Irico's ship descended over the battlefield not long after the prisoners had been knocked unconscious, and Ken dropped to the ground alongside Merus and Jaco.
Goku greeted them with a broad smile. "Ken, Merus! We got Moro. The Grand Supreme Kai sealed his magic again."
Ken nodded, but Merus immediately leaned closer to him and lowered his voice. "This isn't quite how we expected things to go."
"No," Ken agreed. "If Moro gets sent straight back to prison, you won't get the chance to increase your Angel power."
Merus considered that problem for a moment. "Then... should we let him go and arrange another fight later?"
"Good idea. Let's do that."
Merus stared at him. "I was just throwing out a suggestion. Why did you agree so quickly?"
"Because it was a good suggestion. Would you rather I discourage you?"
There was no sensible answer to that, so Merus gave up. Ken did point out one complication, however: if they simply released Moro in front of everyone, it would look as though two Angels had deliberately sabotaged the capture, which was hardly good for their reputation.
Merus thought it over until an idea occurred to him. "Then I'll quietly undo the seal on his magic. No one has to know it was us."
Ken gave him an approving nod. "Much better."
Nearby, Goku was still assuming the battle had ended. "So we take Moro back to the Galactic Prison now, right?"
"Why bother?" Vegeta snapped. "We should erase him here and be done with it."
Destruction energy gathered in his palm once again, and Moro could do nothing but watch as the violet-red glow intensified. His magic had been sealed for the second time in his life, the Grand Supreme Kai was standing right beside him, and now a God of Destruction apprentice was preparing to erase him completely.
His luck could hardly have been worse.
In desperation, Moro's thoughts went to the one person he believed might still save him. Master... can you hear me? Please, come save me. I miss you!
The answer came almost immediately, though not from the person he expected.
Merus quietly released the seal.
Moro felt the change all at once. The vast reservoir of magic that had been locked beyond his reach suddenly surged back through his body, filling him with the same overwhelming power Porunga had restored.
His eyes widened with joy. Master? You really heard me?
Vegeta mistook that expression for fear. "Call me whatever you want. I'm still erasing you, and I have no interest in keeping a pet like you."
He sent the destruction energy forward.
Moro's fingers immediately began moving across the incoming sphere, working his magic through it just as he had before. Within seconds, the destructive violet-red energy lost its dangerous nature and turned pale blue, allowing Moro to open his mouth and swallow the entire attack.
The sudden reversal caught everyone off guard. Goku immediately turned toward the Grand Supreme Kai, unable to understand how Moro had recovered the one ability that should have been sealed away.
"Didn't you seal his magic?"
"I did!" The Grand Supreme Kai was just as confused. "Somehow he broke the seal!"
Vegeta's disbelief quickly turned into anger, while Moro threw his head back and laughed.
"Master! I knew you wouldn't abandon me!"
Before anyone could stop him, he released a wave of magic across the battlefield. It swept through the escaped prisoners Vegeta had knocked unconscious, awakening their latent strength and then forcing that potential far beyond its previous limits. Men who had been sprawled helplessly across the ground only moments ago began pushing themselves upright, each one radiating far more power than before.
Moro gestured toward Goku and the others. "Go. Show them what you can do."
The prisoners charged together, and Goku immediately realized they were dealing with something very different from the group Vegeta had flattened earlier.
"Don't underestimate them! Moro made them much stronger!"
Vegeta began gathering destruction energy again. "Then I'll erase the whole lot."
"Don't!" Goku shouted. "Moro will just convert it and eat it again!"
Vegeta swore under his breath and dispersed the technique before Moro could take advantage of it. By then the prisoners were already upon them, forcing Goku, Vegeta, and the Grand Supreme Kai into close combat.
One particularly unfortunate prisoner chose Ken.
He rushed in swinging, only for Ken to flick his staff across his path and send him flying halfway across the battlefield.
