Son Goten forced a bitter smile. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"This timeline won't last much longer before it disappears completely. If you want, I can take you out of here," Levos suggested.
"Leave this timeline?"
Son Goten froze, then let out a helpless laugh. "As long as there's even the tiniest shred of hope, I won't run."
"I get it." Levos smiled faintly. "The chances are slim, but I'll help you try every possibility."
Son Goten lifted his head, his gaze firm. "Alright. I trust you."
A moment later, Levos and Goten set foot once again on the Sacred World of the Kais in Universe 7.
Because the Old Kai was still alive, Levos hadn't stored this planet inside his personal space. Another reason was simpler: he wanted to use it as bait, to see if it might lure that unknown enemy out.
He planned to ask the Old Kai whether he could raise Goten's potential limit.
Returning to a place he thought long dead, Goten was shocked when he saw the Old Kai.
"There are survivors here too?"
Levos quickly explained, though he couldn't help feeling puzzled.
"Back then, why didn't Supreme Kai Shin have you pull out the Z Sword?"
"The Supreme Kai did pin his hopes on that sword," Goten said, "but Lord Beerus told us the Z Sword was useless. He said there was just some annoying chatterbox sealed inside it, nothing more…"
"Uh…" Levos went quiet.
So, through a chain of absurd coincidences, the Old Kai had actually survived until now.
Across from them, the Old Kai was hopping mad.
"Beerus was jealous of my genius and afraid of what I could do!"
"Listen up. I can raise a person's potential beyond the limit. Beyond the limit! Do you understand?!"
Two completely opposite stories.
Levos had long since stopped caring which version was true.
What mattered was whether the Old Kai was willing to give Goten a push.
"Normally, only the one who pulls the sword earns my recognition… but this world is already in ruins." The Old Kai sighed.
"Son Goten, was it? Sit down, brat. When the ritual is over, you'll see who was right."
Goten looked lost, but he sat down obediently anyway.
The ritual would take more than a day. Levos wasn't about to waste that time.
He turned the Dragon Ball shard over in his fingers and spoke with Fuwa.
"The Dragon Ball didn't fully turn to stone. Does that mean the devoured don't vanish immediately?"
Could it mean… the devoured might still be saved?
Fuwa's knowledge was far beyond Supreme Kai Shin's. And whenever Levos read through Chronoa's books, he often consulted Fuwa and the Old Kai as well.
After spending time together, Levos found Fuwa surprisingly honest and grounded.
Fuwa pondered for a moment. "It's possible. But it's also possible that after devouring someone, that thing can immediately replace them with a clone that inherits everything…"
"So even you can't be sure." Levos's head throbbed.
Fuwa frowned. "This is far outside my expertise. I suggest you plan for the worst."
"As gods, don't you have any techniques meant to counter clones?"
"Seems… no." Fuwa shook his head. "If it were Vados or another angel, maybe there'd be a way."
"Vados…" Levos murmured.
Angels were truly mysterious. They seemed capable of anything, yet were bound by layers of rules.
Levos had considered asking the Grand Priest before.
But after weighing it again and again, he decided against having Fuwa contact Zeno.
If he alerted the Omni-King, this timeline might truly enter its final countdown immediately.
Losing the training room was one thing. What Levos wanted more was information on the unknown enemy.
But now he was preparing to leave this timeline anyway.
So, in the final stretch, he wanted to see if he could force that thing to show itself.
A day later, Goten quietly felt out his new form.
"This form… it feels a bit stronger than Super Saiyan 3. But compared to the enemy, the gap is still too big…"
"What do you know?!" the Old Kai snapped. "You trained for years, and I made you surpass Super Saiyan 3 in a single day!"
Goten fell silent.
The Old Kai wasn't wrong. His expectations had simply been too high.
"Blame your Saiyan race for having too many transformations. If you were another species, the boost would be more obvious…"
Levos figured that was true.
If this ritual were used on Frieza, that guy might truly become absurd.
