Moro opened his mouth and swallowed the pale-blue sphere.
He took a deep breath afterward, savoring the energy as it spread through his body.
"That was close," he admitted. "The original energy was saturated with death. Swallowing it directly might have done serious damage."
Vegeta had nothing to say to that.
Neither did Goku.
Moro had taken a God of Destruction's energy, stripped away the part that could erase him, and turned the rest into food.
Just what kind of monster were they dealing with?
Elsewhere, aboard Merus's spaceship, an unexpected guest had appeared.
"Ken?" Merus looked over in surprise. "What brings you here?"
"Thought I'd come see how things were going."
Jaco nearly jumped out of his seat. "Forget that! How did you even get inside the ship?!"
Merus was more concerned about New Namek.
"Goku and Vegeta have already engaged Moro. I expected them to have trouble, but things are getting worse. Moro just consumed Vegeta's destruction energy."
"I saw."
Merus turned toward Ken. "You did?"
"He didn't exactly consume the destruction energy itself. He used his magic to convert it into a form his body could absorb."
That explained why Moro had hesitated when Vegeta's attack first approached.
Merus lowered his voice. "He came from the Demon Realm, didn't he?"
"Yeah."
Ken had actually checked with the little demoness before coming here.
Her answer had made the whole situation considerably stranger.
Moro was indeed from the Demon Realm.
More specifically, he had once been one of her goats.
Ken still wasn't quite sure what to make of that. The ancient monster who had terrorized the galaxy ten million years ago was apparently somebody's runaway pet.
That was half the reason he had decided to come.
If things got interesting enough, he could always bring out the little demoness and let owner and goat have their tearful reunion.
After that...
Well, lamb skewers sounded pretty good.
Ken reached into his pocket and inspected the cumin and chili powder he had brought along.
Merus stared at the seasonings in his hand.
"Ken... what are those?"
"The two most important ingredients for grilled meat."
"Grilled meat?"
"I've never made any for you?"
Merus shook his head.
Ken put the seasonings away with a cheerful smile. "You'll get to try some soon."
Merus had absolutely no idea why that smile suddenly made him feel sorry for Moro.
Back on New Namek, Moro smacked his lips after finishing off the converted destruction energy.
"That was delicious."
"You bastard..." Vegeta growled.
Neither Saiyan was in good shape anymore. Moro had already stolen so much of their energy that simply standing had become an effort.
Goku grabbed Vegeta by the arm.
"I hate leaving the Namekians like this, but we need to get back to Merus. We can't beat Moro in this condition."
For once, Vegeta didn't argue.
Goku focused on Merus's ki and tried to teleport.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, but there simply wasn't enough energy left in his body to make the technique work.
"I can't do it!"
"What?"
"I don't have enough energy!"
A massive blast was already bearing down on them.
Both Saiyans threw themselves out of the way, but the explosion swallowed the entire area before either could escape its full force.
New Namek convulsed.
Grand Elder Moori's village disappeared beneath the blast, and when the light finally faded, an enormous crater had replaced the surrounding landscape.
Goku and Vegeta lay battered at the bottom.
"You still alive?" Goku managed.
"Damn it..."
Moro descended toward them.
"At last. You two have finally run out of strength." He regarded them with more curiosity than concern. "I'll admit, warriors like you didn't exist in my era. The only one who ever caused me real trouble was the Grand Supreme Kai who sealed away my magic."
He dropped directly onto Goku, driving a knee into his body hard enough to make him choke.
Before Goku could recover, Moro's hand closed around his throat.
"But don't misunderstand. Your existence never frightened me."
His free hand reached toward Vegeta.
Magic seized the Saiyan and dragged him across the crater into Moro's waiting grip. With one warrior clutched in each hand, Moro began draining what little energy remained inside them.
"I like you two," he said as their strength flowed into him. "You've made me considerably stronger."
By the time Moro released them, Goku and Vegeta collapsed without resistance. Their eyes had rolled white, and neither showed any sign of being conscious.
The change in Moro was immediate.
He examined his arms and body in disbelief as years seemed to fall away from him. The loose skin and deep wrinkles that had covered his emaciated frame were disappearing, his muscles were filling out, and even his long beard had shortened.
More important was the vitality surging through him.
The energy of two Saiyans alone had restored a considerable portion of his youth.
"Incredible..." Moro flexed his hand, delighted by the strength coursing through it. "Those two carried enough energy to restore my body this much?"
A short distance away, Cranberry immediately started applauding.
"I knew you'd win! There was never any doubt!"
Sweat running down his face somewhat ruined the performance.
Moro gave him a cold look.
Cranberry's hands stopped clapping.
"About earlier... I wasn't trying to run away! I was going to look for the Dragon Balls while you kept them busy."
"You do remember that I can read your thoughts, don't you?"
Cranberry went pale.
Fortunately for him, Moro still had a use for him.
"Tell me how we find the Dragon Balls."
Cranberry immediately pulled out his scanner.
"We use this to locate the Namekian villages. Each village normally protects one Dragon Ball, so once we find the villages, finding the Dragon Balls should be easy."
Moro stretched his senses across the area.
"The Namekians who were nearby have already fled."
"Y-Yeah. Looks like it."
Cranberry glanced at the scanner. "Do you still need this?"
Moro ignored the question and turned toward the horizon.
"There are more villages in that direction."