Merus watched the man disappear into the distance and almost felt sorry for him. Out of everyone standing here, he had somehow chosen the single worst person to attack.
"Moro really thinks his master restored his magic," Merus remarked quietly.
"He probably doesn't know that his master has been sealed inside me for a while now," Ken replied.
Merus looked at him in surprise. "You sealed the little demoness?"
"Yeah."
Merus wiped away a bead of sweat. "Is there anything you can't do?"
"A lot. I'm only level 85."
That answer hurt more than Merus wanted to admit. Ken had reached level 85 and was complaining about how limited he was, while Merus himself was still sitting at level 52.
Ken made matters worse by sighing. "The gap between us keeps getting bigger. When are you planning to catch up?"
"I'm working on it."
While Merus suffered in silence, the battle against the prisoners continued. Moro had moved back onto the spacecraft above them, where he raised one hand and began drawing energy out of everyone fighting below.
Goku noticed the effect only after Super Saiyan Blue became impossible to maintain. The blue aura collapsed and left him in Super Saiyan God, while Vegeta felt the strength being pulled from his body at the same time.
"The energy drain!" the Grand Supreme Kai warned. "Moro's doing it again!"
Goku looked up and found Moro gathering their stolen energy from above. "We can't let him keep doing that!"
He tried to break away from the prisoners and reach the ship, but their leader was already waiting for him.
Saganbo jumped down and intercepted Goku in midair. As they closed on each other, Moro's drain stripped away another layer of Goku's power; the divine energy sustaining Super Saiyan God vanished, forcing him down into Super Saiyan 3 just as Saganbo reached him.
The sudden drop in strength left Goku wide open.
Saganbo drove him out of the sky with a crushing blow, and by the time Goku hit the ground, even Super Saiyan 3 had collapsed.
Vegeta glanced toward him in irritation. "Kakarot, what are you doing?"
His own transformation failed before Goku could answer. Super Saiyan 4 vanished as Moro continued draining him, and the prisoner Vegeta had been fighting immediately took advantage, smashing a fist into his nose and staggering him backward.
Both Saiyans forced themselves up and managed to scrape together enough ki for ordinary Super Saiyan, but even that lasted only a short while. Every second they remained on New Namek fed more of their energy to Moro, and soon neither could transform at all.
Goku clenched his fists, trying unsuccessfully to summon the power again. "We can't even use Super Saiyan anymore."
Vegeta's frustration had become something deeper than anger. "How many times are we going to fall for the same damn trick?"
The Grand Supreme Kai was struggling just as badly. He had already spent a tremendous amount of energy using Kai Kai Matoru, and Moro's drain was steadily stripping away what little strength he had left.
Merus finally decided they had pushed things far enough. "All right. My turn."
He drew his blaster and entered the fight, dropping empowered prisoners with precise shots while Jaco hurried in beside him and began firing as well. The pressure around Goku and Vegeta eased almost immediately.
Goku brightened. "Merus really is amazing!"
Jaco nearly missed his next shot. "Hey! I'm doing pretty well with this pistol too! Where's my compliment?"
Goku tilted his head. "Why does that sound weird when you say it like that?"
"Not now, Kakarot!" Vegeta snapped.
Merus kept firing as he moved closer to the Saiyans. "Goku, Vegeta, we can't defeat Moro like this. We need to retreat before he drains the rest of your energy."
Goku had no argument left. "Fine. Merus, Ken, grab on."
"I'll stay," Ken said. "There's something I want to discuss with Moro privately."
Goku looked at him in confusion. "Privately?"
Merus didn't give him time to dwell on it. He grabbed Goku with one hand and Jaco with the other while Eska hurried over to the exhausted Grand Supreme Kai and used his healing ability to stabilize him.
"Grand Supreme Kai, take Eska back to Galactic Patrol Headquarters," Merus said.
"Understood."
The Grand Supreme Kai placed a hand on Eska and disappeared with him.
