"What... What is this?" Antauri asked, stepping back a few feet due to the raging red glow that was now around me.
Not bothering to give him an answer, I quickly vanish from sight and reappear right in front of the alien warrior. His eyes widen in shock and I bury my fist deep into his gut before he had a chance to do anything about it.
But what was surprising was that while he hunched over from the force of the punch, he didn't seem to indicate he felt any sort of pain.
Ignoring it, I quickly vanished behind Antauri again and hit him with a knee to his spine. I don't stop and I hit him with a spinning backhand sending him flying into the air.
As much as I would have loved to continue this little game, I felt my body giving out under the intense strain. I gave him no time to recover and quickly used Kai Kai to teleport beside him, knocking him back down towards the ground with a Sledgehammer.
He slammed into the ground with enough force that it created a plume of smoke. I charge into the smoke, ready to continue my assault when I felt a small sting graze my face.
"Don't think that I'm finished yet!" I heard the alien warrior yell before I felt a Ki blast hit my midsection, sending me back up into the sky.
I grit my teeth and placed my hands on the pink energy sphere, slowly pushing it above my head. It flies into the sky behind me and explodes, illuminating us both in a pink light.
This wasn't good.
Even though I'm stronger than him now, I can actually feel my body tearing itself apart.
My young body can't handle the strain.
The only reason why I'm not dead yet was most likely due to my abundance of power and mental training. If I had been weaker, or if I hadn't meditated to the extent that I had, I'd have been put six feet under the second I used the Kaioken.
Seeing my exhausting as an opportunity, Antauri quickly rose up and started to fight back, locking us both into an all-out brawl.
It didn't make any sense. That first punch should have been it, how was he still going blow for blow with me at this level?!
---
[General POV]
Everyone, every single Saiyan witnessing this battle went wide eyed with shock and awe. They could barely watch the battle between these two, their speeds too high to see clearly, but it didn't take long for them to realize that Zyleth had been getting pushed back almost the entire time.
And that petrified them.
If Zyleth lost, that would mean that the monster would turn their sight back onto them. And that would mean they would have no choice but to turn into Great Apes. But if that happened, then the King would kill them for disobeying his orders.
They were dead. If Zyleth lost, they were all dead. That's what they thought.
But now they were all witnessing the same child who had been getting pushed back almost the entire fight was standing on equal ground, his small body now shrouded in a red glow.
And although all were surprised, none of them were more surprised than Vegeta.
Not the King, but his son.
He knew that Zyleth's was the strongest Saiyan on Planet Vegeta. It had basically been thrown in his face during Zyleth's match with Nappa when his father all but blurted it out.
He knew Zyleth was strong, but he couldn't fathom that his teacher had been holding back this much.
How was he so powerful without the use of the Great Ape?
What is that red glow?
Why does he follow the orders of his father when he's so much more powerful than he is?
All of those questions came flooding into Vegeta's mind as he looked on at the battle above. And due to these thoughts, he couldn't help but turn his gaze to his father. He was still there, standing beside, spectating the battle with widened eyes and a dropped jaw.
Wasn't he supposed to be the strongest?
Wasn't he supposed be the one leading this charge, leading his people?
Why was he here cowering on the sidelines while Zyleth faced the monster that had defeated their Elite warriors?
Comparing how Zyleth looked facing that monster above to how his father looked cowering in fear, Vegeta wondered who truly was supposed to be the King of all Saiyans in this moment.
His father or his Leader?
---
"Damnit..." I gritted my teeth with anger as I felt my body being torn apart more and more as time went on.
As Antauri took my attacks and returned them with his own, sometimes equal, punches, I racked my brain trying to think of something that could explain why he was still managing to put up a fight.
Suddenly, the glow of Kaioken flickered, and I my eyes narrowed.
Feeling the time beginning to run out, I vanished once more and hit him in the gut with a full-powered punch, but it didn't do anything. It didn't even looked like he was hurt. It wasn't until he hit me with a Sledgehammer of his own that it finally clicked.
I rocket towards the ground, orientating myself to in the air and landing on the ground on one knee. I deactivate Kaioken and suddenly feel a wave of pain hit me before I quickly swallowed the Senzu Bean that I had placed in my mouth.
