Dragon Ball: AD Astra

After sealing away the Demon King Piccolo, Lisette escorted Goku to the temple. He had ignored the sacred bell, proof of Karin's approval, and hadn't even used his Nyoibou staff, but apparently that wasn't an issue.

Lisette held the role of God's representative, though it had been thrust upon her rather than chosen. The fact that she brought Goku directly to the temple, bypassing Karin entirely, meant he was considered fully qualified.

Karin lamented this development, muttering, "Now it's my turn..." So Lisette offered her a small cardboard box as an apology. You might question whether this was appropriate, but since Karin was delighted that it fit her perfectly, it probably wasn't a problem.

After that, Lisette quickly departed, leaving Popo behind. Later, God complained about her hasty exit.

Goku had been warned beforehand that Kami and the Demon King shared the same face, so he didn't attack Kami. The real problem came before that encounter.

Mr. Popo had fought Goku to teach him humility, but Goku had grown so powerful that he fought back as if he had no understanding of ki manipulation. Poor Popo was unable to move for quite some time afterward.

In any case, Goku became God's disciple, and Shenron was resurrected as well.

Goku begged Lisette to put that weighted training gear on him again, but she made excuses to refuse. It would only take a few days to adjust, but if he wore it for three years, Majunia would be easily defeated, and that wouldn't do.

For the time being, Lisette left Goku's training entirely to Kami and quickly retreated to her cathedral.

While Goku trained diligently under Kami and Majunia pursued his own harsh regimen, Lisette ventured into uncharted territory herself.

The gravity training she continued as her daily routine had finally surpassed 100 times Earth's gravity and entered the realm of 150 times. When she thought about how quickly Goku had overcome this milestone, it made her want to cry at her own slow progress. Still, she could take pride in how considerably her fundamental abilities had improved.

Actually, it was her clothing that had been slowing down her gravity training progress.

The cape dress Lisette wore weighed a total of 200 kilograms—more than four times her own body weight. In other words, she had imposed a burden 500 times greater on herself. No wonder it took longer to overcome such challenges.

She still wore the weighted handcuffs and shackles too. Perhaps she was restraining herself a bit too much.

A curious thought struck her—just how strong was she now?

First, with the weights attached, her strength was reduced to about 70% of its original level. Then there was the restraining cast, which cut that down by another third. Even so, her current fighting power was probably over 100,000—roughly 350 times that of Kami. She was fairly confident in this estimate.

Actually, measuring against Kami was becoming increasingly difficult. She really wanted a device to measure combat power accurately.

If she assumed her current restricted state was worth 100,000, then with all limitations removed, she'd probably reach around 400,000. Thanks to her body adapting to the strain, she could now achieve ten times her burst limit. That gave her a rough estimate—at full power, she'd reach approximately 4 million.

It put some strain on her body, but if she pushed herself to twenty times her limit, 8 million wasn't impossible.

Yes, she was strong. Really strong. She could defeat Frieza up to his third form.

Long live gravity training!

"My fighting power is 120 million."

She thought she heard that voice. Of course, it was just her imagination.

Yeah, compared to Frieza's final form, her strength was trash.

The power inflation in the Namek arc had been too intense. Goku's power level jumped from 8,000 to 150 million by the time he returned to Earth, an 18,750-time increase.

Dr. Gero had wept when he said, "Considering my advanced age, I've determined it's impossible to increase power so rapidly." Not only was it impossible, but somehow Goku came back exactly that much stronger.

Yet despite not predicting this astronomical growth, Gero had still created androids overwhelmingly stronger than even that enhanced Goku. What was going on with that old man?

That geezer was the real cheat character.

In the end, if she continued at this rate, she'd soon be overtaken anyway. She had no choice but to maintain her relentless training schedule without breaks.

In addition to her own training, Lisette occasionally visited the temple to forcefully teach Goku the general knowledge, common sense, and academic skills he sorely lacked.

Starting with the fundamental fact that marriage wasn't food, she also taught him reading, writing, and simple elementary-level arithmetic. For now, she'd managed to get him to memorize the multiplication tables.

She also had him read children's picture books to broaden his knowledge and compensate for his educational gaps.

Don't scoff at children's picture books, they're designed to be fun and engaging while teaching various concepts without boring young minds.

