Gran rose slowly from beneath the bubbling magma, his hair shimmering into a brilliant silver, with only two stray locks framing his forehead.
With his chiseled features and a look of absolute confidence, the violet aura of a Destroyer's authority merged with the ethereal silver glow of the heavens. At that moment, Gran looked like a celestial Angel of Destruction descending upon the mortal world.
"Lord Gran is so handsome!" Bulma squealed, her eyes practically turning into hearts as she watched the projection.
Beside her, Whis murmured to himself, "So, his power has reached the second stage of the Divine Realm."
High above on the splintering Lookout, Mr. Popo sighed in resignation. "Why do these two idiots have to fight on Earth every single time? It looks like I'm going to die again."
At that exact moment, the silver energy swirling around Gran intensified. With a thunderous roar, a gargantuan force erupted from his body. This was the combination of the Divine Dimension and Ultra Instinct—a fusion that propelled Gran's power straight into the second stage of the Divine Realm.
The silver aura spun around him like a violent vortex, the sheer pressure of his strength warping the vacuum of space. The subterranean magma hissed and screamed in protest, and a second later, the Earth reached its limit. The planet simply disintegrated in a titanic explosion.
The fiery bloom of the dying world illuminated Beerus's face. He looked on, visibly thrilled. "You... you've actually reached this level?"
Once a warrior enters the Divine Realm, breakthroughs are no longer a matter of simple effort. Each stage is guarded by a massive chasm; crossing it without eons of meditation and training is nearly impossible. Most true Gods of Destruction have trained for hundreds of millions of years just to reach the fifth stage of the Divine Realm. Gran's meteoric rise was unheard of.
"So, this is my current strength?" Gran hovered in the void, mesmerized by the surging tide of power within him. "In that case..." He looked toward Beerus, his eyes burning with excitement. "Let the real fight begin!"
Gran shot forward like a silver arrow, tearing through the star-map. Wherever he passed, the fabric of space shattered and self-repaired in a terrifying cycle.
"Finally using everything you've got? Come on then!" Beerus vanished, leaving only a streak of violet light in his wake.
The moment their infinite powers collided, the stars seemed to dim. It was as if time itself had frozen—a silence so absolute it was chilling. Then, a heartbeat later, an explosion reminiscent of the Big Bang erupted, tearing nearby planets into cosmic dust.
"HAAAA!"
"HAAAA!"
Fist met fist. Beerus met Gran with equal force, neither willing to yield an inch. The shock of the Divine Realm's second-stage power surged up Gran's arm, leaving it numb and aching, but he only felt more exhilarated. As the tension between their knuckles reached a breaking point, they repelled one another, only to clash again instantly.
BOOM!
BOOM!
A battle of legends unfolded in the silent vacuum. God Realm Stage 2, Ultra Instinct Stage 3... Gran unleashed every ounce of his martial arts mastery. His body had felt a bit "rusty" after two years without a challenge, but in this life-or-death struggle, his instincts were sharpening with every passing second.
"What a terrifying fight. Their destructive power is just... insane!" Bulma shouted. Even though Earth had been pulverized, she and little Broly were perfectly safe within Whis's protective barrier. She wasn't even worried about the planet; she knew that even when Gran and Beerus had accidentally blown up the North Galaxy in the past, Whis could simply reverse time and bring it back.
Whis wasn't watching Beerus; his eyes were glued to Gran. With Gran's physical instincts reaching the third stage and his "Empty Mind" state perfected, this could no longer be called a "prototype" Ultra Instinct. This was the real thing. The only difference between Gran and Beerus now was the depth of their raw experience.
"Whis, look! Lord Gran is hurt!" Bulma pointed frantically at the projection.
"Don't worry," Whis said calmly. "There is no such thing as a battle without injury."
The two streaks of light continued to collide, their battlefield shifting from the ruins of Earth to the very heart of the North Galaxy. Under the stress of two Divine Realm Stage 2 fighters, the galaxy itself began to show cracks in the fabric of reality.
Beerus grew more shocked as the fight went on. His disciple was becoming a true monster.
"Lord Beerus, take this!" Gran soared tens of thousands of miles into the high vacuum before diving down with the weight of a falling star, slamming his fist into Beerus's cheek. The force was immense, but unlike before, Beerus didn't fly back. He took the hit, forced his face back toward Gran, and gritted his teeth. "My turn!"
CRACK!
Beerus's counter-punch caught Gran square in the face. Blood flickered at the corner of Gran's mouth as he was sent spiraling away.
"Nowhere to run!" Beerus pursued, moving like the fastest light in existence, appearing behind Gran in a flash. Just as the finishing blow was about to land, Gran's body reacted on its own, dodging and weaving backward. In that instant, the violet glow around Beerus vanished, replaced by a shimmering silver.
"Ultra Instinct!" Gran's excitement peaked. Lord Beerus was getting serious. "Let's go!"
The two silver lights roared like twin dragons.
"Lord Beerus, aside from raw power, how is my martial arts? Have I disappointed you?"
"Not at all! You've improved in every category. I'm satisfied!"
"Hahaha! Then let's keep going!"
Their movements were fluid and pre-cognitive, like a movie where every frame was known beforehand. Attack and defense happened in the same microsecond.
The hourglass was draining. 60 seconds left. 50 seconds. 30 seconds.
"Exhilarating! This is what a real fight feels like!" Every strike was a heavy, physical impact. Gran was covered in bruises, but he couldn't feel the pain—only the drive to keep moving forward. Every move contained the condensed will of his years of training.
Lightning crackled through the void as the universe itself seemed to scream under the pressure of their duel. Gran was sent flying again, but mid-air, he unleashed a massive ki wave—a torrent of light that acted like a flood of destruction across the stars.
