Even for a short time, the 10x Kaioken placed too heavy a burden on the current Goku.
To begin with, Goku's maximum limit was around 3x at best—10x was completely unbearable.
Recklessly raising power damaged muscle fibers and made his body heavy as lead.
It exhausted nearly all his energy too—completely not worth it.
Still, Goku committed to using 10x because he felt that without it, this wouldn't even be a match.
As Turles said, the power gap between them was vast as heaven and earth.
Then he needed at least 10x to stand a chance.
Goku's judgment was correct—yet even so, reality remained out of reach.
"Ho, power level 150,000! Now that's surprising!"
Turles spoke gleefully while still handling Goku's attacks with a relaxed expression.
Goku wasn't playing around either.
Even weaving in feints at times, he unleashed attacks beyond his utmost limits.
But they didn't reach, didn't land.
Fists wrapped in crimson flame-like fighting spirit all swung futilely through empty air.
"Haaaaah!"
Goku roared, accelerating his punches further.
Their arms and legs exchanged at high speed, making hundreds of contacts per second, the sound of flesh and bone colliding echoing.
Figures vanishing—immediately after, air exploded.
Moving at such high speed their forms weren't visible, only the delayed echoes of striking sounds.
Footholds crumbled, rocks shattered, afterimages raced, air exploding again and again.
If an ordinary person watched this battle, they could probably only perceive air exploding repeatedly while cannon-like sounds continued resonating.
"But you're soft!"
Turles's elbow struck Goku's cheek, sending him flying.
Consciousness blowing away for an instant. Still, Goku barely held himself together, spinning midair.
Then desperate Kaioken again. Wrapped in crimson across his body, launching with jet-like acceleration.
Flying while leaving a red trail, changing direction midair!
Drawing an impossible trajectory almost like a right angle, closing in on Turles.
But Turles caught Goku's high-speed movement—virtually invisible—and slammed a counter kick into his medulla oblongata.
"Gah...!?"
The flames extinguished, Goku collapsed to the ground.
Even the 10x Kaioken performed with desperate resolve hadn't worked.
That fact, plus the Kaioken's backlash, robbed Goku of strength to stand.
No good—challenging with raw power wouldn't win this.
That man Turles's strength surpassed even the Great Ape Vegeta.
Even Lizette, this Earth's deity, might not be able to win...
While on the verge of losing heart, he still tried to stand—perhaps due to Saiyan instinct.
Beside such a Goku, Piccolo—who'd scattered the Crusher Corps—landed.
"Goku, the Spirit Bomb. That's the only way to defeat him. Use the Spirit Bomb you learned at King Kai's."
"P-Piccolo... no good, there's no time to gather energy with him in front of us."
"Then I'll buy you that time!"
Wrapped in crimson aura, Piccolo faced Turles.
Naturally, the power difference was obvious. In combat power, Piccolo barely reached 30,000 while Turles exceeded 800,000.
But that didn't matter.
"We couldn't match him so we left him alone and Earth got destroyed"—such an excuse wouldn't fly.
Not a question of whether he could or couldn't.
He had no choice but to do it.
"Power level 18,000... not bad, but you think that's enough to match me?"
Turles handled Piccolo's fierce assault with one hand, looking annoyed.
Watching that, Goku raised both hands to the sky.
Time until the Spirit Bomb completed: about 10 seconds.
But in high-speed perception combat where one second equaled ten, that was far too long.
Exchanging offense and defense within one second—even Krillin as a child could do that.
Doing it at this level and earning 10 seconds was a dizzyingly long time.
"Goku! Piccolo! Close your eyes!"
Tien's voice rang from above.
Though defeated in battle against the Crusher Corps, apparently he could still fight.
Glad for his comrade's survival while grasping his aim, Goku closed his eyes, Piccolo following suit.
Only Turles, unable to grasp the aim, kept his eyes open.
"Solar Flare!"
Blinding light that burned vision illuminated the area.
Turles, knowing nothing of Solar Flare, looked directly at the light and staggered while covering his eyes.
