The Hour of Destruction

"Hahaha! King Frieza is finally going to destroy Planet Vegeta. I've been sick of those Saiyans for ages."

Dodoria watched Frieza pilot his craft into outer space, a satisfied smile on his face.

"What a beautiful planet. And yet, because of the Saiyans' stupidity, it's about to become fireworks in space." Zarbon, with his green hair, shook his head. His expression was cold, and his voice carried a bone-chilling edge.

"Heh. Once the Frieza Legion loses the Saiyans, its backbone, our strength will suffer. We need to make up for the loss of fighting personnel as soon as possible!"

The speaker was a blue-skinned alien named Berryblue. She usually took care of Frieza's daily affairs. Although she looked like an old woman, she spoke without hesitation even in front of Frieza, a tyrant.

Frieza was ruthless to everyone, but Berryblue was the one person who could always get the better of him.

That was why Berryblue held a rather special position in the Frieza Legion.

"Don't worry, Berryblue. The selection of legion soldiers began a long time ago. It won't be long before we're back to full strength." Kikono, the alien commander, was unruffled. With his hands clasped behind his back, he calmly gazed at Planet Vegeta.

"Heh."

Berryblue chuckled softly and turned her gaze toward the distant Planet Vegeta. The blue-and-white planet looked exceptionally beautiful in the frigid reaches of space, like a brilliant jewel carved to perfection.

"Look! King Frieza is about to make his move."

"This is the first time I've seen His Majesty fight."

The aliens watched through the observation windows, their eyes alight and their expressions brimming with excitement.

They rarely had a chance to see Frieza fight in person, so they were eagerly anticipating this rare opportunity. Many of the wicked aliens held their breath, watching in anticipation.

Above the ship, Frieza sat in his tiny craft and gazed at Planet Vegeta in the distance, letting out a wild "Hohoho!" Then he raised a finger. A red speck flickered on its tip, rapidly swelling until it had grown from the size of a peanut into a colossal fireball hundreds of meters across.

This was Frieza's Planet Destroyer Ball. Even a casual flick of it was enough to destroy a planet.

"Saiyans, perish along with your planet!" Frieza laughed maniacally.

"Yah!"

He pointed a finger toward Planet Vegeta. The enormous fireball, brimming with energy like a sun, shot toward the planet. As it approached the atmosphere, it revealed its terrifying nature. Its intense energy compressed the atmosphere, unleashing a dreadful storm.

Whoosh—

The atmosphere was shoved aside, and a second sun seemed to appear in the sky. Its heat scorched the clouds.

If the fireball reached the surface, Planet Vegeta was finished!

"He's finally made his move. Planet Vegeta is done for."

"So King Frieza's power really is this terrifying! Amazing!"

As the aliens watched Frieza's enormous fireball hurtle toward Planet Vegeta, they were frightened and helpless, yet a sense of admiration rose in them. Gazing at the tiny figure above the ship, they felt their blood begin to boil.

On Planet Vegeta, Roland had chased Sephiria all the way here, but she was so fast that she had long since vanished from his sight. After finally catching up to her above the Royal Capital, he saw her floating alone in midair, furiously unleashing energy attacks at the ground below.

Below lay a stretch of ruined buildings. Wisps of hot smoke still rose from the rubble, suggesting it had only just been destroyed.

"That's the Yugarites' command center. Did Sephiria destroy it?"

Roland appeared beside Sephiria and grabbed her tail, about to give her a piece of his mind.

Sephiria flicked her tail. Her cool face was filled with murderous intent. "I've seen the Yugarites' communications records. Frieza used them to gather information on all the Saiyans carrying out missions off-world. It seems you were right. Frieza really doesn't want the Saiyans to survive..."

"Hey, what's that?" Sephiria stopped speaking and suddenly looked toward the horizon.

"Hm?"

At her words, Roland looked up. A huge, fiery-red ball was crashing through the atmosphere, like a sun hurtling toward them. Even from a great distance, he could feel the terrifying energy it contained.

Roland sucked in a sharp breath, a chill running down his back. "Damn it, it's Frieza's Planet Destroyer Ball! Frieza's attack is here."

"I'll stop it!"

"Wait..." Roland had just started to say that she couldn't stop it when Sephiria shot upward and unleashed an energy attack at the fireball.

