Zamasu roared in impotent rage, his face being ground into the dirt by Raditz's boot.
He had completely lost his fighting spirit. His body was a map of scars and splattered purple blood. If not for the curse of immortality, Raditz would have wiped him from existence ten times over.
Harsh, ragged gasps punctuated his screams. Zamasu looked less like a god and more like a beaten dog.
"Raditz! You will die miserably! That Person... That Person will never let you go! Never!" Zamasu howled a split second before his skull was crushed underfoot.
SPLAT.
Zamasu's head was compressed and exploded by the sheer force, but the relief was short-lived. Flesh knitted together, bone reformed, and the pain faded in an instant. He glared up, whole once again.
Raditz looked down at him coldly. "If I'm not mistaken, 'Shadow Emperor' doesn't dare show his face, does he? Whether in this dimension or the living universe, the Grand Minister has likely been monitoring the situation for a long time. Once your master makes a move, the Angels will descend. That's why he sent Android 21 to babysit you."
"You..." Zamasu was struck dumb, his eyes widening.
Raditz knew he had hit the mark. The rogue Angel, Mirto, and the others had fled the Ruins precisely because the Grand Minister had initiated a sweep. They lacked the strength to confront the High Priest head-on, so they scurried in the dark like rats.
Zamasu and Android 21 were merely the executioner and the messenger, acting as proxies for the cowards behind the curtain.
"Zamasu! We're leaving!"
Suddenly, a clear, sharp female voice echoed from the depths of the Ruins. Raditz recognized it instantly—Android 21.
Accompanied by her voice came a burst of strange, high-frequency fluctuations. The energy wave washed over Raditz, disrupting his ki flow and making his knees buckle with sudden weakness. He hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Taking advantage of that micro-moment, a phantom blurred past him. Android 21 snatched Zamasu from the ground and accelerated away.
"Number 21! Put me down! I am immortal, he cannot kill me!" Zamasu struggled, his pride unable to accept retreat.
"The plan has changed," 21 said clinically, tightening her grip. "Raditz is out of control. We are retreating to wait for a better opportunity."
"But—"
"Quiet. My suppression wave cannot restrain Raditz for long." 21 flew at her limit speed, desperate to put distance between them and the silver-eyed Saiyan.
She knew she couldn't outrun him forever. Zamasu, though unwilling, realized he couldn't jeopardize the grand plan. He grabbed onto 21, and together they brazenly tore open a rift in space, galloping into the void.
The debilitating fluctuations gradually weakened. Raditz stood still, watching the rift close. He showed no intention of chasing them.
His current energy, while vast, had no way to permanently seal the immortal Zamasu. Catching them would be a waste of stamina, especially with a mysterious, God-tier threat lurking in the shadows. A tactical retreat was the smartest play.
Now, he had a different problem.
The Ancient Ruins were a sealed dimension. It wasn't easy to enter or exit. Even the Supreme Kais needed to gather collectively to breach the walls. Zamasu could leave because he carried Negative Energy, allowing him to melt through the barrier.
For Raditz, however, telepathy and Time Patrol badges were useless. Even Instant Transmission was blocked by the dense, chaotic spatial energy of the Ruins.
"As expected of the buffer zone between existence and non-existence," Raditz muttered. "To travel through here, one needs overwhelming divine power, or the dual-nature energy that Zamasu possesses."
Raditz thought for a moment, then fixed his silver eyes on the towering Ancient Tree.
The wandering ghosts of the Destroyer Gods—the ones polluted by negative energy—were still lurking nearby.
You guys harassed me during my transformation. Now, it's time to pay the toll.
"I'll use your energy to punch my ticket home."
Raditz smiled coldly and rocketed toward the corrupted spirits haunting the tree.
Universe 7, The Realm of the Destroyer
Lord Beerus lay on a recliner, leisurely sipping a tropical drink. Whis stood by his side, staff in hand. Before them, hovering over a calm lake, Goku and Vegeta were sparring while wearing heavy, weighted suits.
"Whis, don't those two look remarkably similar when they fight?"
"Indeed, my Lord. If they learned to work together perfectly, they might even be able to give you a proper challenge."
"Really?" Beerus sighed, swirling the ice in his glass. "The Day of Prophecy is coming soon, and their level is still far from adequate. And I still don't know where Raditz is."
In Beerus's prophetic dream, the Super Saiyan God would appear as his true rival. Both Goku and Vegeta had the potential, but they lacked the specific 'rival' quality Beerus felt in the dream. Raditz, the one who fit the bill perfectly, had vanished from the timeline. Even Chronoa, the Supreme Kai of Time, couldn't locate him.
Whis's expression grew solemn. "If the Fallen Angel in the Ruins captured him, it would be a disaster."
"The Grand Minister has set up surveillance," Beerus grunted. "Once Mirto or the others appear, they will attract attention. But that doesn't rule out them finding other ways to interfere with our world."
"Like that Zamasu fellow? He is indeed an unpleasant individual."
"Whis, be careful. Mirto has always disagreed with you," Beerus warned, though his tone was lazy. "If you meet him, even you might suffer."
"Oh my," Whis chuckled, covering his mouth. "He is just a man who is overly protective of his flaws."
despite his nonchalance, Beerus felt a shiver of genuine fear. When it came to Angels, the Gods of Destruction were outclassed. Beerus had never defeated Whis. By that logic, he stood no chance against a rogue Angel like Mirto.
CRACK-BOOM!
Suddenly, a violent vibration shook the entire Destroyer Realm.
An immense, chaotic energy smashed against the protective barrier of the divine dimension, piercing through it with brute force. The shockwave knocked ripples across the lake.
Goku and Vegeta stopped mid-punch, staring at the sky. Beerus dropped his drink, and even Whis looked stunned.
Who would be bold enough—or stupid enough—to forcibly break into the home of a Destroyer?
A jagged rift tore open in the void. A figure tumbled out, crashing toward the ground.
As the smoke cleared, everyone's eyes widened.
"Raditz?!"
"Brother!"
It was him. Raditz had returned to the living world, having used the volatile energy of the corrupted Gods combined with his own Ultra Instinct to tear down the wall.
But the cost was visible.
He was in a wretched state. His gi was shredded, his body covered in lacerations and burns. His left eye was swollen shut, and his right arm hung at a grotesque angle, clearly broken. His hair, usually magnificent, was matted with blood and dust, having lost its luster.
"Raditz! You're back!" Beerus jumped up and ran over to the fallen Saiyan, shocked by his condition. "Who did this to you? Was it another God of Destruction?"
Raditz lay on the grass, wheezing painfully. He managed a wry, broken smile.
"Ironically... yes. It was because of another Gods of Destruction..."
If he hadn't deliberately provoked the horde of ancient ghosts to borrow their negative energy, he wouldn't be this banged up. He had underestimated them. He thought it would be a simple extraction of power, but the ghosts had swarmed him like piranhas. He had been chased across the dimension, barely managing to direct their attacks into the barrier to blow it open.
It was a thrilling escape, but nearly fatal.
Raditz let his head fall back against the turf. He didn't want to explain. He just wanted to lie there and take a good, long nap.