"By the way, Vados," Ken asked, "is your mother still alive?"
The Grand Priestess shot him another glare.
Are you trying to start trouble on purpose?
Vados's face darkened at once.
The way you asked that… why does it sound like you're insulting me?
"You should say, 'How is my mother?'" Vados corrected, sounding genuinely defeated by him.
"Right, right, that's what I meant." Ken nodded hard.
"Why are you suddenly asking about that?" Vados said, speechless.
"I know the Grand Priest is your father, but I've never heard you mention your mother before, so I got curious," Ken said with a smile.
"My mother…" Vados let out a soft sigh and murmured, "She left us when I was still very young. To be honest, I don't remember her all that clearly. What I do remember is a gentle smile, a kind face, and long silver hair."
Ken gave the Grand Priestess a careful look.
She was so irritated she looked ready to bare her teeth.
Why are you looking at me like that?
You're going to expose me at this rate.
"Maybe that's how everyone describes their mother," Ken said with a sigh.
"Hehe, maybe so." Vados nodded.
"Do you miss her?" Ken asked.
"To be honest… not really." Vados shook her head. "It's already been hundreds of millions of years. I let go of that a long time ago."
At those words, the Grand Priestess suddenly pressed harder as she kneaded Ken's legs.
Of course, that much force meant nothing to him.
Still, she seemed to feel a little guilty, as though she had failed her daughter somehow.
"Where did she go?" Ken asked.
"Father said he upset her, and she left our space-time entirely," Vados said with a faint sigh. "But I think… he probably only said that so we wouldn't resent her."
"The Grand Priest really is a good father and a good husband," Ken said with admiration.
"Well, angels are supposed to have peaceful hearts. If we live in hatred, we'll never grow." Vados gave a light laugh and didn't seem too bothered by it.
In the end, it was all ancient history.
So ancient that even an angel like Vados had long since learned to let it go.
"There was another time too, tens of millions of years ago…" Vados's expression stayed calm, but her voice picked up a trace of sadness. "Father said Mother disappeared unexpectedly. I still don't know whether that was true or not."
"How does someone just disappear like that? Who did it?" Ken asked, glancing down at the Grand Priestess.
Vados fell silent.
Why are you asking the maid?
How would she know?
Still, Vados didn't think too much of it. Maybe Ken had just lowered his head because the maid's massage felt good.
"Mother was incredibly powerful, but across so many different space-times, there may be gods even stronger than she was," Vados said.
"Could the Space-Time God of Destruction have done it?" Ken asked.
"Unlikely." Vados shook her head. "The Space-Time God of Destruction rarely acts, and he's a righteous god. He would never do something like that."
"Then who was it?" Ken frowned and looked down at the Grand Priestess again.
At the mention of the Space-Time God of Destruction, her hands never wavered.
That told Ken enough. The Grand Priestess had probably not been destroyed by the Space-Time God of Destruction.
If she had, she would have reacted the moment she heard that title.
Which meant that besides the Space-Time God of Destruction, there was someone else capable of destroying a god as powerful as the Grand Priestess.
At her peak, according to her own words, she had reached level 97.
That meant somewhere out there, in another space-time, there was a god above level 97.
Most likely, that was where the Grand Priestess had met her end.
"I don't know." Vados shook her head. "Father went looking for her, but he never found her. There weren't even any clues."
"What a shame," Ken said.
"Though… it may have been the work of a god from the Demon Realm," Vados added after a pause.
"The Demon Realm?" Ken blinked.
As far as he knew, the Demon Realm was ruled by Dabura, the Demon King.
Could there really be even stronger gods there?
Then again, thinking about it carefully, that wasn't impossible.
Dabura was more like the equivalent of a King Kai within the Demon Realm, not a Supreme Kai.
If the Dragon Ball cosmology worked the same way there, then the Demon Realm might also have beings equivalent to Supreme Kais and Gods of Destruction.
"Amarella, do you know anything about the Demon Realm?" Ken asked inwardly.
"A little," Amarella replied. "We angels, Zeno-sama, the Grand Priest, the Gods of Destruction, and the Supreme Kais belong to the Realm of Gods. This place is the mortal world. Apart from those, there is also the Demon Realm. It's structured much like the Realm of Gods. It has Demon Kings, Demon Supreme Kais, and its own version of Gods of Destruction, called Gods of Ruin. Above them all is the Great Demon God, whose power is said to rival the Grand Priest's."
