Under Vegeta's icy urging, Frieza stopped hesitating and began transforming into his final form.
Compared with his transformations into his second and third forms, the aura Frieza unleashed was clearly far more terrifying.
An invisible pressure spread across the land. As that absolutely terrifying power surged forth, the space around Frieza seemed to radiate a tangible, dreadful energy.
"Yeah! That's more like it! Frieza, you should've transformed ages ago." Vegeta's lips curled upward, and a trace of eagerness showed in his expression.
This was at least ten times stronger than before!
In other words, even before his transformation was complete, Frieza's battle power had already reached at least thirty million!
Thirty million!
With his current base battle power, Vegeta was no match for Frieza anymore.
As the pressure of Frieza's aura grew stronger and stronger, he let out a roar of release.
His third-form body didn't keep growing as it had during his previous transformations. Instead, it began to shrink and change completely...
His power grew more and more terrifying, until a golden sphere of light enveloped him. The sphere expanded, growing larger and larger until it covered nearly half the island.
A storm rose into the sky, like a tornado.
Even Vegeta could barely withstand the force. It drove him back until he reached the island's edge, where he finally managed to steady himself.
The sky and land darkened. The effects of Frieza's power blocked the light beyond the planet, keeping it from shining down.
The sight was astonishing, like the end of the world had arrived. The visual impact was immense.
Vegeta focused all his energy sensing, using his mental power to observe Frieza's entire transformation.
Time passed, second by second. During the process, Vegeta heard North Kai's voice again, urging him to intervene, but he simply ignored it.
North Kai wanted him to strike now and finish Frieza in an instant.
Vegeta could certainly do that with ease. But honestly, even after Frieza completed his final transformation, he could still crush him just as easily.
Why bother?
He wanted to give Frieza all the time he needed to complete his final transformation and unleash his full power, then crush him and kill him all the same.
"Come on, hurry up. It's taking you forever just to transform. Anyone else would've lost patience and attacked by now." Vegeta scoffed.
The transformation was simply too slow. No wonder the Z Fighters had been given plenty of time to recover in the original story, and the original Vegeta had even managed to get revived after nearly dying.
If Frieza could transform in an instant like he did later on, the outcome would probably have been completely different.
Of course, it was precisely because Frieza had been defeated and killed that, after his revival, he worked hard to train and overcome his many weaknesses. With years of accumulated effort, he eventually reached an even higher form.
To be honest, Vegeta had recognized the problems with transforming, which was why he had waited three days before coming to take revenge on Frieza.
If he couldn't transform in an instant, he could be stopped—or even killed—while transforming. Then he'd have no one to cry to.
A full two or three minutes later, Vegeta clearly sensed something.
As the golden sphere burst apart and faded, the entire area fell quiet again, as if nothing had happened.
The only difference was that once the clouds of smoke cleared, Frieza's form came into view. He was no longer the bizarre creature of his third form, but a small, clownish figure in his final form.
"You finally finished, huh? Heh heh heh!" Vegeta muttered, quietly rousing the power lying dormant within him.
The Super Saiyan energy pool had been activated. Vegeta could transform at any time.
"Ohohoho! Even now, you can still keep your composure, little Vegeta. You really have grown..." Frieza flexed his arms and legs, getting used to his most perfect form.
As he adjusted to it, he continued, "Come to think of it, I'm truly surprised that your battle power has exceeded three million. Can you tell me now how you got so strong?"
Transforming into his final form brought a several-dozen-fold increase in strength.
That kind of metamorphosis was nothing like the mere doubling of strength that came with the second and third forms.
Hearing Frieza's question, Vegeta replied nonchalantly, "You want to know? Didn't you already guess earlier? Or do you just refuse to believe it?"
"You mean you really have become a Super Saiyan?" Frieza's eyes gleamed with a murderous intent that seemed to mock him.
That invisible killing intent felt as if it could kill on its own. Meeting his gaze was like plunging into an abyss.
"If this is all the strength a Super Saiyan has, then I'm truly a little disappointed. Or are you still hiding some power you haven't used?" Frieza stepped forward, appearing and vanishing in flashes. Even Vegeta could barely keep track of his speed.
In just a few seconds, Frieza had crossed the distance between them and appeared in front of Vegeta.
So this is how the original Vegeta felt when he faced Frieza in his final form with a battle power of two and a half million?! He was excited by the boost from recovering after nearly dying, but he still couldn't be sure he could actually beat Frieza. His confident words were the exact opposite of what he really thought. Vegeta sighed inwardly.
It was an empty sense of strength. Faced with Frieza's absolute intimidation, without even greater power to fall back on, a simple exchange of blows would be enough to shatter him completely.
Vegeta took a deep breath and pushed the distracting thoughts from his mind.
He wasn't the original Vegeta, so he wouldn't truly be afraid of Frieza.
At most, he could sympathize.
"Oh? Why so quiet? Little Vegeta, your expression looks quite different from before. It seems my power has frightened you." Frieza rested one hand on his chin, pretending to examine him.
Vegeta curled his lip in disdain.
"You're already running your mouth? Have you forgotten the lesson you learned earlier?" As he spoke, Vegeta clenched his fists and bent his arms. A blazing golden aura ignited around him.
His presence surged rapidly, and Saiyan energy coursed through him.
Frieza had already completed his final transformation, so there was no need for Vegeta to hold back.
"Watch closely, Frieza. I'll show you what a Super Saiyan looks like!!" As the words fell, Vegeta let out a mighty roar.
In an instant, his golden aura erupted completely, becoming a terrifying gale that swept across the land.
Frieza, who had been watching with a smug air, was sent staggering backward by the overwhelming force. His expression changed dramatically, and his eyes filled with disbelief.
Golden hair and green eyes...
The fear engraved deepest in his genes was awakening...