A/N: Appologies once again for the (extremely looooong) delays. Real Life has been getting in the way a lot, and my interest over the last year or so has been more toward gaming than writing. As much as I love this series and where I plan to go with it all I've felt a bit burned out on it and attempts to keep going have constantly stalled out pretty quickly. However, I feel my interest has returned, if not in full than to a significant degree, once again. As has my excitement for the story, and now that I've finished re-reading the saga to refresh my memory - I feel I can continue once more.

Real Life matters will no doubt continue to interfere, as will my gaming habit, but I will do my best to finish this saga in as timely a fashion as possible. Thank-you to everyone who has continued to show interest despite the long delay, and to everyone who has come back and is continuing to read.

Chapter Sixty-seven - Ambition

There was little left of the planet, it had been reduced to about a quarter of its original size, the cast off chunks orbiting haphazardly around it. Some drifting off into Limbo, others crashing back into the still unstable remains of the planet, the rest moving about randomly crashing into each other and bouncing off. It made for an... interesting battle ground.

Vegeta flipped over and landed on one of the millions of asteroids that had been created by the destruction of the Grand Mazoku's planet and gazed up at his opponent, scowling. He'd gained a lot of power recently, been pushed up to his limits, and he was at last stronger than Kakkarotto. But only just. Only by so small an amount that it made no real difference. Their powers may as well have been even for all the advantage he had.

It irritated him to have come so far, to have pushed so hard, and to still only be this low class's equal. They'd just broken off from yet another exchange that had ended in a stalemate. Of the last eight clashes they'd had, half had come out in draws, neither able to land any significant blows. Three of the other four had gone to Kakkarotto, him having landed the better hits, or the only ones.

The fact that the annoying voice in his head had vanished after that earlier incident, where it had created all of that pain, meant he'd been able to focus completely on this fight. Perhaps the only reason any of the exchanges had ended in stalemates. As even as their powers were their skill levels were decidedly different. He hated to admit it, to even consider it, but Kakkarotto was the better fighter.

He'd always prided himself on his technique and discipline. Even more so in recent years as his duties had cut back on his training time and forced him to focus more on style than power. And yet, here, now, it was clear that Kakkarotto was better. He was pushing as hard as he could and Kakkarotto was able to hold him. He'd only managed to force one opening, to get in three good blows. Meanwhile, his opponent had scored at least ten in the last three minutes.

And it was more than that. His power and speed were superior, and he was attacking with an unrelenting ferocity the likes of which he'd never displayed before, and yet Kakkarotto was keeping pace. Keeping pace and finding the time and the room to counter, to turn the battle back and go on the offensive, forcing him to defend instead of attack. It wasn't just frustrating, it was infuriating.

/I was doing better before./ he thought, irritated. /Ever since Gohan's ki vanished.../ His thought trailed off there and his scowl deepened. /Of course. Everyone's gone. There's no one left, no one to distract him, no one to get caught between us. With no one here but us there's no reason for him not to go all out, to truly give it everything he's got, all of his focus. He doesn't have to divide his attention between me and bystanders. If I'm going to beat him, maybe I need to stop trying to just beat him. Maybe the voice had a point, maybe to win I have to fight to kill./

His scowl growing even more, Vegeta launched off his asteroid, lunging through the debris field for his opponent. Goku readied himself as Vegeta neared, slipping into a defensive position. The Sai-jin royal was almost on him, only a dozen or so feet away, when he suddenly shimmered and vanished. Goku's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then he quickly slid to the left just barely avoiding Vegeta's foot.

He quickly counted with a right punch but Vegeta caught it, twisted around in the air, and aimed the heel of his left foot at the back of Goku's head. His opponent ducked under it and came back up quickly, leading with his left elbow, but Vegeta released his grip on the other Sai-jin's hand and moved back a few inches, avoiding the blow. At the same time his arms shot down and deflected the kick Goku had launched for his stomach.

The exchange continued, each of them trying to get through the other's defenses but neither succeeding. Nearly every punch, every kick, every elbow and head-butt was dodged or blocked. Those that did get through did little damage, barely grazing their targets. The two were a flurry of movement, trading over a hundred failed attacks in under a minute, before Vegeta managed to land a solid punch to Goku's stomach that doubled the Sai-jin over.

The royal quickly followed up, bringing his elbow down into the back of the other's head and driving him down toward the remains of the still fracturing planet. He thrust an arm down after him, purple energy sparking to life in front of his palm and then surging down behind the plunging Sai-jin. Goku recovered and turned, quickly swatting the ki blast away as he shot back up toward Vegeta.

