Barren Release

His chest felt as if it were pressed under a giant boulder, stifling him to the point of breathlessness.

That sense of powerlessness, mingled with the fury born from repeated failures, churned and burned deep within his chest.

Broly almost wanted to roar at this lifeless land, to cast out all the resentment trapped inside him.

He stood on the surface of this desolate planet, his feet planted on black rocks cracked like a spiderweb, beneath a perpetual dark purple sky that loomed over him like a lid.

In the distance, three moons of varying sizes hung in the sky, their overlapping shadows looking strange, as if they were mocking him on purpose.

The wind was merciless, whistling as it swept up red dust and lashed against his sturdy frame.

Yet, these winds could not move him in the slightest.

"Am I... really going to spend another few years in this hellhole?" he cursed under his breath. "Or even decades?!" His voice was shredded by the wind, the words forced out through gritted teeth.

He clenched his fists involuntarily, his knuckles popping with a dull sound, veins bulging like earthworms.

Forty-one years.

He had been alone, waiting for forty-one long years.

These days felt like an increasingly heavy mountain pressing down hard on his back.

He tilted his head toward the indifferent starry sky and let out a silent roar.

Dark green energy flared uncontrollably from his body before he forced it back down.

Over and over again, just like the endless struggle within his heart.

"Frieza Force... how much longer until you find me?! Or have you already forgotten me in this corner of the universe?!" The rage that had been accumulating for decades was like magma beneath the earth, seeking any chance to erupt.

His breathing grew heavier; with every inhale, the surrounding air currents surged, and with every exhale, scorching white mist escaped his lips.

His emotions were like a stormy sea, unable to calm down.

Broly slammed his eyes shut, his chest heaving violently.

He forced himself to take deep breaths—inhaling as if to draw the cold of the entire sky into his lungs; exhaling, wishing he could spit out the fire in his chest along with all his unwillingness.

The rhythm of his breathing affected the turbulent energy around him, causing it to expand and contract, emitting a low hum.

Forty-one years! How many people get to live through several forty-one-year stretches? He had squandered his most powerful, most glorious years on this dead planet, abandoned by civilization and forgotten by life itself.

Now, all that remained was the endless desolation before him—jagged rocks, toxic purple moss, and those ugly monsters that lived only by the instinct to kill.

He didn't want to stay in this hellhole for even one more second!

But what could he do? Release his full power, shining like a lighthouse to attract any strong beings that might exist in the universe? He had tried that method countless times, only to be disappointed just as often.

In the past, whenever his strength broke through a bottleneck and a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart, he would take to the sky without hesitation and release his Saiyan energy to its limit.

In those moments, a pillar of green energy would shoot into the clouds, stirring up storms and briefly dispersing the eternal gloom that hung over the planet.

He was like an ancient beast trapped in a cage, screaming his defiance at the cold universe.

But only deeper silence answered him.

One year, two years... ten years, twenty years... his cries were like stones thrown into the ocean, leaving no echo at all.

The universe was too vast, vast enough to drive one to despair.

Even if his power were enough to destroy a galaxy, in this endless sea of stars, he was nothing more than a pebble on a lake, creating a tiny ripple that was quickly swallowed by the void.

Son Goku, or any other powerful warrior who would follow his energy signature... it was all nonsense! It was nothing but a delusion he had concocted to deceive himself in his despair!

"Haa—!" Finally, he let out a long sigh, his voice filled with exhaustion and helplessness, forcibly suppressing the rage that threatened to explode.

Yet, the energy on his body remained beyond his control; the ground around him trembled slightly, and loose rocks began to float as if buoyed by an invisible force.

He turned and headed toward his "home"—which was, in truth, nothing more than a cave he had carved into a cliffside with energy blasts, crude and simple.

Each of his steps was heavy, leaving clear cracks in the hard, rocky ground.

As he walked, his peripheral vision caught something ahead, and he suddenly came to a halt.

The area where he had lived for decades had been completely transformed.

The already barren land had been torn apart by some violent force; deep trenches and scorched earth were everywhere, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur and charred protein.

In the center of the ruins stood the culprit.

The thing defied normal description.

It looked like a cross between a Centipede-like Carapace Monster magnified a thousand times, covered in thick, obsidian-like armor that shimmered with a sinister light.

On both sides were dense rows of sharp, jointed limbs, each like a spear, capable of piercing and tearing through the ground with the slightest movement.

It had no eyes on its head, only a massive maw filled with spiral-shaped serrated teeth, dripping with highly corrosive, dark green slime.

It had clearly been agitated by the energy Broly had leaked moments ago, and now, with its massive body and countless sharp legs, it was frantically slamming against the cave he called home.

The rock shattered continuously, and large sections of the mountain collapsed under the monster's brute force.

Broly's brow twitched slightly, and the calm he had barely managed to maintain shattered like a frozen surface hit by a spark.

This monster was attacking more than just a shelter from the wind; it was attacking the only place on this planet that gave him any sense of "belonging."

The intent to kill and a violent rage, like ink dropped into clear water, rapidly stained his emerald-green eyes.

At that very instant, the twisted monster, its entire body covered in dark purple scales, shuddered as if pierced by invisible needles of ice, its movements coming to an abrupt halt.

Its pair of scarlet compound eyes spun wildly before locking onto the figure behind it—Broly stood silently on the shattered rocky ground, his silver hair drifting slightly amidst the dust, his cold gaze fixed upon it like an abyss.

The air seemed to solidify in an instant.

Beastly instincts exploded within the creature; every scale on its body trembled, and its muscles tensed like iron. It was not fear, but a more primitive, violent warning: Run! You must run immediately! The further, the better!

Its thick hind legs kicked off the ground with a thunderous force, causing the earth to crack instantly, but just as its massive body began to pivot to flee—

"Since you're already here," Broly said, his voice low yet as cold as iron scraping across an open wasteland, "don't bother leaving."

Before the words had even faded, he casually raised his right hand. As he curled his fingers into a loose fist, a cluster of emerald light ignited in his palm, rapidly spinning and expanding into a volatile energy sphere.

The radiance was not blinding, yet it seemed capable of devouring everything, drawing in the surrounding light and emitting a low, resonant hum.

The monster let out a shrill, desperate roar, straining to leap away—but Broly merely flicked his hand, as if brushing dust from his shoulder.

The emerald energy sphere flew out silently, leaving a distorted, scorching trail in the air before sinking precisely into the monster's thick chest.

Time seemed to slow for a heartbeat.

The next second, the immense power erupted.

The monster's tens-of-meters-tall body was struck as if by an invisible giant hammer; without the slightest room to resist, it was blasted into the air, soaring toward the gray firmament like a withered leaf caught in a gale.

It thrashed its remaining limbs frantically, but its shrieks were quickly swallowed by the energy storm.

And then—

"BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The explosion shook the very heavens.