"No. I have to ask and get a straight answer, or this will gnaw at me," Mule growled, grinding his steel teeth.
"Will Lord Mule question the Grand Priest's own son to his face?" Camparri sighed.
"What? His son?" Mule froze, his expression changing.
"You didn't know? Merus is the Grand Priest's son," Camparri explained. "Please don't do anything rash in front of the Grand Priest."
Mule's mouth twitched. He suddenly felt very unwell.
At first, he naïvely thought Merus was like Camparri—an Angel condensed from a universe's essence. Though all were under the Grand Priest, not his direct offspring.
Now that he knew the truth, Mule immediately settled down.
But after a brief struggle, he still wanted to go ask.
Just a question—polite and proper.
"I'll speak respectfully… I'm not going to accuse him. I doubt the Grand Priest would blame me for that," Mule said through clenched teeth after some thought.
"Please be cautious, Lord Mule," Camparri shook his head. "It won't be too late to ask after the tournament."
Mule went silent. Camparri had a point.
Right. I'll wait until the matches are over.
I was too impatient—I almost caused a scene.
That guy is actually the Grand Priest's son…
As they chatted—
Shu!
Another starlike streak flashed across the void.
An instant later, Universe 11's Angel Marcarita arrived with God of Destruction Belmod and trainee God of Destruction Toppo.
The three immediately paid their respects to the Grand Priest. Marcarita bowed; Belmod and Toppo knelt.
"Take seats in the stands," the Grand Priest said with a pleasant smile.
The trio swept their gaze across the arena and settled on Merus's section.
"My, my… Merus," Marcarita smiled. "Belmod-sama, let's sit over there."
Belmod had no objection.
They sat beside Merus.
"Marcarita-neesan," Merus bowed.
"Long time no see, Merus. I hear you've been training with the Galactic Patrol in Universe 7. How's that going?" she asked warmly.
For the record:
The Grand Priest has four sons and three daughters.
Sons: Korn, Sour, Whis, and Merus.
Daughters: Kusu, Marcarita, and Vados.
Since Merus and Marcarita are true siblings, their relationship is naturally close.
"Not bad, Marcarita-neesan," Merus replied politely.
"My, my… is that plump, pudgy fellow your trainee God of Destruction?" Marcarita had noticed Majin Buu; she covered her mouth with a chuckle, curious.
"Y-Yes," Merus nodded repeatedly, then added with some embarrassment, "His figure is… somewhat similar to Champa-sama's, isn't it?"
"Now that you say it, their builds do resemble each other," Marcarita mused, nodding.
Merus's eyes shifted to the man beside Belmod. "Allow me to introduce—this is Belmod-sama's trainee God of Destruction, Mr. Toppo," Marcarita said, indicating Toppo with a smile. "Belmod-sama plans to retire in a few years, so he began training a successor long ago."
"Long ago?" Merus's expression changed. "Then Mr. Toppo must be formidable."
"Hmph, of course," Belmod smirked. "Not to brag, but in this selection, Toppo will win without question."
Toppo straightened his back, brimming with confidence.
On the way here, he'd heard that he was the only one to have become a trainee Destroy—no, God of Destruction so early. The other universes' GoDs had no intention of retiring, so they hadn't trained successors.
Under a God of Destruction and an Angel's guidance, mortals grow quickly.
In other words, Toppo would surely take the championship.
Universe 18's God of Destruction would be Toppo—barring surprises.
"What wish should I make?" Belmod rubbed his chin, eyes lifting to the seven golden planets gleaming in the distant sky, already pondering his prize.
"Let's think together," Marcarita giggled.
Merus: "…"
"Marcarita-neesan, you two seem awfully confident," Merus couldn't help saying.
"Well, Belmod-sama did get lucky this time—training a God of Destruction in advance," Marcarita teased.
"Hey, watch it. 'Lucky'?" Belmod's face darkened.
