"Very well… very good, Vegeta."
Frieza's cold voice rang out.
He slowly pulled himself free from the shattered mountain and descended to the ground.
Although he was badly injured, it was still far from the point where he had lost his ability to move.
"I don't know where you got your information," Frieza said darkly, "but since you already know that I can still transform, are you really that confident you can defeat me?"
As he spoke, Frieza began to release his power.
From the very beginning, his strength had been far too immense to control perfectly.
That was why he had deliberately suppressed most of it and created several transformation stages—to better restrain and manage his power.
In recent years, he had indeed used his second form once.
But the last time he had shown it was long ago, in front of his father. Even Zarbon, his most trusted subordinate, had never known about it.
But now, he had no choice.
Otherwise, Vegeta truly had the ability to kill him in his current state.
"Enough with the pointless talk," Vegeta said with a grin, his smile overflowing with arrogance. "Hurry up. You'd better not disappoint me again."
The moment he heard that, Frieza's expression twisted violently.
He raised both arms high, clenched his fists, and an overwhelmingly powerful aura erupted from his body. His form began to undergo a violent transformation.
For a moment, whether from pain or strain, Frieza's expression looked utterly miserable.
After what felt like a long buildup—
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
A hysterical scream burst from his throat.
Standing closest, Vegeta could clearly feel Frieza's power expanding dramatically.
Under the surge of energy, Frieza's body twisted and reshaped.
When the transformation finally stabilized, his entire form had changed into something far more alien.
Compared to this, the imposing appearance of his second form now felt almost underwhelming.
"Hehehehe~" Frieza laughed. "Vegeta, aside from my father and my elder brother, you're the first to witness this transformation."
"You should feel honored. Dying by my hand in this form is your privilege."
Even Frieza's voice had changed.
With the release of even greater power, his confidence surged back once more.
"Haven't you noticed?" Vegeta sneered. "This scene feels awfully familiar. Not too long ago, you were just as full of yourself."
Indeed.
Frieza's third form combat power was close to three million.
Compared to Vegeta's current strength, it wasn't that far off.
But even so, it still wasn't enough to defeat Vegeta in his normal state.
With Vegeta's combat skill, even if their raw numbers were similar, he was fully confident he could suppress Frieza.
After all, how many years had this pampered "Universe Emperor" gone without a real fight?
In terms of combat experience, Frieza was nothing more than a toy in his hands.
Frieza didn't get angry. Instead, he laughed, his twisted grin making him look even more demonic.
"This time is different. I'll admit it—you do deserve some praise," Frieza said mockingly.
"If I'm not mistaken, your combat power should be around two million, right?"
"That's why you're so confident that even after my second transformation, you can still defeat me."
"But it's a shame," Frieza continued coldly. "You misjudged my strength. I'll tell you clearly—my current combat power has reached three million."
"Oh?" Vegeta raised an eyebrow, completely unimpressed. "Is that so? Then show it to me. Don't be as useless as before."
Frieza's face twisted as if he'd just swallowed something disgusting.
He had wanted to intimidate and mock Vegeta.
Instead, he'd been shut down instantly.
"You're really courting death," Frieza said icily.
"Very well. I'll let you experience true terror first. After I've had my fill of tormenting you, I'll personally send you to hell."
With those words, Frieza strode toward Vegeta.
When he stopped a short distance away, he wickedly extended his long, disgusting tongue like a lizard's, foul-smelling mucus dripping from it.
"You'd better retract that," Vegeta said flatly. "Otherwise, I can't guarantee I won't cut it off."
At this distance, the stench was unbearable.
"You still dare speak so arrogantly?" Frieza sneered. "First, think about how you'll barely survive under my hand!"
Without another word, Frieza suddenly attacked.
At such close range, the speed of his strike was nearly impossible to track with the naked eye.
For weaker opponents, this would have been a sure kill.
But Vegeta had already warmed up.
"Oh ho ho ho~! Dance for me, and experience the storm under my absolute speed!"
Hundreds—no, thousands—of fingertip energy blasts poured out in rapid succession.
Vegeta dodged calmly, vaguely recalling how Frieza had once used this very move to completely cripple Piccolo after he fused with Nail.
"Frieza, Frieza," Vegeta said casually as he dodged and advanced, "you're still using such meaningless tricks against me. Your confidence really is mysterious."
The distance between them rapidly shrank.
Dodging such lightning-fast attacks at close range while still advancing made Frieza's eyes widen in disbelief. He instinctively took two steps back.
In the blink of an eye, Vegeta seized the opening and closed in, completely disrupting Frieza's attack rhythm.
"Still disappointing."
As his words fell—
BOOM!
The sound of flesh being struck echoed sharply.
Frieza's body was blasted backward by Vegeta's punch.
But unlike before, he wasn't sent flying helplessly.
The durability and power of his third form were clearly superior. His body slid back dozens of meters along the ground, carving two deep grooves into the surface.
Frieza's eyes turned bloodshot as he roared furiously, "Impossible! How could you also have three million combat power?!"
To him, the fact that Vegeta could hurt him meant only one thing—
Vegeta's combat power must be on the same level.
"Oh?" Vegeta sneered. "You're so sure I only have three million?"
In a flash, Vegeta moved again, appearing right in front of Frieza.
The speed was so terrifying that Frieza didn't even dare blink.
Vegeta's fist came straight at him. Frieza hastily raised his arm to block—
But it was a feint.
Vegeta shifted mid-motion, driving a knee straight into Frieza's body and sending him flying once more.
"So weak, Frieza," Vegeta said coldly as he pressed the attack.
"How could such a tiny increase in power make you think you could turn the tables?"