Showdown on the Ice Plains

His battle instincts and senses were pushed to their absolute limits, yet he still could not catch how Broly was moving at all.

It was not because he was too fast. That was not it at all.

You could not even say he had "moved"—Broly seemed to vanish out of thin air from one place, only to be written back into the world in another distant corner.

That utterly unreasonable method sent an instinctive chill through Vegeta's heart.

"Whis."

Vegeta's throat was dry, and his voice came out hoarse.

He stared fixedly at the spot where Broly had disappeared, as though he could glare some answer out of the air.

"Yes?"

Whis appeared utterly at ease. The crystal ball atop his staff began to turn on its own, its light flowing like water within.

"That guy... Broly. Just who is he?"

The words were practically forced out through Vegeta's clenched teeth, full of unwillingness and vigilance, along with the naked tremor one felt before an unknown and powerful foe.

Whis smiled without answering directly.

He merely raised his staff gracefully and pointed the crystal ball toward the distant void.

The lights within the sphere swiftly gathered and sharpened, revealing an endless ice field—the planet's far north, blanketed by ice and snow year-round, where violent winds whipped snowflakes through heaven and earth.

In that silent, lifeless world, three tiny points of light carrying terrifying energy were closing in at an astonishing speed, on the verge of colliding.

"Well..."

Whis's voice was as light as the wind, seeming both near and far. "After you watch this battle and witness it for yourself, perhaps you will find the answer on your own."

Vegeta's fists clenched until they crackled, his knuckles turning white.

He ground his teeth, exhaling a blast of hot air through his nostrils.

The next second, a deep blue aura exploded around him, enveloping his entire body.

He hesitated no longer. His figure became a sharp streak of blue light, violently tearing through the atmosphere as he shot in the direction indicated by the crystal ball, leaving only a shallow footprint melted into the ground by the heat.

The clamor and lingering shockwaves of energy gradually faded into the distance, and the courtyard returned to silence—far quieter than before.

A gentle breeze passed through, making the flowers and grass sway softly, while the fountain's water continued to murmur at its unhurried pace.

Lord Beerus was still reclining beneath the eaves on his luxurious lounge chair, his purple skin faintly gleaming in the afternoon sun.

He held a cup of vividly colored cosmic juice in one hand, while the other rested behind his head. His long, slender tail swayed lazily from side to side, and he looked utterly at ease.

"Whis."

He took a sip of juice and spoke indistinctly.

"I'm here, Lord Beerus."

Whis appeared soundlessly beside the lounge chair, somehow holding a steaming cup of tea.

"What do you think..."

Beerus cast a sidelong glance at the crystal ball, where three points of light on the ice field were about to collide, reflected in his crimson eyes. "Can that kid win?"

Whis tilted his head slightly, as if he were seriously contemplating some difficult philosophical question about the universe.

"Which 'kid' does Lord Beerus mean?"

he asked gently.

Beerus rolled his eyes, tipped back his head, and gulped down a large mouthful of juice. Then he snapped irritably, "Cut it out! You know who I mean! Kakarot, that noisy little wild monkey!"

Whis smiled, like an adult indulging a child's stubbornness.

"Son Goku is very strong," he said, as though judging whether a dish had been cooked to perfection. "His strength lies in his astonishing ability to keep growing, to constantly surpass his own limits.

Every time he comes close to death, every time he faces an opponent he cannot defeat, he absorbs experience and power like a sponge, undergoing an unbelievable transformation.

That ability to be reborn from desperate situations is his talent—or rather, it is also the most frightening thing about him."

He gently swirled the teacup in his hand, watching the leaves rise and fall in the tea.

After a pause, his gaze returned to the crystal ball atop his staff, this time locking onto the huge, taciturn figure crossing the ice field.

At that moment, Broly advanced through the blizzard, as steady as a moving mountain.

"But Broly... he is different from Goku."

Whis's voice lowered, carrying the air of an ancient legend. "His power came into this world with his life.

It was not gained through grueling training, nor did it require breaking through any bottlenecks. Even... the word 'effort' seems unfamiliar to him.

The instinct for battle and that violent power seem carved into his bloodline, inseparable from every breath and every heartbeat.

If Son Goku is endlessly climbing a towering mountain shrouded in clouds and mist, one whose summit can never be seen, with each breakthrough revealing a new view..."

Whis paused again, and this time his silence lasted longer.

He raised his eyes to Beerus, a profound light gleaming in his violet eyes.

"Then Broly... perhaps he is that mountain himself."

Looming before them, impossible to go around—an existence that could only be faced head-on."

Beerus snorted, though it was impossible to tell whether it was agreement or disdain.

He took another gulp of juice and licked the corner of his mouth, the coming ice-field storm reflected in his crimson pupils.

"So you mean Kakarot picked a mountain he can't possibly climb this time?"

Whis neither confirmed nor denied it.

He merely raised his teacup elegantly and took a light sip.

The warm fragrance of the tea seemed to make him narrow his eyes slightly.

"Before the result is known, both possibility and impossibility are merely predictions, Lord Beerus."

He set down his teacup, his tone turning light again. "But no matter how it ends, there is one thing I can be certain of—"

His gaze returned to the crystal ball. Within it, the three points of light finally crashed together in the heart of the ice field!

Even across the vast distance and Whis's magical barrier, it felt as though a silent shockwave surged out from the image.

"This battle will definitely be very, very interesting.

Interesting enough to be worthy of our tea and refreshments—and this bit of leisure."

The frigid wind of the far north carried countless tiny, razor-sharp ice crystals as it ravaged the boundless wilderness, like millions of invisible carving knives endlessly shaping this forgotten white world.

The leaden-gray sky hung low, nearly blending into the pale horizon until it was impossible to tell where heaven ended and earth began.

Then, upon that blank canvas, three blazing streaks of light tore through the frozen sky like three burning meteors falling against the icy wind. Trailing long tails of light, they slammed heavily into the ancient, thick ice cap.

"BOOM—CRACK!"

At the point of impact, the steel-hard ice let out a dull roar. Spiderweb cracks burst outward from beneath their feet in an instant, spreading dozens of meters as ice shards and snow mist shot into the sky.

But the cold of this land surpassed all imagination. Before the cracks could spread any farther, the extreme chill swept back in, quickly sealing them beneath a new layer of smooth, deep-blue ice, as though the earth had healed its wounds in the blink of an eye.

Broly stood barefoot in the middle of the ice. A needle-sharp chill immediately bored up through the soles of his feet, racing along the muscles of his calves as it tried to freeze his blood and vitality.