"Forget it. The two people you ran into are already far beyond you in strength," the princess said, shaking her head lightly. "Without transforming, you were no match for them at all."
"I know I was wrong," Temat said, apologizing again.
"Brother, I'm your sister. Being this formal with me is unnecessary," the princess said calmly. "They've already fled into outer space, haven't they?"
"Yes... Sister," Temat replied with a nod, quickly correcting the way he addressed her.
The princess rose from her seat, stepped toward the curtain, and coldly looked out at the two strange men still sparring in the arena.
"Are those the final two?" Temat asked.
"Yes," she said with a nod.
"So we're choosing the winner as the final match?" he asked again.
"No need. Neither of them is of any use to us. Let them go," the princess said after studying them for a moment. Then she gently shook her head and gave Temat his instruction.
"Understood."
Temat answered at once, leaped into the air, and landed neatly between the two men in the middle of the arena.
Smack!
He raised two fingers and effortlessly caught both of their fists mid-fight.
"Your Highness!"
The two men immediately stopped and bowed.
"My apologies, gentlemen. The princess has taken no liking to either of you. Please collect your prize money, enjoy yourselves on this planet for a while if you wish, and then depart," Temat said with perfect courtesy.
"W-What did you just say?" one of them shouted, his frog-like face twisting with fury. "I fought my way all the way here! I was one step away from becoming champion, and now you're telling me the princess doesn't want me?"
He was slightly stronger than his opponent and had clearly been on the verge of winning.
"Hah. Just look at you," his opponent sneered. "Why would the princess ever pick a face like that? If I were her, I'd pick me. At least I look decent. No princess is choosing a frog as her prince consort."
His opponent looked fairly normal. Not especially handsome, but at least not ugly.
"The rules were clear! Whoever won this tournament would become the prince consort of Sadala's princess!" the frog-faced man shouted, jabbing a finger at Temat. "Are you going back on your word just because you're the prince?"
"I truly am sorry. I hope you can forgive us," Temat said, apologizing again.
"You think an apology fixes this?" the frog-faced man roared. "You never said looks mattered! If appearance was the real standard, then why even build this arena in the first place?"
Anyone would have been furious in his position.
He had fought his way this far and was just about to claim victory.
And only now the princess had decided to back out.
If she had wanted to change the rules, why not do it earlier?
If she'd done that, he never would have fought this hard.
"You owe me an explanation! Or are you trying to start a war between two planets?" the frog-faced man shouted.
Temat calmly raised a hand and pointed it straight at him.
"What? What are you doing? Why are you raising your hand?" the man asked, startled.
Boom!
A blast of energy erupted from Temat's palm and swallowed him whole.
By the time the frog-faced man realized what was happening, terror had already filled his face.
But it was too late.
A moment later, he was gone without a trace.
The other finalist went pale, dropped flat onto the arena floor, and stared in horror.
"Are you all right?" Temat asked gently as he walked over and personally helped him back to his feet.
He nodded frantically to show he was fine.
Temat turned to the rest of the contestants and smiled. "Does anyone else have any objections?"
No one did.
After all, those who had been eliminated earlier had no reason to speak up. The frog-faced man had been the one with the strongest grievance.
And he had just been erased by the prince with casual ease.
"Then please go collect your prize money," Temat said, still wearing the same warm, refined smile. "You're free to enjoy the planet for a while or leave immediately, as you please."
With that, he returned at once to the princess's side.
"You were too reckless," the princess said with a sigh. "I already told you not to kill so casually."
"My apologies, Grand Priestess," Temat said, bowing again. "I couldn't quite hold back. Perhaps that transformation still hasn't left my emotions fully settled..."
The princess folded her arms, her expression cold, and said nothing more.
...
In the vast sea of stars, Frost's flat spaceship sped through space.
Inside, Frost sat with a dark expression, staring out at the endless void with raw hatred in his eyes.
Just wait.
Those two bastards will pay for this.
At that moment, space rippled.
Whoosh!
Goku brought Vegeta into the ship with Instant Transmission, and the two of them landed hard on the floor, shaking the whole vessel.
Frost snapped around at once. The second he saw Goku and Vegeta, killing intent flooded his eyes.
"You came at the perfect time! I was just about to settle the score with you two!" he roared.
"That was close..." Goku said, letting out a small breath of relief.
"That guy really wasn't Ken?" Vegeta asked through clenched teeth, his head still ringing.
It had been terrifying.
For a moment, Vegeta had even thought of Broly.
If Kakarot hadn't gotten them out of there fast enough, he really might have died on Planet Sadala.
"I don't think it was him..." Goku said, shaking his head.
"Are either of you listening to me?" Frost shouted, face turning red with rage.
"This is bad... I left Raditz behind..." Goku muttered, frowning.
"Hmph. There's no need to save trash like that," Vegeta said coldly.
Goku had no answer to that.
"Do you know where Ken is?" Vegeta asked. "We need to ask him who that guy that looks so much like him really is."
"Let's find my dad first," Goku said after a moment's thought. "He might still be fighting Champa."
"Fine," Vegeta said with a nod. He had no objection.
Maybe Bardock could get in touch with Ken.
"I asked you a question! Are you listening to me or not?" Frost shouted through gritted teeth.
Bang!
Vegeta stepped forward and knocked Frost unconscious with a single palm strike.
Even badly injured, Vegeta was still more than strong enough to deal with Frost.
Then he dragged Frost over and threw him straight out of the spaceship.
"Vegeta... he's not going to die, is he?" Goku asked with a helpless laugh.
"Relax. He's the same race as Frieza, or close enough. He can survive in space," Vegeta said, shaking his head.
