Raditz slowly descended from the sky, his sharp eyes scanning Ashura from head to toe.
"To think that a low-class planet like this would harbor a being with a power level in the hundreds," he remarked. "If you swear loyalty to me and serve as my subordinate, I might consider sparing your life."
His words dripped with arrogance, the tone of a superior addressing an inferior — as if he were granting mercy.
Ashura's expression darkened. "I don't know where you crawled out from, human, but you sure talk big."
As Raditz studied Ashura, Ashura did the same in return.
To demons, there was no real difference between Saiyans and Earthlings — both were just "humans" in their eyes.
Sensing the immense power flowing within Raditz, Ashura's face grew even colder. "You're after my Dragon Balls, aren't you?"
"Dragon Balls?" Raditz repeated, the term unfamiliar — yet his instincts told him it was something valuable.
"That's right," he said smoothly, improvising without missing a beat. "Those Dragon Balls belong to me now. Hand them over, and I might let you live."
Whatever those "Dragon Balls" were, he'd figure that out later. First, he needed to see them for himself.
Ashura sneered, as if confirming his suspicions. "Impossible. Do you have any idea how long it took me to gather them all? If you want to make a wish, go collect them yourself — next year."
From that short exchange, Raditz had more or less grasped what the Dragon Balls were.
Orbs that can grant any wish?
A fine treasure indeed… which means they're mine now.
Raditz's objective had quietly shifted — from finding Kakarot to stealing the Dragon Balls.
His little brother could wait.
Something that could grant wishes might not come twice in a lifetime.
Seeing the greed flicker in Raditz's eyes, Ashura instantly understood his intentions.
"Stop him!" he commanded.
At once, countless demons burst into laughter and surrounded Raditz from all sides.
Each was grotesque in form, but their power was undeniable — every one of them radiated a fierce, battle-hardened aura that would have terrified most martial artists.
Raditz remained calm, his scouter flickering as it scanned their energy levels.
"Hmph. Not a single one of you has a power level over a hundred. And you dare block the path of an elite warrior?"
A contemptuous grin spread across his face. "Thirty seconds. That's all I need to wipe out this trash."
But while Raditz amused himself cutting through the demons, Ashura slipped away with the Dragon Balls.
"Come forth, Shenron!" Ashura shouted, raising his hands high.
As he recited the summoning chant, the already dim sky grew even darker.
A colossal dragon emerged above Shura City, its serpentine body coiling through the clouds.
"That's Shenron?" Raditz muttered, having just finished off the first wave of demons. His gaze rose toward the massive creature in awe.
Thanks to Kami's modifications, the Eternal Dragon's size and presence had become even more imposing than before.
"Can that thing really grant wishes?" he wondered aloud.
At first, he hadn't believed Ashura's claims — half doubt, half curiosity.
But seeing Shenron with his own eyes, his skepticism dropped to almost nothing.
If I could wish for immortality, he thought, not even Vegeta could defeat me!
That thought ignited a greedy fire inside him. The casual arrogance from before vanished; now, he was desperate.
After all, who could resist the temptation of eternal life?
"Out of my way!" Raditz roared.
With a single swing of his arm, a wave of energy erupted, obliterating half of Shura City. The demons caught in the blast were instantly vaporized. The rest froze, too terrified to move.
"Hmph." Raditz snorted coldly and flew straight toward the Dragon's light.
"I wish to no longer fear the sunlight!" Ashura's voice boomed.
Raditz arrived just in time to hear the wish.
"That's simple enough," Shenron rumbled. His eyes flashed red, and the wish was instantly granted.
"That's it?" Raditz blinked. "No offerings? No spell? No sacrifice? Just… wish and done?"
As the dragon's massive form began to fade, the clouds slowly cleared. The seven Dragon Balls turned to stone and scattered in seven directions, streaking across the sky.
"Sunlight… sunlight!" Ashura laughed wildly, stretching out his fingers into the golden light breaking through the clouds. Nothing happened. He extended his whole arm — still no pain.
He threw back his head and laughed like a madman. "Hahaha! I'm free! I'm finally free from the curse of sunlight!"
"Hey, are you done laughing yet?" Raditz said with irritation. "You wasted my wish. But Lord Raditz is merciful — submit to me, gather all the Dragon Balls again, and I might forgive you."
"Submit to you?" Ashura sneered. "Don't make me laugh. A mere human like you dares command me?"
Raditz's eyes narrowed. "Your power level is only 600. Mine is 1,500."
In the universe, power levels weren't everything…
But in most cases, the numbers didn't lie.
"Heh… then watch closely, and see who's truly inferior."
Ashura stopped holding back. His energy flared violently.
"Six hundred… seven hundred… eight hundred… one thousand…"
The scouter's numbers climbed rapidly until it stopped — at 1,500.
Their power levels were equal.
"Impossible!" Raditz gasped. "This can't be! How could a backwater planet like this have a warrior over a thousand?!"
Once, Raditz had been praised as a Saiyan elite.
Now, faced with an opponent matching his own strength, he found himself rattled.
Wasn't this supposed to be some remote, low-threat planet? And yet… such power exists here?!
His power level was only 1,500 — and now he'd stumbled across someone just as strong.
Panicking, Raditz lunged into battle. But his mind was still in chaos, and he found himself quickly forced on the defensive.
Had it not been for the scouter's built-in tactical warnings, he would've been in real danger.
The scouter wasn't just a power reader and communicator — it was a miniature reconnaissance unit with multiple detection features, its design so advanced that only Frieza's army possessed them.
Ashura noticed this as well. In a flash, beams of crimson shot from his eyes, striking Raditz's scouter and shattering it into pieces.
At that same moment, far away, a second space pod — identical to Raditz's — entered Earth's atmosphere.