Chapter 25 – "One last stand above all else! Last of the Pride Troopers versus the Master of Gravity."
The battleground of Universe 11…
Kelerot and Jiren battled fiercely on planet Pots, neither gaining an advantage over the other in the initial stages of their fight. They were on equal terrain in terms of their strength for the moment and their movement was so fast that not even the best trained eye kept up with the two blurs that moved around the planet. They circled countless times as their punches came close to connecting with one another, each blocked by the other.
Jiren was the first to break the deadlock as he rocked Kelerot with a punch against his tight defense that sent him flying back to a cliff face and he crashed through it. He recovered quickly and made a high-speed burst out of the rubble and appeared above Jiren with a punch that Jiren grabbed with his hand. He threw Kelerot to the ground but Kelerot planted his feet and moved his arm to throw Jiren off of him, staring back at him.
Jiren flipped a few times before he landed. He propelled himself back to the air and the two moved with rapid high-speed bursts across the landscape. When their punches would connect with each other, their energy alone was powerful enough to destroy a considerable amount of terrain.
Their energy had been so catastrophic that the mere impact of their punches colliding with each other tore the planet apart, blowing away sections of the planet large enough to expose the planet's inner layers. Their blows continued to affect the core until the planet itself became too unstable to fight on. Kelerot led Jiren away from the planet, channeling enough power to move at a fast enough speed to negate the vacuum of space as he travelled to the nearest planet to continue his fight.
Planet Pots, left in its devastating wake, collapsed on itself and exploded as a result of the irreparable damage the fighting had caused it. They flew through space until they reached planet Kolandar and resumed their fight there.
Kolandar was a world that the Pride Troopers won several of their first missions on. There was a radical group of miscreants that terrorized the citizens by stealing their resources, often used for trading with other civilized worlds. Their emeralds were the pride and joy of their commerce, harvesting them off the mountain in the distance, still seen in the background as Kelerot and Jiren were fighting. Unfortunately, despite its beautiful sheen the green gems gave off from the mountainside, Kolandar quickly succumbed to the damage their fight was causing and it suffered the same fate as Pots.
Planet Skillay was known mostly for sharing racial relations with Zoiray's ancestors and blood relatives, the inhabitants of the world sharing similar features yet their skin tone was of a lighter complexion than Zoiray's. He would often take shore leave time on this planet to visit some close friends he had come to know over the years after Toppo and Kunshi helped him rescue several hundred villagers trapped under an avalanche. Zoiray, Toppo, and Kunshi were able to rescue most of the villagers but regretted that there were only a handful unaccounted for, lost under the rubble. He would visit the planet once a year to pay his respects and give a few gifts to the village elders, food baskets that contained fruits, cheeses, and freshly baked buns that Cocotte made for them, a recipe she loved making most of all.
It too was destroyed during the fight.
Planet Dens was Warden Kutlerie's home planet, a frontier world that had a quiet civilization that had never seen an ounce of conflict or strife from anyone. Much of the planet had a steady yet simple evolutionary development to it with many of the cities bearing simple technology that sustained their daily function. What did stand out the most about this planet that brought much interest to the Pride Troopers were their trees. The quality of wood that these trees possessed made for amazing furniture, such as an elegant desk that Toppo had built for himself in his office at the Pride Trooper HQ back on Netfiss. Dyspo would polish and clean it every day before his lunch break after Toppo had left to become the new Destroyer. Dyspo always bragged how much he loved that desk and admired his reflection off the surface and chewed out anyone who dared lay a single digit on its surface. He was so protective of it that when he caught Tupper's fingers smudging the surface, he refused to speak to him for three days. Tupper begged for forgiveness and offered to clean the desk in his stead for each day that Dyspo refused to talk to him. It will sadly remain uncleaned and unpolished in Toppo's office now, forced to collect dusk as the HQ on Netfiss became eerily quiet with no one in the building to operate it.
Dens too suffered at the hands of the battle between Kelerot and Jiren.
Kelerot leered at Jiren as their fight progressed, wondering whether they were going to find a planet durable enough for them to battle on without destroying it outright. He found a dwarf planet that was barren of life yet had an atmosphere that could support it. When they landed on the surface, Kelerot caught Jiren's fist and stared at him, holding his hand in place. Jiren grunted as he pulled his hand free and stared at him.
"That you would escalate this to the point where we destroyed planets only adds to the injustice you've committed to this universe," he told him and Kelerot blinked in surprise.
"So you have been paying attention to each planet we battled on. I thought your muscle-brain was too wrapped up to notice the bystanders that got caught in the chaos," Kelerot stated and Jiren glanced out at the atmosphere above them.
"Don't think for a moment you assume I care so little about the innocent life caught in the crossfire. When I've brought you down and into custody, I will do what I can to repair the damage. I am all that stands in the way of you destroying this Universe completely."
"Is that so?" Kelerot said, hands on his hips. He knelt down and touched the surface of the planet and closed his eyes. Grinning, he opened them, feeling the texture of the soil along his hand, and stood back up.
"A planet of Kachitite. Fascinating. An asteroid would collide with this planet and it would still persist with little damage. Our fight can resume here to our heart's content without damaging the planet too much. Unless you had a different location in mind? The world of void, for instance?"
Jiren's eyes widened a bit. "How do you know of the world of void?"
He never spoke much of the Tournament of Power and the world of void to anyone other than those who had been a part of it. He kept much of those fights to himself as a personal reminder to continue his training to become strong enough to fight Goku again and test his Ultra Instinct once more.
"I have my ways," Kelerot told him, grinning a bit. "Your mind reads like an open book. Your memories are as plain to see as the rocks to the right of you," Kelerot motioned to a quarry of large boulders several feet away and he fired a small energy ball of destruction that vaporized them completely.
"The power to reach into your deepest consciousness is the same power that gave me the form of a Destroyer, mixed in with the power and wisdom of a Supreme Kai. I have all the power I need now to take you down and seek out Toppo so I can avenge myself and my people for what he did. Though I do not see the world of void as an ideal grave for one such as you."
