Tavor stood in the center of the four zodiac demons' encirclement, his feet placed in a defensive horse stance, a faint ripple of ki energy radiating from his body as he prepared himself for their combined assault.
The four demons continued to charge their energy attacks, arcs of black lightning splitting the air with a resounding crackle as the attacks reached critical mass.
"You will rue the day you dared to challenge us, for we shall deliver your wretched mortal soul to our almighty master, while your body will be ours to claim!" spat the pig demon, its eyes blazing with unrestrained fury and a malevolent fire that promised no mercy, only eternal pain.
Tavor smirked, the sight that would make most mortals quake in their boots only serving to further excite someone of the purest Saiyan blood.
He pointed his right ki blade towards the pig-demon, the energy humming as it sliced through the air.
"We will see who gets eaten. Hurry up, I'm craving some of Roshi's cooking!" Tavor's words demolished what little remained of the pig-demon's composure, and he let out a furious squeal and thrust out his enormous palms.
Witnessing the unfolding event, the remaining three zodiac demons immediately unleashed their formidable energy attacks.
The energy attacks seemed to resonate with each other and form a wall of darkness that surged towards Tavor like a tsunami, drowning his vision in shadow.
BOOM!
The wall of dark energy collapsed upon the spot where Tavor had stood, detonating with such intensity that the four demons were driven back several feet before managing to regain their footing.
"HAHAHAHA scorched earth baby!" The dog-demon howled into the air, celebrating what he thought was a complete and total victory, while the others smiled and nodded.
FWOOSH!
The dark energy imploded abruptly, dissipating like a burst balloon and exposing only a vast, smoldering crater in its wake.
"Where is the body? Has he been reduced to ashes?" The horse-demon stamped its hooves in fury, incensed at being denied the taste of the mortal's flesh.
"Kekeke, fear not, when the Demon King is unsealed, you will have your pick of mortal flesh!" The rabbit-demon smiled, its two prominent, razor-sharp teeth glinting ominously in the light.
The dog-demon crouched low and began sniffing at the crater's edge; suddenly, the hair along its spine stood up, and a confused, nearly fearful expression appeared on its face.
However, before the dog-demon could warn anyone, a pair of hands emerged from the ground under the horse-demon and pulled.
"WHA—" The horse-demon's cry was abruptly cut short as his towering form was violently seized and pulled beneath the earth. In his place gaped a vast, shadowed pit, its depths echoing with the tormented wails of the horse-demon.
The three demons gathered around the large hole in the ground and gazed warily into its depths; unfortunately for them, the dust and darkness blocked their vision.
"One of you, go down and see what happened." The pig-demon spat to the side, the thick, viscous glob landing next to the dog-demon's foot.
"Hey you bastard, watch it." The dog-demon kicked dirt at the pig-demon with its clawed foot.
"You don't command us; we are of the same rank. YOU go down and see." The rabbit-demon glared hatefully at the pig-demon, walking over with its soft-padded feet until they stood face to face.
The aura of impending violence served to excite the other two demons to the point that they didn't notice something quickly emerging from inside the pit.
The bickering demons fell abruptly silent.
A low, unfamiliar noise rumbled up from the depths of the pit.
THUD.
The dog‑demon's ears snapped upright.
"What was—"
FWOOOSH!
Something burst out of the darkness.
It had barely lifted its head before the projectile smashed into its face with bone‑cracking force.
SMACK!
"GAH!"
The dog‑demon lurched backward.
Black blood burst across its muzzle, cheeks, and chest, dripping in thick ropes from its fur and splattering the ground.
The object bounced away.
It rolled once.
Twice.
Then settled several feet from the stunned demons.
Silence.
The pig‑demon stared.
The rabbit‑demon stared.
Even the dog‑demon, now drenched head to toe in viscous black blood, slowly turned toward the object that had struck him.
His eyes widened, dread flooding through him.
What lay there was the severed head of the horse‑demon.
Its eyes stared, vacant and lifeless.
Its facial features were contorted in a rictus of agony, forever frozen in pain.
Its neck ended in a ragged, blood‑slick stump.
The pig‑demon's mouth hung open.
"…Is that…"
The rabbit‑demon's ears slowly rose.
"The horse?"
The dog‑demon wiped at his face with a trembling hand.
He stared at the black blood coating his fingers.
Then at the severed head.
"No…"
The word slipped out in a thin, broken whisper.
The three demons turned toward the pit.
Nothing moved.
No footsteps.
No voice.
Only darkness.
The rabbit-demon swallowed hard.
For the first time since the battle began, the demons' confidence had completely crumbled.
