When a Certain Destruction Came into my Life!

by thelonelynixie

"I am the one you summoned. My name is Vegeta Yonsei, the God of Destruction and I am here to fulfill your wish to destroy this world, Bulma Briefs." This is the story of how a Hakaishin was accidentally summoned by a human girl who wished for him to destroy the Earth and eventually fell in love with her as she helped him learn and discover new things and accept who and what he is.

35. Forgiveness, Freedom, & Battle during Tw

"Where am I?" Vegeta Yonsei wondered as he began to float in the air, looking at the vast sea of darkness right before him. The black sky was covered with gray clouds. Far away behind him, he saw the Torii gate from the entrance of the river of the afterlife that leads to the three crossings towards Tenjou, Mu, and Jigoku.

He realized that he was at the Sanju River, and asked himself what he was doing there. He knew he was asleep on his bed in the Planet of Destruction, so was this a dream? Or another memory from his forgotten past?

He perceived that something materialized next to him so he turned around and found a massive, monstrous dead tree with its colossal, grisly-looking, tentacle-like, gray-colored branches twisting around its trunk as if it had life, wringing into several decaying corpses. The carcasses wore armor which Vegeta clearly recognized as that of his people, the once powerful race of warriors he was meant to rule as king many years ago. He saw his father, mother, and younger brother there. From the tree, the ceaseless, horrifying sound of cries filled with extreme anguish resonated, and the voices sometimes would call for him to save them. Vegeta instinctively jumped towards the tree, wanting to free them if he could, only for him to be sent flying backwards when he hit a powerful, invisible barrier.

"What?!" he grunted in surprise, his voice echoed everywhere. He snapped out of his shock and attempted to break through the force field once again, only for him to bounce back again. He tried blasting it with his ki, but the barrier didn't budge at all. It only reduced his energy blast into sparks.

'What the hell is this?!' he asked. He could sense that he was still within his Seventh Universe, though in another dimension. How come he couldn't get to the other side? He was the God of Destruction, he should be able to get in there!

"Whis!" he harshly called his attendant, but his guide angel didn't appear when he summoned him like he usually does. "Whis! Where the hell are you?! Whis!"

Whis didn't arrive as he expected. There was even no response to his telepathic call. That was odd. He looked around him, addled, when suddenly, millions of souls that once belonged to those corpses in that eerie tree appeared before him. The souls were trapped in a void filled with nothingness. Vegeta's jaw dropped as he gasped in terror at what he was looking at. The souls of his people were aimlessly wandering in that void, screaming, crying, bawling, groaning, moaning in their continuous suffering and torment. He tried to jump into that place either, but just as with the eerie tree, he was also sent backwards by the powerful force field.

Vegeta gritted his teeth together and instantly transformed into his Ultra Ego form, intent on destroying that darn force field keeping him away from his people. But no matter how much he tried, his powers of destruction couldn't break through it. He tried to punch it, kick it, blast it with his most powerful ki blast, and even use Hakai on it, but nothing worked.

The screams were making him go crazy. He wanted them to stop. It's beginning to give him a terrible migraine and it felt like he was going to lose his mind anytime soon. He commanded for them to stop as he desperately clutched his head in between his shaking hands.

"Vegeta Yonsei…"

He heard a deep, powerful voice call upon him. He didn't know where it came from but it was so powerful it felt like it was coming from all directions. The pain thankfully subsided and Vegeta looked up, wondering who and where that voice came from.

"You have committed a forbidden act. You have opened your heart and allowed your emotions to reign over you. You unleashed your powerful rage, and took vengeance for the sake of a mere mortal woman. You have destroyed an entire galaxy and killed several millions of innocent lives. Because of this, you shouldn't be entrusted with your duties as a God of Destruction. However, as we see such value in your abilities, I have decided that for what you have done, you should be punished for your sins in another way."

"What are you talking about now?! I don't remember doing any of that!" Vegeta defended.

"Of course you don't remember. The Grand Priest repressed the memories of what you did to cover up your mistake. Do you honestly think I wouldn't know?"

Vegeta scowled. Not understanding what this voice was trying to tell him at all.

"The contract you made with Beerus may have already been done after you became the God of Destruction of your Universe. However, it doesn't mean that the souls of your people are free from wandering in this void," the deep, powerful voice continued.

Vegeta raised his head, his expression filled with pure, unadulterated rage, "Who are you?! Show yourself!" he fiercely demanded.

A figure of a mysterious man enshrouded by a bright light appeared far above him. Vegeta couldn't make out the features of the stranger but he could sense a very powerful divine aura radiating from that being. Who was that? He doesn't seem to recognize this god at all.

"The screams you heard when you tried to save that mortal woman came from them. Every time you defy your proper duties, your people shall suffer great torture within there and their agonized screams will be sent to you until you are forced to do your duties properly."

Vegeta suddenly felt the trauma he had when he was a child after he tried to defy the contract he made with Beerus back then. It was definitely the same feeling. He thought that the voices would finally stop when he became a God of Destruction, but now this damn being is going to use this to force him to do his duties whether he likes it or not?!

"What?!" Vegeta roared. "Do you honestly think I would allow you to do this to me?!"

"The laws of the gods should be imposed on those who try to defy them. A low-level god like yourself should know your proper place and just obey what is commanded of you to do. What you did on Terra Eresei earned you this punishment, a curse for the rest of your immortal life. This is the price you pay for your ambitions, and for defying the divine law. There was no other way to force you to obey us, but for us to make use of your mortal weakness. Your people, those whom you cared about, we will make use of them to make you obey us!"

Feeling insulted, Vegeta cussed at the unknown creature, "Damn you!" he shouted.

Once again, Vegeta tried to break the force field to save his people, but this time, an agonizing wave of loud, tortured screams completely incapacitated him, causing him to immediately grab the sides of his head and shake them fiercely. Then he threw his head back and screamed at the top of his lungs at the intensity of the pain burning his forehead.

"It's useless. Due to the contract you made, you are not allowed to enter Mu. Your powers won't even work here as it is an entirely different domain. You cannot do anything. You won't be able to save them no matter what you do."

Vegeta cried out loud. He wanted this to stop, but he was powerless against such a mysterious being. He told himself that he would endure this, that he would never beg this darn being to stop, despite how much he truly wanted it to be over.

Suddenly, the voices were gone. But the torture left him speechless and trembling on the ground where he suddenly found himself. Was he quivering from fear? Shock? Or from his anger?

"Now, return to your Universe and be the God of Destruction you are expected to become!" the voice commanded him. A sudden flash of blinding light made Vegeta squint his eyes and cover his sight with the back of his hands. A strong gale of cold wind pushed him away until he realized that he was back in his room in his castle within the Planet of Destruction.

From then on, Vegeta felt like he had become a slave to the multiverse-level gods who use this 'punishment' to force him to do his duties or obey whatever they ordered him to do. And as proud as he was, he couldn't fathom such acts. For 1,239 years after that event on Terra Eresei, Vegeta was forced to throw away everything that he once believed in, disregarding his principles that made him who and what he was, forgetting about his Saiyan pride and closing his heart off unnecessary emotions, just as how a God of Destruction must always do. For him, it was the moment that he died completely, not physically but in spirit, for he had truly lost everything there. Since then, he had become the evil, cold, ruthless and fearsome god who was bound to his duties as a destroyer deity no matter what. And slowly after so many years, he had completely lost his mortal emotions and beliefs as well, resulting in him believing that he had become the perfect God of Destruction among all.

He had given up all hope when that happened, the hope that one day he would reclaim what was stolen from him the moment he became a God of Destruction. His pride, his honor, his beliefs…

His freedom.

His fate.

He was wrong to think that he could get them back when he decided to become a God of Destruction. So when he finally realized that it was already hopeless, he surrendered.

Vegeta Yonsei, who never yielded from any fierce battle before, the once proud Saiyan warrior prince who fought through everything, had given up. He simply tried to make himself believe the lies he was trying to think about, like enjoying his duties, finding the thrill and joy in killing and destroying mortals and worlds, being feared as an evil, ruthless destroyer god... These were the only things left for him, at least, these reminded him of his Saiyan instincts being the once feared Legendary Destroyer of Worlds.

But he knew that it was wrong, and that it was so out of character for him. But what could he do? He was no such fool. The overwhelming power of those multiverse-level gods are beyond anything he could ever imagine. If he ever wanted to rebel against them, it's either simply seeking his own obliteration or he had to wait for several million years to learn how to counterattack, if there was any little hope. Those gods could control reality, time, and space, they could even manipulate his fate and change everything with a single thought or word of theirs. How was he going to fight beings with that kind of power?

He didn't know what else to do, until he met Bulma Briefs, the reincarnation of Bloomer who had promised to come back for him and help him find a way to free himself from this cursed existence.

Because of her, he discovered how much he had been lying to himself whenever he tried to find enjoyment and fulfillment in doing his duties. All this time, he had been trying to make himself believe that he had become an evil, ruthless god who had no qualms about anything but his own strength. He thought that he made a firm decision, a resolution to become a God of Destruction after accepting that he was completely powerless against the multiverse-level deities.

He was wrong.

And now, after 1,500 years since he had become a God of Destruction, he is finally going to fight back for his freedom.

---

Chapter 35: Forgiveness, Freedom, and the Battle during Twilight

---

Somewhere in the heavenly realm above the twelve Universes, a mysterious man clad in a black cloak watches over a mystical fountain they called the Fountain of Divine Visions. It was once a part of the Pond of Oracles that was given to them by the Grand Priest several millions of years ago back when he was the apprentice of the God of Destruction of the Thirteenth Universe. He was surrounded by his five other colleagues, who were also former apprentices of the Gods of Destruction from the obliterated six Universes who were given the chance to still exist within the heavenly realm to serve as what was now called as the Destroyer Mercenaries. They were what would be called as 'substitutes', their job is to do a God of Destruction's work as ordered by the higher gods in case a God of Destruction failed to do what was commanded to them.

Each member of the Destroyer Mercenaries was given a title of his or her own, to replace what was supposed to be their title as a God of Destruction. As they work under the higher gods and are considered to be more powerful than the Gods of Destruction assigned to the twelve Universes, they are also given a position among the Multiverse-level deities, although they are the lowest in rank. They have the same abilities as one destroyer god, but they are stronger than those Hakaishins…

…Except for one.

"The God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe, Vegeta Yonsei…" he said in a voice that asserted his dominance and strength despite his young looks and boyish voice. He was the leader of the group. A wise-looking boy who looked like he could be around twelve years old. He was known as Khalua, the Supreme Throne, considered to be the most powerful among the six. "I heard that he is the only one amongst the twelve Gods of Destruction who has mastered the highly forbidden Secret of Self-Indulgence technique. Lately, the Pond of Oracles showed a vision of this Universe-level deity becoming stronger than most. The Grand Priest even theorized that he could have surpassed the Universe-level power normally associated to a God of Destruction due to him continuously utilizing the technique."

"A God of Destruction surpassing the Universe-level of destructive power in such a short amount of time?! Impossible! He's only been a God of Destruction for 1,500 years!" gasped a massive man who was known as the Stone of Ruin, Bairee. Burly, muscular, silver-haired.

"I think it has something to do with his mortal origins. He was the Saiyan Prince, the last heir from a royal bloodline of special, extremely powerful warriors whose strength and powers are connected with the cycles of the moon. He was considered to be a prodigy even for a small child back then," said Kira, the Blazing Eyed Killer.

"Still, what was once a Saiyan monkey shouldn't be able to improve this much. The Seventh Universe was even considered the lowest in rank during Beerus' time!" said Cheongju, a lady with her black hair in a pixie cut and her bangs in a hime-cut. She was known as the Chanter of Chaos. "And considering that he was a Saiyan from the Seventh Universe, he could spell trouble."