Still a dozen yards away he vanished, using Relocation to suddenly appear behind his opponent and aim a kick at his head. But Vegeta had been waiting for such a tactic and quickly turned, bringing up an arm and blocking the other's leg. His other arm shot out for Goku's stomach but the Sai-jin quickly moved backward and out of range. Vegeta moved in, lashing out with his left leg as he did, but Goku ducked under it and came up with an uppercut toward the royal's jaw.

Vegeta leaned his head back and the attack missed, though he was sure he felt his opponent's knuckles brush against his chin. He fired off another punch, but it was blocked, as was his following kick. He slipped around a punch from Goku, ducked under a kick, blocked another kick, and then moved back to avoid the elbow that had been aimed at his temple. He was about to move in and attack again when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and quickly lunged backwards, Goku doing the same a split second later.

And instant later one of the asteroids, this one about the size of a small mountain, came charging through the space the two Sai-jins had just vacated. As it passed between the pair Vegeta smirked and thrust his arms out toward it, releasing a weak kiai. The force wasn't enough to damage the giant rock but it instantly redirected its course, sending it right toward the other Sai-jin. He then unleashed a rapid fire volley of stronger ki attacks arcing out around the giant boulder. Tracking Goku's ki with his senses Vegeta guided the six dozen energy blasts around the large rock and kept them on course for his opponent, who was dodging up and to the right to get around the asteroid.

Goku's eyes widened a moment later as he saw several of the attacks come around the corner of the large rock, heading right toward him. He managed to dodge the first two and then swatted at the third to deflect it away. As soon as his hand made contact with it, however, the energy exploded, knocking him toward the asteroid. The rest of the energy blasts surged in then and slammed into him, exploding violently and driving him into to the boulder at high speed, smashing it apart as he surged through and out the other side.

Vegeta, smirking, was waiting there for him and quickly lashed out with a kick, slamming his foot into Goku's back, then spinning around in front of him and pounding his knee into his face. As the blow knocked him back the royal reached out and grabbed his ankle and then shot off toward the nearest asteroid, one that was only about the size of a large van. He reached it in just a few seconds and then swung Goku, smashing him into the boulder and shattering it into bits.

As he continued the swing and then released the other's ankle, pitching him toward another of the asteroids, he smirked. /Fighting to win isn't enough. Not to beat Kakkarotto. I have to fight to kill. If he dies as a result... oh well./

XXX

Unknown Location (Inside Vegeta's Mind?)

"True and rightful Sai-jin King?" Vegeta asked his odd looking double, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're supposed to be but you're no Sai-jin."

The red haired Vegeta shook his head. "It's pathetic, seeing just how far the great Sai-jin race has fallen." he said. "To not recognize this place, to not recognize the truth, to not recognize the most ancient part of you. Well, that will soon change. Your time in command has come to an end. The true Sai-jin king is free now, and I will correct all of your failures!" With that he suddenly lunged in, closing the distance between them in an instant.

Vegeta reacted as quickly as he could, though his surprise at the sudden attack slowed him. He brought an arm up, attempting to block the punch he saw coming, but he wasn't fast enough and the man's fist slammed into his face, knocking him back. The blow blurred his vision and stunned him, but he could feel the other man charging after him and dodged to the right, just barely avoiding being kicked.

Slipping around another attempted attack he countered with one of his own, smacking an open palm into the other's chest and driving him back a few feet. Landing and crossing his arms, Vegeta frowned. /The ancient part of me? What nonsense is this thing babbling about now? Bah, it doesn't matter. Ancient or not I'll beat this hallucination into the ground and then figure out how to get back to reality./

Even as he thought all of that, however, he couldn't deny that 'Ancient' seemed a fitting term for the figure that stood before him. That his mind latched onto it and now could not think of his odd double as anything but The Ancient. For some reason, he found it unnerving. Unsettling. If he hadn't been so consumed with returning to his real battle he would have given it more thought, but instead he pushed it aside and ignored it.

"If it's a fight you want I wont disappoint you." he said, flashing gold as he ascended to the second level.

The Ancient scowled at him. "You waste our time." he said. "You can resist all you like but it's futile. The outcome is already decided. An impure abomination like you could never defeat a true Sai-jin." Suddenly there was a rush of wind and then a flash of gold and the red haired Vegeta had transformed as well. His blue eyes had changed, the irises turning teal and the pupils a dark blue, and his hair had grown even longer and turned golden. A golden aura flashed around him, blue lightning sparking around it.

