"Spirit Ball!"
Yamcha concentrated energy in his palm, creating an energy blast he could freely manipulate with his will.
Though its appearance hadn't changed, training had definitely increased its power. He fired it at the enemy cyborg warrior—Cacao.
Right, left, up—moving dizzyingly, the Spirit Ball toyed with Cacao.
When he tried to defend, it circled behind him. When he tried to dodge, it cut off his escape route.
Fine control impossible with auto-tracking. The Spirit Ball made it possible.
"Ha, there!"
Eventually spotting an opening in Cacao's defense, Yamcha slammed the Spirit Ball into his exposed abdomen.
A clean hit that allowed no defense. Cacao went flying and tumbled across the ground.
Yamcha immediately followed up with another energy blast and detonated it.
A solid hit! Sensing victory, Yamcha's cheeks loosened as he watched the explosion.
"Nda!"
"!?"
But his expression changed to shock when Cacao came flying through the smoke.
The wide-open moment of stiffness right after landing the Spirit Ball and thinking he'd won. Cacao body-slammed him there, pressing Yamcha against the rocks.
A sandwich between the cyborg's body and the rock face.
Yamcha coughed up blood from the impact, rolled his eyes back, and collapsed.
"Destructo Disc!"
A battlefield slightly separated from Yamcha's.
There, Krillin concentrated energy and thinned it into a disc shape.
By spinning it at high speed, it became a cutting technique that sliced through enemies—the Destructo Disc. In terms of lethality, his greatest technique.
The launched Destructo Disc. Whatever it touched, even with some difference in combat power, would be easily sliced through.
In response, the red giant—Amond—spun his body at high speed.
"If you wanna win, you gotta do this!"
Then, while still spinning, he released a thin crimson energy blast probably from the same category as the Destructo Disc.
The two collided at center and canceled each other out.
Both were deflected, bouncing back toward their respective users.
"What!?"
Krillin hastily dodged his reflected Destructo Disc, and Amond likewise evaded his own energy blast.
The techniques themselves were evenly matched. Rather, considering Krillin's inferior energy managed to cancel it out, his Destructo Disc might actually be superior.
But the Destructo Disc not working was fatal for Krillin.
Because if this didn't work, it meant Krillin had no techniques capable of defeating him.
"Here comes the next one!"
Amond charged while adding his strange verbal tic.
Krillin desperately fought back, beginning an intense exchange.
But in base ability, Amond was superior.
His fist struck Krillin's cheek, his knee kicked up into his stomach, and aimed precisely at Krillin's groan, delivered a double hammer blow to his head.
Consciousness faded from the impact, and as if finishing him off, Krillin crashed into the hard ground.
Confirming Krillin didn't stand back up, Amond was certain of victory.
Tien was fighting alone against the twins Rasin and Lakasei.
Chiaotzu had been with him until just now, but apparently already defeated—his energy could barely be sensed.
That he was desperately defending against the twins' perfectly synchronized coordination born from being siblings was praiseworthy.
But there were limits. Fists, kicks—they were steadily catching Tien, and he could feel himself slowing down with each hit received.
"D-Damn it!"
If only it were one-on-one...
Though he thought so, it wouldn't be granted.
Rasin's fist struck his chin upward, Lakasei's kick drove into his solar plexus.
"Gah... Ugh!"
His vision dimmed, his knees touched the ground.
Contrary to his will trying to stay standing, his body wouldn't obey.
Hearing the twins' triumphant laughter as his consciousness faded, Tien collapsed.
"Haha, is that all you got, rabbit!"
Subjected to the blue-haired pretty boy Daiz's fierce assault, Monster Carrot desperately endured.
The man's overwhelming speed made defense impossible.
No chance to touch him with his hands.
Fists drove in, his face was kicked, he rolled pathetically across the ground.
"Good grief, what a weakling you turned out to be."
Daiz approached Monster Carrot with a smile of certain victory.
That instant, Carrot stood up and thrust out a palm strike.
But Daiz, with a relaxed expression, deflected it all too easily.
