In less than a heartbeat, the massive black energy wave, several meters thick and condensed with sky-piercing power, came crashing down. Karnel wanted to counter with his own blast, but there wasn't time. His body shot upward several meters as he thrust both hands skyward to intercept the attack.
Black's black energy wave suddenly intensified, and an overwhelming impact force slammed into Karnel's palms. The sheer pressure drove him downward, his body sinking more than half a meter through the air itself.
"The pressure is certainly substantial," Karnel smiled calmly, brilliant crimson spiritual mist appearing around his hands as he resisted the black wave's impact. Slowly, steadily, he began to rise, pushing the energy attack upward and away from the planet below.
"Saiyan, you cannot stop this!" Black roared from above, seeing his attack still contained in Karnel's grasp. His face contorted with concentration as he madly pumped more energy into his palms, increasing the output exponentially.
A thicker, more violent black wave erupted from Black's hands, moving faster and carrying far more destructive force than its predecessor.
Karnel's expression grew more serious as he sensed the enhanced power rushing toward him. The energy in this second wave was obviously far greater, if even a fragment of it spread out and struck the Earth, it would be enough to obliterate half the planet, if not destroy it entirely.
"Passively defending has never been my style," Karnel roared, the crimson spiritual energy around his hands blazing even brighter. His own energy wave, several meters thick and pulsing with divine power, pressed against the now-doubled black attack, violently forcing it back in an instant.
The divine spiritual energy, crackling with erosion and destruction, surged upward and pushed the black wave back over a thousand meters. In the space between them, two energy waves, one red, one black, resembled roaring dragons locked in eternal combat.
The sky itself was infected by this transcendent energy, undergoing tremendous and wondrous changes. Endless dark abysses opened in the heavens, creating a horrifying impression of staring into the maw of some cosmic beast ready to devour everything. Where black and red energies intersected, fiery crimson light permeated the atmosphere for miles. The entire sky below was shrouded in a spiritual mist that resembled a divine realm, yet the red energy exuded a terrifying aura of pure destruction.
"Let's continue this contest," Karnel declared, deliberately not increasing his energy output. "I want to see exactly how much strength you have left in reserve."
He was content to wage a war of attrition against this demonic entity inhabiting Goku's stolen body.
"There's something unspeakably terrifying about both the red and black energies," Gohan whispered, every muscle in his body trembling as he spoke. "I can feel it, if I'm hit even once by either of them, my body would be instantly destroyed and vaporized. Is this truly a realm that mortals can achieve?"
For the first time in his life, Gohan felt genuinely uncertain about his own potential. He couldn't fathom ever reaching such a god-like state.
"Danger! Get out of the way!" Trunks's face went pale as he spotted a wisp of red fire aura rushing toward Master Roshi like a serpent. Though it appeared insignificant, barely visible, Trunks treated it as a mortal threat and shouted his warning.
Gohan immediately grabbed Master Roshi and pushed him several meters from his original position, narrowly avoiding the red fire aura that radiated such destructive presence it made their skin crawl.
The crimson energy passed silently through the space where they had been standing, moving like a gentle breeze.
"What's the problem?" Master Roshi, too weak to perceive the divine power hidden within that spiritual energy, slowly picked himself up from the ground. "This is just energy emanating from Karnel. Why are you so—"
Halfway through his sentence, his eyes widened in horror. His face went ashen as cold sweat broke out across his forehead, his trembling hand pointing at the spiritual energy that had just passed by them.
That single strand of energy had reached the ground and seeped in without any violent sound or explosion. The earth began to collapse and dissolve into particles, disappearing in massive chunks. Areas spanning hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands of meters seemed to be devoured bit by bit by some invisible monster. In mere moments, they vanished silently, leaving behind a dark abyss ten thousand meters wide and seemingly bottomless.
The ground had been annihilated without so much as a whisper.
Gohan, Trunks, and Master Roshi quickly took to the air using the Flight Technique, their expressions reflecting pure awe and terror. It took Master Roshi a long moment to recover his composure before he patted his chest with lingering fear.
"This is... truly unimaginable," he stammered. "I never thought that red energy, no thicker than a strand of hair, could possess such devastating power."
"A trace of energy causing such massive destruction..." Gohan stared into the bottomless abyss, transfixed.
Trunks observed the increasing number of black and red energy threads scattered throughout the sky and spoke with urgent vigilance: "Everyone stay alert! More energy fragments are being released from their battle. Be extremely careful to dodge them, don't let even one make contact!"
The two energy waves continued their celestial collision, with dangerous strands of power constantly breaking off and swimming through the air. This residual energy was undoubtedly fatal to Gohan and the others, who remained ordinary Saiyans. Just a single thread could easily annihilate any of them, so they maintained constant vigilance, terrified that a stray fragment might appear from nowhere.
After this prolonged tug-of-war between energy waves, Black felt as though he might explode from the strain. Whenever he strengthened his attack, the opposing red wave strengthened to match. When he tried to weaken his output, the crimson energy showed no mercy, surging forward like a striking dragon and forcing him to immediately increase his power output just to survive.
"How dare a lowly Saiyan toy with a supreme deity like this!" Black roared in fury and frustration. "This is absolutely unforgivable!"
After this extended battle of raw power, Black could feel his energy reserves approaching depletion. He desperately wanted to withdraw his strength-consuming energy wave, but the relentless crimson attack pressed forward without mercy. Black didn't dare relax his guard for even an instant, if he allowed that destructive divine aura to strike him directly, it would likely cost him his stolen life.