Boom!
A blinding light erupted from Temat's body.
A massive aura spread outward from him in all directions.
His hair rose sharply, though it remained black.
Vegeta's pupils shrank, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
The instant he felt Temat's new power, Vegeta's face turned ugly.
Goku's expression grew even graver.
"Hmph. Look at him showing off," Raditz said coldly. "There isn't even any golden light around him. How could he possibly be a match for Prince Vegeta?"
"No," Goku said, shaking his head. "His ki jumped way up. He's already far beyond Vegeta's Super Saiyan level. That's incredible... I didn't think he could reach this kind of strength without transforming."
"You... what?" Raditz said, refusing to believe it. "Stronger than Super Saiyan? No way. Kakarot, you really do love boosting the other side and talking down your own."
Goku did not bother arguing.
"Now then," Temat said, smiling as ever. "Let's start over."
Whoosh!
He pushed his speed to the absolute limit and appeared behind Vegeta in an instant—so fast that Vegeta barely had time to react.
It was almost the exact same scene as before, when Vegeta had turned Super Saiyan and flashed behind Temat.
Vegeta was startled.
But his reflexes were sharp. He instantly leaped back and kicked out.
Smack!
Temat casually raised one hand and caught the kick.
"Fifty times stronger, huh?" he said with a smile. "Impressive."
"You caught it?" Vegeta said, his face changing.
"That golden form of yours can raise your power fiftyfold," Temat said calmly. "But do you know how much is mine?"
Vegeta quickly pulled back and opened some distance.
Temat slowly raised five fingers.
"W-What? Yours is fifty times too?" Vegeta blurted out in shock.
There was no way.
He could clearly feel that Temat's power had already surpassed his by a huge margin.
How could that be only fifty times?
"Wait... don't tell me it's five hundred times?" Vegeta cried.
Temat simply smiled, which was answer enough.
Vegeta's mind went blank.
Five hundred?
How is that possible?
How could his power suddenly jump that far above mine?
And he didn't even transform.
"Prince of Planet Vegeta," Temat said with a smile, "why don't you surrender nicely? Or call in the people over there to help you? I'm only returning your own words."
Vegeta's expression shifted again and again.
Bang!
Temat answered him with a kick to the chest.
"Urgh—"
Vegeta flew backward, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
He tumbled across the ground over and over before finally coming to a stop.
By the time he staggered upright again, he spat out another mouthful of blood.
"Well done, Your Highness!" Lusen shouted, raising his hand in excitement.
"As expected of the prince!" one of the subordinates cried.
"I told you there was nothing to worry about," Renso said with a smile.
"He gave me a scare there... His Highness is incredible," Cabba said, his eyes full of admiration.
"Cabba, you're still young. Keep training," Renso said, patting his shoulder. "You may never surpass the prince, but you'll definitely become an outstanding Saiyan."
"Yes, Captain Renso!" Cabba said, bowing at once.
Even Goku and Raditz were startled.
Raditz's eyes widened so far they looked ready to fall out.
How is the prince of Sadala this strong?
He kicked even a Super Saiyan flying with one strike.
This place is terrifying.
Planet Sadala is too dangerous. I want to go home.
"Kakarot, hurry up and get me out of here!" Raditz said, turning urgently to Goku.
"It's not over yet," Goku said, shaking his head.
"What did you say?" Raditz exploded. He grabbed Goku by the collar and hauled him up. "Use that Instant Transmission of yours and get me out of here! Can't you see Prince Vegeta already lost?"
"Vegeta won't lose that easily," Goku replied.
"He already lost even after going Super Saiyan! How is that not obvious?" Raditz shouted, spraying spit in Goku's face.
Goku scratched his head helplessly.
"By the way," Raditz said suddenly, thinking of something else, "what happened to Nappa?"
"Oh, Vegeta killed him," Goku answered.
Raditz's face changed instantly.
"Vegeta killed him? Why would he kill Nappa?"
"He decided Nappa wasn't useful anymore," Goku said.
Raditz immediately looked sick.
"Well? Do you still want me to use Instant Transmission to take you away?" Goku asked with a grin.
"Hmph. We can watch a little longer," Raditz said, shivering as he quickly let go.
Goku secretly found it hilarious.
Turns out Vegeta was pretty good at scaring people.
