"Like this."
Gran suddenly reached into the air.
A dimensional portal instantly opened before him.
This was one of the results of his recent training in space-time power. He could now store objects inside a separate dimensional space.
A white staff identical to Merus's appeared in his hand.
With it, Gran lightly tapped toward Piccolo's head, arm, thigh, and several other vital points.
Piccolo instinctively tried to defend himself.
But every move he made was seen through completely.
The small staff in Gran's hand effortlessly slipped past all of his defenses and struck his body.
"AAARGH!!"
Piccolo was instantly blasted backward.
The metal wall behind him shattered into pieces upon impact.
"This is the difference in realms. Make sure you remember how it feels."
Holding the staff, Gran shifted his gaze toward Merus.
A faint smile slowly spread across his face.
Gran moved.
He began walking toward Merus.
One step.
Two steps.
...
His pace appeared leisurely, yet each step seemed to compress space itself.
In the blink of an eye, he was standing directly in front of Merus.
At 1.85 meters tall, Gran towered over the much smaller Merus, whose height barely reached around 1.5 meters.
The difference in stature alone created a powerful sense of pressure.
"You came here?"
Merus looked at Gran, then shifted his gaze to the staff in Gran's hand.
"I did have something I wanted to ask you."
The smile on Gran's face widened.
"But after seeing you fight just now, I've become interested. Before that, I'd like to spar with you."
"..."
Black lines practically appeared across Merus's face.
The moment Gran had walked over carrying a staff, he had already known this man was up to no good.
"You don't actually think that reaching Angel-level raw power means you can defeat me, do you?"
Merus smirked.
"Not at all."
Gran shook his head.
Merus was the youngest of all the Angels.
Without question, he was the weakest among them.
But no matter how weak he might be compared to the other Angels, he was still a true Angel.
Every aspect of him had reached genuine Angel standards.
Gran, on the other hand, had only achieved Angel-level raw power.
In every other area, he was still far from that realm.
"I just want to see how strong the weakest Angel really is. Indulge me, Merus."
Gran grinned.
"The weakest Angel?"
Merus's mouth twitched.
"Gran, I've noticed you've gotten a bit full of yourself lately."
"Hahaha! Don't take it personally. I only said that to provoke you into fighting me."
"Since you've put it that way, then fine."
Merus knew Gran's personality well, so he wasn't offended.
With a casual flick of his staff, the unconscious Slug was sent flying into the distance.
The two faced each other.
Each held a white staff.
Neither made the first move.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Piccolo had finally recovered from the few strikes Gran had landed on him.
He quickly found another metal wall to hide behind and peeked out cautiously.
"Lord Gran is terrifying. I couldn't resist even a little."
"Good thing he didn't want to kill me."
"Huh? So Lord Gran knows that kid?"
"Then that kid must be extraordinary too. No wonder he could take down Slug."
"My goodness... are they about to spar?"
"Now this is going to be interesting!"
Piccolo was getting excited when his expression suddenly changed.
"Huh?"
"Where did they go?"
Piccolo stared in shock.
The Gran and Merus who had been standing before his eyes had vanished without a trace.
"Damn it! The gap between us is too great. I can't even see their movements!"
He finally understood what had happened, his voice filled with frustration.
Meanwhile...
Beyond what ordinary eyes could perceive, Gran had already entered his strongest state.
Holding their staffs, he and Merus exchanged blows at incredible speed.
It looked like a duel between master swordsmen.
Countless afterimages overlapped and intertwined.
This was a pure contest of martial arts.
No flashy energy attacks.
No clashes of rules or divine powers.
Only skill.
"It's been a while since we met. You've grown stronger again."
Merus tightened his grip and slashed forward.
CLANG!
Gran raised his staff and blocked the strike.
The force behind it pushed him back two steps.
After redirecting the impact, he instantly teleported behind Merus and thrust his staff forward.
"Compared to you, I'm still far behind!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Merus effortlessly evaded the attack.
"Not nearly as far behind as you think."
"Oh? Then tell me—what exactly am I still lacking?"
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
The two continued talking while exchanging blows.
Each collision produced a sharp metallic ring.
"Your bodily instinct has reached the Fourth Stage now. That's already at the level of a God of Destruction."
"But compared to me, you're still two stages behind."
"You mean your bodily instinct is at the Sixth Stage?"
Merus's staff shot toward Gran's chest.
Gran barely managed to block it.
Yet the next instant, countless attacks followed.
Each strike carried martial skill worthy of an Angel.
Gran felt the pressure mounting.
Sweat had already begun forming across his forehead.
"Given our relationship, there's no need for me to hide it."
"Yes."
"My bodily instinct has indeed reached the Sixth Stage."
Merus smiled as he watched Gran struggle to defend himself.
Serves you right.
You were acting so arrogant earlier.
Now look at you.
"Sixth Stage... no wonder you're this strong."
Gran's breathing gradually became uneven.
Years ago, during his life-and-death battle against Quitela, Quitela's bodily instinct had been at the peak of the Fourth Stage.
At that time, Gran's own instinct had only been at the peak of the Third Stage.
He had needed the boost of Ultra Instinct just to fight Quitela on equal footing.
Only after his own bodily instinct broke through to the Fourth Stage did he finally gain the upper hand.
That alone showed how vast the gap between each stage truly was.
Each level represented a difference on an entirely different dimension.
And now—
He was facing Merus.
A being whose bodily instinct had reached the Sixth Stage.
Compared to Merus's effortless movements, natural flow, and elegant precision...
Gran appeared rigid.
Slow.
Clumsy.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Merus's attacks grew increasingly fierce.
The sound of their staffs colliding became more and more rapid.
"That's enough! That's enough! I give up!"
Seeing a staff about to smack him squarely in the face, Gran immediately squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
The expected pain never arrived.
Gran cautiously opened his eyes.
Merus's staff had stopped just one centimeter from his face.
"Whew!"
Gran let out a long sigh of relief.
Thankfully, it hadn't landed.
Otherwise, his handsome face would have been ruined.
"As expected of Merus."
There was a hint of helplessness in his voice.
Merus lowered his staff and shook his head.
"Losing to me is perfectly normal."
"There's no reason to be discouraged."
"The time you've spent training is simply too short."
END OF CHAPTER
Disciple of Beerus - MrBehringer's Secret
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