Alvin and Demon King Piccolo stood facing one another.
Their Ki surged outward, colliding invisibly in the air.
Overall…
Piccolo’s aura still overwhelmingly surpassed Alvin’s.
At that moment, the system notification appeared before Alvin’s eyes.
[Defeated Son Goku]
[Power Level +36]
The instant he had knocked Goku unconscious and thrown him toward Yajirobe…
The system had recognized it as a victory.
Fresh power surged through Alvin’s exhausted body.
Piccolo had intended to pursue Yajirobe.
But Alvin stepped into his path once more.
Something about the young man had changed.
Piccolo narrowed his eyes instinctively.
For the first time…
He became cautious.
“So…”
Piccolo sneered.
“You really think you can defeat me by yourself?”
Over the centuries, he had met countless fools who overestimated themselves.
None had survived.
Alvin answered with a cold smile.
“Whether I can kill you…”
“…there’s only one way to find out.”
He silently opened the system.
Power Level: 190 / 252
Even after recovering thirty-six points of combat power…
His Ki still couldn’t compare to Piccolo’s.
Judging from what he could sense…
The Demon King still possessed at least 220 effective combat power.
The earlier battle had barely tired him.
To Piccolo…
It had been nothing more than a light warm-up.
But…
So what?
Right now…
Alvin wanted only one thing.
Either Piccolo died…
Or he did.
His memories surged violently inside his mind.
The memories of his previous life intertwined with those of this world’s Alvin.
The joyful days with his family…
The laughter…
The warmth of home…
All of it had vanished beneath Piccolo’s energy blast.
The smiling faces of his parents…
His younger brother…
His little sister…
Were swallowed by collapsing buildings and endless ruins.
“You filthy parasite…”
Alvin’s voice trembled with uncontrollable fury.
“All you know is destruction…”
“…and slaughter!”
“I’ll kill you!”
“Demon King Piccolo!”
He roared with every ounce of hatred in his heart.
“Divine Fist Burst!”
Suddenly…
Every trace of Ki vanished.
All of it compressed back into Alvin’s body.
For one brief second…
Silence.
Then—
BOOM!!
A far more violent surge of Ki erupted outward.
His body visibly expanded.
The slender young man transformed almost instantly into a heavily muscled warrior with broad shoulders and bulging muscles.
“Die!”
He moved.
No—
He disappeared.
His speed resembled teleportation itself.
Even Piccolo failed to react.
Boom!
The Demon King was blasted backward before he even realized Alvin had attacked.
“…Hng!”
Alvin’s body trembled.
An agonizing pain shot through his fist.
He couldn’t suppress a muffled groan.
After all…
Force worked both ways.
The harder he struck Piccolo…
The more punishment his own body endured.
And Divine Fist Burst intensified that burden even further.
The technique flooded every muscle fiber with compressed Ki, forcing his body beyond its natural limits.
As a result…
The pain he experienced became even more severe.
His heart pounded violently inside his chest like a war drum.
A metallic taste filled his mouth.
Warm blood trickled from his nose.
The tiny capillaries inside his nasal passages had ruptured under the brutal strain of the technique.
Alvin wiped the blood away without taking his eyes off Piccolo.
“…It’s still incomplete.”
He took a slow breath.
“I forced it.”
“And the burden…”
“…is still far too great.”
Alvin felt as though countless steel needles were piercing every inch of his body.
Every nerve screamed in agony.
Every muscle felt like it was tearing itself apart.
But his resolve never wavered.
“Even if my body falls apart…”
“I’ll kill Piccolo first.”
“I’ll avenge everyone.”
“Hold together…”
“Just a little longer!”
His thirst for revenge overwhelmed the pain.
Blood seeped from countless ruptured capillaries beneath his skin.
The white aura surrounding him slowly darkened…
Until it became a deep crimson.
Wrapped in scarlet Ki, Alvin shot forward like a streak of blood-red lightning.
The faint scent of blood lingered in the air behind him.
Piccolo’s expression twisted with fury.
That last punch…
Had hurt more than anything he had ever experienced.
Since the day he was born…
No one had ever struck him like that.
“You miserable little insect!”
He roared.
“You martial artists…”
“…all deserve to die!”
