. But that is why you are here. Finish it."
"Tch." Frieza curled a lip. "What an honor to be worthy of your trust."
He flashed to Jiren and raised a palm.
"On your knees before your enemy. Is that your specialty now?" Frieza tilted his head. "Take a good look at Universe 11. Your comrades are watching."
"Do not worry. You will all be gone together."
The words hit like a knife. Jiren's fists clenched. He wrung the very last threads of power from his core.
The air shook.
"Frieza, move!"
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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