The surging, turbulent energy raged within the jungle, and the swaying plants and terrified animals wailed upon the earth.
Curiosity killed the cat.
If time could be rewound, they definitely wouldn't have chosen to stay and watch the commotion.
If time could be rewound, Nickel believed he absolutely wouldn't have chosen to confront Beckett.
Nickel felt he had pushed the Battle Formation Secret Art to its absolute limit, yet he still couldn't make the man with the red tail budge an inch.
Beckett, Son of Thanos. At this very moment, Nickel truly felt the weight of that title.
Like father, like son. As the son of the cosmic powerhouse Thanos, Beckett did not dishonor his father's name; on the contrary, Beckett's excellence only amplified Thanos's renown.
Why?
Why?!
If only my power could be stronger, if only my power could be stronger, if only my power could be stronger!
"Beck! Ett!"
With bloodshot eyes, he clung to his last shred of defiance. The new King of the Centaurian race absolutely refused to surrender.
The golden scepter seemed to sense the King's resolve for a fight to the death. The sapphire embedded at its tip suddenly blazed with intense light. Nickel could feel the power surging into his body being amplified with the gem's help!
"Hm?"
Beckett, who was exerting power with just one hand, sensed something was amiss. Naturally sensitive to power, he could clearly detect that the energy surging from Nickel had increased severalfold compared to before.
"I am the King of the Centaurian race!"
Nickel's lips curved upward uncontrollably, and he was ecstatic.
He could feel it – this was the power that the past Kings of the Centaurian race had stored within the scepter. Although only a small portion had recognized him and flowed into his body, it was enough for Nickel.
Counterattack, starting now!
"Oh, so that's what Father mentioned, the King's Scepter of your Centaurian race?"
A hint of seriousness finally appeared in Beckett's eyes. He was very interested in this power.
"So, ancestors, please lend me your strength!"
Opposite Beckett, Nickel's prayer continued. His final roar was met with the approving flash of the sapphire.
A series of auras, utterly unfamiliar to Beckett, surged into Nickel's body through the scepter as a medium. The colors on Nickel's body began to change gradually.
His entirely purple body was slowly adorned with bright silver and sky-blue lines. The centaurian form, under the influence of these changing lines, gradually transformed into a humanoid shape. The shining sapphire detached from the top of the scepter and automatically flew to Nickel's chest.
"Beckett, Son of Thanos, you will pay the price for what your father did to the Centaurus Planet!"
Nickel, his power greatly amplified, shouted and rejoiced. He felt as if he could shatter Alpha Star beneath his feet with a single punch.
The power of the forty-nine Centaurian warriors behind him poured into his body unceasingly. With the power of his ancestors at his chest, an extremely excited Nickel launched the first attack.
Full of confidence, he chose the simplest and most brutal method – speaking with his fists.
Under the supply of immense energy, Nickel's figure appeared beside Beckett in the blink of an eye.
He threw a punch, and the smile on Nickel's face froze instantly.
He had missed.
"First, it was your Centaurian race that initiated the rebellion," Beckett's voice sounded from behind Nickel. A powerful whip kick swept across Nickel's waist.
A formidable force erupted. Nickel, whose mind had registered the attack but whose body was too slow to react defensively, was instantly sent soaring into the sky by Beckett's whip kick!
"Second, three years ago, your Centaurian race slaughtered all life on Pandora Planet due to resource plundering."
Words like a judgment echoed in Nickel's ears once more. His figure flickered, and Beckett, now appearing before Nickel, clasped his hands together, fingers interlaced, and delivered a powerful blow to Nickel's abdomen.
A suffocating sensation instantly overwhelmed Nickel's nerves. Helpless to resist, Nickel plummeted straight down from the sky, crashing onto the ground.
Unfamiliar with the power his ancestors had lent him, Nickel was utterly dominated. The paradise he had envisioned was a stark contrast to the hellish reality, making it difficult for him to accept.
"Third, Father said that power you cannot control is not worthy of being called power."
The figure, still swaying its red tail, landed beside the gasping Nickel. Its cold, metallic combat boot stepped directly onto the sapphire on Nickel's chest, which was now flickering erratically.
The gem shattered with a bang, and Nickel's eyes widened in fury.
The gem, which held a portion of the power of the past Centaurian Kings, now devoid of the golden scepter's protection, turned into a pile of glittering diamond fragments.
"No!!!!!"
Roaring, struggling, resisting, but ultimately to no avail. Disbelief and even despair began to grow in Nickel's heart. The scepter, now missing its sapphire, was effortlessly taken by the stooping Beckett.
The cold metallic sheen reflected on Nickel's despairing face. The symbol of the Centaurian royal lineage, the golden scepter that had been passed down for countless years, was broken in half by Beckett, its power no longer protected by the sapphire.
"Why?"
"Why?!"
"Why!!!"
The symbol of his race had thus turned to dust in history, and on his watch. Unable to accept this fact, Nickel's state of mind was on the verge of collapse.
"The Centaurus Galaxy has always been the territory of our Centaurian race. Is it wrong for us to reclaim our territory?"
"Your actions were not wrong," Beckett said, looking down at Nickel, who was murmuring to the sky.
"The mistake was not having enough power, yet possessing enviable resources."
"If you had been strong enough, my father wouldn't have been able to invade the Centaurus Galaxy back then; if you had been strong enough, the Centaurian race wouldn't be extinct today; and if you were strong enough, the one lying on the ground right now should be me, not you."
"In the world of the strong, there is no place for the weak."
"Just like three years ago, when your Centauri Prime army was slaughtering Pandora Planet, did they pay any heed to the pleas of the Pandora Planet inhabitants?"
The laws of the universe were inherently ruthless; Beckett had understood this long ago. If King Vegeta had been strong enough back then, Frieza would have been the one to die.
Unfortunately, reality offered no 'if onlys,' only the known present and the unknown future.
"Nickel, you must remember, in the world of the strong, there is no place for the weak."
Beckett, remembering his adoptive father Thanos's teachings, plunged the broken scepter into Nickel's chest.
Moving house is so exhausting...
I haven't finished cleaning yet... Renting a place when you're a bit of a neat freak is a real pain. It took three of us all night just to clean three rooms and two bathrooms. I'll continue cleaning the living and dining areas, kitchen, and two balconies tomorrow (ノ=Д=)ノ┻━┻
-----------
Translation by: randomtranslator.com
Read 2500+ original & fanfic translations and Translate for Free at: randomtranslator.com