In the ancient, dust-covered ruins, faint motes of light drifted down onto the weathered stones. Raditz slowly descended, his boots touching the ground with the lightness of a feather.
To the naked eye, it seemed calm. But to anyone with spiritual perception, the air around him was screaming. Invisible breath circulated like a coiling serpent, and the space around his body was fracturing and repairing itself within a ten-thousandth of a second. If one looked closely, they would see a layer of thick, tortuous distortions clinging to his skin—ripples caused by the sheer density of his existence warping reality.
Zamasu stood to the side, careful not to touch him.
He knew it would take time for a mortal frame to fully reconcile such a massive influx of divine energy. Raditz was currently in the stabilization phase, waiting for the moment when the Realm of God fully awakened within him.
Hum—
Strange fluctuations began to spread outward. The ruins trembled. Ring-shaped shockwaves expanded from Raditz's feet, crushing the gravel on the ground into fine powder and creating a turbulent pressure that rolled over the area like ocean waves.
Inside his mind, however, Raditz was not in turmoil. He had fallen into a mysterious inner world—a void where nothing existed, yet everything was possible. He could not feel the passage of time or the constraints of space. Everything was free. Everything was perfect. He was one with the universe.
Freedom.
That was the key. True freedom of mind. Even his breathing and pulse had synchronized with the rhythm of nature. His mind aligned with the laws of the cosmos, his body integrated into the flow of existence, sublimating into nothingness.
The extreme explosion of mental willpower required to fight off the Negative Energy had unexpectedly cleared his mind of all debris. He had stumbled into this state by accident—a serendipitous byproduct of his torture. Raditz hadn't expected such a wonderful encounter, but as his body trembled in reality, his soul felt an unparalleled sense of comfort.
"Is it time to wake up, Raditz?" Zamasu asked. He stood a few meters away, his voice cold and expectant.
Raditz took a long, deep breath. The spatial distortions snapped shut. He stood firmly, then slowly opened his eyes.
"It's over," Raditz said calmly, his voice echoing with a strange dual resonance. "I have entered the Realm of Gods. It is truly... incredible power."
"Hmph. Naturally. This is the tomb of the Gods of the past eras. It contains the condensed energy of multiple universes. It is the perfect fuel for a mortal like you who was teetering on the edge of divinity," Zamasu said lightly, turning his back to the altar. "Let's go. We have a universe to destroy."
"Okay," Raditz nodded. He flew up, drifting behind Zamasu.
Just as they prepared to leave the atmosphere, Raditz stopped.
"Wait. I think I forgot something."
"What?" Zamasu turned his head, annoyed by the delay.
The moment he turned, his vision was filled by a fist.
There was no warning, no flare of ki, no killing intent. Just a raw, physical iron fist slamming head-on into his face with the force of a hurricane shattering a star.
BOOM!
The punch connected squarely with the bridge of Zamasu's nose.
The impact was cataclysmic. Zamasu was blasted out of the sky, smashing into the ground with enough force to create a deep trench, sending dust and debris billowing into the heavens.
Raditz hovered in the air, blowing on his knuckles. The corner of his mouth curved into a small arc—the secret joy of a successful prank.
"I forgot to mention... I'm not one of you."
Below, a roar of pure rage erupted. Zamasu exploded from the rubble, his face contorted with shock and fury.
"Impossible! You... the corruption! You weren't transformed?!"
Raditz tapped the side of his head. "Not everyone is weak-minded enough to be infected by that trash. My mental fortitude overwhelmed it."
Recalling the pain of the ritual, Raditz still felt a lingering fear, but the result spoke for itself. Because his mental strength was anomalous—forged by a lifetime of defying fate—the invasive will of the Fallen Gods had failed to take root. His mind had acted as a filter, keeping the power but rejecting the malice.
"Impossible! Even a God of Destruction couldn't resist that concentration of negative energy!" Zamasu screamed.
"We are different."
Raditz's body suddenly burst into a brilliant silver-white light. His spiky hair, usually dark, began to lift and shimmer, turning a crystalline silver. His eyes followed suit, shining with a piercing, metallic hue.
Silver-haired, silver-eyed. Mastered Ultra Instinct.
