Son Goku looked at Beerus with a determined gaze. "Lord Beerus, I only recently mastered the Super Saiyan God form. It's not my strongest power. Now, I'm going to show you everything I've got!"
Beerus blinked, looking genuinely surprised. "The Super Saiyan God isn't your full power? Then by all means, show me what you're hiding!"
"Hehe." Goku grinned. In the next instant, his aura began to skyrocket with a violent roar. "HAAAAAA—!"
A transformed Goku stood before Beerus, his appearance radically different. "This is Super Saiyan 4!"
Since there was no interference from the Demon Realm this time, this was the standard, primal Super Saiyan 4.
"And now... this is... Super Saiyan 4 Limit Breaker!"
Sensing the sheer magnitude of Goku's energy, the corners of Beerus' mouth curled upward. "Interesting. Truly interesting. I didn't expect you to possess a power like this."
The transformed Goku looked at Beerus with newfound confidence. "Lord Beerus, let's have a real fight!"
"Hahaha! Fine! Come at me, Son Goku!" Beerus laughed loudly. Suddenly, his face went cold, and he vanished from his spot.
A split second later, his fist was flying toward Goku. Goku didn't flinch, throwing a punch of his own to meet it.
BOOM!!
The sheer force of their collision caused the very space around them to tremble. Tiny hairline fractures appeared in the air, flickering in and out of existence as reality struggled to hold together.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Haa! Da-da-da-da-da!
Goku buried a fist into Beerus' chest; Beerus countered instantly, snapping a punch that sent Goku's head recoiling.
Beerus followed up with a kick that sent Goku hurtling through the air, then casually flicked his wrist, firing two purple spheres of destruction.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Goku stabilized himself mid-air. He slapped the energy spheres away with his bare hands and charged back at Beerus.
"Impressive. Such a tenacious fighting spirit..."
Below, watching the sky ignite with their battle, Bulma couldn't help but complain. "A perfectly good birthday party, ruined just like that. Honestly..."
Turles chuckled. "You know what Kakarot is like. If he meets a master and doesn't fight them, is he even Goku anymore?"
Future Bulma's eyes, however, were fixed on the sky, shimmering with battle lust. "Incredible. That Beerus guy is actually that strong..."
"He's the God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe," Turles replied. "Of course he's strong. Kakarot won't be able to last much longer."
Beerus truly lived up to his title as the strongest God of Destruction. He already had one foot in the realm of the Angels. If he weren't so pathologically lazy, he likely would have ascended to that level long ago.
With a powerful overhead hammer-fist, Beerus sent Goku plummeting like a meteor. Goku crashed into the ocean with a deafening explosion, sending a pillar of water hundreds of meters into the sky.
Beerus dove in after him, and the battle continued beneath the waves.
As they fought, the ocean churned into massive tsunamis. Above, the weather went haywire—alternating between torrential rain, blinding sunshine, and crackling lightning. Living on Earth in this universe was truly an exhausting ordeal. One day a fight might send everyone to the afterlife, and the next, Shenron would be pulling them back. Their sense of security was effectively zero.
BOOM!!
Another massive wave erupted as Goku and Beerus surged back into the sky, the battlefield returning to the heavens.
Haa! Da-da-da-da-da!
Goku roared, unleashing a frantic barrage of attacks, but Beerus blocked them all with ease.
"To reach this level while still being a mortal is indeed a marvel. But for me, you're still far too green!"
Beerus let out a savage grin. He vanished, appearing behind Goku and sending him flying with a whip-like kick. Before Goku could recover, Beerus moved again, appearing in his path to strike him again.
Back and forth it went. Goku was being bounced around the sky like a volleyball. With one final, devastating strike, Beerus hammered Goku back toward the seabed.
BOOM!
A final geyser of water erupted. Moments later, Goku rose from the depths, his body barely cloaked in a flickering gold-red aura as he made one last desperate charge.
"Your will to fight is truly astounding..."
Though Beerus admired Goku's persistence, he didn't pull his punches. A serious Beerus was simply not someone Goku could hope to match.
While Beerus occasionally "allowed" Goku to land a punch or two to keep things interesting, anyone watching closely could see he was merely playing with his food.
Finally, Beerus landed a blow that sent Goku skidding through the air.
Goku reverted to his base form. His clothes were in tatters, and he was gasping for air, staring at a completely unfazed Beerus.
"Lord Beerus... you're so strong... I'm no match for you."
Beerus smirked. "You did well. It's been a long time since anyone gave me such an exhilarating workout. You actually forced me to use seventy percent of my power..."
There it was. Beerus' "Conceptual 70% Power."
"What? Lord Beerus only used seventy percent?" Goku looked at him in shock.
Turles' lip twitched. Is that seventy percent out of a hundred, or seven percent?
Beerus grinned. "Naturally. Did you think a God of Destruction would only have that much to show?"
"Hahaha, fair point. Thank you for the lesson, Lord Beerus."
Suddenly, Beerus turned his gaze toward Turles. His grin widened. "You over there. I've been watching you for a while. How about it? Want to go a round?"
Whis' expression shifted to one of professional seriousness as he stepped in front of Beerus. "Lord Beerus, this is Lord Turles, the God of Destruction of Time. According to the rules, beings of the God of Destruction rank are forbidden from clashing within a universe. I trust you haven't forgotten?"
Beerus froze. He pointed a finger at Turles, looking stunned. "Wait a second... Whis, what did you just say? He's the God of Destruction of Time? I thought that position had been vacant for ages!"
Whis nodded firmly. "Indeed. He is the newly appointed God of Destruction of Time. By decree, you are forbidden from engaging him in combat."
Beerus looked at Turles with newfound amazement. "Impressive. I didn't think our universe would produce a God of Destruction of Time. It's a shame, though—I would have loved to test your strength."
The others were equally stunned. Turles had quietly ascended to such a high-ranking divine position without saying a word. The title alone sounded incredibly powerful.
Shin, the Supreme Kai, looked at Turles in awe. "So that's why the Supreme Kai of Time took you away during the incident in the Demon Realm... it was to have you succeed that position..."
Hearing this, the fur on Beerus' neck stood on end. He whipped his head around to glare at Shin.
"What was that?! You went to the Demon Realm?! Are you trying to get yourself killed? A Supreme Kai wandering around the Demon Realm—what were you thinking?! If you die, what happens to me?! Oh, wait, we still have the Elder Kai, so it's fine... actually, it's not fine at all! You idiot!"