In the end, the Old Kai sighed in disappointment. "Tch… looks like I really am old. Can't keep up with the times…"
Levos smoothed it over. "Don't say that. After you raise someone's potential limit, they can still unlock an even higher transformation."
"What Goten's using right now is a Potential Unleashed state, commonly called the Ultimate form. The next stage is an evolved Potential Unleashed. In our world we usually call it the Beast form. The Beast form can stand on the level of a God of Destruction."
Levos explained carefully, then demonstrated it personally.
In nearly three years, Levos had essentially mastered every Saiyan transformation.
Not a single day of slack, decent talent, and the ability to analyze through Cell Max's mechanical form meant he rarely hit bottlenecks.
What he had lacked before was time.
So everything came naturally, like water flowing downhill.
When Beast-form Levos stood before them, that heavy, tangible pressure in his aura was impossible to deny.
Goten immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, Old Kai. I shouldn't have doubted you…"
"No matter." The Old Kai waved it off. "You're the last warrior left in this world. Just remember this: I'll do everything I can to help you…"
Then, with a dull thud, the Old Kai collapsed.
Everyone panicked at once.
Only Levos stayed calm, like he'd already guessed what it was.
Sure enough, when the Old Kai woke again a moment later, a halo identical to Fuwa's hovered above his head.
"I don't have thousands of years left anyway," the Old Kai said. "And this world won't hold much longer. This lifespan is useless to me. Might as well give it to you…"
"I heard there's a mysterious place on Earth with strange time power. Maybe if you train there for a thousand years, you'll surpass the enemy…"
"Senior… you're mistaken." Fuwa sighed. "Even if such a place exists, it was destroyed along with Earth."
"You think I don't know that?!" the Old Kai snapped. "The universe is vast. A place like that can't exist only on Earth."
"...That's true," Levos admitted.
After all, Golden Frieza had once trained in a space where time flowed differently, and came out transformed.
Unfortunately, over the next few days, the Old Kai still couldn't locate such a place in the lower realm.
During that time, Levos sparred with Goten several times.
Every exchange stunned everyone watching. They couldn't help feeling Levos had already become a sovereign of his own timeline.
"This isn't even impressive." Levos shrugged. "My real body at this level gets bullied by villains back home. And I definitely wouldn't be a match for the Majin in your world."
Goten stared at him. "Levos, we've already said it. We're not going to believe that. Don't insult our judgment."
"Super Saiyan 4, Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, Great Ape Super Saiyan Full Power, Beast form. What transformation is there that you can't do?!"
"Goten still has a lot to learn from you," the Old Kai added, "but you keep being this humble and you're begging to get punched…"
Levos could only sigh. He was telling the truth, and nobody believed him.
The plan to return to his original world was delayed by several days.
Then, one day, the Dragon Ball shard Levos always toyed with suddenly lost all its glow and became an ordinary stone.
"The change is here…" Levos straightened sharply. "Lord Fuwa, please contact Zeno."
Fuwa and the Old Kai already knew the final fate of this timeline.
Even though Levos still believed there might be a chance to save it, they trusted Chronoa's judgment completely.
"The Supreme Kai of Time is the most special of all Kais. A future she foresees cannot be rewritten."
"Every sealed historical scroll will not branch into a new timeline. The ending was decided from the start."
"History cannot be changed. Levos, you are only a passerby. All you can do is record what happened here."
It sounded like fate.
Levos didn't buy it. He kept trying anyway.
Even though the Old Kai and Fuwa believed it was pointless, they still helped whenever they could.
Fuwa, who had long since put life and death aside, still looked nervous as he contacted Zeno.
Suddenly, he trembled and dropped to his knees perfectly straight.
"I… I got through."
He looked at Levos like he needed saving—like he'd forgotten what to say.
"Tell them we request an audience," Levos reminded him.
Fuwa took a deep breath and shakily delivered the request.
The wait felt endless.
No one knew how long passed, but Fuwa finally collapsed.
