The date for the Multiversal Destroyer Candidate Battle drew closer with every passing second.
Two years left...
One year left...
...
One month to go.
Universe 11
A thick, suffocating tension permeated the entire universe. Outside the Destroyer's Palace stood three figures: a clown, a young woman with pigtails holding a staff, and a massive, white-bearded man in a red-and-black spandex suit.
Near the lake, another man sat in silent meditation. He was bald, with a smooth, rounded head, large black eyes, and pale skin. His musculature was so developed it looked as though it were carved from stone.
"Lord Belmod, there is only one month left until the battle," Toppo said, his voice laced with concern as he looked toward the meditating figure. "Why hasn't Jiren awakened yet?"
Belmod narrowed his eyes. "Be patient. He's waking up now."
As the words left his lips, Jiren's eyes snapped open. A violent shockwave of Ki erupted from his body, the sheer force of it shattering the ground of the Destroyer Realm into floating fragments.
"So... so powerful!" Toppo swallowed hard. "What kind of power is this?!"
"He has reached the initial stage of the Fifth Tier of the Divine Realm," Marcarita noted, tapping her staff to restore the landscape. She nodded in approval. "Jiren spent an extra thousand years in the Time Chamber. To break through from the peak of the Fourth Tier to the Fifth... his talent is truly remarkable."
"Hahaha!" Belmod grinned maliciously. "The Destroyer Candidate of my Universe 11 is now more terrifying than a God of Destruction themselves. I refuse to believe Beerus can win this time!"
Jiren stood up and walked calmly toward them. "Lord Belmod. Lady Marcarita." He gave a brief nod to Toppo.
"It's a pity," Belmod sighed. "If you could have used all the time available in the chamber, you might have climbed even higher."
Jiren was not an ordinary mortal; his natural lifespan could reach over 4,000 years. However, half of that was already gone. If he had stayed in the Time Chamber for another 2,000 years, he would have emerged an old man on the verge of death.
"Lord Belmod, even with another millennium, a further breakthrough would be nearly impossible," Marcarita interjected. "At this level, every step forward is like trying to move a mountain. Most Gods of Destruction have lived for hundreds of millions of years, yet they remain at the Fifth Tier."
It wasn't a lack of talent; it was a lack of urgency. Most Gods lived for pleasure. But lately, things had changed. Being humiliated by Beerus during the Zen-Oh exhibition match had lit a fire under them. Belmod and the others were finally taking their own training seriously again.
"Lady Marcarita is right. More time would not have yielded a breakthrough," Jiren said flatly.
Belmod nodded, letting the subject drop. "Jiren, I trust you understand the grudge between me and Universe 7?"
"I do. And?"
"The rules of this battle likely won't forbid lethal force," Belmod said, his voice turning cold. "I want you to kill Beerus's candidate."
Toppo flinched. Killing an innocent warrior went against everything the Pride Troopers stood for. He expected Jiren to refuse.
"Lord Belmod," Jiren said, shaking his head. "That goes against my sense of justice. I refuse. I agreed to participate and win—nothing more."
"You...!" Belmod fumed, but he knew better than to threaten Jiren. He needed him. "Fine! If your 'justice' won't let you kill him, then I want you to make him suffer. Break him. Humiliate him. That isn't killing—surely you can agree to that?"
Jiren began to object again, but Belmod cut him off. "Do you still want to find the one who murdered your master?"
Jiren fell silent. After a long pause, he exhaled slowly. "Fine. I accept."
Universe 4
"Damn it! We're running out of time!"
Quitela stood by the lake, his mouse-like face twisted in anxiety. "Cognac! Where is that ancient creature?"
Cognac, the Angel of Universe 4, kept his eyes half-closed. "Are you referring to Wright, Lord Quitela?"
"Yes! Him!"
"He is currently harvesting the fear of mortals within our universe." Cognac waved his staff, projecting a screen in the air.
On a distant planet, a wolf-like creature shrouded in black smoke was engaged in a horrific slaughter. His methods were stomach-turning—flaying skin, crushing bones, gouging eyes. He seemed to derive a sick pleasure from the screams. Only through this terror could Wright grow stronger.
