Emperor of the Universe? And You Call That Worthy of a King?

Halfway through, he suddenly felt a bone-piercing chill above his head. A sinister, murderous aura slammed into him head-on, its killing intent like needles pricking his skin with searing pain.

White ki flames erupted with a boom. His speed multiplied severalfold as he shot toward that dead, silent sky like an arrow loosed from the bow!

"As long as I defeat you—all endings will be rewritten! Vegeta's fate, the Saiyans' fate, my life, Kakarot's life, even... your life!!" Bardock was drenched in blood, his muscles and bones nearly torn apart, yet he still forced up his right hand. A dim but stubborn energy sphere gathered in his palm—the final spark he hurled at fate.

Unfortunately, his all-out attack, with a power level of less than thirty thousand, raised only an imperceptible ripple against Frieza's Planet Destroyer.

A mantis trying to stop a chariot.

The gulf in power was so vast it suffocated him. The last trace of unwillingness in his eyes sank into an abyss of despair.

The Planet Destroyer came shrieking toward him. Death was inches away.

Yet just as that sphere of light capable of devouring a planet came within less than a centimeter of his nose—

It stopped.

Without warning, it was firmly held back by a single slender finger.

"B-Barros?!" Bardock froze, his pupils contracting sharply as he turned his head in disbelief—

Beside him stood a young Saiyan who only came up to his waist, his gaze cold as frost.

Before his shock had faded, a tiny spark had already kindled in his eyes: hope.

Barros gave him a slight nod. His gaze passed over the hundreds-of-meters-wide sphere of destructive light and pierced straight toward the stunned Frieza in the distance. A mocking smile curled across his lips.

"Bang—!"

With a flick of his finger, the entire Planet Destroyer hurtled back, carrying the force of thunder as it smashed toward Frieza!

Frieza's expression changed drastically. With an enraged roar of "Bastard," he leaped from his hover pod, crossed his arms to receive the blow head-on, then bellowed as he exerted himself and violently flung the sphere aside!

Its trajectory shifted, and the Planet Destroyer shrieked as it crashed into a barren dead planet beside Planet Vegeta—

BOOM!!!

An earth-shattering explosion erupted. The shockwave, carrying a world-destroying hurricane, swept across the void.

The gale tossed the loose hair across Barros's forehead aside, revealing his iron-cold profile. His eyes gleamed with terrifying brightness, and his fighting spirit was sharp as a blade.

Between heaven and earth, only the two of them remained, facing each other from afar.

The wind stopped. The sounds died away. Even the stars seemed to hold their breath.

After a long while, Frieza narrowed his eyes. His voice was as venomous as a hissing snake. "Heh... among this pack of wild monkeys, there really was a tiger.

It seems my decision back then... was indeed correct."

That earlier Planet Destroyer had not been Frieza's full-strength attack, but anyone with a power level below two hundred thousand would not have been able to withstand it for even an instant. They would have been reduced to ashes immediately.

For someone to deflect it back along its original path, their strength had to be at least equal to his—perhaps even faintly above his own.

Looking at Barros's still-youthful yet blade-cold face, killing intent surged within Frieza's chest, nearly tearing apart the sky.

"Frieza—you insist on wiping out Planet Vegeta because you fear the 'Super Saiyan' sleeping within Saiyan blood will awaken, don't you?" Barros's tone was calm, but his voice scraped across the sky like cold iron, every word carving itself into every inch of air around Planet Vegeta.

"Super Saiyan?" Bardock's entire body stiffened. He abruptly turned his head, his eyes locked onto Frieza's suddenly discolored face.

"You filthy monkey!!" His secret exposed, Frieza's rage shot to the heavens. He raised a hand and fired a blazing ki blast, wrapped in violet flames, straight at Barros's chest!

Bang—!!

Barros did not even lift his eyelids. He spread his fingers and actually seized the explosive energy in his hand. Closing his palm, he crushed it with a boom! He sneered. "Emperor of the Universe? And you call that worthy of a king?"

"Trash—break!!" Frieza roared like thunder, his body becoming an afterimage as he flashed before Barros in an instant. His right fist carried a gale strong enough to tear space apart as it drove straight at Barros's face!

Thud!!

Barros did not move an inch and took the punch head-on.

His head merely tilted slightly before slowly turning back. His eyes stabbed into Frieza like ice picks.

The moment he had easily stopped that Planet Destroyer, he had already understood—

Frieza, whose power level was marked at five hundred and thirty thousand, was nothing more than a paper tiger baring its fangs before him.

Sure enough, that punch left only a faint numbness on his face. His skin was unbroken, his bones unmoved, and not even a trace of blood had spilled.

"That's it?" Barros curled his lips. His eyes suddenly sharpened like blades as he backhanded Frieza across the face, sending the stunned tyrant flying sideways like a scrap of cloth into deep space!

"Lord Frieza!!"

"My lord—!!!"

Panicked cries rang out one after another, but no one dared take even half a step forward.

The Frieza they regarded as a god or demon, the Emperor of the Universe whose stomp could shake a galaxy, had been sent flying by a single slap... who would dare step forward and throw away their life?

