The Sacred World of the Kai.
This hallowed realm was saturated with divine energy. Its landscape was a masterpiece of nature—vast, emerald grasslands, crystalline lakes, and a serenity that felt eternal. At the very heart of this world lay a tranquil lake, where a massive stone pillar rose from the waters. Thrust deep into the summit of the pillar was a sword, radiating a faint, almost imperceptible trace of the Energy of Destruction.
The aura was so suppressed that even Supreme Kai Shin and Kibito, despite having visited the God of Destruction's realm, couldn't sense it.
"Lord Supreme Kai, what exactly are you looking for?" Kibito asked, trailing closely behind Shin across the verdant plains.
"According to Gran and Mr Whis, my ancestor was sealed somewhere within the Sacred World of the Kai. I'm trying to find any trace of his whereabouts," Shin replied, scanning the horizon.
For months, Shin had searched every corner of the realm to no avail. Eventually, they wandered near the lake of the sacred blade. Exhausted, Shin collapsed onto the grass. "I can't find him. We'll have to wait for Lord Beerus and the others to arrive."
His gaze briefly flickered over the sword atop the pillar, but he thought nothing of it and looked away. The two sat in silence, letting the stillness of the realm wash over them.
"To think that a being like a God of Destruction truly existed... I was far too ignorant," Shin remarked, staring at the blue sky with a self-deprecating smile.
"It wasn't your fault, my Lord," Kibito consoled him. "The disaster with Majin Buu happened so suddenly. The Grand Supreme Kai didn't have the chance to pass down the full extent of your training. But now, we don't have to fear Buu anymore."
"Yes," Shin said, standing up with a newfound fire in his eyes. "With Lord Beerus and Gran here, evil has no place in this universe. After all, Gran said it himself—Lord Beerus is the strongest God of Destruction in all the universes!"
"That candidate, Gran... he is quite terrifying as well," Kibito added, shivering at the memory of their first meeting.
"Hahaha, naturally!" Shin clenched his fist confidently. "I've watched him grow for three and a half years. His talent is monstrous. If Lord Beerus is the strongest God of Destruction, then Gran is surely the strongest Candidate in existence."
"And then there's the Old Kai!" Kibito grew excited. "What the ancestor said is incredible. Once we break the seal, our universe will surely rise to the top!"
The two shared a moment of giddy anticipation, their faces glowing with hope. But then Kibito paused. "By the way, my Lord... why exactly did Lord Beerus seal the Old Kai in the first place?"
Shin froze. "I... I actually don't know. Neither Gran nor Whis ever mentioned the reason."
Just as the silence grew awkward, a pillar of rainbow light descended from the heavens.
"Whis, you're so slow! My Instant Transmission would have gotten us here ages ago," Gran complained the moment his feet touched the grass.
Whis's face darkened. "Then why didn't you offer to teleport us?"
"I saw you were already getting ready to leave, so I didn't want to interrupt. How was I supposed to know you'd take the scenic route?"
"I'm with the brat on this one, Whis," Beerus chimed in, looking annoyed. "I've tolerated your travel speed for long enough. Seriously, why don't you learn Instant Transmission?"
Whis's mouth twitched. These two are becoming insufferable. I'll have to dial up the intensity of their next training session. "Enough, you two," Whis said calmly. "It's not that I can't learn such techniques. It's simply that we Angels are prohibited from using certain spatial shortcuts under the divine rules."
Beerus and Gran exchanged a look of realisation. Even the most powerful beings were bound by the laws of neutrality.
"Lord Beerus! Mr Whis!" Shin and Kibito hurried over to bow. Shin then turned to Gran, beaming. "It's been a while! You've finally finished your seclusion!"
Shin noticed something different about Gran. Though his height and youthful appearance remained the same, he radiated a newfound ethereal quality—a stillness that felt like the eye of a storm.