"Still... maybe he's a good guy. He's not exactly Frieza," Goku said, scratching his head.
"Hmph. Kakarot, don't be naive," Vegeta said with a cold laugh. "Anyone who looks like Frieza is never going to be a good person."
"I still can't sense my dad's ki... How are we supposed to find him?" Goku muttered, rubbing his chin.
"Did you bring Senzu Beans?" Vegeta asked.
"I didn't think Planet Sadala would have someone that strong on it," Goku admitted, shaking his head.
Vegeta clicked his tongue in irritation.
...
Universe 6, the God of Destruction Realm.
Above the small island in the middle of the lake, Ken hovered about ten meters off the ground, refining the purity of his angel power.
His whole body glowed with a brilliant radiance, like a star burning in the night sky.
Ten more minutes passed.
Then the dazzling light around him disappeared.
Whoosh!
Ken flashed down and appeared beside Vados.
"My, my... Ken, you've finally finished training?" Vados asked with a smile.
"Yeah," Ken said with a nod.
"Well? Did your level go up?" she asked.
"No." Ken shook his head, disappointed.
"That's normal," Vados said, feeling a little relieved. "Once an angel reaches a certain level, every further increase comes painfully slowly."
Ken said nothing.
After training hard for an entire year, his angel power had barely moved at all.
Or more accurately, it had not moved even by a single decimal place.
Back when he first hit level 70, his progress had already slowed to a crawl, but at least the digits after the decimal had still been creeping upward.
There had been visible change every year.
Now, at level 71, even that had stopped.
That was the strange part.
Was level 71 really his ceiling?
He still wanted to become the Grand Priest one day.
At this level, he was not even as strong as the Grand Priest had been at birth.
The Grand Priest had been level 80 from the moment he came into existence.
Ken had reached 71 and stopped dead.
The thought left him speechless.
Originally, he had planned to spend this entire year pushing the purity of his angel power higher.
Instead, the result had been miserable.
No matter how hard he trained, his level would not rise. Even the decimal places at the end showed almost no movement.
It was exactly as Vados had once described. Once a god reached the limit of their current strength, even the decimal growth became extremely slow.
Sometimes a single decimal point could take tens of millions of years.
Vados herself was proof of that.
Ten million years ago, she had still been level 67.
It had taken more than ten million years just to rise a single level.
The whole thing left Ken in a sour mood, and he had already asked Amarella about it too.
Her answer had been nearly identical to Vados's.
"So level 71 is really my limit?" Ken asked, clearly in a bad mood.
"Ken, angels are supposed to keep a calm heart. Level 71 is already extraordinary," Vados said with a soft smile. "You're at least stronger than the guards."
"Do angels really need a calm heart?" Ken asked, thinking it over.
"Yes, of course," Vados said with a small nod. "That's one of the core things about us. No matter what happens, an angel should be able to face it calmly."
Whoosh!
Ken did not hesitate. In a flash, he appeared right beside Vados, scooped her up, and held her in a perfect princess carry.
It happened so fast that even Vados failed to react in time.
Vados: "..."
"What are you doing?" she asked, suddenly flustered.
"What was that thing you just said?" Ken asked with a grin. "That angels keep a calm heart and face everything with composure."
Vados pressed a hand to her forehead and nearly went speechless.
You are not supposed to test that on me.
"Your composure really is impressive," Ken said. "Even like this, you're staying calm... Actually, I wonder whether your heart rate's gone up. Let me check."
As he spoke, he placed a hand against her chest to feel her heartbeat.
Vados: "..."
You are absolutely not just checking my heartbeat.
"Mm. It's still very steady," Ken said in admiration. "Just what I'd expect from a real angel."
"Take your hand off..." Vados said as her chest rose and fell.
"Oh? Now your heart really is beating faster. Is that because you're angry?" Ken asked, studying her thoughtfully.
Vados no longer knew what to say to him.
"I'm joking. Don't take it seriously," Ken said with a grin as he finally set her back down.
Vados's face flushed red with anger.
Who jokes like that?
"Did anything happen in our universe during this past year?" Ken asked.
"I wasn't watching," Vados said, shaking her head.
"Then what were you doing this whole time?" he asked.
"Watching you train, of course," Vados replied with a giggle.
"Right. What about Kusu?" Ken asked.
"She went back to Universe 10 a long time ago," Vados answered.
Ken let out a quiet sigh. "A year of training, and my angel power barely moved... I guess I'll have to go wander a bit and see whether something else gives me a breakthrough."
"No need to rush," Vados said, trying to comfort him. "Angels have eternal life. Training is something you approach step by step."
"My angel power hasn't improved much," Ken said with a mysterious smile, "but another kind of power definitely has."
"Another kind of power?" Vados repeated, confused.
"You'll find out later," Ken said.
Then he tapped the ground lightly with his staff.
Tap!
At once, his entire body erupted in brilliant star-like light.
Whoosh!
Ken turned into a streak of radiance and shot off into space, leaving Universe 6's God of Destruction Realm behind.
Vados stood there watching him disappear, still turning over his words about this "other kind of power."
What other power?
Out in space, Amarella asked, "So how are you planning to keep improving your angel power?"
"I'm not," Ken said, shaking his head. "It's not growing. What exactly am I supposed to improve?"
"Then now you can properly explain this other power of yours," Amarella said.
"Like I said before, I'll tell you later," Ken replied with a smile, offering no real explanation at all.
For once, Amarella had nothing to say.
Just what is this other power of his?
Could it really help him keep advancing his angel power somehow?
She could not help feeling curious.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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