"AAAAAAAHHHH!!"
Black Vegito's heart-wrenching screams echoed through the forest, the agonizing cries enough to make anyone's skin crawl. But the more Black Vegito screamed, the more excited Vegeta became.
Black Vegito's once-powerful legs had completely given out, leaving him kneeling helplessly on the ground. His entire body shook uncontrollably, his face filled with terror and despair. Standing before him, Vegeta looked down like a judge deciding his fate.
"I swear... every bit of pain you inflicted on Bulla and Goten..."
He slowly opened his mouth, speaking in an icy voice as every word was squeezed through clenched teeth, overflowing with hatred.
"...I'll repay you tenfold. And this is only the beginning."
As soon as those words fell, Vegeta unleashed the immense power of Destruction within him. A world-shattering force surged into the energy sword in his hand, and the blade immediately burst into a dazzling light, radiating a terrifying aura as though it had come alive.
The next instant, Vegeta thrust the glowing sword straight at Black Vegito. The tip pierced into Black Vegito's hands, and the destructive energy instantly invaded his arms.
Tiny cracks began appearing across his hands, spreading rapidly like a spider's web until both arms were covered.
At the same time, his hands gradually became transparent. The bones and blood vessels inside could faintly be seen, as if his arms were on the verge of disappearing altogether.
"Y-You bastard!! Are... are you really going to break the rules?! Aren't you afraid of being punished by Lord Zen'ō?!" Black Vegito's eyes bulged, and his face flushed crimson, veins popping across his forehead as he roared at the top of his lungs.
His twisted expression was completely consumed by pain, every wrinkle on his face revealing the terror and despair he was desperately trying to suppress.
"Y-You... bastard... AAAAAAHHHH!!"
Another unbearable wave of agony swept through him. Unable to endure it any longer, Black Vegito let out another bloodcurdling scream, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly cracked before forcing the words out.
Vegeta simply looked at him coldly, the corner of his mouth curling into a mocking smile. "You tell me. What do you think?"
Black Vegito trembled from the pain, cursing endlessly inside. 'This Vegeta is completely insane. He's actually willing to ignore the rules just to kill me! A damn lunatic! Is he really going to kill me?!'
The thought alone sent a chill down Black Vegito's spine. He looked up at Vegeta, but there wasn't the slightest trace of mercy on the Saiyan's face. Those eyes were as cold as ice, making Black Vegito shiver instinctively.
"You'd better have an undying body like the other Zamasus," Vegeta spoke again.
Those words stabbed straight into Black Vegito's heart. For a split second, doubt flashed across his eyes. It disappeared almost immediately, and if Vegeta hadn't been watching him so closely, he never would have noticed it.
A cold smile spread across Vegeta's face.
"Oh? So you don't have an undying body."
He shook his head with a disappointed sigh.
"Heh. That's a real shame. But you should be glad you don't. Otherwise, I'd keep torturing you until the tournament was over."
With that, Vegeta folded his arms across his chest and continued staring at Black Vegito with an even colder gaze.
At that moment, Black Vegito lowered his head, looking as though he had given up resisting. Yet Vegeta could still feel the strength pushing back against his own; it hadn't weakened at all.
"...Filthy mortal..."
Bloodshot eyes fixed on Vegeta with overwhelming hatred.
"...How dare you treat me like this..."
Hearing him call him a "filthy mortal," Vegeta finally felt it. 'Now' this guy sounded like the Zamasu he remembered.
---
Meanwhile, in Universe 10's Observation Room...
Zamasu stood silently with his eyes closed. But when he slowly opened them, an indescribable wave of fear and shock washed over him.
His body suddenly lurched backward as though struck by an invisible force, and he stumbled several steps in retreat, nearly collapsing onto the floor.
Fortunately, Gowasu caught him from behind before he could fall. Zamasu opened his mouth and gasped for air, breathing heavily as though he had just survived a life-and-death battle.
"Damn it!"
Zamasu growled through clenched teeth, his voice filled with anger and disbelief.
"That guy... he's no longer under my control! How is that possible? I planned everything so carefully..."
His voice gradually trailed off, and his expression became darker than ever.
---
Suddenly, something astonishing happened. It was as if a long-dormant volcano had erupted inside Black Vegito, and an unprecedented surge of power exploded from his body. Like a raging tidal wave, the energy swept outward in every direction.
At the same time, the faint pink aura surrounding him suddenly blazed brighter and brighter, as though it could set the entire world ablaze.
His hands, which had nearly faded away moments ago, miraculously regenerated. Not only were they fully restored, but they also shone with dazzling light.
Black Vegito's eyes trembled violently, overflowing with fury and unwillingness. That rage spread like wildfire, pushing his power to an even greater height. His pink hair whipped wildly in the storm of energy around him, and it even seemed to be growing longer.
Vegeta noticed the change immediately.
"His power... it's still rising?" He snorted. "If I'm not mistaken, he's at the critical point of a breakthrough."
Without another moment's hesitation, Vegeta made his move. He brought both hands together and thrust them forward, instantly forming an extremely condensed sphere of energy between his palms.
The orb glowed with a blinding purple light, packed with enough energy to make anyone shudder.
Watching from the sidelines, Bulla's eyes widened. She stared fixedly at the terrifying purple energy sphere, her heart rising into her throat. But what happened next was beyond anything she could have imagined.
Instead of firing the attack at the immensely powerful Black Vegito... Vegeta slammed it straight into himself.
'BOOM!'
A deafening explosion shook the battlefield. Then, one after another, countless terrifying energy spheres flew from Vegeta's hands, not toward his enemy, but toward himself.
Bulla stood frozen in disbelief, her mouth hanging wide open as she watched the energy blasts repeatedly crash into her father, unable to understand what she was seeing. As the seconds passed, she couldn't take her eyes off Vegeta. Then, all at once, a thought struck her.
"Dark Man just unleashed countless sword slashes at Dad... but they didn't hurt him at all..." she murmured to herself.
A bold idea formed in her mind. "Could it be... Dad successfully turned Dark Man's power into his own?"
The thought hit her like a bolt of lightning, shattering everything she thought she knew about fighting and power. But she was completely wrong. Vegeta wasn't absorbing Black Vegito's power at all; he was attacking himself.
As the damage to his own body continued to increase, his power kept rising. He was using this extreme method to grow stronger, drawing endless strength from pain and hardship, becoming fiercer with every blow. This was the defining trait of the Ultra Ego.
'Shing!'
Vegeta gripped his glowing energy sword and thrust it toward Black Vegito without hesitation.
At the same time, Black Vegito had already pushed his own power to its absolute limit, standing on the very verge of breaking through. He was only moments away from reaching Super Saiyan Rosé 3.
But at the critical instant, thanks to his incredible speed and reflexes, Vegeta struck before Black Vegito could complete the transformation.
'Shing!'
The purple energy sword flashed like lightning through the air, piercing straight through Black Vegito's chest.
Blood burst from Black Vegito's mouth. His body staggered a few steps before crashing heavily onto the ground, completely unable to move.
The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence...
(End Of This Chapter)
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