Whoosh!
A rose-colored figure came tearing in from the distance and quickly appeared beside Larte.
The newcomer looked exactly like him.
"Larte, what happened? Are you hurt?" the man asked with concern.
Larte looked up in surprise. "Larde? Why are you here?"
"I sensed a huge burst of ki from far away, so of course I came to see what happened," Larde said.
"It's nothing serious," Larte sighed. "I only wiped out everyone on the planet I lived on. My heart was feeling even heavier than usual, and my energy erupted by accident."
"They provoked you first, didn't they?" Larde said coldly. "I told you long ago that there was nothing worth protecting on that planet. Those people loved guilt-tripping others."
Larte lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Because Larde was right.
Everyone on that planet loved moral blackmail.
An old person would get on a bus, and if a younger passenger did not give up their seat, they would start lecturing them. You're young. What's wrong with standing a little longer?
Women would say to men, You're men, so you should give way to women.
It all disgusted Larte.
At times, he even felt he had failed as king. If he had ruled properly, his people never would have turned into that.
So in the end, he had wiped them all out without hesitation.
"No, I'm talking about your long-haired form," Larde said. "What exactly happened? Nothing on that planet was worth pushing you to that state."
"I met someone who called himself a God of Destruction," Larte said in a low voice. "He was incredibly strong. I was no match for him at all."
"A God of Destruction?" Larde frowned. "Never heard of it."
"Neither had I," Larte replied.
"Even in the long-haired form, you still couldn't beat him?" Larde asked, startled.
Larte nodded.
"If even you couldn't beat him... then even if I'm a little stronger than you, I'd still be far below him," Larde said, narrowing his eyes.
Larte snorted. "You talk as though you really are stronger than me."
"What else did he tell you, brother?" Larde asked.
"Dragon Balls," Larte said after a pause. "He said Universe 7 has seven mysterious spheres. Gather them all, and you can make any wish."
Then Larte gave his younger brother a simple explanation of the twelve universes.
After a brief silence, Larde suddenly said, "Then fuse with me."
"Fuse?" Larte repeated in surprise.
"If we fuse into one being, we'll definitely be able to beat that so-called God of Destruction," Larde said with a grin.
Larte gave it a moment's thought, then nodded. "Looks like that's our only option."
They immediately pulled apart and began performing a strange dance in space.
As the dance went on, the distance between them shrank again and again.
Then they stretched both arms outward and held the pose for a brief instant.
The next moment, they bent forward in unison and touched four fingers together.
Whoosh!
Their bodies overlapped and merged into one.
The fused warrior still had black hair and still looked unbelievably like Ken.
"Since I'm Larte and Larde fused together, let's call me Larted," the new man said.
Then he looked in the direction Quitela had left and suddenly unleashed a massive surge of power.
His hair rapidly lengthened until it fell below his waist.
This time, however, his hair had two colors. The inner layer was dark green, while the outer layer shone rose-red.
Dark green lightning mixed with pink lightning crackled all over his body.
Then he became a pink-and-green streak of light and sped off after Quitela.
Quitela had just been about to return to the God of Destruction Realm when he suddenly sensed an enormous ki flaring up behind him.
"What the hell?" he muttered, turning back with a frown. "Why did his ki suddenly jump so much? He's almost level 40 now. How did he do that?"
Even from that absurd distance, Quitela could clearly make out the figure rushing toward him.
"He looks different now?" Quitela said, slightly surprised.
Still, he did not take it too seriously.
As far as Quitela was concerned, level 40 meant nothing.
Even if it were level 50, he would not be the least bit afraid.
What he feared was the man's real identity.
If he had truly nothing whatsoever to do with Ken or Broly, then Quitela would kill him without hesitation.
"So now you want revenge?" Quitela said with a smile.
He stopped dead in space and simply waited for Larted to arrive.
It took a full five minutes before Larted finally came screaming in from far away.
Pop!
He stopped directly in front of Quitela, his face brimming with confidence and fighting spirit.
"So you changed again," Quitela said with a cold laugh. "And now you've got pink light mixed in too?"
"I told you already," Larted said coldly. "I will not forgive you."
Quitela blinked. "What's wrong with your voice?"
Then he quickly understood.
"You used fusion?"
"So you do know your stuff," Larted sneered. "As expected of the god of this universe."
Quitela laughed on the spot. "You really think fusion is enough to beat a God of Destruction? Don't you know? A God of Destruction is a ceiling mortals can never surpass unless they receive divine guidance."
"Is that so?" Larted said, unconvinced.
