Chapter 118: The First Assassin Hit (Patreon)

The light faded. Kale dropped to one knee, panting hard.

Oryon didn't show a trace of fatigue. He looked at Kale with a hint of regret.

"What a shame. With talent like yours, you could've been a fine opponent if you'd trained properly."

Oryon raised his right hand, palm open, and a red orb of light gathered in his palm.

Kale lifted her head. Nothing was left in her green eyes but raw, instinctive terror.

"That's enough," Oryon said softly. "Get a good sleep."

He dispersed the energy blast, flickered behind Kale, and slapped a palm against the back of her neck.

Kale's body went rigid. Her green aura died like a wildfire doused with water and drained away fast.

Her body shrank bit by bit, returning to its slight, frail shape, and she collapsed on the ground.

The referee snapped out of his shock and announced in a loud voice, "Universe 7's contestant Oryon wins!"

The Universe 7 stands erupted in cheers like never before.

Bulma and Videl hugged each other. Goku and Vegeta both broke into smiles, and a sense of relief settled over everyone.

After all these years of training, if they still couldn't beat a variable like this, the training would have been for nothing.

"Kale! Kale!"

Caulifla ran to the edge of the ring and lifted Kale up.

Kale opened her eyes.

Caulifla was overjoyed. "My amazing junior, you were incredible! Your big sis is so proud of you…"

Kale blinked, dazed. "Sis, what just happened?"

Caulifla scratched her head.

"What?"

"You don't know what just happened?"

Kale shook her head. "No… It hurts…"

Kale clutched her own shoulder.

Caulifla looked down. There were bruises on Kale's shoulder.

"Come on, junior, I'll carry you!"

With that, Caulifla swept Kale up in a princess carry and headed for the Universe 6 stands.

It had been a long time since Kale had felt her sister's embrace, and her face flushed red in an instant.

She heard the crowd's chatter, and she saw Oryon still standing on the ring.

She understood. She had lost, and Oryon had won.

"Sis, I'm sorry…"

"What've you got to be sorry for? You're even stronger than your sis. You did amazing."

Champa plopped back into his seat and clutched his forehead. "Damn it! And here I thought that aura of Kale's might actually pull off a miracle."

Vados watched Oryon, the corners of her mouth curling up. "This human Saiyan is rather interesting.

Beerus, your universe has quite the remarkable fellow."

Beerus burst out laughing. "Of course it does! Oryon, keep going! Plow straight through Universe 6!!"

Champa gave a cold laugh. "Keep dreaming, Beerus. We've still got a trump card, and it's Hit!"

"Who's Hit? Never heard of him," Beerus said with disdain.

Whis explained, "Hit is Universe 6's number one assassin. He's extremely powerful, you know."

"Oh, is that so?"

Vados nodded as she repaired the ring, smiling.

"That's right. It cost me dearly to get him here…"

Champa pressed her. "What did you give him?"

"A Cube-Type Spaceship."

The air went still for a moment.

Then Champa's voice shot up. "A Cube-Type Spaceship?!

Are you insane?! That's a vehicle that crosses the walls between universes, with the speed of a Kami! And you handed it to an assassin as an appearance fee?"

Vados stayed as calm as ever. "That's exactly why Hit agreed.

He said he'd always been searching for something like it, to… well, to do something only he wants to do. I thought it was a bargain."

Champa's chest heaved, and for a long while he couldn't get a word out.

"Or shall I take it back?" Vados let a sly glint show in her eyes, testing him.

Champa gritted his teeth, then stomped his foot hard. "Forget it. It's too late to back out now.

Fine, if he wins, he can have his Cube-Type Spaceship! But we have to make sure he wins."

Vados looked toward the ring and chuckled. "He's never lost.

But our agreement is this: if he wins, he gets the Cube-Type Spaceship. If he loses, he gets nothing…"

Champa thought it over. "He can't lose!

If he loses, I'm out even more. We've spent so many years searching for the Super Dragon Balls, and we'd have to hand them over…"

All of Universe 6 turned to look at Hit.

Cabba swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "The legendary Mr. Hit is going to fight?

I can't imagine how strong he must be."

At the sound of that name, Caulifla's eyes refocused on Hit in the corner.

"That monster of an assassin is finally making his move? I'm looking forward to this!"

Champa puffed his chest out again and shouted at Universe 7, "Beerus, your arrogance ends here!

Now you'll face Hit! The strongest assassin in Universe 6!"