"That could be true, but the King of All and the King of Nothingness favored him a lot," Khalua said. "He is notorious for being rebellious and stubborn. He made quite a lot of offenses by defying the laws of the gods, but because King Zen and King Mu favored him, he kind of gets off easily with his punishments. However, the Punisher put a curse on him to keep him under control and force him to obey his duties, in which every time he defies them, his people whom he sacrificed in order to become a God of Destruction, will be tortured eternally in Mu, and their screams will be sent to him until he is forced to do his proper duties.

"Yet, it seems that Vegeta is gradually adapting to such torture methods. He has learned how to fight it off and suppress the effects it causes him. He knows what he must think or do in order to keep the voices at bay. He became aware that focusing his mind on thoughts of destruction would put the voices in silence. However, there was another problem with that…"

Khalua turned to the visions the Fountain of Divine Visions was showing them of Vegeta going berserk as he laughed evilly, enjoying while he indulged himself in his destructive and bloodthirsty nature. The black scleras around his deranged reddish-pink eyes were the evidence that he was not in control of himself and his powers any longer.

"As you can see, whenever he delves deep into that mindset, Vegeta's destructive powers grow stronger and stronger. This is the effect of the Secret of Self-Indulgence technique on him, combined with his immortality and his Saiyan abilities. The stronger his powers grow, the more it gets harder for him to control, and when he loses control, he becomes completely unstoppable. He once became a threat to the Sixth and Seventh Universes when he almost destroyed both in his fit of uncontrollable rage 1,239 years ago. So in order to prevent it from happening once again, The Goddess of Reality, Time and Space, Lady Yonshir, went to the Seventh Universe to make her observations about Vegeta's behavior. There, she discovered what we are seeing now before our eyes. Some time in the future, Vegeta will become an ominous threat to the Multiverse if he couldn't be controlled properly."

"Someone as dangerous and powerful as him could pose a serious threat to all of us. He should be obliterated! Just what is King Mu doing now? Didn't this happen two million years ago when he obliterated our masters?! Why isn't he doing that now?" a pink-haired girl, the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter named Mago, said.

"King Mu was playing favorites. He believed that Vegeta is the Destined Strong One mentioned in the prophecy," Khalua said.

"What? The Destined Strong One? You mean the prophesied legendary warrior who shall surpass all of the gods?" Bairee, Cheongju, Kira, and Mago gasped in shock.

Several million years ago, the Pond of Oracles foretold that a great heavenly war against a very powerful evil would happen. The Orochi, a dragon deity, shall fall into the mortal realm and become a serpent demon. It would become the root of all evil in the multiverse due to its wicked influence and the multiverse shall plunge into darkness while the Orochi searches for a worthy, powerful vessel to take and use to finally destroy everything that exists and rule over the new world it plans to create.

Two million years ago, the aforementioned and prophesied great heavenly war happened. There was no one capable of stopping the Orochi and its army of infected beings. To put a stop to the meaningless fray, the King of Nothingness awakened and obliterated the Orochi. With the evil serpent demon gone, order was finally restored in the Multiverse.

Or so, they thought…

Then 1,526 years ago, another prophecy was foretold by the Pond of Oracles. A mystical legendary warrior will be born under the light of a full moon, destined to have unbounded power capable of destroying or saving the multiverse. This said prophecy was seen the very moment this warrior was born into the mortal world. The warrior is said to have the ability to grow stronger so long as his fighting spirit burns. He becomes stronger and stronger with each passing time. There was no limit to his power at all. It is said that he will surpass all of the deities in power, that he will be greatly feared and respected by everyone in the multiverse. He will be known as the Destined Strong One, as he will be the one fated to fulfill and end the prophecy. Once he awakens to his true potential, something incredibly sinister will be reborn and only the warrior who is the Destined Strong One could stop such a great and powerful evil from repeating the darkest history that ever occurred in the Multiverse.

But the question is, will the prophesied Destined Strong One use his unbounded power to protect the Multiverse, or will he destroy everything once he loses grasp of the most important thing in his life?

This is the reason why the higher gods were trying to prevent Vegeta from making any attachments.

"I believe it was already confirmed by the Oracle Fish, Yogengyo, that Vegeta is indeed the one mentioned in the prophecy. Whis even made an assurance to King Zen about it. All the Gods of Destruction know this as well, except for Vegeta himself."

"But the way it's going, it seems that he is more of a threat to us rather than someone we could entrust such an important mission with," Cheongju said.

"I agree with that, Cheong," Khalua nodded. "Unlike the rest of the Gods of Destruction, Vegeta still harbors his mortal emotions and attachments which are forbidden to them. While he managed to keep himself in check and act properly as expected of him these past 1,239 years, something– or someone rather, caused such resolve to crumble. This causes the problem that we see right now. So long as he harbors such unnecessary things, the power he holds poses a threat to all of us. Whatever the cause is should be eliminated, but we fear that if we do that, we risk causing more trouble than necessary."

"Why is that?"

"1,239 years ago, Vegeta bonded with a mortal woman. The woman eventually died a painful death for associating herself with a God of Destruction. When that happened, Vegeta lost control of his own rage and destructive powers for the first time, and almost destroyed the Sixth and Seventh Universes in his rampage. Now, the soul of the mortal woman he bonded with has been reborn and once again, Vegeta began to care for her as much as he did during her first life. If he was already capable of shaking and almost destroying two Universes at once 1,239 years ago, imagine what he could do now. This is why the Multiverse-level gods are taking precautions by ordering him to eliminate the mortal woman by his own hand. However, he went against his orders and didn't destroy the woman. This is the first time he has defied a heavenly order and continuously does so until now, which is why we are here to discuss what must be done without risking doing more harm than it is necessary."

"So, all we need to do is to destroy that mortal woman?" Mago snorted. "Feh! That shouldn't be difficult for us."

"No, we must not put any harm to the mortal woman," Khalua disagreed.

"What?! Why?" Mago questioned.

"If we do that, we don't know how Vegeta would react to her destruction. We must be careful and make our observations first just like Lady Yonshir told us to do. We believe that if Bulma Briefs' life is in danger, Vegeta Yonsei would act and make his move to save her. We can use her to deal with him and put him back to submission. However, if Bulma is either killed or destroyed, things would be different. Vegeta will definitely repeat what he did 1,239 years ago, but on a multiverse-level scale and we cannot risk that happening. Remember that as the Destined Strong One, he holds enough destructive power capable of destroying us all and everything that exists. We must be extremely careful not to provoke him."

"Eeh… That's boring," Mago whined. She had little to no patience doing nothing but watching and observing a lame subject. She had been itching for something exciting like death and destruction. Amongst the six members of the Destroyer Mercenaries, Mago was the most impatient one and has a tendency to act rashly and aggressively.

"So we have to send someone to investigate for us as a backup for Lady Yonshir since she needs assistance on this matter. Mago, you should go," Khalua said.

"Me? Aaah! I don't want to! That task is too boring!" Mago complained.

"Fine, how about you, Dara?" Khalua asked the girl next to Mago, causing Mago to suddenly look threatened. She considers the Thorn of Devastation, Dara, as her rival.

"Fine! Fine! I'll take it!" Mago suddenly cut in before Dara could open her mouth. Dara simply gave her a side glance, shaking her head.

But Mago had something else planned for doing such observation…

---

Back to the Seventh Universe's Earth, a woman in her late fifties was listening to the conversation two teenage girls had in a hospital's restroom…

"Hey look, that scary Chillypasta Urban Legend is trending on SNS again…"

"Which urban legend?"

"You know, that one about a certain God of Destruction. They say that the burning during the Dark Destroyer's concert was done by the God of Destruction."

"Hm? Is that true?"

"Remember Jun Maeda? The vlogger who was found dead last week? When the band's lead vocalist announced their plans for the concert, Maeda-san tried to warn that everyone who is going to attend the concert will die. And it came true!"

"But I hear there are two survivors. One of them even said that it was the lead vocalist's plan to burn everyone in there as a sacrifice. The two survivors seem to know that so they both managed to escape. Lim-san herself cleared the rumors."

"Still, some people say that she probably forgot what truly happened. It's possible since they were dealing with a deity. The God of Destruction probably have erased her memories."

"Hmm…"

After finishing her business, the woman walked back to the Intensive Care Unit room where she found her friend sitting on a bench next to its door. Inside the Intensive Care Unit was her friends' mother, critically ill and unconscious, attached to several life-support machines.

Her friend was the only daughter of her single mother. It had been 3 weeks since the mother was sent to the hospital complaining of severe pain, only for them to realize that she has stage four cancer. Doctors say that she only has three months to live.

"Hey, I don't know if you already heard about this, but… did you know that there is this ritual in which you can summon the God of Destruction? Maybe if you do that ritual and he hears your prayers, he could ease your mother's pain and give her a painless death." the woman, Ryoko Minami suggested.

Suddenly, doctors and nurses fled towards the room next door where a child was crying and screaming. The kid's father, who had been looking in their direction, quickly returned to the room and began crying in tears as nurses tried to pull him away. The man was screaming and shouting his daughters' name in desperation as everyone restraining him tried to calm him down. The child continued to bellow loudly due to extreme agony until it eventually died down once the doctors put her to sleep with sedation and gave her pain-relieving medications.

The man, Ash Oshiro, fell to his knees as he continued to bawl his eyes out, asking for someone, anyone, to save his daughter, Yesha, from her pain and suffering. Ryoko and her friend watched him, wondering how some deities could be this cruel to humans, allowing them to suffer greatly before bestowing them with their death. They both believe that someone as old as Ryoko's friend's mother, and as young as the man's daughter shouldn't endure such cruelty.

When will the God of Destruction come and bestow these two poor souls the relief they seek?

---

Vegeta and Whis arrived at the Ox-King's Sushi Restaurant where they found everyone staring at the television screen on the other end. It was showing news about the fire incident during the Dark Destroyers' concert. While they initially went to their usual seat in the corner, Bulma noticed them so she approached them and lied that the seat was reserved for someone else. She told them to follow her in the VIP room. Vegeta and Whis both knew she was lying about that, and were aware that she wanted to speak with Vegeta in private so they followed her to the VIP room without saying anything.

"We need to talk," she said as she slammed the black card on the table in front of him.

"We have nothing to talk about. Just give me my Maguro Nigiri," Vegeta responded coldly without even turning to her.

"Don't give me that attitude, Vegeta! Don't you order me around like I'm your servant!" Bulma hissed at him.

Vegeta turned to Whis before shifting his eyes on the exit of the room. Whis let out a sigh grimly before he stood up and left to get Vegeta his Maguro Nigiri from Krilin, Chichi, or Gyumao.

"Well, aren't you even going to say anything to me at all?!" Bulma demanded at Vegeta, angrily planting her closed fists over her hips as she glared down at the God of Destruction.

"None. Just go away."

"I'm not going until you tell me what the hell was your problem! And I won't let you go either!"

Vegeta snorted as one side of his lip crooked upwards in a disparaging smile, "You have guts, but don't you dare talk as if you could stop me."

"Then I won't get your Maguro Nigiri."

"Whis is on the counter."

"I told them not to give you Maguro Nigiri until I say so."

He finally looked at her this time, as he furiously sneered, "WHAT?!"

Now that she had finally had his attention, she stared at him, "Look, I know that you're probably upset about me when I got angry for what you did to Anaheim and Cayena. You left saying that you will destroy the Earth but you didn't. Then you suddenly appeared out of nowhere after weeks of being gone and you even tried to kill me. I couldn't understand you at all and what your problem was with me, but I began to wonder if someone ordered you to do this. Did she… Yonshir, was it? Did she order you to kill me?"

"No. Just so you know, I don't take orders from anyone."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Because I wanted to."

That hit her heart with the ache of betrayal and hurt. She didn't expect for him to be so blunt like that. She tried to keep her tears at bay as she swallowed the forming lump on her throat.

"Why?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from breaking.

"It is none of your concern," his reply was as cold as ever.

"You have to tell me so I can at least understand why you did it. I don't believe that you truly wanted to kill me. You hesitated right there, Vegeta! You didn't kill me nor destroyed me or my world like you were trying to do. That's why I know that you were only being forced to do so. I wanted to hear your reasons. I wanted to understand you. And most of all, I wanted to forgive you."

