Boom!
Clusters of dazzling red-and-gold light burst across the sky.
Crimson energy filled most of the heavens.
Son Gohan's fist pierced straight through Golden Cell's chest without any flourish. Purple blood mixed with chunks of his organs, raining down through the air.
"Gah!" Cell's eyes bulged as a piercing scream rang across the sky.
Son Gohan's face remained expressionless. He yanked back his massive left arm, tearing Cell's right arm off at the root. Then his right leg lashed out like a whip, slamming into Cell's side.
Crack!
Amid the chilling sound of breaking bones, Golden Cell's lower body was kicked into a cloud of blood mist.
"Way to go, Gohan! Finish him!" On the ground, Young Trunks shouted excitedly, trembling from head to toe, his eyes rimmed with red.
Cell's mangled body hit the ground like a sack of rags, but he immediately used his powerful regenerative ability. Flesh writhed wildly, and in just a few seconds, his torn-off arm and lower body had grown back.
Whoosh!
Before Cell could catch his breath, the red mountain descended again.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
It was a one-sided beating. Super Saiyan 4 Gohan's unreasonable strength, combined with the boundless energy of a Legendary Super Saiyan, repeatedly pummeled Golden Cell's prized perfect body into minced meat.
His head was stomped apart, half his body was blasted to pieces, and his limbs were ripped off.
Cell recovered again and again, only to be smashed apart in increasingly brutal ways. His lofty Golden Frieza form even showed faint signs of falling apart, his energy in utter disarray.
"He's so strong... Is this the power of Super Saiyan 4?" Goku swallowed, his eyes full of shock.
"We've won! That monster won't last much longer!" Vegeta pointed his thumb toward Gohan in the distance, unable to suppress a long-absent, wild grin.
However, the gloom on Piccolo's face did not lift. He stared intently at the red figure in the air, fine beads of cold sweat forming on his green skin.
"Something's wrong..." Piccolo gritted his teeth. "There's something strange about Gohan's energy."
Beep beep beep—
Data flickered in Android 16's eyes, and a hint of urgency entered his voice. "This is bad! After Son Gohan's energy peak passed eight jing, it stopped rising!"
"More than that." Android 16 looked up at the sky. "His energy is draining at an extremely rapid rate! Current battle power... 7.8 jing... 7.5 jing... It's still falling!"
"What?!" Everyone was shocked.
"How can this be?!" The satisfaction on Young Trunks's face instantly froze.
"Gohan! Quit playing around! Finish him!" Piccolo shouted at the top of his lungs, pouring all his strength into the roar. "Don't give him a chance!"
In midair.
Son Gohan kicked the newly restored Cell thousands of meters away, then looked down at his hands, his brow tightly furrowed.
His energy was constantly draining.
Damn it!
He finally realized what was wrong.
His tail!
A Saiyan's tail was the source of his power! In the original story, when Goku fought Majin Buu as a Super Saiyan 3, his living body's energy drained too quickly, leaving him at a disadvantage time and again. Gohan had thought Super Saiyan 4 was a perfect state that could avoid this problem.
But he had forgotten the most crucial point—Super Saiyan 4 was based on the Great Ape Transformation!
Without a tail to anchor the energy, this wild, primal power was like a flood bursting through a dam. There was no way to contain it!
At first, the limitless amplification from his Legendary Super Saiyan power had masked the flaw. But as the battle dragged on, it was like a dam breaking: the gap through which his energy escaped would only grow wider. Now, the rate of energy loss had completely outstripped the rate at which his Legendary Super Saiyan power could increase it!
If this continued, he wouldn't just be unable to maintain his Super Saiyan 4 form; Cell might even turn the tables and kill him.
"I have to finish him right now!"
A ruthless glint flashed in Son Gohan's eyes. He shot forward, and a dense, golden-green Ki Blast formed in his right palm as he charged straight at Cell's face.
But Cell was an incredibly cunning opponent.
After being beaten one-sidedly for so long, he had already noticed Son Gohan's energy fading. He had been waiting for his chance.
Whoosh!
Cell didn't even try to block. He vanished in a flash, reappearing tens of thousands of meters away.
"Ha ha ha ha! Son Gohan, your power is weakening!" Cell's deranged laughter rang across the sky. "Once you lose that power, you're dead!"
"I'll kill you before that happens!" Son Gohan charged after him again.
But Cell was like a slippery eel, darting wildly through the air to dodge him.
And that wasn't all.
"Die, you vermin!"
As he dodged, Cell repeatedly swung his hands. Dozens of golden beams of destruction streaked toward Goku and the others on the ground like a meteor shower. Some even aimed straight for the planet's core!
