The mystical Island of Magus was located near the Eastern Sea known as Gandala, near Lacco Island and Paozu Island. The myth surrounding the island mentioned that this ghost island appears every 350 years and was home to various mythical creatures such as demons, fairies, nine-tailed foxes, werewolves, or the like. While this island was believed to be just a myth passed down by the people living in the surrounding islands, a number of humans claimed that this place actually does exist since a very long time ago. They believed that this island was once inhabited by people of an ancient civilization, only for it to sink when the Shinpogu known as the Nyoibo, was removed by some troublesome fiend from under the Eastern Sea.
The Princess of Saiyans (a namesake Vegeta bestowed on his cruise ship based on his mortal royal title) finally docked by the island's port. The God of Destruction led the group out of the ship into the island. The humans with him were all amazed at their new surroundings. They were surrounded by a patchwork of contrasting terrains: jagged cliffs plunge into turbulent waters, there were a few caves surrounding the island's interior, their seemingly yawning mouths beckoning the curious to explore their shadowy depths. The island had a heavy feeling into it, as if there was some kind of otherworldly energy filling its dense air. It was truly haunting yet beautiful. There was an unmistakable brooding sense of danger on it.
Which made this place perfect!
Rocky started his livestream on his vlog as soon as they approached the island, assisted by his friends.
They were greeted by a woman who was waiting for them at the port. The woman was Vegeta's summoner and client, Freya Ike. She approached them once she found him and respectfully bowed down before Vegeta.
"Welcome back, Vegeta-sama," she greeted. This 43-year-old woman had brown hair tied into a neat low ponytail, and wore a peach-colored square-neck sheath dress and a pair of sandals.
"Yeah, I told you I will return soon to investigate," he told her.
The villagers around them turned their heads in their direction, making the humans feel rather awkward, pondering why they were being looked at like that.
Vegeta sensed the dubious stares they were getting, but he ignored them.
"I brought a few people with me. I hope you prepared that much. We will be staying for a few days while I make my observations on this island."
"No problem, milord. I have prepared a place for you to stay in here," Freya told him.
Chapter 41: Magus Island
Freya led them to a small village near the shore, filled with houses made of light materials called 'Minka', or the traditional Japanese house, standing contiguously next to one another. The village was nearly empty, with a population of around fifty residents, mostly elderly. They were disappointed that they found that the island was inhabited by humans but they noticed that everyone was staring in their direction with eerie gazes for some reason.
"Hey, did you notice that everyone is staring at us? It's giving me the creeps," whispered Mint to Mocha and Vanilla.
Vegeta snorted out loud when he heard that.
The group strolled across the still and silent village, climbing a steep hill where they found another Minka standing alone on the top of that hill. Beyond that was a group of five mountains, the middle mountain was the highest point in the island.
Freya opened the entrance and allowed her guests to enter. She escorted them to an adjacent room on the other side of the house. It was a neat and very spacious room, enough to accommodate six of the nine people in the group. The floor was decorated with tatami mats. Freya slid another door open across it to show a similar room was also there, but this one had a beautiful view of the village outside.
"It's adequate," Vegeta nodded in approval. He turned to the humans, "You can stay in here. Bulma, Whis, and I will take that one," he said, pointing at the room with the view of the village. "Take a rest, we will begin the investigation in thirty minutes," he continued.
"Yes, we understand, Yonsei-san," Rocky said.
Vegeta told Bulma and Whis to follow him to the other room. Once he slid the door close, the surroundings changed as he created a closed space.
"Something's not right in here," Vegeta uttered.
"So you noticed?" Whis asked.
"Yeah," Vegeta nodded. "The humans on this island know who and what I am despite the effects of the Kawaru technique. It was only supposed to be Freya who should know me since she was the one who summoned me."
"What do you mean by that?" Bulma asked.
"It means that the people around here are not exactly human, but…" Vegeta turned and walked towards the window where he could oversee the entire island. He specifically chose this spot on the top of this hill just so he can oversee the majority of the villages like this.
His onyx-colored irises glowed reddish-pink and he focused his vision and his senses all throughout the island. He could see that all mortals were frozen in place within the closed space he created, aside from Bulma with whom the God of Destruction awarded special access by the pendant he just gave her earlier that morning.
"...They do not move within this closed space," Vegeta continued. "If these beings are truly of supernatural origins, they should be moving within this closed space. Ordinary humans should be completely frozen in place, completely unaware of what's happening, unless I give them special access like I did with you. I also did not expect any reaction from their cores of existence when I arrived here since I concealed myself in Yokori's guise, however, just now, when I leaked my powers as the God of Destruction, I still can't sense any reaction from their souls. It was as if their bodies were soulless."
"You mean they're like zombies?" Bulma gasped.
"Yeah…"
Vegeta's eyes moved towards the side, "There are a few other inhuman beings around, perhaps the guardian deities of this island. And then, there are two insignificant bastards with malevolent ki but they're nothing to be concerned about. I will let them be for the meantime, they're not my concern, unless they do something foolish like getting in my way."
"Are you sure it is okay to leave it be?" Bulma asked.
"Yes, those pieces of trash don't concern me. Their powers are too weak to deserve any of my attention."
"But–!"
"It's fine. You are with me. If you just stay by my side, then you have nothing to worry about," he assured her with a smile. "This isn't hard for me to deal with. It would just be a waste of time to concern myself with something so lowly. It doesn't matter though, we're here because it's more convenient to gather information. That's all."
He turned around to face the door where they came in and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"What's the matter?" Bulma asked.
"It's nothing," Vegeta replied.
"You should decide what to do, Vegeta-sama. You shouldn't keep this closed space up this long, else someone might take notice," Whis told him.
Vegeta nodded, "Right," he agreed, raising his right hand up above his head, and pointing his finger up. The tip of his finger glowed with celestial light which absorbed all the darkness of the closed space, returning the world to normal.
Vegeta went out of the room, followed by Whis and Bulma, and announced:
"Let's divide the group into three. I will go with Bulma and Whis, you decide who you want to be with. Just go around and interrogate the residents. If you find anything significant, just take note of it and we will meet here in two hours."
Everyone blinked back at him. It has been only a minute since they arrived at this place. Didn't he say they should rest first?
Rocky was the first to snap out of their shock and laughed, "Sure, Yonsei-san! Since Vanilla couldn't walk around, I guess we should let the girls stay here and let the guys take care of all the interrogations! After all, we need someone to look after this place, too."
"What are you talking about, Rocky? I think I can do just fine. How about this? We will interrogate the nearby houses surrounding here," Vanilla suggested.
Rocky scowled as he turned his eyes towards Vanilla, "Hmm… Fine, if you say so. Is that alright with you, Yonsei-san?"
"Hmph! Do what you want. If you think you can do it then be my guest. Just know that nobody's pushing you to do this if you're not well."
"First things first, why don't we interrogate the lady who welcomed us to her home first?" Braun suggested.
"My father worked as a fisherman in the port while I worked in the nearby market, selling seafood," Freya was saying. Everyone gathered inside Freya's room, with Rocky doing the interview, Braun doing the camera work, while Leiri was managing their live broadcast.
"Did he go missing with his friends because of an accident?" Rocky asked.
"No, they said that it was due to a storm that their boat capsized," Freya answered.
"What did the investigators find out?"
"They couldn't tell because the bodies were already severely decomposed for them to observe the cause of death."
"When was the last time you talked with your father?"
"The morning before the accident, before he and his friends went out to the sea. He told me that he dreamt of my mother the night before. She died due to cancer ten years ago. He told me that he saw her rushing towards me and holding my hand."
