Far away in Satan City, Videl and Mr. Satan burst from their home, racing into the wide courtyard to stare toward the distant horizon. Both were drenched in cold sweat despite the afternoon heat.
"This ki... it's impossibly strong!" Mr. Satan's voice trembled with a fear he couldn't hide.
"Gohan is fighting something like that..." Videl clutched her shirt with white-knuckled intensity, palms slick with perspiration. The sheer magnitude of that malevolent energy made her heart race with primal dread.
Through extensive training, even Mr. Satan had learned to perceive ki signatures. Yet he couldn't begin to imagine what power level Frieza represented—his frame of reference simply didn't extend to such cosmic-scale threats. Still, his instincts screamed one undeniable truth: this was a monster far beyond anything humanity could comprehend.
All he could do was pray for the warriors standing against that darkness.
"Gohan... please be safe..." Teardrops trembled at the corners of Videl's eyes, threatening to spill over.
Back on the battlefield—a world transformed into howling wasteland, a dust-choked wilderness of apocalyptic fury.
Frieza's aura radiated with unprecedented intensity. He hovered in the air, standing proudly independent amid the choking smog. That concentrated bombardment had struck him solidly—every technique powerful enough to shatter worlds—yet none had moved him even a fraction of an inch! A layer of gleaming golden energy encased his body like divine armor, immersing him in incomparable power that transcended mortal understanding.
Countless space soldiers had been vaporized in the aftermath of those mass-destruction techniques—Kamehameha waves, Tri-Beam blasts, and other devastating attacks reduced Frieza's army to ash. Others had simply exploded under the crushing pressure radiating from their emperor's transformation.
The sky resembled a sea of blood, painted in scarlet hues mixed with dark golden luster. Smoke and dust filled the air like funeral shrouds.
Gohan understood with sinking certainty—they had failed. Frieza had achieved his strongest form, a transformation none of them had ever witnessed before. This golden state represented power on an entirely different plane of existence.
"Damn it! This monster!"
"Is... is that really still Frieza?!"
Every warrior's expression shifted from determination to despair. When faced with such absolute, overwhelming power, even the mightiest could only bow their heads in submission.
Frieza gazed down at the assembled defenders with cold indifference. His fingertip suddenly ignited, shining like a newborn star with brilliant, terrible radiance.
"Since those cowards refuse to emerge from hiding, then you'll all die in their place!"
He had no intention of showing mercy or wasting any more time. The decision crystallized instantly—destroy the entire planet. He savored the terror reflected in their eyes, deriving sick pleasure from their helplessness.
Can't let him succeed!
The thought flashed through Gohan's mind like lightning. He surged forward immediately, transformed into a sharp arrow dragging brilliant luminescence. His Mystic power activated to its absolute limit as his figure flexibly closed the distance. His leg swept out like an iron pillar, the force behind it unstoppable.
CRACK!
Gohan's shin connected with Frieza's cheek—a solid, direct hit.
Everyone watching stood dumbfounded, jaws hanging open in disbelief, trembling uncontrollably. They'd seen Gohan land the strike perfectly, but that was only because Frieza hadn't bothered to dodge. The seemingly devastating attack failed to harm the tyrant even slightly—he'd simply endured it without flinching!
With Gohan's powerful calf still pressed against his face, Frieza's expression twisted into a sinister smile. "Hmph. Is this your strength? How deeply disappointing. We met when you were just a child, you know. This is exactly like back then."
He recalled their confrontation on Namek—young Gohan resisting him with identical determination, ultimately defeated despite his courage. Time had passed, circumstances had changed, yet the ending remained identical.
Frieza was still supreme. Still capable of crushing Son Gohan beneath his heel.
"Begone!" Frieza flicked his finger dismissively. The scorching energy sphere flew toward Gohan at point-blank range—too close to evade, too fast to counter. It struck him squarely in the chest, holding him in agonizing stasis.
The searing energy burned through Gohan's shirt, scorching his entire torso an angry red. Even his Mystic state struggled to resist this terrifying concentrated power!
"GOHAN!" Piccolo rushed to intervene, firing his Special Beam Cannon. The spiraling blast intercepted Frieza's energy sphere, redirecting it harmlessly into space and defusing the immediate crisis.
Even so, Gohan's chest bore blackened scorch marks. His hands trembled uncontrollably from the residual pain.
Before anyone could regroup, Frieza blurred toward Piccolo with such velocity that the Namekian couldn't even begin to react. This wasn't about weighted clothing hampering movement—Frieza's speed had simply transcended to another level entirely.
A crimson mist exploded in the air. Piccolo plummeted earthward from the devastating impact, his body carving a long, wide trench across the landscape.
"Interfering Namekian filth!" Frieza sneered contemptuously. "Die!" He raised one arm, a single finger beginning to glow with lethal intent—the precursor to his Death Beam technique.
