One moment, King Vegeta had still been agonizing over Tien Shinhan's endless stream of strange special moves. He had never expected Tien Shinhan to volunteer for a head-on clash a moment later.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If Tien Shinhan kept toying with him using all those special moves, he might not lose in the end, but he would certainly make a fool of himself throughout the process and completely lose his dignity as the king of the Saiyans.
Although he had already lost quite a bit of face, now that Tien Shinhan was willing to fight him head-on, King Vegeta was confident he could reclaim the dignity he had just lost!
For a moment, King Vegeta, who had found Tien Shinhan utterly hateful, felt that he no longer seemed quite so infuriating.
"Hmph! In a head-on clash, I won't lose to you!"
King Vegeta raised a hand to wipe the tears and snot from his face, rallied himself, and unleashed his aura.
As both sides powered up simultaneously, an immense pressure instantly descended over the entire battlefield.
"This... how foolish. He could clearly suppress his opponent with those miraculous moves, yet he insists on fighting head-on."
Seeing the change in the battle, Dr. Lychee immediately grew somewhat annoyed.
Still, he did not take it out on Tien Shinhan. Perhaps this was a martial artist's principle. A scientist like him could not understand it and could only respect it.
What he did not know was that, although a martial artist's principles were part of the reason Tien Shinhan had made this choice,
that was by no means the whole story.
If he voluntarily abandoned his advantage for that reason alone, his outlook as a martial artist would have been far too narrow.
To Tien Shinhan, being a martial artist represented a kind of persistence and pursuit, nothing more. It carried no other assorted self-imposed restrictions.
And that persistence and pursuit had only one goal: to grow stronger!
Grow stronger!
This was the most important reason Tien Shinhan had taken the initiative to change his fighting style.
Whoosh-
Tien Shinhan flew swiftly toward King Vegeta.
He unleashed punches and kicks with all his strength.
His fierce blows bore down on King Vegeta like unbroken, towering waves, one after another.
King Vegeta truly lived up to his standing as the strongest member of the Saiyan race at present.
Facing Tien Shinhan's all-out punches and kicks, King Vegeta countered each move as it came, blocking every strike with ease.
A head-on clash was a direct contest of strength, speed, and agility between the two sides.
In these basic attributes tied to power level, Tien Shinhan was indeed slightly inferior at present.
"Hahaha! Have you seen my strength as the king of the Saiyans?
This is the glory of the universe's greatest warrior race!"
As the head-on battle continued, King Vegeta not only blocked every punch and kick Tien Shinhan had launched first,
but even used his superior power level to counterattack successfully, turning the tables and suppressing Tien Shinhan.
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Every collision of fists and feet unleashed a terrifying sonic boom between their limbs.
From passively receiving the attacks, King Vegeta had now pushed Tien Shinhan into fighting as he retreated.
This was how a battle between someone with a power level of nearly ten thousand and someone with just over eight thousand should have gone!
The battle was shifting in the direction King Vegeta had originally anticipated.
The advantage he had regained against Tien Shinhan restored a trace of confidence in King Vegeta's heart.
Yet that confidence made him overlook one thing.
Although Tien Shinhan was being suppressed because his power level was slightly lower, he showed no clear signs of impending defeat.
Not only that, but as the battle continued, the gap between them was shrinking at an unbelievable speed.
"Well, Tien Shinhan? Do you regret abandoning your original advantage now?
Haha! But there's no need to feel bad. A temporary advantage gained through underhanded tricks could never let you have the last laugh anyway.
The way this battle is going now is exactly how a fight between you and me should be!"
King Vegeta laughed excitedly, the confidence burning within him making his swinging fist suddenly gain another burst of speed.
Bang!
Tien Shinhan seemed unable to dodge this punch in time, and King Vegeta struck him squarely in the face.
King Vegeta's eyes reddened at the sight. This was the first time he had landed a solid hit on Tien Shinhan.
Victory seemed close at hand.
Yet after taking that punch, a faint, fervent smile appeared at the corner of Tien Shinhan's mouth.
"Ptoo!"
Spitting out a mouthful of bloody foam from the punch, Tien Shinhan stared straight at King Vegeta as though he had spotted an excellent piece of prey.
"Is this your power level limit? Sorry, but I've already adapted!"
During the head-on battle in which King Vegeta had been suppressing him, the effect of Tien Shinhan's Limit Breakthrough trait had been fully triggered.
His power level had increased a thousand or even ten thousand times faster than its usual automatic rate.
He grew stronger against stronger opponents, and stronger the longer he fought!
King Vegeta's power level, originally almost two thousand points higher than his, had put Tien Shinhan under ample pressure in their head-on battle.
Under that pressure, Tien Shinhan had used offense as defense, never giving King Vegeta, who had him suppressed, a single opportunity to land a completely solid hit.
Until that last punch, when King Vegeta had struck Tien Shinhan squarely.
This did not mean Tien Shinhan had grown weaker or let his guard down.
Rather, Tien Shinhan's power level had unknowingly risen to a level very close to King Vegeta's.
With their power levels already so evenly matched, King Vegeta had inadvertently been forced to unleash a punch beyond his original speed limit, which was how he had managed to hit Tien Shinhan.
But breaking through his limits was a fluke for King Vegeta. For Tien Shinhan, it was inevitable.
King Vegeta could not reliably reproduce that last punch, but under this pressure, Tien Shinhan's power level had already risen beyond King Vegeta's limit.
A power level of 10,000?
It had once been something far beyond Tien Shinhan's reach.
Yet in the mere ten minutes of their head-on clash, Tien Shinhan had already broken through it.
"What do you mean, adapted? Stop trying to be mysterious. My power level is higher than yours. That's the truth!"
Tien Shinhan's predatory stare made King Vegeta's skin crawl, and he could not help recalling how Tien Shinhan had toyed with him earlier.
Was Tien Shinhan going to crush him not only in combat versatility, but even in power level, where he held the advantage?
Impossible!
I'll be the one to win!
His power level is lower than mine. Didn't that head-on clash just prove it?
King Vegeta frantically reassured himself, the confidence he had just built shattered instantly by Tien Shinhan's gaze.
"Heh, is a gap of less than two thousand points really so hard to close?
I made myself clear. I've already adapted to your power level limit!"
Tien Shinhan smiled faintly, and his already astonishing aura surged once more.
This time, his aura actually matched King Vegeta's, and even surpassed it slightly!
The brief pause ended, and their head-on clash resumed.
This time, the battle turned around again!
King Vegeta, who had just been forcing Tien Shinhan to fight on the retreat, now fell straight into a disadvantage.
Bang!
Tien Shinhan swung a heavy, powerful punch, its speed already exceeding King Vegeta's defensive reactions.
"Urgh-"
The terrifying force of the punch struck King Vegeta squarely in the abdomen, doubling him over like a shrimp.
What followed was a merciless barrage of punches and kicks from Tien Shinhan.
And throughout this relentless beating, King Vegeta noticed something even more terrifying.
He's getting stronger! This guy is getting stronger! Every punch and kick is faster and heavier than the last!
Is he human or a ghost? Just what is this guy, human or ghost?
How could anyone in this world keep growing stronger as they fought?!
At that moment, King Vegeta finally realized that Tien Shinhan's question before the battle had been no bluff.
Fighting someone like him truly was a nightmare!
And now, King Vegeta felt himself sinking into that nightmare.
As for when it would end, that seemed to depend entirely on when Tien Shinhan stopped attacking.