"Hee… just kidding," Marcarita's laughter rang like silver bells.
In the distance, Mule suppressed his urge to march over.
After the matches. I'll wait.
Shu!
Another starlike streak crossed the sky.
Universe 4's Angel Cognac and God of Destruction Quitela descended and knelt before the Grand Priest.
He nodded from afar and directed them to the stands.
Cognac and Quitela sat beside Universe 11—near Belmod's group.
"Quitela, here to spectate? Didn't bring a candidate?" Belmod eyed him with a smile.
"You've got it," Quitela nodded without denial.
Quitela was the second strongest God of Destruction among the twelve universes, after Beerus.
He looked like a tawny mouse with a rather sleazy air.
"Voluntarily forfeiting? Doesn't sound like you," Belmod said, puzzled.
As a fellow God of Destruction, Belmod knew Quitela well. The rat was driven. That's how he'd become second strongest.
After that arm-wrestling win over Beerus, Quitela had trumpeted it to everyone.
Of course, he knew there was still a gap between them.
"What? I like a good show. Mind your own business," Quitela snorted, ignoring Belmod—though a faint smile tugged at his mouth.
Beside Quitela sat a person as small as an ant.
He looked like a little insect—Damom.
If you didn't look carefully, you'd miss him.
At least for now, no one on the Universe 11 side had noticed him.
Even Marcarita hadn't. Being an Angel didn't mean she had to scrutinize every other universe's pick.
"Quitela, is your universe really not competing?" Mule asked from the side.
"Who are you? Universe 3's entrant? You dare address me by name? You've got guts," Quitela huffed.
Mule: "…"
"I'm Mule. I control Mosco," Mule said quickly, pointing to the large robot beside him.
"Oh, you. You rarely come out of that robot," Quitela remembered, and tossed off a flat remark.
"Right…" Mule nodded.
"Cognac, seems we arrived a bit early," Quitela turned to his Angel, ignoring Mule.
In the eyes of the strong, a God of destruction who relied on a robot earned contempt.
Mule was used to it. He knew his status among Gods of Destruction wasn't high.
So what?
If someone from my universe became Universe 18's Destroy—God of Destruction, I'd have a powerful ally.
"Maji-Kayo, it's on you," Mule patted Maji-Kayo's shoulder.
"Yes, Lord Mule," Maji-Kayo answered respectfully.
"Too bad we don't know where Nigrissi went. With his help, your odds would be better," Mule muttered through his teeth.
Maji-Kayo said nothing.
"You're still the pride of our high tech—super liquid metal paired with added genes, regenerative capability, practically undying," Mule smiled with confidence.
"Yes," Maji-Kayo bowed again.
Shu! Shu!
Two more comet-like trails shone at the horizon.
Universe 7's Angel Whis arrived with Emperor Frieza, and Universe 10's Angel Kusu and God of Destruction Rumsshi arrived with Zamasu.
The two groups landed almost simultaneously and paid respects to the Grand Priest.
Whis and Kusu bowed; the God of Destruction and mortal entrant knelt.
Frieza's eyes flicked about, considering whether to lodge a complaint with the supreme god of all universes.
The Supreme Kai not only killed my son, he glared me into the stratosphere.
Who do I complain to?
But after thinking it over, Frieza decided now wasn't the time.
Win first—then complain. That way he'd have leverage.
On the way, Whis had briefed him on which god they were meeting.
So when he saw the Grand Priest, Frieza became impeccably respectful.
They said even Lord Beerus would prostrate himself before this one.
"Is Beerus still sleeping?" the Grand Priest asked Whis with a smile.
"Yes, yes. So I brought a candidate myself," Whis nodded.
"Find a seat in the stands," the Grand Priest said simply.
Whis led Frieza to sit beside Merus.
The Grand Priest turned to Universe 10's Kusu, Rumsshi, and Zamasu.
"This one is a Kai, yes?" He saw Zamasu's office at a glance.