Unified shouts erupted from multiple directions simultaneously. Nappa, Super 17, the fusion warrior Gotenks, Android 18—every fighter with sufficient power to engage launched themselves forward in desperate coordination.
Frieza's cold gaze swept across them dismissively. A disdainful smile played across his lips as he canceled the Death Beam, choosing instead to meet their assault directly.
CRACK!
Nappa's arm was severed cleanly by Frieza's edge-hand strike. White bone flashed before blood sprayed in arterial fountains.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!
Zukara, Pepara and Zangya were hammered to the ground in rapid succession, each feeling as though their bodies had been pierced completely through by invisible spears. Android 18 maintained continuous fire with her infinite energy advantage, but Frieza ignored her attacks entirely—the power output was simply too negligible to register as a threat.
Only Super 17 managed to exchange actual blows with the golden tyrant. Massive energies collided in brilliant detonations, shaking the atmosphere itself. Yet ultimately, even the enhanced android fell short—sent careening across the battlefield to excavate a hundred-meter trench through solid rock.
"Pathetic." Frieza's cold assessment carried absolute conviction. In his estimation, he had achieved true invincibility!
But two warriors remained—Gotenks and Broly.
"HAAAA!!!" The fusion warrior and the legendary Super Saiyan charged with everything they possessed. One small, one massive—both radiating majestic auras that seemed to penetrate heaven and earth. Space itself trembled from their combined pressure. The ground beneath collapsed under gravitational distortion.
BOOM!
Attacking from opposite flanks, Frieza caught both strikes simultaneously with his hands. This time, under Broly's berserk impact, he actually slid backward half a step. The ground beneath his feet instantly transformed to scorched, glassed earth from the friction.
Behind Frieza, Gohan seized the opening. He and Piccolo launched synchronized shockwaves—twin silver streaks that split the sky like enormous blades attempting to cleave the world in half.
But Frieza had detected the ambush long ago. His eyes narrowed with irritation. With an enraged shout, his aura exploded outward in all directions—the shockwave repelling both Broly and Gotenks while simultaneously deflecting Piccolo and Gohan's combined assault into harmless dispersal.
Golden Frieza radiated pure killing intent. Behind him, the sky darkened as thunder cracked the heavens. Every soldier still standing, along with Earth's battered defenders, witnessed a vision of their own bloody demise reflected in his merciless eyes.
"Together you barely approach my level! HAHAHAHA! Too weak!" Frieza raised his arm once more, Death energy gathering at his fingertip with surgical precision. "To commemorate your resistance, I've decided to kill you one by one. Let me consider... who should die first?"
His gaze wandered among the survivors. Those with sufficient strength to still stand stepped forward defiantly, only to be systematically shot down like target practice. Warriors like Nappa could only clutch their wounds and gasp for breath, utterly powerless to continue.
"Ah... that's Raditz's wife, isn't it?" Frieza's eyes locked onto Zangya with predatory focus, his expression twisting into a grotesque grin. "I have your information right here. You'll be first. When your coward husband finally appears, he can blame himself for abandoning you!" His killing intent crystallized into action—the Death Beam lancing forward with pinpoint accuracy.
The straight beam of concentrated death energy streaked toward Zangya's prone form. She lay on the ground, too injured and exhausted to dodge.
Rukon's voice cracked with desperate terror: "MOM!!!"
PING!
At the last possible microsecond, the Death Beam deflected skyward, tracing a zigzag pattern as it dispersed harmlessly into the atmosphere.
The screaming stopped abruptly. Infinite relief bloomed across pale, terrified faces.
Raditz! Raditz had arrived!
Frieza froze momentarily, then his teeth ground together as he forced out a mocking sneer. "How punctual of you, Raditz!" Without hesitation, he released another Death Ball—violent energy that split the earth as it rushed forward with apocalyptic force.
"Protecting one's wife is a husband's most fundamental responsibility." Raditz's smile carried calm confidence. He raised his palm with casual grace, effortlessly catching Frieza's Death Ball between his fingers. With a simple squeeze—CRUSH—he pulverized the attack into fine powder that scattered on the wind.
Every witness stood dumbfounded. Golden Frieza's overwhelming, terrifying strength appeared as nothing before Raditz's presence.
"RADITZ!!!" Frieza's roar carried layers of fury and disbelief—the sound of a predator realizing it had cornered something far more dangerous than anticipated.
"Don't worry yourself, Frieza." Raditz's faint smile never wavered. "Your opponent today isn't me. The protagonist of this battle appears last in the story." He pointed behind the golden tyrant with deliberate theatricality. "Goku—he's all yours."
Frieza whirled around in shock, finding himself face-to-face with blue-haired Goku standing just meters away. Divine azure energy radiated from every pore, the sacred brilliance of Super Saiyan Blue blazing like a beacon of hope against the darkened sky