That single graze was enough to instantly vaporize the Lord of Light and Shadow's body into nothingness.
The life essence within the entity shattered and dispersed, drifting out through the vortex and returning to the planet.
"How is this possible? Even the supreme rulers of the Mana ecosystem aren't this terrifying. What kind of high-dimensional civilization does this guy come from?"
Realizing escape was impossible, the Lord of Light and Shadow decisively abandoned her new physical form, preserving her life by retreating into a purely spiritual state.
250 million years of painstaking effort had gone to waste, yet she had no time for regret or rage; her only thought was to flee the planet immediately.
There were surely other life-bearing planets in this universe; given enough time, she might find another one.
With the technology she had already perfected, she could potentially replicate what she had achieved here and obtain a new body once more.
This Great Ape was terrifying, but fortunately, she was now a spirit—there was likely nothing he could do to harm her.
"Goku, don't let her get away!"
Seeing the spirit of the Lord of Light and Shadow attempting to flee, Bai Yuekui tried to strike with her blade but found she couldn't inflict any damage; she turned back, pinning her hopes on Goku.
They had to nip the threat in the bud; if the Lord of Light and Shadow escaped, there was no telling what kind of trouble might arise in the future.
Hearing Bai Yuekui's voice, Goku shook his head and instantly deactivated all his transformations, reverting to his normal form.
"Instant Transmission!"
He teleported to the exit, cutting off the path of the spirit-form Lord of Light and Shadow, and pulled a rice cooker—adorned with a talisman—out of his box.
Physical attacks were useless against the Lord of Light and Shadow—who existed as a spiritual entity—and even energy attacks offered no guarantee of a kill.
Thus, he recalled the technique Master Roshi had once taught him for sealing away King Piccolo.
"Evil Containment Wave!"
Goku pointed a finger at the Lord of Light and Shadow, who was attempting to dodge and flee; a special vortex, fueled by his Ki, instantly engulfed the entity.
"No!"
Upon being enveloped by the vortex, the Lord of Light and Shadow found all her abilities sealed. Her spiritual form, utterly powerless to resist, was swept along by the swirling energy toward the rice cooker sitting on the ground.
Despair instantly filled her heart.
"You cannot seal me! If you do, the 'Scarlet Vortex' will spiral out of control, and nothing will be able to stop the Mana Civilization from fully descending!"
She tried to grasp at a final shred of hope, but before she could finish her sentence, she had already been drawn into the rice cooker.
Clearly, Goku cared nothing for her threats.
Yet, what she said was not wrong.
In this universe, it is incredibly difficult for life forms from a lower-dimensional world to enter a higher-dimensional one.
However, it is by no means easy for higher-dimensional life forms to enter a lower-dimensional world, either.
First, simply locating a lower-dimensional world that still harbors life requires an untold amount of time.
Second, breaching the dimensional barrier is far from simple.
Just as it is difficult for a 2D entity to enter the 3D world, is it any easier for a 3D human to step into the world of a 2D anime?
That is precisely why, upon discovering this lower-dimensional world—and this life-bearing planet—the Mana Civilization had sent only a single giant.
It wasn't a matter of not wanting to send more; initially, they truly could only send one.
However, once that single entity arrived, with a bit of time and coordination between the two sides, they could soon open a gateway large enough for the entire Mana expeditionary force to cross over. ...the gateway.
When that time comes, every inhabited planet in this low-dimensional universe will become the spoils of the Mana Civilization.
Unfortunately, due to her betrayal, she had long since locked the gateway tight using the "Scarlet Mist."
This low-dimensional world had been transformed into a prison of her own making—one for her exclusive enjoyment.
However, if she were to be sealed away and the Scarlet Vortex—left uncontrolled—were to dissipate, then the Mana Civilization, with its advanced technology, would certainly be able to reopen the gateway.
The flow of time differs between high and low dimensions; it is just like the difference in time flow between the "Scarlet Domain" he created and the Earth outside.
Consequently, while 250 million years had passed on this planet, only a few decades had gone by for the Mana Civilization.
Yet, given the Mana Civilization's technological prowess, a few decades was more than enough time to expand the spatial gateway.
Thus, what the Mana Civilization would send this time would not be merely a single Mana Giant, but an entire expeditionary force.