"Why have you never mentioned this before?" Ken asked.
"You never asked," Amarella said.
"So how many universes does the Demon Realm have? Does it also span multiple universes?" Ken asked, looking up at Vados.
The Grand Priestess gave him a contemptuous look.
This mortal turned angel doesn't even know the basics of the Demon Realm, and yet he still managed to suppress a god like me.
Unforgivable.
She took a deep breath, but still kept up the obedient act as she continued massaging his legs.
"Massage my shoulders for a change. Stop fussing with my legs," Ken ordered bluntly.
The Grand Priestess's face darkened again, but she could only stand up and move behind him to massage his shoulders.
"The Demon Realm doesn't have separate universes. It's one complete world," Vados explained, then briefly told him about the Gods of Ruin, the Demon Supreme Kais, and the Great Demon God.
"So which side is stronger, the Gods of Ruin over there or the Gods of Destruction over here?" Ken asked.
"No idea. The Realm of Gods and the Demon Realm rarely have any contact." Vados shook her head, then smiled. "Also, the Demon Realm lies beneath Hell. If you're interested, you can always go take a look."
"Don't listen to Vados," Amarella said to Ken. "The only reason the Demon Realm and the Realm of Gods have remained at peace is because the Grand Priest and the Great Demon God signed a non-aggression pact more than a hundred million years ago. Without that, the two worlds would have descended into chaos ages ago."
"Then tell me this. How strong are the Gods of Ruin and the Demon Supreme Kais over there?" Ken asked.
"I've never dealt with them directly." Amarella shook her head. "But I doubt they'd lose to our Gods of Destruction. You can ask the Grand Priestess later. She should know."
Just then, the chef robots finished preparing the food and brought out dish after dish.
"I'm eating first." Vados's eyes lit up and she hurried over to the table.
The moment the Grand Priestess saw the lavish spread, her eyes started gleaming too, and she couldn't help swallowing.
Why does everything here look so delicious?
It looks even better than the food on Planet Sadala.
Ken calmly picked up a drumstick, took a few satisfied bites, then held it out toward the Grand Priestess with a grin. "You worked hard on that massage, so I'll reward you."
The Grand Priestess went silent.
What do you take me for, a dog?
You think I'd eat something like that?
She gave a cold snort. There was no way she was going to accept charity like that.
"If you don't want it, forget it. But don't come begging me for food later." Ken grinned, ignored her, and went right back to enjoying his meal.
Amarella also emerged from Ken's body and joined them for a second round of food.
Watching Ken, Vados, and Amarella eat so happily, the Grand Priestess kept swallowing her saliva.
Just you wait.
It's only food.
I'm the Grand Priestess. What haven't I eaten before?
You think I'd really be tempted by something like this?
She turned her head away, refusing to watch them eat.
Unfortunately for her, Vados and Amarella kept chatting while they ate, praising one dish after another and talking about which ones were even better.
The Grand Priestess was reaching her limit.
Can you please stop saying all that right in front of me?
"Ken, aren't you going to let the maid eat too?" Vados asked kindly.
The Grand Priestess immediately brightened inside, and even her expression softened.
As expected of my daughter. She really does care about her mother.
Even if you don't know I'm your mother.
Just hearing you say that makes me feel a lot better.
"Ah, I already asked her earlier. She said she wasn't hungry," Ken said flatly.
The Grand Priestess froze.
Her saliva nearly started dripping.
I never said that, all right?
This is too much.
Just wait until I recover my strength.
Then we'll see how I deal with you.
The meal lasted more than three hours.
Only then did Vados pat her chest, smack her lips, and sigh in lingering satisfaction. "I usually eat at seven-star hotels, but honestly, Bulma's food tastes even better."
"There's also something more exciting about sneaking off to enjoy good food," Ken said with a smile.
"Oh, you're absolutely right." Vados thought about it seriously and nodded. "Back when I was worried you might find out, eating was even more fun. But now that you already know about my little trips to the seven-star hotel, it suddenly doesn't taste as good anymore."
Ken smiled faintly. That felt perfectly normal to him.
Huh?
Why does this suddenly feel like I'm having an affair?
It must be because the Grand Priestess is standing beside me, making the whole thing feel strangely illicit.
As if I were that kind of angel.
Irritated by the thought, Ken slapped the Grand Priestess and sent her flying.
She trembled with rage from head to toe, her fingers digging into the ground so hard the Earth itself seemed to shake.
Just you wait.