"I don't need you to understand me, and I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I am a god, why would I ask a mere, weak and useless mortal like you for such a meaningless thing?!"

Vegeta stood up from his seat, taking his black card and putting it back in his pocket.

"I have nothing to explain to you, and I see no reason for me to pretend being nice with you. It would be best for you to forget about everything that has ever happened between us. I will do the same for you. Just think that the only reason why I spared you and this planet was because I was feeling merciful and that I have given this world more time to exist in my Universe. It has nothing to do with you or the time and effort you spent trying to change my mind about destroying this planet."

Whis re-entered the VIP room to show Vegeta that he got several stacks of Maguro Nigiri boxes in his hand. Bulma's jaw dropped.

"Also, you should never underestimate the powers of a guide angel. Whis can hypnotize a mortal mind more than you could threaten one not to give me what I want. This is where we part ways. You shall never see me again unless you wish for me to destroy anything or anyone under my contract."

"Then…" Bulma said, walking up to Whis. "Could you erase my memories of you so I can live without them?"

"..." Whis turned his eyes to his master.

Bulma turned to face Vegeta and said, "You always say that I should forget about you and everything that has happened between us. But how could I forget about someone like you who came into my life like this? I cannot do that, Vegeta. I can't. It's not that easy and I believe that it's already too late for you to make me forget about you."

"That's not a problem I should bother myself with, woman. Find a solution yourself since this was all your plan all along," he told her coldly.

Before Vegeta and Whis could leave, Bulma finally declared. "I'm falling in love with you, Vegeta Yonsei."

Vegeta halted his footsteps, and he stood on the door, frozen, with his jaw tight and his body tensed. For some reason, he could feel some sort of deja vu happening here. The way she was declaring her feelings for him.

No, this can't be happening. If he leaves her now, will she be in great danger like what happened during her first life?

"Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"I'm serious!"

"Then why? Have you forgotten who and what I am, woman?"

"I… I don't know, but I realized this while you were away from me these past few days. Without you by my side, my life felt incomplete. I think about you every time. Think of me as crazy, I know. Even I think I was going crazy about you. You are a God of Destruction, you tried to kill me, wanted to destroy my planet, but for some reason, I know that you didn't want to. I wanted to be with you. To understand you. I wanted to love you, even more. I mean, we already agreed about that, and we both play pretend. But those times, for me, it wasn't just us playing pretend, it's more serious than I thought."

Vegeta faced Bulma. This time, his cold expression melted and he was looking at her like he wanted to cry. He wanted to run to her, to hold her in his arms, to never let her go right now. But if this keeps up, if she continues to associate herself with him, she would end up dying before his eyes once again. He didn't want to reject her here, make her cry and run away from him, and then die because of him once again.

Is fate playing a prank on him? Repeating those events in another time and place just to see him suffer that same pain?

"This is the reason why I wanted to kill you back there," he told her as he shook his head at her in disbelief.

He suddenly flinched, his hands quickly grabbing the sides of his forehead when he began to hear the screams of his people at Mu, a constant reminder to him that he was not allowed to bear such feelings towards a mortal. He quickly turned to Whis and grabbed his guide angel's hand.

"Get me out of here, Whis," he hissed through gritted teeth. His eyes squinting due to the pain, lowering his head in order to hide the tears that began to form in the corner of his eyes.

Whis stared down at him and nodded back. He tapped the end of his angelic staff against the floor. With that, Vegeta and Whis disappeared, leaving Bulma devastated and confused by his behavior. She ran out of the restaurant in her hopes of following them, but they were already gone.

Not far away from where she ran off too, Mago was standing, witnessing how Vegeta and Whis took off and the human girl tried to chase after them.

Mago let out a bloodthirsty smile as she watched Bulma stare up into the skies.

Target found.

---

"Hakaishin-sama! Thank you! Thank you for hearing my prayer!" Ash exclaimed, falling down to his knees and worshiping the presence of a god before him.

Vegeta ignored the human's unneeded adulation toward him and walked to the bed where the terminally ill six-year-old human girl, Yesha, lay sleeping. The child had been diagnosed with a type of childhood cancer which affected her brain and other important body functions. Her condition was inoperable and while radiotherapy and medication helped with making the progression of the disease slower, the doctor said that there was no hope for any improvement. Soon, her condition began to deteriorate rapidly, causing her to have difficulty with breathing, eating, and speaking. Right now, she laid in a deep sleep on that bed, all thanks to the sedatives administered to her. A few moments earlier, Ash witnessed a heartbreaking moment of his beloved daughter's agony as she suffered the pain of her incurable condition. It was very very disheartening for a single father to see his only daughter succumb to the cruel effects of such a disease especially when he was aware at how utterly helpless he was to bring her any comfort.

What made it worse was the fact that his only daughter asked him to just let her die as she couldn't take the pain any longer.

Ash and Yesha lived a deprived life. Yesha's mother passed away when she gave birth to the beautiful girl while Ash was born with a severe learning disability which inhibits his everyday life. Because of this, he had a hard time looking for a proper job. While he did have a job as a crew in a small fast food chain, what he earns from it was too scarce to sustain even their daily needs. When Yesha was hospitalized and was diagnosed with childhood cancer, he used up all resources such as the money Yesha's mother left for him to use during emergency purposes, and health assistance. Right now, they were left with nothing. It was already hopeless.

He heard of rumors about a certain ritual that could summon a God of Destruction. It was the talk of the town after what happened to the Dark Destroyers' concert. He listened to the conversation of two women. One of them suggested for the other whose mother was also in the Intensive Care Unit that she should call for the God of Destruction's help to ease her mother's pain by giving her a quick and painless destruction. When Ash returned to his daughter, he found her crying out in extreme agony, asking her father to just let her die. Ash's heart broke at how helpless he was in this situation. He couldn't take it anymore.

That's why he did the ritual to summon the God of Destruction.

"I am Vegeta Yonsei, the God of Destruction responsible for death and devastation. You called for me wanting to wish for me to save your daughter from her illness," the Hakaishin told him. "I am a destroyer god, I cannot do such a thing."

"You can't?"

Vegeta shook his head.

"Then what can you do to save my Yesha-chan?" Ash asked.

Vegeta darted his dark eyes on the side without saying anything.

"..."

"Please… Hakaishin-sama. Tell me what you can do to save her?"

Good question. Vegeta wondered. He held the life of this young girl at his fingertips. Her father was willing to sacrifice his own soul for him to save his beloved child. But Vegeta was never meant to save a life that was already doomed. It's going to be against his nature as a deity of death.

What happened with Hikari Ishida was different from Yesha's situation. Hikari was saved by Miho, and it would only take her some convincing or her own actions to save her best friends' life. Hikari wasn't as hopeless as Yesha so she was able to cheat her death, and for that she would pay the price of having an even worse deadly fate in the future once it's her time to die, and it would only be a matter of time before that happens. This poor child however, truly has no way to be saved by mortal hands, as her life slowly but surely depletes. Her death has already been decided, unless Vegeta directly interferes with that. And the only way he could save the girl's life in a proper way for a God of Destruction was to give her an earlier death.

But… That's not an answer his summoner would want to hear.

"Please, I will do anything for you to save her," Ash pleaded.

Vegeta remembered Granolah's words to him in the Sacred Space of Spirit and Time.

"There is a reason why you were placed in that position of power, Vegeta-sama. Your power is all about death and destruction, yes, but you decide when you should use it or not! It's just like how you offer us your contract, we are allowed to choose whether we go through it or not... Isn't that right? What's the point of your contract? Was it really just because you just wanted to destroy your target or your contractees? Or was there something else behind it? Think about it. Just like me, I know that you have a choice on how you will use your powers…"

"Did you know that making a wish to a God of Destruction would cost you your own soul?" asked Vegeta to Ash.

"Yes, I heard it from those people earlier. You may go ahead and take my life, or my soul, or whatever you want if you must. Just please save my only daughter."

"Why?! Why would you throw away your remaining life as easily as that?!" Vegeta demanded him.

"Have you seen my poor child's situation? I couldn't bear to see my dear Yesha-chan in that state! I don't know if you already heard this, but a parent's love for his child is immeasurable! I may not be normal but just like any parent would do, I will do anything to save my daughter, even if it means my death!"

"This, again!" Vegeta thought to himself. In his mind, he recalled that day when he was a five-year-old Saiyan mortal and heard his father, the King, in the throne room talking about giving him to Freeza. He recalled the emotional pain he felt that night and the betrayal of his father. Vegeta felt a pang of jealousy grow in his heart. How he wished his father had the same courage and honor as Ash. This disabled human man, as weak and powerless as he was compared to the King of all Saiyans, was more an honorable parent than his own jerk of a father. Yesha must be a lucky young girl to be loved by such a pure, wonderful parent.

He wanted to show Ash his mercy. For the second time, he felt pity for a mortal, but he could not save Yesha. He was a God of Destruction, the deity responsible for the death, misery, and punishment of mortals, not of healing.

"Then what would you want me to do? I am a God of Destruction, I cannot grant your daughter healing or any other comfort aside from death or destruction itself," Vegeta told Ash. "There is no other choice. The only option for you to save her was to set her free from her pain and suffering in this world. I will have to give her an early death."

"..."

Ash was completely devastated. He fell to his knees, crying.

"I will give you time to think of your options. Just remember that when you agree to do a contract with me, I will have to destroy your soul just as I would do to your daughter. When you have decided, just call me by my name and I shall appear before you to destroy your daughter's existence."

"Wait… Vegeta-sama," Ash called, grasping the God of Destruction's hand to prevent him from leaving.

"What is it?"

"You can do it now, can't you?" Ash said.

Ash went to his daughter's bed, he drew her closer to him, cradling her in his arms.

"Yesha-chan, my baby," he said, smiling at her adoringly. "This is papa. I'm so sorry that papa couldn't do anything to save you. I'm so sorry for being a terrible and useless father to you. If only papa was rich, I could have probably given you more time to enjoy the beautiful life in this world. But… But..!"

Vegeta simply watched them with a stoic expression. The truth is, even money won't be able to save her. It may prolong her life, suppress the pain, or possibly cure her. It definitely would have made things a little better for the father and daughter, but fate had different plans. It was their fate to become like this.

And it's not even their fault.

It was said that children are often cursed to suffer a miserable life as punishment for their parents' wrongdoings. Sometimes, it would even take up to the tenth generation until the God of Destruction's wrath to said bloodline is appeased. Ash and Yesha are descendants of a cursed bloodline that once angered the God of Destruction over two hundred fifty years ago. But unlike that specific ancestor, Ash and Yesha were both pure-hearted people. Their fate was simply the result of a curse bestowed to their great-great grandfather who once mocked the God of Destruction.

That knowledge made him feel pity towards those two humans. He watched as Ash cried while embracing his only daughter. Vegeta wondered if he was also cursed this way not only because of his own selfish ambitions and the sins he racked up himself, but also because of his father's sins that once provoked the previous God of Destruction's wrath.

He began to wonder, if he destroys the cancer cells, the cause of Yesha's illness, using his power, could he save the girl's life? But… as a God of Destruction responsible for the death and devastation of all that exists in this Universe, was this the right thing for him to do? If he does that, would she be cursed to suffer an even worse deadly fate than dying here?

Ash raised his tearful eyes to look up to Vegeta, and said, "Please, Vegeta-sama. Go ahead and proceed."

Vegeta raised his hand, his palm facing the embracing father and daughter. Ash shut his eyes as he held Yesha tightly, preparing for any pain he was expecting to come.

"Destruction!"

Yesha's eyes flew open as she gasped out loud. Ash embraced her even tighter as if to protect her from the pain of their own destruction. But Ash didn't feel anything. He squinted his eyes open, the God of Destruction who stood before him was gone.

What happened?

"Papa?"

Ash looked down on his daughter, who was looking up at him with eyes full of wonder and new life, as if she was silently asking him what happened.

"Yes, baby?"

The moment their eyes met, Yesha gave him a wide smile. Her beautiful eyes sparked with new life, as if all the pain and weakness had left her body.

