Pale, violent energy swept across the heavens. The entire sky lost its blue and turned a lifeless gray-white.
The power surging around Frieza made no earth-shaking explosions, yet carried an absolute, crushing order. Every stray wisp of energy, every current of wind and pressure between heaven and earth, was seized and controlled by him alone. The flames of Lin Chen's Super Saiyan Prototype, which had just erupted, shook violently beneath this terrifying pressure, like a candle about to go out in a gale.
The difference of a single step was the difference between heaven and earth.
At the desperate peak of six thousand in battle power, Lin Chen was no match at all for the Universe Emperor's true form.
Every muscle in Lin Chen's body tightened to its limit, and each inch of bone and sinew gave a faint creak under the strain. The lingering warning from the Ancestral Remnant Soul in his mind refused to fade: "The Frieza before you is not in his complete state. The Outer Chaos Alien Race has already gone into hiding." The words burned into his heart like an icy brand.
Only now did he finally see the truth. This calamity that had plagued his people for ten thousand years had been a lie from beginning to end.
Everyone knew that the Saiyan Clan had been wiped out in Frieza's brutal campaign and reduced to a laughingstock of the universe. But no one could have imagined that the true mastermind, hiding in the shadows, devouring the Saiyan Origin, inciting the clan's internal strife, and ultimately reaping the rewards, was the Outer Chaos Alien Race, which had never once revealed itself.
Frieza was merely the blade wielded on the board.
Now that blade was at their throats, while the hidden mastermind lurked beyond. Two layers of murderous intent, one in front and one behind, had sealed off every escape for Earth.
"About to die, and you're still lost in thought?"
Frieza's cool, mocking voice suddenly rang down from high above.
The pale energy abruptly contracted and condensed. The overwhelming pressure that had blanketed the sky gathered entirely in his slender palm. There was no flashy technique, just the simplest gathering of energy, yet the space around him twisted and shuddered violently.
The air was sucked away, and the suffocating pressure among the mountains and forests surged.
Not far away, Gilos, already terrified out of his wits, buckled at the knees and nearly fell from the sky. He had followed Frieza for many years, but had never seen the Emperor bring his full true-form power to bear against a junior. At last, he understood that he had never grasped this battle at all. The Emperor had never intended merely to wipe out the remnants. He had used Gilos to draw out this Saiyan heir with an Ancient Bloodline, then planned to personally cut off the threat.
Nearby, the black-haired Saiyan, Kallen, looked grim.
He had spent half his life pursuing the ancient prophecy and scouring the ruins of the universe. Every surviving record he had found mentioned Frieza's extermination of the clan, but not a single one spoke of the Chaos Race. Over ten thousand years, the traces of the hidden mastermind had been erased completely, leaving every surviving Saiyan hating the wrong enemy and pursuing the wrong destiny.
"No wonder every bloodline awakener through the generations died halfway along the way, meeting such inexplicable ends..." Kallen murmured, his voice trembling.
So it hadn't been Frieza's pursuit that was too relentless. An invisible pair of eyes had always lurked in the shadows, quietly harvesting every trace of the resurgent Ancient Saiyan Bloodline.
Above the clouds, the Golden Full-Power Super Saiyan slowly clenched his hand, pain and dawning understanding passing through his eyes.
He had lived longer than anyone. Time and again, he had wondered why, despite Saiyan geniuses repeatedly breaking through their limits in desperate situations, the people could never preserve their spark, always withering just as they were about to rise. Now the truth was clear: they had been surrounded on two fronts. The Emperor's slaughter was overt, while Chaos secretly stole their bloodline. Such a dead end had no solution.
If not for Lin Chen's bloodline being the only perfect mutation in ten thousand years, with the Ancestral Origin to fall back on, he would likely have shared the fate of his ancestors.
"Lin Chen!"
The Golden Super Saiyan spoke gravely, his voice piercing the oppressive air and reaching Lin Chen clearly.
"Frieza is currently in his base form, but his battle power is far beyond nine thousand five hundred. You can't possibly stand against him. The Outer Chaos Alien Race is concealed beyond the atmosphere. They haven't moved yet. They're waiting for us to both suffer heavy losses so they can reap the benefits!"
His words struck at the heart of the deadlock.
A fierce tiger lay ahead, and an abyss yawned behind.