"Yeah, I just got out," Gran nodded, taking in the surroundings. It was exactly like the anime—peaceful, beautiful, and the polar opposite of the harsh God of Destruction's realm.
Gran's eyes locked onto the stone pillar in the lake. Beerus and Whis followed his gaze. The atmosphere shifted.
"Gran... are you here to release the ancestor?" Shin asked tentatively.
"Yes."
"Really?! But where is the seal? I've been looking for months!"
Gran pointed a small finger toward the lake. "Right there. Inside that sword."
Beerus and Whis weren't surprised that Gran knew. As a Candidate for Destruction, Gran could sense the lingering Hakai energy on the blade. However, Beerus was surprised by how much the seal had weakened over the aeons. It was nearly ready to crumble on its own.
"The sword?" Shin's eyes went wide. "My ancestor is inside the Z-Sword? But the legend says that whoever pulls that sword will gain ultimate power! How could he be inside it?"
"Ultimate power? What a joke!" Beerus scoffed. "That 'sacred blade' was just a tool I used to trap that old man. I tossed it here when I was done with him. I can't believe you lot have been worshipping it as a treasure all this time."
Shin and Kibito stood frozen. A discarded tool... a random object Beerus threw away in a fit of pique... they had treated it with the highest religious devotion for generations.
Beside them, Gran was turning purple trying to hold back his laughter. Whis, less restrained, let out a soft "Ohoho~" before they both burst into uncontrollable fits of giggles. Shin's face turned a deep shade of crimson.
"Alright, that's enough," Beerus muttered, though he looked amused. "Gran, go pull it out."
"On it!" Gran took flight and landed on the stone pillar.
He looked down at the Z-Sword. It looked mundane, almost ordinary. To think generations of Supreme Kais had failed to budge it.
Time to get serious.
Gran gripped the hilt. In the original story, Gohan needed Super Saiyan 2 to pull this—a power level in the billions. Gran didn't want to deal with Beerus's nagging about the Super Saiyan form, so he took a different path.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Vroom!
A silver aura flickered around him, and his hair shimmered into a brilliant silver.
Ultra Instinct -Sign-.
In this state, Gran's power was beyond simple numbers. With a sharp tug, the "Z-Sword" slid out of the stone with a resounding clink! The stone pillar, unable to withstand the sudden release of energy, crumbled into the lake.
"He pulled it out! The Z-Sword has been drawn!" Kibito shouted, his jaw hitting the floor.
Gran flew back to the shore, holding the heavy blade in one hand. "Lord Beerus, I've got it."
"Pah! You had to use Ultra Instinct to pull out a rusty old tool I stuck there? How embarrassing," Beerus said, feigning disappointment.
Gran didn't miss a beat. "You're right, Lord Beerus. I'm so sorry. I've only trained for three and a half years to reach a power level of one billion. I've only reached the 'No-Self' mental state and the second stage of physical instinct in three and a half years. I've only attained the Peak King Kai dimension... My talent is clearly lacking. I've let you down."
Beerus's face darkened with every word of Gran's "apology." Every "failure" Gran listed was a milestone most gods couldn't achieve in a million years. Whis covered his mouth, stifling a laugh. If that's a weak talent, Beerus might as well retire today.
"Stop bragging and just break the damn thing!" Beerus barked.
"Wait!" Shin cried out. "You have to break it? But we've worshipped this sword for—"
"It's a piece of junk, Shin. Break it, Gran."
Gran gripped the blade at both ends. In the anime, it took a block of Katchin Steel—the hardest metal in the universe—to break this sword. Today, Gran decided to use his bare hands.
He funnelled his energy into his grip. SNAP!
The Z-Sword shattered into two jagged pieces. Shin and Kibito watched in horror as their "holy relic" was snapped like a twig.
Gran tossed the fragments onto the grass and exhaled. "That thing was actually pretty sturdy. I actually had to put some muscle into that."
Suddenly, a cloud of ancient, mystical smoke began to billow from the broken metal...
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