A Trial of Strength

"Heh. This time, I won't just come close."

Frieza raised his hand and spoke coldly.

A purple energy sphere appeared in his hand—the same one he had used to attack them earlier.

"Whoosh!"

He casually flicked his hand, and the energy sphere shot out like lightning.

Rumble!

A deafening boom rang out. This time, the attack was considerably more powerful than before.

And once again, it struck the man squarely.

The man who had just been lucky enough to survive was now unquestionably dead!

"I'm guessing I've disappointed you again. I'm still alive."

As the smoke slowly cleared, Li Lin's voice rang out once more.

He stood there looking completely calm, his eyes fixed on Frieza with a smile.

When Frieza had attacked him the first time, Li Lin had thought he was done for.

But he hadn't expected Frieza's attack to hit him without hurting at all. It had felt more like a massage than anything else.

"This... this is impossible."

Frieza stared at Li Lin in astonishment, unable to believe it.

His attack had not only failed to kill the man, it hadn't even injured him.

All it had done was dirty his clothes a little.

Frieza wasn't the only one shocked. Vegeta and the others were just as stunned.

"Just who is this guy? I don't remember Earth having a fighter this powerful."

The one who asked was Piccolo.

He was a Namekian, but he had lived on Earth ever since he was young.

He knew most of the powerful fighters on Earth.

But this man standing before them didn't ring a bell at all!

Tien Shinhan, Yamcha, and Krillin all shook their heads when they heard Piccolo.

None of them recognized the man before them.

"Forget whether we know him or not. He's probably incredibly strong. Maybe he can beat Frieza after all!"

Krillin clenched his fist, his face bright with joy.

The others stirred at Krillin's words.

But Vegeta poured cold water on their hopes.

"Don't get your hopes up. Just because he withstood two attacks doesn't mean he can beat Frieza!"

Vegeta crossed his arms and spoke coolly.

His fear of Frieza was etched deep in his bones.

Unless someone was a Super Saiyan, he didn't believe anyone could defeat Frieza.

The others' excitement was swiftly extinguished.

Vegeta was right. Frieza hadn't unleashed anything close to his full power.

If he attacked with everything he had, probably no one there could stand against him.

Would they still have to rely on Goku?

"Kid, I admit I underestimated you. But the game ends here."

Frieza spoke coldly.

His two failed attacks had enraged him completely.

Everyone on this planet disgusted him.

He had made up his mind: he would destroy the planet and kill every living thing on it with his own hands.

"Oh? Is that so?" Li Lin gave a calm chuckle.

Then he raised a finger and continued, "The first time you attacked me, you used this move, didn't you?"

"What?"

Frieza repeated the question, unsure what Li Lin meant.

Li Lin had no intention of explaining. He only shook his head with a smile, and a white light suddenly appeared at his fingertip.

"Whoosh!"

A white beam of energy shot toward Frieza.

It was more than a hundred times stronger than the beam Frieza had fired earlier.

Not only was its power greater, but it was several times faster, too!

"No!"

Frieza seemed to recognize how powerful the attack was and shouted in terror.

But the beam was simply too fast. He couldn't dodge it.

The white beam pierced straight through his body.

Then Frieza's body began to swell rapidly, like a balloon!

"Boom!"

An explosion suddenly rang out.

Frieza's body instantly broke apart into fragments.

At the very end, he hadn't even managed to cry out. The emperor of the universe had perished on Earth.

Everything had happened so suddenly. King Cold had watched Frieza die right before his eyes.

He hadn't even been able to intervene.

"Frieza's been defeated?!"

Krillin could hardly believe what he was seeing. His eyes were filled with shock.

"Uh..." Piccolo hesitated, then nodded. "It seems so."

Vegeta was so stunned he couldn't speak. His eyes were filled with disbelief.

Just moments ago, he had said Frieza couldn't possibly be defeated so easily.

And now this man had killed him in an instant.

That was one swift slap in the face.

Vegeta no longer looked at Li Lin with the same contempt as before.

If he could kill Frieza with a single attack, just how powerful did this man have to be?