"I didn't know…" Shin muttered, looking far more wronged than a Supreme Kai responsible for a universe-level disaster had any right to look.
"That is the problem!" Elder Kai snapped. "You never know anything until half the universe is on fire!"
The crystal ball showed Vegito still holding Majin Buu back, but Elder Kai's scowl only deepened. "If even Vegito can't stop him, then Beerus is the only one left. Goku's father won't arrive for several more hours."
Shin latched onto the name at once. "Beerus? Then should I go ask him for help?"
Elder Kai gave him a sharp sideways look. "If you have time to run around asking Beerus, why aren't you using that time to find Bardock?"
"I don't know where Bardock is…"
"You say that like you know where Beerus lives."
Shin scratched his cheek, and somehow, against all reason, a little pride slipped into his voice. "Actually, I do. I went there before. I even knocked him away with one glare."
Elder Kai's fist twitched.
One glare. He had glared at a God of Destruction, walked away alive, and was now saying it like a fond memory.
"Then go!" Elder Kai barked before the urge to bury him became impossible to resist. "Why are you still here?"
"By myself?" Shin's courage collapsed the moment the order became real. "Ancestor, you should come with me…"
"I am not going. You made this mess. You clean it up."
Kibito had already started edging away, careful and quiet, the way one backed away from an exploding star.
Shin noticed. "Kibito, you're coming too. You gave me plenty of terrible advice back then."
Kibito's escape died halfway through the first step. "My stomach suddenly—"
"No."
Shin grabbed him.
"Kai Kai!"
The Sacred World of the Kai vanished around them.
A blink later, Shin and Kibito stood on Beerus's planet.
Whis was already there to greet them, smiling as if unexpected Supreme Kais dropped out of the sky every afternoon. "Well, this is rare. Supreme Kai."
The Oracle Fish drifted over in his bowl behind Whis, wearing the smug little look of someone who had smelled trouble and come to watch it ripen.
"You're Angel Whis, right?" Shin bowed at once, stiff with embarrassment. "About before… I offended you because I didn't understand the Realm of Gods. I'm sorry."
Whis took the apology with perfect grace. "You didn't know, so there is no need to dwell on it. I don't mind."
The pause after that was gentle enough to be terrifying.
"What matters," Whis continued, "is whether Zeno-sama forgives you. If that anger remains, Universe 7 may face a crisis unlike any it has ever known."
Shin's fingers pressed together. "About that… our Universe 7 people are currently causing trouble on Universe 6's Earth. Does that count as a Universe 7 crisis?"
For once, even Whis needed a beat to arrange that politely. "That is… a complicated question."
"Then I'd like to ask Beerus to deal with Majin Buu," Shin said, leaning into the request like a drowning man reaching for a rope. "Can he help?"
"Beerus is asleep." Whis pointed toward the castle. "You may try waking him."
Shin looked toward the castle, and the memory of his last visit clearly returned in the worst possible way. "I remember glaring him out of that castle. Did he go back inside to sleep?"
"Yes. He sleepwalked back to bed."
Shin's mouth opened, then closed again.
Even asleep, Beerus could find his own room. A God of Destruction really was built differently.
"I'll try," Shin said, though every word sounded like it had to be dragged out of him.
He flew toward the castle.
The Oracle Fish watched him go, then tilted his bowl toward Whis. "You're really letting him wake Beerus like that? Beerus might kill him before he even opens his eyes."
"For the Supreme Kai," Whis said, "this may be the trial he has to face."
"That means he really might die."
"It depends on his luck."
The Oracle Fish floated a little lower, thinking it over. "If the Supreme Kai dies, maybe Zeno-sama's anger will cool down."
"That is one possible outcome."
"But if Beerus destroys him completely, his soul won't escape either. Then even you can't revive him."
"Correct."
The Oracle Fish blinked. "That sounds bad."
"It would be."
Inside the castle, Shin appeared in Beerus's bedroom.
Beerus was sprawled across the bed, dead to the world, a nose bubble swelling and shrinking with each slow breath.
Shin swallowed. "Beerus… wake up. It's me, the Supreme Kai."
He reached out and nudged him.
Beerus's hand closed around his throat.
There was no warning, no change in breathing, not even an opened eye. One second Shin was touching his shoulder. The next, his feet had left the floor and his neck was caught in a grip that might as well have been iron.
"Ah… agh…"
His face turned purple.
Beerus, still asleep, flung him away.
Shin smashed through the castle wall, tore across the sky, and hit the ground outside hard enough to carve a trench through the earth.
He did not get up.
His body was too weak for a sleeping Beerus's reflex. His neck had twisted wrong, his breathing came in thin broken pulls, and the light in his eyes was already fading.
The Oracle Fish hovered over the crater. "He's dying."
Whis arrived beside him. "Yes."
"Should we save him? If he dies, won't Beerus disappear too?"
"Not while Elder Kai is alive."
The Oracle Fish nodded, then brightened with a terrible idea. "Should we kill Elder Kai too?"
Whis's smile held, but only barely. "That joke is a little too dangerous."
"Hehe. Just easing the mood."
Shin lasted three minutes.
Not fighting. Not crawling. Just breathing in smaller and smaller pieces until even that stopped.
