Dragon Ball: Ascension

The violent collision of energies distorted the space around the blue-purple energy sphere to a degree visible to the naked eye. Debris and rubble from the battle-scarred planet below was drawn upward by the massive gravitational disturbance, slowly rising into the maelstrom of power above.

If this continued, both warriors would exhaust themselves completely in a mutually destructive stalemate. From Karnel's hands, an even thicker wave of energy surged toward the central battleground.

Seeing another wave of power stronger than his current output rushing toward him, Kairos realized he couldn't match it with his present energy level. With grim determination, he gathered every last reserve of strength in his body and released it all at once. The purple light beam expanded to several times the size of the blue energy wave, shooting toward the collision point like a focused laser.

Karnel's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected Kairos to be so reckless, pouring absolutely everything into his attack without holding back even a trace of power.

"Fine then! I won't hold back either!"

"Five-fold Super Kamehameha!" Karnel roared, squeezing out every ounce of remaining strength. The blue energy wave increased exponentially, pressing forward like a bolt of lightning.

With the addition of this massive surge of power, the entire blue-purple energy sphere expanded to hundreds of meters in diameter. The surrounding space distorted to terrifying degrees, if Nedovich and Kanduba had been standing next to the energy sphere, they wouldn't have lasted a second before being annihilated by the overflowing power.

The blue and purple energy ball began to tremble ominously as the concentrated forces within became increasingly unstable. It was clearly about to explode.

"I didn't expect Kairos to have such reserves left," Karnel thought desperately. "My five-fold Super Kamehameha can't suppress him. If this drags on for even a few more seconds, victory will fall to Kairos."

Though utterly exhausted, Karnel continued to channel what little power remained in his body.

The energy ball could no longer maintain cohesion under the continuous influx of opposing forces. The entire blue and purple sphere began shaking violently before—

BOOM!

An explosion echoed across the entire planet. The blue-purple energy ball detonated instantly, its destructive aftermath expanding tenfold to cover a range of several thousand meters.

Karnel, completely drained and dropped out of his Super Saiyan state, was hurled hundreds of meters by the shockwave before crashing to the ground.

After a long moment, the blue-purple energy in the sky dissipated completely. Karnel struggled to his feet, slowly making his way back to where they had fought.

Kairos lay sprawled on the ground, his chest heaving laboriously. His condition was clearly far worse than Karnel's, he didn't even have the strength to sit up.

Seeing that Kairos had fallen, Karnel's tense nerves finally relaxed. His body, which had been moving on sheer willpower alone, could no longer hold out. He sat down heavily, breathing raggedly.

"Kairos, this battle... you fought magnificently," he said with a weary chuckle.

After such a brutal and fierce battle, Karnel felt that the restless energy that had been building within him had finally been released.

"Ha... ha... yes, I lost," Kairos managed to say after a brief rest, sitting up with generous acceptance.

For the proud Kairos, defeat was defeat, there was nothing to argue about. This was the bearing of a true warrior.

"Karnel, you're the first person to defeat me in tens of thousands of years. It's remarkable. Now come and take my life!"

The desire to fight that had been accumulating in his heart for millennia had been vented all at once. Kairos seemed almost relieved.

The winner was king, and the loser had no right to live. Kairos didn't fear death at all, after all, every powerful opponent he had faced before had been defeated and died at his feet.

Karnel waved his hand dismissively. "You're a true warrior, Kairos. I won't kill you. Besides, I only won by the narrowest margin. If you could have held on for just a few more seconds, I might be the one lying on the ground right now."

"Luck is also a manifestation of strength," Kairos replied firmly. "Losing is losing. I, Kairos, am not someone who can't accept defeat!"

Meanwhile, Nedovich and Kanduba, who had been hiding in the distance and recovering from their injuries while watching the entire battle, could barely contain themselves.

"Kanduba, that monkey was hiding such incredible power all along," Nedovich whispered in panic. "Even our king wasn't his match. Do we really want to try this? He could easily crush us."

Kanduba's eyes flashed with cold calculation. "Nedovich, when did you become such a coward? Look at him carefully, I'm certain he has no strength left. See how his hair has turned black? He obviously can't maintain that terrifying golden-haired transformation anymore."

Seeing that Nedovich was still hesitating, Kanduba pressed urgently, not wanting to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "If we don't kill him now, we'll never get another chance. Once he recovers even a little strength, both the king and we will be slaughtered by him!"

This realization struck home. "You're right, Kanduba," Nedovich said with growing conviction. "He must die now, or our entire Kaimo race will be destroyed by him!"

Kanduba and Nedovich exchanged a meaningful look, their eyes filled with bloodthirsty intent as they focused on Karnel, who sat resting vulnerably.

"Well, I've never seen anyone so eager to die," Karnel said with exasperation. "My current strength isn't much different from yours. When I can easily defeat you again, I'll consider taking your life."

Hearing this, Kairos no longer pressed the issue and said with genuine emotion, "Every opponent I've fought before died by my hand. If you don't kill me now, I don't think you'll regret it."

Karnel touched his nose, thinking to himself: "Yeah, I definitely won't regret it. By that time, I might have reached an even higher level of Super Saiyan transformation and left you far behind."

Suddenly, Karnel's expression changed as he sensed something amiss.

"Ha! Haha! Black-haired monkey, go to hell!"

With bloodthirsty gleams in their eyes, Nedovich and Kanduba burst from concealment, laughing maniacally as they launched simultaneous attacks at the unsuspecting Karnel.

Exhausted and completely drained, Karnel hadn't even noticed the two defeated warriors concealing their energy signatures and creeping within a hundred meters to launch their sneak attack.