"How dare he ruin my universe!" Quitela's aura flared purple. "Once this tournament is over, I'll erase him personally!"
Boom!
A wave of Stage 8 Destruction energy obliterated everything nearby, turning the ground into stardust. Cognac quickly restored the area with a flick of his staff.
"Wright's power and life come from fear. If we leave him unchecked, he will eventually wipe out every mortal in Universe 4," Cognac sighed. "Lord Quitela, this creature has officially met the criteria for destruction."
For an Angel to say a being "deserved" to be destroyed was rare. Usually, they maintained total neutrality. Wright's four-year rampage had been so thorough that the Mortal Level of Universe 4 had actually dropped by a significant margin. Even Zamasu would have found Wright's methods a bit much.
"I know he needs to be erased!" Quitela snarled, clutching his fists. "But I need his power for the battle next month!"
"But Lord Quitela—"
"Enough! Once the battle is over, I will do it. Until then, he stays!"
Universe 7: Sacred World of the Kais
Age 759. The atmosphere in the Sacred World was heavy. The birds had stopped singing; even the wind seemed to have died down.
Under the Great Tree, the Elder Kai sat opposite a handsome, sharp-featured Saiyan.
"Old man, it's been five years. Is he ready or not?" Beerus asked, his voice low so as not to disrupt the ritual.
Champa paced nearby, his face flushed with anxiety. The tournament was weeks away, and Grand hadn't opened his eyes once in five years.
"Quiet! It's almost done!" The Elder Kai suddenly tossed his "adult" magazine aside. His expression became uncharacteristically solemn. This was the final stage.
For five years, his divine energy had been probing Grand's inner world. He had seen "potential pathways" like small streams merging into rivers, then into oceans. Now, he pushed his consciousness into the very core—the "Sea of Potential."
But the moment he entered, his soul recoiled in shock.
This... this is impossible!
A normal person's potential was like a small lake. A genius had a vast sea. But Grand's potential had no horizon. It was infinite. In the face of this vastness, the Elder Kai's consciousness felt like a tiny firefly beneath a galaxy of stars.
"This is it..." the Elder Kai's mind trembled with awe. "This is what Whis meant. This is the Potential of the Beyond!"
He realized he could never unlock all of it—his own divine power wasn't great enough. He had to settle for a "small stream" of that infinite ocean.
"Here goes!"
As the Elder Kai began to draw out just a fraction of that power, the sky above the Sacred World turned dark. Violent gales began to howl.
"It's happening!" Beerus backed away, his heart racing.
"Unbelievable," Champa whispered, his face red with excitement. "With this kid on our side, the Zen-Ohs' punishment won't touch us!"
Silver lightning began to crackle around Grand. The power he had been suppressing for years finally began to leak out.
BOOM!
A shockwave of pure energy rattled the gods to their very souls.
"This power..." Beerus gritted his teeth, his breathing shallow. "His base power has reached the Fifth Tier of the Divine Realm!!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Champa cried out. "That's the level of a true God of Destruction! How can his base form be this strong?!"
Whis gripped his staff tightly, a rare grin spreading across his face. "Lord Beerus, remember—he spent over three hundred years in the Time Chamber. He broke through five major power bottlenecks in that time."
Vados tried to stay calm, but her eyes were wide. "Three hundred years to go from below God-level to a base form that rivals a Destroyer... his growth rate is terrifying."
"And that's just his base!" Whis laughed. "He still has the Angelic Ultra Instinct state. When he goes all out, will he break into the Sixth Tier? We don't even know!"
"Wait, Whis," Beerus said, his voice trembling. "The old man isn't even finished yet. If this is just the leak... what happens when the ritual actually ends?"
If Grand's base form reached the Sixth Tier, and then he added his Divine Transformation and Ultra Instinct...
Would he reach the Seventh Tier?
The gods looked at each other, unable to speak. Even the Angels found it hard to maintain their composure. This was power on par with Beerus himself. And he had achieved it in only three hundred years.
The energy around Grand continued to swell, growing more monstrous by the second.
"He's coming!"
<><><><><><><><><><><>
Want more chapters? Support my Patreon/Razerizz