Eyeballs were fragile even for Saiyans.
Bathed in sun-like light, anyone would reflexively try protecting their eyes.
This was a defensive action that could be called biological instinct—meaning essentially impossible to prevent.
"Destructo Disc!"
There, Krillin—who'd recovered like Tien—launched a cutting attack.
Though combat power differed greatly, landing it well could cut even Turles.
But despite not being able to see, Turles perceived something flying by sound, then instantly grasped even its detailed shape by listening to air currents.
"Interesting technique."
Then he pinched the flying Destructo Disc with his fingertips and tossed it away.
This shocked even the attacker Krillin, freezing his movement.
Turles used that opening to fire an energy blast toward roughly where he heard sound—eyes still closed.
Krillin was blown away helplessly.
Swapping places with him, Yamcha dove in, challenging Turles with Wolf Fang Fist.
But even with vision blocked, Yamcha's strikes were all defended against, and conversely Turles's fist struck Yamcha. Just that alone made Yamcha collapse like a puppet with cut strings.
But Piccolo—who'd finished charging energy in the brief time he bought—pointed his fingertips.
"Special Beam Cannon!"
Piccolo fired the Special Beam Cannon.
An instant combat power increase of more than 3x—in his current Kaioken state, a focused single strike rivaling 50,000 combat power.
Perhaps feeling slight wariness, as Turles's pupils recovered from Solar Flare's effects, he raised his palm.
Light exploded, a single gleam specialized for penetration striking Turles's hand.
—Result: unharmed.
Turles endured the Special Beam Cannon without breaking his smile.
"...It stung a bit."
"Wh-What...!"
To the shocked Piccolo, he fired an energy blast while still holding his palm forward.
At this moment, if Piccolo hadn't been using Kaioken, he'd definitely have died.
But fortunately, using Kaioken and having his combat power spike momentarily—if briefly—from Special Beam Cannon saved him.
Though his entire body was burned by the energy blast, Piccolo barely held onto life.
"Chii!"
Finally, Tien made a desperate suicide charge.
But such a thing couldn't work on Turles.
A single careless backhand like swatting an insect made Tien's consciousness black out, rolling across the ground like a broken doll.
This interval: merely 10 seconds. In just 10 seconds, Earth's warriors were defeated before a single Saiyan.
But that time wasn't wasted.
In the time they bought, Goku completed the Spirit Bomb.
"...! Well, color me surprised... You still had strength left to make something like that. And that stance... probably coincidence, but it's identical."
"...?"
Holding the Spirit Bomb in his right hand, poised to throw it—in Goku's figure, Turles saw Bardock from days past.
Yes, by chance, Goku's current stance resembled his.
"I think... it went like this!"
Saying so, Turles assumed a mirror-image stance to Goku.
Concentrating energy in his raised right hand, raising a single point's power.
Though differing in his own energy versus energy gathered from surroundings, they were techniques with remarkably similar stances.
"...! Wh-What incredible energy...!"
"Now then, a clash of ultimate techniques. Wonder who'll win?"
Just the stirring of their energy before firing made surrounding rubble float.
The earth shook, the entire planet cowering before this collision.
In Goku's right hand, the Spirit Bomb gathered from Earth, even absorbing energy from the Tree of Might.
In Turles's right hand, his own energy gathered to maximum—a Saiyan soul's single strike.
"Spirit Bomb!"
"Final Spirit Cannon—This ends it!"
Their maximum techniques collided at center, deadlocked.
Purple lightning sparked, air exploded.
Just the aftershock made Goku collapse, Turles also desperately enduring wind pressure.
Two light spheres pushed against each other repeatedly, canceling out, baring fangs to devour one another.
A collision lasting several seconds—eventually, the Spirit Bomb won.
"Tch, damn!"
Turles crossed his arms to defend against the mass of energy closing in.
Flames engulfed him, shaking Earth with greater vibrations than ever before.
"D-Did we... get him...?"
Goku remained collapsed on the ground, wishing for victory.
He couldn't stand anymore, couldn't move.