The doctors and nurses witnessed a miracle happen the moment they found Yesha completely healed.

---

Vegeta was at the balcony of his dark castle, looking up at the thunderous cloud-filled sky, exactly at the point where he could feel the energy of what remains of his birth star, his kingdom, and the planet he was named after. He recalled the moments he spent with his father up until the last time he ever laid his eyes on him the moment he was given to Freeza. At that time, his young heart was filled with the pain and anger of betrayal since he heard his father's conversation with Freeza the day before that. He resented his father for simply giving him away as easily as one would give something they didn't value any longer. He remembered the pitiful excuse the King told him, that he was only forced to do it because Freeza threatened to kill them all, that he wanted Vegeta to make use of this opportunity to grow stronger and destroy Freeza for them one day. While that initially made the young prince ballistic, Vegeta later tried to understand and obeyed what was told to him.

But that doesn't erase the hurt and the bitterness he felt about his father's betrayal and cowardice. In his 1,500 years of being a God of Destruction, he had seen mortals sacrifice themselves for the sake of their loved ones, choosing their own death or Destruction in order to save and protect others. Even while being a planet invader in the Freeza Force, he had seen parents try to protect their children from him, despite even knowing that he would kill them all anyways. His father, the King of all Saiyans, the man he had greatly adored and looked up to in his early childhood memories, never had that kind of honor. He chose to save himself and sacrifice his own child in order for him to survive. His father never cared about his well-being. All he wanted to do was to use the prince and his power for his own selfish ambitions.

After all these years, Vegeta clearly hasn't forgiven his father for what he had done. When he was given to Freeza, Vegeta hoped that despite everything, he could forgive his father one day, but that day never came. If his father didn't defy Beerus at all, then Planet Vegeta may probably be safe from Freeza. If King Vegeta didn't give him to Freeza like some kind of toy, then he probably wouldn't be in this cursed existence in the first place. His father never loved him like most parents do to their children. Throughout the years, he had stopped thinking about that. He placed the blame on the higher gods for putting him to such a cruel fate instead, or perhaps, this was a curse to him to pay for his father's unforgivable sins. He saw his father as nothing special, a weak fool who never had the slightest bit of pride and honor and only deserved to be destroyed.

"Is something the matter, Vegeta-sama?" Whis asked in concern when he entered the God of Destruction's room and noticed his master looking up into the skies with a mixture of anger and sadness.

"That human, Ash Oshiro… What he did for his daughter made me think about my father," Vegeta responded.

"Ooh…" Whis murmured, not missing the unmistakable bitterness when he said 'father'. "Tell me, Vegeta-sama. How exactly do you feel about your father?"

Vegeta didn't answer this time but Whis couldn't miss how his jaw twitched caused by his tension.

"Milord, you have to tell me what is troubling your heart," the guide angel encouraged.

Vegeta lowered his head, his lips pulling away from his gritted teeth.

"Nothing," he growled before he shook his head. "I don't– I don't know!"

It was obvious to Whis that his master was feeling upset.

"From the way you reacted, it seems that you harbor such hatred and bitterness towards him. You haven't forgiven him after all these years, have you?"

"..."

"Tell me what you're thinking, milord," Whis encouraged.

"'A parent's love for his child is immeasurable! A true parent would do anything to save their children, even if it means their death,' that was what Ash told me when he asked me to destroy them. The last client before Ash, Miho, also said that if someone is important to you, you will do anything to save them. All these years, I have seen mortals sacrifice their own life and existence for the sake of their loved ones. While I am aware that we Saiyans weren't exactly as sentimental and emotional towards family compared to other mortal beings, the royal family was different…

"My father used to say when I was little that we are special, that our bloodline came from the greatest Saiyan warriors that ever lived throughout our history, that's why we develop close bonds with each other. We have better familial bonds compared to other Saiyan families because we believe that keeping such closeness would make our royal nature powerful, most especially of that between the King and his Crown Prince. He was the King of a warrior race and I was his only rightful heir. At first, I thought he cared so much about me. He may never have taught me anything basic because he was well aware that I can do things on my own, but because I found him a strong, proud, regal, and honorable warrior who carried the pride of the Saiyans, I used to respect him a lot. I looked up to him, wanting to become like him when it's time for me to ascend to the throne and rise to claim my birthright as the new King of the Saiyans even after I surpassed him in strength at the age of three. I knew he was raising me to one day become the Legendary Super Saiyan who would destroy Freeza and liberate our people from the Galactic Emperor's iron rule, but it never once crossed my mind that he was only using me for his own ambitions or that he only saw me as a tool he wanted to use.

"It was only after Beerus arrived on Planet Vegeta when I came to doubt my father's true intentions with me. That greatly affected my relationship with him. It was as if the image of the man I once looked up to shattered to pieces, and there was no way of fixing that. I distanced myself from him, and while he may have noticed this, he didn't try to care or ask me any questions. I thought that it was probably due to his pride that he didn't even bother asking, or maybe because he was simply expecting me not to dwell much about it. After all, I was already being trained to be as cold and heartless as possible in order for me to become the Legendary Super Saiyan.

"The following year, I overheard his conversation with Freeza. I heard that he was giving me away to that darn tyrant. He simply obeyed and allowed it without much of a word. I even heard him tell a royal guard who had more concern for my well being than him, say that he didn't care if I lived or died. All he cared about was overthrowing Freeza from his position and ruling the Universe! When I confronted him about it, he even had the nerve to tell me that I must use that opportunity to grow so that one day, I could destroy Freeza for them, just for them! How about me? I was a royal prince, sacrificed at a very young age for the sake of an entire race, and sold off to become a slave to the Galactic Emperor! That's when I had enough of him. He should have laid everything he had in order to protect me as his legacy, not give me away like I was a very unimportant thing so he could save his pathetic ass!"

Whis listened on as Vegeta bared how he felt about his father. It was clear that he was frustrated, bitter, angry, and he could possibly be blaming him for everything that happened to him.

"I think King Vegeta the Third was no different from any other mortal father," Whis told him.

"No, he's not," Vegeta disagreed, seething through gritted teeth.

"Why do you think so?"

"Because he was different. Clearly different from what I've seen. Different from Ash… And the other parents… From other mortals, too."

"Is that the reason why you stopped caring about him, sacrificed him and your people in exchange for the contract with Beerus in order for you to be saved and be trained by us?"

Vegeta was taken aback by the question as he felt an unexpected guilt, one of the feelings that a God of Destruction must withdraw from. It gnawed within Vegeta's chest when Whis asked that question. Yes, that was true. Since that day he was given to Freeza, Vegeta had stopped caring about his father and his people, only considering them as useless and weaklings. He never grieved for them when he heard of their tragic demise. He never even had any qualms or second thoughts about sacrificing them for the sake of him gaining whatever he wanted, and yet, look at what that brought him into. The same people were the ones torturing his head with their pained, endless cries every time he defied his duties as a God of Destruction.

"I understand that what happened to Ash-san and Yesha-san brought back that feeling of hate, bitterness, and guilt you once felt for your father," Whis said. "Let me ask you something, Vegeta-sama, Do you know exactly how your father died?"

"He was destroyed by Freeza along with the rest of the Saiyans and the Planet Vegeta," the God of Destruction grumbled as he replied.

"No, that wasn't it," Whis disagreed.

"If not, then how else would he have died so pathetically?"

Whis rolled his eyes at him while letting out an exasperated sigh. He took his scepter and tapped the end of it against the ground. Vegeta refused to look at what Whis was trying to show him, until he heard something that caught his interest.

"Listen up, the Crown Prince is probably being held on this ship so we must try to keep this place intact. Remember that we are the best among the greatest warrior race among all. We are going to fight for our freedom and save the Crown Prince from the evil clutches of that Emperor!"

It was the voice of his father, Vegeta recognized. He turned to look at the projection Whis was showing him. He saw his father whisper to himself, "Please be safe, Yon. Just wait a little longer. I'm coming to save you and we will fight for our freedom together…"

Vegeta watched him lead the soldiers of the Vegeta Royal Forces to attack Freeza's ship. They fought their way through the ship, battling and killing armored alien soldiers from different races that got in their way, until they reached the top where Freeza, whose image was cloaked in darkness since he doesn't exist any longer, was surprisingly waiting for them as if he was already prepared.

"Fr**za! I came here to retrieve my son and stop your reign of terror!" King Vegeta declared. The name of the once powerful emperor seemed censored like that from television shows.

What used to be Freeza's voice was static and broken, but Vegeta could clearly make out the words he said, "You're already too late, Vegeta. Your son isn't here any longer. I've sent him and his group to conquer a planet for me. I don't expect him to return, for I sent him there to die."

It was a lie, Vegeta knew. He was only sent to that purging mission so he would be far away when Freeza decides to eradicate the Saiyans along their home planet.

"What?!" King Vegeta gasped in disbelief. It was obvious that he easily believed Freeza's words more than the supposedly unbreakable bond he had with his only heir.

"By this time, I'm sure he's already been killed. But worry not, you will see him in hell soon."

The shock was eventually replaced by his grief and guilt after learning that his heir was killed by this bastard. With tears of regret falling from his eyes, King Vegeta desperately roared as he blindly charged at the shadowy figure that was Freeza. It made the God of Destruction cry out, "No!" as if the image of his father would hear him. The Galactic Emperor dodged and with a swift and powerful uppercut, sent the Saiyan King to his death in a single shot. This caused an uproar among the royal army but the evil monster simply destroyed them all with a flash of energy he shot from his red eyes.

Vegeta watched in horror, unable to speak. The corner of his wide, shocked eyes being filled with unshed tears.

"As you can see, your father eventually realized his mistake after he surrendered you to Freeza. He tried to save you but he ended up dying a quick death while doing so," Whis explained.

It took the God of Destruction several seconds to process everything and before he could even speak.

"Whis, why are you showing me this now?" Vegeta asked with a bloodcurdling growl through his clenched teeth, trying his best to keep his composure. His shock shifted to a grimace, trying his best to restrain himself from exploding with the emotions building up within his chest.

"So you would know the truth," Whis answered.

"Why just now?!" he roared. Tears fell from the sides of his eyes as he gritted his teeth together, shaking. His closed fists beside him trembled.

"I believe that there was no need for me to show you this until now," Whis responded calmly. "He loved you and he cared for you as much as other parents do, Vegeta-sama. Don't you remember that he tried to protect you from Beerus as well? And I'm sure that despite what you believed about him all these years and after what you did, there's more to him than meets the eye. His decision to give you away could be the most painful thing to him, but knowing how strong Freeza was, he knew he couldn't do anything. If he refused to give you away, everyone, including you, would have been killed. So contrary to what you think happened, he actually sent you there to save you. He knew you would suffer a lot under Freeza, but because he believed in your strength and abilities, he was confident that you would survive those hardships and one day, fulfill your destiny to become the Legendary Super Saiyan and destroy Freeza. Plus, he had the assurance from Beerus, he knows that the God of Destruction won't let anything bad happen to you because he chose you to become his successor."

"What? My father knows that?"

"Yes, so I know he will understand your reasons and he will forgive you for it. I'm sure that if he could see you right now, he would be very proud of you, of how powerful you have become, and for everything that you did. The only thing that he would be disappointed about was how you have forgotten who and what you are. So now that you know the truth, you should understand him now, and you should forgive him too."

Vegeta couldn't help it any longer. He tried to stop the feelings of guilt gnawing at his chest but his mortal memories and his emotions were gushing out from his supposedly cold and hardened heart. He grabbed the sides of his head, tears kept flowing from his shut eyes as he fell to his knees on the floor. He could hear their voices, especially that of his father's, all his people whom he sacrificed and cursed to suffer in that place of eternal suffering that was even worse than hell itself, screaming in utmost agony. They were calling out to him for help. They wanted him to save them, to protect them, to liberate them from their sufferings.

"Yon…"

"Your highness…"

"Vegeta-sama… "

"Help us…"

"Save us…"

"I'm sorry. Forgive me…"

He threw his head back and let out a loud, emotional cry. A flash of blinding golden light began to engulf him and his form became as unapproachable as the sun.

