"Death!" Gohan's voice cut through the void. From the tear, a faint cry answered back.
"Lo...han... sense... you!" A woman's voice. Weak. Distant.
His eyes sharpened. I can barely feel her. I just need more power.
Gohan's aura flared violently, whipping around him like a storm. He forced more energy outward, expanding his Ki with sheer force of will—control be damned.
"AHHH!"
A roar—deep, primal—tore through existence itself. It wasn't just a battle cry. It was a declaration.
Every soul, every world, every being across the universe bore witness. His voice echoed through the celestial web, carried by the very spell that had allowed them to see his struggle in real-time.
For the first time, they truly felt it.
This wasn't destruction for destruction's sake. This wasn't tyranny.
This was a god defending his promise.
He had sworn that if celestial forces ever threatened their natural order—if their right to an afterlife was ever in danger—he would stand in the way. That he would protect them, even if they had feared him.
And now, in this moment—his power shaking reality, his very essence burning against the encroaching Abyss—every single being understood.
He was not their enemy.
He was their guardian.
Just as he promised he would be.
A shockwave burst from within his barrier. Red, blue, silver, and violet light detonated like a supernova. Superman's jaw tightened as he braced himself, but Trunks—without hesitation—ignited his own energy, his hair flashing crimson.
The little girl clenched her fists, staring wide-eyed at the mind-crushing Ki signatures.
Divinity…
Her gaze darted between Gohan and Trunks, then down to her hands, trembling with something unfamiliar. I have it too. But their control… She swallowed hard. I'm nowhere near them.
Just by standing in their presence, she understood—the difference wasn't just power, but refinement. Their mastery was beyond anything she had comprehended before.
And yet—her blood boiled. The desire to stand beside them burned in her core.
The brilliance of Gohan's energy finally dimmed, but the universe itself rebelled, trembling violently.
It's resisting me…
The mist within the void twisted, growing more aggressive against his Ki. It hated him.
Trunks extended a hand. "Take my energy! No holding back!"
"Right—thanks, Trunks!" Gohan called back, his aura roaring as his stamina surged.
Then—
"I FOUND YOU!"
Gohan ripped at the tear. Blood gushed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. The tremors escalated—until, with one final pull—
A woman clad in black tumbled from the abyss.
Burned. Battered. Barely clinging to life.
"Now, Makaiya!"
"Milord!"
This wasn't just one grand spell—no, it was many high-level incantations layered at once. Possible? Technically. But pulling it off? Successfully? That was another battle entirely.
Makaiya's aura roared to life as he knelt beside Death, who lay completely still. Unmoving. Vulnerable. For the first time, she had no choice but to let go—to embrace her defenseless state and focus entirely on recovering.
Vermont stepped forward, pressing his staff lightly to her chest. A soft glow spread from the point of contact, the dark scars of the Abyss slowly retracting like retreating shadows.
"She will recover… with time," the angel murmured, but his brow furrowed. "However…"
Gohan tensed. He didn't like that pause.
"The mist," Vermont continued, his grip tightening on his staff, "it's evolving. If this keeps up, I won't be able to reverse its effects in a few months."
Gohan's breath hitched. That fast? It was already this strong?
Makaiya closed his eyes, his hands hovering just above Death.
You are the key to the Otherworld. The door to the afterlife. The bridge between life and death.
A golden star flickered into existence above her, its glow pulsing with quiet strength.
Makaiya exhaled sharply as he pressed the star downward—gently, firmly—until it sank into her chest.
"The distance between the afterlife and this universe…" his voice wavered, shifting from grim to deeply unsettled. "It's tearing her apart." His hands trembled. "The Abyss—it's actively ripping life and death away from each other."
He could feel it. Her entire being stretched thin, vibrating as if caught in a cosmic tug-of-war. The Abyss did not like what he was doing.
And then, it fought back.
The mist lashed violently, the void itself twisting in fury. Makaiya shuddered, his mind fracturing across countless layers of existence.
The Living World.
The Afterlife.
The Sacred Land of the Kais.