"Heh, that's your last resistance?"
"...I touched you."
"Huh?"
—The next moment, he transformed into a carrot.
Touch someone and turn them into a carrot.
With that fearsome special constitution, he'd brilliantly defeated someone who should have been overwhelmingly superior.
Quickly stomping on the fallen carrot, he crushed it into nothing, grinding it completely.
While still a carrot, reverting was still possible.
But crushed like this, it was too late.
With this, at least one member of the Crusher Corps was defeated.
"Phew, managed to take him down somehow. Now, as for the others..."
He looked up at the sky.
There, the four remaining Crusher Corps members who'd just defeated the warriors hovered in the air, glaring down with murderous intent.
"...Looks like everyone lost."
He muttered with resignation.
Ah, this is impossible.
All four had witnessed that scene, and indeed weren't approaching.
Their faces showed clear intent to finish him from a distance with rapid-fire energy blasts.
Watching the storm of energy blasts about to be fired simultaneously from four directions, Monster Carrot accepted his defeat.
Hit, hit, hit.
Energy blasts struck his entire body, shattered the ground, and still more rained down endlessly.
His sunglasses shattered, his fur stained with blood, consciousness fading.
If the attack continued, Monster Carrot would have died in less than ten seconds.
But whether through bad luck, or bad luck because he couldn't die—
In the end, he was rescued faster than he could die.
"Stop it!"
Shouting, Gohan descended from the sky.
Apparently having snuck out from under Chi-Chi's watch, he kicked Rasin away in his fury.
But though he'd dived in with momentum, Gohan's combat power was the lowest among the warriors.
Unfortunately, even inferior to Chiaotzu.
The reason stemmed from being the only one not wearing Lizette's spirit seal during the year waiting for the Saiyans.
When Lizette gave the warriors spirit seals, he alone was a child who didn't even know how to fight, let alone control energy.
So Lizette hadn't given him a spirit seal (as it would just be a restraint device), and this now manifested as a clear difference.
"This brat!"
"He's in the way!"
With his dive, the Crusher Corps at least shifted their target from Monster Carrot to Gohan.
But that merely changed prey—equivalent to a zebra voluntarily leaping into a pack of carnivores.
Subjected to the Crusher Corps' fierce assault, Gohan was instantly covered in wounds and slammed against rocks.
With his combat power, he couldn't even understand what was happening to him—only perceiving himself being battered by multiple high-speed moving shadows.
"Finish him!"
Unable to move anymore, Rasin—who'd been kicked earlier—lunged at Gohan.
Aiming for the neck, driving a hand chop there would kill even a tough Saiyan.
But just before that demonic hand reached Gohan, a green arm intercepted and grabbed Rasin's arm, saving Gohan's life.
"...Ah..."
Staring up in shock, a white cape fluttered before Gohan.
A fist drove into Rasin's stomach, grabbed his collar and forcibly pulled him back.
Finally releasing an energy wave before his face, blowing away everything from Rasin's neck up.
"...You alright, Gohan?"
"Piccolo!"
Standing protectively before Gohan was his beloved mentor, Piccolo.
With his appearance, even the previously confident Crusher Corps took wary distance.
Seeing the ability that dispatched Rasin in one blow, they understood he was no ordinary opponent.
Quickly manipulating his Scouter, Amond measured Piccolo's combat power.
"Power level 9,000... I see, this one looks tough."
"But if the three of us attack together, it's a manageable number!"
"Nda!"
Piccolo's combat power exceeded the other warriors.
But from Lakasei's perspective, it was only a narrow margin, and Amond and Cacao even surpassed Piccolo.
Rasin was dispatched in one blow probably because his guard was down.
The three judged thus and surrounded Piccolo.
"Heh... think so?"
But even facing three opponents, Piccolo's composure didn't crack.
Rather, he wore a fearless smile, and his entire body wrapped in crimson aura.
The flame-like blazing energy characteristic of Kaioken, which explosively multiplied combat power.
It made Piccolo's cape flutter, rapidly increasing his combat power.