Beerus turned to Whis. "Hit? You mentioned him once, didn't you?"

Whis nodded, for once dropping his smile. "In Universe 6, Hit is a legend.

No target of his has ever survived an assassination contract. His fighting style is very peculiar. Many of his opponents die without ever seeing the cause."

Goku's eyes lit up. "Sounds awesome! I wanna fight him too!"

Vegeta frowned. "Behave yourself. You already lost to Frost.

It's Oryon's fight now, and that guy doesn't sound easy to deal with."

Standing on the ring, Oryon heard the voices from the opposite stands.

His gaze flickered slightly.

Hit.

Oryon knew that name, of course.

Universe 6's legendary assassin, a user of time skipping.

In the original story, Hit could skip through time and strike his enemies with attacks that were nearly impossible to defend against.

But Oryon had a rough idea: as long as Hit's Power Level didn't far exceed his own, and his stamina wasn't down to its last dregs, the Time-Skip would have little effect on him.

Luckily, against Caulifla and Kale, Oryon had conserved his stamina well.

The reason he'd used Super Saiyan 4 wasn't that Super Saiyan Blue wasn't strong enough. Super Saiyan 4 was simply less draining.

It let him fight a long battle.

Oryon took a deep breath, and a thrill rose from deep inside him.

Since coming to this world, he hadn't met an opponent who could truly threaten him.

Hit would make an excellent touchstone.

The referee called out, "Universe 6, contestant Hit, please enter the ring."

At the edge of the stands, a slender figure slowly stood.

Hit wore a dark coat, wrapped up tightly, with only his sharp-featured face showing.

His skin was a cold purple, his eyes narrow, the pupils utterly without warmth.

Standing there, he looked like a blade sunk into darkness, lifeless and without a single opening.

He said nothing and walked down from the stands, one step at a time.

Wherever he passed, the Universe 6 spectators backed away on instinct. No one dared come within two meters of him.

As he walked by, Champa couldn't help shouting, "Hit, take this seriously! You absolutely cannot lose!"

Hit didn't break stride. He only replied lightly, "Understood. I'll carry out my job well."

Champa choked, yet for once he didn't flare up.

Hit stepped onto the ring.

Oryon immediately felt an invisible pressure wash over him like a tide.

It was a bone-deep sense of danger, like a snake staring at the back of his neck.

"You're Oryon?" Hit said, his voice level, without a flicker of emotion.

"That's me," Oryon said with a nod.

Hit said, "Your transformation is quite interesting.

But let me tell you, flashy power like that is useless against me."

Oryon grinned. "Try me and find out."

The referee swung his palm down. "Begin!"

The instant the word fell, Oryon moved first.

His red aura swirled up, and he shot at Hit like an arrow off the string, his right fist wreathed in red light, aimed straight at Hit's face.

Hit didn't dodge.

Oryon's fist was nearly touching the tip of Hit's nose.

Just then, Hit's body "blurred."

The next second, a violent pain hit Oryon's abdomen, and he flew backward, completely out of control.

He hadn't seen Hit make a move at all.

"What?!" the people in the stands gasped in unison.

Bulma covered her mouth. "Oryon got hit? How come I didn't see his opponent move?"

Piccolo's pupils shrank sharply. "Was that instant transmission?"

Whis said, "No, it wasn't instant transmission… It seems he skipped over a certain moment!"

Goku's face turned serious. "That's not it. In that instant, I felt Hit's ki vanish for a fraction of a second, then reappear.

He dodged Oryon's fist and hit Oryon at the same time."

Vegeta gritted his teeth. "An ability like that is far too advantageous in close combat."

Oryon flipped in midair and landed, clutching his stomach, his brows tightly knit. He looked up at Hit, who stood in the same spot as if he'd never moved.

"That was a time skip," Oryon thought. "I only sensed a faint oddness just now, but my body couldn't react at all."

Hit said calmly, "You're fast. Pity you can't be faster than time."

Oryon straightened up, a fiercer fighting spirit igniting in his eyes. "Time? We'll see how long you can keep skipping it."

He charged again.

This time he didn't just attack head-on. After closing the distance, he suddenly changed his approach, hooking a fist at Hit's ribs from the side.

Hit's body blurred again.

Oryon's fist struck empty air once more, and a knife-hand chop landed on the back of his neck.

He stumbled a step forward and barely steadied himself.

Then a punch hit his left shoulder, a kick caught his right knee, and a heavy blow slammed into his back.