The impact against Beerus sounded like the collapse of a sun. With only 10 seconds remaining, Beerus's voice echoed through the flames.
"To see such growth in so little time... it makes me happy. You truly are someone with potential beyond limits!" Beerus's voice turned solemn. "However... you've shown me your martial arts and your raw power. But there's one thing you haven't shown me yet."
Vroom!
A concentrated purple aura erupted from the explosion, a terrifying power of Destruction that could erase any matter in existence. This was the Divine Law. Resonating with his authority as a Destroyer, the flames around Beerus were wiped clean.
"Show me your Law of Destruction!" Beerus leveled his hand at Gran. "HAKAI!"
"Hahaha! Bring it on!"
Years ago, Gran would have been terrified of this power. Now, he welcomed it. He raised a single hand, a tiny violet spark forming at his fingertip. "HAKAI!"
The spark bloomed into a massive wave of First-Stage Divine Law. Wherever the light touched, existence ceased. The two violet tides collided in the center of the North Galaxy, blossoming into the most beautiful and deadly "flower" the universe had ever seen. The purple waves of the Law rolled outward, erasing every star and planet in their path.
"AGHHHHH!!" Gran roared, pouring every ounce of his energy into the clash. This was the pinnacle of heat, power, and thrill.
"Yes! That is the power of the Divine Law!" Beerus shouted. He could have ended it in a second, but to help his disciple master the feeling, he feigned struggle, roaring along with him.
Whis watched the display, his lip twitching slightly. "Lord Beerus really spoils that boy."
Bulma, unable to follow the technicalities of the fight, just nodded fervently. "Lord Gran is so handsome, why wouldn't he be spoiled?"
Whis: "..."
Suddenly, Whis glanced at the hourglass. 3 seconds left. He tapped his staff.
Zip!
Whis, Bulma, and Broly vanished, reappearing behind the combatants. Gran, now desperate, pushed with both hands, his beam of Destruction swelling in size. Beerus, ever the performer, shouted even louder, matching the increase.
BOOM!
The center of the collision erupted in a blinding violet light—the ultimate clash of rules. With nothing left to destroy in the North Galaxy, the shockwaves began to bleed into the rest of the Seventh Universe.
3 seconds. 2 seconds. 1 second.
"Enough. That's quite enough from both of you."
A gentle, melodic voice echoed through the cosmos. Whis appeared behind Gran and knocked him unconscious with a single light tap. With Gran's power gone, Beerus's beam surged forward, but Whis ignored it. He stepped through time and space, appearing behind Beerus and delivering a swift chop to his neck.
"Ngh..." Beerus let out a muffled grunt and slumped into unconsciousness.
With both combatants handled, Whis waved his staff. An endless tide of Angelic power surged out, enveloping the entire Seventh Universe.
"Temporal Do-over!"
The stars rushed backward. The broken galaxy mended itself. The Earth reassembled from dust. It all happened in the final second of the hourglass. By the time everything returned to normal, Bulma was left gasping, her heart racing. The two strongest gods in the universe had just been swatted like flies. Whis was terrifying.
"What are you staring at, Bulma?" Whis asked, tossing the sleeping Gran over to her with a smile.
"Lord Beerus and Lord Gran are so powerful... yet they're nothing to you. You're incredible, Mr. Whis," Bulma said, catching Gran and propping him up.
"Oh-ho-ho~" Whis giggled. "Well, I am their teacher, after all."
"Wait, you're their teacher?" Bulma's eyes widened. That explained everything. "Mr. Whis, can I ask you something? Gran told me about the upcoming tournament for the candidate Destroyers... can he really win?"
"He's grown immensely over these two years," Whis said, holding the unconscious Beerus by his collar. "In a one-on-one fight, his current comprehensive strength is absolutely unrivaled among candidates."
Whis wasn't exaggerating. Unlike other universes that recruited their candidates halfway through their lives, Gran had been raised by Whis from the start. His foundation, his Law, his instincts—everything was optimized. In terms of pure martial mindset, he had even surpassed some of the older Destroyers.
"That's wonderful!" Bulma beamed. "He's the best-looking, so he should definitely be the winner!"
Whis: "..." He realized then that Bulma was a total "visual" person—beauty was justice to her.
He didn't mention that while Gran was unbeatable one-on-one, a free-for-all against eleven other candidates was a different story, especially those from the high-mortal-level universes.
"Is something wrong?" Bulma asked, noticing his pause.
"Nothing. Since everything is back to normal, let's head home." He tapped his staff, and the group turned into a streak of light, heading back to Earth.
Night had fallen over West City. They landed softly in the Capsule Corp courtyard. "Gran has been training for two years and just finished a grueling fight. He needs rest," Whis said gently. "I'll leave him to you, Miss Bulma."
Bulma's eyes lit up, and she almost started drooling. Whis caught the look and immediately felt a sense of dread for Gran. "Actually... on second thought, I'll handle it." He snatched Gran back and carried him to his usual room.
"Darn you, Whis!" Bulma hissed, gnashing her teeth. She had been hoping to sneak a feel of Gran's rock-hard abs while he was out. "Fine! Tomorrow, you're getting canned herring for breakfast!"
Little Broly looked at the unconscious Beerus lying on the grass. "What about me?" he wondered. Shrugging, he curled up next to Beerus and was soon snoring loudly.
The courtyard grew silent, save for the snoring of the god and the boy. A shooting star crossed the sky, and it was as if the cataclysmic battle that had just shaken the universe had never happened.
Meanwhile, on the Lookout, Mr. Popo peered down. "They're asleep? So the fight is over. Which means... I've officially been resurrected. Again." He sighed and walked back into the depths of the temple.
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