Damn Wild Monkey!

Smack!

Barros seized the vicious tail tip in one hand. Golden light flared in his palm as an energy sphere compressed to the absolute limit took shape!

A terrifying pressure swept in every direction. Frieza's pupils contracted sharply as he cried out in alarm, "Stop!! Wait—"

Barros's expression remained calm. With a savage tug of his left hand, he yanked Frieza before him and detonated the golden energy sphere against his pale face!

The earth-shattering blast tore through the sky, bringing both sides of the battle to a halt.

Yet when everyone looked up, the soldiers of Frieza's army wore nothing but ashen, lifeless expressions.

Th... their Lord Frieza...

He... really...

A blazing surge of energy shot forth like a meteor piercing the sun, striking Frieza squarely in the chest—but there was not the slightest hint of joy on Barros's face. Instead, his expression darkened as though an entire storm cloud weighed upon it.

Frieza's power vastly exceeded what his body could bear, leaving him unable to maintain his complete form steadily.

But even in a mere half-awakened state, he was no prey that could be brought down so easily!

Sure enough, the dust filling the sky receded like a tide, revealing Frieza with his face covered in blood.

His body was crisscrossed with wounds, flesh torn and curled back. His aura fluctuated between strong and weak like a dying candle in the wind, yet he stood firmly atop the scorched earth, his eyes burning and his killing intent unextinguished.

Barros furrowed his brow—he had known Frieza would not die so easily, but seeing him still standing there, drenched in blood, made him feel the trouble of it all the same.

"You trash... you damned wild monkey!" Frieza roared hoarsely, his voice shrill enough to tear at the ears. His eyes were red as branding irons, and his venomous hatred was almost tangible.

For the first time in centuries, he had been driven to the brink of death. For the first time, he wanted nothing more than to chew someone alive and grind them into dust.

Just a little more... only a hair's breadth more!

For that instant, he had truly thought he would die pathetically on this barren planet, without even having time to complete his transformation—an emperor of the universe, a freak genius of the Frieza race seen once in a millennium, dying so carelessly? Even if his soul fell into the underworld, he would probably be so furious that his soul scattered and his spirit exploded!

He stared fixedly at Barros, saying no more. An eerie purple radiance burst from his palm as his transformation suddenly began!

The instant his battle power soared, every scouter on Planet Vegeta sounded its alarm. Their lenses all shattered, crackling and exploding like rainfall.

The purple light blazed brighter, and a bloody, savage pressure of destruction crushed down across heaven and earth. It was as though even the air was whimpering and convulsing.

Barros folded his arms across his chest, a faint smile lifting the corner of his lips as he calmly waited for the change.

In truth, he could have interrupted Frieza the moment he began.

Even now, before the energy had fully condensed, he was still absolutely certain he could cut off this path of transformation.

But he did not move.

His hot blood had long been surging and roaring through his veins—Frieza, with a battle power of five hundred and thirty thousand, had been nothing but a puppet for him to toy with in his palm. How could that possibly be satisfying?

He had indeed considered changing Frieza's fate of destroying Planet Vegeta.

But his desire for a battle in which he could give everything he had had never wavered.

Sensing Frieza's terrifying aura climbing higher and higher, Barros slowly clenched his right fist. The energy within him began to surge in response, rising layer by layer.

That was right—until now, he had been holding back and had not unleashed all his potential.

What was more, aside from that berserk technique that burned away reason, he still possessed the most domineering trump card that every Dragon Ball warrior took for granted—

Power Up!!

Just as his aura built like a volcano on the verge of eruption, Frieza shattered his outer shell and officially entered the first stage of his transformation.

With a battle power of one million, crushing that brat would be as easy as crushing an ant, wouldn't it?

He bent over and lowered his head, pressing his forehead to the ground. Every muscle in his body tightened like steel cords, his fists clenched until his knuckles cracked, and a horribly distorted howl rolled from deep within his throat—

In an instant, his muscles swelled and knotted wildly like living things, tearing apart and regenerating!

