Chapter 98: The Supreme Kai Died Most Unjustly (Patreon)

The interior of the Attack Ball was dimly lit, the walls crawling with runes.

Oryon walked at the front, and it didn't take him long to find Babidi in a chamber deep inside.

Babidi was cowering behind a control console, his withered fingers jabbing wildly at the runes, his forehead beaded with sweat.

"D-Damn it! That useless Dabura! He can't even stop a single Earthling!"

Spotting Oryon as he walked in, Babidi shrieked, "You! Come here! I'll give you anything you want!"

Oryon stopped in front of him and looked down at him. "Lead the way. We're going to find Majin Buu's egg."

Babidi's eyes darted, and his face folded into a fawning smile. "Lord Majin Buu? Lord Majin Buu's egg is right up ahead! I'll take you there right now, right now!"

He turned around and shuffled toward a passage, hunched over.

Oryon followed, and the others stayed close behind.

The passage was deep and winding. The runes on the walls grew denser and denser, and an unsettling presence hung in the air.

Halfway down, Babidi suddenly stopped, whirled around, and split his face in a wide grin.

"Hahaha! Stupid Earthlings! Did you really think I'd lead you along like a good little boy? Who do you think I am?"

He clapped his hands together hard, and a purple glow lit up around his body.

"Teleportation Magic!"

With a whoosh, Babidi vanished on the spot.

Oryon frowned. "He ran?"

Just then, a thunderous bellow came from behind him.

"Oryon!"

Oryon turned around. Vegeta was howling in agony.

Supreme Kai Shin and Kibito cried out in alarm at the same time.

"Vegeta!"

"You have to keep control of your mind! Whatever you do, don't let Babidi take hold of you!"

Goku watched Vegeta with deep worry, at a loss for what to do.

Android 18 saw the veins and blood vessels bulging on Vegeta's skin, his expression twisting into something savage, and frowned.

She turned to Oryon, gripped his hand anxiously, and asked, "What do we do? He won't become our enemy, will he?"

Oryon squeezed Android 18's hand and smiled to reassure her. "Don't worry so much. This is Vegeta we're talking about. He's not that easy to control."

"Really?"

At Oryon's words, Android 18 relaxed a little.

Shin and Kibito felt a bit more at ease too.

"Hang in there, Vegeta! You have to hold it back!"

But the moment the words left their mouths, the presence around Vegeta changed.

A conspicuous "M" mark on Vegeta's forehead was glowing a dark purple.

Vegeta's eyes turned fierce and wild, burning with feverish, bloodthirsty madness.

Cold sweat broke out on Supreme Kai and Kibito all at once.

Their feet shuffled backward on their own.

"Didn't you say he'd be fine? Controlled in the blink of an eye, and that's what you call fine?" Supreme Kai ranted frantically inside his head.

Kibito promptly played along. "Hmph, Saiyans really do have a baffling kind of confidence!"

Babidi's voice drifted down from the sky.

"Vegeta, help me kill the Supreme Kai..."

Vegeta raised his head and snarled, "Who the hell are you to give orders to me?"

Behind the scenes, Babidi froze for a moment.

"How is this possible? He's clearly under my control. Why isn't he listening to me..."

Supreme Kai and Kibito froze for a moment too.

"What's going on?"

"He was clearly controlled. How can he still ignore Babidi's commands?"

Vegeta jabbed a thumb at himself and sneered. "Hmph. I'm the Prince of all Saiyans. How could I take orders from a creep like that?"

"Nobody can order me to do something I don't want to do!"

Supreme Kai and Kibito let out a breath together, then both broke into smiles.

"Thank goodness!"

"As expected of Vegeta. His willpower really is extraordinary..."

Then, the very next second, Vegeta stared straight at Oryon and growled, "Oryon, the whole reason I entered this tournament was you. Why don't we fight right here?"

As he spoke, a tremendous burst of ki erupted from his body, dark lightning crackling through his golden aura. His overall might was far beyond what it had been a moment ago.

Oryon looked Vegeta up and down, then suddenly sighed.

"I thought you'd fight Goku. I didn't expect you to want me. Fine, have it your way!"

Vegeta grinned, then dropped into a fighting stance. "Knew you'd be a good sport. It'd be even better if we could move somewhere wider!"

Supreme Kai's face went pale. "Vegeta, calm down! You can't just fight like this!"

Android 18 and Goku saw what was coming and didn't try to stop it. They immediately backed off several dozen meters to watch.

"Shut up!"

Vegeta shoved Supreme Kai aside and crooked a finger at Oryon.

"Come on!"

Up above, Babidi's laughter rang out again.

"Hahaha, yes, that's it! But it's a bit cramped to fight here. Let me change the scenery for you!"

"Paparapapa..."

After a stretch of chanting, the Attack Ball's environment transformed into the wilderness, desolate and devoid of human life.

"This place should suit your fight. Go ahead and unleash everything!"

"No, you absolutely cannot fight!"

Supreme Kai Shin flashed in front of Vegeta to block him. "You can't fight! Otherwise the energy from your fight will be absorbed by Majin Buu..."

"Get out of my way, or I'll lay hands on you!"

Vegeta glared at Supreme Kai with contempt, pointed a single finger at him, and a ball of energy flared in his palm.