The Check-In Station.
Heaven. Hell.
Each plane of existence flickered beneath his fingertips, slipping out of sync, drifting apart like unmoored islands. He gasped. I have to balance it all.
A sudden pressure grounded him—two hands on his shoulders.
'Lord Gohan? Trunks?' He sensed.
They stood firm, their divine Ki flaring, supporting the supreme kai as much as possible. But Makaiya—he was still caught in the eye of the storm.
His vision blurred. His breath came ragged. The weight of entire realms pressed down on him.
His fingers clenched.
A thousand golden stars ignited in a perfect web, threading through the void, through Death, through the frayed edges of reality itself. His Kai Magic surged—silver, indigo, gold—wrapping around the countless layers of existence, forcing back mist, sealing the widening chasm between life and death.
The mist shrieked. Reality convulsed.
Vermont's eyes widened in horror. "Makaiya! You're burning your Ki at a lethal rate!"
"I CAN'T STOP!" Makaiya shouted, his voice raw.
His veins darkened. His aura flickered violently. His soul screamed under the strain.
"If I let go, death dies. If she dies, the bridge collapses. If the bridge collapses—"
"All souls will be lost," Vermont finished, his voice barely above a whisper.
No afterlife. No reincarnation. Just—nothing.
Makaiya's jaw tightened. Not happening.
He clenched his teeth. With one final push, his entire being pulsed, dispersing the mist, locking the Afterlife back into place.
The Abyss recoiled.
And then—silence.
The universe settled.
Makaiya slumped forward, his breathing ragged, his energy utterly spent. The celestial web flickered once—then faded from existence. The balance was restored.
Gohan caught him before he could hit the ground. "You did it," he murmured.
Makaiya laughed—weakly, bitterly. "Thank you. However… I can only imagine the pain you endured."
His gaze flickered toward Gohan's arm—still rotting, radiating traces of the Abyss's influence. If he was barely standing after an indirect confrontation, then Gohan…
Death stirred, her lips barely parting.
"Thank… you…"
And then, at last, the storm was truly over.
Gohan exhaled, relief settling in. "Well, now that that's over—"
His words faltered as his vision blurred. The weight of it all—the struggle, the sheer force of will—came crashing down. His body, pushed beyond its limits, refused to hold together. His power unraveled, dispersing like smoke in the wind.
And in that instant—his presence that had stretched across the universe was gone.
The universe, now fortified with a barrier strong enough to hold, with an afterlife once more anchored in place, no longer needed him to keep it together.
The tension snapped like a taut wire, and Gohan felt it all at once.
His consciousness wavered.
And then—darkness.
Before he could drift away, two blurs snapped into place beside him. Trunks and Superman caught him just in time, steadying the unconscious God of Destruction before he could float off into space.
"Careful," Trunks warned, his grip firm. "Whatever you do, don't let that mist touch you."
Superman's gaze locked onto the swirling darkness wrapped around Gohan's arm, his instincts screaming at him. His eyes flicked to the side—
The little girl was reaching out.
In a flash, he grabbed her wrist, halting her just before her fingertips grazed the mist. She blinked up at him, frozen like a deer caught in headlights. Trunks, standing beside him, looked equally unimpressed.
"It should go without saying," Trunks sighed, rubbing his temple. "If that mist was strong enough to knock Gohan out cold, and resist Vermont then trust me—you wouldn't even get the chance to regret touching it."
The girl swallowed, pulling her hand back as she stared at the shifting, ominous mist.
Trunks kept his eyes trained on it, jaw tight. "Even with my power, I doubt I could've done what Gohan just did."
Vermont stepped forward, his staff glowing faintly. "Let us return to Lord Gohan's world. He needs rest—he deserves it."
A flicker of hesitation crossed his face.
A moment of reprieve… but for how long? A light tremble made the universe rumble. 'Another collision...'
If the Grand Zeno truly remained absent, if the balance was truly this fragile…
Vermont allowed himself a small thought—selfish, perhaps, but true.
At least… at least he had been assigned a Destroyer worth following.