"Vegeta-sama!" Whis shouted as he found Vegeta's ki continuously building up and at every moment, he was slowly losing control. Was it wrong for him to tell him this?

The fragments of reality, time, and space along with the otherworldly dimensions of the Seventh Universe began to shake. The energy that surrounded him rose Vegeta to his feet and made him levitate into the whirling skies as his eyes rolled at the back of his head.

"Aaah… Ah! Gaaah! Raaaaaugh!" he cried out as he powered up and began to transform.

He lowered his head to stare down at Whis. He was in his Ultra Ego form by now, engulfed by the purple fire of his God of Destruction power. His eyes were completely blank, his pupils and irises gone, but his scleras were glowing entirely with magenta light. He tilted his head into the skies, and disappeared in a straight streak of purple light and flame.

He was here once again, after 1,239 years. Back then, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't break this ultra-powerful force field which prevented him from entering Mu. Even until now, the identity of that being who continued to curse him to be tortured by his people's agonized screams whenever he refused to do his duties as a God of Destruction, was still unknown to him. Despite that, he will not allow that darn being to use it to control him any longer.

He saw the remains of his people still attached to the cursed tree, their souls trapped inside the Void of Nothingness, continuously crying out as they ceaselessly suffered in there while wandering aimlessly and painfully. The sight of them caused him to awake from his trance, his eyes reappearing to their normal state as unshed tears flowed from them, down to his cheeks and his chin, dropping soundlessly on the Sanju River below.

"Papa, Mama, Tarble, everyone, I'm here…" he said, his voice breaking. "I will get you out of there. You don't need to suffer because of me any longer."

Whis appeared behind Vegeta after chasing him as soon as he blasted off towards Meido. Shin, Enma Daiou, and Zahha went there as well, the four of them extremely anxious at what Vegeta was about to do.

"You must not do that, Vegeta-sama! If you do what I think you're planning to do, you could destroy everything! You must not enter Mu and free your people out there! It would create a rift in the balance of the Seventh Universe, which we won't be able to fix!" Shin told him.

"Mu is a domain that has ultra powerful properties which are different from the rest of Meido. If you destroy the barrier that holds the Void of Nothingness, something terrible would happen!" Enma Daiou tried to reason.

Vegeta turned his rage-filled eyes towards them. "Silence!" he harshly commanded them, giving them a portentous glare.

"Please, Vegeta-sama! Please calm yourself down and think before you act!"

"I said 'SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!'" the God of Destruction finally roared in pure, mighty fury. "I don't care whatever happens to this Universe now! All these years, I've been subjected to doing the biddings of those higher gods who use my people to force me to do what they want! I should have done this a long time ago! I will not allow those bastards to use me or my people like this any longer! I am going to destroy Mu, along with everything on it!"

Vegeta turned back to face and address the souls of his people, "You will all cease to exist, but that would be better than suffering eternally in this place or in Jigoku. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't know and for causing you all of this… I will make it up to you. Let me be your living legacy. I promise that you will all live and exist within me, through me. I will not just be your Crown Prince, but as both your king and your god! Let us be one, share with me your strength, your hope, and your pride. I will accept it all and I will save you from there. You just need to believe in me."

He removed the earring that puts a limit to his destructive powers and began to power up to his maximum.

"No! I will not permit you to do this, Vegeta-chan!"

Vegeta suddenly felt an extremely powerful pressure wave pushing around him, restraining him completely and distracting him from his power up. Yonshir appeared in front of Whis and the others, her hands raised forward in her effort to contain the furious God of Destruction.

"Let go!" Vegeta screamed as he flexed his arms, causing his aura to explode and effortlessly break the restraints Yonshir put on him, much to everyone's shock. The shockwave of his energy brought the five divine beings barreling backwards.

While they were stunned in horror and disbelief, Vegeta used this as his chance, he turned and raised his left hand forward. Meido began to tremble as he focused his powers of destruction in almost its full capacity into the entirety of Mu. Although Vegeta was never allowed to enter Mu, it still lies within the Seventh Universe. They say it has a different domain from the entirety of this Universe, that his powers won't work against this barrier. If that was true, then why were Shin and the others, even Yonshir, afraid of what he was about to do? Why would they even come here if they believed he wasn't capable of doing that?

He could only think of one thing why, and he was going to try that here.

"Destruction!" he commanded.

The said dimension pulsed, then abruptly shattered completely like it was made of glass before its broken pieces got turned into fine, black dust. What used to be a void of Nothingness where cursed souls wander aimlessly became nothing but just an empty, plain white space. Every single soul trapped in it all ceased to exist. The tree that once stood next to Mu was also destroyed completely along the corpses it held.

Whis, Shin, Enma Daiou, Zahha and Yonshir all stared at Vegeta with jaws dropped breathlessly. The five of them couldn't believe that Vegeta really destroyed Mu completely and canceled the curse that was put on him.

Now, the entire Seventh Universe and its mirroring Universe, Champa's Sixth Universe, could be in big trouble.

But Vegeta didn't mind that at all. All he knew was the fact that he's finally free from those voices and he began to laugh boisterously. The joy of finally being liberated from that cursed punishment felt great to him.

"Finally!" he grinned. It was just a relief that his mind was now clear of distractions and fear. He can finally do whatever he wants without hearing any painful screaming of his people in his head. He could still hear the voices and thoughts from mortals in his Universe, such as his summoners or clients, but at least, this was better than before.

"Unbelievable! He has completely destroyed Mu!" Shin gasped in disbelief.

"Vegeta Yonsei, how could you do this? Is this a declaration of rebellion against us?!" Yonshir asked him, shouting. She turned to Whis, whom she found smiling like he was more impressed by what Vegeta had done. "And Whis, why didn't you stop him or say anything to him?! You were supposed to control the God of Destruction if he's causing too much trouble such as this!" she scolded, causing Whis' smile to disappear and forcing his expression to become neutral.

"Whis knows me better than all of you. He is aware that I won't let anyone stop me from doing what I want, that's why he didn't make a move," Vegeta interrupted, finally facing them as he powered down back to base form while he reattached his limiter earring on his left ear. "Like I said, I should have done this a long time ago. Do you honestly think that I would simply let you higher gods use my people as a way to make me submit to your whims for all eternity? I was the Prince of all Saiyans, you may have been able to force me into obedience these past 1,239 years, fucked up with my mind, compelled me to close my heart off, but there is one thing that you failed to take hold of, and that is my pride!

"You gods have manipulated my fate all these years. From now on, I will be the master of my own fate! You won't hold anything against me anymore! I will not allow anyone to insult me or the pride of the Saiyan warrior race ever again!"

"Have you forgotten that you are no longer a Saiyan, Vegeta-chan?"

"Nothing could change the fact that I was once the Proud Saiyan Prince and that I will uphold no matter what!"

"Well, after you destroyed the trapped souls of your people here, you are the Prince of Nothing but a few asteroid rocks floating in space now."

Vegeta would have retorted at that blatant insult, but he surprisingly snorted back at her. "Maybe, but what do you even know? You understand nothing about my origins," he told her. He turned to his guide angel and said, "Let's go, Whis," before they blasted off back to their home in the Planet of Destruction.

"That little rascal. He's crazy!" Yonshir sneered in annoyance.

"Is there any way for you to undo what Vegeta-sama just did, Yonshir-sama? Like, maybe rewind time or something?" Shin asked.

"He destroyed Mu completely, even if I try to reverse time, there's no bringing it back," Yonshir answered coldly. "I didn't expect that his powers had grown this much in such a short amount of time. This ruckus could have caught the attention of the other multiverse-level gods. It would be more troublesome if one amongst the Destroyer Mercenaries makes a move to come over here."

"The Destroyer Mercenaries? You mean that special group of former apprentices of the Gods of Destruction from the erased Thirteenth to Eighteenth Universes?" Shin gasped.

"That's right. That's why you should be careful too, Shin. They may have little to no chance to fight against Vegeta but considering how you are the weakest among the Gods of Creation, it would be easier for them to make you their target if they want to threaten him."

Shin paled. "If… if that happens and Vegeta-sama learns about this, I'll be dead!"

Yonshir snorted, "Unless you get obliterated by King Mu, you won't die. You're immortal, remember?"

Shin sighed deeply, "You have no idea how fearsome Vegeta-sama could become when he's furious even about with the smallest of things! Should I start training too? Just so at least I could protect myself in case someone tried to take me as hostage."

Yonshir laughed, "Well, Vegeta is scary indeed. I've never seen someone as intimidating as him in my eight hundred million years of life. Do you need help with your training? I can help you, you know."

---

Even after Vegeta did that, there was still no escaping his duties as the God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe. At least, he had found a way to liberate himself from the agonizing torture he was bestowed upon by such mysterious being. Whis expressed how glad he was now that his master's finally becoming more of himself as he expected him to be.

When they returned to the Planet of Destruction, Vegeta sensed a few unexpected visitors who didn't belong in his Universe waiting for him there.

"What the hell are these things? Whis, have you been playing with dolls lately?" Vegeta asked, looking at twenty plain puppet-like mannequins standing with its backs on him at the entrance of his castle.

"Certainly not, milord," Whis replied.

The dolls abruptly moved in unison with a mechanical-like movement, facing him with terrifying blank faces as if they knew they just arrived and wanted to greet them. Each of the puppets had a life of their own. Suddenly, they all crouched down, ready to charge. This action caused the God of Destruction to be alerted of an upcoming attack.

With speed faster than light, all mannequins kicked off the ground to attack both the God of Destruction and his guide angel who both jumped back from the path of the dolls.

"I can tell that these dolls don't belong in my Universe. Who would dare to come in here and attack me? Whis, let me take care of this trash! Go ahead and find out who is behind this ambush and report it back to me!" Vegeta ordered his guide angel.

"I will do as you say, milord," Whis responded and he backed off from the battle. A few dolls tried to chase after him but Vegeta was quick to appear between his angel and the enemy.

"Oh no you don't! You plastic trash are going to fight me," Vegeta told them with a sinister smirk, instantly transforming into his Super Saiyan form.

---

Bulma was slowly walking back home when she decided to sit down by the park because she was still feeling down about what Vegeta told her this morning and what he tried doing to her a few days ago. He denied that he was forced and ordered to kill her against his own will like she believed, he even told her that did it on purpose. She should be feeling mad towards him considering the furious and emotional words he had told her that day. Perhaps, there could be a slight truth to what he had admitted. Now, he told her to forget about him and decided to part ways with her.

But how would she forget someone like him? Someone who had hurt her? Someone as unique and charismatic as him? Her heart broke when he told her that. Why does she feel like it was some sort of a deja vu? Like this happened a very long time ago? As if she heard him say those words once before but she couldn't remember exactly when and how?

She suddenly noticed a foreboding presence in front of her. She looked up and saw that the park was unexpectedly empty at this time during twilight. Only a lone girl wearing a long, black cloak with its hood over her pink hair stood about thirty feet in front of her. The girl's eyes stared at her ominously and silently. She wondered who the girl was, but immediately felt like she was a very dangerous being.

The feeling of something within her chest jolting made her gasp. Could the girl be a God of Destruction? But that's impossible! As far as she knows, there's only one God of Destruction of this Universe and that is Vegeta Yonsei. Who and what is this girl then? Is she one of the other eleven Gods of Destruction? Someone from another Universe?

She squeaked when she realized that the girl leapt towards her and attacked her, causing Bulma to instinctively dodge and narrowly avoid a slash of the girl's dagger, which could have cut her head clean off her shoulders.

"Wow, that was a lucky dodge," the girl told her with a sinister grin.

"What the hell are you doing?! Are you crazy! How dare you attack a defenseless lady out of nowhere?! And who the hell are you?!" Bulma demanded.

The pink-haired girl turned to face her, her red eyes glinted with her bloodlust.

"I am the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter, Mago. The apprentice and successor of the former God of Destruction of the Fourteenth Universe," she introduced herself.

