In the end, Frieza pressed Piccolo's head down and slammed him into the hillside. He didn't give him even the slightest chance to breathe—at point-blank range, he kept firing purple energy blasts straight at him.
Piccolo's figure was instantly swallowed by blinding light. The entire slope began to collapse as explosions rang out without end. Rocks flew everywhere, dust and smoke billowed, and the roar shook the earth.
Gohan covered his eyes, not daring to look.
At that distance, he couldn't imagine how Piccolo could possibly survive.
As the smoke gradually cleared, Piccolo's silhouette appeared faintly within the dust. Frieza hovered in midair, arms folded, and laughed.
"Alright, come out. Your strength shouldn't be only this much."
When the dust fully dispersed, Piccolo stood up.
He wasn't injured at all—only drenched in cold sweat.
After fusing with Nail, his strength had soared. He'd thought he could easily defeat Frieza, but instead, he'd been dragged into a bitter struggle.
Seeing this, Vegeta ground his teeth and turned to fly toward Frieza's spaceship. He planned to hide first, then wait until Goku recovered, and join forces to fight Frieza.
But Frieza was faster.
Vegeta had barely flown for five seconds when Frieza suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path. He sneered coldly.
"Where do you think you're going? Don't tell me you're going to the bathroom. Vegeta running away with your tail tucked between your legs. Don't you have even a shred of dignity left? But no matter how you run, you're fated to die here."
With that, he drove a fist into Vegeta's stomach, then kicked him down from the sky.
He didn't pursue further. Instead, he flew back to Piccolo and said slowly, "Sorry to keep you waiting. Now show me the power you're most proud of. You really are a fool who doesn't know what fear is."
Even though he understood the gap in strength, Piccolo didn't back down. He charged without hesitation, and the two clashed again.
Their figures collided again and again in midair, each impact sending out violent shockwaves, like cannonballs detonating in the sky. The air itself seemed close to cracking.
Then Frieza whipped his tail and sent Piccolo crashing downward.
As Piccolo fell, his arm suddenly stretched out and grabbed Frieza's tail, dragging him down with him. Both of them plunged into the water.
But underwater, Frieza moved far more freely. He locked a hand around Piccolo's throat and forced him deeper and deeper.
Gohan stared at the ripples on the surface, worried.
No one knew how long passed before the ripples finally faded.
Suddenly—BOOM!
A pillar of water blasted into the sky. Frieza burst out of the water… and Piccolo's presence could no longer be sensed at all.
"Don't be in such a hurry," Frieza said when Gohan was about to dive in. "That level of attack won't kill him. But now I'm going to let you see it with your own eyes—how I smash him into pieces. For Namek to have someone with his strength is rare. He deserves a reward."
As he spoke, he raised a hand and extended one finger.
Death Beam.
A red beam shot straight into the water. In an instant, the surface exploded like mountains and seas overturning, and the newly reappearing trace of Piccolo's aura vanished again.
Frieza laughed. "Now that Namekian is completely out of the game."
The moment the words fell
Piccolo erupted from the surging waves and said calmly, "You're looking down on me way too much."
Seeing Piccolo was still able to fight, Gohan thought that if they teamed up, they could definitely bring Frieza down. He was just about to gather his ki when Piccolo suddenly shouted, "Don't you interfere, Gohan! I already told you—I'm going to beat him myself!"
Gohan could only stop.
Vegeta lay in a heap of broken rocks, grinding his teeth in rage. Frieza's power wasn't something one person could handle—how could Piccolo still not understand that after fighting this long?
Frieza, meanwhile, was furious. Piccolo's attitude was outright insolent.
He lunged again—but this time, Piccolo didn't meet him head-on. He kept dodging and weaving.
No matter how fast Frieza was, every attack was avoided.
As he dodged, Piccolo laughed. "Haven't you noticed yet, idiot? We've already completely figured out every move you make."
Frieza grew more and more enraged. He grabbed Piccolo by the collar, but didn't even know how to strike—nor did he understand what Piccolo meant by "we."
Piccolo said with a hint of mockery, "After your body got bigger, is this all your attacks amount to?"
Frieza froze.
He suddenly realized Piccolo's voice had changed—it was the same Namekian voice that had fought him earlier.
Before he could speak, Piccolo continued, "I've fused with Piccolo."
A beat of silence.
Then Piccolo's voice returned to normal as he said, "After fusing with him, my power has increased several times over. I've obtained the ultimate power in this world!"
His aura exploded.
Without even moving, he blasted Frieza away.
A pale-white glow poured off his body, and he became like a dazzling white sphere as he slammed into Frieza—then drove a punch into Frieza's face.
It was the first time Frieza felt pain that cut to the bone.
He flew backward. Before he could steady himself, Piccolo chased him down and rammed him in the stomach.
Under the relentless pursuit, Frieza finally snapped. Enduring the burning pain, he kicked Piccolo away with all his strength.
Then he raised his hand.
A red sphere of light formed instantly—and kept expanding, like a rising sun. Its radiance blotted out the sky, staining all of Namek's heavens crimson.
He hurled it downward.
Piccolo didn't move at all. He chose to meet it head-on.
Vegeta's pupils shrank. He could clearly sense how terrifying that red light was—enough to destroy a planet. Trying to take it head-on should've been impossible.
And yet, Piccolo swung as if batting a baseball—
and knocked the sphere away.
At the same time, Piccolo fired a white beam straight at Frieza.
Frieza never expected his furious attack to be deflected. He couldn't dodge in time.
His body twisted under the white light.
Then—BOOM!
A massive explosion swallowed him in fire.
Vegeta stared in disbelief.
Just as he thought Frieza might actually be brought down, the smoke cleared
Frieza was still standing there.
But his body was covered in scorched burns.
It was the first time he had ever been injured.
Gohan murmured, "Amazing… Piccolo is actually fighting Frieza evenly."
"No," Vegeta gritted out. "He's already gained the upper hand. What the hell happened to him…?"
(End of Chapter)
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