c23 Son Goku VS Evil Thought Wave (3)
"Hoo-ho! Damn it, that guy another monster with seemingly unlimited energy!"
Vegeta was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling violently. His battle with Xie Nianbo had drained him, and he could feel his Super Saiyan transformation slipping. He understood all too well that with his current stamina, sustaining the form was already difficult, let alone defeating this abomination whose energy never seemed to diminish.
"Vegeta, let me handle this!"
Son Goku stepped forward, his expression brimming with both excitement and focus. His eyes locked onto the opponent, the thrill of the fight surging through him. It was finally his turn to test his limits.
Vegeta clenched his fists. Although every part of him screamed to finish Xie Nianbo with his own hands, his battered body refused to move as he wished. Pride warred with reason, and he knew deep down that he had no choice but to entrust this battle to Kakarot.
During their earlier clash, Vegeta had managed to overpower Xie Nianbo dozens of times in sheer exchange, but unlike this fiend, his stamina was not bottomless. That imbalance gnawed at his pride, making him furious.
Damn it… If only I had more strength left, I would have crushed him myself and then challenged Kakarot immediately afterwards.
Grinding his teeth, Vegeta sat down heavily on a nearby boulder, crossing his arms. He forced himself to observe the battlefield, suppressing the storm in his chest.
In his mind, Kakarot's power at this stage was close to his own. But Goku's mastery of battle, his ability to adapt mid-fight, was undoubtedly sharper. If anyone could last longer against Xie Nianbo, it was him.
"Aaaahhh!"
Without holding back, Goku's aura erupted violently. Lightning danced around him as his golden hair spiked even higher he had ascended directly into Super Saiyan 2, his energy flaring to its maximum.
"Uh-huh!"
In an instant, Goku vanished, reappearing right before Xie Nianbo. His right leg lashed out like a whip, aimed squarely at the enemy's neck.
"Whoosh!"
But Xie Nianbo blocked effortlessly with his own leg, countering with a brutal strike of his fist aimed straight at Goku's chest.
"Bang! Bang!"
Their clash shook the battlefield. Fists, elbows, and knees collided at speeds invisible to the naked eye. The two warriors shot from the ground to the sky, then back again, their figures blurring like lightning streaks across the battlefield. Anyone weaker would have been utterly incapable of following their movements.
Every collision ripped through the air, and the sky itself trembled as if ready to crack apart. Shockwaves blasted across the land, hurling dust and boulders in every direction.
But as the exchange dragged on, Goku's brow furrowed. Even at full power in Super Saiyan 2, his attacks were not breaking through. He could feel Xie Nianbo's energy pulsing back at him with unnatural vitality.
Tch… At this rate, even Super Saiyan 2 won't be enough. Looks like I'll need to push into the next form. The one I only just managed to unleash… Super Saiyan 3!
"Boom!"
Their fists collided once more, sending both of them crashing into the towering rocks nearby, which shattered instantly into rubble.
Panting, Goku steadied himself. "Unbelievable… I've been fighting at the very limit of Super Saiyan 2, and he's still unfazed. If I want to win, I have to go all out there's no other way!"
His gaze sharpened as golden electricity arced violently across his body.
"Aaaaahhhh!"
The ground beneath him cracked and cratered under the pressure of his rising power. Energy spiraled upward like a storm, golden flames burning hotter and brighter around him, consuming the battlefield in a blinding radiance.
His aura shifted dramatically he was preparing to transcend once more, into a power that even Vegeta had not seen with his own eyes.
The golden flames burst forth with blinding intensity, expanding without limit, radiating across the battlefield like a miniature sun.
Bolts of crackling electricity, which had briefly subsided, surged back with fury. They sharpened into silver-white serpents of lightning that coiled wildly around Son Goku's body, each discharge echoing with a deafening crack-crack! that split the air.
His muscles trembled uncontrollably not from weakness, but from the violent strain of every cell within him drawing in and compressing an impossible torrent of energy.
"Bang! Bang!"
The explosion of golden light illuminated the entire Other World. The very dimension itself began to quake. The ground of the underworld fractured under the pressure, while the sky above split open with jagged fissures, streaks of divine lightning bleeding into the rift.
And still, Son Goku's ki climbed higher.
This wasn't just the Other World trembling the immense surge of energy reverberated outward, rippling through the galaxy itself as though the cosmos were reacting to his transformation.
"Susu!"
Shockwaves rolled from Goku's body in expanding rings, scattering debris and whipping up violent winds. The atmosphere was completely swallowed by the immensity of his aura.
At last, his form had changed beyond recognition. His golden hair cascaded down his back, reaching to his waist. His brows had receded, giving his face an eerily fierce expression, and his teal eyes gleamed with overwhelming intensity.
Encased in arcs of silver-white lightning that lashed in every direction, Son Goku had ascended into Super Saiyan 3.
"This…! Kakarot… you… actually—"
Vegeta froze, his usual arrogance faltering. He stared at the transformation, his chest burning with disbelief. He had always prided himself as being at least close to Kakarot in strength, but the staggering aura radiating from this form left him furious.
"Damn him! This bastard Kakarot… hiding such a trump card all this time. If this guy hadn't stepped in first"
Grinding his teeth, Vegeta's glare darkened as he tried to smother the storm of rage inside him.
"Alright then!" Goku's voice rumbled, his tone colder than usual. His hair whipped in the storm of energy around him as he fixed his eyes on Xie Nianbo. "I can't hold this form for long… so let's settle this quickly!"
"Tch!"
The Evil Thought Wave snorted dismissively, but even he could feel the enormous pressure pouring from Goku. He braced himself instinctively.
"Whoosh!"
In a blur, the two figures clashed once again. This time the difference was clear Super Saiyan 3 Goku dominated, his blows hammering Xie Nianbo mercilessly, driving him back without giving him room to breathe.
Yet Xie Nianbo's twisted body reformed again and again. Though blasted apart repeatedly by Goku's fierce assaults, he returned each time, wearing down Goku's stamina with relentless persistence. His strategy was simple: endure until Kakarot burned out.
The minutes dragged on, and just as Goku feared, the overwhelming power of Super Saiyan 3 consumed his body too quickly. His breathing grew ragged, his aura sputtered, and finally the golden hair and lightning receded.
"Ugh…!"
He reverted to his base state, exhausted, and was immediately smashed to the ground by a vicious counter from the Evil Thought Wave.
"Dammit! Even Kakarot… in Super Saiyan 3… still couldn't finish him off."
Vegeta's eyes narrowed, fury and dread mixing in his chest. If even that form had failed, what chance did he himself have? If this monster wasn't stopped, the Earth and perhaps the universe would fall into ruin.
He lifted Goku from the rubble, glaring warily at their foe. "Kakarot, what the hell are we supposed to do now?"
"Ahem…" Goku coughed, struggling to stand. His face was pale from exhaustion. "That guy's too strong… and his regeneration and bottomless stamina make him nearly impossible to put down, even if we recover completely."
"Then what?!" Vegeta roared, clenching his fists. "Don't just tell me he's strong—I know that already! If we can't knock him down, the entire Earth is finished!"
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