On the arena stage.
The mountain ranges that once stood here had long since been flattened. Even the ground itself had shattered into countless fragments.
Upon one of those broken slabs of stone, Gran stood in front of Hit, shielding him from the remaining shockwaves of the explosion.
"That slime… do you know when that guy appeared?"
Hovering in the sky above, the Goddess of Love, Rosa, drifted closer to Bellock. Her expression was grave.
"No idea."
The Slime, Bellock, shook his head.
Just moments ago the two had been arguing fiercely.
Yet now, without a word, they had reached an unspoken truce.
"That guy isn't right. Earlier, his power jumped from Early Sixth-Tier to Peak Sixth-Tier. No one knows if that was even his full strength."
Rosa stared cautiously at Gran, who stood atop the rubble.
Bellock paused slightly at her words. He hadn't expected such meticulous thinking from a woman weighing over three hundred jin.
"This guy really is mysterious. No wonder the Gods of Destruction told all of us to gang up on him. But…"
Bellock swept his gaze across the battlefield.
From the northern side of the arena, six figures were rushing toward them.
They were:
The Lion, Lambert, of Universe One.
The Mummy, Harry, of Universe Five.
The Fox, Joel, of Universe Eight.
The Muscle Maniac, Primo, of Universe Ten.
The Pride Warrior, Jiren, of Universe Eleven.
The Golden Sea Monster, Blair, of Universe Twelve.
"They finally made it. No matter how mysterious or powerful that guy is, he can't possibly defeat all of us."
Bellock's eyes filled with wariness as he watched the northern approach.
Once they killed Universe Seven's God of Destruction candidate, it would turn into a chaotic free-for-all between them.
And these newcomers were monsters in their own right.
While Bellock and Rosa waited for Jiren and the others to close in—
Hit, lying on the shattered stone slab, coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"So this is the will of an assassin… I saw it. Truly impressive."
Gran turned and looked at Hit.
During Rosa's earlier strike, Hit hadn't resigned himself to fate.
At the final moment, he erupted with unprecedented willpower.
He forcibly broke free from Rosa's "Domain of Love" and used "Time Freeze" to shift his body slightly.
Otherwise, the wound would not have been on his back—
It would have pierced straight through his chest.
"Pff!"
Hit tried to speak, but blood kept spilling from his mouth. He couldn't form words.
His aura grew weaker and weaker.
On the viewing platforms, the Gods of Destruction were certain—
In this condition, Hit was doomed.
However.
"It won't hurt soon."
Gran calmly pushed Hit's spilled organs back into his abdomen. Then he removed a Senzu Bean from his belt.
He crushed it and fed the fragments into Hit's mouth.
The instant Hit swallowed—
The massive wound on his back vanished.
His aura surged back to its peak state.
The viewing platforms fell into stunned silence.
He actually healed him.
What was that bean?!
How could it possess such miraculous power?
"Hahaha! I told you! Once Gran arrived, my candidate wouldn't die even if he wanted to! And you didn't believe me!"
Champa roared with laughter.
"Damn it! This is outrageous!"
Heles ground her teeth and turned toward the Grand Priest.
"Foul! This is a foul! Grand Priest, how can he use outside items like that during the match?!"
"Why not?"
Champa sneered.
"Before the tournament began, the Grand Priest clearly said—this grand melee has no rules. Whoever stands at the end wins!"
Beerus immediately backed up his brother, shouting loudly:
"Hmph! The Grand Priest said there were no rules. What foul are you even talking about?"
The voices of the two cat-like Gods echoed throughout the World of Void.
The other Gods of Destruction and Supreme Kais were furious.
Shameless!
"Beerus," Quitela said coldly, "if that's the case, can we also provide our candidates with such healing items?"
"Sure," Beerus replied with a rising smirk. "If you have them, use them. I won't stop you."
That "item" was a healing artifact created by that mysterious Angel.
There was no way other universes possessed such a thing.
"You!"
Quitela trembled with rage.
He didn't have anything like that.
This damn cat was truly despicable!
"Grand Priest, I believe healing-type outside items should be prohibited."
Liquiir raised his voice in protest.
"This is a grand melee between God of Destruction candidates. If everyone uses such healing items, will anyone even get injured? Will anyone be eliminated?"
The other Gods of Destruction joined the protest.
It was obvious that Universe Seven's candidate had many of those beans.
If he could use them endlessly—
They would lose for sure.
On Zeno's viewing platform, the Grand Priest swept his gaze across the crowd.
Silence fell instantly.
"You make a fair point."
He glanced at the two brothers, Beerus and Champa.
"From this moment forward, no one may use items of this nature."
The moment those words were spoken—
Quitela and the others were stunned.
They had always believed the Grand Priest favored Universe Seven.
Yet this time—
He agreed.
"Good!"
"Hahaha! That's how it should be!"
"Beerus! Champa! Let's see how you handle this now!"
Cheers erupted from every direction.
Beerus and Champa exchanged a glance.
So it was banned after all.
Fair enough.
The effect of the Senzu Bean was indeed too heaven-defying.
But
"So what if we can't use Senzu Beans anymore?!"
Champa burst into laughter.
"Now it's our turn to strike back! Watch how Gran kills every last one of you!"
Beerus dropped his usual aloof posture entirely.
He pumped his fists and shouted toward the arena:
"Gran! Charge! Kill them all!!!"
His voice echoed across the World of Void.
On the arena.
Gran glanced upward.
So Senzu Beans are banned now?
Didn't matter.
He hadn't needed them anyway.
Then he noticed Beerus wildly swinging his fists like an overexcited child.
Gran's mouth twitched.
Lord Beerus… might be a little childish.
Still—
Gran shifted his gaze toward Bellock and Rosa in the sky.
Since Lord Beerus had ordered him to show no mercy—
Then he would kill them.