One was a Tier 5 powerhouse, and the other's strength appeared to be no lower than that. Surrounded by these two masters, Hit realized his tactical balance had been utterly shattered.
"Lord Champa, it looks like this might be the end for me..."
Hit Granced up toward the Universe 7 spectator stands, where Champa was watching him with a face full of frantic worry. No, I can't just give up. I have to find a way out! Hit was an assassin by trade; sitting around waiting for death simply wasn't in his nature.
Zip!
Hit pushed his movement to the absolute limit, activating his Time-Skip to vanish from sight instantly. Belloc already knew the weakness of the technique—one simply had to flood the local space with overwhelming power to render the Time-Skip useless. He moved to intercept Hit, but then he remembered the fat woman from Universe 2 mocking him just moments ago. He pulled back his hand with a sneer.
"Fine. Let's see you try to kill him then!" Belloc hovered in the air, folding his squishy arms with no intention of helping.
"Tch!" Rosa noticed Belloc's petty retreat and guessed his thoughts. Fine, then watch closely while I finish him myself.
"Where do you think you're going, you little sewer rat? Domain of Love!"
Soaring in the sky, Rosa—the Goddess of Love—somehow produced a bow and arrow. She aimed at the heavens and loosed a single pink shaft of light.
Whoosh!
The arrow soared ten thousand meters into the air before shattering into countless points of starlight, instantly blanketing a radius of ten thousand miles.
"Damn it... she really is another Tier 5 master!"
Hit had attempted to use the bickering between the two to flee toward Gran's location. He had been just a hair's breadth away from clearing the mountain range when the pink light forced him right out of his temporal space! This woman's power was exactly as he had feared—Tier 5. In fact, based on the sheer intensity of the aura, she was likely at the Mid-Tier 5 level, even stronger than Belloc.
"Your sins are heavy! Now, perish! Love Arrow!"
Rosa flapped her wings and closed the distance in a heartbeat. She leveled her bow at Hit and fired.
BOOM!
A streak of pink light tore through the void. This was the concentrated power of the Mid-Tier 5. Under the weight of such immense energy, the very arena began to shudder violently.
"Not good!" Hit felt the ground beneath him crumbling. He scrambled to find a new footing, but the pink light from above tracked his every move like a heat-seeking missile.
"To hell with this! Time Lag!"
Realizing he couldn't outrun it, Hit turned mid-flight, framing his fingers into a triangular shape. He intended to use his ultimate trump card to stall Rosa's attack. However...
"What? Why can't I trigger the Time Lag?!" Hit's face went pale.
In Rosa's Domain of Love, anyone weaker than her would involuntarily begin to feel a sense of deep affection for her. Hit had fallen right into the trap. Faced with a woman his subconscious now "adored," he found himself physically unable to direct a hostile technique like Time Lag at her.
"Curse it... I'm actually feeling this for that fat woman?! NO!!!!"
BOOM!
The pink arrow detonated directly behind Hit. A massive mushroom cloud surged into the sky. Under the shredding force of the Mid-Tier 5 power, the entire mountain range was reduced to floating debris. Belloc, feeling the shockwave, quickly retreated.
"How... how is that possible? Even if you're slightly stronger than me, you shouldn't have been able to hit that slippery eel so easily..." Belloc stared at the blast zone, eyes wide. Suddenly, he felt it. The Domain! Damn it, even I was being influenced!
On the Universe 7 spectator stands.
"HIT!!!" Champa roared, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets.
Fuwa, the Universe 6 Supreme Kai, slumped in despair. "Lord Champa... Hit... he was hit directly!"
Elder Kai spoke grimly, "Universe 2 is known as the Gentle Universe. Their martial arts are almost entirely based on 'Love.' Techniques that target the seven emotions and six desires are notoriously difficult to guard against. It's no wonder Hit fell for it."
Beerus's voice turned icy. "That domain is quite something. For a weaker warrior to break free from that influence, they need a terrifyingly powerful will." He Granced at Rozu, the Universe 6 Saiyan candidate. "Hit isn't cut out for Ultra Ego; his will isn't honed to the point where he can ignore that kind of mental interference. If Rozu were down there, he might have been able to snap out of it."
In their previous sparring sessions, Rozu had shown a glimpse of Ultra Ego—or "Self-Mastery"—before Gran. Achieving that state requires two things: a mind of "Self-Oblivion" and a sheer, ironclad will. In terms of raw power and survival, Rozu couldn't touch Hit, but in a battle of pure willpower, he was the superior warrior.
Unfortunately, they couldn't fuse. Beerus clenched his fists. Is my brother really about to be eliminated?
Across the way, Heles of Universe 2 laughed triumphantly. "Rosa is a legend from my own era! It took me ten years just to track her down. Champa, how did you expect your little sewer rat to stand a chance against her?"
"You..." Champa's chest heaved with rage. He wanted to bark back at the woman, but Hit had been struck by a Mid-Tier 5 master. Under those conditions, Hit was surely...
Suddenly, Champa's eyes caught something. He stood at the very edge of the railing, staring dead at Heles. "You really think you've won, don't you?"
"Is there a doubt? Your candidate was just blown to bits. Why are you still acting tough?" Heles sneered. "Prepare to share a punishment with Beerus!"
"Hahaha! I'm the one getting punished?" Champa pointed a finger down at the arena. "Then who the hell is that?"
