Dragon Ball: Ascension

(A/N: Bonus Chapter! Thank you for your continued support! And don't hesitate to leave a comment or powerstone if you like the story!)

"What a remarkable race," Kairos mused, genuine amazement in his voice. "To think Saiyans can achieve multiple transformation stages."

"Come on, let's fight again," Karnel smiled, his new power crackling around him as he changed the subject.

"Excellent! Let me see just how strong you've become after this breakthrough!" Kairos responded with renewed enthusiasm.

As a Super Saiyan 2, Karnel's strength had doubled once more. He could sense that he might now be stronger than Kairos, but there was only one way to find out for certain.

Whoosh!

Like something out of a fantasy, Karnel was surrounded by golden flames and blue lightning that danced and flickered around his form. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Kairos, the air whistling as he launched a devastating punch.

Though Karnel had completed his second-stage transformation, Kairos showed no signs of backing down. He met the attack head-on with his own strike, clearly intent on testing their relative strength in direct combat.

They had returned to their original confrontation style, a pure contest of power.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Hundreds of sonic booms echoed across the battlefield. After several rounds of fierce combat, Karnel maintained a clear advantage. Kairos could no longer gain any ground against his transformed opponent.

Kairos was genuinely shocked. Even with his Ultimate Form's enhanced power, he fell significantly short of Karnel's strength. What's more, he could tell that Karnel still had reserves, this wasn't even his full power.

After exchanging blows for several more rounds, Karnel had a clear understanding of their power difference. Overall, he was roughly fifty percent stronger than his opponent.

This advantage stemmed partially from his previous near-fatal encounter with Nidovi and the others. When Karnel recovered from those grievous injuries, his base strength had increased by half again, reaching 1.5 times his original power. It was with this enhanced foundation that he could now dominate Kairos as a Super Saiyan 2.

Without that crucial power boost from his recovery, becoming Super Saiyan 2 would have made him only marginally stronger than Kairos.

"Karnel, that's enough," Kairos said with bitter resignation. "As much as I hate to admit it, you are indeed far stronger than me now."

The ancient king's voice carried genuine defeat. Tens of thousands of years of accumulated power and experience, surpassed by a temporary breakthrough. The reality struck Kairos like a physical blow.

Seeing no point in continuing and having no intention of killing Kairos, Karnel ceased his assault and descended to a nearby grassland.

"Karnel, you may be stronger than me now, but I won't give up so easily," Kairos declared. Despite his loss, the veteran warrior quickly pushed aside his disappointment, his fighting spirit reigniting. "Mark my words, we'll meet again!"

"I'll be waiting," Karnel replied with lazy confidence, his mental energy beginning to wane after the intense battles.

As Kairos prepared to depart, Karnel called out urgently, "What about the people of this planet? You're just going to abandon them?"

Kairos turned back with cold disdain. "Don't misunderstand, I never truly considered them my subjects. Besides, you've eliminated all the powerful warriors on this world. The remaining inhabitants are worthless. Do with them whatever you please."

"Fine then. I've spent long enough in the Western Galaxy, it's time I explored beyond its borders. When I've grown strong enough, I'll return to challenge you again!" Without another glance, Kairos flew toward his palace.

Shortly after, a sleek, compact spacecraft carried the ancient king away from the planet's surface.

Shaking his head, Karnel also ascended into outer space, though not out of any merciful intent toward the remaining Kaimo people. Quite the opposite.

"As long as that tyrant doesn't waste time creating more of these twisted beings, there will be no more Kaimos in this universe," Karnel muttered to himself. A miniature supernova formed above his outstretched palm. With a casual gesture, he hurled the concentrated energy toward the planet's core. The artificial star crashed into the world's heart, triggering a chain reaction that would tear the entire planet apart. Within moments, it exploded completely, erased from existence.

"That settles my promise," Karnel said with satisfaction, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders.

Suddenly, his expression shifted to one of alarm. "Oh no!"

He had completely forgotten about the Bargonians. They had successfully repelled the first Kaimo invasion a month ago, but now a full month had passed. The second wave of invaders had almost certainly arrived by now.

Despite having access to the gravity training chamber, Ceros and his people couldn't possibly have grown strong enough in just one month to face third-tier Kaimo warriors, not even with constant, sleepless training.

Karnel immediately began sensing for the Bargonian people's energy signatures.

"Their life forces have diminished significantly," he observed with growing concern. "And I can detect four fluctuating auras engaged in violent combat. They're fighting the Kaimo invaders right now."

The situation on Bargonia had indeed turned desperate. Ceros and his warriors faced an overwhelming disadvantage. The Bargonian's only major settlement had fallen, its buildings reduced to rubble, and more than half the population had been brutally slaughtered and drained by the invaders.

To rescue their people trapped in the city, the fourteen elite Bargonian warriors, including Ceros, had been forced to split their forces. Six fighters went to stop the massacre in the urban center, while the remaining eight engaged the elite Kaimo squad led by a third-tier commander.

After a month of intensive training, Ceros and his comrades had reached combat levels around ten million, sufficient to handle lower-tier Kaimo warriors, but only barely. The rescue team sacrificed three of their number before eliminating all the Kaimo soldiers terrorizing the city.

When the three survivors rushed to reinforce Cero's group, four more Bargonian warriors died in the battle against three Kaimo followers, each as powerful as Thorne had been during his initial arrival on Bargonia.

Against the third-tier Kaimo leader named Armor, whose combat power reached fifty million, Ceros's seven remaining fighters found themselves hopelessly outmatched. Despite their courage, the massive power gap proved insurmountable. Three more warriors fell without inflicting any meaningful damage on their opponent.

The four surviving elite fighters, including Ceros, stood gasping for breath, glaring at Armor with impotent hatred.

"Are we Bargonian's truly destined to be exterminated by these demons?" Karen whispered, despair creeping into her voice.

"Damn it! Even after sacrificing everything to grow stronger, this is how it ends?" Ceros shouted in frustrated rage, unable to see any path to victory.

"Heh! Heh! So you managed to kill one of our elite warriors," Armor sneered with malicious amusement. "I thought you Bargonian natives might actually be formidable, but you're just as pathetic as expected. You were simply lucky last time."

"Tsk, tsk! Hey there, you theatrical fool, your home planet has been completely obliterated, and you're still here putting on a show," came a mocking voice as Karnel teleported onto the battlefield, immediately sizing up the posturing Kaimo warrior.

Armor spun around in shock and disbelief. "What did you just say? Do you have any idea who you're talking to—"