Even as he lunged in at The Ancient, Vegeta scowled. He could feel both of their energies, but he couldn't feel their power. The signals were there, were trackable, but they gave him no indication of how strong either of them were. It was odd, though so was everything else that had been happening lately, and it was annoying. He knew from their initial exchange that they were of similar powers, but he wasn't sure how that translated when both were transformed. The only way to know for sure would be to test his opponent's strength.

Reaching him only seconds after charging in Vegeta lashed out with a kick but The Ancient easily ducked under it, then around his punch, before jumping up, flipping over him, and kicking him in the back of his head on his way down. The blow knocked Vegeta forward and down but his arms shot out and he rebounded, twisting in the air and landing to face his opponent again.

Again Vegeta launched in to attack, this time firing a punch for the other's face, but The Ancient merely tilted his head to the side and avoided it. Then his left arm snapped out and slammed into Vegeta's chest with a thunderous crack, rocketing him backward until he slammed into the metal doors and came to a stop. Reaching up, wincing, he rubbed his sore chest. The blow had been devastatingly powerful. He was sure that, if this had been real and not in his head, it likely would have shattered his ribs and killed him.

The Ancient was clearly stronger than him. Much stronger. But he wouldn't let that get in his way. He would win, would beat him, and then he could get back to his fight with Kakkarotto. Still, attacking blindly here would accomplish nothing. The other was too fast, too strong, to simply be over powered. Thrusting an arm out he unleashed a volley of ki blasts at the other man before shooting off to his right, intending to arc out around behind him and attack from the rear at the same time the ki blasts reached him in front.

He completed his arc, getting behind The Ancient right on time, and prepared to attack. Before he could make his move, however, the other suddenly vanished and he was left facing his own attacks bearing down on him. He quickly diverted course, heading further to the right, and swatted away the few attacks that were still in his path. He was about to pull to a stop, to get a lock on his opponent again, when a pair of feet suddenly slammed into his back and drove him down into the ground. His forward momentum carried him onward, gouging out a trench forty yards long before he finally came to a stop.

The Ancient stepped back off of him and then his leg snapped out and his foot slammed into his stomach, kicking him up into the air. In a burst of yellow The Ancient surged up after him, sped past him, then charged back down and pounded a double fisted blow into his back, driving him back down into the ground and blasting out a hundred yard impact crater. The blows left Vegeta dazed and in serious pain, but he started pushing himself back up onto his hands and knees. As powerful as they were, as much as they hurt, his body seemed to be impervious to actual damage. Nothing was broken, not even bruised, and no blood had been drawn.

"Give it up!" The Ancient called down. "You can't defeat me. I am a true Sai-jin, you are a diluted, weak, abomination. Peace? Mercy? Alliances? These things are not Sai-jin, they are weak!"

"Yak, yak, yak, yak." Vegeta said, climbing to his feet and looking up at his opponent. "Would you just shut up and go away already?" The Ancient frowned, and Vegeta smirked. The best chance he had at winning this was to get under the other's skin, make him sloppy, and find an opening. He lunged up then, charging at The Ancient and gathering energy in his hands. As he continued to near he thrust his arms up and fired off a rapid volley of energy blasts.

The Ancient easily and quickly deflected them, however, knocking half of them back into the other half even as he charged down at Vegeta. The two met in mid air an instant later, Vegeta lashing out with a kick that The Ancient easily ducked under. Coming back up behind his opponent he kicked the Sai-jin royal in the back knocking him flying up even higher. Vegeta didn't bother trying to slow his ascent, merely spun around to face his opponent's direction and thrust his arm down and out.

Gold light flared in front of his palm as The Ancient came charging up toward him. His opponent was moving fast, too fast for him to see accurately, and he knew he'd be on him quickly. There wasn't much time to charge the attack, so he didn't expect it to do a lot of damage. But anything, at this point, would be progress. Smirking, as The Ancient came within twenty yards of him, he called out and unleashed the attack.

"Big Bang Attack!"

The energy bomb surged down at The Ancient who quickly brought his arms up in an effort to catch the attack. As soon as it touched his hands, however, it exploded violently and he was suddenly thrust backwards, toward the ground. Vegeta smirked as he saw his opponent streak downward and then slam into the ground with a thunderous crash. As he was gazing down at him his eyes caught sight of something else that drew their attention. From where he floated he could see beyond the massive wall he'd appeared in front of, and what he saw froze him in shock.