"The only thing I'm curious about now is who the other half of you is," Quitela said. Then he shook his head. "Though I suppose if I beat you back apart, I'll get my answer."
Whoosh!
Larted said nothing more and rushed him head-on.
Bang!
He punched Quitela hard in the face.
The punch landed cleanly.
Because Quitela never even bothered to dodge.
Bang!
Larted followed with an uppercut to the chest.
Then he grabbed Quitela by the head and slammed his knee straight into his face.
Quitela's body tipped backward.
Larted spun and kicked him, sending him flying.
Whoosh!
Larted shot after him, planted a hand on Quitela's head, and drove him through a planet the size of a moon.
Then he followed up with a storm of punches and kicks before tossing Quitela back into space.
Energy gathered in his palm.
He thrust his hand forward, and a massive surge of dark green and rose-red power roared toward Quitela.
A deafening explosion swallowed Quitela whole.
Dust and smoke spread everywhere.
"Heh. That should settle it," Larted said with a satisfied smile.
But once the smoke began to clear, Quitela's completely unharmed figure came into view.
Larted's expression changed over and over in shock.
That attack was one of his strongest.
And it didn't hurt him at all?
How was that possible?
"Not bad," Quitela said with a smile. "Fusion does have some bite to it."
Larted stared at him in disbelief, cold sweat pouring down his face.
Why?
Why is he fine?
Is the gap between us really that huge?
"All right," Quitela said, flexing one fist and drifting slowly toward him. "Now it's my turn."
"Damn it!"
Larted's face went pale. He fired one energy blast after another at Quitela in panic.
Quitela swatted them away one by one as though he were brushing aside insects.
"That easy?" Larted said, gripped by deeper fear than ever before.
So this is the strength of a God of Destruction?
Bang!
Quitela punched him squarely in the chest.
Larted coughed up blood and went flying backward.
But Quitela was even faster. In an instant, he appeared behind him and smashed another punch into his back.
Larted spat blood again—and split into two people.
Pop!
The fusion came undone, and Larted separated back into Larte and Larde.
Even now, both brothers remained in their transformed states.
When Quitela saw Larde's form clearly, he went momentarily blank.
What kind of transformation is this?
Rose-colored light blazed all around Larde. His hair was just as long as Larte's, but its color was entirely rose-red.
Even the lightning around him had changed into rose-red bolts.
Quitela had never seen a transformation like it, and for a moment he genuinely could not make heads or tails of it.
Still, in his eyes, a form that looked like this had nothing to do with Ken or Broly.
"And who exactly are you?" Quitela asked with a smile, looking Larde over.
Larde grit his teeth and exchanged a glance with Larte.
One look was enough.
Run.
This guy is too strong.
Even our fusion couldn't beat him.
How are we supposed to keep fighting?
The next instant, both of them rushed toward Quitela.
Then they both froze for a split second in midair.
"Idiot!" Larte shouted. "I'll hold him off. You run!"
"Don't be ridiculous! It's always you protecting me because you're the older brother. It's my turn to do something for once!" Larde shouted back.
Then he kicked Larte away and threw himself forward, wrapping both arms around Quitela's body.
"Run, Larte! Run as far as you can! Don't worry about me!" Larde shouted.
"Larde!" Larte gritted his teeth—but he still did not move.
"What are you standing there for? Go!" Larde yelled.
"If we die, then we die together!" Larte snapped, his voice turning mournful again.
Larde fell silent.
Quitela, on the other hand, just smiled at the two of them. He let Larde keep holding him, then calmly pulled out his communicator again.
He contacted the angel Cognac once more.
"Quitela-sama, what now?" Cognac asked, sounding puzzled.
"Cognac, have a look. Another one who looks exactly like Ken just showed up," Quitela said with a tired sigh. "Can you tell me what's going on here?"
Cognac used his staff to scan the new arrival and quickly confirmed that Larde really did look exactly like Ken.
Then he ran a detailed scan through the staff and got a result almost immediately.
"They're brothers," Cognac said. "Twin brothers."
"That much I can see on my own!" Quitela snapped.
"As for anything else... from everything I can tell so far, they have nothing to do with Ken or Broly," Cognac said, shaking his head.
"So still nothing?" Quitela said with a cold laugh. "Then I guess I'll just have to beat the hell out of both of them!"
The call ended.
Quitela put the communicator away, then smiled down at Larde, who was still clinging to him.
Slowly, he reached up and grabbed a fistful of Larde's hair.
"Ahhh!"
Larde cried out in pain.
