Jiba locked eyes with Piccolo after kicking Lord Slug away. He wasn't concerned about the elderly Namekian in the slightest. The criminal's battle power was insignificant. Even his subordinates would be capable of dealing with him if they fought together. Vice Commander Jiba knew the genuine threat here was the younger Namekian. The Yardratian teleported directly in front of Piccolo, his dual greatswords slashing down. Piccolo, more than capable of keeping up with his speed, raised his arms to block the incoming blow.
Without much surprise to Jiba, the Namek’s arms went flying into the air in a spray of purple blood. Piccolo’s eyes widened as he cried out in pain and shock. Even while blocking with most of his power, the sharpness of those swords simply bisected his energy with ease! As he was filing away the information that he should never try to block those swords again, Jiba didn’t waste time allowing him to regenerate his arms.
Jiba’s swords sliced, slashed, and hacked toward Piccolo’s vitals. Without arms, he could only use his legs to strike back or avoid the sword attacks entirely. Considering the sharpness of those large swords, Piccolo’s tactical mind advised him to follow through with the latter. By focusing on avoidance, he could save energy.
If he tried attacking with his legs, there was a chance he would lose his legs as well. There was no need for a dangerous risk like that. More lives than Piccolo’s were at stake right now. Everything he’s been fighting for cannot come to an end right here.
Jiba exploited his Instant Transmission technique to its fullest, vanishing from Piccolo's sight and reappearing in unexpected locations. He toyed with Piccolo's expectations, sometimes appearing in front, then behind, and occasionally above him. Several deep wounds appeared on Piccolo’s body. His speed was greater than Jiba’s, but Instant Transmission allowed him to keep up just enough to land glancing blows. Glancing cuts with those two incredibly large and sharp greatswords normally led to death to normal opponents.
Luckily for Piccolo, his regeneration was the key factor in his current state of living. If he weren’t a Namekian, this battle would’ve been over from the start. A normal fighter cannot survive with both of their arms being chopped off. Jiba did not waste his time thinking about what if this or what if that. He already knew that Namekians could regenerate. For a soldier of his rank, the Hub listed most of their racial traits and special abilities. Any soldier of his rank had to have knowledge of over a hundred species, or an assistant who worked closely with him did.
His goal was to kill or render the Namekian unconscious. It didn’t matter how he achieved those goals. All that mattered was that they were met. Unfortunately, he was unable to accomplish either of those choices before his Kaio-ken wore off, leaving Jiba’s body sore, throbbing, and injured.
Piccolo tiredly panted as his regeneration was working into overdrive. The cuts, scraps, and missing limbs were healing as fast as they could, using his ki as fuel. While he was regenerating, Jiba wasn’t idling away either. With his Kaio-ken leaving him injured and tired, he clicked on his scouter.
Jiba's cunning wasn't limited to physical prowess. The Yardratian ordered two drones to support him in battle. A Recovery Drone and an Assist Drone came flying from the PTO’s ship. Piccolo was annoyed he had to allow his opponent to recover. If he tried attacking now, there was no guarantee that he would be able to come out on top, even though he was stronger.
“To be honest, I’m astonished there are more Namekians alive.” Jiba took the chance to chat while they recovered.
“Shut it. I have no interest in hearing anything a monster like you has to say.” Piccolo glared at him.
“We blew up the original Namek and slaughtered all the Namekians there. Lord Turles exterminated New Namek and only spared two children to raise himself. Then there’s that elderly Namekian serving in the Support Force. You Namekians are pretty good at surviving, now that I think about it. A hardy species for a group of slugs.” Jiba realized.
“...” Piccolo didn’t realize they blew up New Namek…
Damn it! He was planning to head there for reinforcements and to use their dragon balls, but Turles had already thought ahead. “If you tell us what happened to Commander Mepple, I may be willing to spare you. You have potential. Potential to be useful to the Planet Trade Organization.” Jiba offered.
“Do you take me for a fool?” Piccolo spat on the ground in disgust. “I know how you people work. In exchange for my enslavement, you keep me shackled using the lives of the kids. Am I right?!”
“Perhaps in the past. I’m unsure what misunderstandings you may have about the Planet Trade Organization, but we are not unfeeling cruel demons.” Jiba talked politely and professionally.