"I see," Vegeta suddenly cut in. He was leaning his back against the wall far from the group with his arms crossed over his chest. "You were supposed to die that day but your father sacrificed himself to save your life. He must have thought that your dead mother must be fetching you and he made a deal for her to spare your life and take him instead."
Freya's voice began to crack as tears formed on her eyes, "But why did he have to..?" she sniffed.
"Because he loves you and he wants you to live more," Bulma said.
Mint took some tissue from a tissue box and handed it over to Freya, who used it to wipe her tears away.
"Sorry about that," she sniffed. "Anyways, I don't believe it's a mere accident. The four friends who were with him that night held a grudge against him due to their envy. I believe they must have fought with each other and killed my father prior to the capsizing of their boat. I was told that my father's corpse was more decomposed than that of the others, meaning he must have been killed earlier than the other four."
"Where exactly did all this happen?"
"In the Great Eastern Sea between Magus and Lacco Islands," Freya replied.
"The Great Eastern Sea, huh?"
Bulma turned her eyes to the old poster taped on the wall across her. Was that just a coincidence? It must be.
Moments after that, the group left Freya's house and went separate paths. Vanilla, Mint, and Mocha interviewed the residents of the nearby homes while Rocky, Braun, and Leiri tredged their way to the more remote houses. Vegeta, Bulma, and Whis went the other direction as Rocky's group.
While they were walking on the streets, they were talking about what Freya revealed to them earlier during the interview.
"Is it true that her mother was fetching her and her dad sacrificed himself to die in her place instead of her?" Bulma asked.
"No, it must be the doing of a familiar spirit or a Yokai disguising itself as her mother. The spirit of the dead doesn't linger that much in the mortal realm and they all proceed to the otherworld to be judged by Enma Daiou where they shall wait for their time to be reborn unless they just ended their fourth life cycle in which they are judged for the last time and will either go to Tenjou or Jigoku where they will spend eternity for the rest of their existence. So Yureis who take the form of a mortal who passed away aren't the spirits of the dead mortal but Yokais disguising themselves as them."
"And he sacrificed himself to that Yokai?"
"Yeah, the problem is that their souls weren't there when I went to Jigoku. Even Enma Daiou didn't find their souls before his front desk."
"If their souls aren't in Meido, then that means they're still lingering in the mortal realm?"
"If that's the case, I should have seen them already. But no, they aren't here either. And it's not just about those five humans, everyone that lives on this island, aside from Freya, too."
"If this keeps up, this may cause an imbalance between the mortal realm and the otherworld," Whis said.
"Yeah," Vegeta nodded. "That's why I'm here to check things out."
Whis suddenly halted his steps and said, "Why don't you two go and do what you must. I have to go somewhere else."
Vegeta and Bulma turned to him, "Huh? Where are you going?" the God of Destruction asked.
"Vegeta-sama, you mentioned that you were being called upon this island, right? In what direction was it?"
Vegeta pointed at the tallest mountain. Whis nodded to him and said, "Alright. I'll go and see what's up there. Vegeta-sama, please don't make any unnecessary trouble while I'm not on your side. Bulma-san, I'll leave him to you for now," and he flew into that direction.
Vegeta pouted like a child, "What the hell was that all about? Hmph! Whatever. Bulma, let's go."
The two of them continued their way.
Bulma noticed the dense air surrounding Vegeta as they walked, passing by a small alley.
"Hey, Vegeta. I can't help but notice it but why are you letting your power leak out of you like this?" she asked.
Without looking at her, he asked, "So you noticed, huh?"
"Am I not supposed to?"
He stopped in his tracks, turned to her, and asked, "How did you know?"
"I'm not exactly sure how, but… how do I say this? You've shown off your powers quite a lot around me. I got used to it, I guess," Bulma explained.
Vegeta smirked back at her, amused. "Impressive. Ordinary humans aren't supposed to feel a god's power leaking out like this. It seems that being around me a lot has made your senses quite sensitive to the divine and supernatural forces."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No. If anything, it made you a bit more useful to me than I thought."
That brought a smile on her face, "Really? How?"
Vegeta didn't answer her question. Once out of that alley, they reached a small garden where three old women gathered to gossip about the group of people who just arrived that morning while they were peeling and chopping some garlic and onions. When they noticed the couple, they immediately scampered back to their homes as if they had seen a ghost, shutting down the gates and doors behind them.
"What?" Bulma mumbled angrily, feeling offended at their rudeness. Never in her life she met such disrespectful and cold people, well, probably aside from the person standing next to her.
"Hmph, so they chose to make this harder for themselves, huh?" Vegeta said with an amused smile before he shouted, "Come on out! I know you're in there! If you're not going to do as I say, then I am going to burn this entire village down along with all of you!"
Bulma gasped in disbelief and she slapped his shoulder, "Are you crazy?! Why are you threatening them like this?"
Vegeta ignored her as he continued with his threat, "You can't hide from me! I know you know who I am!"
There was no response.
"Hmm… So you have no intention of coming out, huh? Or maybe you don't believe me…"
Vegeta put his hand forward, his palm facing the gate, intending to blast it off with a ki blast. He frowned when he heard those old humans mumbling some kind of prayer, desperately seeking the protection of a savior from the God of Destruction. Those fools, who the hell were they praying to?
He smirked, finally blasting the gate. The elderly turned to him. Their faces were stoic and blank.
"So it's true after all. What Jaki-sama said was true after all. The God of Destruction truly has appeared to destroy us all!" one of the women whispered in a voice that's devoid of any emotion.
"Jaki? Who the hell is that?" Vegeta wondered to himself. This Jaki must be the reason why everyone seems to know who and what he is.
He crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Now then, as you can see, I came all the way in here because someone called out to me. I have some questions to ask you and you simply must answer them. If you don't answer, well, let's just say I'm going to break each finger you have until you decide to talk."
Bulma, who was looking at the posters taped on the wall, slapped a hand on his shoulder again, "Hey, they are elderly. Don't talk so informally to them," she told him.
"Who cares? Even if they're 75 or 80 years old, they're like little children to me," he grumbled, before turning to the elderly. "So… What's it gonna be?"
The elderly ignored him as they all continued to pray. Vegeta rolled his eyes, he guessed these fools didn't know that the deity they were praying to was him, as they all desired for the destruction of something they all feared and being miserable about.
"Hey, who do you think you're praying to, huh? I am hearing all of these because you were wishing for the destruction of the thing you were fearing the most. Fools! There's nothing out there to save you from destruction itself!"
He was still ignored. The elderly continued with their chanting.
"Tch! Such stubborn old hags! Fine, have it your way," Vegeta sneered.
There was a cracking sound as he telekinetically broke one finger from each of the praying elderly. They shrugged a little, but they didn't react as much as Vegeta would have expected. They should have screamed in agony at that.
"Hmm… No reaction?" he noticed. Was it because these people were just empty shells left behind when they lost their souls? They have probably lost the ability to feel pain because of that. But how are these people still moving and speaking even without their cores of existence? Was something controlling them? Making them some sort of puppet?
Such a nuisance. Even if he dares to threaten these soulless shells, they will not talk. He supposed that the people Rocky and Vanilla's groups were interrogating weren't talking either. He wondered what happened to this island in the first place.
Vegeta was deciding whether to destroy these empty shells or not. In any sense, where did the souls of these mortals go? Was it the same case as those fishermen who were found on the neighboring island?
Vegeta turned around and said, "Let's go, Bulma. I'm hungry. Let's eat lunch for a while. I saw a sushi restaurant at the other side of that alley we just went through earlier."