His Ki exploded outward.
Forcing his body to stop its backward momentum, Piccolo slammed both feet into the ground and charged.
One crimson streak.
One white streak.
The two figures collided like bolts of lightning.
Their fists and kicks crashed together with thunderous force.
The echoes rolled endlessly through the valley.
Far away…
Even after fleeing a considerable distance, Yajirobe could still hear the terrifying sounds of battle.
“…Monsters.”
He swallowed nervously.
“Hey!”
“Goku!”
“Wake up already!”
“Tell me where Korin Tower is!”
“I don’t know the way!”
He laid the unconscious Goku inside the aircraft before taking off immediately.
The plane soared into the sky, escaping the battlefield as quickly as possible.
Back on the battlefield—
Boom!
“Yaaaah!”
Alvin blocked Piccolo’s attack with crossed arms.
He countered with a vicious kick to the Demon King’s chest.
The blow launched Piccolo high into the air.
Alvin immediately erupted upward using Flight.
He overtook Piccolo before the Demon King reached the peak of his ascent.
Locking both hands together…
He brought them crashing down.
Boom!
Piccolo was hammered straight into the earth.
A massive cloud of dust exploded outward.
But almost instantly—
His fist slammed into Alvin’s chest.
Blood sprayed from Alvin’s mouth.
Before he could recover…
Piccolo followed with a devastating aerial kick that smashed Alvin back into the ground.
Moments later…
The two stood facing one another once again.
Both were drenched in blood.
Both were breathing heavily.
That brief exchange had pushed their bodies to the limit.
Bruises and deep wounds covered Alvin from head to toe.
Some had been inflicted by Piccolo’s attacks.
Others…
Were caused by Divine Fist Burst itself.
The violent Ki tearing through his muscles had ripped his own body apart from within.
His crimson blood mixed with Piccolo’s purple blood.
Together they stained his clothes a dark violet-red.
Piccolo looked no better.
Purple and red blood covered nearly every part of his body.
His aged face had swollen from repeated blows.
He had never suffered injuries this severe.
Even when Master Mutaito sealed him away centuries earlier…
It had only succeeded because Piccolo had been caught off guard.
High above…
Everyone watching had fallen completely silent.
The bird-headed advisor stared in disbelief.
“Who…”
“…is this human?”
“How can he fight Lord Piccolo on equal footing?”
Having served Demon King Piccolo for centuries, he knew better than anyone how terrifying the Demon King’s true strength was.
Even though Piccolo had grown old…
He remained the genuine Demon King.
His power had declined somewhat…
But he was still an existence beyond ordinary martial artists.
Pilaf’s entire body trembled.
“That guy…”
“He looks even stronger than Son Goku!”
Pilaf, Mai, and Shu watched the battle below with pale faces and beads of sweat covering their foreheads.
With every passing second…
Their dream of conquering the world felt more impossible.
Pilaf nervously looked toward the bird-headed advisor.
“Lord Piccolo…”
“He won’t lose…”
“…right?”
The advisor snorted confidently.
“Of course not.”
“Lord Piccolo possesses the greatest power in the world.”
“That human can’t possibly defeat him.”
“Even if he’s using some temporary technique to rival Lord Piccolo…”
“…it won’t last.”
“Lord Piccolo…”
“…is the invincible Demon King.”
Below them…
The brief respite ended.
The battle resumed once more.
Alvin lunged forward with another punch.
“You old fossil!”
He shouted angrily.
“Why won’t you just die already?!”
Fifteen minutes of nonstop combat had taken an enormous toll.
His stamina had plummeted.
The countless tears throughout his body had numbed his nerves.
Every movement now felt rusty.
His once-fluid techniques had become slower and increasingly distorted.
Piccolo wasn’t faring much better.
“Damn brat…”
He growled through clenched teeth.
“You’re as hard to kill…”
“…as a cockroach.”
Fighting continuously in his aged body had exhausted him as well.
His heartbeat no longer carried the powerful rhythm it had possessed immediately after escaping his seal.
Every organ in his body reminded him of the same harsh reality.
He was old.
His stamina was fading faster and faster.
Combined with the injuries he had suffered…
His movements, too, were becoming noticeably slower.
Send those stones my way—the more, the merrier.