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…

Dead, but was he? 

 

As if someone touched the rewind button on a youtube video, Lord Slug was back in his previous position. He hadn’t even moved yet. 

 

Was this an illusion? A hallucination? 

 

Lord Slug attacked again, just like he did in Yamcha's vision. He dodged this time. But Lord Slug killed him again with his follow-up attack. It showed that their power difference was apparent, if Yamcha didn't use tricks.

 

Once again, he was killed with a Ki beam. The same situation played out a dozen times before suddenly Yamcha felt tired like never before like a mountain was weighing down on his shoulders. 

 

He opened his status page, and his Ki bar was emptied out. But that wasn’t the main worry, as Lord Slug attacked him. Unlike before, when the Namekian was cautious of the dark creatures and didn't use any Ki beams. He was now going all out. 

 

Yamcha could tell this wasn’t one of his strange visions because when he was in them, he couldn’t feel anything and only see. As if borrowing only the eyes of his future self. 

 

[Slug - Level ???] (Power Level: ?,???,???)

 

This was the first time in a while since Yamcha had seen question marks on someone when he used Observe. 

 

But he didn't have time to concentrate on that or worry about how strong Lord Slug was. 

 

Everything happened so fast that Yamcha didn't have time to think clearly and had to act instinctively. Following the same position as him in his vision, he dodged Lord Slug's attacks. 

 

While doing so, he munched down on a Senzu Bean and noticed his vision going wild again, as if someone was pressing the back and forward buttons. 

 

He wasn't in the present, Yamcha realized. He couldn’t feel the wind hitting his skin. Lord Slug shot a Ki beam from his eyes, and Yamcha dodged, but the light eaters surrounded both of them and started attacking. 

 

Yamcha was back in the present and saw where the light eaters would be and shot out attacks, killing all of them in one headshot for each. 

 

"Pests!" Lord Slug swung his arm and generated a large explosion, obliterating a wave of light eaters. They tried eating up the attack, but it was too strong for the light eaters to devour. 

 

But one of the light eater's big creatures had gone through the explosion and attempted to bite down on Yamcha's neck. He already saw the attack coming and dodged. 

 

Yet, he saw himself in the vision falling down and everything going dark once he dodged the attack. Yamcha was about to look into it deeper and see what had happened, but he noticed that the Ki pool inside him was empty again.

 

'Fuck! The energy consumption of this is crazy!' 

 

Yamcha didn't have time to eat another Senzu as the next attack was devastating, and he could only slow it down slightly with a barrier. He put the barrier on the back of his head.

 

In his vision, his body dropped forward, showing that the attack had come from behind, reasoned Yamcha. With his Gamer’s Body, as long as the attack didn’t hit him in the head, he should be able to survive it. 

 

Just as he predicted, a strong hit broke through his barrier. But the barrier magic had slowed the attack enough for Yamcha to jump away. 

 

The attacker was Lord Slug, with his fist extended where Yamcha's head had been, and the old Namekian frowned. His eyes wandered about as if looking for something, but it was so dark Yamcha doubted the Namekian saw anything. 

 

'No matter how hard I try, I can't win this. I have already used up all the methods in my arsenal, and nothing worked out in the end.'

 

Yamcha swallowed another Senzu, and involuntarily he saw the visions again. 

 

This time, it wasn't a vision of an enemy, but Yamcha himself, shooting a beam at the planet, trying to destroy it. But the light of the attack was sucked out as all the light eaters came from underground and ate his attack.

 

'Damn, I thought blowing up the planet would be a good idea. Since I could just use my barrier to survive in space, but Lord Slug shouldn’t be able to use Barrier Magic.'

Ding!

 

A sudden new notification drew Yamcha’s attention. 

 

[You have gained a new skill:...]

***

Slug was ashamed. How come he couldn't defeat an enemy many times weaker than himself? It was an embarrassment he needed to destroy. 

 

Others would have used the reason that he no longer was what he used to be, with his age dragging him down. But Slug would never use such a pathetic excuse. He wouldn't spare his enemies because they were old, and he won't give himself ‘old age’ as an excuse. 