Something had dragged one of their own beneath the earth, and now it had returned his head to them.
The pig-demon took a cautious step back.
"What kind of creature..."
A faint sound echoed from the pit.
STEP.
The demons froze.
Another.
STEP.
Something was advancing.
The dog-demon's blood ran cold.
The rabbit-demon's pupils constricted.
The pig-demon's tusks trembled.
Slowly, a small silhouette emerged from the darkness, two pale, blue-white lights flickering within.
Tavor took a final step, the ki blades fading before he leaped the rest of the distance.
THUD!
Tavor landed on the pig-demon's head and kicked off with enough force to send the demon falling into the pit.
"SCREEEEEE!" The pig-demon let out a high-pitched squeal as he fell, his body disappearing into the darkness below.
The dog‑demon and rabbit‑demon lunged at Tavor, one slashing for his exposed neck, the other whipping a kick toward his legs.
Tavor moved first.
He caught the dog‑demon's wrist mid‑swipe and, in the same breath, drove a sharp kick into the rabbit‑demon's inner thigh, halting both attacks at once.
"You missed." Tavor lifted his head, locking eyes with the dog‑demon.
He yanked the creature closer and smashed a brutal headbutt into its nose.
CRACK!
Blood sprayed as bone gave way.
The dog‑demon's head snapped back, ears flailing, but escape was impossible; Tavor's grip on its wrist held fast, unyielding, a vice of pure, focused strength.
Tavor's attention shifted.
The rabbit-demon was still recovering from the sharp kick to its inner thigh, one leg buckling beneath it as it struggled to regain its balance.
Tavor's eyes flashed.
An idea formed instantly.
He planted his foot firmly against the rabbit-demon's injured thigh.
The rabbit-demon's eyes widened.
"What are you—"
Tavor pushed off.
FWOOSH!
His compact body launched sideways with explosive force.
Still gripping the dog-demon's wrist, Tavor used the leverage from the rabbit's leg to propel himself directly toward his captive opponent.
The dog-demon barely had time to raise its eyes.
Tavor's knee came up.
BOOOOOOM!
It slammed into the side of the dog's skull.
The impact produced a sickening crack.
The demon's head jerked violently sideways as bone buckled beneath Tavor's knee, the shape of its skull visibly deforming around the point of impact.
"GRRAAAAGH!"
A spray of black blood erupted from its mouth.
Its body went limp for a split second.
Tavor maintained his grip on its wrist.
The force of the impact sent both of them spinning through the air before Tavor twisted his body and landed in a crouch.
The dog-demon crashed heavily onto the ground.
THUD!
It twitched.
Tavor slowly rose.
His tail flicked behind him.
Across the battlefield, the rabbit-demon stared at him in disbelief, one hand clutching its battered thigh.
Tavor glanced down at his foot.
Then back toward the rabbit.
A faint grin spread across his face.
"Thanks for the boost."
The rabbit-demon's expression twisted with rage.
"You..."
Behind Tavor, the dog-demon's fingers suddenly twitched.
A wet, grinding sound came from its deformed skull.
CRRKKK...
Tavor's ears perked up.
The dog-demon slowly began pushing itself upright.
The crushed bones beneath its fur shifted.
Then moved.
Then began knitting themselves back together with a series of resounding clicks.
Tavor's grin disappeared.
"...You have got to be kidding me."
The dog-demon remained motionless for several seconds.
Then another series of cracks echoed across the battlefield.
CRACK.
The warped bones of its skull shifted beneath its fur.
CRRKK...
The fractured structure slowly straightened, broken bone slid into place, and crushed sections expanded.
Jagged fragments fused together with disturbing precision until the demon's skull had regained its original shape.
Tavor stared.
"...No way."
The regeneration did not stop.
Thin layers of pale tissue began spreading across the exposed bone, crawling over the damaged areas like living fabric.
Muscle reformed beneath the surface, tendons reconnected, and skin began to emerge.
A layer of coarse fur followed, sprouting rapidly until the demon's head was once again completely covered.
Even the blood that had poured from its nose moments earlier seemed to vanish beneath the newly regenerated tissue.
The dog-demon's fingers twitched, its claws dug into the dirt, and then its eyes snapped open.
GRAAAAAWR!
A furious snarl erupted from its throat.
The sound was no longer merely angry.
It was primal, hungry, and predatory.
Tavor instinctively shifted his stance.
His tail stiffened.
The dog-demon's lips peeled back, exposing rows of jagged teeth.
Its chest heaved once.
Twice.
Then it lunged.
FWOOSH!
Tavor barely slipped aside as the demon's claws tore through the space where his head had been, but he felt the air sting against his cheek, as if the dog-demon's claws had sharpened the very air itself.