Raditz was this afraid of him?
Goku did not move to help. He knew Vegeta had not shown his true strength yet.
So far, Vegeta had only used ordinary Super Saiyan.
Whoosh!
Temat blurred and reappeared near Vegeta.
"Do you still want to continue, Prince of Planet Vegeta?" he asked with a smile.
"Pah!"
Vegeta rose from the ground and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
"So you were hiding more power too," Temat said.
"You figured that out, huh?" Vegeta answered with a smug laugh. "You're right. I still have one more transformation. And once I use it, this fight ends immediately. So be careful."
"Really?" Temat asked with interest. "How many times does this next transformation amplify your base form?"
"At its highest? Eight hundred times," Vegeta said, grinning wider than ever.
Temat's pupils shrank, and his expression finally changed.
"I'll admit this much," Vegeta said. "You really are impressive. To be this strong without even turning Super Saiyan... that deserves respect. Consider it my praise before I put you down."
As he spoke, his body started expanding, growing larger and larger.
In an instant, Vegeta transformed into a golden Great Ape.
"ROOOAR!"
He pounded his chest and let out several booming roars, so loud that one of Renso's subordinates dropped to the ground in fright.
Renso immediately stepped forward and kicked him.
"Pathetic idiot! You got scared by that?" he snapped.
The man scrambled back to his feet at once.
I wasn't scared...
I just have a thing about giant monsters.
"This is bad..." Lusen said, pale-faced. "What is he now?"
"This keeps getting more ridiculous. Is he really even a Saiyan?" another subordinate asked.
"I've heard that ancient Saiyans could turn into Great Apes," Renso said grimly, explaining it to the others. "They used their tails to absorb the full moon's Blutz Waves and transform. This is the first time I've ever seen it in person. That Evil Saiyan is dangerous."
"Your Highness..." Cabba said under his breath. "Please win."
Goku was not surprised in the slightest. He had expected this all along.
Raditz, on the other hand, stared in total shock.
"Why did Prince Vegeta turn into a Great Ape?" he asked, baffled. "Didn't he just go backward? Isn't Super Saiyan supposed to be stronger than Great Ape?"
"Look closer," Goku said. "Vegeta didn't revert. He turned into a Great Ape and then stacked Super Saiyan on top of it. That makes it a Golden Great Ape."
"A Golden Great Ape?" Raditz said, suddenly understanding. "You can do that?"
Then another thought struck him, and he looked up at the sky.
He only got more confused.
The sky was thick with clouds. There was no moon anywhere.
"There's no full moon! Prince Vegeta can still transform?" he asked.
"He doesn't need a full moon anymore," Goku said with a nod.
"What? He can transform without one?" Raditz said, thoroughly unconvinced. "That has to be cheating."
Wasn't the rule that the tail had to absorb Blutz Waves from a full moon?
If the tail didn't absorb any, how did he become a Great Ape?
"A Great Ape..." Temat said, staring up at the towering monster, his expression unbearably serious.
"That's right," Vegeta replied with a grin. "This form can raise my power as high as eight hundred times."
He was not bluffing.
That really was true.
Vegeta had already pushed Super Saiyan to its full-power state, bringing an eightyfold increase.
Stack that on top of Great Ape, and it became eight hundred times.
That meant his boost was now three hundred times higher than Temat's.
Their base power was not far apart to begin with.
At that point, let alone a three-hundred-times gap—even a difference of onefold was enough to crush the other side.
"Ready, Prince of Planet Sadala?" Vegeta snarled, baring his sharp fangs.
He raised one massive foot and stomped down toward Temat.
That said, Vegeta still was not using the full strength of the form. He claimed it could reach eight hundred times, but in practice he only raised his energy enough to sit slightly above Temat's.
If he accidentally crushed him to death, this would get boring fast.
And as satisfying as it was to grind down an opponent like this, Vegeta had no interest in killing an innocent Saiyan today.
He had only come to Planet Sadala to indulge in some nostalgia.
Running into another Saiyan prince—one this strong, at that—had simply awakened his competitive streak.
Temat jumped desperately aside and barely avoided the stomp.
Smack!
Vegeta's tail lashed out behind him and hit Temat like a club, swatting him out of the air.
Boom!
Temat crashed back to the ground and blasted open a deep crater.