Bulma sighed.
They left the now demolished home and walked into a small, humble-looking restaurant that displayed a handwritten poster that read: 'Freshly-made sushi as you order!'
While Vegeta made his order to the cashier, Bulma looked around the restaurant and found a rather familiar poster taped on the wall of the restaurant. She knew she had seen the same thing in Freya's house and of those elderly women earlier.
Vegeta sat down at a table near the window, still scowling as he analyzed what he just came up with and Bulma followed him a bit uneasy. Noticing this, Vegeta asked her, "What? You found something?"
Bulma pointed at the poster taped on the wall, "That poster in there… I've been seeing that same poster everywhere. Does it make you feel something weird?"
"Hm?" Vegeta turned his head to look at what Bulma was pointing at. He put his right elbow down on the table and cupped his chin on his hand, "Hmm… No, it's nothing but an ugly-looking painting of what it seems is a Dragon King."
Bulma stared at him with an odd look. "You don't notice anything strange about it?" she asked.
Vegeta scoffed at her, "I couldn't care less about a stupid painting."
Bulma was astounded by his nonchalant comment so she took her smartphone and showed him an image of the original painting of the Dragon King that was created a few hundred years ago.
"Can you spot the difference?" she asked him.
Vegeta gazed at what she was showing him before he returned his eyes back to the poster taped on the wall. His eyes narrowed.
"So it's a fake?" he suspected.
Bulma's head fell downwards, "Seriously?"
She pointed out the claw of the Dragon in the image on her smartphone, "You see this? He has claws, right? Look at that poster, it's missing them. Do you know what that means?"
"Oh…" he replied with disinterest. "So it really is a fake painting then."
Bulma rolled her eyes off him.
"There is an urban legend about how a dragon god fell from the heavens into the mortal realm, lost its claws and its powers, and turned into a serpent demon lord. He was once known as Ryujin, the Dragon God, or the Yamata no Orochi when he became the eight-tailed serpent demon lord."
Vegeta's eyes narrowed. It's not like he didn't notice it at first sight or anything. The moment he found that same poster in Freya's house when he first came by after she summoned him, he already knew and saw the ominous symbolism of the said painting. He even saw the posters taped in the walls of the elderly women earlier. He was amazed that Bulma was able to observe such tiny detail most humans would easily pass off.
Yamata no Orochi, huh? Now that sounds familiar. He recalled that term Heles used to describe the same being that caused the first heavenly war amongst the gods and demons two million years ago.
"It is an extremely malevolent multiverse-level spirit deity that has the powers of chaos and destruction greater than a destroyer god. A long time ago, it rebelled against the higher deities and was a dangerous threat to the Multiverse, but the higher gods threw him to the mortal world as punishment. After it has lost its powers, it starts to seek a powerful body to possess in order for it to succeed in its plan to wreak havoc in the heavens and aims to destroy all gods, demons, and mortals alike. This creature was capable of fulfilling the darkest desires of one's heart just like we Gods of Destruction do, but it also can possess any being, and can spread its influence like a virus."
Now, that's making some sense. Was it possible that the humans were possessed by some sort of virus? Was this all the Orochi's doing? But didn't King Mu obliterate that thing a very long time ago?
And who the hell was Jaki anyways?
A worker from the restaurant trudged to their table to shakily put a huge tray of freshly made Maguro Nigiri in front of him.
"Oi," Vegeta addressed the lanky-looking boy. The boy turned to him, his face and eyes were as blank and empty as that of the others. He wasn't like this when Vegeta was talking to him as he made his orders earlier though.
Vegeta could see that his core of existence still had very little flame so he made use of such an opportunity to question the worker.
"Yes?"
Vegeta pointed a finger at him and tapped it on the human boy's chest. Something ignited as soon as the God of Destruction touched him and the boy suddenly collapsed on the ground, causing Bulma to turn her head to the fallen guy. She quickly ran up to him and asked him if he was alright, but the worker didn't respond at all. When she checked on the man's pulse via the location of his carotid artery, she quickly pulled away from him and gasped, "He's dead! What did you do?!"
There was no reaction from Vegeta. He simply stared down at the small ball of flame floating in his hand. It was flowing outwards as if it was smoke, and as it did, it got smaller and smaller until it was gone.
"I see. It looks like something is drawing out the life force of everyone around here. That could be the reason why the mortals here are soulless. However, it's strange that this one just died out once its core of existence was taken away," Vegeta said.
He wondered if this corpse would get up some time later like nothing happened or would it stay like that because of his interference?
"Oh well, I guess we just have to wait and see what happens to this guy," he thought to himself as he began eating his food as if nothing happened.
"What?" he asked Bulma when he found her glaring at him angrily.
"Are you really in the mood to have the appetite for that? Can't you see that someone just died right in front of you?" Bulma pointed out as she gave Vegeta a side glance, who was busy munching his Maguro Nigiri contained in a plastic container.
"And? So what about it? It's only natural because I'm here," Vegeta told her nonchalantly.
"What? But didn't you just say it's strange just a few minutes earlier?"
"I didn't say that."
"But I heard you. Stop making excuses. You know that this isn't just about you being here, right?"
"Fine," Vegeta sighed. "Forget about him. He will get up soon and be like the rest of the villagers."
"Huh?"
"Eat your food and don't worry much about it. Take this as a result of a God of Destruction's deadly presence. If you truly wish to stand beside me, you should get used to this kind of situation. Or are you having second thoughts about that?"
"Ah… No, it's just that… I can't help but think if it is possible that whoever is doing this is directing all the blame to you."
"Why would you think about that?"
"Because of what the women from earlier said. They were expecting you to arrive on this island and were obviously afraid of your divine judgment. Perhaps, whoever Jaki is, he must have used your name in calumny. An act of defamation, perhaps? He must have told them something about you being the God of Destruction. To make these people see you as a threat, that's why they appear to be praying for some savior to save them from you. It looked to me as if they were beseeching for protection from evil, which they could see in you."
"You're right. I noticed it but it was something I got used to. I was always and will always be an evil, ruthless god to mortals, so mortals treating me the way they do was nothing new to me. Still, praying for a savior to come and save them from the divine punishment of destruction? Pfft..! What were they expecting to come?"
Vegeta wondered if the savior was the greatest enemy Daishinkan told him about in that prophecy.
After eating lunch, Vegeta and Bulma left the restaurant and met Rocky's group.
"Did you find anything?" Vegeta demanded them imperiously.
"The people in this place are strange," Rocky said. "They're too tight-lipped, especially the seniors. Not to say the way they stare at us is way too creepy. Gosh, it's giving me goosebumps."
"Hmph! So they aren't talking too," Vegeta snorted. "Whatever."
"They did warn us about something odd, however," Leiri said. "They were telling us to be careful and stay away from the God of Destruction. That's all they told us before they shut their doors to our faces. Yonsei-san, is it really true? Are you really the God of Destruction from the urban legends?"
"Believe what you want," Vegeta answered coldly, turning around.
"Why did you take us here?" Rocky asked.
"Yeah, I knew that this vacation was all so sudden, but why?" Braun agreed.
"If you were suspecting my identity all along, then why did you still come all the way in here?"
"It's because… I thought it would be cool to be by your side, Vegeta-sama!"
Suddenly, the three occult-fanatic boys started to fanboy over him, making Vegeta flinch in disgust as he asked himself gloomily what the hell was wrong with these boys.
"We'll see if you would still find a God of Destruction cool when I decide to destroy you all later," a totally flustered Vegeta growled at them.