"Fourteenth Universe? But aren't there supposed to be only twelve Universes?" Bulma asked herself.

"There used to be eighteen Universes, six were obliterated by the King of Nothingness two million years ago due to a heavenly war that happened," Mago answered Bulma's question in her mind. Bulma slapped herself in her imagination, forgetting that these damn gods like to meddle with the private thoughts of mortals.

Mago continued to say, "Because of the potential we held, all apprentices of those obliterated Gods of Destruction were spared and given a chance to continue existing in the heavenly realm where we work under the Multiverse-level gods. Our job is to step in case a God of Destruction failed to do his duties properly or a command given by the higher gods. That's right, Vegeta was ordered to destroy you but he refused to do so!"

"It's just as I thought," Bulma whispered to herself. Now she understood why this girl was here. It was to finish the job Vegeta was commanded to do.

"I'm sure you have already heard the phrase 'Before creation, comes destruction', right?" Mago continued. "It is believed that in order for creation and recreation to happen, destruction must happen first. Now, there exists twelve Universes and that there are beings called Gods of Destruction in each Universe, who are responsible for the death and devastation of all that exists in their given Universe. This Universe is called the Seventh Universe, and did you know that the God of Destruction of this Universe is the most powerful among all of the destroyers?

"That's right. The God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe, Vegeta Yonsei, is the most feared and most powerful among them all. Because of his Saiyan origins and his mastery of the forbidden technique of the Gods of Destruction, he continues to grow stronger every single day. There's no doubt that his powers right now may have reached multiverse-level.

"This is why the higher gods are worried and threatened of him. The reason why Lady Yonshir came to the Seventh Universe to make her observations. Those multiverse-level cowards may take precautions and would prevent taking any further action. I disagree with their way of thinking. I never liked waiting and observing in the first place, so I shall take action on my own in order to assert changes and prevent any ominous situation from growing any worse. So in order to see what kind of threat he actually is, I have made him a few toys to distract him while I take you in here to be the bait to lure him into an act, which I believe would trigger his explosive rage. I am going to destroy you here and see how Vegeta Yonsei would react to your destruction."

A wide, deranged smile crept out of Mago's pink-colored lips. Bulma wondered what she meant by wanting to see Vegeta's reaction to her destruction? Was she trying to trigger something in him?

"Once I do that, he's surely going to take some sort of action! Heck, I might be able to see him explode into his full power! That should be a beautiful sight to behold, especially if he awakens his true destructive potential! Hahahahahahaha!" Mago cackled.

"Are you crazy?! Why would you want to see that?!" Bulma told her. But what does Mago mean by wanting to see how Vegeta would react to her destruction? All she understood was the fact that this girl was trying to incur Vegeta's wrath, and basing on the stories she heard from Whis, triggering a God of Destruction's anger would mean wide-scale destruction. If Vegeta loses control of his unfettered divine fury, he could destroy everything! Does Mago wish to see the entire Universe be destroyed? Why does she even think it's exciting?

"A mere mortal human like you cannot fathom how boring immortal life could become, especially when you've lived millions of years," Mago continued. "It has been a while since I shed the blood of a mortal. Plus, I'm sure I can have so much fun triggering Vegeta's rage and checking out what made the higher gods so afraid about him. I don't really believe he could be multiverse-level in power. There's no way a lowly monkey like him is that powerful, but after knowing that, it made me want to test him out and see his capabilities for myself! So, why don't you be a sacrifice and die for his sake?! I want to see what kind of blood you can spill for me!"

Mago jumped forward towards Bulma, who instinctively managed to move away from her attack's path and run, but she was pushed back by an invisible wall that seemed to enclose the entire area.

A closed space! Bulma realized. She tried pounding on the invisible barrier with her fists, panicking. Let me out of here! Let me out! Someone! Help me!

She heard Mago giggle right behind her.

"It's no use. This place is now under my power. No one can leave or enter this place. Nobody is going to save you here."

Sensing her presence, Bulma let out a gasp and immediately inched away from the hunter. She grabbed whatever thing she could find and hurled it towards the hunter, but it collided with some kind of barrier and the thing– a piece of rock–immediately got reduced into fine dust as soon as it made contact with her barrier. It reminded her of the effect of Vegeta's destruction powers.

"It's useless. Right now, all that exists within this closed space is mine to control," Mago smiled.

Despite knowing that her efforts were pointless, Bulma threw anything she could find back at Mago, which immediately annoyed her.

"Foolish human. I already told you, it's no use no matter how much you try to fight back. You only prolong your suffering," Mago told her.

"As if I'd let someone like you destroy me that easily!" Bulma declared.

"How amusing. For a powerless human, you sure have guts. I can see why Vegeta took a liking to you. Very well, I am going to end your pathetic existence now!"

Bulma abruptly felt a numbing sensation run across her entire body as she froze in her position.

"I… I can't move!" Bulma realized.

"I told you that everything that's within this closed space is mine to control. That includes even you," Mago reminded her.

Bulma gazed at the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter with a terrified stare. Was she really going to die here? But why? That bitch said she would destroy her so she could see how Vegeta would react to her destruction? But that jerk just tried to destroy her a few days ago! Why would he even care to save someone like her? Although there was a tiny bit of desire which told her she wants him to still come and save her. She wanted to call out to him, to ask him to save her, even though she knew that he wouldn't.

"Please, Vegeta! Help me! Save me!" Bulma prayed.

"Do you wish to know why Vegeta refused to destroy you?" Mago suddenly asked her.

What? How the hell was she supposed to know that when Vegeta refused to answer her questions?

Bulma couldn't even open her mouth to say anything so Mago decided to continue.

"It's because you are the reincarnation of his first love."

"What?" Bulma thought.

"That's right. He formed an attachment with a mortal 1,239 years ago, however, as you may know, those who associate themselves with a God of Destruction are always meant to meet their doom no matter what. Plus, a God of Destruction was never allowed to have any attachments towards any mortals, so perhaps, you could understand what happened to his first love, a.k.a. you in your first life. It was because of him that you suffered and died a terrible fate, and now you are trying to defy that same fate but it doesn't matter to us deities because in the end, nothing can change a mere mortal's destiny. You are all meant to die or be destroyed, in one way or another. You may have thought that associating yourself with Vegeta could save you from such cruel fate, but then, you must know that he cannot save or protect anyone. That's just how a God of Destruction does things."

Mago smiled, "He won't be coming to save you from me no matter how much you try to call him."

---

"Hmph! Is that all?" Vegeta snorted as he looked down at the pieces of the fighting mannequins he had effortlessly dismantled with his raw strength alone. He scowled deeply, he can't help but think that there's something wrong going on in here. What were these things in the first place? Who dared put them here? Who was behind these puppets? Surely, there was a mastermind manipulating these dolls somewhere.

He tried to call on Whis to ask for reports about what he found out when he perceived an upcoming presence with amazing speed coming right towards him.

"Tch! What a nuisance!" he growled.

With a graceful wave of his right hand, Vegeta instantly created a sword made with his ki. He quickly turned around to face the upcoming attacker. It was another mannequin, but different from the others that attacked him from earlier. It was almost human-like but very beautiful, with her golden curls and baby blue irises, wearing a white, ruffled dress. It was carrying a scythe engulfed by destructive energy. Vegeta effortlessly penetrated his energy sword through the doll's chest until it got pinned down against a crater the impact of Vegeta's strength created on a rock formation.

"GRAAH!"

With a yell, a boisterous thunderclap resounded as a huge lightning bolt struck from the thunderclouds across the sky, exploding into the mannequin which caused it to burst into pieces. What remained pierced on the ground was the spirit of a female warrior with red hair and brown eyes.

"So it's you, huh? I'm rather disappointed to be able to defeat you so easily. I expected something more entertaining," Vegeta said to the unwelcomed spirit warrior. His voice was icy despite the smirk he had on his lips.

"You are… the God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe, Vegeta Yonsei. The Destined Strong One."

"That's right. So what?" he said cockily. "Now tell me, spirit bitch, what is your master's name and where did you come from?" he interrogated.

"Do you honestly think I would tell you, monkey?"

"Nope. Just checking. Considering how that stupid master of yours sent his useless peons to attack me, I would say he's pretty dumb. Are you both seeking your own destruction? How foolish! Now then, how should I destroy a pest like yourself?"

The spirit warrior, Merian, began to chuckle in a portentous way.

"What's funny?" Vegeta asked.

"So it is true that amongst the Gods of Destruction, you are the most ruthless one. I can see why the Kings of All and Nothingness favor you. Your abilities make you the perfect tool for destruction. You may destroy me as you wish, I don't care since I have already done my purpose here."

This time, the cocky smirk faded from the God of Destruction's lips.

"What did you say? What purpose are you talking about?"

"That's right. What if I tell you that while you are busy fighting here, my master has already found what she's been looking for?"

"What the hell are you on about?!" Vegeta demanded. He held up his hand, ready to use his power as a God of Destruction to destroy this spirit warrior from its existence. "Tell me now, or else I will destroy you here and now! Who and where is your master?!"

Merian laughed boisterously like a deranged banshee, "Mago-sama has finally found your weakness. She has gotten her hands on your beloved Bulma! Ahahahahaha!"

"Mago?! Did you just say the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter, Mago?! One of the Destroyer Mercenaries? That Mago?!"

Upon knowing who was behind this attack, Vegeta began to worry. He wasn't particularly concerned about Mago being a threat to him, in fact, he knew he could take her on if she were to fight him here. What he was perturbed about was what Merian just revealed to him. Mago has sent her toys to be a distraction to him so Mago could hunt for Bulma. Considering how the Grand Priest had ordered him to destroy Bulma, which he defied, Mago was sure to do that command which he failed to do. His first instinct was to seek Bulma's existence, completely aware that she's in great danger. But…

"Bulma?! I can't sense Bulma's existence! What the hell is going on?!" he realized.

"No! This can't be!" Vegeta gasped to himself, falling to his knees. This revelation caused him to lose his Super Saiyan transformation as he went into shock. The fear he had when he left her at the Ox-King's Sushi Restaurant came back to haunt him. It's exactly as he thought would happen. He tried to be the one who runs away from her this time, but it still ended up with the same ending as she had in her first life.

Actually, even worse. Because if she was indeed destroyed, it would only mean that she would stop existing. She will never be sent to the Otherworld or be reborn again.

Ba-bump! Ba-bump!

His heart, the one thing that he thought was already long gone, was in pain. The very thought of losing Bulma just as he had lost her in her first life made his heart sink with feelings that he was never allowed to feel as a God of Destruction. Guilt, regret, grief, and fear, all of it due to his inability to protect someone who was important to him once again. He was scared. He had thought that after he had successfully liberated the souls of his people from the curse of endless torment in Mu, his own pain and suffering would disappear.

He was wrong.

What should he do now?

The God of Destruction began to think.

He had wanted to be with Bulma forever. He doesn't want to lose her. The thought of losing her for all eternity brought pain in his heart and tears in his eyes. It broke through the cold, callous shell of his hardened heart and a burst of emotion flowed out of it. Those thoughts created fear in him. Fear which he had never felt before. Fear that's enough to make him hesitate to destroy for the first time in his 1,500 years of being the God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe.

He was the God of Destruction, he had become one because he wished to become one. That is who and what he is now. He was always meant to kill and destroy no matter what. Yet, he was also once the proud prince of the mighty Saiyan race, a fierce warrior bred to fight, raised to be a fearless, savage fighter who would do anything to win without hesitation.

And because of that, he should fight, kill, and destroy those who would get in his way, his enemies. However, he was not meant to save or protect anyone.

He wondered if Bulma would want him to save her. If she called for him to save her, what would he do then? What would he do to save her if he cannot save anyone?

Fight. Kill. Destroy.

He would fight, kill, and destroy just as he was expected to do, like what a true God of Destruction and a proud Saiyan warrior would do.