The Oracle Fish sighed. "He's dead. Whis, call Zeno-sama before this gets worse."
Whis raised his staff, and the crystal at the top connected to Zeno's Palace.
"Whis," the Grand Priest's voice came through. "What is it?"
"Oh my," Whis said, arranging his face into helpless regret. "Grand Priest, something unfortunate has happened. The Supreme Kai of our universe was accidentally killed by Beerus. By the time I noticed, he had already gone cold."
He turned the staff slightly, showing Shin's body in the crater.
"Gone cold?" the Grand Priest asked. "You learned that from Ken, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"I understand. Zeno-sama is beside me. I'll report it."
"Thank you, Grand Priest."
The Grand Priest relayed the news. A moment later, Zeno-sama's voice came through.
"Universe 7's Supreme Kai died?"
"Yes, Zeno-sama," Whis said. "Should we revive him?"
"No. Not yet." Zeno-sama sounded more annoyed than sad. "He deserved that. Let him stay as a soul for a while. After he learns enough about the Realm of Gods, you can revive him."
"Understood, Zeno-sama."
The connection closed.
The Oracle Fish let out the breath he had been holding. "That was mercy, right? At least his soul still exists."
"For now, Universe 7 should not be erased," Whis said.
"That nearly scared me to death." The Oracle Fish floated down, spat on Shin's robe, and huffed. "This is all his fault. He almost got Universe 7 wiped out."
"One has to admire his courage," Whis said. "He actually tried to wake Beerus."
"When will Beerus wake up on his own?"
Whis glanced back toward the castle. "Not soon. He still seems very short on sleep."
…
Sacred World of the Kai.
Light flickered near Elder Kai and Kibito.
Shin returned with a halo over his head.
"Ancestor," he said, embarrassed. "I'm back."
Elder Kai looked at him. Then at the halo.
Kibito's face drained of color. "Supreme Kai! What happened?"
"I died by accident."
Kibito's knees gave out. Elder Kai went down with him, and for a while, neither of them managed anything more useful than lying there and processing the sentence.
Elder Kai recovered first.
"You idiot!" he roared, scrambling upright. "How do you die that easily?"
"Beerus was too strong." Shin looked miserable enough to cry. "He grabbed my neck, threw me, and I hit the ground."
Elder Kai pinched the bridge of his nose.
Kibito had no idea how to comfort someone who had been killed by a sleeping cat.
"You're lucky he didn't use destruction energy," Elder Kai said. "If he had, your soul would be gone too."
"What do we do now?" Shin asked. "Beerus sleeps terribly. I can't wake him."
"Now we wait for Bardock and the others." Elder Kai jabbed a finger at him. "And you go look for them. If you find them, bring them here immediately."
"Elder Kai… I'm only a soul now, and you still want me to work?"
"Who told you to get killed?" Elder Kai shouted, spraying spit across his face. "If you were going to wake Beerus, why did you stand close enough for him to grab you?"
Shin pulled out a white towel and quietly wiped his face.
"Do what I said," Elder Kai continued, his anger turning heavy. "If Universe 7's Majin Buu runs loose on Universe 6's Earth, and Zeno-sama hears we failed to handle him after being warned, our crime gets worse. Much worse."
Shin's voice shrank. "If Universe 7 is erased, what happens to us?"
"What do you think?"
"We're gods," Shin said carefully. "Supreme gods. Maybe we survive?"
"You really are hopeless." Elder Kai glared at him. "If Universe 7 is erased, every god in the universe disappears with it except Whis. Even Beerus."
Shin shuddered. "Even Beerus?"
"Now you understand?"
Elder Kai punched him in the head. Shin's soul wavered and almost came apart before pulling itself back together.
Shin clutched his head, wounded all over again. "Elder Kai, you almost scattered me."
…
Universe 6, Earth.
Vegito and Majin Buu were still fighting.
Calling it a fight almost felt generous. Vegito had pushed himself to level forty-nine, yet Buu was still smiling, still laughing, still treating the battle like a game he had finally started to enjoy.
Vegito broke away, breathing hard. Every exchange dragged more out of him, and Buu looked as fresh as when he had woken from his nap.
"You're ridiculous," Vegito said, wiping sweat from his jaw. "I didn't think you'd be this strong."
Buu patted his belly. "Fighting you is fun. I haven't had this much fun in a long time."
"Since you're in such a good mood," Vegito said, "tell me something. You called me level forty-nine earlier. What level are you?"
Buu's grin turned wicked. "Not telling."
Vegito let out a short breath. "Of course not."
He closed his eyes for a moment and steadied himself. "Then I'll try the newest state."
Buu's whole face lit up. "Oh?"
Far above the battlefield, Piccolo, Gohan, Kale, Cabba, and Caulifla watched the two fighters from a distance none of them liked.
"Dad's Potara Fusion still isn't winning," Gohan said.
"That says more about Buu than Vegito," Piccolo replied. "That monster is far beyond what any of us expected."
Vegito's aura shifted below them, unstable at first, then sharper.
Gohan leaned forward. "But he still has something left."
"Goku has Ultra Instinct," Piccolo said. "Vegeta has Destruction energy." His eyes narrowed as Vegito's power began to climb again. "The question is which side of that Fusion answers first."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]