The roar of colliding suns masked the smaller sound—the scrape of steel leaving its sheath. The Oozaru's bellow shook the desert, but another voice slipped through the storm, sharp and mocking.
"Man, you monkeys need better barbers."
Vegeta's good eye snapped wide. His tail twitched instinctively, but instinct was not fast enough.
From the shadow of the crater's rim, Yajirobe lunged. His sword, chipped and ugly but honest, glinted in the impossible light. His face was twisted into the kind of grin men wear when they know they shouldn't be here but are anyway.
The blade cut an arc through the silver glow.
The System screamed inside Vegeta's skull.
[Catastrophic Threat Detected]Target: Tail (Saiyan Weakpoint)Probability of Severance: 89%Outcome if successful: Oozaru collapse → PL reduction ×10 → System Reboot requiredCountermeasures: None (reaction window <0.2 seconds)
Ethan's soldier-mind shouted what pride never would: Too late.
The sword bit.
Vegeta roared, the sound tearing the night in half. The clash of beams shattered as his grip faltered. His aura spasmed, the sphere above him destabilized, and the red-white battlefield became a storm of sparks and debris.
The tail—his anchor to the false moon, the throne of his supremacy—split clean. The stump smoked, nerves screaming with a pain that rattled both bodies inside him. The severed length of fur and muscle tumbled to the ground with the weight of a fallen flag.
For an instant, the giant form swayed, enormous shadow unraveling under the moonlight. Then it shrank.
The Oozaru dissolved. Fur receded. Bones cracked, compressed, twisted back into human shape. The roar became a scream, then a snarl, then a grunt.
Vegeta landed hard on his knees at the crater's center—small again, bleeding, armor cracked. His chest heaved, his fists dug into the ground. His good eye burned, his ruined one wept, but his grin survived.
The System flickered wildly, stabilizing around him.
[Form Collapse: Oozaru → Base]Power Level: 180,000 → 18,500 (post-severance)Zenkai Potential: Exponential (pending recovery window)Super Saiyan Progress: 49%Directive: Survive. Reclaim initiative. Punish insect.
Vegeta spat blood and laughed through clenched teeth. "Coward's trick," he rasped. His voice was smaller than thunder now, but sharper for it. "But clever."
On the ridge, Krillin's jaw dropped. He stared at Yajirobe, who was panting, sword still raised, eyes wild with disbelief.
"Y-You did it," Krillin stammered. "Holy crap, you actually—"
Yajirobe staggered back, pale. "I—I didn't sign up for this much cardio." His grin was nervous, but pride leaked through anyway.
Gohan's eyes lit with fierce hope. "He's back to normal! Dad can—Dad can win now!"
Goku collapsed to one knee, chest heaving, blue-white aura flickering and fading. His arms dropped, wrists trembling, the Kamehameha sputtering into nothing. Kaio-ken fire hissed, then snuffed, leaving smoke and a man who had been willing to burn alive and somehow wasn't dead yet.
He looked up through blurred vision and saw Vegeta small again, human-shaped, vulnerable. Relief and dread tangled in his chest. It's not over. Not even close.
Vegeta rose, slow and deliberate. His body trembled from the crash, but his eyes—those eyes—still burned with arrogant fire. He turned his head toward Yajirobe, who was trying very hard to look like a man who belonged anywhere else.
"You," Vegeta growled, voice low and dangerous. "You'll be the first."
The System pulsed, its voice colder than the desert night:
[Priority Targets]1. Insect with blade — termination advised2. Krillin (Destructo Disc threat)3. Son Gohan (Emotional Catalyst — risk/reward)4. Kakarot (weakened, brink-state — ultimate Rivalry Node)
Vegeta's fists clenched. Blood dripped into the sand. His smirk was ugly and alive.
"This isn't finished," he hissed, and with a sudden burst of speed, he launched forward—no longer a god towering above the battlefield, but a warrior prince with murder in his veins.