An even denser malevolent aura exploded outward. Purple-red flames coiled around his body like living serpents, and wherever they passed, the airflow twisted into visible ripples.

Crack! Crack! Creak—!

His bones stretched, shifted, and grew madly, producing sharp cracks that made teeth ache.

"Aah—!!!"

He threw back his head and roared. The muscles across his shoulders and back swelled and writhed like erupting magma, growing so thick that they were nearly grotesque.

Then his legs abruptly expanded, their muscles coiling like the roots of ancient trees as they instantly supported a massive body more than twice his former size!

Every bulging muscle surged with battle power, every rapidly growing bone shattered its former limits—

If a giant scanner swept over him now, the numbers would surely leap madly: 750,000 → 900,000 → 1,000,000!

Within the rolling purple flames, the straight horns at his temples slowly curved upward, bending and hardening until they became a pair of vicious bull horns gleaming with a chilling light.

A final piercing howl ripped through the heavens. The first stage of his transformation was complete!

When he raised his head again, Frieza stood like a mountain. His body had grown more than twice as large, and his mighty aura pressed the ground into silent fractures.

Compared to him, that scrawny figure from before looked like an immature child.

Now, his muscles were knotted as if forged from steel, and his battle power had broken through the one-million mark—more than double his normal five hundred and thirty thousand!

Boom!

He casually clenched his fist, and the air was crushed apart with a violent bang, the thunderous blast making shattered stones in the distance tremble and bounce.

This body, this power... he was utterly satisfied. A cold smile slowly spread across his lips.

The exhilarating sensation of power flooding every limb and bone, as though he could tear apart stars with his bare hands, made his arrogance surge once more.

He slowly raised his head, his blade-like gaze locking onto the frail, undersized Saiyan in the distance—

That damned mongrel who had dared offend an emperor's dignity.

Barros had already pushed his aura to its peak, yet even so, he could clearly sense it:

In terms of energy alone, Frieza had indeed surpassed him now.

But numbers were ultimately just lifeless things. He had never cared for them.

Besides—how could his combat power possibly be measured by the cold figures flickering on an instrument?

Seeing that the smile on Barros's lips had yet to fade, Frieza's expression turned icy. His figure blurred abruptly, and in the next instant, he had flashed behind Barros like a ghost!

His savage grin remained as his palm turned into a beheading blade, slashing diagonally at Barros's neck with a shriek that tore through the sound barrier!

He held nothing back in this strike, intent on ending Barros's life in a single blow!

In the distance, Xuesaiya and Xuesaili's pupils contracted sharply, their faces turning pale as paper.

But they were too far away. Even giving it everything they had, they could not make it in time—by the time they arrived, Barros would likely already be headless.

Watching that blade-like palm descend, their fingertips went icy cold, and their hearts sank into despair.

Frieza stared at the motionless back before him, a cruel curve spreading across his lips.

Barros could not see Frieza's expression.

Yet the instant Frieza vanished and reappeared behind him—Barros had already etched every inch of that lightning-fast trajectory into his bones.

Just as Frieza secretly reveled in his successful sneak attack, a mocking curve had quietly risen on Barros's lips, as cold as a frozen blade.

Boom!!

The palm blade came down, only to be firmly caught in Barros's left hand. His five fingers clamped down like iron pincers, utterly unmoving.

But in that very instant, his right fist shot out like a cannonball, wrapped in a shriek of tearing air as it smashed viciously into Frieza's lower abdomen!

Barros had seen through Frieza's ambush from the start;

Yet Frieza had not even glimpsed the shadow of Barros's counterattack.

Caught completely off guard, even with a combat power exceeding one million, Frieza felt sweetness rise in his throat and spat out a mouthful of thick purple blood.