That's the answer he was seeking. Yet, this answer was unacceptable in his heart, because he knew that if he does that, then he might risk losing control of himself and destroying everything that's around him, including her. That was the danger of him using the forbidden Secret of Self-Indulgence technique. There's always a risk of him being unable to get a hold of himself as he delve deeper on what his instincts crave for. That's what made him so afraid right now. If he decided to fight, kill, and destroy those who threatened them, then he would bring greater danger to Bulma's life and existence.

His heart… is in pain…

"Bulma…" he began to whimper, his voice breaking as much as his heart.

Sensing that Vegeta's fighting spirit had finally been broken, Merian said with a cruel smile, "Hmph! I think you already realized what I'm saying. You were ordered by the higher gods to destroy that human girl, yet you defied the command given to you, so the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter decided to step in and hunt for her. Judging by your reaction, it seems you cannot sense the human girl's existence any longer, which only means that she's already caught and probably has been destroyed."

"..."

"Sorry for the shock, but this is what happens when you defy those who are higher than you. May this serve as a lesson learned. You must always remember that a God of Destruction like you is never allowed to form attachments with mortals no matter what."

Ba-bump! Ba-bump!

Vegeta gasped, sensing something. He tried to identify this feeling, and realized that the bond he shared with Bulma was still there in his heart.

"No… I can still feel her. Bulma is still existing somewhere. She's calling out to me. She wants me to save her," he thought when he heard Bulma's desperate prayer for his help. He closed his eyes to concentrate his thoughts on the bond. "Where are you, Bulma? Tell me. Lead me to where you are and I will come to you!" he asked through his thoughts, reaching out to her through the bond they shared.

---

Bulma lowered her eyes, realizing that Mago was right about that. She suddenly remembered the look of utter frustration in Vegeta's eyes the last time she saw him. At first, she could not understand why he tried to kill her back there, but when he hesitated, she thought that there must be something that's making him feel so mad with her, or more so, with himself.

She knew he was being forced to destroy her, but he couldn't find himself to do so. She was aware of the times he tried to destroy her but he would always hesitate. She always felt that she was able to break through his hardened heart and that he was beginning to care for her in his own way since he had been trying to protect her, yet he denied such accusations. Someone much higher than him could be behind this. Someone ordered him to destroy her for some reason, but he just can't. He couldn't find himself destroying her like how he usually does to other mortal beings.

After what she had learned, she was beginning to understand him now.

So she was the reincarnation of a mortal woman with whom he first shared his feelings with. That probably explains a lot why they were bonded by fate, and why he was so mad at her the last time he tried to destroy her. She remembered his expression before he left her at the restaurant a few hours ago. It was as if he was afraid of her, or worried about her after she admitted her feelings for him so he tried to avoid her and run away in his hopes of protecting her from him.

Bulma felt bad for him. Whis made her aware how much Vegeta was suffering internally due to him being a God of Destruction. He had thrown away everything for him to become the most powerful God of Destruction among all, and because of her, he was beginning to question his resolve. All he truly wanted was to become what he used to be when he was a mortal Saiyan warrior. To fight as hard as he can without anything holding him back. For him to be free from anything that controls him. To be able to do what he wants without being forced or ordered what to do.

To be truly self-indulgent with his true nature.

To fight to find out the greatest strength.

Being a Saiyan Warrior, his strength mattered to him the most, he even prided himself with his own strength. All his life he had been fighting to become the strongest. This was going to be his chance to fight again and to grow even stronger. She hoped she could tell him that it's alright. That she accepts him for who and what he is. That he can become what he would want to be and she will support him whether he wants to be a God of Destruction or a Saiyan Warrior. That whichever path he takes, he is and will always be the strong and proud Vegeta Yonsei to her.

The man she chose to love.

And for some reason, she knew he heard her thoughts and that he made up his mind. She knew he's going to fight. She knew he was coming! How she was able to tell that, she had no idea, but she guessed that's what it means to be bonded to him.

They were bonded by fate after all.

"No, you're wrong!" Bulma responded through her thoughts, imagining her hands clasping together in front of her chest, closest to her heart. "I can feel him. He's made his decision. He's coming. He's coming to save me. Vegeta. I'm here. Come!"

She knew he was seeking her so she tried to call him out through their bond.

Mago rolled her ruby-colored eyes, "Whatever. Go ahead and believe your wishful thinking. It's time for me to destroy you. Don't worry, I will make it quick and painless. It's a mercy coming from a divine being such as myself."

Mago leapt forward towards her with supersonic speed, causing Bulma to just helplessly stare at the upcoming dagger that's about to slash her head off.

---

"This voice… This is Bulma's voice! I knew it!" Vegeta recognized. He raised his eyes, sparking with new determination. His lips widened into a smile, which caused Merian to think he's going deranged. "She's calling out to me. Bulma… I heard you. Wait for me. I am coming!"

That's right. He heard her, felt her, sensed her. Her existence, her voice, her encouragement. She has finally accepted him for who and what he is. She urged him to fight the way he wanted to. She believed in him and what he could do with all her heart.

That's why he is going to fight back. He would fight, kill, and destroy just as he was always meant to be.

It's finally time for destruction!

"Heh. Heh... Heh, heh, heh," Vegeta began to chuckle darkly as his obsidian-like irises began to flash a reddish pink hue as thoughts of his desire for destruction shrouded his mind.

Merian noticed this change in his behavior and asked him, "What are you laughing about now? Hm?"

"You imbecile. Have you forgotten who you're dealing with and what I am capable of?" he asked Mago's spirit subordinate. He raised his eyes to give Merian a portentous glare, which caused Merian to feel absolute fear and danger. She heard of stories about Vegeta Yonsei's fearsome reputation being the most ruthless and dangerous deity among the Universe-level gods. Some of the Multiverse-level deities were even cautious of him. Seeing his sudden change of mood, Merian immediately knew that she was going to be destroyed from her existence here, and without mercy.

"Let me show you the overwhelming power of the God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe!"

"Mago-sama will not take this lightly! She will never take my destruction by your hands in silence once she learns you have destroyed me!"

"Hmph! That could be, but when I find her, I will make sure that she would spend her last moments screaming in pure, blood-curdling agony," Vegeta told her with a frightening smile. Suddenly, his entire demeanor completely changed as it darkened into a cold, ominous, and menacing look. He raised his right arm forward, his palm open and facing the gritting Merian. "But for now, let me hear yours first," he uttered in a terrifyingly detached tone, causing Merian to fear him greatly.

Merian tried to retreat to escape Vegeta's divine punishment by turning away and going back to where Mago was, seeking for her master's help, but nothing would save her from Vegeta's wrath. He squeezed the air as he imperiously commanded, "Destruction!" slowly reducing Merian's entire existence into fine, black dust.

Merian gradually faded from her miserable existence, scattering into the wind until nothing was left on her. The last thing she saw was the scary smile that stretched across Vegeta's cruel face as he tilted his head as if he was mocking her. He slowly moved his right arm on the side, and fired a Hakai sphere from his palm. It exploded against an invisible barrier, opening up a portal from another dimension, which separated this place from wherever Bulma and Mago were.

---

A blinding light abruptly flashed right above them and a powerful burst of energy blasted through the closed space, causing it to crack and explode massively.

Bulma was thrown backward by the force of the unexpected eruption until her momentum halted entirely with her sprawled gracelessly on the ground filled with smoke and debris. When she suddenly screamed, "Owwww! That hurts a lot!", complaining about the pain that racked throughout her body, she eventually realized she can finally move.

Once the smoke finally cleared, she found Vegeta right in front of her, effortlessly blocking Mago's blade with just his index finger. Just his index finger! Bulma gasped in awe of his superhuman strength. Her already frantic heart began to beat excitedly now that he's finally here.

"What?!" Mago gasped in disbelief. Vegeta wasn't supposed to be here! Merian and her dolls should be powerful enough to distract him while she enjoyed torturing the mortal woman. Why was he here, then? Does that mean Merian was destroyed?

"Heh!" Vegeta let out a cocky smirk, gazing at the pink-haired hunter with a haughty look as he grabbed the blade and effortlessly twisted Mago's hand. "You're pathetic! Your power over this closed space is too weak. I never had any problem breaking through at all. Do you honestly think you can distract me with your stupid puppets?" he mocked before his smile turned into a deep, intimidating scowl. "What the hell are you doing in my Universe, Mago?! You were only supposed to act under the command of a multiverse-level deity! Tell me, who exactly sent you here?" he demanded.

"Nobody sent me. I acted according to my own volition," Mago replied nonchalantly. She stabbed a finger on Bulma's direction. "You have been ordered by Daishinkan-sama to destroy this mortal being, and yet, she continues to exist in this Universe. Once a God of Destruction fails to do an order from the Multiverse-level deities, the Destroyer Mercenaries step in and do the job in your place!"

"There's no reason for me to destroy her yet. Leave her alone and get out of my Universe! You're not welcome here!" Vegeta responded icily.

Those words irked the hunter greatly.

"How dare you talk to me like that, you monkey?! My power and my position is above yours, Vegeta! Just who do you think you are to kick me out?!" Mago yelled at him.

"What are you saying? You pathetic fool, have you forgotten who you are dealing with? Just because you have the same powers as a God of Destruction doesn't mean you are above me! You are assigned to step-in for us when needed as ordered by the Multiverse-level deities, but in terms of your strength and destructive power? You, above me? Don't make me laugh. Let me remind you why I am the most powerful among all of the Gods of Destruction!

"Destruction!"

With a squeeze of his fingers, Vegeta completely reduced Mago's dagger into black particles, this caused the hunter to leap backwards to distance herself from the destroyer deity.

"Why you arrogant little– you dare to mock me?!" Mago yelled. "You are under my closed space! I have such an advantage over you because I have power over this place! You can't do anything to me here! As soon as you set foot in this space, even you are mine to control! What can you do to me, Vegeta Yonsei? No matter how strong you may have become, your powers won't mean a thing here!"

Mago raised her hands and began firing blasts after blasts of destructive energy towards Vegeta, who effortlessly and quickly nullified each of it with just a flick of his finger.

Vegeta suddenly pulled Bulma's collar with his free hand. Bulma felt something within her jolt as he made contact with her.

"Get down," he told her as he flicked his finger downwards.

Bulma was forcefully brought back to the ground after being able to barely stand, causing her to fall forward on her face.

"Ow!" Bulma yelped as her chin hit the concrete ground, grimacing. "Hey, what the hell was that for, you jerk?!"

"Stay right behind me and don't move or say anything," he ordered her.

Vegeta lurched forward, his poise abruptly changed as he instantly transformed. He crouched forward as if he was about to pounce just like how a cat does when it found its prey. Bulma realized that he was in the same state when he tried to destroy her last time, as she found his fingernails grew into dark, sharp, and long claws on his side and his tail bristled behind him. He suddenly disappeared from where he stood. And then, there were a series of powerful shockwaves that seemed to erupt everywhere at ultra Mach speed. Vegeta and Mago engaged in a fierce combat no mortal would be able to follow.

Mago was caught by surprise. Vegeta was supposed to be under her control as soon as he entered this space, so she could not understand why he was able to resist. She tried defending herself from his relentless assault but finds herself unable to strike back at him at all. What's with this guy?! He's actually better than she had expected! In her ire, she spread out her arms and released several blasts aimed to kill Bulma.

When Bulma realized that energy blasts were plummeting right towards her, all she could do was be frozen in fear and have a terrified look on her face. But Vegeta quickly appeared in front of her, engulfed with a flaming purple aura. He took a deep breath and unleashed a powerful, beastly roar.

"GWAAAAAAAAAAAAOOHHHHHHH!"

The mighty roar of Vegeta's inner beast resounded, and an invisible pressure wave burst out from his widely opened mouth, which instantly exploded all of those upcoming deadly beams. The force of that powerful blast pushed Mago back.

After that, Vegeta raised his right hand and hurled something towards Mago. A gigantic claw made of his energy came shooting right towards the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter, causing the enemy to inch backwards. However, the energy claw was too fast for her and was still able to grab her small body despite her attempt to evade it.

