Bundless Takes the Field

"Ah—" Raditz took a punch to the side of the face and flew backward, slamming hard into the wall.

Boom!

A tremendous crash echoed through the air. The wall caved in, and a searing pain flared across Raditz's back.

"Subject No. 1 attacking! Subject No. 1 attacking!"

The shrill voice cried out urgently. Subject No. 1 extended an arm, spread its five fingers, and gathered a dark red energy blast!

It had learned how to use energy blasts? Raditz was shocked.

This body was different from every machine before it. Bundless's chip directly controlled its brain; in other words, it was Bundless! It had collected so much data—no wonder it was powerful enough to fight Raditz in his x5 Kaio-ken state.

Before he had time to dwell on it, the dark red energy blast had already shot toward him. Raditz moved with all his strength, leaving the explosions behind him as sparks flew and thunderous blasts rang out.

The speed of x5 Kaio-ken was naturally beyond what energy blasts could catch. The dark space had already been ravaged by bombardment, yet Raditz remained completely unharmed.

He had been observing Bundless's attack intervals. Each energy blast was fired about every half second. That gap was his opportunity to counterattack! For him, half a second was enough!

As expected, Bundless paused for an instant. It was the interval needed to gather energy. Taking advantage of that moment, Raditz charged forward, red light rushing toward it like the sun descending upon the earth, scorching everything in its path!

He drove a punch at Bundless's face like a scarlet meteor, with enough force to shatter the earth.

Bang!

Raditz was sent flying backward and crashed into the wall, pain flaring through his spine once more.

"How is that possible?"

"I calculated your combat patterns. Under the enhancement of your red state, your speed exceeds mine, but your methods of attack are simple. I have seen through all your moves."

"Hmph, do you know that joke was cold?" Raditz taunted Bundless, but panic had already risen in his heart. Still, no matter what, he would not give up here. "Take this!"

Suddenly, Raditz overlapped his hands, and the Shining Impact Wave blasted straight toward Bundless's front.

Bundless strode forward without the slightest regard for the impact wave. The light split around it like a river meeting a rock, then vanished without a trace.

When the light faded, Raditz saw a triangular transparent barrier around it that could completely absorb the impact wave's energy. And because of that wave, Bundless's body had become even more muscular, as though it had grown stronger...

"This type of attack is ineffective against me. Moreover, my energy is eternal and will not be depleted."

Heh, it's stronger than I imagined, and it has every troublesome ability imaginable. Raditz clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

He had thought its human body would not have an energy-absorption shield, but it had absorbed the attack anyway. It seemed he could only tear it apart the way he had dismantled the Metal Dragon!

Raditz charged again, taking the initiative to attack.

"Useless." Bundless raised its hand to strike, then suddenly froze. The Raditz before it split from one into two, two into four, and finally eight, circling around it.

How could there be eight of him?

Bundless threw a punch, but it struck only an afterimage. Its whole body stiffened in place, as though it were questioning its entire existence.

At that moment, a kick struck its face from the front, sending it stumbling back several steps. A huge shoeprint stood out clearly on its face.

"Just as I expected, you can't deal with moves you've never seen before!" Having landed a blow, Raditz immediately pressed his advantage, circling to the side and lashing out with several kicks.

Bundless took the heavy strikes and hunched over, tasting pain for the first time. Then Raditz leaped behind it and smashed his elbow down brutally, slamming it into the ground! The floor cracked under the impact, fissures spreading all the way toward the walls.

Its current body was a shell made to imitate a human body. Under the violent impacts, red blood began to flow from it.

"I didn't expect you to bleed too. And it's red."

"So do you." Bundless suddenly spoke in a cold voice. Bracing itself on all four limbs, it sprang into the air, flipped once, and landed behind Raditz.

"Ha!" It raised one leg and drove it backward with tremendous force, kicking Raditz away.

Fortunately, Raditz reacted quickly and blocked part of the force, retreating only a few steps. But as he prepared to counterattack, his eyes suddenly widened and his expression changed sharply.

Several afterimages appeared before him, then began circling around him. Afterimages?

It learned that far too quickly!

Raditz gritted his teeth, his eyes darting from side to side. He could not sense the other's Ki. To find the real body among the afterimages, he could only rely on instinct and his eyes. Figures flashed through his vision, rapidly closing in.

"Here!"

With a roar, he threw a punch behind him.

Bundless raised a fist to block it as well. The two collided, detonating the air between them. The cracks in the ground widened further, and even the lower edge of the iron walls showed signs of coming loose.

Almost at the same time, both raised their legs and struck, their kicks colliding.

Their fists and feet whipped through the air with gale-force speed, explosions and tremors erupting together. Raditz ducked beneath Bundless's sweeping strike, twisted aside, and drove a hook into its abdomen—but his fist passed through an afterimage. In an instant, Bundless appeared behind him and dove down with a flying elbow aimed viciously at his spine, but it too struck nothing. Raditz had already flashed behind Bundless and launched a flying kick. It spun around swiftly, whipping out a powerful spinning kick that collided with Raditz's.

"It's just like me, this guy." Raditz retreated several meters, working his legs.

After their repeated clashes, his legs had begun to tremble slightly. Yet Bundless still wore that cold, mechanical expression. Though there was a shoeprint on its face and blood at the corner of its brow, it showed no reaction at all.

"Your strength has weakened."

The irritating electronic voice echoed through the entire space again. Raditz knew very well that it was talking about him. X5 Kaio-ken was immensely powerful, but it also consumed a great deal of stamina. He had fought Bundless for quite some time, and his physical strength had already dropped significantly.

Their Battle Power was evenly matched. If he continued fighting at five times his normal strength, his stamina would be at a disadvantage, and defeat would be inevitable.

Before him, Bundless advanced step by step. A cold gleam shot from its fingers, like a whip and yet like a blade. It raised its hand high and began to swing it! Swish! Swish! Swish! The cold flashes flickered, carving slash marks through the air as howling winds rose, as if the void itself had been cleaved in two!

Raditz hurriedly dodged, narrowly avoiding the cold flashes. Some of his long hair was sliced off as it streamed behind him, strands drifting through the air before fluttering down.

A dangerous aura filled the air.

"Damn it, I have to use a higher level of Kaio-ken. But I still haven't found a way to break it. If I overdo it..." Raditz made his decision. Gritting his teeth, he roared and pushed his limits once more. "There's no other way—x6!"