"Wh... P-Power level 18,000!"
"Nda!?"
"Th-That's impossible!"
Amond, Cacao, and Lakasei's eyes widened at the displayed number.
Not missing that opening, Piccolo exploded from his position.
Piccolo's kick gouged Amond's chest, stomach acid refluxing.
"Gyaaah!"
As Amond doubled over helplessly, Piccolo grabbed his head and drove in his knee.
When he reeled back, a follow-up straight punch to the jaw, and as he began falling, an elbow drove into his stomach faster still.
"Bastard!"
Lakasei thrust out his fist to save Amond.
That blow successfully penetrated, piercing Piccolo's cape—only the cape.
Instantly, the cape-less Piccolo appeared above Lakasei's head, driving his elbow into his skull.
At this point the Scouter momentarily measured a power value of 22,000, but unfortunately Lakasei would never see it.
That single blow completely knocked out his consciousness.
"Haa!"
A merciless finishing blow to the unconscious opponent.
An energy wave blew the defenseless Lakasei's body to pieces, and without even confirming it, Piccolo switched targets to Cacao.
He met Cacao's jet propulsion—which had defeated Yamcha—head-on, killing its momentum while gouging footholds.
Then the instant Cacao's speed dulled, eye beams! Burning Cacao's face, writhing him in agony.
"Hyaa!"
But Piccolo's assault knew no rest.
Grabbing Cacao's head and pulling close, he delivered a knee strike, then spun.
Adding centrifugal force, he hurled Cacao's body at Amond.
Naturally, being struck by Cacao's cyborg body was unbearable even for Amond.
The two took damage from collision and rolled pathetically across the ground.
"...Die!"
There, continuous energy blasts!
Energy blasts fired rapidly from both hands deployed a barrage, engulfing Cacao and Amond.
Even wanting to dodge, their overlapping bodies got in the way, unable to move.
Unable to properly defend or evade, the two could only endure Piccolo's energy blasts.
"Special Beam Cannon!"
But could they endure it? The answer: no.
Piccolo raised his energy further, releasing the lethal blow with far shorter charging time than before.
One beam of light raced forward, immediately followed by another spiraling in pursuit.
Like a drill, specialized for penetration—the ultimate technique that once killed Goku along with Raditz.
It pierced the dying Amond and Cacao together, killing them.
Confirming this, Piccolo released his red aura.
"P-Piccolo... that technique just now...?"
"...The Kaioken that Goku learned at King Kai's place. Power, speed, toughness... using this, everything doubles."
Piccolo turned toward Gohan and grinned.
That smile somehow contained self-mockery.
"Being left behind by Goku is humiliating... but imitating him was equally humiliating."
Piccolo had realized his powerlessness in the previous battle with the Saiyans.
He couldn't help but realize it.
Goku, who'd trained at King Kai's, matched Piccolo in basic strength, but Piccolo—constantly tracking Goku's energy—had noticed. His energy occasionally swelled to clearly more than double.
Meaning this was equivalent to being outclassed by more than double—no longer worthy of calling themselves rivals.
But even that Goku was helpless against the Great Ape Vegeta, and even that Vegeta couldn't match the current deity.
Weak... How weak I am.
And I spoke of world conquest—what a joke.
Isn't this just the desperate howling of the weak?
How pathetic, how miserable. Great Demon King—with what face could I call myself that?
Therefore, Piccolo temporarily discarded his pride.
He requested sparring with Son Goku, fighting him daily and being thoroughly beaten.
Throughout, he observed Goku's energy movements, eventually mastering the Kaioken.
Naturally it was humiliating, needless to say.
Though he hadn't verbally asked to be taught, it was tantamount to seeking instruction from Goku—so pathetic he wanted to die just thinking about it.
But remaining as he was would be too miserable.
...Then he had to endure.
Swallow this humiliation and first gain power.
Otherwise the world would never be his. That woman, the guardian, would remain completely out of reach.
I want to become strong. With that single desire alone, the Great Demon King desperately struggled.
Until that day when he would finally grasp the world—