In the span of a single breath, Oryon swayed again and again, as if an invisible person were pummeling and kicking him.

In the Universe 7 stands, everyone's hearts clenched.

Bulma shouted, "Oryon! Don't fight him head-on! Think of something!"

Champa roared with laughter. "Well done, Hit! Show him what real invincibility looks like!"

Oryon rolled backward several meters and dropped to a half-kneel, a thread of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He raised his head. There was no trace of panic in his eyes, only a growing clarity.

"Looks like Super Saiyan 4's stats still aren't enough…"

Oryon stood up, and the red aura slowly faded.

Golden arcs of electricity flickered around his body again. His hair shifted from black to gold, then from gold to an even clearer blue.

A power far more immense than Super Saiyan 4 exploded outward like a tidal wave, and the entire ring trembled.

Oryon lifted his head. In Blue form, his eyes were like two cold stars.

For the first time, Hit's expression changed slightly. "So this is your ultimate form?"

The corners of Hit's mouth curved up. The two of them vanished at the same moment.

When they reappeared, they had already collided head-on.

The spectators could barely make out their figures.

There was only a thunderous explosion, and Oryon and Hit both staggered back several steps.

Hit's pupils quivered.

The duration of his Time-Skip had shortened.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been hit.

Vados and Whis showed surprise at the same time.

"Oh my, oh my. Young Oryon is truly getting serious," Whis said.

Vados smiled. "To be pushed to this extent, Hit must be surprised as well."

On the battlefield, Oryon's speed had reached its limit, but Hit's time skips could still dodge fatal damage at critical moments.

The two chased each other, and every exchange was like dancing on the tip of a blade.

Oryon grew calmer and calmer.

As he fought, he silently calculated the rhythm of Hit's skips.

Every time Hit used a time skip, the ki around him showed an extremely brief void.

If he could seize that void…

"Found it."

A sharp light flashed in Oryon's eyes, and he suddenly left a deliberate opening.

Sure enough, Hit skipped again to appear behind Oryon, his knife-hand slicing toward the back of his head.

In that instant, time stopped, and Hit's chop landed on Oryon's shoulder.

But the moment it touched him, Oryon broke free of time.

He quickly dropped his shoulder and bled off the force.

Then he spun around and drove a heavy punch squarely into Hit's flank.

Hit grunted, flew backward, and slammed into the blue barrier.

The whole arena went dead silent.

Then Universe 7 erupted in deafening cheers.

"He landed it! Oryon hit him!" Bulma jumped to her feet.

Goku clenched his fists. "He's got Hit's timing figured out!"

Vegeta smirked as well. "Hmph. He's got some skill after all."

Beerus gritted his teeth, but his eyes were full of admiration. "That brat… He really didn't disappoint me."

Hit slid down from the blue barrier and smiled. "It's been a long time since anyone landed a hit on me. Your name is Oryon, right? I'll remember you."

Oryon answered, "You're not bad yourself. But if you think you can beat me with just one Time-Skip, you've got another think coming."

Hit straightened up, the corners of his mouth lifting in the smile of an elder watching a junior.

Compared with a young fellow like Oryon, he was practically a veteran.

After all, even counting two lifetimes, Oryon was only a few decades old, while Hit had lived for ages and seen far, far more people.

"Is that so? Then I'll get a little more serious."

With that, Hit closed his eyes and clenched both fists.

The posture was exactly like that of ordinary warriors starting to get serious and power up in a fight.

Yet no presence burst from his body.

The Universe 6 spectators were stunned at the sight of Hit.

"Is Hit about to unleash his big move?"

"That Oryon is amazing. He actually forced our number one assassin to use his true strength…"

Watching Hit, Bulma tightened her fists slightly.

"Uh-oh. Blue looks like Oryon's strongest state already. He won't lose, will he?…"

Android 18 shook her head.

"Don't worry. He still hasn't gone all out."

Android 21 nodded in agreement. "That's right. From what I know of Oryon, he's got this fight figured out."

Videl said anxiously, "But he's the famous assassin Hit of Universe 6! I really have no idea how strong he is…"

Jaco wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"By rights, manipulating time violates Galactic Law, but…"

He glanced at Beerus and Whis, then at Champa and Vados.

No one raised any objection. They all treated the technique as a perfectly legitimate move.

Even the Galactic King, ruler of the galaxy, glinted his eyes for a moment and pretended not to see anything.

Jaco pondered for a moment and didn't dare object.

This Hit, Universe 6's number one assassin, was not someone he could afford to offend.