If Lin Chen fought Frieza now, he would only exhaust his strength, then the Outer Realm aliens would devour every trace of his bloodline Origin. If he avoided the fight, Frieza's killing blow would fall in an instant, turning Earth into scorched earth.
Advance or retreat, either way meant death.
Lin Chen drew a deep breath, forcing down the storm raging in his heart.
The will left behind by his ancestor still lay quietly dormant in his mind, offering no further guidance and leaving behind only that warning. Ten thousand years ago, his ancestor had seen through the two layers of murderous intent. That was why he had cut away most of the clan's bloodline, sealed the primordial spark with his own remnant soul, and gambled that Lin Chen, ten thousand years later, could break the deadlock.
The weight of that wager made his heart tremble.
"Big brother!"
Goku's voice rang out from behind him, tinged with panic.
The boy couldn't understand the entanglement between the Chaos Race and their ancient destiny, but he could clearly sense how terrifying the man before them was. He instinctively took a step forward, the energy within him stirring on its own as he tried to shield Lin Chen. His small body trembled, yet he stubbornly stood in front.
"Stay back!"
Lin Chen barked.
He turned and raised a hand. A gentle current of energy pushed Goku back, keeping him safely out of harm's way. Frieza's killing blow was about to land. Its shock wave alone would be enough to tear an ordinary warrior apart, and Goku's current battle power couldn't withstand even a fraction of it.
Bulma hid deep in the woods, her heart pounding.
She didn't understand the martial destiny at stake, but she could see how dire their situation was. Two unknown, terrifying threats had locked onto Earth at once. Compared to a battle on this level, ordinary people like them weren't even dust. But she didn't run. Her hands clutched the broken scouter, and a stubborn glint remained in her eyes.
She couldn't help with the fighting, but she wouldn't hold anyone back.
"Since you insist on fighting to the death, then this king will grant your wish."
High above, Frieza had lost all patience. His crimson eyes were icy.
The pale energy sphere, condensed to its utmost, trembled slightly. Fine black cracks spread through the surrounding space, a sign that the force had exceeded the limits space could bear.
"I originally intended to leave you alive long enough to extract your bloodline and make it serve me."
"But it seems an unyielding insect deserves nothing less than utter annihilation."
With that, he flicked a finger.
The attack seemed casual, yet carried a terrifying force capable of cleaving mountains and rivers and crushing the earth. The pale orb of light tore through the sky at incredible speed, crossing ten thousand meters in an instant and shooting straight for Lin Chen's heart!
There was nowhere to dodge and no chance to block it.
This was the crushing power of an Emperor, an absolute suppression across dimensions.
"Defend with everything you have!"
The Golden Super Saiyan's expression changed dramatically. Golden flames surged around him as he shot out from the clouds, gathering the ultimate Super Saiyan energy in one palm and slamming it into the side of the orb, trying to force its deadly trajectory off course.
Kallen no longer stood by and watched.
He had spent his life pursuing the prophecy, and Lin Chen was the only child of destiny. If Lin Chen fell, the Saiyan Clan would have no chance of turning the tide. Purple flames shot into the sky as he unleashed all of his battle power—eight thousand seven hundred—and joined the Golden Super Saiyan in a flanking assault, forcing the attack back.
Two of the strongest Saiyans struck at once!
BOOM—!
The world shuddered, and blinding white light swallowed the entire forest.
The two mighty Saiyan forces collided with Frieza's Emperor Energy. A terrifying shock wave exploded, turning every tree within a thousand meters to dust. The ground was forcibly shaved down by several meters, leaving ravines and ruin in its wake.
Together, their Saiyan power could have swept across the stars, yet they managed to stop the attack for only an instant.
The next moment, the golden and purple flames crumbled. Both Super Saiyans shuddered violently and staggered back several steps. Their palms went numb, their blood and energy churned, and shock filled their hearts.
Frieza's battle power in his base form was actually this overwhelming!
That brief delay had given Lin Chen a chance to catch his breath.
He didn't dare slacken for a moment. He burned every last bit of strength in his body and unleashed the Super Saiyan Prototype in full. Ancient Power surged wildly from deep within his bloodline, pushing his physical defenses to their limit. At the same time, his mind raced to sort through the situation.
The Outer Chaos Alien Race was holding back to reap the benefits.
