Sacrificing Himself for Righteousness! Shattering the Core with One Strike, the Altar's Frenzied Surge

The depths of space were oppressively black as that pitch-black pillar of energy, carrying enough force to destroy heaven and earth, shot toward Nappa, who stood in its path with a sharp whoosh. The sound of it tearing through space stabbed at their eardrums, mingling with the strange howls drifting from the altar until even space itself trembled. Dust floating nearby was blasted in every direction. Nappa's body had already become half-transparent, making the energy fluctuations inside him plainly visible. Black patterns coiled around his body like poisonous vines as sinister power and his own blazing energy collided and tore through him. Every inch of his meridians felt ready to snap; even drawing a breath was like swallowing a ball of fire, his throat burning with piercing pain. Yet his hand still clutched the core fragment tightly, his nails embedded deep in its surface. His arm had long gone numb, and his finger bones cracked from the strain, but he did not loosen his grip in the slightest. Blood seeped from between his fingers and dripped onto the fragment, only to be swallowed by black mist in an instant. Even so, a faint bloodstain remained, glaringly conspicuous.

"Quick! Do it!" Nappa forced the words from his throat, his voice hoarse as if scraped by sandpaper, yet filled with desperate resolve. The flames around him were growing weaker, like a candle about to die in the wind, but he still held on stubbornly, blocking the energy pillar with all his might. "I can't hold on much longer! Smash this damned thing and protect Earth!" Before his words had even faded, the energy pillar surged violently, slamming into his chest like a massive hammer. Nappa grunted, spraying a mouthful of blood into space, its red painfully bright. His body became even more