A combat power of one million should have been enough to crush his opponent—but all it brought him now was turmoil in his abdomen and a numb ache in his ribs. His injuries were light, yet he had already lost all face.

More humiliating still, he had just finished transforming and was immediately blasted into coughing up blood before everyone.

That fury burned red veins into Frieza's eyes, as though the entire Planet Vegeta would be reduced to ash in his rage.

His gaze suddenly turned sinister, and his entire body erupted like a drawn bowstring—his left fist shot straight for Barros's face with wind and thunder behind it, while his tail swept out sideways at the same time. Before the tail's shadow even arrived, the shockwave had already made space hum!

Barros had one hand gripping Frieza's wrist, leaving only one arm free. With the twin killing blows upon him, he had no choice but to let go and retreat at once. His body shot back dozens of meters, barely evading the two deadly attacks.

When his strike missed, Frieza did not pause in the slightest. He stamped down and transformed into a pale afterimage, lunging forward!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two became completely entangled, every move colliding head-on without a trace of finesse—nothing but a brutal, bloody clash of force against force.

Frieza charged recklessly on the strength of his million combat power, but Barros relied on his iron-hard body to meet him head-on without yielding a single step—even when a million-power blow struck, his shoulder merely swayed rather than cracked. When Frieza's fist wind swept over him, it did not leave so much as a pale mark on his skin.

They were evenly matched, locked in a battle that sent stardust flying and air currents howling.

After transforming, every one of Frieza's punches weighed over a hundred thousand jin. Combined with the momentum of his high-speed charge, each strike carried a force of three to four hundred thousand jin!

Against anyone else, even someone with combat power around five hundred thousand, a frontal clash with him would shatter every bone in their body and pulp their flesh within thirty exchanges.

Unfortunately, he had not encountered an ordinary body.

Barros had perfected the first level of Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression. His acupoints were scattered like stars, and star cores had been forged into his sinews and marrow—though his combat power was only half of Frieza's, the weight of his fists and the ferocity of his force even made Frieza's heart tremble.

If Frieza had not wrapped his fists in layer upon layer of massive ki, his finger bones would likely have been ground to dust beneath Barros's fists in fewer than ten exchanges.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

Their figures flickered like illusions and lightning, crossing thousands of meters in the blink of an eye. They crashed through outer space beyond Planet Vegeta, leaving behind a chain of explosions and streaks of light, their deadlock suffocating to behold.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the flames of battle had already died out.

Xuesaiya and Xuesaili had both charged into the enemy ranks, their combat powers surpassing one hundred thousand. Frieza's army collapsed in an instant—those elite soldiers with combat power over ten thousand were all wiped out by the two of them, leaving neither corpses nor bones behind.

Even Dodoria and Zarbon, who had run rampant under Frieza's protection, were completely vaporized by a single energy wave from Xuesaiya while fleeing in panic after Palanti seriously injured them. Not even ash remained.

The surviving Saiyan warriors swiftly eliminated the remaining enemies. Wherever their blades pointed, Frieza's remnants fell one after another.

Yet Xuesaiya and Xuesaili stared fixedly at the two flashing figures in the sky, their nails digging deeply into their palms.

They were waiting!

Waiting for Barros to fulfill that promise—to severely wound Frieza before he had completely transformed, and fight for a path to survival for every Saiyan on Planet Vegeta!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The force of their punches exploded, waves of energy surged, and every collision sent ripples spreading through the void.

Xuesaiya, Xuesaili, Palanti, and the others retreated again and again, putting more and more distance between themselves and the fight.

It was not that they feared being injured by the shockwaves, but that Frieza might resort to desperate measures and use them as targets to force Barros to divide his attention—none of them dared take that slightest risk.

The army Frieza had brought had been slaughtered clean in the blink of an eye.

Those battered, bloodied Saiyans looked up at the sky, their lips trembling, unable to say a single word.

King Vegeta's secret plot to assassinate Frieza had long ceased to be a mystery among the elite and high-class warriors.