Jiren glared at him. He felt a revolting sickness in the pit of his stomach that elevated his anger towards Kelerot. Kelerot merely adopted a casual pose with his hands behind his back and raised an eyebrow.
"You're angry at me, I can see that plainly on your face. You don't have many expressions that define the person you are, but your heart is in the right place."
The ground began to shake around the two as Jiren's power continued to soar even higher and Kelerot moved his hands to his side, standing ready to engage him again.
"The stubbornness you show me is no different than Goku's or Vegeta's from the seventh universe. Saiyans, though remarkable, are foolish creatures that dishonor true justice with their 'strength'. You've grown strong, but you've tainted your strength with your evil ambition for revenge that will never be satiated."
"Again with your talk of 'justice'. This is what 'justice' looks like to me now," Kelerot said, and he took on a pose that Jiren recognized and his eyes widened a bit.
"That's Kahseral's pose," he growled and clenched his fists.
"Not impressed? How about this pose? What about this one?" Kelerot said and he mimicked the poses of each of the Pride Troopers, even Toppo's and Jiren's hands began to shake.
"How DARE you insult the Pride Troopers with those poses! They are sacred to us and us alone!" he screamed and charged at Kelerot, who grinned a bit. He blocked an incoming strike but the force of the impact sent him flying back and Kelerot had to correct himself before he crashed into another cliff face. He planted his hands and feet against the surface and moved out of the way before Jiren could hit him, destroying the plateau with his fist alone as Kelerot flew to the air. He spun around and darted straight down at Jiren to attack with a punch that Jiren blocked with his hand. He clutched Kelerot's fist and slammed him against the ground but Kelerot made quick movements to bring his feet up to kick Jiren in the face, which was also blocked by his other hand.
Freeing himself from Jiren's grasp, Kelerot gained some distance but Jiren was right on top of him, not giving him the time to pause. He moved quickly to overwhelm Kelerot and put the pressure on him in the hopes to knock him unconscious. He also struggled against the growing rage at what Kelerot did to the Pride Troopers, subduing his urge to give in to the impulse for revenge like Kelerot had.
One of his goals in joining the Pride Troopers was to prevent future incidents like his from happening so that no one else would seek revenge. He learned and developed his sense of justice and righteousness from someone he originally considered a comrade in arms but grew to consider him a good friend in Toppo. If he had not taken up the mantle of Destroyer and changed his name to Barbon, he would've fought alongside his fellow Troopers to the end, maybe handled the threat of this individual when it was necessary. If Toppo hadn't ascended, Kelerot would not have gained this power when he did. It was something that when he thought about it, it made him smile for a moment since the irony wasn't lost on him.
Their fists moved in such a motion that blurs replaced their arms and they were both blocking and deflecting each other's attempts to hit the other.
"You fight remarkably well for a criminal. I'm surprised you haven't tapped into Ultra Instinct like Goku once did." Since Kelerot seemed to know of Jiren's memories of the world of void, he deduced that he might've known about his fight with Goku and this "Ultra Instinct" that had given him the most difficulty.
"Can't blame a man for trying, though," Kelerot said. I should've poked more at Goku about that technique.
That thought brought a smile to Kelerot's face and Jiren leered at him a moment.
"After I've killed you, I should use this 'Ultra Instinct' as a bargaining chip with Goku so he could teach it to me."
"Your murderous spree ends with me," Jiren replied and Kelerot grabbed him by the wrists, stopping their exchange of punches.
"No. The only way this ends is over one of our dead bodies," Kelerot said and kept his hands firmly clutched onto Jiren's massive arms. "Abandon that smug sense of justice you cling so much to and make use of that power of yours. You have the strength to destroy this universe yet you refuse. You won't cut loose when it's needed. Though there was a moment from your memory where your anger did push you to almost killing Goku's friends."
Kelerot let go of Jiren's arms and he stared at him.
"I made a lapse of judgment that I regretted. It was uncalled for."
"You have a power that rivals the gods, surely you haven't thought about how that makes them sweat a little?" Kelerot asked. Jiren clenched a fist and glanced down at it.
"We train ourselves to refrain from taking our power for granted."
"Until our hand is forced and our 'power' is all that we have going for us to correct a grievous error," Kelerot said and took a fighting pose like the Pride Troopers again and Jiren glared at him.
"It's clear to me that I haven't been pushing your buttons hard enough. I want to make use of that power of yours to see how high you really can go," Kelerot shook his hands a bit.
"Forgive me for making this look a bit sloppy, I only recently delved them," he said and thrust his hands forward, enveloping Jiren with an energy dome.
"This is Cocotte's energy barrier," Jiren muttered and with a flash of his eyes, he shattered the barrier completely. Kelerot grinned a bit, then moved his hands around to create a network of energy vines that resembled Kunshi's. Jiren easily dismantled it with a swipe from his arm and his frown grew.
"Why do you insist on using the Pride Troopers attacks on me knowing they won't work?" he asked and Kelerot cracked his knuckles.
"Why not?" Kelerot simply said and took up Kahseral's pose, forming an energy sphere in his right hand. He burst forth from the ground and threw the sphere at Jiren, who deflected it away with his hand. He spun around to catch an energy blade that Kelerot formed in his hand and Kelerot grinned down at him.
"Wonderful."
"You're not taking this fight seriously anymore," Jiren told him and crushed the energy blade in his hands. Kelerot took a few hops backward to gain some distance and did a few short jumps on his feet before he took up Tupper's fighting pose, stunning Jiren a moment. Then he switched to Vuon's.
"I have, however, had many years getting to know these two in particular and practicing their techniques. It's a shame they died when they did because they too saw the warden's true nature."
Kelerot built up energy in his hand and with his other, he 'stretched' the energy out to make it look like a rope or a whip of some sort. Jiren focused on the energy whip but Kelerot moved with a burst of speed that he appeared beside him and brought the energy whip down to wrap itself around Jiren's leg. He then spun his body around rapidly to wind up the energy whip and it threw Jiren into the air. Kelerot moved in a high-speed burst to reappear above Jiren and began striking him with the energy whip, disappearing and reappearing around him to strike with the energy whip in rapid succession, each strike fast and heavy. Because the energy thread was so small and precise, it made blocking it a bit tedious for Jiren, who couldn't grab it but brought his arms up to block them, which were tearing away at the fabric of his uniform. Kelerot flew around, teleporting using Cae's kai-kai technique to strike at Jiren, tearing strips and causing a few cuts to start showing themselves on his arms.
