The memories faded, and the conference hall slowly returned to normal.
For several moments, none of the kings spoke.
Frieza remained seated with his usual smile, his tail slowly moving behind him. There was no embarrassment on his face and certainly no regret. His entire life had been exposed before four strangers, yet he seemed almost entertained by the experience.
Meruem had been unusually quiet throughout Frieza's memories. His expression had remained almost completely unchanged, but there had been a noticeable difference in his eyes when the story reached the destruction of Planet Vegeta.
He had once possessed a worldview remarkably similar to Frieza's.
When Meruem was born, he had believed that strength was the only meaningful measure of existence. The strong were naturally superior, while the weak existed to serve them. He had considered this to be nothing more than the natural order of life.
Frieza had lived according to almost exactly the same principle.
"You possess an understanding of strength that is difficult to deny," Meruem began.
His voice was calm and lacked any hostility.
"You were born with power far beyond almost every other member of your race. You used that power to build an empire, and you surrounded yourself with people who were incapable of challenging you. You understood very early that strength could be converted into authority."
His gaze became slightly more serious.
"But I believe you stopped learning."
"You conquered countless worlds, but you never questioned whether conquest itself had value. You destroyed civilizations because you considered them beneath you. You used entire races as tools because their strength was useful to you. Even the Saiyans were not truly people in your eyes. They were weapons."
Meruem's eyes briefly lowered.
"I once believed the same thing."
He remembered Komugi.
A human who possessed no physical strength whatsoever, yet whose existence had completely overturned everything he believed about superiority.
"Then I encountered something that could not be measured by strength."
Meruem looked at Frieza again.
"For you, your conquest is there just because you can. There is no meaning to your rulership and nothing that defines you as the cosmic emperor. Even if another frostborn sat at your throne tomorrow and did nothing, there would be no change in your empire."
"Your fear of the Saiyans and their annihilation also tells a different story."
His eyes narrowed.
"You had already conquered the Saiyans. You had already made them serve you. Yet the possibility that one of them might someday become stronger than you was enough for you to erase their entire civilization."
Meruem's expression remained calm.
"You possessed overwhelming strength, yet you were still controlled by the possibility of someone surpassing you."
"To me, you are a king that has no purpose. The only thing that is moving you forward is your own fear of a lower lifeform surpassing you, the Cosmic Emperor. How pitiful life you have, Freeza."
Frieza's smile did not disappear, but his eyes became slightly colder. His tail had long stopped waving around playfully. His gaze had become colder than ice as he stared at Meruem.
Madara had listened to Meruem without interruption.
Unlike the Ant King, however, his attention had not been focused on the people Frieza had conquered or destroyed.
He had been watching Frieza himself.
The rise of the empire had interested him. The way Frieza had taken control of the universe through overwhelming strength was something Madara understood instinctively. He had spent his own life fighting for power, building alliances, destroying enemies, and eventually attempting to impose his own solution upon the entire world.
"You possessed the ability to stand above almost every mortal being in your universe."
Madara's voice was deep and calm as he started speaking. Freeza instantly locked his eyes with the dancing king.
"You were born with overwhelming talent, inherited an empire, and then expanded it until entire civilizations existed beneath your command."
"You reached the summit of the mortal world and then you stopped."
Frieza's expression remained amused.
"That is what I find most disappointing."
Madara himself had spent his life seeking a power that would allow him to impose his vision upon the world.
What he could not understand was Frieza's willingness to accept that there was a ceiling above him.
"You encountered that god of destruction."
The name caused no visible reaction from Frieza.
"You learned that there existed a being far stronger than yourself. A being who possessed authority that you could not challenge."
Madara's expression became colder.
"And you accepted it. You did not seek a way to surpass him. You did not attempt to understand the source of his power. You did not even consider that the position he occupied could eventually belong to you."
Madara's eyes sharpened.
"You simply accepted that he stood above you."
For someone like Madara, that was difficult to understand.
He had spent his entire life refusing to accept limitations imposed upon him. When the strength of his enemies increased, he sought greater strength. When the world resisted his plans, he searched for a greater means of controlling it.
Even death had not been enough to end his ambition.
"Perhaps you believe that some heights simply cannot be reached."
"Power is not something that should be measured by the position you currently occupy. If there is someone above you, then there is simply another summit to climb."
He folded his arms.
"You became emperor of the mortal universe and then decided that being beneath a god was acceptable. As a frostborn, you reached the summit of you race before adulthood but the mere sight of the higher summit made you step back and enjoy being the king of frogs in a pond."
Madara shook his head slightly.
Doflamingo had been smiling throughout the entire memory.
Unlike the other kings, he had genuinely enjoyed watching Frieza's rise. There was something about it that Doflamingo understood very well.
Frieza had not spent his life pretending to be something he was not. He had been born powerful, recognized that power, and used it without hesitation. He had built a world where everyone understood their position and where the strongest individual sat at the top.
Doflamingo liked that.
He liked it far more than he would have admitted.
"Fuffuffuffu..."
Doflamingo finally laughed softly.
"I have to admit, Frieza. Your rise was rather enjoyable to watch." His grin was already widened to the max.
He leaned back comfortably.
"You built an empire, made people fear you, turned entire planets into commodities, and created a military organization that could spread your influence across the universe."
Doflamingo's eyes gleamed.
"You were a proper king."
Frieza's smile widened slightly.
"But..."
Doflamingo's voice changed. The amusement remained, but there was now a hint of disappointment behind it.
"You stopped. Such a wide world, so many races, so much potential, so much to conquer and so much to rise but you stayed in that pod of yours watching some prince dance on your palm."
"What a waste."
Aizen had remained silent for the longest.
He had watched the other kings give their judgments without interrupting them. His expression had barely changed throughout the entire discussion.