There was silence that followed that. Was he really going to do that? Perhaps, it was a joke? Bulma broke the stillness with a boisterous cackle, "Hahaha! Of course, he's just kidding you, guys! A God of Destruction will never lower himself to join lowly humans in an exploration of some mysterious island, right?"
The boys looked at each other and laughed with her. "Right! Hahahahaha! We're just kidding too. It should be just a coincidence that Yonsei-san has the same name as the God of Destruction! After all, the God of Destruction only appears during the hour of total darkness! Hahahahahaha!"
Vegeta awkwardly turned away from the noisy group to face the forest. He simply walked away from them as he said, "Go ahead and return to Freya's house. If you see Vanilla and the others, tell them to return as well. I will find a way and do this myself. Bulma, come with me."
Vegeta and Bulma left Rocky's group to stroll into the forest beyond the village. The boys told him they will see them back at Freya's house and returned there.
"Hey, Vegeta! Where are you going? Hey! Wait for me!" Bulma shouted at him as she tried her best to keep up with him.
"Why didn't you deny your true identity to them, huh?" Bulma asked.
"What's the point in hiding or denying the truth from them? Everyone in this place already knows who and what I am. Now that they have learned the truth and associated themselves with me, there will be no escape for them now."
"Are they going to die or face destruction?"
"They chose this path themselves. Like I said, they were already suspecting my true identity even during the Truth or Dare game, and despite that, they still agreed to come with me."
"You knew they wanted to come to this island, didn't you? And you used that desire to bring them here. Why did you do such a thing? What are you planning to do with them?"
Once he was surrounded by the trees, Vegeta halted his steps.
"I simply wanted to use them as my backup tools to gather information about this island and its people. Because there are times when a God of Destruction's divine and devastating presence disrupts the normality of the situation. And there are things which humans like yourself can only do and are useful to a destroyer god. That's all," he said.
"And they failed to do that because the people won't talk."
"It doesn't matter," Vegeta told her. "If the humans won't speak, then something else would tell me what I want to know. Humans aren't the only eyes and ears in this place after all."
The God of Destruction closed his eyes and put his hands together at his chest level, his index and middle fingers outstretched while his thumb, ring, and pinky fingers curled. He slowly let out a breath and calmed his mind, body, and soul, looking like he was doing some sort of meditation.
He concentrated all of his senses in his surroundings, seeing, smelling, feeling and hearing everything that's around him before tuning out what's not important to him. Then he suddenly began to mutter some sort of chant spoken in the language of the gods, his tone of voice cold and devoid of emotion, yet it felt so powerful. It reminded Bulma of that time when he summoned meteors in the sky for her.
"Kono reo Hakaishin Bejīta Yonsei-sama noko rimono tebesu nomononi kekabiyo mimino keomutaka, wugatashiyoni jimeisuma. Reoga tairishi toko wo shinaha, mo sushieote ako chinmaryo." he chanted these words which could be translated as "I, the God of Destruction, Vegeta Yonsei, commands everything in this forest to heed my call and obey me. Come and tell what I want to know and answer my questions."
The sky began to darken, a cold gust of wind blew around them. Bulma saw how the leaves on the trees danced along with the wind and how the clouds swirled up above the blackening sky. Soon, a figure emerged from the forest, it looked like a beautiful green-haired and gentle-faced female spirit wearing a long, pink dress emanating a powerful aura, but her energy was nothing to compare to the power the destroyer deity held.
Vegeta opened his now reddish-pink eyes, gazing at the approaching supernatural female he called forth. Bulma's jaw dropped at the sight of such mystical beauty.
Once the newly arrived spirit was about five feet before the God of Destruction, she lowered herself to her knees and bowed down her head, "I am Zchala, the guardian deity of the Takeko Mountains who oversees the Magus Island. I welcome the divine presence of the almighty God of Destruction to Mount Zeal," she said humbly.
Vegeta smirked in satisfaction, "You know me?"
"Your presence is too powerful not to notice, milord. I sensed your power when you created the closed space about an hour ago."
"I see," Vegeta nodded. "What is happening here and where are you from?"
"My apologies but I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"We were just here the moment we came to realize that we exist. For the past few days since the day we realized this, I walked into the villages of humans down the mountain to make an observation. They all seemed to be doing something normal to me until one night, a being who calls himself Jaki arrived.
"He was the one who told the villagers that everything on this island is nothing but myth to the humans who live outside of this place. That this shouldn't exist in this world. He said that once the God of Destruction learns about our existence, you will come to this island and destroy us all. Of course, that brought immense fear upon the people so Jaki promised them with some hope. He said that if they would believe what he would tell them, a savior more powerful than a God of Destruction would come to them and save them from their doom. The people easily believed in him and assisted him in preparation for this upcoming savior. They carved a path to welcome him, southeast of this island.
"Since then, death and devastation have occurred one after another. This brought doubt to the people, but Jaki was able to convince them that it's because of you. He said that every misery and death that occurred on this island was your doing. He also convinced them that once the savior arrived, he would bring those you destroyed back to life and everyone will exist forever in the Utopia this messiah will create.
"'Consider them as sacrifices for your upcoming salvation and eternal life. One day, you will be with them in a perfect world where no one will fear death and destruction any longer.' That's what Jaki told them."
"I see," Vegeta nodded. "Why are you telling me this then, knowing that I came here to bring judgment and destroy this place, which includes yourself?"
"Because it is the right thing to do, milord," Zchala said. "Plus, I sense that something very sinister is going to be created on this very island, and I'm afraid that whatever it is, it would bring greater chaos and trouble in the balance of the Universe than your divine punishment which is meant to protect the said balance."
For some reason, Zchala reminded him of Gevo, the guardian deity of the forest on Terra Eresei.
"I commend you for your honor and honesty, guardian. Well done," Vegeta told her with a proud smile. "Very well, you mentioned that they made a path to welcome this savior. Southeast of this island, huh?"
"Yes, milord."
Vegeta frowned, that's weird. The voice calling out to him came from the other direction, but he felt like there was something in the southeast that's attracting him like some sort of heavy magnetic force. What was this feeling?
"Thank you for the information. As your reward, I will grant you freedom from this place and you shall not fear your own destruction. You may go ahead and leave the mortal realm in peace and wait for your next assignment. This place doesn't need a guardian deity anymore. I will have the Earth's guardian deity assign you somewhere else."
Zchala smiled at him, like a child who was given a present she wanted, "Thank you, milord!" she rejoiced.
Vegeta turned to Bulma and pointed to a huge tree right in front of him, there was a thick rope tied around and across its massive trunk. "Bulma, could you cut that rope for her?" he told her.
"Me?"
"That thing is created by humans because of their wishes. Only a human can release its attachment to this realm."
"Oh… Okay."
Once the rope had been cut, Bulma handed it over to Vegeta who used his power of destruction to burn the rope and the tree. Zchala, who was now free of her duties, thanked Vegeta and Bulma with a grateful smile.
"By the way, I can feel that both of you seem to have an eerie connection to this place," Zchala said.
Now that caught Vegeta's attention, "What?"
"Hakaishin-sama, don't you feel something familiar about this place?"
He replied, "No, I don't."
"Oh… was I wrong?" muttered Zchala timidly. "But…" she muttered with a pout. "Are you sure that you don't recognize this place at all? I believe it's not just a coincidence that you were both called upon here. Anyways, please head straight north to the tallest mountain known as Kakazan. You may find some answers there."
"Kakazan?"
Vegeta turned his head to the north. That was where the voice calling out to him was coming from.
"Right, I understand."