Jiren waited for a moment, then moved to grab Kelerot's arm that he was using to whip him with and he rocked him hard in the face with a punch while still holding onto his forearm, throwing him down afterwards. He crashed into the ground and Jiren landed behind him.
Kelerot glanced up and avoided a stomp from him with a burst of speed before the foot came down and it struck the ground. He flickered around Jiren with short, high intensity speed bursts that left afterimage blurs, some so fast that even the afterimages had a more faded afterimage from the previous one. Each time Kelerot appeared, he wrapped an energy ring around Jiren, trapping him with several of them.
Kelerot appeared behind Jiren and whispered in his ear before he disappeared again: "Finish."
Jiren's eyes widened a bit as the rings exploded and Kelerot appeared in front of the smoke and debris the explosion coughed up, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it cleared up, he saw that a large chunk of fabric was gone, exposing Jiren's upper body, right shoulder, and entire right arm. He examined his arm for a moment.
"Out of all the Pride Troopers, I found Dyspo the most…fascinating. Never has a destruction felt so satisfying to me."
Glaring hard at Kelerot, Jiren tore off the rest of the upper half of his uniform, exposing his ripped physique. He discarded the white gloves and charged energy into his hand, forming an orange energy ball.
"It's over," he said and let out a mighty roar as the energy pulsated around his hand, wave upon wave of powerful energy diverged into the energy ball as he aimed it at Kelerot, who stared up at it defiantly. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for the energy to be unleashed and Jiren fired it full-on, the ball of energy barreling down at incredible speed towards Kelerot, who had no time to think of a means to escape it. He built up his own power and a purple aura surrounded him.
"If I don't destroy this, we'll have to find another planet to fight on," he said and extended his hand out towards the ball of energy. He only had a fraction of a second to wait as his hand caught the large energy ball and he cried out, trying to destroy it with the Hakai technique. He brought his other hand towards it and put more force behind the Destruction energy that was making the energy ball shrink while pushing against him. Kelerot's feet were being dragged into the dirt as the ball pushed back against him and Jiren kept his hand out, putting more of his own power behind it to push down on Kelerot.
Each one was trying to outdo the other. Both men roared as they put a great deal of power into this collision of energy and it was having devastating effects on the surrounding systems as raw energy seeped out and travelled across the universe. A nearby planet was overtaken by the vibration and intensity of the wave, breaking down into smaller pieces before it collapsed and exploded. Several more planets suffered the same fate, some deviated off their axis and left its orbit around its star, one sent on a collision course with an inhabited planet and the two crashed together, annihilating one another.
Kelerot and Jiren were too focused on their clash to even notice the effect their energy was having on planetary systems that they hadn't stopped to consider what their fight was doing to the rest of the universe. Both had a singular goal and would stop at nothing to achieve it.
One more shout and Kelerot put forth a surge of power to amplify the Hakai and the purple sphere enveloped Jiren's energy ball and it was flying up towards him. Jiren belted out another roar and managed to kick the destruction sphere out of his way and out into orbit, far away from the planet and he glared down at Kelerot, who was calmly staring back at him.
"This fight completely eclipses the one we had previously. That I'm able to push you this far shows why it was a wise decision to acquire Toppo and Cae's power through delving them."
"Then you're a dishonorable coward and will be branded as such!" Jiren didn't mince words when he expressed the disgust in that delving technique Kelerot used. It was getting irksome to him hearing this criminal spout off how proud he sounded about acquiring power that wasn't his to begin with and he charged up another ball of energy in his hand.
"It's also unfortunate that you won't be successful twice!" he shouted and immediately went on the offensive, diving down to attack Kelerot with the energy ball, smaller in size but carrying just as much power as the first one he conjured. Kelerot gritted his teeth and flared up the destroyer energy around him and batted Jiren's hand away, sending the energy flying out from his palm and the two began trading blows that were blocked once more. Jiren gained the upper hand and slammed Kelerot to the ground hard enough to make him bounce and on the rebound he kicked him to another nearby plateau, this time actually having some impact. He followed it up with a flurry of fists that were flying at him, punching at him so fast that it looked like his arms weren't moving but they were vibrating at a speed no one was able to decipher. It forced Kelerot to throw up a makeshift energy barrier that kept most of the damage from hitting him directly and he grunted, feeling overwhelmed from the insane barrage Jiren's fists were making. Damned if I'm letting this take me out!
He began firing small destruction energy spheres back at Jiren, each sphere exploding on contact and he amplified the attack with hundreds more, thousands more that were blowing back against him. Kelerot saw an opening to get out of the barrage and made a high speed burst to appear in different locations to throw Jiren off and appeared above him, aiming another Hakai at him but Jiren countered it with another explosive burst of light from his eyes that Kelerot quickly dodged and flipped backwards to land in front of him and he went on the offensive, propelling himself off the ground to aim a punch at Jiren, screaming as he put a lot of power behind it. Jiren caught it and Kelerot's eyes widened a bit.
"I told you, you won't be successful twice," he said and aimed another energy sphere point blank at Kelerot, and it struck him on the front, sending him soaring to the air.
"It's over," Jiren said as he crossed his arms. He watched the explosion take place and closed his eyes.
"Not until I say it is," Kelerot whispered behind him and Jiren gasped in shock. Kelerot hit him with Jiren's own energy sphere attack from behind him and sent him screaming into the same plateau Jiren had him pinned to earlier, colliding face first into the surface. Kelerot rubbed his arms and shoulders for a moment, taking this time to steady his breathing and Jiren's aura flared wildly, causing that plateau to be obliterated into pieces that flew everywhere. Jiren spun around and glared at Kelerot.
"You're still not there yet. Mark my words, I will make you hate me so much that seeing me dead will be the only recourse for you!"