Levos hurried over. Fuwa was drenched in sweat—he was fine. Just nerves.
It took him a long time to come back to himself.
"Zeno… Zeno-sama agreed…"
After gathering themselves, the four of them would go together.
There was almost nothing to pack. Once Levos stored the Sacred World of the Kais inside his personal space, they could depart.
"Four Sacred Worlds now," Levos murmured. "When I get back, I'll take some soil and spread it over Earth. Maybe it'll make the planet tougher."
A moment later, the group teleported to the front of Zeno's palace.
At the same time, outside, Cell Max finally woke the Supreme Kai of Time, Chronoa.
Wiping the wetness from her face, Chronoa looked aggrieved.
"I was on vacation in my dream. Such a good dream, and you ruined it…" she muttered.
Then she seemed embarrassed that she'd fallen asleep in a situation like this.
"Sorry… how long was I out?"
"How long?" Levos didn't know what to say. "Three days and three nights!"
Chronoa's eyes went wide in disbelief.
"Has it really been that long, TokiToki?"
"TokiToki!" The little bird nodded frantically.
"Oh no!" Chronoa jolted, immediately staring at Cell Max. "Y-you… you're out of danger now?"
So you do remember to care about that. Levos could only nod silently.
Chronoa's panic eased slightly. "Good, good. Then I'll teleport you out right away."
"Wait!" Levos stopped her. "There's one more thing I haven't finished. Hold on."
"The Time Patrol already investigated," Chronoa said, confused. "The records say there are no human survivors inside. No hope of saving it. What else could there be?"
No human survivors? Your team didn't look carefully enough.
Levos didn't point it out. Honestly, from an outsider's view, the patrol's conclusion wasn't wrong.
"I'm about to meet Zeno. Any advice?"
"Meet Zeno-sama?" Chronoa blinked.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Then go. Say I sent you…"
She patiently warned him to show proper respect, but not to be as terrified as the Kais and Destroyers.
As long as he didn't anger Zeno, nothing would happen.
And she would keep watching the situation outside. Before Zeno erased the universe, she would pull Levos out in time.
"I understand."
Levos felt like Chronoa was oddly more patient after waking up, not as short-tempered as when they first met.
Was she actually exhausted?
Either way, he had no more concerns now. He could face Zeno with a clear mind.
The main doors of Zeno's palace slowly opened, and a figure stepped out.
"Grand Priest." Fuwa and the Old Kai knelt on one knee.
"Mhm. Rise." The Grand Priest smiled faintly. "I already know why you're here. Follow me."
He led the way, and they trailed behind.
"The matters of the lower realms are already known to Zeno-sama," the Grand Priest said casually. "This enemy is difficult to deal with, isn't it, Levos?"
"The Grand Priest knows me?" Levos was startled.
"Besides protecting Zeno-sama, I have many responsibilities. Watching the development of the twelve universes is naturally one of them."
"If necessary, I can also access information from other timelines."
Levos's heart tightened.
So the Grand Priest really did stand near a level of omniscience.
The others were equally stunned hearing such a secret for the first time.
"If you already knew what was happening below," Goten couldn't help asking, "why did you let it reach this point?"
"Even as Grand Priest, I am still bound by the angels' principle of neutrality," he replied calmly. "I can only provide limited help. I cannot directly interfere. Like an observer… a guide."
Angels had rules. They did not cross the line.
Goten understood. Even someone above angels in status was still constrained by higher law.
It didn't take long before they reached the inner hall.
A tiny, round little figure sat on a chair.
"Greetings, Zeno-sama."
Fuwa and the Old Kai were about to kneel fully.
"No need, no need." Zeno's face showed no emotion. "I know everything!"
"It is our failure," the two Kais said, barely able to stand steady.
But Zeno's gaze passed right over them.
His short little hand waved the GodPad he was holding, and he smiled at Levos.
"That tournament was really fun!"
"…Huh?" Levos blinked in surprise.
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