Threat

Tens of thousands of kilometers away.

Trunks felt a jolt run through his entire body. The moment those silver-white eyes locked onto him, a chill as tangible as ice surged from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

He realized with a start that he had been exposed!

Son Gohan's instructions exploded in his mind. Without a moment's hesitation, Trunks unleashed his full aura and turned to flee into the deep void of space.

"You think you can get away?" Kakarot sneered. He abruptly raised his right hand and clenched his fingers into the empty air.

Hum!

The Miracle Power ignored the tens of thousands of kilometers of physical space.

Whoosh! Trunks felt his vision blur, and suddenly he was back on the battlefield, less than two meters away from the demon.

The overwhelming pressure of the law rendered Trunks unable to move, holding him firmly in place near Kakarot.

"Damn you!"

A flash of extreme killing intent crossed Son Gohan's eyes, and his energy erupted with a roar.

He transformed into a streak of purple lightning that tore through the cosmos, charging straight at Kakarot.

Facing the sudden onslaught, Kakarot merely flicked his finger.

"Stop! Or I'll have this brat die right here!"

He barked the arrogant command.

Countless blades condensed from white, rule-bound light appeared, densely surrounding Trunks from every angle.

BOOM—!

The violent, high-speed streak of light screeched to a halt less than ten meters in front of Kakarot.

Son Gohan hung in the void, his chest heaving violently. Purple-black energy of destruction crackled and hissed as it danced wildly around him.

His purple eyes stared coldly at Kakarot.

He had been so close to rescuing Trunks, but Kakarot's Miracle Power no longer required a casting delay; with a single thought, Trunks would be reduced to nothingness.

"Brother Gohan... I'm sorry..." Trunks' eyes turned bloodshot, and he bit his lip to keep from crying out. He loathed his own recklessness. If he hadn't approached on his own, Brother Gohan would never have been forced into this impossible dilemma.

"Don't worry about me! Kill him!" Trunks squeezed the words out from his throat with every ounce of his strength.

"Shut up, you little brat." Kakarot waved his hand, and the white light transformed into a heavy slap, leaving half of Trunks' face a bloody mess and sending his teeth flying.

"Trunks!" Son Gohan's aura flared for a split second.

"Don't move." Kakarot immediately pressed the light blades closer to Trunks, the edges faintly slicing into his skin. "Or you can try and see—is your speed faster, or is mine?"

Son Gohan remained silent, his fierce gaze scraping against Kakarot's face like a physical blade.

He was frantically running through every possibility in his mind. A high-speed burst to get behind him? A long-range bombardment with destruction energy? Or perhaps ignoring everything and including Trunks in the range of his attack?

No, none of it would work.

The causality mechanism of the Miracle Power was too unreasonable. Since the opponent had issued the command to "kill Trunks," any slight movement on his part would trigger the power of the law to instantly erase the boy. Even if he could tear Kakarot to shreds in a second, he wouldn't be able to save Trunks.

What was he to do?

Son Gohan took a deep breath. He looked at Trunks, whose face was covered in blood and who was shaking his head in despair.

The future timeline was already gone. Trunks was his only companion and the last hope of that world. He could never watch him die here. Absolutely not.

Since a frontal assault was impossible, he had no choice but to stabilize the situation and wait for an opening.

"Release him, and I will submit to whatever you want," Son Gohan said, his voice cold and devoid of any warmth.

A flash of wild joy crossed Kakarot's eyes. He had bet correctly! This fool actually cared about such boring bonds!

"Deactivate your transformation and return to your base state," Kakarot said, looking down at him from above. "And then, kneel for me!"

Son Gohan's eyes narrowed slightly.

During this brief standoff, his brain raced at top speed.

"Fine."

As the words fell, the surging energy of destruction, along with the violent Super Saiyan 4 aura, was instantly retracted by Son Gohan.

The red ape fur receded rapidly, his waist-length hair shortened, his physique shrank, and his left arm vanished. Those purple eyes, filled with immense pressure, returned to their deep, natural black.

The moment he dropped the transformation, the massive amount of escaping energy turned into a thick white mist, briefly obscuring Kakarot's vision.

Son Gohan's right hand swept past the pouch at his waist with impossible speed, and two emerald-green Senzu Beans were tossed into the air, landing accurately in his mouth.

He didn't chew, instead hiding the beans under his tongue.

By the time the mist cleared, Son Gohan had completely returned to his base state, devoid of any divine pressure.

Kakarot looked at Son Gohan, feeling his aura—now as weak as an ant's—and the frustration and fear in his heart finally vanished.

"Hahaha! Hahahahaha!" Kakarot let out a manic, explosive laugh, his face twisting into a sickening arc. "So much for a God of Destruction! You're nothing! Only I, Kakarot, am the one true god!"

"Kneel!"

Son Gohan stood straight, ignoring the taunts and simply watching him in silence.

"I told you to kneel! Are you deaf?!"

Kakarot roared, his left hand lashing out violently.

Swish! Swish!

Two thick white chains, forged from materialized Miracle Power, tore through the air with a speed that completely surpassed the reaction limits of Son Gohan in his base state.

Squelch!

The sound of sharp blades piercing flesh followed instantly.

Like two jagged iron hooks, the white chains brutally impaled both of Son Gohan's collarbones.

"Urgh!" Son Gohan let out a muffled groan as blood instantly stained his chest crimson. The immense impact sent his body flying backward before the chains snapped taut, suspending him helplessly in mid-air.

Excruciating pain tore at his nerves. The chains, imbued with the power of law, did not merely pierce his flesh; they felt as though they were searing his very soul. Blood dripped down the chains onto the floating debris below.

"Gohan!" Trunks let out a heart-wrenching scream, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes. "You bastard! Kill me instead! Come at me!"

"What's the rush? Once I'm done torturing him, you're next." Kakarot didn't even glance at Trunks, merely tightening his grip on the invisible chains.

Clack, clack, clack.

The chains retracted sharply, forcibly dragging Son Gohan's body until he was right in front of Kakarot.

The distance between them was less than half a meter.

Enduring the tearing agony in his collarbones, Son Gohan was covered in cold sweat, yet he didn't let out another sound. Within those pitch-black eyes, there was no sign of the fear or pleading Kakarot had expected—only resilience and calm.

"Scream! Why aren't you screaming?" Kakarot felt deeply unsettled by that indifferent gaze. "I told you to scream!!"

He clearly held the absolute advantage; he had clearly pierced this man's bones and hung him in mid-air. So why didn't he feel even a hint of fear?

Why wasn't he begging for mercy like a dog?!

At the thought, Kakarot increased the tension on the chains.

"I don't feel a thing. Is that all you've got?" Son Gohan curled his lips into a mocking smirk, blood dripping down his chin. "You're nothing but a coward, you don't even know how to torture someone properly."

"I'll show you! I'll show you how to keep that stiff upper lip!"

Kakarot's eyes turned bloodshot, and silver-white ki flared around his body like a raging fire. He manipulated the chains to pull Son Gohan's limbs apart into a spread-eagled position.

Neatly arranged blades of silver-white ki whistled through the void, descending upon Son Gohan like a dense, torrential downpour.