"Never! I will never be pushed to that extent! Not by the likes of you or anyone!" Jiren roared and Kelerot frowned, staring at him intently, then a smile crossed his lips.
"Not by me or anyone, eh?" Kelerot said and he closed his eyes. He brought from his memory one of the early techniques he had delved from another inmate, the shapeshifting technique he acquired to conceal himself while he was on the lam from the Pride Troopers on Netfiss several days ago. His body began to shift and a strange light surrounded him. As his body began to morph into a different person starting from the bottom up, Jiren's face contorted from anger to slight panic as he recognized the form Kelerot was shifting into.
"Not even from this?" Kelerot said but made his voice much deeper and more menacing, as though the deep black abyss of space had a voice to it.
Jiren had seared this very face to the deepest recesses of his memory, the demonic creature that slaughtered his people and took the life of his mentor. Kelerot accessed Jiren's most repressed memories when he had delved him during this second go around, making sure this time to access all of what made Jiren the titan of the cosmos that he really was. He reached deep into those memories Jiren kept locked away, reminding himself of why he chose the path of a warrior and not to swear revenge. A memory that was only for him and him alone of what he swore he'd dedicate his life to. Very few people ever knew of the tragic past Jiren had lived save for Belmod the old Destroyer and Barbon the current Destroyer. He confided to Barbon his wishes to join the Pride Troopers out of an obligation to protect the weak and ensure that the tragedy he faced would never be repeated onto others so long as he lived.
The painful sight of seeing this demon's face once more in front of him sent shivers down his spine but also made his blood erupt and his whole body was shaking in a rage he hadn't felt in years, not since he had to be painfully reminded of his inability to prove his absolute strength in the presence of Goku during the Tournament of Power.
He remembered back to when he was first training under Gicchin that his old mentor described the beast that slaughtered his people.
Most stories your papa would tell you before he tucked you in bed would describe a monster who stood many times taller than the average man. He'd pierce your very soul with those eyes of his, those dark crimson eyes. Yeah, those eyes were always the ones I remembered the most when I saw him. His skin was like molten rock with glowing magma-like veins. His face was covered with small horns that protruded along his jawline with two large horns on top of his head. He was every bit of the devil in ancient stories of our universe and he came for one reason only: to slaughter the innocent and kill without remorse, an entity to rival the God of Destruction.
There may come a time when he'll seek me out again and take my life, but don't let that discourage you, son. You can be better than that creature, a strong fighter doesn't fight to avenge, nor to prove anything. A strong fighter just does by his own strength and seeks out the meaning behind that strength.
Kelerot, having shifted into this demonic creature from Jiren's memory, stepped forward. Each step slammed into the ground, leaving a large charred footprint as it grinned menacingly down at him.
"I bet it must be frightening for you, seeing this face again," Kelerot said. "The face who slaughtered those you loved dearly and left the bodies piled on the floor in front of you. How this face ripped your father's arms clean off in front of you and left him to bleed on the floor. I don't think you'd want to be reminded of what happened to your mother in this instance."
Jiren had been so focused on training his body and mind to be the absolute pinnacle of limit breaking power that he never thought of a day where he'd see the face of the monster who murdered his kin surface again. He couldn't find the right reaction to this. The more time he spent looking at the face, the more time he forgot that it was Kelerot wearing that face and body like a large exosuit.
"How helpless it must've made you feel, seeing those you thought were your friends abandon you because they were too weak to fight, too weak in spirit to want revenge for the death of Gicchin. I took great pleasure in breaking him spiritually before I sent him to oblivion."
Jiren steeled his nerves and stared back at Kelerot. "I am weak no longer, monster."
"Is that so? Prove it."
Jiren unleashed a powerful aura around him once more and roared. Kelerot stood still and continued to stare him down before Jiren exploded with a high speed move that he hadn't anticipated and was rocked out of his form from the impact, shifting him back to his normal self as he flew back, bouncing and crashing along the ground before he bounced one last time against a rock, ricocheting off of it to collapse on the ground, gasping. Coughing, he stood up and favoured his right shoulder, the side of his face covered in a gash that trickled down.
"All your boasting about your 'delving', all that power you've gained mean nothing against true strength! You are nothing if you only rely on cheap tricks and stolen power!" Jiren bellowed and Kelerot's eyes widened. Jiren stalked his way over to him with a lot of confidence in his stride, surrounded by a flaming liquid red aura.
Kelerot paused for a moment, then he smiled.
Then he started to laugh, stopping Jiren in his tracks.
Kelerot threw his head back and laughed out loud, the most he's ever laughed in his lifetime, which confused Jiren profoundly. He stopped and glared at him. Why is this bastard laughing?
"Did you honestly believe that this was all there was to me?!" Kelerot said through snickers, wiping the tears from his eyes. He clenched his fists and stared defiantly back at Jiren.
"I haven't even begun to show you the kind of power I actually wield," he said, calm yet cold and carrying a great deal of sinister malice behind it. Jiren narrowed his eyes, staring at him, wondering what kind of power Kelerot was talking about.
Kelerot closed his eyes and began powering up again. Feet planted firmly on the ground with a wide stance while ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he rotated his arms around in front of him, moving one clockwise starting from the top and the other clockwise as well starting from the bottom. He then switched to counter-clockwise movements and eventually joined his hands together. Gritting his teeth, he focused all of his power in his arms and hands as he brought them together in a prayer fashion but rotated one hand downward so that it was facing the opposite direction.
Sweat beads were trickling down Kelerot's face, the saltiness making a stinging sensation when it touched the open gash but he was too focused on unleashing the technique he was building on to care about the pain. He moved his hands apart from each other while still pointing in opposite directions with the palms facing each other. Then he moved his hands vertically in the direction each one was facing and joined them together again at the wrists on top of each other.
"His power dropped just now," whispered Jiren as he studied Kelerot's technique, wondering what he was about to unleashed.
Kelerot screamed and a powerful wave of energy rocked the whole planet around Jiren as he shielded himself from whatever it was that blew around and through him. A spatial wave distorted everything around them and debris flew around and stopped in place as things settled down once again. Jiren lowered his arms and gasped in shock at what he saw before him.
