Frieza realized he'd been baited into wasting time with nonsense. He spread his palm and roared.
A wide, expanding shockwave blasted straight at Goku.
Goku floated in midair and didn't even dodge—he let it hit him head-on.
A cruel smile tugged at Frieza's lips.
"Hehehe… feeling smug, huh? You got hit…"
Then a violent aura surged outward, blowing the dust away.
Goku was still hovering in the exact same posture—as if nothing had happened at all.
Frieza froze.
He never expected that attack to kill Goku… but he didn't expect it to be completely useless.
Goku brushed the dust off his clothes and looked at Frieza.
"Frieza, stop playing around. Show me everything you've got."
As he spoke, Goku fired the same kind of shockwave back at Frieza.
Frieza let out a pained scream and was blasted backward.
When he steadied himself, he immediately saw Goku's faint smile.
That smile was infuriating—three parts mockery, three parts contempt, three parts amusement…
Exactly like the way Frieza used to look at the "ants" he toyed with.
"Bastard! What are you smiling at?!" Frieza roared and threw a punch at Goku.
Goku tilted his body slightly and slipped the punch.
And at that close distance, Frieza saw that playful smile even more clearly.
In the next instant, Goku lifted his arm and drove an elbow straight into Frieza.
Frieza screamed, flipping through the air several times before he barely stopped.
But Goku didn't give him even a breath.
He appeared in front of him instantly and smashed a heavy punch into his stomach.
"URK—!"
The blow landed with crushing force, almost making Frieza vomit up everything in his gut.
Frieza staggered back half a step and immediately snapped into a counter-kick—
but Goku was ready.
He leaned back and dodged cleanly.
And before Frieza's leg even fully retracted, Goku whipped a kick straight upward—
right into Frieza's groin.
For an instant, Frieza's eyes bulged, veins popping across his forehead as his body shot backward from the impact.
But Frieza was still Frieza—naturally tough, insanely resilient.
He didn't just take hits.
Even while flying back, he regained control, flipped his body—
and fired multiple Death Beams with a rapid flick of his fingers.
The beams screamed toward Goku.
Goku waved a knife-hand again, deflecting them one after another.
The beams that got knocked away slammed into the ground and blossomed into mushroom clouds across the landscape.
The two hovered in the sky, staring at each other.
A cold wind brushed across Goku's face. His expression relaxed into open disdain.
"What a disappointment.
The so-called Emperor of the Universe… is this all you've got?"
Frieza jolted, then erupted in rage. "Y-You… what did you say?!"
"I said—this is all you've got?" Goku repeated.
Frieza snarled. "Don't joke with me! You'll regret it!"
Another Death Beam fired.
Goku flicked it away lazily again.
Then suddenly, Frieza closed the distance and spread one hand.
In an instant, a red energy field wrapped around Goku.
Goku tried to move—
but it felt like his body had sunk into thick mud. The harder he struggled, the heavier it became.
Seeing Goku restrained, Frieza's grin stretched wide.
"HAHAHAHA! Well? Can't move now, can you?!"
Goku struggled for a moment, still unable to break free, and he actually looked a little surprised.
"So you can do something like this…"
He immediately remembered the technique Frieza used on Toppo during the Tournament of Power.
Frieza had always possessed psychic abilities—he just rarely needed them because brute force was usually enough.
But Goku had seen psychic techniques before. He knew every ability had a weakness and a limit.
So he wasn't panicking.
While struggling, he studied Frieza—
and sure enough, Frieza was straining too.
His one hand was trembling. His other hand grabbed his own arm for support.
Teeth clenched, sweat dripping from his forehead—Frieza couldn't afford to relax for even a second.
Goku laughed.
"Frieza… are you trying to entertain me?
I can't move—but you can't move either."
"What did you say?!" Frieza's lips curled. "Believe it or not, I can crush you like this."
He tightened his grip.
Goku immediately felt the pressure spike across his whole body.
Frieza's smug laughter returned.
"Ohohohoho… turn into meat paste, you filthy monkey!"
He loved seeing Goku's face change, like it was the sweetest pleasure in the world.
He poured more effort into the psychic hold.
Then—
right as Goku struggled inside the red field, he suddenly looked up and smiled.
"Heh. I tricked you."
Goku drew both fists back to his waist and roared.
A terrifying surge exploded from him, rippling outward like shockwaves in the air.
The psychic field shattered instantly.
Frieza staggered back several steps.
Seeing that, panic finally flashed across Frieza's face.
"He broke out of my psychic power…
Is this… the power of a Super Saiyan?"
In the next moment, Frieza finally acknowledged him.
"So it's true…
You really are the legendary Super Saiyan!"
Goku waved a hand dismissively.
"Wrong, Frieza. I'm not a 'legend.'
I'm a real Super Saiyan."
Frieza blinked, then let out a sharp laugh. "Hehehe…
Legend, real—what's the difference? You think you're funny?"
Goku shook his head. "No. I'm not joking. I'm stating a fact.
Frieza… you're dead."
Hearing Goku calmly pronounce his doom, Frieza's mind churned like a storm.
Damn it… Me, Lord Frieza… humiliated like this?
In front of a Super Saiyan, I can't even fight back…!
It's unbelievable… the Super Saiyan isn't a myth. It's real—my worst nightmare.
He looked down at Namek, now battered and scarred beyond recognition.
A vicious thought surfaced.
If I destroy the planet… the Saiyan dies too.
I can survive in vacuum…
But then—
he saw a streak of light in the sky.
And he remembered what Goku had said when he forced the others to leave:
"I can fly in space. I'll catch up."
Frieza knew Saiyans couldn't survive in space…
but now he couldn't be sure a Super Saiyan couldn't.
After all, until today, he hadn't even believed Super Saiyan was real.
For the first time in his life, a deep sense of helplessness rose in his chest.
"Damn it…"
"I am the Emperor of the Universe, Frieza…
How could I die like this?!"
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