Whis was looking down at what looked like broken pieces of a huge, round stone on the ground in front of him. He then looked up on the tall rock formation in front of him. In his mind, he recalled Vegeta's words to him when he returned from the heavenly realm after he rescued Bulma in the fake Universe.
"Something on that island was calling out to me," the God of Destruction said to him. As far as Whis was concerned, this place was the birthplace of the Seiten Taisei, who was born out of a round-shaped stone egg which was nourished by the powers of heaven and earth. The pieces of said stone were what Whis was looking at earlier, surviving even after 500 million years.
"Why is Vegeta-sama being called upon in this place?" Whis wondered.
Whis turned when he sensed that Vegeta and Bulma just arrived, the God of Destruction flew all the way here from Mount Zeal carrying Bulma in his arms.
"You came," Whis uttered.
"The guardian spirit of the mountains told us to come in here. She mentioned that Bulma and I have some kind of connection to this place," Vegeta said.
Whis blinked back, "Oh, she said that?"
"Yeah, do you know what she meant by that? As far as I know, I've never been here all my life. Bulma says the same thing as well. Aside from her, I really do get some weird feeling as if I know this place from a very long time ago. I don't really remember."
"You were right, you have never been in this place before, Vegeta-sama," Whis confirmed. "But it seems that there is something within you that resonates well with this place, which is why you can hear it calling out to you. It is only natural that you have no memories about it because you are who you are now, but perhaps, the soul within you does."
"Huh?"
"Tell me, Vegeta-sama, what do you think of this place?"
Vegeta looked around him, his onyx eyes swept through the trees carefully. "Hmm… I.. I don't know," he murmured. His eyes fell into the pieces of broken stone Whis was looking at earlier. It was when he felt something within him jolt. He pointed at those stones, "That thing. What is it?" he asked.
"A very long time ago, there was a giant stone egg which was nourished by the powers of heaven and earth. This stone turned into a stone egg, which eventually gave birth to a monkey who will become one of the ten legendary demon lords and the most powerful warrior god. Seiten Taisei, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."
"Seiten Taisei? I never heard about him. But that story sounds familiar though. There was an identical myth among the Saiyans about a similar character. It is said that he is the deity and the creator of the first Saiyans, but he was known as Yamoshi among my people."
"As you know, all myths have an origin, just like your legend," Whis said.
"Yeah." Vegeta agreed.
"So are you saying that these things are the pieces of that stone egg in which the Seiten Taisei or Yamoshi was born out of?" Bulma asked.
"That's right," Whis answered.
"And? What's that got to do with me?" Vegeta asked as well. "The story is similar to the origins of the Saiyans, but I don't see any connection between it and what I'm experiencing right now."
"Hmm… I guess you're right about that," Whis agreed. "How about we try something, Vegeta-sama? Why don't you sit down here, legs crossed, and close your eyes?" the Guide Angel taps on the rock where he thinks the stone egg stood a very long time ago.
Vegeta jumped into the rock and sat down, his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed out through his lips, allowing his mind and body to relax. Whis took his right hand and placed his fist on the ground in front of him.
"Now, breathe, focus, and reach out deep into your spirit," Whis instructed. "Use Forced Spirit Fission and its reversed form to extract some part of this place's Essence of Existence and absorb it into yourself. Allow it to flow through you, concentrate, and seek the answer to the questions you have in your mind."
Vegeta did as Whis told him to do. Controlling his spirit, he used Forced Spirit Fission to extract some of this island's Essence of Existence, then by using Reversed Forced Spirit Fission, he called forth what little he extracted and absorbed it into himself.
"What do you see?" he heard Whis ask.
"This island, and everything that's within it," Vegeta replied. "Every life, every death, every destruction which creates life. Warmth, cold, peace, violence, happiness, sadness, weakness, strength, sickness, health, sounds, silence… This is balance, the balance in which I am tasked to maintain…"
His brows furrowed as he continued, "I could feel that part of the balance within me, it's calling out to me. It's pulling me into it. It's beyond this mountain, towards the sea, beneath it, down below… It's… It's so dark… It's so cold…"
Indeed, Vegeta could hear a voice whispering in his ear, completely tuning out everything he feels. It was calling out for him, calling his name, something so dark, so sinister, it was craving for blood and chaos. He flinched, feeling a tug in his chest, then his heart raced. He could feel the dark influence of the power of the Secret of Self-Indulgence technique seethe inside him, and he wanted it.
But this voice wasn't coming from his feral side, it's not brought by his innate Saiyan desires at all. It was something else. That magnetic force pulling him into its dark influence.
"Nnnnghh!"
The sky began to darken as the thick thunderclouds gathered above him, swirling across the horizon, and Whis and Bulma both let out gasps of surprise as they sensed Vegeta's power surge. The ground beneath them began to shake as small rocks and rubble floated around them. Vegeta's power began to go out of control.
"This is bad!" Whis said, he quickly reached out to Vegeta's meditating form and shook him, "Vegeta-sama! Wake up, milord! Snap out of it! Vegeta-sama!"
But the God of Destruction's mind was far too deep in his meditation. Vegeta groaned again, his brows furrowing more as flashes of visions revealed in his mind. Vegeta saw everything that has happened within this island. The villagers' way of living, each animal, insect, plant or tree that surrounded him. The energy around him spoke to him through what he's seeing. He saw what Zchala told him while on Mount Zeal. There was indeed a mysterious man wearing what it looked like was a mask plague doctors used during the days of black death. The man called himself as Jaki, persuading and convincing the blind and gullible people into his ridiculous beliefs. He saw how the people feared the judgment of the God of Destruction and how they easily believed Jaki's false promises. He saw the path these foolish people carved to welcome their long-awaited savior, how after that event, one by one, people seem to die without any cause other than what was thought to be an anemia. Was it an epidemic? He saw how angry the villagers were, cursing the God of Destruction for whatever was happening to them, crying out for a savior to protect and rescue them from this curse.
He saw a being approaching the island from the southeast, it was engulfed in pure darkness. He saw what the Pond of Oracles showed him in the heavenly realm about Hikari giving birth to the one prophesied to become his greatest enemy. He heard a woman crying out in pain, a newborn's first cry, and then he saw that eerie painting of the Dragon King Bulma was pointing out in the sushi restaurant. He also heard a lot of people screaming in agony inside that being, it reminded him so much of his own people's agonized howls while being trapped in Mu. It caused him to panic and fear.
And then he heard an evil voice saying: "Soon, you will be mine, the perfect vessel, the mightiest one of all..."
The vision ended with Vegeta finding himself face to face with this mysterious evil creature until it changed form into a black shadow figure of a woman wearing a long ponytail, which gradually transformed into that of himself wearing a fearsome and sinister grin.
'You, your power, your mind, your spirit, and your body. Everything that you are, is going to be mine."
Vegeta snapped out of the vision with a loud gasp, heaving for breath and collapsing on the ground and visibly terrified.
"What–?! What the hell was that?!" he wheezed.
Whis and Bulma let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him back to reality.
"Why? What did you see?" Whis asked him calmly.
"The enemy. It's the one calling out to me even if it wasn't born yet."
Bulma observed her boyfriend and found him completely shaken up by whatever he saw. She approached him and wrapped her arms around him as if to offer him comfort. Vegeta's breathing finally slowed down as he closed his eyes and leaned his head against her chest to feel her warmth. Whis simply watched them on the side, keeping his expression neutral despite his surprise that Vegeta was allowing Bulma to comfort him this way after all.
Once Vegeta managed to regain his composure, he finally pulled away from her, feeling his cheeks warm as he looked away, "I'm fine now. Thank you."
