Instinct and Transcendence

Like a sponge that had been dry for far too long, he frantically absorbed every drop of water he could reach, then digested it, reorganized it, and made it his own.

This ability had already surpassed the realm of talent. It was more like an instinct rooted deep in his bloodline and engraved upon his soul—an ancient instinct belonging to the Legendary Super Saiyan, born for battle and existing for evolution.

"But do you think imitation alone can win?"

Beerus's voice suddenly rang directly in Broly's mind, cold and commanding.

The next second, Beerus's presence vanished completely from Broly's perception.

It was not that he was moving too fast to follow—Broly's dynamic vision could already track afterimages moving at light speed—but that he had disappeared on the level of existence itself.

No aura, no energy fluctuations, no spatial distortion; even his battle instincts had lost their target.

The spot where Beerus had stood moments ago was utterly empty, as though he had never been there at all, as though every trace of his existence had been forcibly erased by some higher power.

Broly's golden pupils abruptly shrank to pinpoints.

Danger!

A pure, instinctive premonition of danger from the deepest level of his life force washed over him like ice water.

At almost the same instant, he crossed his arms before his chest, emerald energy condensing into a thick shield before him—

Too slow.

No, it was not that he was slow. This strike had transcended the very concept of "speed."

The next instant, Beerus's knee was already pressed into Broly's abdomen—not attacking from any direction, but simply "appearing" there, as though his knee had always belonged in that position and Broly's abdomen had struck it on its own.

"Boom—!!!"

A dull impact so heavy it seemed capable of stopping one's heart.

The force of this blow far surpassed every previous attack.

It was not an impact on the physical level, but the manifestation of a rule.

Purple destruction energy erupted at the point of contact. Rather than spreading outward, it became countless fine needles that accurately pierced every vital organ inside Broly's body: his heart, lungs, liver, kidneys... trying to completely break down the Saiyan's proud, powerful body from within and annihilate it into its most basic particles.

"Pfft—!"

Broly's body was like something struck head-on by a supernova explosion, turning into a blurred emerald meteor as he flew backward.

What he spat out was not blood alone, but a great mist of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, which instantly vaporized into crimson ice crystals in the vacuum.

His spine groaned under the unbearable strain, nearly snapping from the impact.

He was sent flying at a terrifying speed.

Broly smashed through three magma pillars in Vampa's crust, each more than five hundred meters in diameter. The first exploded down the middle, lava pouring down like a torrential rain; after he pierced the second, its structure collapsed and the entire pillar came crashing down, turning into a sea of fire; he struck the third at an angle and burst out the other side, the lava dragged along behind him streaking across the air in a crimson trail several kilometers long.

At last, his back slammed violently into a half-collapsed mountain whose surface had already been vitrified.

The instant of impact, the entire mountain exploded down the middle. Its upper half collapsed amid a roar and slid downward, burying Broly beneath millions of tons of rubble and molten rock.

Dust and heat surged into the sky, forming a small mushroom cloud.

A dead silence lasted for three seconds.

"Cough... cough cough..."

A suppressed coughing sound came from deep within the rubble.

A hand covered in dust and blood suddenly thrust out through a crack in the rocks, its fingers turning white at the knuckles from the force.

Then came the other hand.

Both hands gripped the edge and pulled.

"Rumble!"

Dozens of tons of rock piled above him exploded apart under a violent burst of energy, shooting in every direction.

Broly slowly rose from the ruins. His movements were somewhat unsteady, but he eventually stood upright.

He looked utterly miserable. His battle suit had been completely shredded around the abdomen, exposing scorched-black skin beneath, its surface covered in web-like purple cracks—the scars left by the erosion of destruction energy.

Half-dried blood covered the corners of his mouth, his chin, and his chest. His long golden hair was clumped together by dust and blood.

Every breath brought agonizing pain from his abdomen. He could feel that at least three ribs had snapped completely, their broken ends piercing his lungs; his internal organs had been severely damaged by the continued erosion of destruction energy, and every heartbeat brought a burning agony.

But—

He raised his head and looked at Beerus, floating in the distance with an expressionless face.

His eyes—those golden pupils belonging to the Legendary Super Saiyan—were brighter than ever before.

It was not the glow of a final burst before death, but a sharper, fiercer, more... hungry light.

The pain did not make him retreat. Instead, like fuel, it caused the fighting spirit in his eyes to burn even more violently.

He raised a hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb. Then, facing Beerus, he slowly split his lips into a bloodstained, savage grin.

The battle had only just begun.

"What was that...?"

Broly murmured softly, his pupils narrowing slightly as his mind replayed the instant Beerus vanished again and again—not a flicker, not an afterimage, but as though an eraser had wiped him out of reality, leaving no trace behind.

It wasn't Instant Transmission.

He was absolutely certain of that.

Beerus hadn't used any spatial movement technique.

He had compressed his ki, energy fluctuations, and even his very presence to the absolute limit, like forcing the water of an entire ocean into a tiny pearl, until he vanished completely from Broly's field of perception.

It was the ultimate restraint, a state bordering on "nothingness."

He had drawn all that violent power inward without leaking even the slightest trace, like sealing volcanic lava beneath a sheet of ice, then gathering all of it into a single point at the most precise, deadliest moment before releasing it like a needle bursting a balloon.

"I see..."

A nearly fanatical smile slowly curled across Broly's lips. Green light flowed through his eyes, as though countless combat patterns were being dismantled and reassembled within them.

He raised his head and looked into the distance.

Beerus hovered above a shattered rocky mountain, his dark purple body seeming especially profound beneath the dim yellow sky.

With his arms folded across his chest and his tail swaying gently behind him, he looked down at Broly from above. There was scrutiny in his scarlet eyes, along with a hint of amusement.

"Do you understand?"

Beerus's voice wasn't loud, yet it pierced through the howling wind and the clatter of falling rubble, striking Broly's eardrums with perfect clarity. "Then let me see whether you can do it."