"Get lost!!" Frieza steadied himself, and before his roar had even faded, two violet ki waves shot from his hands, vaporizing the two subordinates who had rushed up to support him. Not even ash remained.

"Damned wild monkey—disappear completely!!!"

A roar that made the stars hum exploded through the void. Frieza wildly swung both arms, unleashing countless shrieking violet beams. Dense as a torrential downpour, they sealed off every angle of Barros's escape, as if they would crush him into cosmic dust!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Barros raised a hand, his movements as casual as brushing dust from his shoulder. With flicks of his fingers and slashing palm strikes, one deadly ki wave after another shattered, veered aside, and vanished beneath his hands.

"Bastard!!" Frieza's eyes split with rage as he screamed and charged in again!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Outside Planet Vegeta, shockwaves churned and explosions joined into a continuous roar. The alien warriors saw only flashing lights and darting shadows, unable to catch the trail of the two fighters' movements at all.

Bardock's pupils contracted. Though his vision had blurred, he still struggled to follow the two rapidly crossing afterimages in the sky—after all, he had once been a top-class warrior and could still glimpse a trace of what was happening.

Smack!!

The currents of air suddenly froze, and the two figures abruptly stopped in midair.

But in the next second, every accompanying alien felt as though they had been struck by lightning—

Frieza, the Emperor of the Universe they worshipped as a god and believed eternally undefeated, was now hanging high in the air by the tail in Barros's one hand, while Barros's other foot was planted firmly across his throat!

The always arrogant and ruthless Frieza had cracks running through his purple scales, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth, and veins bulging across his neck. He looked so wretched that even breathing came in broken, difficult gasps!

"Lord Frieza!!"

"M-My lord!!!"

Zarbon and Dodoria exchanged a glance. They desperately wanted to rush forward, but the suffocating pressure pinned them firmly in place. They could only stare helplessly.

Bardock stood there in a daze as waves of agony tore through his chest, reminding him that he was still alive.

Otherwise, he would truly have believed he was trapped in some absurd nightmare.

But Frieza was no pushover—despite being restrained, a purple-core energy bullet compressed to the extreme suddenly burst from his fingertips and flew toward Barros's brow!

Bang!!

The energy exploded, leaving only a faint red mark on Barros's temple. He was completely unharmed.

Yet that instant of distraction was enough for Frieza to violently twist free! He drove power through his waist and abdomen, kicking viciously at Barros's chest—

Boom!!

Before his toes could even touch Barros, Barros had already swung him up with one hand and hurled him toward the distant hovering mothership like a piece of scrap metal!

In an instant, a thick violet beam punched through the ship's hull. Frieza burst from the wreckage, his clothes and armor scorched black, his aura in disarray, yet he still stared fixedly at Barros and gritted out an order. "Kill those two mongrels!!"

Before his words had even fallen, he became a streak of violet lightning once more and charged forward!

Barros remained unmoving. Both hands rose, and two ki waves swept outward—the several hundred alien warriors charging at the front did not even have time to scream before they evaporated completely in the blazing light.

But that was the limit.

Facing the enraged Frieza, Barros showed no intention of retreating. His right fist shot forward to meet him!

Boom—!!

A visible ring-shaped shockwave erupted. The nearby weaker aliens were instantly torn apart, exploding into bloody mist!

"Ah—Aaaah—!!!"

Miserable screams erupted one after another.

In the gap between Barros and Frieza's fierce clash, Barros swept his peripheral vision below and saw that the battle had already boiled over—

"Kill!!"

"Chop these scum into mincemeat!!"

"You want to destroy our home? Fill the void with your lives first!!"

"Roar—!!!"

Large numbers of Saiyan warriors erupted with ki from every corner of Planet Vegeta and soared into the sky, charging into the enemy ranks like a torrent of crimson flames!

News of the clan's deaths had long spread throughout the planet. Bardock's furious roar that shook the starfield, Frieza's Planet Destroyer that changed the color of heaven and earth, that suffocating pressure of death, and the news of King Vegeta's fall...

Any hope of luck had long been crushed to pieces.

As the battle in outer space intensified, Bardock fought alone, drenched in blood—

The Saiyans hesitated no longer. Every one of them erupted with ki and charged forward, ready to fight to the death!

In an instant, flames soared beyond Planet Vegeta. Ki waves rose and fell in succession, bright as daylight.

Aliens and Saiyans fell like rain, one after another crashing into the planet's atmosphere and trailing long tails of flame.

In Frieza's eyes, these subordinates were merely expendable tools. No matter how many died, he would not even blink.

Yet as Saiyans fell one after another, Frieza trembled with excitement.

He had long regarded the Saiyans as thorns in his flesh and bones. If this pack of defiant warriors were wiped out completely, he would probably throw back his head and howl with laughter until he tore apart the heavens!

Planet Vegeta—Barros had lurked here for several years, after all.

The Saiyans' resolve to protect their homeland even at the cost of death made a faint light rise in his eyes—approval, but also a weight so heavy it was hard to breathe beneath.

No one on Planet Vegeta understood Frieza's terror better than he did.