Goku turned toward Vegeta. "Come on. Grab hold of me before Moro drains all my energy."
Vegeta didn't move.
His eyes remained fixed on the battlefield as everything that had happened since they met Moro seemed to boil over at once.
"Magic. God ki. Destruction energy..." His fists tightened. "Everywhere I look, someone's relying on some special ability or another. A Saiyan's real strength is supposed to come from his own body. We're a warrior race, yet look at us—we become helpless the moment someone strips those tricks away."
"Vegeta, you can complain about that after we leave!"
Vegeta glanced toward the Galactic Patrol ship in the distance and made his decision.
"You go, Kakarot. I'm done traveling with all of you."
Before Goku could stop him, Vegeta launched himself into the sky and headed for the ship.
"Vegeta!"
He never looked back.
Merus urged Goku to leave before Moro's drain made escape impossible, but Goku still hesitated when he saw Ken standing alone.
"What about you?"
"I told you, I still have something to do here. I'll catch up later."
With no time left to argue, Goku locked onto a distant ki signature and disappeared with Merus and Jaco.
The prisoners who had been attacking them suddenly found themselves with only one target remaining.
Ken.
They turned together and rushed him.
Ken simply snapped his fingers.
From Moro's position above the battlefield, it looked at first as though nothing had happened.
"Look, Moro-sama! They forgot someone down there!" Saganbo called from behind him.
Moro barely glanced in Ken's direction. "He's probably nobody important. Kill him."
Several seconds passed without an answer.
Moro frowned. Saganbo might be an underling, but ignoring a direct order was still rude.
"Saganbo. Did you hear me?"
Again, nothing.
Only then did Moro notice that every prisoner below had stopped moving. They remained frozen exactly where they had been when Ken snapped his fingers, some caught halfway through a step, others with fists raised or bodies leaning forward in mid-charge.
Moro slowly turned around.
Saganbo was frozen too, standing behind him like a statue with his face completely blank.
The amusement disappeared from Moro's expression as he remembered the small motion Ken had made just before everyone stopped.
Who was this man?
Ken raised his staff.
A faint shimmer of Angel power passed through the air, and Moro instantly lost control of his own body. His magic still worked, but no amount of effort allowed him to move even a finger as an invisible force lifted him from the ship and drew him gently toward the ground.
For the first time since recovering his magic, genuine fear entered Moro's voice.
"What are you?"
Ken brought him to a stop directly in front of him.
"I stayed behind because there's someone I thought you might like to see."
Moro struggled uselessly against whatever held him. "Who?"
Ken released the seal.
The little demoness appeared beside him.
Moro's fear vanished so completely that for a moment he seemed to forget Ken existed. His eyes went wide, and his voice nearly failed him when he recognized the person standing there.
"M-Master? Is that really you?"
The little demoness stared back at him just as excitedly.
"Moro-chan?!"
Even Ken needed a moment after hearing that.
Moro-chan?
Of all the names he had expected for a galaxy-devouring ancient wizard, that certainly wasn't one of them.
Moro dropped to his knees in front of her. "Master!"
The little demoness immediately wrapped both arms around his head and burst into tears.
Moro had spent the last several minutes believing he was the desperate one, yet somehow his master was crying even harder than he was.
There was a good reason for that. The little demoness had been sealed inside Ken for what felt like forever, with no idea when her brother would finally come rescue her. After being trapped for so long, suddenly seeing one of her old pets again was enough to break whatever composure she had left.
Moro, of course, knew none of that. Tears streamed down his own face as he looked up at her.
"Master... did you come all the way here looking for me?"
The little demoness faltered.
That was difficult to answer when she had actually been out traveling and had simply suffered the terrible luck of running into Ken.
Moro finally seemed to remember the much larger problem standing beside them.
"Master, who is this guy?" He pointed toward Ken, confusion replacing some of his joy. "And why were you inside his body?"
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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