"Gahhh!!!"
A roar burst from Frieza's mouth. In an instant, the terrifying power swelling inside him tore his battle suit to shreds.
Only now did Frieza reveal his full appearance in his first form.
Beneath the battle suit was his own bony outer shell, even tougher than the suit.
After loosening up his body and making sure he was completely relaxed, Frieza didn't hesitate any longer.
"Rrraaaaaagh!!!" A hysterical scream erupted from his mouth.
He drew out his terrifying power, and in an instant, his aura exploded as his strength began to surge.
As Frieza's transformation unfolded, a fearsome pressure blanketed the area for dozens of miles. Countless rocks and grains of sand floated into the sky, only to be crushed into dust by the terrifying pressure.
The mountain beneath Frieza had already been reduced to rubble. Now, his power flattened it completely.
His terrifying presence surged in every direction. A thin, pale-purple membrane first peeled away from his body, like a layer of shed skin.
Then Frieza's body began to swell and expand. He kept growing until he was nearly two and a half meters tall, then stopped. At last, his new form settled into place.
He had grown from a baby into an adult.
"It's been so long since I transformed that I've gotten rusty. I didn't expect it to take so much effort. Sorry for the wait, little Vegeta." As he spoke, Frieza stretched his limbs.
His strength had doubled with the transformation, and his battle power had surpassed one million. Frieza had also regained the confidence he'd lost.
His kingly presence returned, and he stood as if he believed himself invincible.
Vegeta didn't seem to care. He stepped forward and leaped onto the island where Frieza stood.
He really was damn tall.
Facing each other, the difference in their height did make Vegeta feel a little pressured.
Looks like getting taller really is urgent! Vegeta thought with a sigh.
Ten centimeters taller...
No! He needed to grow at least twenty centimeters!
In his previous life, he'd been well over 180 centimeters tall.
If he hadn't inherited everything from Vegeta, he probably would've found it strange to see the world from this height, given his perspective as someone from another world.
"Tsk! Little Vegeta, I really don't know what to say about you. You've seen my transformation, yet you still dare stand before me. Do you know that, in my eyes, you're nothing but an ant I could crush with one hand?" Frieza laughed viciously.
There was no denying that Frieza's adult appearance was far more intimidating than his first form.
"Then crush me. Let's see you do it." Vegeta didn't indulge Frieza. He shot right back at him.
Frieza wasn't angered. Instead, he found it amusing, then began dangling a promise in front of Vegeta. "Actually, there's no need for us to be enemies. Just hand over those two Dragon Balls, and I'll make you the most powerful person under my command from now on!"
"You mean second only to you, above everyone else?"
"No, no. Our army has far more than ten thousand soldiers. You'd be above countless billions. In fact, aside from me, the Universe Emperor, you'd be the most powerful person in the universe." Frieza's eyes gleamed with even greater amusement.
Vegeta couldn't help laughing.
At first, the sound didn't seem like anything special. But as he kept laughing, its meaning changed.
"Shut up!" Frieza had clearly heard the disdain and mockery in Vegeta's laughter. His face darkened again. "Don't say I didn't warn you. My battle power has already surpassed one million!"
"So what? Is a million battle power really that strong? Weren't you going to crush me? Give it a try." Vegeta stopped laughing, his eyes full of teasing.
A mere million. It would only take a little more effort for him to completely overpower Frieza.
He'd played along and let Frieza enjoy a moment of vanity. Now he'd make him feel despair.
"Then die!" Frieza roared. He took one step forward, shattering the ground, and lunged at Vegeta with a hard punch aimed straight at his face.
The sudden attack was incredibly fast, but Vegeta had been ready for it.
He raised one hand and blocked Frieza's punch, stunning him. Then Vegeta sneered. "That's it? You're way too weak."
"What?!" Frieza's brow bulged with veins, his expression horribly twisted.
The next second, a fierce barrage of punches and kicks swept toward Vegeta like a storm.
Frieza's strength was certainly impressive, far greater than it had been in his first form.
But the gap in their power was still too obvious.
Their base forms differed by two million in battle power. Even though Frieza seemed to have the advantage in height and build, he only looked clumsier to Vegeta.
"Too slow. Too slow. Too slow!"
Vegeta dodged all of Frieza's attacks with ease, seized an opening, and drove a punch straight into Frieza's abdomen.
Frieza doubled over in pain and spat up sour fluid mixed with a trace of blood.
Vegeta immediately leaped into the air and kicked him in the neck, sending him flying.
"Rumble!!!"
The mountain on the neighboring island shattered into rubble, and Frieza was buried beneath the debris once again.
This time was different, though. Frieza quickly reacted and forcibly unleashed his power, avoiding the danger of being buried deep beneath the rubble. He stood in the air.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Die!" Enraged, Frieza unleashed a relentless barrage of energy attacks at Vegeta.
Explosions rang out without pause. Under the bombardment, the island Vegeta stood on was reduced to ash.
The ground trembled for dozens of miles in every direction. The scene was so shocking it seemed as if the tectonic plates were shifting, terrifying beyond words.
One could imagine the destructive force of someone with over a million battle power attacking without restraint. Every strike could reshape the land on a continental scale.
If he truly wanted to, a single full-power blast could even destroy a planet the size of Planet Namek.
"Oh ho ho ho! Let's see you keep acting so cocky now!" After two full minutes of blasting, Frieza finally stopped attacking and let out his signature evil laugh.
After a long while without a response, Frieza began to pant from the effort of his relentless assault.
Without a Scouter, he was like a blind man, unable to tell whether Vegeta was alive or dead.
Of course, he preferred to believe he'd blasted Vegeta to pieces.
"You look tired."
A voice suddenly came from above. Frieza's heart tightened, and he jerked his head up.
Vegeta had appeared above him at some point, looking down at him with a teasing expression. That look once again stirred a trace of panic in Frieza.