The dog-demon twisted mid-stride, its body moving with startling fluidity.
One paw-like hand swept toward Tavor's face, and Tavor ducked.
Another came from below, and he jumped, barely avoiding the attack.
The demon spun.
Its hind leg snapped outward.
WHAM!
Tavor crossed his arms just in time to catch the kick.
The impact forced him several steps backward, but the dog-demon didn't stop.
It dropped low before springing forward.
Its movements no longer carried the measured precision of its earlier assault.
There was technique buried beneath them, but something more primal had surfaced.
It attacked like an animal.
The dog-demon lunged forth with reckless abandon.
FWOOSH!
Its claws tore through the air as it charged, abandoning whatever semblance of restraint or strategy it had possessed before.
Tavor's eyes narrowed.
The creature was faster, more aggressive, and far less predictable.
The dog-demon's jaws opened wide as it closed the distance, revealing row upon row of jagged teeth.
"GRRAAAAH!"
Tavor shifted his weight, preparing to meet the attack.
Then he heard it.
CRACK.
A broken branch snapped somewhere behind him.
Tavor's ears twitched.
He didn't turn.
He didn't need to; he allowed his nascent ki senses to expand outward until he sensed what was coming.
The rabbit-demon had finally decided that nursing its bruised inner thigh from a safer distance wasn't going to win the battle.
Its padded feet barely made a sound as it crept forward, body lowered, ears pressed back against its skull.
Its eyes were fixed on Tavor's exposed back.
"Got you..."
The rabbit-demon sprang into an attack, its eyes focused on the young Saiyans neck.
Tavor's tail flicked.
Without even looking behind him, he twisted his hips and fired a kick backward.
THUD!
His heel slammed squarely into the rabbit-demon's abdomen.
"GUH!"
The rabbit-demon's eyes bulged as the impact folded its body around Tavor's foot.
The attack sent it stumbling backward.
"You really need to work on your sneaking."
Tavor didn't even have time to smile.
His Ki Perception screamed.
The dog-demon was already upon him.
FWOOSH!
Tavor's head snapped toward the charging beast.
Its claws were inches away.
He immediately threw himself sideways.
The dog-demon's claws sliced through empty air.
Tavor hit the ground in a roll and came up on one knee.
"Still too slow."
The dog-demon's eyes widened.
It realized too late that Tavor had moved directly out of its path.
Its momentum carried it forward, straight toward the rabbit-demon.
The rabbit-demon had barely recovered from Tavor's backward kick.
It looked up, and its eyes widened in shock.
The dog's snarling face rapidly filled its vision.
"...Wait."
BOOOOOOM!
The dog-demon crashed headfirst into the rabbit-demon.
The impact sent both demons tumbling violently across the battlefield.
"GAHHHH!"
"RRGH!"
Their bodies rolled through the dirt before slamming into a jagged rock formation.
CRASH!
Chunks of stone broke loose and rained around them.
Tavor remained crouched several yards away, and for a moment, he simply stared.
The dog-demon slowly lifted its head.
The rabbit-demon was sprawled underneath it.
Their eyes met.
Neither spoke.
The rabbit-demon's face twitched.
"You..."
The dog-demon growled.
"What?"
"You just ran into me!"
"I was chasing him!"
"And I was attacking him!"
"Then why were you standing there?!"
"Because that little monkey kicked me!"
Tavor blinked.
"...Monkey?"
His tail suddenly flicked upward, and a grin that wasn't really a grin slowly spread across his face, all while a faint ripple of ki began gathering in the palm of his right hand.
The battlefield fell silent for a heartbeat.
Tavor stood motionless, a faint blue-white glow flickering across his palm as his eyes remained fixed on the two demons.
The dog-demon slowly rose from the shattered rocks, its lips curling back into a savage snarl.
The rabbit-demon pushed itself upright, one hand clutching its battered thigh as fury replaced the embarrassment in its eyes.
Three combatants.
One battlefield.
And none of them seemed willing to back down.
Tavor's tail swayed slowly behind him.
His grin widened.
The next clash was about to begin, but for now...
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next time on Reborn as a Saiyan in Marvel!
Tavor's newfound Ki Perception continues to evolve as the battle against the remaining Zodiac Demons reaches a brutal new stage! The feral Dog-Demon refuses to stay down, the Rabbit-Demon is out for revenge, and Tavor appears ready to unleash a technique of his own!
Can the young Saiyan overcome two demons at once? And just how much further can his Infinite Potential take him?
Find out next time... on Reborn as a Saiyan in Marvel!