Dragon Fist Explosion

Boom—!

The red and golden lights collided with a thunderous crash ten thousand meters above the ground.

The moment Super Saiyan 4 Gohan and Golden Cell made contact, they plunged straight back into the most brutal hand-to-hand combat.

A fist slammed into golden armor with a heavy thud. Cell drove his knee hard into Gohan's abdomen, making him spit up a mouthful of sour fluid.

"Hey, I can't see a thing!"

Bulma at the Turtle Hermit House stamped her foot in frustration, while the other Z Fighters shut their eyes and focused on sensing the surging ki from afar.

Android 16 stared hard at the scene. His visual Scouter was running at full capacity, yet he could barely make out two afterimages crisscrossing wildly across the sky. He had no choice but to judge how the battle was going by their ki.

With every collision, the atmosphere above Earth was torn open, leaving vacuum rifts thousands of kilometers long.

Beep, beep, beep—!

Data flickered in Android 16's eyes.

"Golden Cell's battle power... 5.5 quintillion... 6 quintillion... 6.5 quintillion... energy peak locked!"

"Son Gohan's battle power... 5 quintillion... 6 quintillion... 6.8 quintillion... still rising!"

His ki had already surpassed Cell's!

Joy spread across everyone's faces.

Bang!

Gohan landed a powerful hook on Golden Cell's cheek.

This time, Cell couldn't block it.

His golden form flew away like a cannonball, tumbling through the air toward the sea. Before he could hit the water, Gohan's figure appeared beneath him like a ghost.

His crimson aura took the shape of a roaring Great Ape.

Gohan swung his right leg up from below like a colossal axe splitting the heavens, kicking Cell hard in the back.

Bang!

"Ugh!" Golden Cell spat out a mouthful of purple blood and hurtled uncontrollably into outer space.

"Impossible! How is this possible?!"

Cell forced himself to steady his body in space. The mocking arrogance that had once made him seem untouchable vanished completely, replaced by undisguised terror and fury.

He was the ultimate perfect life-form, evolved by crossing countless timelines and absorbing countless alternate versions of himself!

What right did Gohan have to stand above him?!

"Where are you looking?"

The icy voice rang out beside Cell's ear.

Gohan had appeared at his side without warning. His thick left arm, covered in wild fur, clamped around Cell's neck and slammed him back toward Earth's atmosphere like he was tossing a chicken.

Rumble—!

The two of them became a burning meteor and crashed into the wilderness. The crust collapsed instantly for thousands of kilometers in every direction, and the dust they kicked up blotted out the sky.

"Way to go, Gohan!"

Young Trunks' eyes were bloodshot. He clenched his fists so tightly that they bled, but he didn't even notice. He screamed toward the distance, his voice hoarse with rage. "Kill him! Blast that monster to pieces! Avenge Mom—avenge everyone!!"

Goku stood motionless, trembling all over.

It wasn't fear. It was the instinctive thrill and yearning he felt after learning just how far the path ahead stretched, and facing that kind of higher-dimensional power.

"So strong... Is this the realm beyond Super Saiyan 3...?" Goku panted heavily, his eyes brimming with fervor and awe.

Far away at the Turtle Hermit House, the worry slowly faded from Yamcha, Krillin, and the others' faces, though the two ferocious ki signatures that transcended dimensions still pressed down on them, leaving them struggling to breathe.

At the center of the battlefield.

At the bottom of the crater, Golden Cell tore himself free of Gohan's grip and put some distance between them.

His golden armor was riddled with cracks, and purple blood kept dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Unforgivable..."

Cell stared at the figure across from him, whose vivid red glow seemed almost solid. The last thread of his sanity snapped.

"I'm perfect! I'm invincible! How can a mere wild monkey—how can you?!"

Cell let out an ear-piercing scream.

He stopped caring about martial arts technique or controlling his energy precisely. The only thing on his mind now was erasing the young man before him—and this damned planet along with him!

Boom!

His golden aura erupted like an out-of-control nuclear reactor.