"What the?! What the hell is this?!" he shouted.
"My most powerful gravity technique. Not as simple as conjuring a black hole out of thin air or anything of that nature. This one is far more complex than you'd realize and if you had damaged me any further, I wouldn't have the energy needed to concentrate enough to pull this off."
Kelerot grinned. He picked up a rock from the ground and threw it. The rock slowed down in mid air and began floating around, confusing Jiren as he watched it.
"One of the first things I discovered I could do while I was in prison was that I could manipulate gravity. It wasn't easy at first as I had difficulty finding the precision behind it. Lots of objects would become too heavy for me to lift and it took all I could to restore the natural gravity of it so I wouldn't get caught by the guards. It was my only means to maintain my sanity in that hellish landscape and the best way for me to train my body.
"Within a couple of months I had a knack for how much gravity I could manipulate in an object and combined with rigorous image training in my prison cell, I could isolate the gravity field in a single object without affecting the gravity around it. I can either increase the weight of anything I lifted or decrease it with an antigravity field. However, it takes a considerable amount of energy control to pull it off correctly otherwise it would backfire on me and possibly kill me as a result.
"I used the training I learned from my master Daikon to focus my power and make use of image training as a secondary ability to train any ability I found useful after I delved the other prisoners. It's amazing what 15 years of prison life can do to the amount of training one puts into this."
Kelerot walked over to the floating rock and walked around it, taking the rock out of the air, holding it in front of Jiren.
"I permanently altered the landscape by creating random pockets of gravity all around, invisible to anyone but me. While some pockets have antigravity such as this; others," he walked over to another spot a couple meters away and threw the rock in front of him, which slammed down and crashed through the surface of the planet at such velocity that neither Jiren nor Kelerot saw it move, "have the opposite effect, possessing a gravity well several times stronger than a supermassive black hole yet isolated within this pocket so that it wouldn't affect the area around it. It would be a shame if you were to step in one of those by accident."
Kelerot grinned as Jiren actually began to look uneasy for once. He gave him a venomous look and Kelerot's eyes lit up.
"Yes, that's the look I've been waiting to see from you. That's the look I want Toppo to see for each year he put me in that prison, and how much I want to pay him back a thousand fold for it!"
Kelerot took up a fighting stance and Jiren clenched his fists.
"Do you honestly expect to win this fight after you've sapped your strength for this?" Jiren asked him and Kelerot grinned.
"Why don't you try hitting me then?" he asked and stood ready. There was a pocket of antigravity between Jiren and himself that he could observe with another pocket of intense gravity not too far off. He could see where the sections were that had been affected by his technique and he observed the landscape so he could be aware of where to navigate to avoid having "gravity mines" affect him as well. If he caught himself in a pocket he created, he'd need to channel a considerable amount of power to neutralize it so he could escape. He kept a confident smile as he stared at Jiren, waiting for him to make a move.
Jiren propelled himself from the ground to fly at Kelerot, firing a few energy blasts at him. Kelerot prepared himself and watched as some of the energy balls slowed down in mid-air and Kelerot moved aside before they moved through the pocket of antigravity to resume their normal speed.
"I see you're testing the area to uncover which spots have been affected. I would expect nothing less from you," Kelerot said, hands on his hips. Jiren frowned and fired a few more energy blasts, some slowed by antigravity, some diving straight down in the intense gravity and Kelerot continued observing him move around.
"You're intending on limiting my movement with this technique, hoping I'd catch myself in one of these," Jiren stated, moving around the pocket where he saw the energy dive down. It seems to be limited only to the ground. I'll have to take this to the air.
Jiren flew up in the air and Kelerot continued observing him with a smile on his face. When he floated up, he was surprised to see that he caught himself in an antigravity pocket and struggled a bit to move his body out of it, the lack of gravity impeding his ability to propel himself. Kelerot powered up and took to the air, moving with a high speed burst to appear above Jiren and aim a punch down at him.
Jiren was able to move his arms up to block his face, which was where Kelerot was aiming his punch, but his arm movement was slowed down by the pocket of antigravity he was stuck in. Kelerot let out a yell and slammed his fist down on Jiren's arm, but the force behind the impact was far greater than what Jiren was expecting and it knocked him out of the pocket he was in, crashing into the ground. His eyes widened as he stood back up and began to feel numbness in his left arm. He couldn't bring himself to close his hand well enough to form a fist. He grunted, holding his arm and felt the pain shoot up inside to his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he glared up at Kelerot, who landed in front of him.
"How do you still possess this level of strength after your drop of energy?" he asked.
"It should be pretty obvious by now based on what you've seen before you, Jiren," Kelerot said, stalking towards him. "I trained to master all aspects of gravitational control over the past 15 years. I can also manipulate gravity around precise areas of the body to either make them lighter or heavier. Right before I punched you, I significantly increased the amount of gravity behind it to strengthen my punch so the impact would be more destructive. It's a handy way to compensate myself for sacrificing my power. While I regret divulging all of this to you, your death is imminent now that I have the advantage."
"Do you honestly think me a fool if I'm going to die from all this?!" Jiren yelled and built up a powerful energy blast in his good hand. He growled as he worked through the intense pain of his broken forearm and closed his fist, firing the blast at Kelerot. He teleported several feet behind him, reappearing before the energy blast stopped and slammed down on the ground, the gravitational field's intense energy neutralizing Jiren's blast and the large man's eyes widened again.
"What the?"
Kelerot wasn't smiling anymore, staring at him. "I don't take you for a fool, Jiren. I had to act now before the fight dragged on because I knew I couldn't win against you any other way. You're the best fighter I've ever seen, far better than anyone I've fought before. Those Saiyans from the seventh universe could never match your power and I can't blame them for trying to train hard enough to one day surpass you. But I will say this though; you've come to rely too much on the structure and routine of your strength that you can still be defeated by a sound strategy. I'll spare you the memories of the Tournament of Power to rub this mistake in your face."
