"Heh. You might as well give up now, Broly," Beetela said smugly. "Jumping out of the ring yourself will hurt a lot less than letting me knock you out."
"You think so?" Broly drew in a deep breath, and an enormous surge of energy erupted from his body. Dark green flames roared outward in every direction, far stronger than anything he had shown so far.
The Grand Priest gave Broly a much closer look, clearly caught off guard.
"Surprised?" Ken asked with a grin.
The Grand Priest glanced at him before smiling. "I didn't expect Broly to be hiding this much power. Even I failed to notice without looking carefully."
"Broly's level 60 too. He's not far behind Beetela at all."
That revelation stunned the Gods of Destruction and everyone else watching the match. They had assumed level 59 was effectively the upper limit for a God of Destruction, yet Broly had actually crossed into level 60—a range normally associated with Angels.
"It seems Broly has been training much harder than I realized," the Grand Priest said approvingly.
Down in the arena, Broly gave Beetela a calm smile. "I wasn't using my full strength either."
Beetela's smug expression disappeared immediately.
The two collided again, and this time the battle settled into a brutal stalemate. For nearly half an hour, they traded attacks across the arena without either side managing to establish a decisive advantage. Their levels were almost identical, though Beetela possessed one major edge: the combined combat experience of Beerus and Quitela.
In pure experience, Broly couldn't compare. What kept him from falling behind was his relentless fighting spirit, and as the exchange dragged on, that stubborn pressure even allowed him to push Beetela back at times.
"The fusion is almost over," Zeno-sama suddenly remarked from his throne.
"Broly's going to win," Future Zeno said with a nod.
"Yeah. He's going to win."
The fight continued below, but just as Beetela prepared to attack again, a hand suddenly closed around his ankle.
He froze and looked down.
Buu was still lying on the arena, fast asleep, one hand wrapped firmly around Beetela's leg while a bubble inflated and deflated from his nose.
Beetela's face twitched.
You've got to be kidding me. Let go!
Broly had already gathered enough energy for another heavy blow, but when he noticed what had happened, he stopped instead of taking advantage of Beetela's predicament.
"Let go of me, you fat bastard!" Beetela roared, repeatedly stomping on Buu's head.
Buu's soft skull flattened under the barrage until his entire head looked like a pancake, yet his hand never loosened around Beetela's ankle. Furious, Beetela formed a blade-like edge of energy in his hand and slashed downward, cleanly severing Buu's arm.
The pain finally woke him.
Buu shot upright in confusion, his round eyes floating loose for a moment while he looked around as though he had no idea where he was.
Where am I?
Why am I here?
And where's my head?
His regeneration quickly restored both his head and severed arm, and he popped his eyes back into place before taking another bewildered look around the arena. The instant he spotted Zeno-sama, however, all the confusion vanished. Buu's entire body changed color from sheer panic as he sprinted over, dropped to his knees, and began bowing repeatedly.
Zeno-sama stared at him for a moment before waving him away. "Go on."
Buu finally relaxed. He hurried off the arena and returned to Ken's side with a goofy grin, only then turning back toward the match and scratching his head when he saw Broly facing a strange creature that looked halfway between a cat and a mouse.
Who was that guy supposed to be?
Beetela let out a long breath of relief. If Buu had realized Beetela was the one who had flattened his head and decided to team up with Broly, the fight could have turned into a nightmare very quickly.
"Let's continue," Broly said.
"Of course! We haven't settled anything yet!" Beetela replied quickly.
Broly looked him over. "Your fusion doesn't have much time left, does it?"
Beetela's expression tightened. Broly was right, and he knew exactly how little time remained.
"Then I'll beat you before it runs out!"
Beetela charged, meeting Broly head-on. Their fists collided with enough force to send a violent shockwave across the arena, and the two immediately resumed their exchange at full speed.
The battle lasted only a little longer before Beetela's body suddenly split apart in a burst of light, leaving Beerus and Quitela standing where the fusion had been.
The two Gods of Destruction stared at each other, then slowly turned toward Broly. Their expressions changed from disbelief to outright fear as the reality of their situation settled in.
Without another word, both of them dropped to their knees.
If even their fusion couldn't defeat Broly, continuing the fight would only mean volunteering for an even worse beating.
"Great God of Destruction, we admit defeat," Beerus and Quitela said together.
Broly looked at them without expression and accepted their surrender in silence.
The other Gods of Destruction could hardly believe what they had witnessed. Beerus and Quitela were the strongest among them, yet even after fusing, they had still failed to defeat Broly.
The Grand Priest turned toward Ken with a smile. "What do you think?"
"About what?"
"The Tournament of Power. After watching this battle between the Gods of Destruction, do you have any ideas for its rules?"
Ken thought about it for a moment. "I don't think the Gods of Destruction should be allowed to compete. If you put them in the same tournament as ordinary mortals, a single God of Destruction could wipe out an entire universe's team without much difficulty."
"A reasonable conclusion. Continue."
Ken glanced toward the two Zenos. "What do Zeno-sama and Future Zeno-sama think?"
"Give me your proposal first," the Grand Priest replied. "I'll present it to them afterward."
Ken considered the problem again before an idea came to him. "Then before deciding the final rules, why don't we let Zeno-sama watch a match between god candidates?"
The Grand Priest blinked.
"God candidates?"
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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