Then he couldn't let them have their way.
"Frieza!"
Lin Chen looked straight up at the Emperor, his voice steady and clear as it cut through the roaring sky.
"You're nothing but a pawn of the Outer Realm aliens. They've used you for ten thousand years, turning you into the butcher of my Saiyan Clan and making you their unwitting accomplice. How pitiful. How laughable!"
He spoke deliberately, stating the key to breaking the deadlock.
If he exposed the mastermind and unsettled Frieza, he could disrupt the invisible balance between the two sides and force the Chaos Race lurking beyond the planet to show themselves early. Better to break the deadlock and draw the enemy out than passively endure a two-pronged attack!
Sure enough, Frieza's crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
For ten thousand years, everyone had feared him, submitted to him, and hated him. Never once had anyone dared suggest to his face that he was another's pawn.
"A pawn?"
Frieza laughed coldly, his voice dripping with arrogance and contempt. "How utterly ridiculous. This king rules over countless star systems in the North Galaxy, deciding who lives and dies. Who would dare use me? A dying insect dares to sow discord and disturb this king's mind?"
He didn't believe in any supposed Chaos Race.
In his understanding, he was heaven itself within the universe. No one could rise above him.
But just as anger crossed his face and he prepared to strike the killing blow again—
Beyond the distant barrier of the atmosphere, in the pitch-black, silent depths of space, a faint, strange wisp of Grey-Black Mist suddenly seeped through.
The mist made no sound. It had none of Frieza's domineering energy or the Saiyans' ferocity. It carried only a lifeless desolation that devoured life and erased all things.
The mist pierced the atmospheric barrier and silently enveloped the entire planet.
In that instant, the colors of the world dimmed by a third. The sunlight lost its warmth, the wind fell completely silent, and every trace of life in the world began to drain away at a visible speed.
Frieza, who had been furious moments ago, suddenly stiffened.
He had stood above the universe for years and seen much. When the mist appeared, the first thing to pass through his eyes was a faint, unfamiliar wariness.
This aura... didn't belong to this universe!
Every hair on Kallen's body stood on end. His scalp prickled as he felt the annihilating terror that rose from his very soul.
The Golden Super Saiyan's pupils contracted. He stared at the Grey-Black Mist seeping in from beyond the planet and spoke in a low voice. "It's the Chaos Power from beyond the universe... The Doomsday Power recorded in our ancestor's ancient texts really exists!"
Goku, hiding behind them, shivered with cold and instinctively covered his chest. An instinctive wave of revulsion and terror swept through him.
Lin Chen's mind tightened to its limit.
He had drawn the enemy out. It had worked.
The mastermind that had lurked for ten thousand years had finally emerged instead of hiding.
But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the Ancestral Remnant Soul, silent in his mind, issued another urgent warning. Its voice carried unprecedented tension and alarm:
"Be careful! This isn't a probing barrier... It's the Precursor Barrier of Chaos Descent!"
"They don't just want to reap the benefits. They intend to use the moment your Ancient Bloodline awakens, with Earth as their anchor, to tear open the barrier between the two worlds and open the Chaos Portal!"
"Once the portal takes shape and the countless armies of the Chaos Race invade this universe, the entire galaxy will be wiped out!"
Lin Chen's mind exploded. A bone-deep coldness spread through his body.
At last, he understood the entire scheme!
For ten thousand years, the Chaos Race had never personally appeared to wipe out the Saiyans—not because they feared the Saiyan bloodline or dreaded Frieza, but because they were waiting for a once-in-a-millennium opportunity—
For the Saiyan bloodline bearing the complete Ancient Origin to awaken, using the bloodline of the child of destiny as a guide to tear the universe's barrier apart!
And now, standing on Earth with his bloodline fully unleashed and his energy exposed, he had become the perfect formation core!
Frieza stood before him, the Chaos Barrier loomed behind him, and the entire planet had become a sealed cage. He was the only key that could unleash the apocalyptic calamity.
More terrifying still, in the pitch-black depths of space, an unfamiliar, frigid consciousness had pierced through the atmosphere and locked firmly onto his soul. An utterly emotionless whisper rang across the entire world:
"Ten thousand years of waiting... The anchor is ready."
"The Saiyan Origin, the universe's barrier... All shall return to the void."
Before you continue