Blackwater Planet
On a grimy street sat a middle-aged man in tattered clothes, eyes hollow and unfocused, hair turned completely white.
Yet if you looked closely, that shredded outer robe still carried a faint air of elegance and nobility. It was just too ruined to matter anymore.
This man was Kibito, once the attendant of the Supreme Kai.
After losing his position, he also lost Instant Transmission. The only reason he'd even made it to Blackwater Planet was because Supreme Kai Shin had shown him a rare mercy.
Blackwater Planet lived up to its name. Its oceans were black as ink, and most of the world's inhabitants were aquatic. Land made up barely one percent of the planet.
That tiny sliver of land belonged to the highest-ranking aquatic race here, the Merfolk.
"Aquatic folk" was just a broad label. Their subspecies were countless. But the Merfolk stood above them all, because they could shift forms. In the water, their lower bodies became tails. On land, those tails turned into legs.
When Kibito first arrived, his divine power was abundant. He stood high above everyone, and with effortless arrogance he subjugated the Merfolk.
Then Shin reclaimed his abilities.
With his power taken away, Kibito's remaining divine energy could only be spent, never replenished. Unable to recover, he started getting scorned by the "mortals" he once looked down on. They cursed him, spat at him, attacked him.
Until the former "god" was reduced to begging on the roadside.
He had no choice. Without divine power, he was just flesh and blood again.
To survive, he needed food.
"Heh… worthless."
A voice suddenly sounded in front of him.
Kibito lifted his head.
Standing there was a figure wrapped in a black robe from head to toe, hood angled low enough that his face couldn't be seen.
Kibito stared for less than three seconds before lowering his head again, eyes dead as he looked at the ground.
"Looks like I came to the wrong place," the robed figure mocked. "You're not that noble god anymore. You're just a beggar."
That sentence detonated something inside him.
Kibito shot up, rage exploding in his eyes.
"I am a god! A god above all of you!"
"God?" The figure chuckled. "Right now, you couldn't even beat a Merfolk child on this planet."
The fury on Kibito's face crumbled into despair… then turned bitter.
"Yeah… what kind of god am I?" he whispered. "Just a dog that can be tossed aside whenever it's convenient."
As the last word left his mouth, venom flooded his gaze. The image of Shin abandoning him replayed in his mind like a knife twisting deeper.
"You can still hate. You can still resent," the robed man said, voice smooth. "That means you're not completely useless yet. Come with me. Don't you want revenge? Don't you want to kill those so-called gods?"
Kibito sneered, trying to sound unmoved, but a spark flickered in his chest.
A spark called revenge.
"I'm already crippled," he said coldly. "Do I still have value to you people? Demons… am I right?"
The robed man laughed softly. "So you know about us."
"Don't forget," Kibito said, lifting his chin. "I used to be a god. I didn't live through the Demon Clan's war against the universe, but the records on the Sacred World of the Kais mention you."
"Then answer me." The robed man's tone sharpened. "Are you coming? Or are you going to keep crawling through life like this because you're too afraid of the Supreme Kai to take revenge?"
A blatant provocation.
"Afraid?" Kibito's face twisted. "Of Shin, that waste of space? If he weren't born as a Core Person, what right would he have to sit in the Supreme Kai's seat?"
The robed man sounded amused. "So you hated him even back then."
"I did!" Kibito's fists clenched so hard his nails cut into his palms. Blood dripped, drop by drop. "If the Grand Supreme Kai and the others hadn't died in battle, why would the Sacred World of the Kais ever let that trash take control? They died too suddenly. Left no final words. And in Universe Seven, he was the only Core Person left."
His eyes widened, wild and hungry.
"I had a chance to become Supreme Kai."
"Then follow me into the Demon Realm," the robed man said. "You have a foundation. Once you're corrupted, your power will surge. What do you say?"
Kibito struggled for a heartbeat.
Then, in less than three seconds, his expression hardened into certainty.
"Fine. I'll go."
"Ha! Good." The robed man lifted a hand.
A circular purple aura wrapped around them and carried them into the sky.
Higher.
Higher still
Until they broke through the atmosphere.
"Wait." Kibito suddenly spoke.
"What is it?" the robed man asked.
"Give me power," Kibito said, voice sharp as glass. "I want to destroy this planet with my own hands. You're not afraid Shin will notice, are you?"
Cruelty gleamed in his eyes as memories flashed curses, insults, the way the Merfolk looked at him with disgust.
"Ha! The Supreme Kai?" The robed man laughed. "He's nothing."
He placed a palm against Kibito's back.
A violent, chaotic energy poured into Kibito's body.
Familiar. Addictive.
The feeling he'd lost came roaring back.
Kibito raised one hand.
A purple-black sphere of energy formed in his palm brimming with brutality, tyranny, and cold-blooded malice.
His lips curled.
"Merfolk King… Merfolk… die."
The sphere dropped like a comet, ripping through the atmosphere and smashing into the only landmass.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM !!
The savage power pierced straight through Blackwater Planet's core.
And in the next instant
The planet exploded.
Kibito stared at the blooming fire in space, like a brilliant, deadly fireworks display.
A strange satisfaction flooded his chest.
In that moment, he finally understood the twisted pleasure of destruction.
If only he knew Beerus had long since grown sick of fireworks like this.
"Hahahaha!" the robed man laughed. "Decisive. Ruthless. You really weren't suited to be a Supreme Kai. But as a demon no… as a Demon God you're perfect."
"Hmph. Let's go," Kibito said coldly.
"Good."
The robed man grabbed him and shot forward at faster-than-light speed.
In less than ten minutes, they arrived above a blue planet.
Kibito's pupils shrank.
"This is… Earth?"
"Oh?" the robed man sounded surprised. "You know it?"
"How could I not?" Kibito's voice dripped poison. "Those damned Saiyans. And Son Gohan he was born there. They're the fuse that lit everything. The fuse that cost me my godhood."
His hatred deepened, thick as sludge.
"Son Gohan…"
"Why are we here?" Kibito demanded.
"The entrance to the Demon Realm is on Earth," the robed man said. "This planet is far from ordinary. You'll understand once you step inside. Come."
He led Kibito down and at the same time, suppressed his aura, as if wary of someone.
The Lookout
Mr. Popo's expressionless face twitched.
Only for an instant.
Then it returned to its usual emptiness.
Earth Demon Realm Entrance
Kibito looked back one last time at Earth.
"Son Gohan… just you wait."
Then he turned away without hesitation and followed the robed man into the entrance.
Black shadows swallowed them whole.
As if warning that Kibito had stepped onto a road with no return.