"Damn it!"
Son Gohan's eyes nearly burst with rage, but he could only force himself to change direction and use his body to block attacks powerful enough to destroy the planet.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Violent explosions erupted across Son Gohan's back. Super Saiyan 4's defense was astonishing, so the attacks didn't do much damage, but they cost him precious time.
"Gohan! Don't worry about us!" Goku shouted, transforming into a Super Saiyan as he frantically knocked the stray Ki Blasts out of the sky.
"That's right! Focus on that guy!" Vegeta joined in, intercepting the attacks.
But Cell's attacks were too dense. He was using this underhanded tactic purely to wear Son Gohan down.
Son Gohan was run ragged, and his energy began to fall even faster.
This wouldn't work. They couldn't fight on Earth!
Earth was too fragile. Cell could use the planet as a hostage at any moment, and Gohan couldn't fight without holding back.
Son Gohan's golden, vertical pupils narrowed sharply. His gaze fixed on Golden Cell, who was laughing wildly in the distance.
Boom!
Using the blast from an intercepted Ki Blast, along with his own acceleration, he surged forward.
Before Cell could react, Adult Gohan had appeared right in front of him.
"What?!" Cell was startled and tried to flee again.
Son Gohan's massive arms clamped around Cell's waist like iron bands.
"Got you!"
Crimson energy erupted as Son Gohan clutched Cell and shot straight into the sky.
"Let go of me! What are you doing, Son Gohan?!" Cell frantically pounded Son Gohan's back, but after struggling for a while, he stopped. "You're not planning to take me into space and die with me, are you?"
Cell's lips curled into a sneer. "What a naive fool."
Son Gohan remained expressionless and ignored him, pushing his speed to the limit.
Through the troposphere!
Through the stratosphere!
Out of the atmosphere!
The surroundings instantly became the deep, dark void of space, with countless stars glimmering in the distance. Absolute vacuum and freezing cold enveloped them both.
Cell had Frieza's cells, so he naturally wasn't afraid of the vacuum of space. He broke free.
He turned around, ready to watch Son Gohan panic at the sight of him surviving in space, then suffocate and die.
But the next moment, he froze.
Hum—
A pale green spherical energy barrier appeared around Son Gohan. It not only let him breathe, but also protected him.
Legendary Super Energy Shield!
"You keep surprising me, Son Gohan," Cell murmured.
On Earth.
Goku and the others, sensing their location through their ki, were all stunned.
"Gohan actually went into space?" Piccolo looked utterly incredulous. "Saiyans need to breathe!"
"There's a layer of energy flowing around his body," Android 16 said mechanically, his head tilted up. "That special energy is taking the place of oxygen in his circulation... But the situation is very bad."
Android 16 then poured cold water over everyone's hopes.
"Son Gohan's battle power has fallen to 6.3 jing."
"Meanwhile, Cell is still holding steady at 6.5 jing."
The tables had turned once again!
After only a few minutes of back-and-forth, Son Gohan's energy had fallen to an extremely dangerous threshold. He could no longer overpower Golden Cell through sheer energy!
In space.
Cell naturally sensed the balance of power shifting again.
"I'm curious how you managed that, but it doesn't matter now."
"Your time has come, Son Gohan!" Cell's golden aura blazed in the darkness of space like a dazzling star.
He assumed a fighting stance, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Son Gohan floated in the void without a word.
His energy was draining faster and faster.
As he watched Cell, he frantically searched his mind for a way out.
A tail... He still needed a tail, but the tail this body once had was long gone!
At the thought, Son Gohan couldn't help cursing inwardly.
That useless dad, Goku!
When Gohan was little, to keep him from turning into a Great Ape and losing control, he had actually wished to Shenron to have Gohan's tail sealed away permanently!
If it had been cut off like Vegeta's, that would've been fine. Given the unique nature of the Super Saiyan 4 transformation, temporarily forming another tail wouldn't have been a problem, just like with his left arm.
But instead, it was sealed by the rules of Miracle Power! That was the highest level of divine power in the Dragon Ball World.
"Damn it..."
While he was thinking, Cell had already charged at him with a sneer. His golden fist carried enough force to destroy a star, heading straight for Gohan's face.
Bang!
Son Gohan raised both arms to block. The terrifying impact sent him flying tens of thousands of kilometers, smashing through more than a dozen enormous asteroids along the way.
"Son Gohan! What happened to all that arrogance from before?" Cell pursued him, unleashing a relentless barrage.
Gohan could only defend himself. His red aura was battered apart again and again.
He couldn't drag this out any longer.
If he did, he was as good as dead.
"Looks like I have no choice..." Son Gohan thought to himself.
Before you continue