He'd poured even every last bit of remaining energy into that Spirit Bomb.
More than that, he'd even borrowed energy from his fallen comrades.
Meaning truly the maximum final blow—if that didn't work, there was nothing left.
And Turles emerged from the smoke completely intact.
"...!!"
"...Ku, haha... Not bad, Kakarot... I'm happy. You really did get strong like I thought."
Turles was alive.
Entire body injured, combat uniform shattered, bloodied—yet still standing on the ground in health.
Victory and defeat decided here.
Goku unable to move, and Turles—covered in wounds yet mobile.
Seeing this structure, none could misunderstand the outcome.
Goku clenched his fist in frustration, while Turles—not mocking him—smiled from genuine joy.
"Kakarot, come with me after all. I'm certain now... You're the one who'll kill that bastard Frieza. Only you. You'll avenge the Saiyans, Kakarot."
"Fri... eza?"
"The guy behind us Saiyans and Vegeta. He's the ringleader who ordered us to destroy countless planets—the root of all evil. ...Well, I'm not saying we Saiyans weren't bad. But even I can't match that bastard's villainy. Compared to him, me and Prince Vegeta are like small-time crooks."
Frieza.
Hearing that name for the first time, Goku trembled.
Perhaps trembling from fear, or perhaps warrior's excitement from Saiyan instinct seeking strong opponents.
"Not someone else's problem for this Earth either. He's heading to Planet Namek now... Vegeta too. Understand what this means?"
"Namek...? D-Don't tell me!?"
"Good, your head works fast. That's right, Kakarot. They'll massacre all Namekians to obtain Dragon Balls and gain eternal life. And if either becomes immortal? If it's Vegeta, naturally he'll come crush this Earth first. Next time he comes, he'll be immortal. You've got no chance of winning."
At Turles's words, Goku's face hardened.
Indeed, that was unbeatable.
An immortal Great Ape Vegeta—just imagining it induced despair.
"And if Frieza becomes immortal... it's the end of the world. The universe will be dominated by his terror for eternity henceforth. And the first thing destroyed will be this Earth. Can't have the planet with Dragon Balls sitting there potentially nullifying that hard-won immortality. If I were Frieza, I'd definitely do that."
"...!"
"Understand, Kakarot? This universe has no more time. Someone must kill Frieza now. Before he becomes immortal!"
Turles extended his hand toward the fallen Goku.
Meaning "grab it," perhaps.
Come with me. Let's defeat Frieza together.
Before that invitation, Goku couldn't move.
"Come with me, Kakarot. Then I'll give up on Earth. You've got something beyond combat power. Come with me and you'll definitely become the man who kills Frieza! And then..."
Speaking to there, Turles twisted his face wickedly in a grin.
"After killing Frieza, let's take the universe together. We'll build a Saiyan supremacy with our own hands."
"—If not for that last line, it wouldn't have been a bad offer."
"Wh-!?"
Behind Turles inviting Goku, a light sphere descended.
Looking closely, it was this planet's deity wrapped in dazzling brilliance—Lizette's form.
Having absorbed too much energy from the Tree of Might, Lizette currently stored vast amounts of energy.
The surplus overflowed outward, transforming her into this ball of light.
And simultaneously with her appearance, Turles's Scouter exploded.
"This planet's deity! Interfering at such a moment!"
"The Tree of Might you planted has already been dealt with. And now, most of the energy stored in the Tree of Might is held by me. You understand what this means, don't you?"
"—!"
Turles's expression changed at Lizette's words.
She said this deity had stolen most of the life force the Tree of Might gathered.
If true, she was essentially in a state equivalent to having eaten all the Tree of Might's fruit.
Then her combat power?
Turles had watched the battle defeating Vegeta. At that point, this woman had displayed 240,000 combat power.
If she added all this planet's energy to that?
...One million? Ten million? One hundred million? Perhaps even more!
An existence Turles absolutely couldn't match.
"You've lost. Leave this planet quietly."
"...Damn it!"
An eviction notice from Earth's deity.
The option to defy it wasn't given to Turles.
***
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