"You really thought fusion was enough to beat a God of Destruction?" Quitela sneered. "You're nowhere close."
Then he slapped Larde across the face several times in a row.
Next, he yanked him by the hair and smashed him bodily into Larte.
The brothers crashed into each other and howled in pain.
...
Universe 6, Planet Sadala, the royal palace.
Inside the princess's room.
The princess stood by the window with an angel staff in hand, her eyes cold as she looked out over the view beyond the palace.
Temat stood beside her in silence.
"You've finally calmed down," the princess said.
"Yes... that transformation affects me too much," Temat said with a sigh. "It's just a shame I killed that man with my own hands."
The princess did not answer. Then suddenly her expression shifted slightly, and she looked down at the crystal sphere atop her staff.
Through the crystal, she observed something in the distance.
Her brows pulled together at once.
"What happened?" Temat asked.
"A God of Destruction is sticking his nose in where he shouldn't," the princess said coldly. "It's time to settle an old debt."
With that, she disappeared from the spot in an instant.
If a Supreme Kai had been present to witness it, they would have recognized immediately that what the princess had just used was Instant Transmission.
...
Universe 4, outer space.
Looking at the half-destroyed Larte brothers floating there, Quitela felt a surge of satisfaction.
Especially because both of them looked so much like Ken.
Every time his fist landed, it felt more and more like he was really beating Ken himself.
Maybe I should just kill one of them and see what happens.
He hesitated.
But after some real thought, Quitela decided he should not take the risk.
After all, the last time he got careless, he ended up getting Broly's father killed.
And what if these two really were connected to Ken or Broly after all?
Yes, Cognac said there was no connection...
But what if?
That kind of thing only has to go wrong once.
After agonizing over it for a while, Quitela finally decided to let the brothers go.
I've vented enough already. There's no reason to push this further.
Leaving now is the smartest move.
Once he settled on that, Quitela turned and left.
The Larte brothers were in no shape to keep fighting. Watching him go, they exchanged a look and finally let out a small breath of relief.
He let us go.
He really is monstrously strong.
Quitela hummed to himself as he drifted through space in a very good mood.
He really was feeling great.
Today I beat up someone who looked like Ken and someone who looked like Broly.
I finally got my revenge.
Damn, that felt good.
But after flying a while longer, he suddenly noticed the space ahead of him starting to warp and twist.
Whoosh!
The princess appeared in front of him in a flash.
Quitela's eyes widened as he stared at the woman now facing him.
A white veil covered her face, but the skin he could see resembled Ken's complexion.
She had flowing silver hair, wore angel garb, and held an angel staff in her hand.
At a glance, she was unmistakably dressed like an angel.
But because the veil covered her face, Quitela could not make out her actual features.
"What universe are you the angel of?" Quitela asked.
"You beat my people and think you can just walk away, little rat?" the princess said with a cold snort.
"My people?" Quitela repeated, slightly taken aback. "You mean those two?"
"Yes," the princess said coldly.
"They were the ones who provoked me first!" Quitela argued. "I only taught them a lesson!"
"Then now it's my turn to teach you one," the princess replied.
She wasted no time. The staff in her hand pointed directly at Quitela.
"What universe are you from?" Quitela asked again, still unable to identify her.
The princess did not answer.
A formless mass of angel power instantly surged out of the staff and rushed toward Quitela.
The invisible power wrapped around him completely.
He had been hit.
Or more accurately, there had never been any chance to dodge in the first place.
In an instant, Quitela froze in place in the middle of space, unable to move even a finger. Shock and horror filled his face.
Who is this woman?
Which universe's angel is she?
She has to be at least level 69.
Otherwise there's no way I'd be this helpless.
Back when I trained under Cognac, he used this same technique on me before.
I could still resist a little then.
But this time, caught in her angel power, I feel like a rat pinned under a mountain. I can't move at all.
After binding Quitela, the princess flashed away and reappeared beside the Larte brothers.
They both froze slightly the moment they saw her.
"Who are you?" Larte asked, frowning.
Larde was just as wary.
One rat had barely left, and now this woman had shown up.
And she looked far more dangerous.
"Don't speak. I'm healing you first," the princess said coldly.
Angel power flared from her staff and immediately covered both brothers.
In the space of a single heartbeat, all their injuries disappeared, and even their energy returned to full.
The brothers looked down at their restored bodies in shock, exchanged another glance, and then looked back at her.
"Are you some kind of healer?" Larte asked.
"No," the princess said calmly. "I am the Grand Priestess."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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