Countless Mana Giants and countless "Avatar-class" Phage Beasts.
"The Scarlet Domain is vanishing!"
As Goku sealed the spiritual entity known as the "Lord of Light and Shadow" using the Evil-Sealing Wave, Bai Yuekui noticed the Scarlet Domain beginning to collapse, vanishing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In mere seconds, they found themselves back at the dried-up spring within the Wrong-Path Canyon.
"It's over."
A somewhat weary Goku picked up the rice cooker and, taking Bai Yuekui with him, instantly teleported to the rendezvous point where the two squads were waiting.
Unleashing his full power in that transformed state took a significant toll on him.
Yet, the gains were substantial; every time he faced an opponent that forced him to go all out, he could clearly sense his own strength improving.
"Boss! Goku! You made it back safely—that's fantastic!"
Upon seeing Bai Yuekui and Goku appear, the members of the two support squads all wore expressions of delighted surprise.
They knew this likely meant the crisis had been resolved.
Beyond the pair's safe return, the moment the crimson fluid vanished, they had also witnessed the Phage Beasts—which had been rushing toward the Wrong-Way Canyon—suddenly drop dead in their tracks, almost simultaneously.
As she watched the cheering squad members, Bai Yuekui smiled, though a trace of worry still flickered in her eyes.
The words spoken by the Lord of Light and Shadow before being sealed away had pierced her heart like a thorn.
However, she also knew that in the situation they had just faced, there was simply no... It was impossible to tell whether the Lord of Light and Shadow was speaking the truth.
If he wasn't sealed away in time, letting him escape would only pose an even greater threat.
"Boss, Goku—what is happening up there?"
However, their relief was short-lived; suddenly, they noticed that the entire expanse of space above the canyon seemed to be under the pull of some strange, powerful force.
A massive rift was slowly tearing open.
As the fissure widened, it revealed a terrifying scene that made Bai Yuekui and the support team's blood run cold.
Colossal, blood-red warships appeared on the other side of the rift, their decks crowded with countless Mana Giants standing a hundred meters tall.
And behind those blood-red warships loomed countless Shiji—monstrous beasts—standing a thousand meters tall and tethered by massive chains.
"An expeditionary force from the Mana civilization!"
Recalling the words the Lord of Light and Shadow had just spoken, Bai Yuekui's face turned deathly pale, drained of all color.
Even with all of Goku's power, surely he couldn't withstand such an overwhelming number of Mana Giants and Avatar-class Phage Beasts.
Their planet—no, their entire universe—was doomed.
Despair engulfed everyone—everyone, that is, except for Goku.
"So it's true. I guess I have no choice but to give it a try."
Sensing the intense malice radiating from the Mana Expeditionary Force on the other side of the rift, Goku popped a Senzu Bean into his mouth, instantly restoring his stamina.
"Giant!"
Activating his Giant transformation once more, he grew to a height of sixty meters and took to the air.
However, he did not transform into a Great Ape this time; experiments in the white void had revealed a limitation.
He discovered that he could not access the five-second "Golden Warrior" state while in his Great Ape form.
The primary reason was that his control over Ki dropped drastically after transforming into a Great Ape; furthermore, his intuition suggested that his overall power level was simply insufficient.
If he were powerful enough, perhaps he could enter the Golden Warrior state even while in the Great Ape form.
Breathing techniques and Giant magic, on the other hand, did not interfere with entering the Golden Warrior state.
"Haa!"
With a furious roar, the sixty-meter-tall Goku saw his hair and eyebrows turn gold, while the Ki within him surged at an explosive rate.
The overwhelming aura stunned the Mana forces that were just preparing to enter this dimension...
The expeditionary force instantly halted its movements.
"Take this—a 600x-power Kamehameha!"
A shockwave capable of making space itself tremble surged skyward, blasting directly toward the expanding rift.
The Mana Giants aboard the blood-red fleet seemed to sense something; expressions of sheer terror simultaneously washed over their faces.
The fleet instantly turned about and fled, vanishing into the depths of the rift.
Meanwhile, Goku's 600x Kamehameha slammed into the rift; the immense energy actually sealed the breach completely, as if it had never opened at all.
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