You've humiliated me in every possible way today.
One day, I'll pay you back double for all of it.
Vados tilted her head in confusion.
Why do you enjoy tormenting this maid so much?
She really didn't understand it.
Still, Vados had a peaceful heart. Although she was curious, she didn't press the issue.
She guessed the maid must have offended Ken somehow.
Given how petty Ken could be, he was probably never going to let it go without making her suffer a little first.
Poor maid.
"I've eaten my fill. I should head back early," Vados said, getting to her feet.
"Come visit anytime. I'll have the maid attend to you," Ken said with a smile.
"Oh my, that would be far too embarrassing… I'm going, I'm going." Vados tapped her staff lightly against the floor.
Pop.
A brilliant starlike aura burst from her body, and in the next instant she shot into the sky and vanished among the stars.
Once Vados was gone, Ken beckoned to the Grand Priestess. "Come here."
Grinding her teeth, she stepped forward, her eyes blazing so fiercely that if looks could kill, Ken would already have died ten thousand times.
"Let's go to Sadala," Ken said with a smile.
"You… what are you trying to do? You're not planning to kill the others, are you?" the Grand Priestess asked, her expression shifting slightly.
If Ken really killed them all, then my entire plan would collapse.
If I wanted to return to my peak that way, I'd have to wait another ten thousand years.
Ten thousand years.
I have no intention of waiting that long.
"I'll decide after I see them," Ken said.
Strictly speaking, calling them his other selves wasn't entirely accurate.
Ken was a transmigrator.
Temat, Larte, and the others were true natives of the Dragon Ball world.
What Amarella had said before was absolutely right.
Ken was the only one like him across all space-time.
Because there was only one transmigrator named Ken.
From Ken's point of view, Temat and the others were more like his twins than alternate versions of himself.
"Bulma, I'm heading out for a bit," Ken called.
"Okay." Knowing the matter was serious, Bulma didn't act like a spoiled princess for once.
Ken tapped his staff lightly against the ground.
Whoosh.
With the Grand Priestess beside him, he shot into the sky and entered outer space in an instant.
"So tell me," Ken said, "how exactly did you disappear?"
The Grand Priestess fell silent. It clearly touched a nerve, and she didn't want to answer.
"What, cat got your tongue?" Ken said, tapping her cheek.
She bared her teeth again and glared at him, eyes blazing with fury.
"Looks like I haven't disciplined you enough for you to understand your place as a maid." Ken narrowed his eyes.
"The Demon Supreme Kai!" the Grand Priestess blurted out at last, clearly wary of him.
"The Demon Supreme Kai? The Demon Realm's equivalent of a Supreme Kai?" Ken stared. "Don't make me guess. Was that the one who killed you?"
"Yes!" she snapped, nodding. "That's why I need to recover my strength as fast as possible. I'm going to take revenge on that bastard!"
"The Demon Realm's Supreme Kai is really that strong?" Ken was stunned.
"He really is that strong. By the level system you came up with, he's at least level 98." The Grand Priestess clenched her fists, her body trembling violently.
"If that's true, then the Demon Realm's equivalent of a God of Destruction, the God of Ruin, should be even stronger," Ken said.
"Maybe level 99." She nodded. "I've seen him before, but I've never fought him. That's only my guess."
"Then what about the Great Demon God? Level 100?" Ken asked.
"I don't know." She shook her head, then immediately nodded again, afraid he would scold her. "At least level 100."
"That sounds off. Are you deliberately trying to make the Demon Realm sound better than it is?" Ken frowned.
"Why would I do that?" the Grand Priestess shot back.
"If the Demon Realm is really that strong, then why are they living in peace with the Realm of Gods?" Ken asked.
"Because of the Space-Time God of Destruction," the Grand Priestess answered. "He forbids any Demon Realm god above the level of a Demon King from entering the Realm of Gods or the mortal world."
Ken immediately glanced inward at Amarella.
Earlier, Amarella had said the peace existed because the Grand Priest and the Great Demon God had reached an agreement.
But from the way the Grand Priestess told it, that explanation sounded watered down at best.
A Demon Supreme Kai at level 98 had destroyed the Grand Priestess.
That alone was terrifying.
And above him was a God of Ruin.
And above even that was the Great Demon God.
Ken was starting to wonder if level 100 was really the limit after all.
Could there be levels beyond 100?