Bulma heard Vegeta muttering something incomprehensible. His lips moved so rapidly as he chanted some kind of spell in an alien language. Mago appeared to understand what he was trying to do and felt something within her jolt.

"Oh no, you don't!" Mago screeched. Several energy impalers suddenly appeared in the air above her and came flying right towards Vegeta and Bulma. It looked like those things could pierce through anything. Bulma had to turn her face away, shut her eyes, and prepare for her brutal death, completely forgetting that with her Universe's deity responsible for death and devastation by her side, protecting her, she would be safe from any threats for he won't let anyone lay a hand on her. If anyone dared to take her away from him, they would risk incurring the most powerful Hakaishin's wrath, and that would be something anyone would regret doing.

When Bulma opened her eyes, she found that Vegeta had taken the full brunt force of the attack head on. All those impalers were sticking out from his front to his back, and Bulma could see his crimson blood spilled all over the place.

With Vegeta in that state, the colossal energy claw squeezing around Mago lost its strength and the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter was able to free herself by using an explosive wave to reduce it to sparks.

"How long are you going to defend that mortal?! If we don't destroy her, she will keep on distracting you and you cannot fight at your full capacity," Mago demanded.

"Mind your own business. If you dare lay a finger on this mortal, I will destroy you, and I promise you that it will be slow and agonizing. I will make you scream and beg for mercy until I'm through with you," Vegeta warned.

"He's holding back because of me!" Bulma realized. "With me right behind him, he doesn't want to unleash his power!"

Come to think of it, this was the first time she would see him fight and she always wanted to see him use his powers in battle.

"Are you kidding me?! I came all the way here to see you fight at your full potential! No wonder why you lost to King Mu not too long ago! You're holding back on purpose because you're trying to protect and save something!" Mago complained. "What has become of you, the Destined Strong One, the supposedly most powerful among the Gods of Destruction! How soft have you become?! What a disgrace you are to the gods! King Mu should have obliterated you!"

"..."

Vegeta didn't answer. He was probably trying to decide whether he should unleash his full power or not.

"Vegeta, you can go ahead and fight as hard as you can. Give it everything you got. Don't think about me. I'll be right here," Bulma encouraged.

Vegeta's dark eyes moved to look at her in the corner of his eyes. He suddenly remembered Granolah's words to him back at the Sacred Space of Spirit and Time.

"The Namekians taught me that the strong should save and protect the weak from those who threaten to harm them! That there is a reason why the strong are blessed to have such powerful strength and that is to be a savior and protector of those who cannot defend themselves! They also showed me that emotions can also become one's greatest source of power if it's the right thing!"

And then that of Whis'.

"Choose your path, Vegeta-sama. Ask yourself, what do you really want? What do you want Bulma to do for you? What is she to you? What does she mean to you? If you determine that and accept it, then you can decide what to do. Remember that good or evil doesn't matter. What matters the most is what you think is right according to your own judgment."

Between destroying her or protecting her, the right thing to do according to his own judgment was to fight in order to protect her who cannot defend herself from the deities. That's his choice, his decision.

"That's right. With Bulma right behind me, I have something to protect. I have a reason to continue fighting. I am not going to hold back."

He nodded back at Bulma, smiling at the knowledge that he doesn't need to worry about anything. He could continue fighting without holding back for he has a new resolve to fight. He would destroy anyone and anything just to protect his beloved Bulma.

Vegeta turned his head back to face Mago, his eyes closed for a few concentrated moments.

"You have no idea what I learned through all of this so I don't need you or anyone lecturing me about any of that crap," the God of Destruction told the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter. "You said you want to see me fight in my full power? Fine, I will make sure that you will regret coming here to threaten me and someone from my Universe! I will make you pay!"

When his eyes flew open, his irises blazing with a fiery fuschia light, all that was impaling him was reduced to nothing but dust. Purple flames of his divine aura of destruction leaked out of the holes created by Mago's weapons and every single injury he gained regenerated. Soon, the aura began to engulf him completely as he braced himself to power up. His hands balled into tight fists on his sides as he flexed his arms and declared, "Behold! The overwhelming destructive divine power of the Seventh Universe's God of Destruction!"

And then, he began roaring lengthily.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

This caught Mago by surprise, obviously not expecting him to fight this way. She thought that with the mortal by his side, Vegeta would hold back until Mago managed to kill her. She wanted to see him explode in his uncontrollable rage and grief once he found her dead body in front of him, not use his full power like this to protect this pathetic mortal!

Also, what the hell is this pressure he's emitting? It's completely different from what Gods of Destruction are normally capable of! There's something… Something even more fearsome lying somewhere in there.

As Vegeta continued to power up, he felt his body begin to warm up. He could also feel his heart pounding within his chest, harder and faster. He was growing stronger and stronger every second!

"I feel hot! This heat... My body is being filled by this overwhelming heat! Power! My power is building up... It's overflowing! It feels so overwhelming! Nnnngh!"

Something within him snapped. He heard his inner beast roar in his mind, which caused the flames of his aura to explode in an instant, causing him to scream at the top of his lungs.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaahhhhaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaah!"

He threw his head back as his aura exploded once more. His back arching and he began to levitate off the ground. The closed space of the enemy began shaking.

"What?!"

Panicking by such an explosion of energy, Mago was taken aback. She tried to suppress him by making use of her power over this closed space, but Vegeta's overwhelming power was too much for her to handle, especially when he began transforming as the destroyer mindset required by the Secret of Self-Indulgence technique take over him. He was enshrouded by a whirling wall of purple flames created by his ki. The destructive aura spun around his form like a fiery tornado. Within it, Vegeta's screams continued. Bulma inched away backwards, wanting to avoid the fire burning the destroyer deity from within.

Once his transformation was over and the wild flames of his aura seemed to calm, Vegeta lurched forward, his eyes glaring back at the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter with an intense and piercing gaze. An invisible but powerful force pushed Mago away all of a sudden. As she staggered back, wondering what the hell just happened, Vegeta looked down at his hands. He was in his Ultra Ego form, but while he was under the influence of the Secret of Self-Indulgence technique, he realized that he was calmer and more in control now. It felt similar to the way he felt whenever he had full control of himself in his Oozaru form.

So this is the power brought forth by such resolve! A desire to protect and do the right thing according to his judgment while indulging in what he truly wants. He still has a desire to destroy, but instead of simply wanting to destroy mindlessly like a rampaging monster in order to satisfy his own primal urges, it's focused on wanting to destroy those who threaten what he must protect. Now, he understood what Whis and Granolah were trying to tell him all along. This power which was brought forth by such feelings. He can feel it flowing through him. The feeling he's been longing for for such a very long time. This is it!

Vegeta raised his eyes to glare at the hunter. A cocky smirk wide across his lips.

"Prepare for your destruction, Mago! It's over for you!" he declared.

In a flash, there was another but much fiercer fray between the two deities. Mago wasn't about to give up at all. Vegeta was actually impressed by her sense of pride, but was annoyed by her stubbornness for she refused to accept her defeat and hopelessness. She highly believed that there's no way he could defeat her here. This fight is just going to continue on and on until she destroys Bulma and see Vegeta lose control.

But Vegeta had no opening, she realized. Most Gods of Destruction would abuse their destructive powers during a fight and would spam Hakai attacks ceaselessly until they manage to catch their opponents and destroy them from existence. A God of Destruction's Hakai technique is their primary weapon, but Vegeta fought without using it. Despite being in his Ultra Ego form and utilizing the Secret of Self-Indulgence technique, he fought using his raw strength, expertise in martial arts, and basic ki attacks. It was as if he knew what Mago had been planning all along, and was preventing her from seeing what she wanted to see.

"It's useless. Why don't you just give up?" Vegeta asked her coldly.

"No!" Mago refused sternly. "Why aren't you using the powers of destruction? You are a God of Destruction so you better fight like one!"

"Trust me, I am fighting as the God of Destruction of the Seventh Universe!" Vegeta told her. "And I am going to punish you like one for coming in here, threatening me, this mortal, my guide angel, and for insulting the Seventh Universe!"

He unleashed a powerful punch to Mago's gut, causing her to cough out blood and become completely incapacitated for quite some time. Immortality doesn't make her resistant to bleeding and physical pain after all.

"How..? How did you manage to get stronger in such a short amount of time?!" Mago gagged out of her disbelief.

"You have no idea what it means to protect someone," Vegeta replied. "Don't dwell on it too much though, because by the end of this fight, you will be nothing but dust."

"Don't be ridiculous! I am a member of the Destroyer Mercenaries! We are stronger and more powerful than the twelve Gods of Destruction! There's no way a mere Saiyan monkey bastard like you could ever surpass us!" Mago yelled at him.

Vegeta observed Mago for quite some time, before he let out a dark, sinister chuckle.

"Heh, heh, heh... Are you really that afraid of me you are in denial? Do you honestly think that means anything to me? I'm sure you know that among the Gods of Destruction, I am the only one who has mastered the Secret of Self-Indulgence technique. Given my mortal Saiyan origins, so long as my fighting spirit burns, I grow ceaselessly stronger. I actually realized something just now... This rapid growth in power isn't simply just a gift, I am still getting stronger and stronger! And I will continue to do so, which means that soon I will be able to reach a level of power that's unknown amongst the Gods of Destruction. If this goes on, I am sure I will reach a multiverse-level of power soon! Hehehe... That's right, with the Secret of Self-Indulgence technique, I can surpass all of you soon! I will become the most powerful among all, delighting in destruction and battle!"

"Stop talking nonsense! You're nothing but a worthless monkey! There's no way that I will be beaten by someone like you!"

Vegeta simply snorted back at her, "Hmph! Believe what you want. It doesn't change the fact that you are no longer a match to me. You're boring me. It's time for me to finish you off."

Vegeta held up his hand, his palm facing towards Mago, who laughed at him.

"Are you going to use Destruction on me? Hahaha! You fool! That won't work on me! I am an immortal, just like you!" Mago laughed at Vegeta, but there was a frightening seriousness across Vegeta's face which made her laugh die down.

Ba-bump!

Mago suddenly felt something within her jolt, which she did not expect. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked herself as she stared at Vegeta's cold and cruel magenta eyes, silently questioning him about this.

"I already warned you once and gave you your chance. This time, you are going to be obliterated here… and by my hands!" Vegeta coldly declared. "And don't think that it will be painless. I will make sure that you will scream in utmost agony as I obliterate your entire existence. It will feel like eternity even if it actually is for just a brief moment in time. You better prepare yourself and make this fun for me."

Obliterate? What does he mean by obliterate? Mago pondered to herself in confusion. She found Vegeta's lips gradually turning into a wicked smirk, his reddish-purple eyes glinting with his destructive urge. He chuckled evilly at Mago, a cold, terrifying sound which instilled pure, utter terror in the Rose-Haired Ruby-Eyed Hunter's hardened heart. It was at that moment Mago realized why Vegeta was greatly feared for his sheer ruthlessness and cruelty. He doesn't forgive and would mercilessly destroy anyone who gets in his way.

"Obliteration!" Vegeta commanded in an imperious voice.

"Im–Impossible!" Mago screamed as she found and felt herself gradually but surely turning into black dust. She cannot believe it! She's an immortal, a God of Destruction's divine destructive power should not be able to do this to her! Vegeta used a technique that's exactly the same as what King Mu used to rid of immortals. So it's true that Vegeta has indeed surpassed a Universe-level of power just as Khalua, Daishinkan, and Yonshir deduced.

Unexpectedly, she raised her right hand and Bulma found herself being dragged towards Mago by a powerful, invisible force. There was a hint of unexpected surprise and worry as Vegeta's earlier confident expression changed when Mago grabbed Bulma by the back of her neck.

"Hahahaha! What's wrong, Vegeta? Have you lost your cockiness just now?! I can see you hesitating right now. I can't believe it! A God of Destruction hesitating to destroy! How foolish and weak have you become?! I admit that I lost to you. Yes, you may have won, but I will take your woman with me!

"DESTRUCTION!"

Bulma let out a gasp as she felt something within her chest jolt.