He finally turned to his guide angel, "The essence of the Island also showed me something. The humans carved a path within this island near the seashore."
"The guardian spirit told us it was somewhere southeast of this island," Bulma said.
"Let's go."
Whis teleported the three of them to the said seashore where they found the path in the shore. It was surrounded by two lines of bamboo with white flags attached to the upper end of it.
"What is this?" Bulma asked.
"It is believed that bamboos can summon forth spirits from the otherworld. Is that true?" Vegeta asked Whis.
"They are hollow so it can serve as something like a guesthouse for evil spirits. But considering the arrangement, it seems that whoever made this created a path. They must have welcomed something extremely sinister here," Whis explained.
"The Dragon King," Bulma said, recalling the posters they've been seeing around. "No, the Serpent Demon. Are they trying to summon the Orochi here?"
"The placement of this path speaks for either dragon or serpent. Orochi could be the only one that fits that description. But, according to Heles, the Orochi was supposedly obliterated by King Mu two million years ago," Vegeta analyzed. He turned to his guide angel and asked, "Whis, is it possible that the Orochi survived and traveled to this timeline for some reason?"
"The Orochi, huh?" Whis muttered. He recalled Yonshir's words to him while Vegeta was attending Freya's summon.
Vegeta looked up into the sky and turned his head to the right. "But the space-time rift that appeared wasn't here. It was Southwest on this island. The placement speaks Monkey to me."
Suddenly, he looked back at the sea in front of him, "Whis, she's here."
Bulma raised her hand to shield her eyes, "Huh? Who?" she asked.
A motor boat carrying three humans, the owner of the boat, Miho Lim, and Hikari Ishida, approached Magus Island. It came closer and closer to where they are.
"Woah, I'm amazed! You can actually see that far?" Bulma gasped in awe.
When the motor boat was closer, Miho and Hikari became confused by the familiar presence of the man with the flame-shaped hair.
Once the boat docked and the two ladies came down from it, Vegeta walked towards them. The two girls immediately felt a bit threatened by his demeanor for some reason.
"You're here," he told them.
"You?!" Miho gasped as she stared at him with her jaw dropped. Flashes of some repressed memories of her talking to this man seem to flash over at the back of her mind. Her brows creased together, confused. "I think I recognize you. Have I met you somewhere before?"
"Do you know each other?" Bulma asked Vegeta.
"Yeah." Vegeta answered Bulma.
"Miho? What are you doing? Do you know this man?" Hikari asked her best friend.
"No, but... I think I met him somewhere before. I can't remember it exactly," Miho replied. She looked at Vegeta again and asked, "Where was it again?"
"We met at the Dark Destroyer's concert before the fire happened. Jun Maeda and Keisaku Sakai were the ones who introduced you to me," Vegeta clarified.
"Ah! I knew it! Hikari-chan, I told you there was another survivor! Mister, thanks a lot! You saved us back there!" Miho said, clearly wasn't fully aware of what truly happened as Vegeta has completely altered her memories after the incident.
"Hmph! Don't get the wrong idea, you simply followed me out of that burning building," Vegeta told Miho coldly. "So what are you two doing here? Aren't you supposed to be living in the city?"
"Well..."
"Oh…" Hikari looked at Vegeta, taking notice of his odd style of hair. It looked kind of familiar to her. She suddenly had a flash of the visions she had in her dream, seeing a shadowy man with that kind of hair.
Vegeta noticed this when he heard her thoughts. Was Hikari getting the same visions as he did?
Miho explained that Hikari was getting recurring nightmares lately, which her friend protested furiously, scolding Miho for telling things to this stranger, with whom she felt uneasy to begin with. Vegeta turned his intense eyes towards Hikari and found her clinging to her belly. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Were you carrying an unborn child?" he asked.
Hikari blinked back at him, "Eh? You... You can tell?"
He looked back into Hikari's eyes, hearing her thoughts. According to what he had learned from her memories, just yesterday, while she was cooking her breakfast, she suddenly found herself puking all the food she just ate out of her system. She eventually became stupefied after realizing that she missed her period, and became nervous and confused when she found a small baby bump in her tummy. Her confusion turned into utter terror when she felt something move within her lower belly. Vegeta heard an evil, demonic voice speak to Hikari, telling her to come to this island repeatedly. Then he saw the visions and nightmares Miho was speaking about.
Pulling himself out of Hikari's visions, Vegeta's raven-colored irises instantly flashed with a magenta glow as he yelled snappily, "Infuu Seikuyo!"
Bulma, who was standing not far from him and next to Whis, could only gasp in confusion at Vegeta's unexpected action as a burst of blackness and a shockwave erupted around them, enclosing the entire area within a closed space. Everything that surrounded them was abruptly and completely engulfed in total darkness, with only purple flashes of lightning in the whirling black clouds illuminating their surroundings.
Vegeta clapped his hands together, kneading and solidifying his ki as he pulled his hands away, forming a straight, slender, sharply pointed and two-edged blade made of energy. He grabbed it on its hilt with his right hand and wielded it in the air before he snappily pointed the ki sword's arrow-shaped end at Hikari's still and unmoving body.
"What are you doing, Vegeta?!" Bulma shouted out of her disbelief, scolding him for his rash actions, and exasperated that he was posing threateningly as if he was planning to kill a frozen pregnant woman in front of her.
Vegeta snarled, the tone was dangerous and it made Bulma shudder at that spin-chilling sound reverberating through his chest, "Just what the hell is going on here, Whis?!" he demanded his guide angel. "It's only been two weeks since we last saw these two. Was Hikari carrying an unborn child back then? I don't remember noticing anything. If so, is it possible for her brat bump to become this big in such a short amount of time?" he asked, eyeing Hikari's already swollen belly as if she was already six months pregnant.
"Are you saying that she wasn't this pregnant when you first met her?" Bulma asked.
"Yeah," Vegeta answered.
"If what you're saying is true, then yes, it is impossible for a human woman to be this pregnant within two weeks," Bulma said. "It usually takes around five to six months for baby bumps to appear that big. I know this because I took up medical classes back in College."
Vegeta nodded, gazing down at Hikari's belly and put down the tip of his ki sword near the center of her abdomen.
"Hikari Ishida was meant to be sacrificed to me during the Dark Destroyers' concert in exchange for me destroying this world," he said. "But this other human girl right here, Miho Lim, summoned me to spare her friend, knowing that Yami Shimono was planning to kill her as he called upon me to destroy this world. Yami believed that he and Hikari would recreate a perfect new world for their followers. I denied Yami Shimono's wish and allowed Miho to save Hikari because of the blood sacrifice Jun Maeda offered me to spare the people Yami was planning to sacrifice to me for his crazed ideals. Because Hikari was saved from the death I originally planned for her by Miho, her fate took a terrible turn, and now…"
Vegeta circled around Hikari, still holding up his ki sword and trying to observe the soon-to-be human mother.
"Because of that, it seems that something else saw an opportunity in this and decided to make use of it. Since I refused Yami's wish, another being capable of destroying this world showed up in my place. Yonshir saw that within her lies a seed of evil meant to become my greatest enemy and will one day become a very powerful threat to the multiverse. I was ordered by Daishinkan to destroy this woman's existence, but I'm not here to obey that order. I doubt that a mere, insignificant human like this would give birth to something that sinister and powerful."
Vegeta halted his steps once he was back in front of Hikari. He pointed his ki sword on the center of her chest where Hikari's core of existence should be. It reacted to his threatening poise and pulsed.