Jiren growled even more and his power flared up, yet some of his aura caught itself within the pockets of gravity and Kelerot noticed how distorted some of it looked as it took up the area. Jiren screamed again and his power erupted, which forced Kelerot to actually shield his face from the force, grunting from how much power Jiren was putting out.
"Dammit, I can't afford to take any more hits, I have to keep this as precise as possible. This technique is a huge gamble I'm making but I can't have this bastard wreck this for me."
When Jiren was done, a liquid-red aura surrounded him, his muscles bulging and eyes staring furiously at Kelerot. Kelerot lowered his arms and swallowed. Despite how strong he had become, the sight of Jiren at full power was still making him anxious. Great, if I don't go at full power myself, despite the drop of energy, he might actually kill me. Then again, if this fight takes too long, I won't have any power left to take on Toppo and no one in this universe has the ability to heal.
Kelerot screamed in retaliation and powered up himself, an intense dark purple aura flaring around him like a raging fire. The pockets of gravity remarkably haven't been affected by any of this, which surprised Kelerot for a moment. He wasn't certain whether all this intense energy would neutralize and dissipate the pockets or not but he felt relieved that the pockets were holding.
They both were on the move right away, disappearing and reappearing in high speed bursts. Jiren gauged where some of the debris was hovering within the pockets of gravity to get a good enough idea to move around the planet, ignoring his broken forearm and went to punch Kelerot with rapid fire fists from his good hand and Kelerot had to quickly alter the gravity around the area to slow the impact of the fists to lessen the damage, even though they were still moving at such speed that Kelerot couldn't handle all of them at once. He moved around and was striking Jiren back, altering the gravity of his fists to increase the impact and they connected with the rapid increase in speed and power that the gravity field was creating. Jiren took a heavy hit again in his bad arm to the elbow and then another shot square to the face as his fist was slowed down by the antigravity field Kelerot was making. Each exchange lessened the impact from Jiren and increased the impact from Kelerot to the point where Jiren took another hit to the face and he coughed out blood as a result. He held his now shattered left arm and half his face was covered in his blood, one eye swollen shut. It was clear to him that Kelerot's gravity strikes were taking their toll on his power, despite the difference in levels still making Jiren considerably stronger in raw power. Yet it dawned on him that the strategy Kelerot was using to switch the damage output was more effective than he realized and he was feeling at a loss for what to do.
Kelerot rushed him and Jiren took the blunt of a gravity hit with the bad side of his body, trying to ensure that he'd still have power in his right arm to do something at least and he was knocked back a few steps. His foot caught itself in an intense gravity pocket and his one good eye widened as he gasped, the gravity pulling heavily at his leg, paralyzing his movement. He put a great deal of power to lift his leg and was slowly moving it out of the field of gravity. He's STILL able to move his leg out of it despite the gravity?! Kelerot couldn't believe that Jiren still had this kind of power to move and felt butterflies in his stomach.
No, I can't let this intimidate me. If he needs that much time to get himself out of that pocket of gravity, I can use that to hit him.
Kelerot burst forward and aimed a few well-timed hits on Jiren to keep him confined to the gravity pocket but as he was about to hit him with his gravity punches, Jiren surprised him with a powerful blast from his eye, his sudden optic flash bomb attack that can come out of nowhere to overwhelm his opponent and Kelerot was sent back through the air. He inadvertently caught himself inside an antigravity pocket to stop him and he channeled a great deal of energy to neutralize the pocket with an equal amount of gravity. The pocket was soon erased and Jiren finally had his leg free of the pocket he was caught in, staring up at him.
Kelerot took a few deep breaths, knowing how much effort erasing a single pocket took out of him. He scanned the area for the other pockets nearby and saw one in mid air where it looked like a spatial distortion was revolving itself around the bubble when you looked at it more closely. He flew around it casually, not caring if Jiren had taken notice of it or not and landed on the ground. He felt a bit shaky for a brief moment as he landed but he steadied himself, staring at Jiren.
"I see there's a double-edged sword in all of this," Jiren told him with a grin on his face but Kelerot didn't respond. He stared at him stone-faced and walked a few steps towards him.
"It may take a lot to neutralize those pockets but all I'd need to do is ensure that your whole body is trapped within one. I can tell that took a hit on your power using that much effort to free yourself. A few more instances like that and you'll be too weakened to escape."
Jiren clenched his fist. "All the more reason I must end this fight immediately."
Kelerot scoffed and Jiren flew right at him, his left arm hanging limp and he launched another flurry of punches at Kelerot, who had to move quickly to block them all. The punches were pushing him back steadily and Kelerot could sense that he was nearing another pocket of intense gravity a few feet behind him.
Dammit, I'm losing power fast. I don't have the strength to control the amount of gravity to slow down his punches anymore.
Kelerot decided to make a high-risk move and conjured a gravity well in between his hands. He held it afterwards like a ball hovering over his right hand and he launched it at Jiren through the barrage of punches he was throwing at him.
"What the?!" yelled Jiren as the ball erupted and an intense gravity well sprung forth. Jiren felt himself be pulled in towards the center of the small gravity well and his limp left arm was being dragged in first. The intensity that this was creating was pulling at him quickly and he could feel the pain of his arm tearing away from his body and he began to scream, channelling enough power to dissipate the gravity well and the pulling slowed down until he no longer felt it tugging away at him and he fell to one knee, breathing heavily.
Kelerot sighed, frowning. He looked at his hands and felt dejected that he couldn't make another one to finish him off. He closed and opened his hands into fists, staring back at Jiren as he lifted himself back onto his feet.
Jiren built up energy in his open palm into a large orange sphere. The energy he was channeling into it was even greater than before, tearing the ground and exposing some of the pockets for the space that was distorting itself around them. The distortions became clearer as the landscape was being devastated by Jiren's powerful energy ball and Kelerot felt the billowing winds blow against him from the force of the energy ball.
Jiren screamed as he launched himself in the air and pointed the energy ball down at Kelerot. "It's over for you!"
Kelerot screamed as he began to counter the energy ball with a reflexive movement of his hands to block the energy ball and surround it with a large gravity well that began to shrink it down in size. The energy was still pushing down on him as Kelerot grunted, closing his eyes. He fell to one knee holding onto the gravity well that was slowly but surely containing and shrinking the energy ball but Jiren continued pushing further.