Beyond the wall, beyond the gates he'd appeared before, the road he'd found himself on when he arrived continued onward into a sprawling city. Massive, beyond anything he'd ever witnessed before. The structures closer to the wall were smaller, shorter, less impressive, but as you went further inward they grew larger, taller, more majestic. And at what appeared to be the center of the city was the largest, tallest, most grandiose building of them all. There was an air of power and dignity to it, it looked both old and modern, primitive and advanced.

It struck a chord in his mind, somewhere deep down inside. He didn't know this world, he didn't know that building, but yet... there was something familiar to it. Not just a vague familiar, like he'd seen something similar before, but a stand-out in-his-face recognition, like seeing his own reflection. Only, he couldn't place it. He knew it, it was right there on the tip of his tongue, but the information remained just out of his reach.

He shook his head to clear it, to push out the nagging feelings of familiarity that had blossomed and return to the battle. He turned his gaze back to The Ancient and found him standing and scowling up at him again, no actual signs of damage on him. Either his opponent recovered as quickly as he himself did here, or the attack just hadn't had enough power to harm him. If it was the former then this battle could go on forever.

"Just what is this place?" he called down, waving an arm back at the city.

"I told you." replied The Ancient. "This is where we are from, I more than you. My home. The one time capital of the greatest race to ever exist. The true Sai-jin race, before you Mazoku damned half-breed abominations tainted the name."

/'Mazoku' damned?/ Vegeta wondered, surprised that this other part of him had referenced the rulers of Makai, instead of the Kais. Though he figured it was likely due to the fact this piece of him seemed to have come about by their influence, the technique that the Grand Mazoku had used on him, and then strengthened by the evil he had absorbed via the Darkness Infusion technique he had used. What really confused and irritated him, however, was this talk about he and the rest of the Sai-jin race being half-breeds.

"There you go again, babbling nonsense about being a true Sai-jin." Vegeta said. "No Sai-jin has hair or eyes like you."

"You mean none of the corrupted creatures that now call themselves Sai-jins do." countered The Ancient. "But all true, pure blood Sai-jins look as I do. I am all that is left of that ancient, pure, and uncorrupted greatness within you. And soon, I will be the one in charge, the one commanding our body, and you will be the one locked up in this prison, unable to do naught but watch. Only you will get to watch greatness, and not the pathetic mockery I was forced to bear witness to!"

With that The Ancient surged up into the air, charging toward him once more. Even as Vegeta readied to resume the battle his mind tried to make sense of what this other him was saying. If this... thing... was to be believed, then the current modern Sai-jin race was, itself, a hybrid of some original Sai-jin race, of which The Ancient was a part of, and some other, unknown, people. It seemed impossible, nothing in their histories even remotely suggested such, but their records went back only seventeen or eighteen thousand years. Before that...

He shrugged it off as he dodged around a punch that had been aimed at his head, barely avoiding the blow. This talk of bloodlines and who was a true Sai-jin mattered little right now. What did matter, however, was the last thing the other had said. The remark about taking over. He'd said similar earlier, as well. It would seem that, should he lose this battle, The Ancient would be the one to return to reality and the battle with Kakkarotto. Not him. And that was not something he could allow.

XXX

Makai, Mazoku Plane

Nefaria grimaced and coughed up blood as she pushed herself, slowly, onto her hands and knees. She could already feel the wounds closing up, healing over, but the pain was still intense and persistent. She couldn't take too many more injuries like that, not if she wanted to win this battle. Healing from that much damage would use up a lot of resources, enough such injuries and she'd stop healing.

As she felt the skin of her abdomen stitch itself back together she climbed up onto her feet and turned to face Aku. For a moment, staring at his smirking face, she contemplated ways of getting her hands on his trident and stabing him in the face with it. Repeatedly. The image her mind conjured at the thought made her feel better but she soon pushed those thoughts aside. There was little chance she'd be able to pull it off, much as she'd love to.

She pushed off, lunging in at Aku again. As she charged, her opponent brought the trident up at the ready again, and she scowled. Just before getting in range of the weapon she quickly veered off to the right and reached out with her magic, taping into the power of the Plane to accelerate her beyond her natural maximum speed. With that burst she darted around behind Aku and snapped her leg out, slamming the heel of her foot into his back and knocking him forward. As he flew forward she came to a stop and thrust her left arm out.