"Observing her closely, she still looks and feels like an ordinary human. Even the unborn bastard inside her also feels human. I can't sense any kind of inhuman power from the both of them."
Vegeta poised into an offensive stance, ready to pierce his ki sword through Hikari's chest and slice her in half.
"Whis," he called his attendant. "Do you think that whatever is happening on this island is caused by the presence of this thing? How much is the probability that a supernatural being could conceal itself and imitate a human so well that even deities and angels like ourselves couldn't sense its power?"
"Hmm… I can't really say. This is the first time I have seen something like this," Whis replied.
"I see…"
"If that's the case, then does that mean you aren't sure that the child in her womb could really become a threat?" Bulma asked.
"Yeah," Vegeta said. "To be honest, I'm conflicted between wanting to prevent its birth or simply letting it be so I could see its power. My duty as the God of Destruction is to destroy them both in here so it won't get any chance to do as it would like in the future. But… The Saiyan that I am makes me curious if the prophecy is real or not. I have always prioritized my duties as a God of Destruction over my personal matters…"
"Yes, you should decide what to do, Vegeta-sama. You shouldn't keep this closed space up this long, else someone might take notice," Whis told him.
"Hm? Yes, that's it!" Vegeta exclaimed as if he suddenly had a great idea.
"Huh?"
"It looks like the fool is coming here to welcome these two. Good timing," he said as he smiled a cruel and sinister one, before turning his head sideways, "He's here."
Somebody plummeted a few feet behind Vegeta, cackling madly and boisterously. The impact of this foolish being, a yokai with red skin, straight and long copper-colored hair, pointy ears, and yellow, slitted snake-like eyes, caused a storm of sand and dust, making Bulma shut her eyes and cough out of her mouth.
"So you finally decided to show yourself," Vegeta said confidently, turning his head over his shoulder to look at the newcomer.
"Ooh… It looks like you were expecting me. Are you looking for a fight? You think you can beat me? Me, the Great Ensui-sama! Mwahahahaha! Remember that name well for I will one day rise to the ranks of the gods and beat them all!" the Yokai boisterously exclaimed.
Vegeta rolled his eyes. Why was it always the weakest and foolish small fry who was usually the loudest one? It seems like this damn Yokai couldn't recognize him at all. Yeah, either he's stupid or just crazy to come before him and challenge him this way.
Vegeta smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What? What the hell is that?" Bulma asked.
"This is a Yokai," Vegeta said. "Don't worry, though. This is nothing but low-level trash. Nothing to be afraid of."
"Heh! Acting like you're a cool dude with your arms crossed? Are you feeling a little too full of yourself, shorty?" Ensui mocked.
"Quit yapping and attack me if you are foolish enough to do so," the God of Destruction provoked.
"What's this? You're in a hurry to die? Fine then, so be it!"
Ensui spread his arms on his side, creating several small rings of fire around him. Thrusting his arms forward, he fired the loops of flame towards Vegeta, who just stood there full of confidence and without blinking at all, taking the hit. There was a burst of smoke following that explosion, Ensui cackled out loud, celebrating his victory.
"That was short-lived. Hah! What a weakling! Too bad that I forgot to ask his name. I can't brag about it now, damn it," Ensui mumbled. "Oh well, I guess I just have to eat these humans here."
Ensui turned to Hikari, Miho, and Bulma.
"Too bad, whatever-his-name-is was too pathetic to save them. I wish I could have asked what his name was so I can add it to the list of my accomplishments."
"Then I'll tell you," Vegeta's voice suddenly said behind him, making Ensui screech and jump in surprise. He found Vegeta's completely unscathed form as the smoke finally cleared.
"What the hell?! How are you still alive after that?! That's my special ability! You're supposed to be dead!" Ensui shouted in disbelief.
"You wish! It's useless. Such a brain dead tactic won't work against me," Vegeta snorted, causing Ensui to shriek and take a step back.
Vegeta let out a smug smirk, pointing at himself with his thumb as he made a cocky introduction, "I am the God of Destruction, the deity responsible for the death and devastation of all creation in this Universe. The warrior who rose to the level of the mightiest destroyer deity the multiverse had ever seen! The Proud Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta Yonsei-sama!"
"Wha–?!" Ensui gasped. "You… You are the God of Destruction spoken of in the urban legends?! The destroyer deity… the warrior god who symbolizes death and destruction itself!"
"Hmph! That's right! So I guess you do know who I am after all, and yet, you came all the way in here on your own accord to challenge me. What a fool you are."
Ensui looked at him in awe as if he just met an idol he was a long time fan of. "Woah! He really is the God of Destruction?! Damn, so it's true that he has a fairly good look on him," he muttered to himself, looking at Vegeta like he was an impressive art display.
"Of course I do! Unlike you whose face and pathetic power make me sick!" Vegeta snorted.
"–But I never thought he'd be this short–"
Vegeta's ki suddenly burst out of him. Despite his smirk, he doesn't seem to take that insult to his height very lightly, as evidenced by his twitching left eye and the pulsing vein on his temple. This action made Ensui step back in terror.
This guy was the one whose name struck fear in the hearts of many, even the mightiest deities of the multiverse. His wrath shouldn't be stirred up, else it would end in the destruction of their entire world. Anyone who knew of him would warn any foolish beings who would dare to try poking the beast within him, 'Do not engage in conflict with the God of Destruction at all costs!'
But it was too late for him to retreat. There's no escape for him as he had already incurred the wrath of the destroyer god. Good thing that Ensui had a trump card on his sleeve. He had been observing their group for a while now and was aware that Vegeta brought a few weak human companions with him. As a malevolent plan formed in his mind, his frightened demeanor from earlier quickly changed. A sinister smile crept on his face as he began laughing, not realizing that Vegeta had been hearing his thoughts all this time.
"Don't move, if you don't want me to kill them!" Ensui threatened.
In the air above Ensui appeared the unconscious bodies of Vanilla, Mint, Mocha, Rocky, Braun, and Leiri. The sight caused Bulma to worry about their lives, even though she never actually considered these people as her friends.
"Hmph! What a coward. Do you honestly think a God of Destruction cared about hostages?" Vegeta huffed coldly.
"You think you're cool if you don't care? Don't you know that I can devour the life force of humans so I can make myself stronger?!"
"You're as dense as you are pathetic," Vegeta insulted, turning his back away. "I can't be bothered explaining myself to trash like you. If you are going to do what you are planning to do, then you are very much welcome to do so."
Suddenly, Vanilla, Mint, Mocha, Rocky, Braun, and Leiri's life force began to leak out of their unconscious bodies, gathering towards Ensui's mouth as he consumed them. This caused Ensui's body to undergo a frightening metamorphosis, growing into a bulking monster that's more muscular and gaining horns and huge bat-like wings burst out of his back. He cackled villainously as he felt a surge of demonic power flow throughout his new and powered-up form.
"Ah, so you can transform yourself. Good, I hope you can entertain me a little bit more with that new power-up," Vegeta told him with a pleased smile. "But–"
With a roar, the enemy launched forward with blinding speed despite its hulking mass and he charged at Vegeta with a spinning back kick to the side of the neck. The God of Destruction didn't even faze at all, he simply grinned back in a very wicked way, his eyes piercing and dark as he stared at the Yokai's soul, if it had any…
The Yokai gasped in total surprise when he realized that he didn't even make the Hakaishin flinch at all.
"How rude, I was planning to give you a free cheap shot and allow you to show me some of your parlor tricks, but if this attack is any indication of your strength… Maybe we should just go ahead and skip it all," Vegeta said.
The Yokai leapt back away from him, laughing nervously as he tried to recompose himself from the shock. This can't be happening.