Kelerot felt his legs burning, his body burning. He felt the intense heat of the whole area make him sweat profusely, droplets streaming down his face as he brought himself back to his feet, legs shaking and feeling more like jelly as each moment passes by. He took a step forward, face furious and wide-eyed, teeth clenched and bared, and he grunted heavily as he pushed the ball back, the gravity well containing it.
"What?!" Jiren cried and screamed again as he put another burst of energy down into the ball to make it bigger. But Kelerot took another step forward, building more power within himself and the ground around him tore itself apart, revealing more pockets of gravity and antigravity around him. The debris and large chunks of the planet flew around and some were caught in the pockets. The gravity pockets changed the trajectories of the chunks and some were sent flying towards Jiren and Kelerot, who used a free hand to destroy it with a Hakai, conserving as much energy as he needed to send this back to Jiren.
Jiren didn't fare as well and took a large rock to the back of the head. He couldn't free his arm to destroy it and wasn't able to turn his head to disintegrate the rock with his eye, resigned to the fate of this power struggle with Kelerot and anything around the two had become fatally hazardous.
The impact caused him to lose control of his energy ball for a moment and Kelerot jumped up to kick the ball back up to him with a resounding roar. He stared at the ball that was hurtling towards him and it hit him along with the gravity well, causing a huge explosion with Jiren screaming from the impact. The impact sent him flying back down and he momentarily lost consciousness as he was falling on a one-way course to an antigravity pocket. He landed within it and it halted his movement, causing him to remain floating in the air in a sort of suspended animation state and Kelerot flew up to the antigravity pocket. Clenching his fist, he built up enough energy to amplify the gravity around it and he swung it down hard, connecting with Jiren's face before he could wake up and it sent him crashing hard out of the pocket and into the ground next to another gravity pocket. Kelerot landed and fell to his hands and knees, breathing heavily.
A few seconds went by and Jiren's eye fluttered open, closing his good hand slowly into a fist. He rolled over to his side and slowly made his way back up to his feet and Kelerot's eyes widened a bit as he watched him stand, his face a mask of his own blood and left arm dangling awkwardly to his side. He limped a bit as he walked towards him and Kelerot glared back at him.
"I will never give up, I will never let you win this fight, criminal. Justice must prevail," he muttered as he stalked towards Kelerot, who sighed heavily.
"However, I must commend your resolve and your strength. I can at least give you that recognition," he told him, smiling through his blood-caked face, his left eye closed completely.
Kelerot was still breathing a bit heavily as he felt his hands shaking when he raised them. I've overexerted myself; I can't seem to control my hands anymore. Dammit.
Shaking the nerves away in his hands, he clenched them and took up a fighting position, dancing a bit on his feet, bouncing up and down. Wiping sweat from his forehead so it wouldn't drip in his eyes, he cautiously approached Jiren as he took a few slow steps forward.
"'The fight only ends when one of you doesn't get back up after a few minutes.' That's what Daikon told me many years ago. I'll knock you down as many times as it takes to make sure you stay down permanently." Kelerot was more wary of approaching Jiren this time as he moved closer, not knowing how much power might still be left in this muscle-bound brute. He scoffed at the notion that Jiren was still ridiculously powerful but couldn't help but be curiously optimistic about his chances.
He launched himself with a punch amplified with a gravity field to increase the impact and Jiren managed to catch it in his one good hand, surprising Kelerot. He channeled energy in the hand as it was firmly grasped around Kelerot's smaller hand, as though his hand covered it completely and Kelerot had to move quickly to prevent Jiren from causing a devastating explosion with his hand. He swung his leg in a sweeping motion and channeled a gravity field around his foot, kicking at Jiren's leg and it struck him hard enough to shatter the bone inside where his knee was, causing Jiren to let go of Kelerot's hand and stagger back on one leg, unable to put any weight on his right leg anymore. Kelerot had to move quickly and went in for another punch to Jiren's face but Jiren responded by grabbing his fighting gi and pulling him towards him, wrapping his arm around Kelerot to trap him.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Kelerot yelled and Jiren launched himself to the air, pulling Kelerot with him. When Kelerot saw where Jiren was going, his eyes lit up in a panic.
"Hey! Are you crazy?! You'll kill us both!" Kelerot screamed as Jiren was taking him towards a gravity pocket with intense gravity warping the space around it. There was still a little bit of ground that was intact below it and Jiren was dragging Kelerot down towards it.
"Not…the both of us…just you…" Jiren grunted and he threw Kelerot down below him into the gravity pocket, Kelerot screaming as he landed inside it and he slammed down hard into the ground. Jiren flew back down and landed, but his leg buckled underneath him and he fell down to his side.
Kelerot's face flew into a panic as he screamed, unable to lift himself or even move his arms and his face contorted into a level of malice, fury and bloodlust so intense that he drove his power to its utmost limit, channeling energy to neutralize the gravity pocket with an increased antigravity field. He screamed himself hoarse as the intense gravity was ebbing away, making him able to lift his arms again to push himself off the ground, but the gravity was still keeping him from moving out of the pocket completely and he growled and snarled, glaring hot fire at Jiren as he turned to crawl at him, not taking his eyes off him.
Jiren saw the look on Kelerot's face and frowned. He stared at his leg and brought himself to his one good knee but couldn't put any pressure on his other leg to bring himself back to a standing position. It was all he could do to make himself sit up, holding his good leg close while the shattered leg was draped along the ground. He remained calm as he watched Kelerot move one hand in front of the other, never taking his eyes off of him as he emerged from the pocket. When he finally got his legs out of there, he collapsed face-first on the ground. Planting his hands beside him, he lifted his head to stare at Jiren again, his eyes bearing the look of a crazed man lost in his fury.
"I will find him…"
"I will kill him…"
"And all of this will finally end…mark my words…"
Kelerot staggered slowly to his feet and each step was on wobbly legs, almost collapsing again after taking a couple steps forward. He raised his hand and pointed it with his palm facing outward at Jiren, who figured what Kelerot was intending on doing next. Jiren lifted his hand but let it drop to his side, hanging his head low, closing his still intact eye.