And so three peaceful years passed.

•~•

After three years of anticipation, the Tenkaichi Budokai finally arrived.

This time, Lisette didn't miss the opportunity and accompanied Goku as he departed for the tournament.

Naturally, she brought some Senzu Beans along, just in case.

Over the past three years, Goku had transformed into a remarkably handsome man, which genuinely surprised Lisette. Of course, she'd known he would undergo dramatic growth, but she was still amazed by how drastic the change had been.

In fact, Saiyans possess the ability to maintain an infant-like physique until a certain age to lull enemies into complacency, then undergo sudden growth spurts at predetermined points. Unfortunately, Lisette was unaware of this biological trait.

She and Goku traveled to the venue together, chatting amicably, and reunited with Bulma and the others.

Since Lisette had no intention of participating in the tournament, she was permitted to join Bulma's cheering section.

Bulma laughed at her, saying, "You're like a celestial maiden who often descends to the mortal world." But it couldn't be helped—staying atop the mountain all the time was boring.

Lisette also introduced herself to Krillin, Tien Shinhan, Chaozu, and Master Roshi—people she knew but had never formally met.

Her conversation with Master Roshi was particularly lively. Despite the three of them being equally praised as the legendary masters—Kame-Sennin, Tsuru-Sennin, and Ryuten—they'd had zero interaction with each other, which struck her as quite odd.

Taking advantage of the casual atmosphere, Roshi tried to poke her chest... Well, that was just his charming personality, so she wouldn't get angry about it.

Bulma hit him for her instead.

Even before Launch started firing her gun, people in the audience parted like the Red Sea and gave up their front-row seats without complaint.

The aura of a higher being that Lisette constantly emanated was remarkably effective at such times—except for the fact that some audience members started kneeling and bowing, which was rather annoying.

"Won't Lisette be participating?" Bulma asked.

"I prefer watching," Lisette replied, brushing off the question while continuing to observe the matches.

She was especially motivated this time, having missed the finals twice before.

For this moment, Lisette was no longer a celestial maiden but simply an enthusiastic spectator. She was as excited as a little girl, swept up in the tournament's energy.

During Goku and Chi-Chi's match, she grew excited seeing the two who would eventually marry. During Yamcha's fight against Kami, she laughed when Yamcha took a hit to the groin and writhed in pain. During Tien Shinhan's battle with Tao Pai Pai, she couldn't help but applaud Tien's surprisingly cool performance.

In Krillin's match against Majunia, she gave generous praise to Krillin's valiant effort.

Lisette was thoroughly enjoying herself.

"You look like you're having fun, celestial maiden," Oolong observed.

"I thought you were a calm person, so this is surprising," Bulma added.

Despite being immortal, she was still fundamentally human. Watching exciting matches was thrilling, and fun was fun.

However, this joyful mood was shattered during the match between Kami and Majunia.

Just before being sealed away by the Mafuba technique, Kami had blurted out something completely unnecessary:

"My grandson! Defeat him and save the world! And Lisette! You're the next Kami! I leave everything to you!"

...Ah, I must be mishearing things.

The old man was shouting something, but surely she'd misunderstood.

As Lisette tried to ignore him, Kami began screaming even louder as he was being sucked into the containment vessel.

"Can you hear me, Lisette? I appoint you as the next Kami! I'm counting on you!"

For some reason, the stubborn old man wasn't getting sucked in properly and kept yelling.

It's fine, so please get sealed away quickly. I'll help you properly later.

Even Majunia was sweating at Kami's unexpected tenacity.

Just when Kami's body finally entered the bottle, he stubbornly managed to keep his head and upper torso outside, screaming once more:

"Hey Lisette, don't cover your ears! You're the next—Ugh!?"

Majunia pressed down on Kami's head, who showed no signs of quieting down, and forced him completely into the jar before sealing the lid.

Good job, Ma Jr. Really excellent work.

Lisette instinctively gave a thumbs up, praising Majunia—who was supposedly her enemy.

Meanwhile, Majunia gave Lisette a sympathetic look and muttered, "...It seems you're having a hard time too."

"Yes... naturally," she replied.

The fact that he showed genuine concern here convinced her once again that the new Piccolo was far from villainous at heart.