“You say that as your men are slaughtering innocent children!” Piccolo roared as his arms regenerated, and he charged forward.
Jiba blocked Piccolo’s sudden knee attack that launched him into the sky. Piccolo sped past Jiba’s flying figure and, with a sharp pivot, cracked Jiba in the back with his leg. As Jiba flew back toward the ground, Piccolo extended his arm to grab him by his armor. He snatched him by the back of his armor, pulled him back, and fired off a mouth beam that buried Jiba into the ground.
With him out of the picture, Piccolo sped toward the Jiba’s subordinates who were killing his children. Piccolo’s strength eclipsed even their leader, so it was no surprise that he easily tore through his men. Killing most of them in one hit or one blast.
Jiba inwardly shook his head in disappointment as the Assist Drone and Recovery Drone healed him back to full health and energy. The Namekian was too emotional. He should’ve ensured that he obliterated him completely before taking his attention off of him. Sure, there were major parts of Jiba’s body mass missing at the moment, but that wasn’t an issue for the Recovery Drones, who could recover missing limbs and organs. He would’ve been dead for sure if the drones weren’t here. Jiba was really grateful for the teachings bestowed upon him by Commander Appule. In the military academy, they were given lessons on how to deal with certain types of enemies. A lesson that Jiba was finally going to utilize on the field.
With a sinister grin, he placed his finger on his forehead before teleporting from the crater. Then Vice Commander Jiba began copying the very same actions that Piccolo was doing. He began to mercilessly slaughter the Namekian children, ensuring they cried out before they died to grab Piccolo’s attention.
Piccolo didn’t hesitate for a second when he saw that Jiba was back up. He instantly rushed toward him with a maddening scream. Jiba nodded his head as he made his intentions clear – any diversion of attention from Piccolo would result in the death of a young Namekian. Jiba used his Instant Transmission to appear near a group of Namekian children, ready to execute his threat at a moment's notice.
"Stay focused, Piccolo, or these little ones pay the price," Jiba warned, a cold determination in his eyes. The Yardratian held one of his greatswords to the throat of one of the children, helping Piccolo understand that if he wanted, he could slaughter all of these children in no time, and there would be nothing he could do to stop it.
As fast as Piccolo was, there was a clear distinction between teleportation and movement speed. He wasn’t that much stronger than Jiba that he could ignore such a significant difference in motion. The stakes were higher than ever. Piccolo, torn between his desire to protect his offspring and defeat Jiba, struggled to maintain his composure. The Yardratian secretly reveled in the chaos he had created, the psychological torment of his opponent and putting to use what he learned.
As Piccolo grappled with the ethical dilemma, Jiba seized the opportunity to strike. With a sudden burst of energy, he unleashed the Kaio-Ken technique, enhancing his power by two. Piccolo, caught off guard by the sudden surge, struggled to match Jiba's newfound power. Jiba's attacks became a blur, and his strikes landed with pinpoint precision.
“Focus on me and only me. If you killed me when you had the chance, this would’ve been all over by now. But you let your emotions cloud your judgment, and because of that, those children died and are dying. In a battle, the most important thing is taking care of your enemy before anything else,” Jiba shared.
“GOT YA!” Lord Slug appeared behind Jiba, capturing him a bear hug. “FIRE AT BOTH OF US! NOW!” He ordered.
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Piccolo knew what Slug’s plan was.
Piccolo brought his hands together, charging up a yellow energy sphere in his hand. Once it was fully charged, he smirked. Bringing his hands forward, he fired off the energy orb. “Light Grenade!!!”
“How terrifying, truly,” Jiba smirked before teleporting away with Lord Slug.
However, to his surprise, he could still sense the massive amount of energy heading toward him. “You even anticipated this? Impressive.” The energy attack was homing on his ki signature. No matter where Jiba teleported with Lord Slug holding on to him, the Light Grenade would follow them. “But how will you respond to this?” Jiba appeared in the middle of a group of Namekian children who were still alive.
The smirk was still present on Piccolo’s face as the attack swept both Lord Slug and Jiba off their feet. An explosion of energy swallowed both of them up and only them, despite the power of the attack being strong enough to gouge out a significant chunk of the Earth.
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