"Mr. Ken, are you alright?" Merus asked, dodging swiftly, his tone carrying a hint of concern.
"I'm fine." Ken stopped his attack.
Merus: "…"
You scared me for a second there—I thought you'd lost control too.
"What just happened?" Merus asked curiously.
"Nothing major. Out of nowhere, I suddenly got bound to this robot," Ken replied honestly.
Merus was left speechless.
"You know what, though? Inside this robot, my strength has increased at least fiftyfold," Ken remarked with some awe.
"Fiftyfold? That's incredible," Merus acknowledged.
"The incredible one is you. Even with my power boosted fifty times, I couldn't land a single hit on you," Ken chuckled from within the robot.
The robot's mouth emitted a series of mechanical, distorted laughs along with his words.
"This machine isn't bad. But it looks like it has a few issues—I'll try repairing it later with Angelic Power," Ken murmured thoughtfully. Then his gaze shifted into the distance. "What about Broly? Hasn't that fight been decided yet?"
"That man is no simple opponent," Merus said quietly, eyes scanning far away.
"Yeah. He can really take a beating," Ken nodded.
At that moment, Broly slammed Muse's head into a distant asteroid.
Muse let out cries of agony.
Riiip!
Broly pressed Muse's head down and bulldozed him across the asteroid's surface, carving a deep, long trench through the rock.
Before long, Broly had dragged Muse's head all the way around the asteroid, leaving a perfect circle etched into its crust.
"They overlapped?" Broly muttered, letting go of Muse and rubbing his chin as he pondered this "profound" discovery.
Muse staggered unsteadily to his feet, clutching his aching head.
"Who did that?" Broly pointed to the overlapping trench, then casually smacked Muse across the face.
Stars exploded in Muse's vision—he felt like his whole body was falling apart.
"Answer me!" Broly slapped his cheek again.
"Aaaargh!"
Muse roared in fury and lunged, stabbing the sharp horn on his head straight toward Broly's chest.
Broly might look simple-minded at times, but in combat he wasn't the least bit stupid.
He caught the horn in one hand mid-thrust, gripping it tightly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Broly yanked on the horn and smashed Muse's body back and forth, slamming him into the ground from every angle.
A minute later—
Muse lay sprawled flat on the ground, completely limp, unable even to stand.
"Talk! Who made that trench?" Broly crouched beside him, pointing at the overlapping marks.
"You… you did!" Muse croaked weakly.
He knew all too well—if he didn't answer, the beating would only continue.
"You're lying!" Broly snorted coldly.
"I… I'm not lying. You dragged me around the asteroid… so it overlapped," Muse whimpered, on the verge of tears.
"Your horn's pretty sturdy," Broly muttered, poking at it with his finger.
Muse: "…"
Why do you change the subject so fast?!
"What's it made of?" Broly asked again.
Muse fell silent.
Just kill me already…
"Answer!" Broly slapped him again.
"It grew on its own!" Muse shouted, gritting his teeth in frustration.
Careless. I underestimated him.
I never thought this little monkey could be this strong.
If only I'd taken Luke's body instead…
Then he wouldn't have stood a chance against me.
I need to find a way back to Luke and merge with him as soon as possible.
Smack!
Just then, Ken descended from the sky in the robot, with Merus by his side, landing right next to Broly.
The moment Muse saw the robot, his eyes lit up with wild joy.
Luke has come.
Perfect!
It's as if the heavens themselves are helping me.
Once I enter Luke's body, I'll gain over fifty times my strength.
I'll tear that long-tailed brat into pieces.
You beat me so badly just now… now it's my turn.
Broly glanced at the robot and Merus, saying nothing, though his eyes darted around, clearly searching for Ken.
Ken chose not to speak yet.
"Hahaha!" Muse suddenly burst into laughter.
He quickly pulled out a silver metallic sphere, gleaming like glass.
"You just wait—I'll make you wish you were dead!"
With that, Muse hurled the orb to the ground.
Broly frowned, scratching his head in confusion. What the hell was that thing?
"That's… a flash bomb!" Merus immediately recognized it.
"A flash… bomb?" Broly tilted his head, puzzled.
Boom!
Before he could finish, the silver sphere erupted with an incredibly blinding white light.
Broly was caught off guard and instantly struck by the blast. His pupils went blank white, and his entire vision dissolved into a sea of blinding whiteness.
He clutched his eyes, waiting for them to recover.
Merus, of course, as a trainee Angel, wasn't affected in the slightest.
As for Ken, inside the robot it only looked like the screen flickered for a moment—nothing more.
Not bad at all.
This robot can block out a lot of external damage.
"Wahaha! Serves you right! You can't see anything now, can you? But I can see perfectly!" Muse cackled as he flew straight toward the robot.
"Luke, open the hatch!" Muse commanded.
Clang!
Instead of opening, he slammed his head straight into the robot's armored chest. The impact left him dizzy, little stars circling his vision.
Plop!
Sliding down the robot's side, Muse stared up in utter confusion.
What's going on?!
Why won't it open?
Luke has always obeyed me—normally one command and he'd open right up.
Is this a serious malfunction?
Damn it, I never should have activated his smart system.
That must be why there are so many problems now.
"Luke, hurry up and open! Let me in!" Muse shouted again.
Click!
Just then, the hatch on the robot's abdomen swung open.
Muse's eyes gleamed with excitement, and he shot toward the opening.
But right as he reached the doorway, a giant foot came flying straight at his face.
Bam!
Ken kicked him squarely, sending Muse crashing back to the ground.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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