Cell flailed his hands wildly, unleashing countless golden Ki Blasts packed with destructive energy in a rain of fire.

They weren't aimed at Gohan. They rained down in every direction, without a care where they landed.

"Die! All of you, die!" Cell laughed maniacally.

He had Frieza's cells and could survive in space without oxygen from a planet.

Even a single Ki Blast striking the surface could pierce straight through Earth's core. He'd abandoned all restraint. If he couldn't win, he'd drag the entire world down with him!

"Not good!"

Goku's expression changed. He instantly powered up to Super Saiyan at full power and shot into the sky like a golden streak.

"Kamehameha—!"

A thick blue beam swept across the heavens, barely detonating a few of the stray Ki Blasts.

"You bastard!"

Vegeta roared and thrust both hands forward. "Final Flash!"

Piccolo, Kid Gohan, Future Trunks, Young Trunks, and Android 16 also unleashed all their ki, desperately firing energy waves skyward in an attempt to intercept the destructive blasts.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless dazzling orbs burst across the sky, and the entire planet shook violently.

But it wasn't enough.

Cell had released too many Ki Blasts, and their energy density was too high. Against that shower of light, the Z Fighters' attempts to intercept them were a drop in the ocean.

More than a dozen golden Ki Blasts were about to hit the ground. Earth's destruction seemed inevitable.

Whoosh!

A red afterimage flashed wildly through the air.

Gohan pushed his speed to the limit, turning Super Saiyan 4's savage strength into an unbreakable shield. He smashed straight into the Ki Blasts that had slipped through.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The explosions erupted across Gohan's body. They couldn't break through his defenses, but they did manage to slow him down.

"Got you!"

A vicious glint flashed in Cell's eyes.

This was the moment he'd been waiting for!

Whoosh!

Cell vanished into thin air.

Instant Transmission!

A perfect blind spot lasting 0.0001 seconds.

When Cell reappeared, he was right behind Gohan. He poured every last bit of his remaining ki into his right fist. Its golden glow was blinding.

Dragon Fist Explosion!

"Die, Son Gohan!"

Roar—!

A dragon's cry rang out!

The punch landed squarely in Gohan's back.

The terrifying golden dragon apparition blasted away the crimson aura surrounding him.

Gohan grunted and plummeted toward the ground like a kite with its strings cut.

KABOOM!!!

The impact was more violent than any that had come before.

The force punched straight through the hard crust, and a colossal rift tens of thousands of meters deep spread across the land. Dark red magma erupted from the depths like a geyser, illuminating the sky as if the apocalypse had arrived.

"Gohan!" Goku's eyes widened in horror.

High above, Golden Cell gasped for breath, his chest heaving.

That attack had drained most of his strength, but the madness on his face only grew.

"Hahahaha! I'm the greatest being in the universe! The ultimate life-form!"

Cell stared down at the roiling sea of magma. Once Gohan was dead, he could crush the remaining trash with a single finger.

Glug... glug...

The boiling magma suddenly began to churn violently.

Cell's laughter cut off. His pupils shrank.

"He's still alive?! Since when could Saiyans survive in magma?"

A thick arm covered in red fur shot out of the magma and grabbed the rocks at its edge.

Then Gohan slowly rose up from underground.

His martial arts uniform had been completely burned away, revealing his strong, muscular body. A patch on his back was visibly charred, and a thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

He was injured.

But his ki hadn't weakened in the slightest.

Gohan raised a hand and casually wiped the blood from his mouth.

His golden eyes fixed on Cell, who was gritting his teeth in midair. The fire of the wild burned fiercely in his eyes, and his fighting spirit soared.

"Dragon Fist, huh? That move's not bad."

Back before I crossed over, I'd always thought this move looked incredibly cool on TV. I never expected that the first time I saw it in the Dragon Ball World, it'd be used on me—and by a villain, no less. If my Super Saiyan 4 body hadn't been durable enough, that attack would've finished me.

Boom!

The crimson aura surged into the sky once again!