Vegeta's eyes lit up. "It worked, it worked?"
Son Goku stood high in the sky, like an invincible Golden War God. His gaze was piercing, and the energy radiating from him was overwhelmingly powerful.
"Wait, wasn't it turned into minced meat? Why hasn't its energy disappeared? It hasn't even weakened in the slightest!"
Just then, Janemba's pulverized remains began to wriggle, then rapidly shrank and reassembled.
Soon, a figure took shape in the thick smoke.
"What?"
"Did Janemba evolve?"
Son Goku and Vegeta stared in shock at Janemba's reappearance.
But Janemba was now completely different from before.
If the previous Janemba had looked like an innocent child,
then this one looked like an utterly evil villain.
Janemba's body had undergone a drastic transformation.
The most obvious change was its height: it had shrunk from over thirty meters to just over two. Its body was covered in a layer of hard, flesh-like armor.
Its body had also changed from milky white to mostly red with some pink.
Its dark golden eyes were filled with wickedness, and it kept sneering. It was obvious at a glance that this was a major villain.
Feeling the change in Janemba's energy, Vegeta said in surprise, "That guy's power has increased a lot..."
Son Goku furrowed his brow. He knew that this Janemba was no longer the same one as before.
Its new, perfectly proportioned body was much better suited for battle.
And with its energy having increased so much, Son Goku knew another bitter fight lay ahead.
There was no time to lose.
"Haah!" Son Goku roared, his aura blazing as he decided to strike first.
He used Instant Transmission and appeared behind Janemba in an instant, throwing a punch crackling with electricity.
His fist broke through the air, nearly tearing open space as it slammed toward Janemba.
"Heh-heh." Janemba grinned as its body instantly turned into countless colorful particles and disappeared.
Son Goku's attack missed, punching through empty air.
Danger!
Son Goku stayed alert, not daring to let his guard down for a moment. He flashed away, immediately putting distance between himself and Janemba.
But Janemba's body suddenly re-formed right beside him. It pressed a purple-red energy sphere in its hand against Son Goku's chest.
BOOM!
Before Son Goku could react, the energy sphere exploded against his chest.
The powerful blast tore his clothes to shreds, leaving his upper body covered in wounds and blood.
But that wasn't all. Janemba opened its mouth and spat out a gleaming energy sphere, striking Son Goku head-on once again.
BOOM!!!
As the tremendous explosion rang out, Son Goku spat out several mouthfuls of blood and was sent flying. He crashed into the dirt and struggled for a while, but couldn't get back up.
"Ka-Kakarot!" Vegeta shouted from the side.
Janemba turned its head and looked at Vegeta menacingly.
Vegeta knew this was bad, but he was as stubborn as ever. He taunted Janemba, "What are you staring at, you idiot?"
"Heh-heh!" Janemba sneered and punched the ground.
The next instant, a gigantic fist burst from the ground where Vegeta stood and sent him flying with a single blow.
"Ugh!" Vegeta spat out a mouthful of blood. His hair changed from gold back to black; his weakened body could no longer sustain his Super Saiyan transformation.
"Vegeta!" Son Goku shouted as he struggled back to his feet. He cupped his hands at his side, gathering energy for a Kamehameha.
Brilliant light illuminated the land until nothing remained but a dazzling blue glow.
"Heh-heh-heh." Janemba sneered at him and suddenly stretched its right arm dozens of meters, grabbing Vegeta by the neck.
At that very moment, Son Goku disappeared with Instant Transmission.
In the next instant, he appeared right in front of Janemba and unleashed a Kamehameha from point-blank range.
At such close range, there was no way Janemba could escape.
But to their surprise, things still went wrong.
A rift in space suddenly opened in front of Janemba's chest and swallowed Son Goku's Kamehameha.
The Kamehameha then emerged somewhere else, veered off at a bizarre angle, and headed straight for Vegeta.
Son Goku had no time to think. He used Instant Transmission again, grabbed Vegeta, and flashed to the side.
His Kamehameha crashed into the ground.
A moment later, a tremendous explosion rang out. The ground cracked apart, and a third of Other World was destroyed.
"Pant... pant... pant..."
Son Goku's chest heaved. His body was covered in wounds, and he was gasping for breath.
Vegeta could barely stand upright, either.
"Damn it! How can there be a monster like this?" Vegeta wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his face full of frustration.
He was far too weak now.
He couldn't even withstand a single one of Janemba's attacks.
The gap in their power was enormous.
Son Goku said, "Vegeta, get out of here. I'll hold him off for a little while."
"Cough, cough." Vegeta coughed up a mouthful of blood and looked at Son Goku in disbelief. "Run? You want me to run? Kakarot, you think too little of me, you bastard."
"Vegeta, listen to me. Janemba is too powerful. You don't stand a chance if you stay here," Son Goku said.
"Kakarot, don't you have some other secret move you haven't used yet?"
Son Goku gave a bitter smile. "No."
Son Goku still had one move left: the Fusion Technique from Metamor Planet. But Vegeta was far too weak now.
On top of that, both of them were seriously injured. There was no way they could complete the fusion.
And Janemba wouldn't give him the chance to perform that complicated dance, either.
Vegeta fell silent.
Just then, Janemba picked up a small stick from the ground. No one knew where it had come from.
In the next instant, the stick rapidly reassembled with a series of clacks, turning into a long red sword wreathed in a bloodthirsty aura.
Then it slashed toward Son Goku and Vegeta.
Pink sword energy sliced through the air, tearing open rifts in space.
Son Goku's pupils contracted. He grabbed Vegeta and flashed to the side, then threw him as hard as he could.
"Ahhh!" Vegeta's cries carried into the distance. No one knew where he had been thrown.
"Heh-heh-heh!" Janemba slashed out one wave of sword energy after another at Son Goku.
Son Goku dodged again and again, but the waves of sword energy were too dense. On top of that, he was running out of strength. In the end, one slash struck his chest, and blood poured from the wound.
"Hss..."
A wave of intense pain washed over him.
Son Goku nearly passed out.
"Haah!" He powered up again, but he barely had any energy left.
Whoosh, whoosh!
He hurled two energy blasts from his hands at Janemba.
Janemba didn't even bother dodging. With a single slash, it cut both energy blasts in half.
Even so, the two blasts exploded around it.
But Janemba was far too powerful now, while Son Goku was already at the end of his rope. An explosion of that magnitude couldn't hurt it in the slightest.
"Heh-heh-heh." Janemba continued to laugh as it walked out of the smoke.
Seeing Janemba without a scratch, Son Goku's heart sank to the bottom.
A desperate situation! A truly hopeless situation.
Throughout his life, Son Goku had faced many desperate situations, but every time he had managed to turn things around.
This time, though, he couldn't think of any way to make a comeback.
Janemba was like an invincible demon god.
There wasn't a glimmer of hope. It was powerful and terrifying.
Just then, Son Goku finally ran out of energy. He transformed from a Super Saiyan back into his normal, black-haired state.
Son Goku had only just mastered Super Saiyan 3 and wasn't proficient at it yet. Forcing himself to use it had placed far too much strain on his body.
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