Outside.
The white cube floated around five or six meters above the ground, glowing with a holy light.
Bulma and Amarella could only stand there in obvious worry.
"Hurry up and think of something!" Bulma urged.
"There is no way... that's the Grand Priestess..." Amarella said, shaking her head.
"So Ken's really going to disappear?" Bulma asked.
"Yes... I finally understand now why his angel power grew so fast. What he inherited was the Grand Priestess's angel power... and now she's going to take all of it back," Amarella said, her face full of anger and helplessness. "We angels are beings formed out of angel power. If every last bit of that angel power disappears, then that angel disappears too. They simply break apart and cease to exist."
"You're seriously just going to stand here and watch Ken die?" Bulma shouted. In a panic, she rushed forward, grabbed Amarella, and yelled straight at her.
"You saw it yourself. In my current state, I can't do anything," Amarella said, shaking her head, utterly powerless.
"Then contact Broly and tell him to come back! Or get some other angels to help!" Bulma said immediately.
"It's useless. Broly still isn't even level 60. Even if he came, he wouldn't be a match for the Grand Priestess. He'd only be throwing his life away... and if Ken knew, he'd never allow Broly to come back," Amarella said, shaking her head.
"What about other angels?" Bulma asked again.
"That's even more impossible... several of them are the Grand Priestess's children," Amarella said in a low voice.
"Then there really isn't anything we can do?" Bulma asked.
Despair filled her eyes. They had already gone red as she stared fixedly at the white cube floating overhead. Then, without hesitation, she pressed the button on her wristwatch.
"Kukukaka!"
A transparent combat suit snapped over Bulma's body and she moved to rush up into the sky, only for Amarella to pull her straight back with a point of her staff.
"Don't be stupid! Going up there would just get you killed!" Amarella snapped. "The only thing we can do now is hope the Grand Priestess leaves Ken even a tiny bit of angel power. If she does, at least he might end up like me instead of disappearing completely."
Her expression only grew heavier as she clenched her tiny fists.
Unfortunately, she really had no other option.
A brief silence followed.
"Grand Priestess!" Amarella suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs. "Leave Ken a little angel power! Don't absorb all of it! If it still isn't enough, I'll give you mine!"
But there was no response from inside the cube.
Neither she nor Bulma had any idea what was happening in there.
"Grand Priestess, please..." Amarella shouted again.
This time, her plea seemed to have some effect. The white cube suddenly trembled.
Smack!
A figure flashed out from inside.
Ken flew down and landed slowly beside Amarella.
"Ken? Are you okay?" Bulma cried. She immediately rushed over, yanked open his clothes, and started checking all over him.
Amarella was even worse. She climbed straight inside his clothes.
Ken: "..."
"What exactly are you two looking for?" he asked.
"You're not turning transparent," Bulma said, finally relaxing a little.
"Did the Grand Priestess change her mind at the last minute?" Amarella asked. The fear she had been holding onto finally loosened.
"Maybe," Ken said with a nod.
"The Grand Priestess shouldn't have done this in the first place. It's not too late for her to change her mind now," Amarella said, and some of her resentment toward the Grand Priestess faded.
At least Ken seemed fine.
Smack!
While she was still talking, Ken snapped his fingers.
At once, the white cube in the sky disappeared.
Then the Grand Priestess came dropping down from above and landed on the grass.
She was still tied up hand and foot, and the ropes around her body were pulled tight enough to make her figure look even more striking.
Amarella stared so hard her eyes nearly popped out.
Bulma looked even more stunned.
What kind of development is this?
For the greatest divine woman in the universe, she certainly had an unusual sense of fun.
Even Amarella was lost.
What exactly happened here?
The Grand Priestess was tied up?
And judging from the pained, resentful look on her face...
Could it be she really couldn't break free?
"Smile for me," Ken said, stepping forward and patting her soft cheek.
The Grand Priestess's face darkened instantly.
You tied me up like this and you still want me to smile?
How exactly am I supposed to smile?
Amarella: "..."
Bulma: "..."
"Ken, what happened in there?" Bulma asked, utterly confused.
"Nothing much," Ken answered simply.
Bulma had no words.
You call this nothing?
The reversal here is a little too much.
And more importantly... where did you even learn to tie someone up like that?
It looks weirdly familiar somehow.
"Amarella, what if I draw out some of her angel power and give it to you?" Ken asked suddenly.
Amarella's jaw dropped. She did not recover for several seconds.
You can draw out her angel power?
That shouldn't make any sense.
Wasn't your angel power originally given to you by her?
"Ken, you dare?" the Grand Priestess shouted angrily.
"If I draw out part of her angel power, you might not have to stay this small anymore, right?" Ken said thoughtfully.
"That... might not be compatible," Amarella said, shaking her head.
"It's fine. Why don't we try the most primitive human method too?" Ken suggested.
Amarella: "..."
"We can at least test it. It doesn't cost anything," Ken said.
Then, without another second of hesitation, he stepped forward and pointed his staff at the Grand Priestess's body.
"You... Ken! I admit I was in the wrong before! Let me go! We can talk this out! Anything can be discussed properly! You can't do this to me!" the Grand Priestess said, finally panicking.
Ken did not care.
You wanted me to disappear?
Do you think it was easy for me to cultivate all the way into becoming an angel?
I still plan on living forever.
And you actually wanted to sacrifice me to yourself?
If I don't make you suffer a little for that, I'd be doing myself an injustice.
Without another word, Ken kept his staff aimed at the Grand Priestess and began drawing the angel power out of her body.
"Ah... ahhh..."
The Grand Priestess let out a string of cries, each one almost enough to steal the soul out of a listener's body.
Even Ken started to feel a little uncomfortable listening to it.
Could you please stop screaming that loudly?
If the Grand Priest ever heard a voice like this coming from you, I wouldn't even know how to explain it.
Before long, Ken had extracted one-tenth of the Grand Priestess's angel power.
Smack!
At once, a radiant flame, bright as a star, appeared inside the crystal on his staff.
The sphere of light was only about ten centimeters across.
Ken decided to test it first.
What if it really wasn't compatible?
If it wasn't, then Amarella would never be able to restore her body.
"Amarella, try it. See if you can absorb it," Ken said, holding the extracted angel power in front of her.
Amarella: "..."
"All right... I'll try," she said after a moment's hesitation. In the end, she did not refuse.
Because she knew very well that from start to finish, this entire mess was the Grand Priestess's fault.
She should never have done anything like this.
Not only had the Grand Priestess broken the rules of time, she had even planned to refine angel power through the most primitive method humans used.
That was no longer something an angel should ever do.
In that case, they might as well see whether Amarella could absorb her angel power.
After all, Amarella wanted to restore her own body as soon as possible too.
She carefully took a tiny portion of the Grand Priestess's angel power and began trying to absorb it.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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