"Him?!"
Peering from the shadows, Vegeta's eyes widened in shock. The one who had suddenly appeared was none other than Burely—the same Saiyan he had just encountered earlier! 'How did he get here? Was his speed really that insane?' The young prince felt his pride crumbling piece by piece today...
"But even so... that mysterious figure just made my father tremble in fear. What are you doing here, Burely? Do you have a death wish? Tch. And here I was thinking of making you my training partner..." He gritted his teeth and leaned forward slightly, desperate to see what would unfold.
Taro gazed calmly at Beerus, the God of Destruction, lounging on his throne at the banquet table. With a faint smile, he said, "As I thought... Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction."
'Who?!'
King Vegeta's blood ran cold at the sound of a third voice. 'An outsider?! When did he—?!'
'Damn it all!' He had explicitly ordered no one to approach this place! Furious, he instinctively tried to lift his head—only for Beerus' foot to press down like a mountain, immobilizing him completely.
"One more twitch, and this Saiyan planet disappears."
Beerus spoke irritably to the unruly monkey beneath his foot. The grudge he held against that bastard from ages past was long unsettled, so taking it out on his descendants would have to suffice. And when it came to his bloodline, Beerus felt no mercy. Wiping out their entire race? Just another day's work. After all, "Destruction" was his divine mandate—his very purpose. Not even the will of the cosmos could interfere.
Trembling, King Vegeta forced himself to stay still.
"Oh? You know who I am?" Beerus turned his slitted golden eyes toward Taro, studying him before suddenly grinning, his sharp fangs glinting ominously. "Brat... if you know my title, drop the act. This disrespectful posture of yours is making me itch to erase you."
"What does that mean?"
Saiyan hearing was sharp. Hidden in the darkness, Vegeta frowned in confusion. 'Why is Lord Beerus saying that to Burely?* Wait—did this purple rabbit (or rather, Lord Beerus the God of Destruction, as Burely called him) also realize that Burely was hiding his power? But how did Burely even know who he was?
"Heh..."
Since he'd been seen through, Taro dispelled his transformation magic. In an instant, his appearance, height, build—even his clothes—morphed back into his true form: Mu Taro, the Earth's legendary Martial God.
He wore a black cloth martial arts uniform, its sleeves folded back to reveal pristine white lining. His black cropped pants, thick-soled cloth shoes, and white socks had all been hand-sewn by his wife, Hathaway.
At a glance, Taro's face held the youth of a man in his twenties, yet carried the tempered aura of someone in his thirties. His long, silver-white hair cascaded down his back, save for a few stray locks framing his forehead and temples.
"I learned of you, Lord Beerus, from the Grand Kai... along with fragments of the Great Cosmic Cataclysm before and after," Taro said plainly.
"The Grand Kai?" Beerus mused for a second before snorting. "Ah, right. I forgot—this is the Seventh Universe. That brat..." Only he could dare call the Grand Kai a brat so casually. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Taro again. "But for him to share that with you... Hmph. You must be a martial artist he favors."
Mid-sentence, Beerus seemed to find his footrest bothersome. With a casual kick, he sent King Vegeta flying!
BURELY! CRASH!
The Saiyan king smashed through multiple stone pillars before finally coughing up blood in a heap of rubble. Watching from the shadows, Vegeta nearly roared in fury—but fear swiftly drowned his rage. 'This... this God of Destruction... He's monstrous.'
He risked another glance, his mind reeling. 'If even Father was reduced to this... how is Burely standing there, speaking to Lord Beerus so calmly?!'
"Brat. One more eavesdropped word, and you, your father, and this entire planet can vanish together."
Beerus' voice slithered into Vegeta's ears the moment he peeked again. The prince froze. Even King Vegeta, struggling to rise from the rubble, stiffened in horror. Blood trickled down his face as he spotted his son hiding near the entrance—'Damn it! Why is he here?!'
Taro didn't bother looking toward Vegeta. The boy's "stealth" had been obvious to him from the start. Amused, he remarked, "Lord Beerus... your bloodlust truly knows no bounds."
Then, Taro flipped his palm and unleashed a surge of ki towards the ground—
Whooom!
A torrent of energy erupted, swirling through the cavern like a dragon. Before King Vegeta in the rubble or Vegeta at the tunnel entrance could even react, the force swept them up effortlessly, hurling them out of the cave. Against Taro's power, neither father nor son had the slightest chance to resist. Without even a word, they were ejected from the scene.
Witnessing this, Beerus—still lounging on his throne—narrowed his eyes with interest.
With the two nuisances dealt with, Taro raised his hand and summoned a swirling mass of natural energy from the earth.
In an instant, he amplified it fiftyfold with the Muken technique, simultaneously murmuring an incantation under his breath. The condensed energy morphed into a pristine white jade-like chair, sculpted as if by divine craftsmanship.
His robes billowed as his aura surged, and without hesitation, Taro took his seat across the banquet table from Beerus, meeting the god's gaze unflinchingly.
Beerus straightened slightly, as if witnessing something profoundly intriguing. His slit-pupiled eyes locked onto Taro, and he muttered, "Immense spiritual power… godly manipulation of ki… and now, mastery over natural energy? To think a single mortal could embody three divine traits… How fascinating."
'Divine traits?'
"The Grand Kai once said something similar," Taro replied with a faint smile. "But back then, during my training on his planet, I had yet to grasp natural energy. It wasn't until I entered the ancient training chamber left behind by the former Supreme Kai that I unlocked its secrets."
"A… Supreme Kai's training chamber?" Beerus narrowed his eyes and scoffed. "Aside from that fool Kavishir, I can't imagine any other Supreme Kai wasting time on such trivialities."
"Lord Beerus," Taro probed lightly, "from the way you speak… were you acquainted with this Kavishir even before the birth of this universe?"
Beerus shot him a sidelong glance, oozing divine condescension. "And why should I entertain your curiosity? Ask me again when you've ascended to godhood yourself."