It wasn't surprising, since the evil heart that had separated from Kami belonged to the previous generation, not this Piccolo.

Namekians were originally good people. No matter how much they inherited memories and powers, and regardless of being reincarnations, they couldn't become completely evil.

"Um, Lisette-sama... what was all that about?" someone asked uncertainly.

"...I need to explain that situation to all of you. Please come with me, Goku, to the back of the venue."

Lisette held her forehead and gathered everyone to explain what had transpired.

Kami had left behind a completely unwanted gift.

How had it come to this? It should have been Dende who replaced him, not her.

"So, are you going to tell us what this all means?"

Master Roshi, one of those assembled at the venue, posed the question to Lisette.

Present were Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, Master Roshi, Bulma, and Chi-Chi.

With seven pairs of eyes focused on her, Lisette carefully chose her words before speaking.

"First, I'll give you the conclusion: that Majunia's true identity is King Piccolo."

"Wh-what?! That's impossible! If it were King Piccolo, you would have sealed him away! I definitely saw it with my own eyes!"

Tien Shinhan was the first to object when she revealed Majunia's true identity.

Come to think of it, he'd been there too. Lisette remembered as she answered his question.

"Yes, he was indeed sealed away. The bottle containing the Great Demon King is still kept securely in the temple's depths."

"Then why? Are you seriously saying there are two Great Demon Kings?!"

"Of course not."

Tien Shinhan fell silent after Lisette's simple denial. Actually, it wasn't just him—everyone except Goku looked incredulous.

Naturally. No one had ever heard of two Piccolo Daimaos existing simultaneously. Their doubt was perfectly reasonable.

"The Great Demon King left behind an egg just before being sealed away, entrusting everything to it. So Majunia, born from that egg, is both the Great Demon King's son and the Great Demon King himself."

"W-well, if it's not exactly King Piccolo... this guy's going to be troublesome," Master Roshi groaned, quickly grasping the situation after Lisette's explanation.

He truly was known as the God of Martial Arts. Despite his usual joking demeanor, his intuition in moments like this was head and shoulders above the others.

"But I saw it," Yamcha said slowly. "That Mafuba just now hit Shen..."

"That's right," Tien Shinhan agreed. "Something Piccolo-like emerged from Shen's body and got sucked into the bottle. Then he said something strange... about Lisette being the next Kami..."

Their questions were perfectly logical. It would be ideal if Kami's unnecessary remarks could simply be ignored, but that didn't seem possible.

"He's just a senile old man. Sometimes he blurts out strange things. Don't mind him," Lisette attempted.

"No, that's really not believable," Master Roshi immediately countered.

"That's right," others agreed.

She'd tried making excuses, thinking it might work, but Master Roshi saw right through her.

"Ahem." She cleared her throat, regained her composure, and tried to explain seriously.

"...That person wasn't the Great Demon King. He was Kami, fighting Piccolo while possessing a human body."

"K-Kami?!"

"Kami and Piccolo were originally one being. But when that being became Kami, he cast out his evil heart—and that became Piccolo. Therefore, if either kills the other, both will die... That's the main reason why Kami was unable to stop the Demon King directly."

"I see... so that's it. The Mafuba is perfect for defeating an opponent without killing them," Master Roshi realized.

As expected, he was the first to understand why Kami had used the Mafuba and why he'd only appeared now.

This insight would normally be quite dignified—what a shame about his usual behavior.

Yamcha then looked at Lisette with sudden realization.

"Wait... so that means Lisette-sama is now Kami? I'm sure he said something like that right before being sealed..."

"..."

The self-proclaimed Lone Wolf of the Desert had blurted out something unnecessary, and Lisette quickly averted her gaze.

Becoming Kami wasn't supposed to be that simple, was it? Even the previous Kami had gone through tremendous effort to achieve godhood, like purging his evil heart. Yet here they were, supposedly settling it with a verbal declaration?

But then again, Dende's appointment had been similar—brought to Earth and told, "From today, you're Kami." That was essentially it.

Well, she wasn't particularly evil, but she did have normal human desires like everyone else, so perhaps it was acceptable.

Still, she recalled that the previous Kami who appeared in the anime-original Garlic Jr. arc had been rather selfish and hopeless individuals. They'd continued obstructing Kami simply because he'd entered their bedroom during a major crisis threatening Earth. She'd thought them rather foolish.