"Death Blitz!" she cried, purple and black energy erupting from her hand and launching toward the other Mazoku. A rapid fire stream of a thousand energy blasts, released in such quick succession that they appeared to the eye as a single stream of energy. The first slammed into Aku's back and exploded, followed less than one billionth of a second later by the second, the third, and so on. The rapid string of explosions so close together they sounded like one super long drawn out blast. As she lowered her arm again she reached out once more with her magic, taping into the power of the Plane.

Once more she launched forward at accelerated speed, soon overtaking the tail end of her own attack, and then zipping past Aku as well. Twisting around in front of him she lashed out with a hard left hook, smashing her fist into his face just as the last of her previous attack exploded against his back. The twin hits flipped him horizontal and she brought her elbow down, smashing it into his abdomen and driving him into the ground. Her foot shot out then, heading right for his face with all the force she could muster.

She missed, however. Aku rolled to the side at the last second, and Nefaria's foot smashed into the ground, he leg going in up to mid-calf. Before she could even begin to extract herself from the ground Aku's foot cracked into her knee and she cried out in agony as the joint shattered and bent backward. She pulled her leg free from the ground and drifted back, grimacing, ducking under a thrust of the trident.

Her right knee was healing, but it was still throbbing painfully which put that entire leg out of action for the moment. It also made maneuvering much more difficult than she'd expected. Every movement pulled on her leg, moved her knee, and sent new shots of pain up her spine, and slowed the recovery process. She twisted around another thrust of the trident, just barely avoiding being stabbed through the chest, and thrust an arm out firing off a weak kiai just to shove him back a little, putting some more distance between them and getting her out of the trident's reach.

/This isn't going nearly as well as I had initially hoped./ she thought, still retreating while trying not to jostle her damaged knee. Her last assault on him had felt good, but it hadn't done the damage she'd hoped. Nothing like his attacks were doing to her. It was frustrating, bordering on infuriating. Loyalty had always been important to her, so the fact that the other Mazoku had turned on Dabura was something she found intolerable.

As far as she was concerned, they didn't deserve their powers or posts, and the fact that she couldn't stand against even one of them here, in her Plane, only made it worse. It didn't matter that she was still extremely new to her post, only a little over five hundred years to Aku's seventeen million. She clenched her hands into fists and scowled at Aku, who was still pursuing her, and slowly gaining. Soon he'd be within range of his trident again. Reaching out with her magic once more she again tapped into the powers of the Plane.

"Ojukihseako Iesorukam!" she cried, thrusting her arms forward. There was a bright flash of red and then a massive wave, more of light than energy, exploded forth charging toward Aku. The other Mazoku's eyes widened in a mix of amazement, disbelief, and fear. His charge came to a halt and he quickly crossed his arms over his chest, bringing his legs up into a defensive position as well, an instant before the light hit.

As soon as the light touched him there was a sudden flash, a loud snap, and bolts of red lightning formed around him as the area around him began to distort, looking as though it was twisting in random directions. Then there was another brilliant flash, a thundering bang, and a loud scream from Aku as he was suddenly sent sailing backward nearly a thousand yards before hitting the ground, bouncing and rolling another hundred, and at last coming to a stop. Smoke and steam drifted off his body and Nefaria's eyes widened, staring at her hands in shock.

The spell she'd just used was beyond her level of training, well beyond. She knew of it only vaguely, a high level magic that utilized the power of the Mazoku Plane to smite those who defied the Mazoku order and were enemies of the Realm itself. It would be hundreds of years before she had the skill to even attempt the spell, thousands before she should be able to use it. And yet, she just had. In her frustration and anger she had tapped into the power of plane in an effort to cast a spell of her own, and the plane had yielded up another for her.

Clenching her hands into fists she turned her focus back to Aku, who was slowly climbing back to his feet. What had just happened solidified for her that Aku, and the other Mazoku who had sided with Quietus, were traitors to the Realm. Enemies of Makai. The Mazoku Plane itself had just attacked her opponent. His power had taken a small dive now, putting him closer to her in strength, though he was still stronger. But this was her plane, not his, and that gave her an edge. Her knee had been healed by the plane but his injuries were persisting. She might have a chance now.

She was just about to launch in to resume the battle when a powerful orange-red glow bathed the area all around her. Looking to the side her eyes widened in shock once more at the sight of a massive orange and red fire-like orb of energy surging from Quietus's outstretched arms toward Dabura.