Thirty seconds.
Thirty seconds was my limit.
Antauri descended from the sky, touching down on the ground and looking at me with a curious gaze.
"Giving up?" He asked.
"No. I just finally realized what you were doing." I said, to which he tilted his head with intrigue, "You're not feeling any of this, are you?"
His eyes widen for a split second before asking, "What do you mean?"
"My blows. I know for a fact that even if you powered up, there would still be some sort of reaction. A twitch, a groan of pain, something that would indicate that you are actually taking damage. The only reason that someone wouldn't show pain is either because they're monumentally stronger or..."
"Or?" Antauri asked.
"Or they couldn't feel anything at all." I finished as my mouth turned upwards and formed a smirk.
Antauri looked at me with a blank gaze, the silence permeating the air for a long moment before he suddenly started to chuckle, which then turned into full-blown laughter.
"Remarkable! It's been a long time since anyone had made me use this ability, and this is the first time that anyone has ever managed to figure it out on their own!" He said with a confusingly joyful tone, "Yes, my people have the ability to turn off the pain centers in our bodies."
If I wasn't a Saiyan, whose people have the ability to grow stronger after near-death, I would've called that ability broken.
Sure, it was a double sided sword, but just imagining the implications of that ability was astounding. Ultra Ego's main flaw of having to take damage from your opponent to fuel your own power would basically be negated.
Why wasn't this race part of the choices I was given?! I mean I still wouldn't have picked it, but I would have still appreciated the choice!
"Now that I've satisfied your curiosity, would you be willing to respond in kind?" Antauri asked.
"And what do you mean by that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Your name. You still haven't told me." He said.
My eyes widened for a split second before returning to normal. I was expecting him to ask about the Kaioken. I was even debating about whether I should tell him about it or not since he had told me about his ability, but I guess I don't need to anyway.
"Zyleth." I told him.
"Zyleth... Zyleth..." He muttered repeatedly, almost as if he was committing my name to memory, "I will remember you, Zyleth. I will remember your name and this fight for the rest of my days."
"So for the next thirty seconds?" I smirked as I got in my stance and reactivated the Kaioken.
He gave a hearty laugh as he also got into his, replying, "I guess we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"
As I stared down Antauri for the final time, I couldn't help but feel that something significant had shifted between us. Before, it was just a battle of survival and revenge for what he had done to my father. But right now, I couldn't help but feel a little respect for the warrior in front of me.
I was... enjoying this fight...
I almost didn't want it to end, but I guess good things don't last forever...
Letting out one last battle cry, we charged at each other with fists extended as we both aimed to end this fight in one blow.
"Times three!"
---
I stood over the broken and defeated Antauri, a new hole having been pierced through his chest. The red and frantic red glow of Kaioken disappeared from my body as I deactivated the technique.
"It was... a good battle... wasn't it?" The beaten alien asked.
"It was." I nodded my head as I knelt down beside the alien warrior, "You were strong."
I watched as the warrior took his last breath and died with a smile on his face. My eyes widen in shock as his body began to slowly turn into small particles before disappearing altogether as if it were never there.
My quickly shook my head and smiled as stood up, walking away from the resting place of a great warrior.
"Rest well, Antauri... I will remember you for the rest of my days..."
---
As the battle had come to its conclusion, King Vegeta hurried towards the castle before anyone could see him. Upon entering, he scoured the castle and searched around for the right room.
"It... It should be..." He said as he looked down at the brick floor of the castle, "...right here..."
He raised his hand and blew open the floor with a small energy blast, revealing the underground vault where the object he was searching for was being held.
Searching through a room full of treasures and priceless artifacts, he found the object in which he had so desperately sought after for months.
"Finally... Planet Vegeta is saved..." He muttered as he held up the object in question.
The most comfortable pillow in all the universe was now in his grasp!
As he turned to exit the vault with his prize in hand, he saw something else catch his eye.
It was another pillow...
---
Antauri: [44,000]
Zyleth (Base) (Pre-Senzu): [36,000]
Zyleth (Pre-Senzu) (Kaioken) (x2): [72,000]
Zyleth (Base) (Post-Senzu): [68,000]
Zyleth (Kaioken) (x3): [204,000]
[Word Count: 1,822.]