In the World of the Strong, There Is Never a Place for the Weak

Surging energy churned through the forest, sending swaying grass and terrified animals wailing across the earth.

Curiosity killed the cat.

If time could turn back, they would never have chosen to stay and watch the spectacle.

If time could turn back, Nickel believed he would never have chosen to fight Beckett.

Nickel believed he had pushed the power of the Battle Formation Secret Art to its limit, yet he still could not make the red-tailed man before him retreat even a single step.

Beckett, Son of Thanos. Only now did Nickel truly understand the weight carried by that title.

A tiger father could not raise a dog son. As the son of the cosmic powerhouse Thanos, Beckett had not tarnished his father's reputation. On the contrary, Beckett's excellence only further enhanced Thanos's prestige.

Why?

Why?!

If only my power were greater, if only my power were greater, if only my power were greater!

"Beckett!"

With his eyes nearly splitting apart, he clung to the last of his stubborn pride. The new king of the Centaurian race would never allow himself to surrender.

The golden scepter seemed to sense its king's resolve to fight to the death. The sapphire embedded at its tip suddenly shone brilliantly. Nickel could feel the power flowing into his body being amplified with the gemstone's aid!

"Hmm?"

Beckett, who had been outputting power with one hand, sensed that something was off. Born exceptionally sensitive to power, he could clearly feel that the energy surging from Nickel had increased severalfold from before.

"I am the King of the Centaurian race!"

Unable to suppress the upward curl of his lips, Nickel was overjoyed.

He could feel it. This was the power stored within the scepter by generations of kings of the Centaurian race. Though only a small portion had acknowledged him and entered his body, it was enough for Nickel.

The counterattack began now!

"Oh, I see. Is this the royal scepter of your Centaurian race Father told me about?"

A trace of seriousness finally appeared in Beckett's eyes. He was very interested in this power.

"Then, ancestors, lend me your strength!"

Across from Beckett, Nickel's prayer continued. His final roar was answered by a flash of recognition from the sapphire.

One unfamiliar presence after another shot into Nickel's body through the scepter, and the color of his body gradually began to change.

His entirely purple body was gradually streaked with bright silver and sky-blue lines. As those lines changed, his centaur body gradually transformed into a humanoid form. The glowing sapphire detached itself from the top of the scepter and flew to Nickel's chest on its own.

"Beckett, Son of Thanos, you will pay for what your father did to Centaurus Planet!"

With his power soaring, Nickel shouted and rejoiced. Right now, he felt as though he could shatter Alpha Star beneath his feet with a single punch.

The power of the forty-nine Centaurian warriors behind him poured endlessly into his body. With his ancestors' power resting before his chest, the wildly excited Nickel launched the first attack.

Confident in himself, he chose the simplest and most brutal method—letting his fists do the talking.

Supplied by immense energy, Nickel's figure appeared beside Beckett in the instant he turned.

As he threw a punch, the smile on Nickel's lips instantly froze.

He had missed.

"First, it was your Centaurian race that launched the rebellion." Beckett's voice rang out behind Nickel as a powerful roundhouse kick swept into Nickel's waist.

Tremendous power erupted. Though his mind had reacted, Nickel's body had no time to defend itself, and Beckett's kick instantly sent him soaring into the sky!

"Second, three years ago, in order to plunder resources, your Centaurian race slaughtered every living thing on Pandora Planet."

Those judgment-like words rang by Nickel's ear once again. In a blur, Beckett appeared before him, interlocked his fingers into a fist, and drove it viciously into Nickel's abdomen.

A suffocating sensation instantly swept through Nickel's nerves. Completely unable to resist, he fell straight down from the sky and crashed into the ground.

Entirely unfamiliar with the power his ancestors had lent him, Nickel was brutally beaten. The gap between the paradise he had imagined and the hellish reality was too much for him to accept.

"Third, Father once said that power you cannot control is not worthy of being called power."

The figure with the swaying red tail landed beside the panting Nickel. An icy metal combat boot stepped directly onto the sapphire on Nickel's chest, whose light had begun to flicker.

The gemstone shattered with a bang, and Nickel's eyes nearly split apart.

The gemstone containing a portion of the power of every past king of the Centaurian race lost the protection of the golden scepter and became a pile of dazzling fragments.

"No!!!!!"

He roared, struggled, and resisted, but it was all futile. Disbelief and even despair grew in Nickel's heart as Beckett bent down and effortlessly took the scepter, now stripped of its sapphire.

The cold metallic sheen reflected across Nickel's despairing face. The golden scepter, symbol of the Centaurian race's royal authority and heirloom of countless ages, was snapped in two by Beckett after losing the sapphire's protection.

"Why?"

"Why?!!"

"Why?!!!"

The symbol of his race had become dust in history, and it had happened in his own hands. Unable to accept this reality, Nickel's mind was on the verge of collapse.

"The Centaurus Galaxy was originally the territory of our Centaurian race. Is it wrong for us to reclaim our own land?"

"There was nothing wrong with what you did." Beckett lowered his head and looked down at Nickel, who was murmuring toward the sky.

"What was wrong was that you possessed enviable resources without having enough strength to protect them."

"If you had been strong enough, Father would not have been able to invade the Centaurus Galaxy back then. If you had been strong enough, the Centaurian race would not be facing extinction today. And if you had been strong enough, then the one lying on the ground now should be me, not you."

"In the world of the strong, there is never a place for the weak."

"Just like three years ago, when the armies of Centauri Prime slaughtered Pandora Planet, did you ever heed the pleas of the people of Pandora?"

The laws of the universe had always been merciless. Beckett had understood that long ago. If King Vegeta had been strong enough back then, Frieza would have been the one to die.

Unfortunately, reality had no ifs—only the known present and the unknown future.

"Beckett, remember this: in the world of the strong, there is never a place for the weak."

Keeping the teachings of his adoptive father Thanos firmly in mind, Beckett thrust the broken scepter into Nickel's chest.

This move had left me utterly exhausted...

I still hadn't finished cleaning today... Renting a place when you have a mild obsession with cleanliness was seriously painful. Three people spent an entire night cleaning just three rooms and two bathrooms. Tomorrow, we would continue with the living room, dining room, kitchen, and two balconies. (ノ=Д=)ノ┻━┻