"Get lost!"

Supreme Kai clenched his fists, sweat beading on his forehead.

"You can't, Vegeta! If you fight, you'll fall right into Babidi's scheme!"

Vegeta turned a deaf ear and snapped, "I'll count to three. If you don't want to die, get lost!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

Supreme Kai didn't budge an inch!

Bracing himself, he shouted, "If you want to fight, you'll have to kill me first!"

"One!"

The countdown ended. Supreme Kai closed his eyes, certain that Vegeta wouldn't dare lay a hand on him.

"Bang!"

Vegeta hurled a Ki Blast at Supreme Kai, and the violent explosion kicked up billowing clouds of smoke and dust.

With a miserable grunt, Supreme Kai was blasted backward.

"Lord Supreme Kai!"

Kibito rushed over and scooped Supreme Kai into his arms.

Supreme Kai's face was twisted in misery as he gasped, "Stop... stop Vegeta..."

Before he could finish, Supreme Kai's head lolled to the side.

"Lord Supreme Kai!"

Kibito immediately channeled his power with both hands, trying to heal him.

But after the healing energy poured out, Supreme Kai was not healed.

His presence had vanished.

"He's dead!"

Everyone froze for a moment.

This guy... was that weak?

Even Android 18 could see it.

That move of Vegeta's had only been meant to drive him off.

Goku and Piccolo hadn't thought it was a killing blow either, which was why neither of them stepped in.

They all knew Vegeta. With his temperament, once he'd made up his mind, nobody could stop him.

But they never expected that an Energy Blast thrown only to chase someone off could kill this so-called Kami, the supposed pinnacle of the universe.

"You... you actually killed Lord Supreme Kai!"

Kibito, hair bristling with rage, glared at Vegeta.

Vegeta was taken aback for a second, then sneered. "Hmph. And here I thought he was some kind of master. Didn't expect him to be this weak."

Kibito clenched his fists viciously and glowered.

Goku tugged Kibito back. "Don't be sad. Worst case, we use the Dragon Balls to bring him back. Hurry and get back..."

Earth had Dragon Balls. He could be revived.

Remembering that, Kibito reluctantly retreated a few steps.

The battlefield had opened up.

Vegeta and Oryon stood facing each other.

Both wore excited looks, and with a tacit understanding, the two of them transformed into Super Saiyans.

A scalding wave of air laced with threads of lightning rolled outward, the energy immense.

Kibito's gaze trembled.

No wonder Lord Supreme Kai hadn't been able to stop them.

The two had wanted this fight all along. He looked down at the dead Supreme Kai in his arms and sighed inwardly.

"Lord Supreme Kai, what a wretched way to die!"

With a roar, Vegeta lunged forward and drove a fist at Oryon's face.

Vegeta's fist came crashing in, and Oryon sidestepped. The punch's wind grazed his cheek and slammed into a mountain hundreds of meters behind him.

"Boom!"

The mountain blew apart.

Oryon was holding back. He kept a strict grip on his power, using only what he needed and trying not to damage the planet.

Vegeta, on the other hand, had let himself off the leash.

It wasn't Earth anyway, so Vegeta stopped restraining his power at all and let the stray energy eat away at the ground beneath their feet.

The two collided again, and it grew especially violent once the Prince's Fighting Style kicked in.

The entire mountain looked as if an unseen giant hammer had struck it. A ring of cracks burst across its surface, and then the ground shook violently.

A fissure hundreds of meters long spread from the foot of the mountain into the distance, and from its bottomless depths crimson magma spewed.

Vegeta didn't give Oryon a moment to breathe, whipping around with a sweeping elbow.

Oryon raised an arm to block. Their forces clashed in midair, and a visible ring of shockwave burst outward from the point of contact, blowing away every cloud for miles around.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Their figures tangled together, the sound of fists and feet colliding like a string of thunderclaps, every blow cracking the ground beneath them.

Stray waves of energy rained down on the planet's surface, and forest after forest caught fire.

Far away, the sea heaved up towering waves, and the reefs along the coast were ground to powder by the shockwaves.

Clutching Supreme Kai's body, Kibito staggered back several miles.

He stared slack-jawed at the apocalyptic scene before him, his lips trembling uncontrollably. "This... this is terrifying! What kind of monsters are these Saiyans?"

"If they keep fighting like this, this planet won't hold!"

The earth let out a dull groan. The crust tore apart like sheets of paper, volcanoes erupted one after another, and thick smoke blotted out the sky.

The air was thick with the smell of sulfur and scorched earth, and far in the distance he could even see a red glow churning in the mantle.

Babidi's voice came from the void, shrill and thrilled. "Hahahaha! Well fought! Well fought!"

"This pure fighting energy is delicious!"

"But this planet is too fragile. Don't worry, I'll switch you to a barren one right now!"

As his voice faded, purple magical light spread down from the sky, and the surroundings began to warp and reassemble.

The burning forests, the shattered mountain ranges, the churning magma all vanished.

In their place lay a boundless glacier, the ice field reflecting a cold white glare under a pale cyan sky.

Oryon and Vegeta landed on a massive iceberg.

Vegeta drew a few breaths, then coldly fixed his stare...