Whoosh!

A deep-blue beam of energy erupted from between Sephiria's hands and shot straight into the sky. But compared with the Planet Destroyer Ball, it was insignificant. The blue beam was steadily forced backward.

"It's so powerful!" Sephiria clenched her teeth, her delicate face turning deathly pale.

"What's going on?"

"It's Frieza. He's going to destroy all of Planet Vegeta."

Just then, the Saiyans near the Royal Capital finally reacted. Realizing the danger was upon them, they all began to attack. One blue energy blast after another shot up from the ground toward the fireball.

The Royal Capital region was home to Planet Vegeta's strongest Saiyans—the elite of their entire race.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One energy beam after another flickered out. In front of Frieza's Planet Destroyer Ball, the Saiyans, whose power levels barely exceeded ten thousand, couldn't stop the oncoming disaster. Their first attempt had failed.

"What's going on? Why is this attack so powerful?"

"We can't hold it back much longer!"

The Saiyans stared with bloodshot eyes as the Planet Destroyer Ball drew closer to the ground, feeling more helpless than ever before.

"Frieza, we won't let you get away with this!"

With an angry roar, Bardock flew straight toward the Destruction Ball and stretched out his arms, trying to catch it. As Bardock took to the air, countless more Saiyans rushed toward the fireball, hoping to stop it with their own bodies.

But it was all in vain. The Planet Destroyer Ball continued inching closer to Planet Vegeta. Terrifying whirlwinds rose around it, the whole planet fell into turmoil, and the atmosphere grew wildly unstable.

"Damn it, I can't get close to Sephiria."

Knowing that Planet Vegeta's destruction could no longer be prevented, Roland had already prepared his Transfer Technique. He wanted to take Sephiria with him, but the fierce storm kept his frail body from reaching her. The hurricane pinned him to the ground, leaving him unable to move.

Suddenly, Roland's eyes lit up. He spotted someone in the crowd: Hertz, the captain of Sephiria's squad. He, too, was among those trying to stop Frieza's attack.

"Quick, take me to Sephiria!" Roland shouted to Hertz.

Hertz's face was deathly pale as he unleashed blast after blast. Hearing a child's voice, he turned and saw Sephiria's younger brother. He gave a bitter smile. "Forget it. Planet Vegeta's destruction can't be stopped. Who would've thought the Saiyans, who often invaded other people's worlds, would be destroyed by someone else?"

"At least the siblings can be together in their final moments." With that thought, Hertz gritted his teeth, picked Roland up, and charged toward Sephiria in the sky.

"Captain!"

Sephiria's hair was disheveled, her battle suit was torn, and her face was utterly pale.

"I brought your brother. Spend these last moments together." Hertz sighed as he looked at the siblings. He couldn't help thinking of his own wife... He wondered where Ashita was. They hadn't even managed to see each other one last time.

"Don't say anything. Grab my hand. I'll get you out of here." Against the terrifying storm, Roland struggled to maintain his strength.

"Ah..."

Sephiria took Roland's hand and gazed at the enormous fireball descending toward them. The fierce wind blew across her forehead, making it impossible for her to open her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Hertz couldn't make sense of the situation.

"There's no time to explain! Planet Vegeta is about to be destroyed. Hold on to me!" Roland shouted. The energy inside him surged as he abruptly activated the Transfer Technique.

"Transfer Technique!"

With a shout, space began to distort. A flash of light appeared, and in the blink of an eye, the three vanished from Planet Vegeta.

After Roland and the others disappeared, the enormous, hideous fireball crashed down with unstoppable force. It smashed a gigantic crater into the ground, and its energy pierced straight through the planet's core. A colossal mushroom cloud surged skyward as the continental plates split apart with a roar. Lava and flames engulfed the entire planet, and the scene of doomsday arrived without warning.

Some Saiyans who didn't understand what was happening had only just emerged from their settlements when they were instantly vaporized by the heat, which destroyed everything.

In truth, the moment the Planet Destroyer Ball fell, Planet Vegeta's fate was sealed.

Rumble!!

In the stillness of space, Planet Vegeta looked like a gigantic fireball before exploding into pieces. On the monitor in outer space, signs of life rapidly vanished. Before long, the Scouter could no longer detect any life energy.