"Hmph. I'd originally prepared that one for Kakarot," Vegeta said smugly. "You got to try it first."
Then he stamped on the ground, sending a shockwave through the crater and launching Temat back out.
Smack!
Vegeta shot out one huge hand and grabbed Temat in his grip.
"Well?" he said, grinning wider than ever. "Still not surrendering, Prince of Sadala? If you don't, I'll crush you to death."
His grip tightened little by little.
Temat cried out in pain.
"Vegeta, that's enough," Goku called from afar. "He doesn't look like a bad guy to me."
"Shut up, Kakarot!" Vegeta barked. "Say one more word and I'll beat you too!"
Goku fell silent.
"Kakarot, are you stupid?" Raditz hissed, yanking him back the moment it looked like Goku wanted to keep talking. "Shut up already! You're talking back to Prince Vegeta. Do you want to die?"
Goku scratched his head.
Since when have I not talked back to Vegeta?
"Surrender already, Prince of Sadala," Vegeta said, delighted. "Otherwise getting crushed to death will be a very ugly way to go."
"I already told you," Temat said with a calm smile, "a Saiyan would rather die than surrender."
"And you're still smiling at a time like this?" Vegeta snorted, tightening his grip again.
"That hurts! That hurts! That hurts!"
Suddenly, Temat opened his mouth wide and bit down hard on one of Vegeta's fingers.
"Aaaargh!"
Vegeta yelped in pain and instinctively opened his hand.
Temat shot free at once.
He landed lightly on the ground and rolled his shoulders.
"You bit me?!" Vegeta roared, furious. He shook his hand, then stomped toward Temat again.
Temat jumped frantically to avoid him.
Bang!
Vegeta swatted downward like he was slapping a fly and smashed Temat straight out of the air.
Splut!
Temat landed flat on his back.
"Hmph. So that's all you've got," Vegeta said, grinning more fiercely than ever, fangs still bared.
Temat rose again, rubbed at his body, and looked up at the giant creature in front of him.
"Well? That was your full strength already, wasn't it?" Vegeta sneered.
Temat took a deep breath.
"I don't have a choice now. I'll have to use my true power."
"Oh? You still haven't shown your true power?" Vegeta laughed outright. "That's hilarious. I don't believe for a second you've got anything stronger left! And even if you do, there's no way it reaches eight hundred times!"
"In that case..." Temat said, his expression becoming more serious than ever.
Rumble!
A brilliant purple light erupted from his body.
Silver-white edged the outer layer of the ki.
At the same time, his hair shot upward and turned silver-white.
Even his eyebrows turned silver-white with it.
An overwhelming ki exploded outward from him in all directions.
The sheer force of that energy flattened the nearby mountains into open ground.
The moment Vegeta felt it, his face changed again and again. His pupils constricted violently, and shock hit him like a tidal wave.
And the instant he saw the color of Temat's hair—
"Ken?" Vegeta blurted out, nearly losing his soul on the spot.
You've got to be kidding me.
You can't mess with people like this.
You disguised yourself as the prince of Sadala just to spar with me?
How the hell am I supposed to beat you?
Even after all the progress I made this year, there's no way I can beat you now.
"T-That's... Ken?" Raditz said too, his pupils shrinking as panic filled his eyes. "See? I told you! He looks exactly like Ken, and none of you believed me!"
Goku, however, wore a strange expression as he stared closely at Temat.
"He transformed? His Highness transformed!" Lusen cried in excitement.
"What kind of form is that?" Cabba asked, stunned.
Renso said nothing. It looked like even he had never seen the prince like this before.
"His Highness looks incredible!" one subordinate shouted.
"As expected of the prince! He really is the strongest Saiyan among us!" the other cried, clapping enthusiastically.
"Come to think of it," one of them added, "His Highness left Planet Sadala as a child and only came back last year. He must have gone through a lot out there."
"Exactly," Lusen said, nodding hard. "That's probably why he became this strong."
Renso kept staring at the transformed Temat, his eyes full of astonishment.
This form really was unbelievably cool.
"Sorry," Temat said with a smile as he looked at Vegeta. "I was hiding my strength too. As for how much this form multiplies my power... I've never actually calculated it. But ten thousand times shouldn't be a problem."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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