The crimson aura of the Kaio-ken had long since faded from Goku's body.
He looked absolutely wrecked.
His signature martial arts gi had been blown to pieces, leaving only a few tattered strips hanging from his body. His skin was charred black, as though he had been dragged through flames, and his chest heaved violently with every breath.
Each inhale sounded like a broken bellows scraping against rusted metal, accompanied by a sharp wheeze of pain from deep inside his lungs.
But he was still smiling.
"We... we won..."
Goku forced the corners of his mouth upward into a grin uglier than a cry. Blood stained his white teeth red.
He could no longer sense Frieza's energy.
After taking a direct hit from a twenty-times Kaio-ken boosted Kamehameha at the center of that explosion, even the so-called Emperor of the Universe should have been completely erased.
"Krillin... Piccolo..."
Goku slowly turned his head, searching for his friends.
He wanted to tell them the good news.
Wanted to say, We survived.
His vision blurred. Darkness crept into the edges of his sight, but he still tried to raise a hand and wave at them.
And then...
Just as his arm lifted halfway, a voice suddenly echoed behind him.
Cold.
Venomous.
Like a ghost whispering from the depths of hell itself.
"You're celebrating... too early."
The moment those words rang out, the scorching air of Namek seemed to plunge to absolute zero.
Goku froze.
It felt as though liquid nitrogen had been poured over his entire body, freezing even the blood in his veins.
The tiny spark of hope that had just reignited inside him was crushed instantly.
Slowly, mechanically, he turned his neck around. His stiff vertebrae cracked audibly as he forced himself to look back.
A figure was rising through the smoke.
It was Frieza.
But... could that still even be called Frieza?
If his third form had been a grotesque monster, and his final form a graceful god of death, then what stood there now looked like a corpse dragged out of a meat grinder.
Half of his elongated head was gone.
His left shoulder and half his chest had been completely blown apart, exposing twitching purple muscle and pale white bone beneath shattered armor-like flesh.
That terrifying tail of his had been reduced to a bloody stump.
Not a single inch of his body remained intact. Burned black flesh mixed with dark purple wounds, leaving him looking horrifyingly mangled.
Yet he was still alive.
And worse, the lone crimson eye he had left burned with rage hotter than the sun itself.
"How... is this possible...?"
The light in Goku's eyes dimmed completely.
This was true despair.
He had pushed his body beyond its limits.
Bet everything on the twenty-times Kaio-ken.
Landed the Super Kamehameha head-on.
And still... he hadn't managed to kill him.
Was this really the power of the Emperor of the Universe?
An insurmountable wall no one could ever overcome?
Goku's arm dropped weakly to his side. His body trembled uncontrollably.
The collapse of both body and spirit hit him all at once the moment hope disappeared.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Frieza panted heavily, purple blood bubbling from the corner of his mouth with every breath.
Pain.
Real pain.
If he hadn't burned away his own life force at the final moment...
If he hadn't forced that shield into existence no matter the cost...
That Saiyan's attack truly might have killed him.
And because of that, his rage had reached its absolute limit.
The final thread of reason inside him snapped.
"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable..."
Frieza glared at the helpless Saiyan before him. His hoarse voice scraped like grinding metal, every word soaked in bloodlust.
"You actually dared to wound me like this!"
"I am the ruler of the universe! The great Lord Frieza!"
"You filthy insects... I'll reduce all of you, along with this worthless planet, to ashes!"
Frieza roared madly as he raised his remaining right hand.
One finger pointed skyward.
A pitch-black sphere crackling with violet lightning rapidly formed at his fingertip.
This was no ordinary energy blast.
Compressed within it was every ounce of Frieza's fury, hatred, and insane desire to destroy everything in existence.
"Despair! Scream! Die drowning in regret!"
Frieza's crazed laughter echoed through the empty basin like the shriek of a night demon.
Even in his miserable state, he still looked like a god of death deciding who lived and who died.
As Goku stared at the ever-growing sphere of destruction, all strength finally left his body.
He closed his eyes in despair.
There was nothing left.
Not even enough energy to struggle.
But at that critical moment, far away from the battlefield, Krillin suddenly heard the familiar cold mechanical voice ring out inside his mind.
[Ding! Critical story event detected.]
[S-Rank Mandatory Mission Issued: The Legend of Rage.]
[Mission Objective: Assist Son Goku in awakening and transforming into a Super Saiyan.]
[Mission Item Granted: Substitute Scarecrow (Consumable)]
[Item Description: Automatically activates upon receiving fatal damage. User enters a hidden state and is instantly restored to full health, creating a perfect fake death effect. Even ki will disappear completely.]
[Failure Penalty: Namek explodes. Total party wipe.]
Krillin stared blankly at the crooked little straw doll that had suddenly appeared in his hand.
It looked ridiculously cheap and strangely adorable at the same time.
The tension on his face instantly collapsed.
His mouth twitched violently.
A substitute scarecrow?
Did this thing even need an explanation?
The system was obviously telling him to go die on purpose!
This was basically Dragon Ball law at this point.
When Krillin dies, Goku ascends to another level.
"Damn system. Why not just punch me to death directly and get it over with..."
Krillin tightened his grip on the straw doll while staring at the black-purple death sphere descending in the distance.
And at Goku, who had already shut his eyes and accepted death.
A whole herd of curses stampeded through his mind.
"So now I've gotta act out another tragic sacrifice scene?"
"Last time I fake-died on Earth. Now I've gotta do the deluxe explosive edition on Namek too?"
"What am I, a professional corpse now?"
Even while complaining internally, Krillin understood something clearly.
If he stepped in now and beat Frieza down with the Saitama template, Goku still wouldn't awaken.
Without Super Saiyan, the future would completely change course.
"Damn it. Fine! For the S-rank evaluation and the mission rewards, I'm all in!"
Krillin took a deep breath, his expression slowly turning resolute.
Or at least, looking resolute.
He glanced at Piccolo, who was still trembling nearby, and suddenly revealed a heroic smile.
"Piccolo... take care of Goku for me."
Piccolo froze, not understanding what Krillin meant.
Before he could react, the bald figure shot forward without hesitation.
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