"I take it that you really want to fight me!" Ensui asked with an awkward smile, refusing to back down.
Vegeta blinked back at him innocently.
"Hm? I thought we're fighting here. What's wrong? Are you too afraid of me?" then he let out a chuckle.
Ensui growled furiously, trying to summon what little courage he had. There's no turning back now. He knew that it's useless for him to run away now. He had no other choice but to continue fighting. He won't allow himself to be destroyed that easily.
"Darn you! I'm not going to hold back any longer!" he declared.
"Oh really? You're still holding back?" Vegeta mocked before he threw his head back to cackle out loud. "Hahaha! At least, you entertain me with that kind of fighting spirit! Fine then, do your worst! Not like it would make any difference," then he raised a finger to beckon Ensui to come, "Go ahead, try me and walk into your path to destruction. And when you do so, I am going to destroy you."
Getting absolutely pissed off, Ensui desperately uttered in a low-voice, "I'm sorry, Master, but I have to make use of their souls for myself. I never thought that I would run into the God of Destruction before welcoming you with this present."
Hearing this, Vegeta raised an eyebrow. Hm? Master? Who was this master this Yokai was talking about? Was he speaking about the bastard in Hikari's womb? Or was it Jaki?
Ensui powered up, releasing his full power out of his rage, making use of the energies from the life force he had taken from the humans these past few days. Vegeta's eyes narrowed, sensing that this Yokai had devoured quite a number of souls. The power wasn't enough to make him worry though.
"Hmm… I thought he was nothing but a low level scum but it looks like he is the reason why the humans in the villages are soulless. He was collecting souls by slowly siphoning their spirits out of the human bodies and absorbing them into himself so he can offer them to his Master…"
"Ooh… So you do have more power than you're letting on," Vegeta said, before grinning in a sinister way. "But... What about it? It's still not enough to defeat me."
"You will not destroy me!" roared the yokai furiously, kicking off the ground to land a straight punch on that arrogant, smirking face he wished he could beat to a pulp.
Vegeta took the punch head on. Ensui's fist collided with his forehead.
A huge grin stretched across the God of Destruction's lips as he said, "Is that all you got?"
"What?!" Ensui screeched. Not even that much is enough to affect this monster?!
"If this is all you can do, then I suppose there's no reason for me to drag this boring fight out any longer. You are incapable of defeating me. You're nothing but a weakling. I couldn't even care less about you because your puny power could be easily passed off as that of ordinary humans. And considering that humans are one of the weakest, if not the weakest race in this Universe."
"Damn it all!" Ensui hollered in frustration. He blindly attacked Vegeta with random punches and kicks which the destroyer deity easily evaded without as much of a sweat.
"Hmph! How pathetic, you can even barely fight. That doesn't mean you deserve my mercy though. I don't care what kind of trash I'm up against, I will destroy you and you will cease to exist right here! Prepare yourself for your destruction!"
The yokai shrieked in terror as he stepped back, only to fall on his behind. With a flash of superhuman speed and a sway of his energy sword, Vegeta effortlessly cut the yokai in half. Ensui's splitted parts dropped to the ground, his blood and gore gushed out of the wounds where the destroyer slashed him.
The Yokai let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Vegeta turned his head over his shoulder, his glowing and ablazed pinkish-red eyes glowered down at his defeated foe.
"You're too weak. At your level, a higher-level god won't give you any attention. I just found it convenient that you are here for me to be used as a tool that's why I decided to entertain you a little bit," he said as he stared down at the screaming Ensui's severely sliced body.
"Use? What the hell is he talking about?!" Ensui wondered to himself.
Vegeta turned his body to face him, crossing his arms over his chest as he asked, "Well, aren't you going to regenerate yourself?"
The suggestion reminded the Yokai of what he was supposed to do, "Uh… Yes… Yes… I need… I need a human's life force to regenerate!" he gasped.
Although Ensui inwardly wondered why Vegeta suggested such a thing, he couldn't care less about it. He needed to do this in order to live.
"Then go on," Vegeta permitted the Yokai to do as he wished. "Why don't you start with her?" he pointed at Hikari. "You can feel it, right? She is carrying an unborn child in her. Let's just say, it's a two in one treat from me."
That's right, Ensui realized. If he siphoned that woman's energy, he could regenerate himself enough and grow stronger from it too. Perhaps, this was his chance.
"Well? I'm waiting!" Vegeta told him with a raised voice, making Ensui shudder at that imperious tone.
Ensui turned to crawl desperately towards Hikari's still body. Vegeta simply stood there, waiting and watching closely.
As the Yokai slowly approached the frozen pregnant woman, Bulma couldn't bear to watch the scene unfolding before her eyes any longer so she walked towards Vegeta's side.
"What are you planning to do? Why are you letting him do that? Wouldn't that put Ishida-san in great danger?" she demanded Vegeta.
The God of Destruction ignored her question and simply observed carefully as Ensui crawled towards Hikari, moaning about its hunger and desire for her life force.
"Ishida-san!" Bulma called out, attempting to run towards the pregnant woman but Vegeta moved his hand that was holding the energy sword sidewards to block her way, causing Bulma to halt and glare back at him angrily.
"Back off, Bulma. Don't you dare make a move to interfere. This is the job of a God of Destruction," Vegeta warned her.
"But–!"
"If it's true that this woman carried a child prophesied to possess the power to threaten the balance of the multiverse, then the bastard within her will save her from my power or the Yokai's plan."
Bulma yelled at him. "Vegeta! Stop this already! Have you had enough?! You already tested her earlier! Human or not, an unborn child is still an unborn child! You cannot judge and destroy something that wasn't even born yet!"
Vegeta's jaw twitched at that, knowing she was right. But he refused to stop this. This might seem harsh but this was the only way for him to know what he wants from Hikari.
"I can't let this happen!" Bulma told him. She swivelled away from Vegeta's energy sword and ran towards Hikari in her hopes to pull her still body away from the yokai who was planning to absorb her life force.
"Tch!" Vegeta sneered in annoyance and at the last second before the enemy could absorb his victim's life force, he raised his hand to hurl his energy sword forward.
It pierced right through the yokai's heart, instantly exploding the enemy's body into ashes and leaving several tiny blue flaming orbs bursting out from where it was last seen.
The shockwave caused by that burst of energy forced Bulma back, pulling Hikari and Miho with her.
Bulma popped her eyes wide and saw several small orbs of bluish-white flames in place of the enemy.
She blinked.
"Are those human souls?" she wondered in complete astonishment. Were those the souls of the people around this island?
Utilizing Reversed Forced Spirit Fission, Vegeta squeezed the empty air, causing those blue orbs of flames to gather at one single point, then he raised his fist into the skies, making what he collected float in the air above his head.
He opened his palm and the flames burst everywhere towards random places across the Magus Island. The streaks left by the trail of souls looked like meteors falling down from the dark sky as Vegeta returned them to their original bodies, including that of Vanilla and the others.
Once done, Vegeta walked towards Bulma, Hikari and Miho, leering down at the three women with a stern gaze. By what he just observed, it seems that Hikari and the child in her womb are currently powerless.
He had to admit, Bulma was right after all. It was still an unborn child for him to test that thing out. It doesn't mean that he should let his guard down though. He will patiently wait until it's finally the right time for him to see if the thing is indeed worthy of becoming his greatest enemy one day.
Vegeta's piercing and icy eyes gazed down on Hikari's belly, "It will be only a matter of time," he thought, then he swept his eyes to Hikari's chest, sensing her core of existence pulse within her. "Soon…"