 

Yet even with that belief, it didn't change the reality of the situation. That black-haired man had held him back for more than three days. 

 

How could someone do something so outrageous when there was such a huge difference in power? Slug didn't know the answer, but the black-haired man had pulled it off with his tricks. 

 

Slug attacked relentlessly, but none of the attacks landed. The black-haired man moved as if he was fighting ghosts, but at the same time blocked most of his attacks.

 

To Slug, it didn't matter how hard the battle was. He sensed the dragon ball's power inside black haired man's body, and he would do anything to have the wish of eternal youth.  

 

He was sure that the black-haired man was getting tired too, probably even more than him. It was only a matter of time before his opponent slipped up. 

 

Suddenly he noticed something strange while they fought and shot beams at each other. It lit up the surroundings for Slug to see the black-haired man's face. The youngster was weird. His eyes moved around, looking at things that weren't even there. 

 

There was something strange about his opponent. He moved with perfect precision as if there was no doubt in his mind that the attacks were a feint or true. 

 

With a combination of his strange moves and Magic Materialization, Slug felt like there was some kind of stalemate. 

 

A stalemate!!! With someone so weak!! He was beyond enraged. 

 

Yet there was barely anything he could do. Weapons that broke and turned into specks of light would be replaced by other weapons in the blink of an eye and continue trying to stab at him.

 

..

 

Finally, after a dozen exchanges, Slug hit the man in the chest and felt his ribs give away as the small barrier the dark-haired man had created barely gave any defense. 

 

The man's body slammed on the ground like a ragdoll, and Slug was about to go on another attack. When the dark-haired man gathered a load of Ki in his hand, enough to make every light-eater around them go into a frenzy and attack him. 

 

'What a stupid move.' Thought Slug, but what he drew next shocked him to the core.

 

The black-haired man slammed down the Ki and shot a beam at the planet point blank. With his expertise, Slug knew the beam was strong enough to reach the core. But there was a reason why even the strongest fighters never go for the core of a planet they fight on, because none of them could survive in space!

 

"You bastard! Are you mad?!" Slug immediately started flying up.

 

His opponent smirked, showing his red teeth that were stained in blood, and gave Slug a thumbs down. 

 

BOOOOOOOM!!!!

 

The explosion was huge. Slug shot a beam at the incoming rubble and tried creating a barrier around himself with his Telekinetic Power. Sadly, that wasn't his strong point. So even after creating a barrier, he had to push himself to a neighboring planet by shooting a beam as propulsion.

 

Space was a strange sensation. He felt all the water in his body starting to freeze. But Slug used his energy to try and keep himself stabilized. Also, he was slowly running out of breath. 

 

His body was crashing down on itself. Slug still couldn't get his mind off his opponent, who was dead by now.

 

'What kind of madman would do something like that?!' Slug was annoyed at how he hadn't been able to get the information out of his opponent about the dragon balls. But at least he was still alive, and the search would continue. 

 

It's a shame his crew was dead. But he will find some new subordinates.

 

Slug reached a new nearby planet that was made of ice. This deep into space, any suns and stars were far off, and every planet was usually cold. 

 

Beggars couldn't be choosers, so Slug propelled himself and arrived at the planet. As soon as he entered the atmosphere, he breathed a deep gust of cold air. "Fuck! I almost died back there!"

 

Fighting against some regenerating madman was one of the most dangerous enemies Slug fought. "Even that weak, he was a pain in the ass."

 

As soon as his feet touched the icy ground, Slug felt relief wash over his body. 

 

For a second, he allowed himself to relax, thinking back on all the mistakes he had made while fighting the regenerating madman. But there weren't any mistakes. His opponent was just crazy. 

 

BOOOOOOM!!!

 

Something crashed onto the planet, and it was a bright beam thrown from outer space. The land under Slug's feet started shaking, and he realized something. "That bastard is still alive!!"

Just like that, another planet exploded.