Coupled with the raw power of the Realm of Gods he had just absorbed, this was Raditz's ultimate state.
"You bastard," Zamasu hissed, wiping purple blood from his nose. "How dare you play me!"
"Actually, I should thank you," Raditz said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You allowed me to break my limits and realize a power I couldn't reach on my own."
"Hmph! Do you think you're strong just because you changed your hair color?!"
Zamasu soared into the sky, abandoning all restraint. In the blink of an eye, he launched dozens of attacks at Raditz. Each strike was faster than light, creating afterimages that filled the sky. He was confident. Even if Raditz had resisted the brainwashing, Zamasu was a True God. He would beat the Saiyan into submission.
A series of invisible ripples spread through space as the attacks landed. The powerful strikes, carrying the weight of a Destroyer, triggered majestic explosions that rocked the ruins.
But Zamasu hit nothing but air.
Raditz dodged everything. He didn't block; he simply wasn't there when the punches arrived. Zamasu, at full strength, couldn't touch him.
"You really thought you were the strongest," Raditz said. It wasn't a question.
As if responding to Zamasu's frustration, Raditz suddenly accelerated. It was a speed that bypassed the need for reaction time.
Zamasu's eyes widened. He needed to react, but Raditz didn't. Before the neural impulse could travel from Zamasu's brain to his arm, Raditz's fist was already buried in his abdomen.
CRUNCH.
"Pfft!"
Zamasu's mouth flew open, and he spewed a mouthful of purple bile and blood.
From that moment on, the roles of hunter and prey were reversed.
Raditz aroused earth-shattering energy, the thick coercion making even the immortal Zamasu flinch. A hammer-blow kick fell from the sky, shattering the void for a hundred miles around them. Immediately afterward, fists and feet rained down like a meteor shower.
"Argh!"
"Ugh!"
"Damn you!"
Zamasu could only utter fragments of curses between screams of pain. He was unable to resist. He crossed his arms to protect his face, and Raditz instantly attacked his exposed ribs. Zamasu used Instant Transmission to escape, but Raditz appeared at the destination before Zamasu even materialized.
No matter how hard he struggled, Zamasu could not escape Raditz's grasp. Raditz was perfect in offense and defense, superior in speed and strength.
Suddenly, a strange, desperate grin appeared on Zamasu's bruised face. He stretched out his hand, mobilizing the purple aura of Hakai.
"DIE!"
It was the Energy of Destruction—power that could erase everything, erasing existence itself!
Space and time collapsed around his hand. The disordered turbulence sucked in the light, a wind of nothingness blowing from the void to annihilate the Saiyan.
But Raditz didn't panic. He didn't even blink.
Although the destructive energy was absolute, it required a target. Before Zamasu could fully unleash the torrent, Raditz had already moved.
The moment the purple flash erupted, Raditz was already behind Zamasu.
"Too slow."
Countless streams of silver-white light converged on Zamasu's body from all directions. It wasn't energy blasts; it was a flurry of punches so fast they appeared as beams of light.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The miraculous and majestic force shredded Zamasu's defense. His body went limp, his bones pulverized, and he fell to his knees with a wet thud.
"Impossible... It's also a God... Why? Why!" Zamasu yelled angrily, veins bulging in his hands as his fingers dug into the soil. "My body is also that of a Saiyan! I have the power of a God! Why can't I beat you?!"
Zamasu was in despair. He had fused multiple versions of himself. He had the backing of the mysterious benefactor. He had achieved the Divine Realm. Logically, he should be invincible. Ironically, he was being dismantled by a mortal who had ascended only minutes ago.
Raditz looked down at the broken deity, his silver eyes devoid of pity.
"Your body is just a borrowed thing. You stole the hardware, but you lack the software to run it. You cannot display the true potential of a Saiyan warrior because you have never lived as one."
Raditz raised a hand, gathering silver energy.
"As for the Divine Realm... even your divinity is borrowed. Using a humble, thieving heart to control the body of the greatest warrior race? You don't understand anything at all."
"No... no..." Zamasu shook his head, his eyes dazed, the reality of his inferiority finally crushing his ego.