Yet the Frieza before them radiated an evil aura that soared into the heavens, his demonic presence overwhelming. The mere leakage of his energy left them struggling to breathe—so-called "high-class" and "elite" warriors could barely remain standing before him.

They did not even dare imagine just how powerful that monster truly was...

Boom!!

A thunderous explosion tore through the sky as Barros and Frieza were both blasted back hundreds of meters, their clothes snapping in the wind and their auras churning wildly.

Looking at Frieza's twisted, savage face, glowing with an eerie violet light, Barros took a deep breath and suppressed the aching pain coursing through his limbs and bones. Then he kicked off the air once more, charging forward like an arrow loosed from a bow!

Boom!!

Another earth-shattering clash! Fists and legs collided like two meteors crashing head-on, making the entire void hum.

In the midst of the fierce battle, Frieza's face twisted as he roared hoarsely, "Ahhh—damned wild monkey! Shatter!!"

"Heh..." Barros sneered. His fist was already there, smashing solidly into the bridge of Frieza's nose and sending him tumbling backward through the air, blood spraying everywhere.

Before Frieza could steady himself, Barros closed in. A fierce whip kick swept in from the side, striking Frieza squarely in the ribs—

Whoosh—!

Frieza shot toward the depths of outer space like a burning meteor, trailing a shrieking sonic boom behind him!

Barros raised his head. A blazing white aura erupted around him, and with a flash, he became a streak of light and gave chase!

Intercepting him midway, Barros positioned himself precisely along Frieza's flight path. He gathered power in both arms, clasped his fists together like a hammer, and brought down a Three Sovereigns Cannon Hammer with crushing force upon Frieza's crown!

"Urghhh—!!!"

Frieza let out a heart-rending scream, his body falling straight toward Planet Vegeta like a kite with its string cut.

The corners of Barros's lips lifted slightly, and his figure abruptly vanished from the starry sky.

Just as Frieza was about to crash into the ground, Barros suddenly appeared above his head. He raised his right foot high and stomped down viciously on that twisted face with the weight of ten thousand tons behind it—

Boom!!

The earth collapsed with a roar, and spiderweb-like cracks burst outward, spreading madly in every direction.

Frieza slammed heavily into the cracked, scorched ground, his entire face smeared with dark red blood.

"Cough—!" He had barely pushed himself halfway up when his knees gave out, sending him crashing back down. Blood welled up in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of thick blood that glowed violet.

One wrong move, and the whole game had crumbled.

He had never imagined that the Saiyan who should have been evenly matched with him would tear open the battle in the blink of an eye, battering him until he was covered in wounds and his bones and tendons felt ready to snap!

He abruptly looked up at Barros hovering in the sky—his opponent looked down at him with slightly furrowed brows, then gently shook his head.

In that instant, Frieza nearly cracked his teeth from gritting them so hard, the lines of his jaw turning pale and sharp!

"Filthy monkey! Worthless bastard! You're dead—!!" He slammed both palms into the ground and launched himself into the air, throwing back his head in a frenzied howl, his voice tearing like ripped silk.

Barros's gaze turned icy as his figure suddenly vanished.

Boom—!!

The instant the shockwave exploded, Frieza had already swept his tail sideways and, at the same time, fired an energy blast compressed to the absolute limit with a backhand strike, violently blasting Barros away!

After knocking his opponent back, he lowered his head and stared at the pool of purple-black blood in his palm. Killing intent surged in his eyes, nearly condensing into blades sharp enough to make the air tremble.

Before Barros could regain his balance, Frieza decisively began his second transformation—

If his first form could not suppress that wild monkey, then he would tear apart his flesh and squeeze out every last shred of potential!

"I'll grind you into dust! Into ash! Into scraps not even the wind can be bothered to carry away!!" Before the roar could fade, it was crushed into a hoarse wail by the agonizing pain.