"Promise me one thing," he whispered, glancing up at him. Kelerot's eye was twitching from the fury he was feeling, breathing heavily with his hand outstretched. He gritted his teeth and tried to fight the twitch in his eye but it was acting on its own.
"Promise me you won't destroy the people of this universe," Jiren finished, staring up at Kelerot with the last of his resolve, knowing that throwing Kelerot into that gravity pocket used up the last of his strength. He only had enough left to sit up and stare his opponent down with as much dignity as he could muster, resigned to his fate now without a single ounce of fear in his eye, and Kelerot knew that when he stared at him. Even showing him the face of the demon that killed his family and mentor didn't make him react out of fear, but rather brought out his level of anger not felt since the Tournament of Power.
Kelerot lowered his hand and felt his breathing become less laboured as he stood for a moment, staring down at him. He didn't know what to feel but the more he looked at that resolution on Jiren's face, his anger was leaving his face. He let his hand drop to his side.
"Dammit…I can't even destroy you now."
"Then you will fulfil your promise?" Jiren asked and got a sour look from Kelerot in return.
"I'm not saying I will, but I'm not ready to say I won't either," he was able to get enough feeling in his legs back to walk over to Jiren and put his hand on his head.
"I must show you something. Maybe this will help you see things from my point of view for once."
Kelerot closed his eyes and showed Jiren his memories of when he was taken hostage by Captain Kabinet's pirate crew and how he was apprehended by Toppo, Dyspo, and Kahseral. Jiren saw everything Kelerot had endured afterwards in the prison and gasped, his eye shooting open. When Kelerot let his hand go, Jiren glanced up at him.
"Do what you will with that revelation. If you're still resigned to your duty as a Pride Trooper and label me a criminal, then so be it. But at least you now can understand where I've been coming from all this time and why I need to kill Toppo."
Kelerot turned to walk away. "Wait."
Kelerot stopped and glanced behind him.
"It's still not too late for you to abandon your desire, Kelerot." Jiren told him and Kelerot sighed, facing him. The fact Kelerot heard Jiren say his name for the first time meant that he was serious about wanting him to stop before he crossed the point of no return.
"I'm sorry, Jiren. I passed that point a long time ago. Had this been handled differently, you would've seen me fight alongside you as a Pride Trooper."
"Then let us work together to rebuild the Pride Troopers and resolve never to allow our fates to happen to anyone else," Jiren said and Kelerot glared down at him, quickly raising his hand back at him, palm facing forward. His other hand was clenched tightly in a fist.
"Damn you! I'm showing you mercy!" Kelerot's voice shook as he yelled. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath again. "Don't make me waste this decision. I'm allowing you live on one condition."
He lowered his hand again, expecting Jiren to ask him what the condition was but he said nothing. He simply kept his eye on him, waiting for him to speak.
"Don't come looking for me. Don't follow me or even think of pursuing your ideological idiocy, believing 'justice' will prevail. I'll destroy Toppo and those higher gods can find a new Destroyer to do whatever they want with the universe. I cannot rest knowing that he's still out there and I will stop at nothing to make sure that he gets what's coming to him."
Jiren stared at the ground for a moment, mulling it over.
"I cannot, you've taken too many lives as it is. I cannot let you go knowing that you've destroyed…my friends…"
Kelerot almost felt regret but he calmed his face and frowned, giving a cold, emotionless expression to Jiren now.
"Fine. I offered you a compromise. I wanted to show you mercy to prove once and for all that I'm more than just a 'criminal' in your eyes. I wanted to give you the opportunity to not only rebuild the Pride Troopers into a far better squadron of protectors for this universe but to give you the chance to fight him again. I know that still lingers in the back of your head."
Jiren's eye widened a bit as he stared up at him, knowing that he meant Goku when he brought him up. Kelerot raised his hand again.
"But like every single one of you. You've forced my hand. And like Warden Kutlerie did to me and all those prisoners, there won't be any second chances."
His hand pulsed and enveloped Jiren in the light of Destruction energy and Jiren grunted and gritted his teeth as he began to dissolve. His face bore the pain of being erased but he made sure to never stop staring at Kelerot as he was slowly fading away from existence, his body disintegrating into purple particles of energy that floated and vanished in the air.
When his face disappeared, Kelerot closed his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh, putting his hand to his face. It was a decision that weighed heavily upon him but the more times he felt his hand was forced, the more he hated it.
"Why…"
He clenched his hand into a fist in front of him, shaking.
"WHY DO YOU KEEP FORCING THIS OUT OF ME?!"
He collapsed to his hands and knees and slammed his fists on the ground repeatedly.
"Damn you, Jiren! Damn you, Pride Troopers! Damn you all! Why do you keep forcing me into this position when you refuse to see my side in all of this?! I HATE THIS!"
He couldn't stop the tears coming down his face as his bottom lip quivered, holding a hand to his face to cover it, breathing a couple of sobs through his hand.
"I have to make this right!"
He stood up and wiped his face clear of any further tears he had shed, closing his eyes to focus his mind. He tried to sense Toppo and Cae's presence but felt nothing.
"They don't seem to be here," he muttered and began stretching out his senses elsewhere but the more he did it the bigger the strain of all that knowledge of the multiverse was affecting his mind and he fell to one knee, clutching his head. His eyes shot open wide and he felt a tremendous amount of pressure come down on his head all at once, thinking that he might've found himself in that gravity pocket once more. It felt like a gravity well pushing down on his brain as images of the multiverse were flashing rapidly in his mind all at once and he began screaming.
"No…not this again! I can't…I can't hold it all in…I've been weakened too much…it hurts so much…."
His head was throbbing and the pain was making him cry fresh tears again as he screamed.
"Stop, please! Make it stop! I can't take it anymore!"
Through the images that were bombarding his head, he tried to filter them enough to think through it and conjure an image of Earth from the seventh universe again.
"Never thought…I'd have to go back…there…"
All he could do was think of Earth and he teleported using any reserve power he still had left and he vanished.