Tundra flew through space toward his final target.
Soon, a massive green planet came into view.
At its center was a vast golden region where he sensed the dark ki.
Tundra studied the golden spot for a moment before flying down toward it, wondering if this one might finally present a real challenge.
He landed on the golden ground.
Waiting for him was a massive creature.
The monster stood tall with four arms, curved horns, and skin that resembled molten magma. Heat shimmered around its body.
Embedded in its chest was the seven-star Dragon Ball, surrounded by the broken halves of the other six—except the fifth.
The creature opened its mouth.
Its voice boomed across the golden plain.
"Welcome, Tundra. I am Zaiak. And I welcome you to my planet."
Tundra looked at him with open disdain.
So they could read his mind too.
"Zaiak," he said flatly, "I don't want to play around."
"So how about you die now?"
Without another word, Tundra launched forward.
His fist slammed toward Zaiak's face.
Zaiak barely blocked the punch. His arms cracked under the force as he struggled to hold it back.
"What a rude and brutish way to answer me."
He shoved Tundra backward before running his hand through the golden ground.
The metal liquefied instantly.
Zaiak swung his arm upward, sending a wave of molten gold flying at Tundra.
Tundra immediately dodged.
He didn't even attempt to block.
That ability belonged to Kinir.
If it touched him, it would likely turn him into gold as well.
Zaiak smirked.
"What? Afraid of a little gold?"
"How pathetic."
Tundra fired a small ki blast just to shut him up.
Zaiak extended his hand and effortlessly scattered the energy apart.
"You should already know I possess all their abilities," Zaiak said calmly. "Why even try?"
"Because they were all weak," Tundra replied.
"And so are you."
He was deliberately trying to provoke him.
Tundra could already tell—Zaiak was only slightly weaker than himself.
Zaiak stopped moving.
"Me? Weak?"
He slammed his hand into the ground.
The entire area transformed into gleaming gold.
Suddenly, spikes erupted from beneath Tundra.
They pierced through his body.
Golden metal began spreading across his skin.
Zaiak slowly approached him.
"Who's weak now?"
Tundra cursed internally.
Maybe provoking him had been the wrong move.
But now he had to commit to it.
"You," Tundra replied coldly. "You could never defeat me without turning me into gold with cheap tricks like this."
Zaiak paused.
"…Yes I could. Did you not see my arsenal?"
He extended his hand and halted the golden transformation.
Tundra smiled.
"Prove it."
"You can't."
It worked.
Pride really was simple.
Zaiak's eyes burned with anger.
With a dismissive wave of his hand, the spikes sank back into the ground.
"Fine."
"We'll fight without the gold."
Tundra glanced down at his body, which was still mostly covered in hardened gold.
"This hardly seems fair," he said calmly.
"My mobility is restricted."
"Perhaps you should revert it… unless someone with that much power can't manage that?"
Zaiak glared at him.
Then he smirked.
"It would be difficult for anyone else."
"But I can do it easily."
He placed a hand on Tundra's chest.
The gold instantly melted away, restoring his body.
Zaiak stepped back and raised his guard.
"But if you try provoking me again," he warned, "I will kill you."
Tundra smiled.
He knew Zaiak understood he was being manipulated.
"Oh, I won't even need to."
Zaiak snarled and charged.
His fist burned with dark red ki.
Tundra dodged the strike and drove his elbow into Zaiak's chest before kicking him backward.
Zaiak slid across the golden ground.
Maybe using only one ability at a time wouldn't be enough.
Tundra rushed forward again, ki coating his fist.
Just as the punch was about to land—
Zaiak smirked.
He vanished.
Then reappeared behind Tundra.
"Anything you can do," he said mockingly, "I can do too."
Tundra was briefly surprised.
But he immediately exploded his ki outward in every direction.
The chaotic energy made it impossible to lock onto his signature.
Zaiak's smirk faded.
"…Well. Whatever."
"I wasn't planning to use that trick again anyway."
Tundra swung for his stomach.
Zaiak grabbed his fist and used the momentum to fling himself upward.
He charged back down.
Their fists collided.
The impact created a massive explosion of energy that blasted them apart.
Tundra fired dozens of ki blasts.
Zaiak dispersed most of them and blocked the rest.
One explosion destroyed part of his arm and briefly knocked the seven-star Dragon Ball loose from his chest.
He quickly caught it and forced it back into place.
Now he looked genuinely furious.
"How dare you?!"
Tundra simply smirked.
He coated his entire body in ki and slammed into Zaiak like a meteor.
The impact sent Zaiak flying out into space.
Zaiak stabilized himself quickly.
He stretched both arms toward Tundra.
Pressing his hands together, he began charging a concentrated blast between them—forcing as much ki into it as possible.
Then he slightly opened his hands.
The compressed beam shot forward at absurd speed.
Tundra was flying toward him when the attack struck.
The beam pierced straight through his head.
It exploded.
His body began falling.
For a moment—
There was silence.
Then Tundra's ki suddenly flared.
A loud bell-like tone rang out from his chest.
His fall stopped.
His body began glowing.
Not like ki, but like a star.
The light became so intense it obscured his entire form.
Tundra slowly floated back toward Zaiak.
Zaiak felt something unfamiliar.
Fear.
Forgetting the restrictions he had placed on himself, he formed a golden spike and hurled it toward Tundra.
The spike never reached him.
It vaporized into steam before touching him.
Zaiak finally noticed the heat around them.
He hurriedly raised a ki barrier.
Even with magma for skin, the temperature felt lethal.
"What the hell are you?!" he shouted.
Tundra didn't respond.
He simply raised one hand.
A small blast formed in his palm.
It shot toward Zaiak.
Zaiak tried to disperse it—
But his ki slid off the attack like it was protected by an invisible barrier.
Panicking, Zaiak formed a massive sphere of energy and hurled it forward.
The attack bounced harmlessly away.
Zaiak turned and tried to flee.
He wasn't fast enough.
Tundra's blast tore straight through his chest.
Then it exploded.
Zaiak's entire body was annihilated.
Silence returned to space.
Tundra's glow faded.
His body went limp as the star-like energy receded.
His head regenerated as his power died down.
The blue Dragon Ball and the broken halves of the others shot away through space—
Heading toward Makura.
__
Several minutes later—
Makura appeared.
She teleported into space with all seven blue Dragon Balls embedded in her stomach.
Floating lazily among a cloud of pillows, she grabbed Tundra's unconscious body and teleported them both back to her planet.
Tundra fell onto the soft cotton surface.
Makura drifted back to her bed.
With a snap of her fingers, another bed appeared beneath Tundra, gently bouncing him onto the fluffy ground.
Makura watched him with quiet fascination.
His memories were filled with incredible worlds and strange places.
There was so much to explore.
And besides—
Why waste the effort killing him…
When she could simply relax instead…
With all the power she now possessed.