XXX

There was a thundering crack as Dabura's fist smashed into Quietus's face, the shockwave generated by the blow blasting apart the dust cloud the two were inside. The blow twisted the Demon's head around and while he was still recovering from it Dabura brought his knee up and slammed it into his opponent's stomach, then his other arm lashed out and an open palm smashed into the Demon's chest plate rocketing him backward.

Dabura knew the only reason he was doing so well now was Quietus's arrogance. If the Demon had gone to his full power his blows would be doing little damage, having a much more limited effect. He wasn't sure how long his advantage would last, when Quietus would decide to start taking the battle seriously, but intended to capitalize on his edge for as long as he could, and shot off after him.

By the time the Mazoku King caught up with him Quietus had recovered and his arm came up just in time to block the kick that had been surging toward his head. He countered with a driving elbow to the side of Dabura's head that connected with the Mazoku's temple. That was followed by a knee to the face and then a downward thrust of his open palm into the back of his head that smashed his face into the ground.

An instant later there was a bright flash of red and purple light as energy tore free of the Demon's hand and blasted into the ground, Dabura having just managed to roll out of the way. The energy exploded as it impacted the ground and the blast wave sent Dabura flying but the Mazoku King recovered in mid air and pulled to a stop before shooting back in at his opponent.

Quietus grinned as he watched him charge. He quickly side-stepped as the Mazoku tried to punch him in the head, then reached out and wrapped his arms around Dabura's, twisted, and slammed him down into the ground on his back. His leg then snapped out for the Mazoku's head but Dabura shoved off the ground with his free arm, twisted in the air yanking his captured arm from Quietus's grasp, then snapped out his own leg smacking his heel into the Demon's back directly between his wings.

Quietus stumbled forward from the blow but was still able, just barely, to avoid the energy blast Dabura had sent at the back of his head. Turning around to face his opponent again he brought his arms up and blocked the punch that had been aimed for his chest, then the kick that had been directed at his side. Then his eyes flashed and Dabura cursed as he pulled back and tried to dodge to the side.

He wasn't fast enough, however, and the twin eye beams the Demon had fired pierced him through the shoulder. He felt the wounds closing almost as soon as they'd formed, the pain fading just as quickly, but scowled all the same. This battle was definitely going more in his favor than his last with Quietus had gone, but still not as much as he would have liked. Quietus lunged in at him then and the two began to exchange a flurry of blows at close range as they lifted into the sky going higher and higher.

"I've waited two thousand years to finish this." Quietus said, grinning. "Two thousand years trapped in that infernal crystal, aware, but unable to do anything. Do you have any idea how monotonous and maddening that is? I've thought of little more than my revenge for two thousand years and now that I'm having it I'm going to enjoy every second of it!"

"Enjoy it while it lasts." said Dabura. "Even if you succeed you will still fail. As imbalanced as Shinkai is now your attempts to capture the Kais and seize the Realm are more likely to collapse it than conquer it. And if Shinkai goes Makai will inevitably follow, it cannot exist by itself."

The Demon ducked under a punch then and managed to land one of his own to Dabura's side, followed by another to his abdomen, and then a kick to his chest that drove the Mazoku back nearly thirty yards. His arm shot out then and a blast of red energy surged across the dozen feet between them but Dabura had already recovered and managed to deflect it away.

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing, then, that I intend neither to capture the Kais, or to conquer Sinkai." Quietus said as his grin grew.

"What are you talking about?" Dabura demanded, eyes narrowing. "Why invade Shinkai if you don't seek to conquer it?"

Quietus chuckled. "My plans are much more original than simply taking over the Realms." he said, pulling his arms back. "Why settle for being King, when you can be GOD!" As he shouted the last word he thrust his arms forward, firing off a massive blast of red and orange fire-like energy at the Mazoku King. Dabura's eyes widened in shock as he saw it coming, and felt Quietus's power spike up to the Demon's maximum.

He quickly brought his arms up and erected a ki barrier just as the attack reached him. The energy slammed into the barrier and instantly drove him back a dozen yards, his feet gouging out ruts as he was pushed back. He could feel the barrier buckling and tried to strengthen it but before he could get it stabilized it collapsed and the energy surged in and slammed into his outstretched arms.

Dabura concentrated all of his energy into his hands, his arms straining to hold the attack off and deflect it. Before he could manage to redirect the energy away from him, however, it suddenly and violently exploded, erupting into a massive dome of energy nearly half a mile across.