"There should be."
"Then we'll start with the closest one."
They boarded the spacecraft, but Cranberry spared one last glance at the two Saiyans lying motionless in the crater.
"Are they dead?"
"I drained almost everything they had. Leave them there and they'll die soon enough."
Moro settled into the ship without another look.
"Whether they survive is irrelevant. Move."
Cranberry needed no further encouragement.
The spacecraft lifted off and sped toward the next Namekian village.
Only after Moro was gone did Moori and Eska emerge from hiding and hurry down into the crater.
"They're still alive!" Moori called. "Eska, quickly!"
There wasn't much life left to preserve.
The two Namekians did what they could before moving Goku and Vegeta into a sheltered room inside a nearby cave. Eska continued treating them there, slowly stabilizing their condition.
It took three days before either Saiyan regained consciousness.
Goku was the first.
His eyes opened to find Eska beside him, healing energy glowing around the young Namekian's hands.
"Sorry," Goku murmured. "Healing us must be draining you too."
"I'm okay." Eska smiled. "I'm nowhere near as good as Dende, but I can heal people. I can't restore you completely, but I can at least help your bodies recover faster."
Once Goku was stable, Eska moved to Vegeta and continued the treatment.
"You saved me before. I wanted to help you too."
The healing energy finally pulled Vegeta back to consciousness.
He immediately tried to sit up.
Pain tore through him, and he dropped back with a sharp grunt.
"You shouldn't move yet!" Eska warned.
Vegeta finally paid attention to the young Namekian beside him.
"Who are you?"
"My name's Eska. You saved me when Moro attacked. Thank you."
Goku managed a tired grin from the other bed.
"Looks like you saving him paid off, Vegeta."
Vegeta ignored him. There was something far more important he needed to know.
"How long were we unconscious?"
Moori answered from across the room.
"Three days."
Vegeta's face changed instantly.
"Three days?!"
Even Goku hadn't expected that.
"What has Moro been doing all this time?" Vegeta demanded.
Moori lowered his head.
The Namekian beside him, Delta, answered instead.
"Three villages have already been attacked. Right now, he's probably on his way to another."
Vegeta understood immediately.
"He has three Dragon Balls?"
His anger made him try to move again, and pain shot through his body hard enough to force him back against the bed.
"Yes," Moori said quietly. "The people in those villages couldn't stop him from taking them."
Delta looked between the two Saiyans.
"Ken still hasn't come?"
Goku and Vegeta shook their heads.
"If Ken were here, Moro probably wouldn't stand much of a chance," Delta said.
A tremendous explosion rolled across New Namek before anyone could answer.
The entire cave shook.
Goku struggled to lift himself.
"Moro?"
"He's started again," Moori said grimly.
Far away, another Namekian village had already been surrounded.
A towering wall of fire encircled every building, sealing off every possible escape route.
Moro held one of the villagers suspended by the throat.
The Namekian struggled desperately in his grip before Moro casually tossed him into the flames.
His scream lasted only a moment.
The villagers cried out in horror as the fire consumed him.
Moro turned back to them.
"Your village is completely surrounded. No one is leaving. Give me the Dragon Ball."
"You'll get nothing from us!" one Namekian shouted.
Moro barely moved his hand.
An invisible force ripped the speaker off his feet and hurled him straight into the wall of fire.
The remaining villagers recoiled as another of their own vanished into the flames.
"You're all going to die anyway," Moro told them. "Resistance only wastes my time."
Back inside the cave, Goku suddenly felt the number of Namekian life signs fall again.
"More of them are dying."
His fist clenched against the bed.
"Damn it. I want to go help, but I still can't use Instant Transmission."
"We haven't spent these three days doing nothing," Moori told him. "There is still one option left to us."
Goku looked over.
"What option?"
"Namekian Fusion."
Vegeta had heard enough about Piccolo to understand what that meant, while Goku immediately thought of the two times he had seen it change his old friend completely.
"Like when Piccolo fused with Kami?"
"Exactly."
Moori turned toward the distant battlefield.
"The warrior-type Namekians from every surviving village are already on the move. As they travel, they're fusing with one another."
High above New Namek, three golden streaks raced across the sky.
The three Namekians drew together without slowing. Their hands met, their bodies merged, and only one warrior emerged from the golden light.
His speed immediately increased.
More warriors were converging from elsewhere, all following the same plan.
"Dozens of Namekians will become a single warrior," Moori explained. "When our people have faced destruction in the past, this is how we fought to protect our race."
Goku and Vegeta could only watch from their beds.
At the besieged village, Moro continued waiting for someone to surrender the Dragon Ball.
The village elder glared at him from across the flames and smoke.
"You won't get away with this."
Moro raised an eyebrow. "And who exactly is going to stop me?"
"The savior of New Namek is coming."
Despite everything Moro had done, the elder's voice carried absolute confidence.
"You have nowhere left to run."
Five brilliant streaks appeared across the sky.
They converged above the village at tremendous speed, each one carrying the power of Namekians who had already fused again and again along the way.
The five lights collided.
Golden radiance flooded the sky.
And from that light, a single Namekian warrior emerged.
Back at the cave, Moori felt his arrival and could no longer contain his excitement.
"He's here!"
His eyes remained fixed on the distant battlefield.
"New Namek's savior. Now show Moro the pride of our people!"
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]