"The Grand Priestess is probably right," Amarella said after a long silence, her expression growing much grimmer. "This may have more to do with the Space-Time God of Destruction's restraint than any agreement between the Grand Priest and the Great Demon God. I had no idea the Demon Realm's gods were this strong. I'd only ever heard rumors. I never saw them myself."
"That much is obvious." Ken nodded. "If what the Grand Priestess says is true, then the Demon Realm is a lot more dangerous than I thought."
"Yes…" Amarella's face was unusually serious.
"Ken, the Realm of Gods really does need stronger gods," the Grand Priestess said in a low voice, with a trace of apology. "If the Demon Realm's gods ever invade, not only would the Realm of Gods face disaster, the entire mortal world could be destroyed in an instant. I know trying to sacrifice you was wrong, but I truly wanted to become stronger as quickly as possible. Only by reaching level 100 can I better protect the Realm of Gods."
"How about this?" Ken said suddenly. "Why don't you hand over your angelic power and let me reach level 100 instead? I'll protect the Realm of Gods. If the Demon Realm dares to mess with us, I'll march over there and wipe it out."
The Grand Priestess said nothing.
"So? You don't want to?" Ken asked with a smile. "Weren't you the one talking about protecting the Realm of Gods?"
She had no answer.
I do want to protect the Realm of Gods, but I don't want to disappear.
If I'm gone, what meaning is there in that protection?
Ken shook his head.
So even the Grand Priestess had double standards.
She wanted him to sacrifice himself so she could reach level 100 and protect the Realm of Gods.
But when he suggested she sacrifice herself so he could do the same, suddenly she didn't like the idea.
"Was the Grand Priestess always like this?" Ken asked Amarella.
"Like this?" Amarella blinked.
"With such obvious double standards," Ken said.
"Double standards?" Amarella didn't quite understand the term.
"Put simply, it means judging the exact same thing in completely opposite ways depending on your own interests and preferences," Ken explained.
"Well… I didn't actually spend that much time around the Grand Priestess," Amarella said, shaking her head.
"When she first saw you, her tone seemed much gentler," Ken said.
"That was probably because I vanished together with Universe 18," Amarella guessed. "Maybe she never expected me to do something like that."
"Then why did the Grand Priestess leave our space-time in the first place?" Ken asked.
"She used to say she wanted to grow stronger alongside the Grand Priest," Amarella said thoughtfully. "But the Grand Priest never cared that much about increasing his own power. He spent most of his time shaping universes instead. Their ideals didn't match, so they argued often. Later, after something happened, the Grand Priestess left our space-time. Looking back now, maybe she never truly left our space-time at all. Maybe she just went to the Demon Realm instead. Then she ran into the Demon Supreme Kai and was beaten down until only two portions of angelic power remained."
"That actually makes a lot of sense," Ken said, agreeing with her assessment.
Of course, that didn't mean he was going to forgive the Grand Priestess for what she had done to him.
If you want power, go use someone else.
The moment you tried that on me, you were in the wrong.
Wait.
Does that make me a hypocrite too?
Sure enough, everyone, even gods, had their own double standards.
…
Zeno's Palace.
"Hyah!"
Zeno-sama was still riding around and having the time of his life.
Except the pony had now been replaced by a Majin Buu clone, which was much easier to control.
At the very least, Zeno-sama was having plenty of fun.
"Whoa!"
He yanked hard on the reins.
The Majin Buu clone stopped at once, rearing up on its front legs.
"Hey, is the Grand Priest back yet?" Zeno-sama asked, turning to his two attendants.
"Not yet, Zeno-sama," the Left Guard replied.
"He's been gone quite a while," Zeno-sama said, scratching his head.
"If we go by the time, he should be back soon," the Right Guard added.
"Mhm." Zeno-sama nodded.
Just then—
Flash.
A ball of light flickered into existence above Zeno's Palace.
"Oh, there he is." Zeno-sama clapped happily.
The two attendants looked up, and the moment they saw the Grand Priest clearly, their expressions changed.
Zeno-sama quickly noticed that something was wrong and rushed forward to examine him.
The Grand Priest's body looked dimmer than before, and his whole form had turned partially transparent.
If 0 meant completely transparent and 100 meant completely solid, then the Grand Priest was sitting at about 90.
"Grand Priest, what happened to you?" Zeno-sama asked anxiously.
"It's nothing. I had a fight with the Great Demon God," the Grand Priest replied.
Even in that half-transparent state, his expression remained perfectly calm, as though this level of damage hardly mattered to him at all.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]