Zamasu bowed again—more perfectly this time.
"Yes," Kusu nodded repeatedly. "As expected of the Grand Priest—you saw it instantly."
"In principle… Kais aren't allowed to participate," the Grand Priest said.
Zamasu: "…"
I came for nothing?
Rumsshi grimaced.
After all that effort, he can't compete?
Disastrous.
"But as an exception this time, you may enter," the Grand Priest added.
Zamasu let out a tiny breath.
Kusu and Rumsshi thanked him quickly.
"Take any seats you like," the Grand Priest said with a smile.
Kusu led Rumsshi and Zamasu to sit beside Universe 11.
"Belmod, Universe 2 isn't here?" Rumsshi asked after sitting, glancing over.
"What, do you fancy Heles?" Belmod chuckled. "Haven't won her over yet?"
"Hmph. Me? Chase her? She's so dark," Rumsshi snorted.
"You elephants mind skin tone?" Belmod laughed.
"I don't care for a lump of coal," Rumsshi huffed, trunk swaying.
Belmod: "…"
A lump of coal?
Good thing Heles isn't here…
If she heard that, would she shoot him on the spot?
"Besides Universe 2, who else is missing?" Rumsshi looked around.
"Universe 9's Sidra," Belmod said. "Hmph, he's late—and we're all waiting."
"So Heles really isn't coming?" Rumsshi sounded disappointed.
"Who knows?" Belmod shrugged, clearly uninterested in the dusky beauty.
"We're waiting on Universe 9 then?" Rumsshi checked the time; the matches were close.
"Seems so. If everyone arrives, we can start early," Belmod nodded.
"We still don't know what format the matches will take," Rumsshi said, gazing thoughtfully at the arena.
"Likely right down there," Belmod mused.
On Universe 7's side, Whis and Merus chatted.
"Merus, did you end up taking Mr. Ken to Kusu?" Whis glanced toward Kusu's section—no Ken in sight.
Hearing the name, Frieza's ears perked.
Ken?
Why does that sound familiar?
I've heard it somewhere!
Who was it?
Right—he's a Saiyan.
That little monkey's name stands out. I heard the Saiyan naming system glitched and gave him that odd name.
But why did this Whis suddenly bring him up?
Frieza pricked his ears and eyed Majin Buu up and down.
Buu kept nodding off.
I wasn't done sleeping when they woke me…
I just want a good nap.
"No. Ken said he prefers the number six, so he went to Universe 6. Vados-neesan happened to be visiting Universe 10, so she took Ken back to Universe 6," Merus explained helplessly.
"My, my… quite a detour," Whis shook his head, letting it drop.
Kusu had clearly been listening. She rose and glided over, looking distinctly displeased.
"He didn't choose me. He'll regret it," Kusu said flatly.
"Yes, yes," Whis chimed in.
"Merus, I heard Ken once proposed a purity scale for Angelic Power?" Kusu asked suddenly.
"Yes. By his calculation, my Angelic Power purity is 41 right now," Merus answered honestly.
"Then mine is about 65," Kusu said after a glance at Merus, offering her own measure.
"I'm 64—slightly below Kusu-neesan," Whis smiled, unconcerned.
"When he was with you, what was Ken's purity?" Kusu asked Merus.
"Ten," Merus replied.
"It's been half a year. I wonder how far he's risen. I don't believe Vados teaches better than I do," Kusu said with a small smile.
"The Grand Priest said… Ken's Angelic Power purity has already reached 30," Merus said—and felt a stab to the heart.
Ten more points and he'd be shoulder to shoulder with me.
If a mortal surpasses me… how humiliating.
An embarrassment to us Angels.
"What? Already 30?" Kusu was stunned.
"My, my… how remarkable," Whis said, genuinely surprised.
Frieza listened with pricked ears, but the Angels' talk meant nothing to him.
Angelic Power purity? What is that?
Can you convert it into battle power so I can understand?
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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