Considering this, Lisette eventually decided to ignore the topic entirely.

"Kami has been trapped by the Mafuba, but if we retrieve him from Piccolo, we should be able to free him. I'm counting on you, Goku."

"Yeah, leave it to me, Kami-sama. I'll get the previous master back."

"Stop it! Don't change how you address me so casually!" Lisette protested.

Even though she'd taken the trouble to ignore the subject, Goku brought it right back. Moreover, he'd started calling her Kami without any hesitation.

What was this? No escape route? Was she really Kami now?

Lisette suddenly felt like crying.

"Well, let's think about the Kami succession later... I'm counting on you, Goku. The reason Piccolo even bothered entering this tournament is because he fears you."

"That may be true."

Piccolo's voice cut through the air from behind Lisette as she spoke.

She'd already sensed his approach through his ki, but apparently the others hadn't.

Facing the surprised group, Piccolo crossed his arms and spoke with confident authority.

"It's true that Son Goku's existence is nothing but a hindrance to me—far more so than his predecessor, who neglected proper training."

"...Have you already decided the previous Kami is your predecessor?" Lisette muttered.

Ignoring her protest, Piccolo simply laughed at having made Kami his predecessor.

I can't believe the Great Demon King has acknowledged me as Kami. I'm not happy about this at all.

"But this time, I will definitely end your life. Then, after I've trained and gained even greater strength, I'll kill the Kami over there and conquer the world myself. A wonderful demon realm awaits!"

While impressed by Piccolo's surprisingly calm analysis of the power dynamics, Lisette also felt frustrated that his words had taken on a bitter edge.

Look—Krillin and Yamcha were glancing her way with expressions that seemed to say, "If push comes to shove, maybe the new Kami can defeat him?"

"I'm telling you, Master Piccolo's strength this time is incomparable to my father's, who was defeated with a single blow three years ago!"

"I've improved my ki control since then. I won't lose," Goku replied calmly.

This conversation is so awkward.

Lisette felt a profound sense of discomfort.

Piccolo's lines sounded pathetic because she'd trained too intensively three years ago, while Goku's strength hadn't changed dramatically since then.

Incidentally, both felt about twice as strong as Kami—roughly 600 in terms of power level. It was a moment when she was genuinely impressed by how hard Piccolo had been working.

Piccolo: "I've been training harder than in the original timeline, even sacrificing sleep and vomiting blood, and I've finally caught up!"

Lisette: "...Well, well... I'm sorry."

Piccolo really could accomplish anything when he put his mind to it.

---

Author's Notes:

[Mr. Popo's Fighting Power] Popo's fighting power is said to be 1,030, but this represents his strength after the Saiyan Saga. When he first appeared, he stated "Kami is even more amazing," so at this point, Kami > Popo. Regarding his power level, it's natural to assume he grew stronger while training warriors in preparation for the Saiyan invasion. However, in the anime, he could block attacks from Super Saiyan Goten and Trunks, so his true limits remain unknown...

[Goku's Mathematical Ability] In the original manga, Z, GT, etc., there's almost no depiction of him doing calculations, so his academic level was unknown. But in "Super," it was revealed he barely managed 50 points on a written exam. However, the questions were at a lower elementary school level, and since Goku counted on his fingers in the manga, his academic ability is thought to be at a first or second-grade level—he can barely manage two-digit addition and subtraction.

In this story, Lisette has taught him the four basic arithmetic operations, so he's now at a sixth-grade level and can do three-digit mental calculations. His natural intelligence isn't poor.

[Reading and Writing] In the anime version of "Super," when Chi-Chi asked him to run an errand, the note she gave him had pictures instead of words. This leads to the misconception that Goku can't read or write, but as mentioned above, he scored 50 points on a written test and can write his own name properly, so he has minimum literacy skills. (If Goku couldn't read or write, he wouldn't have been able to participate in the Tournament of Power against Universe 6 in the first place.)

Additionally, as a child, he was forced to read adult novels during his training with Master Roshi.

In this story, Lisette has drilled him in reading and writing kanji at an elementary school graduate level.

Incidentally, it's unclear why Chi-Chi went to the trouble of drawing pictures for that errand. Perhaps she believes Goku can't read.