He could still toy with this body whose power level stood at five hundred and thirty thousand with ease. But once that outer shell was torn away and Frieza's aura surged, Barros would have to burn every card in his hand just to barely fight for a thread of survival.

After only a few exchanges, he had already grasped the limits of his current strength:

At most, he could confront the might of Frieza's first transformation head-on.

And...

Victory or defeat hung by a thread!

Barros and Frieza collided once more.

Shockwaves exploded with deafening force, as though heaven and earth themselves were collapsing.

On Planet Vegeta, a group of high-class Saiyans with power levels over ten thousand who had retained their sanity threw back their heads and roared, transforming into Great Apes.

But this gift of their ancient bloodline carried a fatal shackle as well—after transforming, they could no longer fly with ki.

They could only stand upon the scorched earth, roaring into the vast void, helplessly watching the battlefield overturn above their heads while unable to move an inch, left with nothing but grief and fury.

There were dozens of Saiyan warriors with power levels over ten thousand, every one of them fierce as fire and fearless of death.

But under Frieza's command, hundreds of elite warriors had arrived!

Though the Saiyan elites fought with every drop of their blood, more than half had already fallen in a short time—their corpses scattered over the wasteland, their blood staining the stardust.

Barros swept his gaze over the backs of those who charged into the enemy ranks one after another. His pupils narrowed slightly, his throat moved faintly, and at last he let out a silent sigh.

Boom!!

A kick struck Frieza squarely in the chest, sending him flying hundreds of meters!

Barros backhanded two blazing-white ki waves toward him, but did not spare them another glance. His figure suddenly blurred and vanished in an instant.

The next moment, he stood firmly in place, with three figures suddenly beside him—

Xuesaiya, Xuesaili, and Palanti.

Two supreme experts with power levels exceeding one hundred thousand, and one top expert with a power level of thirty-one thousand.

Back in the Condor Heroes world, Barros had already entrusted the situation to them.

Thus, the moment they arrived in the outer region of Planet Vegeta, without waiting for orders, Xuesaiya and Xuesaili roared and shot into the sky, charging straight toward the nearest group of enemies!

A power level of one hundred thousand against opponents generally around ten or twenty thousand—the gap was not a chasm, but a cliff!

And with bodies tempered by Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression, the punches and kicks of those aliens who had barely surpassed ten thousand were nothing more than scratches to them.

Tigers entering a flock of sheep!

When the Xuesaiya sisters saw familiar faces forever frozen in pools of blood, their hearts sank sharply.

Xuesaiya flashed forward and caught a fierce slash with one hand. With a backhanded jolt, she blew the attacker into chunks of flesh that scattered across the sky.

The female Saiyan she had saved clutched her shattered shoulder armor, tears glistening in her eyes. "Xuesaiya! Xuesaili!"

"Where are they?" Xuesaiya demanded coldly. Before her words had even ended, a hand chop split another attacker's skull.

"Lingya... is gone.

Youji... probably too..."

Of the former five-person squad, only the three before her remained.

In an instant, an icy killing intent burst from Xuesaiya and Xuesaili like a collapsing frozen river!

Looking at their old sister-in-arms, swaying on the verge of collapse yet still gritting her teeth to remain standing, Xuesaiya spoke in a low but firm voice. "Your injuries are too severe. Retreat at once.

Leave those insects that deserve to be crushed to us."

The female Saiyan was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. She turned and descended toward the ground, quietly withdrawing from the battle.

As the woman's figure vanished, all warmth faded completely from Xuesaiya and Xuesaili's faces.

Their gazes swept across the densely packed enemy army, swarming like locusts, and the two struck at once!

One hundred thousand power level, unleashed with hatred—their fists came down like mountains crushing everything in their path!

Those aliens with power levels around ten thousand could not last even three moves against them.

More often than not, one punch would shatter their sinews and bones, followed by a ki wave piercing through their bodies and blowing them into dust!

Many Saiyan warriors stopped in stunned silence, watching the sisters tear apart powerful enemies again and again as if in a dream—were these really reinforcements? They were divine punishment descended upon the world!

Palanti, still looking like a young girl, was unwilling to be outdone.

Though her power level was only thirty-one thousand, making her the weakest member of Barros's family,

on this battlefield of carnage, aside from Barros, Frieza, Xuesaiya, and Xuesaili, she was unquestionably the strongest!

Even Zarbon, whose power rose to twenty-eight thousand after transforming, and Dodoria, with twenty-two thousand, could not fight back under her pressure when they joined forces.

If the fodder soldiers with power levels over ten thousand had not constantly rushed up to buy them time, the two likely would not have lasted more than a few minutes before becoming ghosts beneath her fists.

The battlefield was divided from that point on.

Frieza's army withered in masses like ants beneath Xuesaiya and Xuesaili's hands.

And this Emperor of the Universe, who had dominated the cosmos, was now covered in wounds as well.

Bang!!

Barros's heavy punch struck Frieza squarely in the abdomen. Frieza doubled over and spat out a mouthful of purple blood with a "Blergh!"

"Bastard! Damned monkey—you have completely enraged me!" Frieza roared hoarsely, his tail lashing out like a venomous whip!