Champa's mood had flipped so fast the other Gods were stunned. Following his finger, the smoke on the arena slowly cleared, revealing two figures at the center of the crater.
One was Hit. He was in terrible shape—his back was a mangled mess of blood and bone, and his life force was fading fast. But the other figure... was Gran!
Gran had arrived. He stood directly in front of Hit, having shielded him from the brunt of the shockwave.
On the central bench, Grand Zen-Oh clapped his small hands, his eyes sparkling. "Gran made it! Gran is so cool!"
The Grand Minister chuckled softly. "To use Angel-level martial arts to cover that distance... it's no wonder he made it in time. It seems Champa's candidate won't be dying today."
"Impossible!" Heles shrieked from the stands. "When did that guy get there?!"
In the Universe 4 section, Quitela was equally shocked. "How? Why couldn't even I see how he moved?"
The other Gods were terrified; none of them had seen Gran's approach. But the shock wasn't limited to the Destroyers—even the Angels were startled. In that moment, every Angel stood up from their seats, their eyes locked onto Gran.
"Whis, it looks like everyone noticed," Vados whispered.
"We couldn't hide it forever. If they see it, they see it," Whis replied with a small smirk.
A flurry of telepathic messages immediately slammed into Marcarita, Awamo, and the other elder Angels.
"Sister, how is this possible?!" Marcarita messaged Kusu.
"What is this kid's origin? How can he step into the realm of Angelic martial arts at his age?" Awamo added, his voice trembling with shock.
"Did Whis teach him this? Does Whis even have that kind of capability?" Martinu asked, swallowing hard.
"Peak Godly Dimension, Seventh-Tier raw power, and... Angel-level Ultra Instinct? Is this really the strength of a few-hundred-year-old candidate?" Mojito asked in disbelief.
Kusu felt like a dozen ducks were quacking in her ear at once. The noise was maddening.
"All of you, shut up! Just watch the show. I'll explain later!" Kusu snapped back telepathically. Despite her petite, cute appearance, when Kusu spoke, none of the other Angels dared to disobey. The mental chatter vanished instantly.
She turned her gaze back to Gran. Stepping into the Angelic realm of martial arts so soon? Truly incredible.
Back at Universe 7, Champa noticed the strange behavior of the Angels. He nudged Beerus. "What's up with the Angels?"
Beerus didn't answer. He was staring at Gran with a look of pure, unadulterated shock. If he wasn't mistaken, Gran had used a momentary burst of Ultra Instinct. But... Gran's hair hadn't turned silver, and there was no silver glow around his body!
This is... Angel-level Ultra Instinct!
"YES!!!" Beerus slammed his fist into his palm. He was so excited his eyes were bloodshot and his body was shaking. Gran had reached that level in secret. It was perfect!
"What are you screaming about?" Champa asked, having missed the nuance. He pushed Beerus again, but Beerus was just howling like a maniac. Champa shrugged; now was the time to gloat.
"Hahaha! Want to eliminate me?" Champa stuck a middle finger up at Heles. "Too bad! You were so close, but now that Gran is here, you're all dead meat!"
"You fat pig..." Heles, like Champa, didn't understand the technicality of what had happened, but she sneered regardless. "So what if he made it? Your candidate is at death's door. He won't last another thirty seconds."
Hit was indeed dying. He was coughing up blood, and his ki was nearly extinguished. In the eyes of the other Gods—and even the Angels—Hit was a dead man walking. Universe 6 was still on the verge of elimination.
"Dead? Even if all of you die, my Hit will still be standing!" Champa grinned, baring his teeth. "You have no idea what Gran has in his pockets. I guarantee you, Hit isn't dying today!"
Champa remembered his time on Earth with Vados. They had visited Korin Tower and the Lookout. Korin had those miraculous beans—the Senzu Beans. Whis had explained they were healing tools, and as long as a person had a single breath left, a bean could bring them back from the brink. Champa knew Gran had a supply of them.
"He looks so confident. Could it be..." The other Gods began to wonder if the Universe 7 candidate really had the means to heal a dying man in an instant.
"Hmph. Even if he heals him, so what?" Quitela muttered from the Universe 4 stands. "One trash fighter at the Initial Tier 4, and one guy at the Peak of Tier 6. Our side isn't weak!"
The remaining candidates on the stage were finally converging on Gran and Hit's location. Belmod of Universe 11 stepped forward. "The candidates from Universes 1, 12, 5, and 8 haven't even made their move yet. You think they're weak?"
Iwan of Universe 1 sneered, "When Bert unleashes his true power, you'll be in for a nasty surprise!"
Beerus finally snapped out of his trance and shared a look with Champa. Based on the rankings, the candidates from those four universes would indeed be formidable.
But... so what?
"Hahaha!" Champa roared at the stage. "Gran! You'd better get some revenge for me!"
Beerus wasn't laughing. His voice was cold and sharp. "Gran, I don't care about the others, but the candidates from Universe 2 and Universe 4? Make sure you kill them."
Seeing Hit get blasted had made his blood boil. If Hit was eliminated, his own brother would face erasure. If he didn't get revenge for that, he'd never hear the end of it.
Watching the two brothers scream and shout, the other Gods exchanged uneasy Grances. They were beginning to get a very bad feeling. Gran and Hit were completely surrounded—ordinarily, Beerus and Champa should be panicking. Instead, they were thrilled.
Is it possible... that brat still hasn't used his full strength?
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