Beerus's Beam Pierced My Chest, Yet I Survived and Ended Up Somewhere Else

In the final second before the purple light of destruction swallowed his vision, Gou Kong could even smell the charred stink of his own flesh and blood being seared by intense heat.

It was the manifestation of a God of Destruction's authority, carrying the rule-bound power to erase all existence as it pierced through his chest without the slightest obstruction.

There was no explosion like he had expected, no roar of clashing energy. That beam, clean as a straight line, tore through the Saiyan body he was so proud of as easily as a hot knife cutting through butter.

"Cough—! Ah—!"

Agony swept through every nerve in an instant. Gou Kong curled up beyond his control, rolling across the shattered alloy floor.

The pain did not feel like being struck by an energy wave. It was more like someone had shoved a burning-hot stellar core straight into his chest. Every heartbeat felt as though it were squeezing a red-hot iron brand. Blood gushed from the corner of his mouth, dripping onto the cracked floor and hissing up white smoke.

His tail went rigid beyond his control and smashed half a decorative pillar beside him to pieces. Even his Scouter blew apart under the wash of destructive energy, reduced to scrap metal as parts scattered everywhere.

He was losing blood at an astonishing rate. A vast emptiness burrowed through the wound into every part of his body, as if handfuls of vitality were being forcibly torn away every second.

The pressure in his eyes was so high it felt as though his eyeballs would burst from their sockets at any moment. His vision began to blur, and even Beerus's languid cat face warped before him.

Gou Kong rolled his eyes and looked down at his own body. Only one absurd thought remained in his mind: So this is what being destroyed feels like?

His fingers were the first to change, turning into fine purple motes of light that drifted away through the air. Next came his forearms, his shoulders, his torso.

Just as Beerus had declared earlier, his existence was being erased completely from the rules of the universe, leaving not even the slightest trace behind.

Ironically, this process that would crush even his soul somehow carried a strange comfort. At some point, the ripping agony from before had vanished without a trace.

Was his brain secreting massive amounts of endorphins under extreme terror, plunging him into a crazed hallucination?

Or did the very essence of destruction itself carry this kind of tenderness that made one sink into it?

Gou Kong could not be bothered to think about it. When the particle-like dissolution spread to his neck, he gave up struggling completely and quietly closed his eyes. If this is the end, then maybe it isn't so bad?

What kind of bullshit joke was that!

Why?

I spent four years stockpiling energy just to avoid Frieza, that purple-skinned onion-head's planet-busting cannon, and now I'm going to die at the hands of some fat cat?

I haven't gone to Earth to eat hot pot yet, haven't watched that little brat Vegeta get beaten until he cried for his daddy, haven't drunk that oaf Nappa under the table, haven't seen Frieza get blown apart by one punch with my own eyes!

My life was only just about to get good. How could I die here?

His intense unwillingness was like a fire, burning away all his calm in an instant.

Gou Kong's consciousness suddenly exploded in the void. His desire to survive, like a beast that had lain dormant for ages, erupted completely at that moment!

The motes of light that had been dispersing abruptly stopped, as if they had been forcibly dragged back by an invisible power!

The next second, Gou Kong clearly felt his scattered limbs rapidly reforming. The crisp sounds of bones joining together and the sore swelling of muscles growing spread through his entire body along his nerves. His heart was like a race car with the gas pedal floored, pounding so hard it nearly smashed through his chest.

This was proof that he was alive!

It was ironclad proof that Gou Kong existed in this world!

A power he had never experienced before surged madly through his body, as if he could flip all of Planet Vegeta over as long as he wanted to!

He suddenly opened his eyes. A terrifying red light burned in his once-unfocused pupils, like blazing flames, and like a supernova on the verge of eruption.

Before he could see what he looked like, Gou Kong almost instinctively pushed off the ground and leaped up, swinging his fist toward Beerus—

Then he woke up.

"What the hell was that ridiculous dream?"

Gou Kong stared blankly at the dusty gray ceiling above him. He was stunned for a full half minute before finally recovering from that utterly realistic dream.

His body, destroyed by Beerus, had dispersed and then inexplicably reformed, and he had even gathered enough power to try to fight back...

Tch. Wasn't that just some ridiculous dream a Saiyan had after sleeping himself stupid?

After all, even a tight-lipped guy like Bardock could get drunk and sing nursery rhymes while hugging an energy gun. Having a nightmare about getting destroyed was not exactly strange.

No, wait!

He was still alive, and perfectly fine!

The pain in that dream, the feeling of even his soul being crushed, had been too real—so real that he had no way to classify it as an ordinary nightmare.

Gou Kong shot up from the hard plank bed, and cold sweat instantly soaked through the back of his battle suit.

He panted heavily, the phantom pain of being burned still lingering in his chest. He raised a hand and touched his heart. It was completely intact, without even a red mark.

But the terror of being on the verge of death was too profound. So profound that as long as he closed his eyes, he could see Beerus's half-lidded cat eyes, and that purple beam that could annihilate heaven and earth.

How was he not dead?

Back then, he had clearly thought he had been completely erased by Beerus's destructive energy. Could someone have blocked the fatal blow for him in that tiny span of time?

Gou Kong frowned and racked his brains for a long while, but quickly ruled out that possibility.

At the time, every Saiyan in the palace had been so terrified they did not even dare breathe. Who would have had the nerve, or the speed, to block a God of Destruction's attack?

Besides, if Planet Vegeta had really been destroyed, there was no way he could still be lying here, peacefully dreaming.

That old bastard King Vegeta would definitely have died in space long ago. How could Gou Kong still have a way to survive?

If he could not figure it out, then he would stop thinking about it. Surviving was already the greatest stroke of luck.

Gou Kong groaned. Just as he was about to relax, a violent wave of dizziness suddenly struck. He had no choice but to lower his head again, bracing both hands on the edge of the bed for quite a while before he barely forced down the nausea.

He raised a hand and touched his forehead. His temperature was normal; it didn't seem like a fever.

What exactly was going on with this bizarre condition of his body?

Was the dream just now too real, leaving behind aftereffects?

Or had he been so mentally tense when facing the God of Destruction that, now that he had relaxed, he was having a stress reaction?

Those questions didn't matter for the moment.

Gou Kong scratched the back of his head as he thought. His gaze swept over his knees by chance—and suddenly stopped.

The fleece blanket covering his knees was not the old one from his room, the one he had used for three years until the edges had worn into little pills! This blanket felt soft and thick to the touch, and its edge was embroidered with the flame pattern of the Saiyan royal family. He recognized the pattern; he had seen it before when he went to the palace to report for duty. Only members of the royal family or high-ranking guards could use it.

Gou Kong froze for an instant, then abruptly lifted his head and began looking around.