"Boom!"
A thunderous blast shook the starry sky and echoed in every direction as Soya's several-yard-wide black energy rapidly weakened beneath Beerus's purple energy.
In an instant, it shrank from several yards to just one, and the power within the black energy weakened considerably as well.
"I told you. You should believe me now, right?"
Beerus looked at Soya.
"As expected of a God of Destruction. It seems I underestimated you before."
Soya gave a bitter smile and shook his head. He knew he'd been careless.
But so what?
"Boom!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, an immense power suddenly erupted from the purple energy. It spread wildly, enveloping Soya's Heaven Origin Cannon.
The violent Power of the God of Destruction wrapped around it, as though it meant to destroy the energy completely.
"Be gone!"
Beerus was about to destroy the Heaven Origin Cannon once and for all.
But just as he said those words, at the very moment the last one was about to leave his lips—
The Heaven Origin Cannon, wrapped in purple energy, began to emit a dim, shadowy light.
"What?"
Beerus's gaze sharpened.
Before he could recover, the Heaven Origin Cannon, condensed from purple energy, suddenly exploded.
"Damn it!"
Beerus's expression changed as he faced the blast. He raised his right hand and swept it through the air, and a purple barrier appeared in front of him.
The instant the barrier appeared, the Heaven Origin Cannon wrapped in purple energy collapsed with a thunderous roar.
"Boom!"
The Heaven Origin Cannon collapsed.
But it wasn't destroyed by Beerus's energy. Soya had made it collapse on purpose.
Although Beerus had destroyed some of the energy within it, the power it still contained was terrifying.
And amid that destruction, Beerus's purple energy collapsed outright.
The resulting explosion burst outward.
"Lord Beerus, you didn't see this coming, did you?"
After the Heaven Origin Cannon's destructive force shattered the purple energy and surged toward Beerus with unimaginable power, Soya spoke in a calm voice.
Everything had gone exactly as he'd planned.
"Boom!"
The terrifying blast crashed into the purple barrier in front of Beerus.
Beerus had reacted quickly, without the slightest hesitation or delay.
But Soya had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.
"Boom!"
So even though Beerus had prepared himself, he'd had too little time to gather much purple energy.
It could block most attacks, but it couldn't stop the power Soya had condensed from the North Galaxy.
Even Beerus, a God of Destruction, couldn't manage that in such a rush.
Under the Heaven Origin Cannon's destructive force, even Beerus couldn't afford to be careless.
The purple barrier before him held for just an instant before it shattered with a roar.
With the barrier gone, the Heaven Origin Cannon's terrifying power slammed directly into Beerus.
Even Beerus's expression changed as the terrifying force engulfed him. He immediately staggered backward several steps.
In an instant, he was swallowed by the blast.
"Lord Beerus, it seems your thirty percent power didn't do a thing to me."
After blasting Beerus backward, Soya looked rather pale.
But his gaze remained alight with excitement.
"You're right. But you don't have much power left either. That last attack was incredibly powerful, but I doubt you can unleash another one like it."
Beerus was breathing a little heavily, but overall, he still held an absolute advantage.
Even after facing Soya's sudden attack, he'd managed to remain on his feet after defending against it.
He looked somewhat battered, but he hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
"I know."
Soya nodded. He didn't deny it, but admitted it frankly. After all, it was the truth.
He could still use the Heaven Origin Cannon, but with what little strength he had left, he could no longer absorb the power of the entire North Galaxy.
And without that level of power, the attack would be meaningless against someone as strong as Beerus.
"Lord Beerus, I may not be able to unleash an attack on the same level as my last Heaven Origin Cannon, but if you think the power I'm showing now is all I've got, you're badly mistaken."
Soya's eyes flashed as he looked at Beerus and spoke.
"What do you mean?"
Beerus glanced at Soya, momentarily bewildered. He couldn't quite make sense of what Soya was saying.
"I mean that the peak of Super Saiyan 3, with a battle power of 12,000 trillion, isn't my full strength. It's just a fraction of it—or, to be more precise, less than one-tenth of my full power.
"I'm sure you understand what I mean now."
Soya smiled as he spoke.
"Interesting."
Beerus frowned and looked at Soya.
"If that's the case, then unleash your full power and let me see it. I really want to know just how strong you can get. Could you actually reach a level that would shock even me?"
Beerus spoke calmly. If Soya couldn't produce an attack like his last Heaven Origin Cannon, then transforming again would be pointless.
"Whoosh!"
In a flash, Beerus appeared right in front of Soya.
He raised his right fist and swung it hard toward Soya's chest, the punch cutting through the air.
"Bam!"
The punch nearly pierced through space itself.
Beerus was also incredibly fast, so Soya didn't have time to react before the fist struck him.
"Pfft!"
Soya's body shuddered, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood. He was sent flying several yards backward.
After forcing himself to steady his body, Soya clutched his chest.
His face was deathly pale, and he looked terribly weak.
It seemed that taking a punch from Beerus without any preparation had been too much for him.
"How is it? If you have greater power, bring it out now. Otherwise, in your current state, you won't be able to take a second punch from me!"
Beerus looked at Soya as he spoke.
That first punch had only been a lesson. It was nothing more than that.
"Fine, I understand. And I've decided not to hold back anymore. I'll use my strongest power to fight you.
"The outcome may still be the same, but at least I'll have given it everything I've got!"
Determination appeared in Soya's eyes.