Chapter 10 – Sovereign Manifestation
The sky above the mountains split with unseen pressure.
Not with storm or flame.
With expectation.
Beerus had returned.
Not amused. Not playful. Not testing.
This time, the God of Destruction radiated a presence that screamed inevitability—the predator who had decided a serious hunt was required.
"I've underestimated you… enough," Beerus said, voice calm but deadly.
"Now I want to see what a Saiyan fused with sovereignty truly is."
Zhou Fan stood perfectly still.
The black-gold aura of the first stage flared faintly around him, like a ribbon of night and light combined.
"Your evaluation is noted," he said.
"But do not mistake observation for permission."
The air itself recoiled. Wind twisted. Rocks shifted. Even the sea hesitated before flowing.
Vegeta's Crucible
Vegeta knelt silently behind Zhou Fan.
Months of refinement had brought him here. Not by imitation, but by endurance and analysis.
He had learned to bend his body to the law of internal ki circulation.
Every nerve, every tendon, every heartbeat had become a lattice of controlled energy.
But he was not an emperor.
He could feel Zhou Fan's aura like a wall of inevitability pressing down—not crushing, not hurting, just reminding.
"I am strong," Vegeta thought,
"but I am still beneath him."
Vegeta exhaled slowly. He would endure. He would study. One day, he would rise… but today was a trial.
"He doesn't fight like a Saiyan," Vegeta muttered quietly.
"He fights like law itself."
The First Strike
Beerus moved.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Perfectly.
A strike of concentrated godly authority launched at Zhou Fan—not aiming for him, but for the world around him. Mountains disintegrated into dust mid-air. Oceans shuddered. Time seemed to stretch and contract simultaneously.
Zhou Fan did not move.
He allowed it to hit.
Not to block. Not to absorb.
To correct.
The strike collided with the aura around Zhou Fan. The black-gold energy twisted, folded, and returned the force inward, breaking it down, analyzing it, and redistributing it across Zhou Fan's body with flawless efficiency.
Beerus' eyes widened.
"Hmph… not deflected… corrected."
Zhou Fan tilted his head.
"Not corrected. Integrated. Nothing leaves the body that I do not permit."
The Second Stage Awakens
Inside the Saiyan vessel, Zhou Fan felt the transformation stirring.
Demonic Super Saiyan – Sovereign Circulation had matured.
Now, the body was ready for the next step:
Demonic Super Saiyan 2 – Emperor Manifestation
Aura becomes absolute law, bending reality subtly around the body
Ki moves with thought, not intention
Damage to the body automatically refines both tissue and ki flow
Presence alone destabilizes weaker beings, forcing them to misstep before action
Every strike reshapes the battlefield without effort
Zhou Fan exhaled.
The aura folded outward in sharp, flowing lines of black and gold.
Not blazing. Not flaring.
Claiming.
This is inevitability, Zhou Fan thought.
The battlefield will bend to my presence, not my hands.
Beerus Realizes the Threat
Beerus struck again—this time fully.
A blast intended to erase a city reached the peak of divine destruction.
It collided with Zhou Fan.
The world groaned. Rocks evaporated. Time itself stuttered.
Then… nothing happened.
Not deflected. Not resisted.
Redirected.
Beerus froze mid-air.
"…Impossible," he muttered.
"Not even a god can… bend their energy this way."
Zhou Fan's aura pulsed faintly.
"Energy is not bent," he said softly.
"It is organized."
Beerus' lips twitched. For the first time, predatory amusement faltered.
"You… are not a Saiyan anymore. Not even Kakarot."
Zhou Fan's black-gold eyes glinted.
"I never was."
Goku's Subtle Influence
Inside, Goku stirred for the first time in weeks.
"…Hey… don't… break everything," he thought.
Zhou Fan allowed the voice—not control, not intrusion—but influence.
Power pulsed differently. The edges softened. Movements became less tyrannical, more precise, guided by instinct, not cruelty.
"…Better," Goku whispered.
The Demonic Super Saiyan 2 form adjusted. Not fully revealed yet—Zhou Fan controlled its escalation—but a trace of collaboration emerged.
The Emperor had learned restraint.
The Saiyan had reclaimed influence.
Together, they were something no god had ever fought.
Vegeta Observes, Learns, Survives
Vegeta stood silently.
He could feel the gap. It was immense. Not just in power, but in the very essence of what it meant to move as an emperor.
Yet he did not despair.
"I will climb that summit," Vegeta thought.
"And when I reach it… he will remember my name."
He studied every movement, every adjustment Zhou Fan made to the battlefield. The flow of ki. The way attacks became less about destruction, more about correction.
Vegeta had survived refinement once. He would survive this, too.
The mountains around them trembled.
The ocean recoiled.
Even the sky seemed to pause.
The Emperor had taken the next step.
The God of Destruction was serious now.
And Goku's influence—small, subtle, but undeniable—had begun to shape the path of sovereignty itself.
The world waited.
Not for victory.
For inevitability.