"…So this is your true power?"
Boros trembled slightly—his body reacting with fear, yet his heart surged with joy and excitement.
This was it!
An opponent this strong… was worth defeating!
"More or less. But honestly… I've never used this power before, so I'm not exactly sure how strong I am."
Kizaru raised a hand and examined the brilliant light radiating from his body with a slight headache. With his overwhelmingly powerful physique, the Glint-Glint Fruit's awakened state had become his default form.
In this state, he was light itself—his combat ability was likely far beyond even his own previous expectations.
But being lit up like a mini sun wasn't exactly comfortable for someone like Kizaru, who had always preferred a low-key presence.
"Then let me see for myself… just how strong you really are, Kizaru!"
Boros let out an excited roar, turning into a streak of light and charging straight at Kizaru.
Even knowing full well he couldn't win, he didn't hesitate for a second.
He completely ignored the gap in power and launched a full-on challenge.
"Ah… now this really is…"
Kizaru squinted slightly, then threw a punch straight at the oncoming Boros.
Regardless of their roles as enemies, Kizaru had to admit—he actually liked guys like Boros. A real headstrong type.
BOOM!
Standing three meters tall, Kizaru had the reach advantage over the 2.4-meter Boros. But more importantly, his speed was so overwhelming that unless he allowed it, Boros couldn't even get a punch in.
With nothing more than a casual "friendly face-breaker," Boros was launched back even faster than he had charged in.
His once-handsome face was now grotesquely deformed from the punch. His large eyeball bulged so far from its socket it looked like it might pop right out.
Back in naval academy, and even after officially joining the Marines, almost nobody wanted to spar with Kizaru—because he always aimed for the face.
Even those stronger than him couldn't keep up with his speed. And anyone weaker? They didn't stand a chance. He was the kind of nightmare even dogs would avoid.
"Energy Barrage Cannon!"
Still flying backward, Boros snapped his arm up and fired a beam of energy at the golden Kizaru.
Kizaru's speed made close-quarters combat nearly impossible—even for Boros. So he was trying to compensate with long-range firepower.
Boros, ever the battle junkie, wasn't picky about how he fought. As long as it helped him defeat a strong opponent, he didn't care what methods he used.
If not for Kizaru's insane speed, Boros would've even considered launching him into space.
After all, a native who had never left Earth probably wouldn't last long in the vacuum.
The high-powered energy beam shot straight at Kizaru. It wasn't quite city-destroying, but it could definitely flatten a few city blocks.
"Final Flash."
Kizaru raised a hand calmly. A blinding light exploded from his palm in the next instant.
Boros couldn't even see Kizaru's movements. That unbeatable flash engulfed his beam and vaporized everything below his neck in an instant.
Instant kill.
The power gap between them was too vast. Boros didn't even get the chance to clash beams—proof enough they weren't fighting on the same level.
His severed head floated in mid-air, stunned. Blood vessels in his massive eyeball began to swell, like it might burst any second.
The mighty galactic conqueror Boros—how could it end here?
He hadn't even defeated the warrior foretold in prophecy!
He had only just witnessed the full extent of that warrior's strength—falling now would be no different than surrendering to fate!
"Meteoric Burst!"
In a desperate moment, Boros miraculously regenerated his disintegrated body at an incredible speed. His race was born with the ability to manipulate and store energy. As long as he had enough of it, his physical body wasn't truly a vulnerability.
Though he had already unleashed all his energy in the earlier stages of the battle, he still had one final trump card.
A last-resort technique—by burning through an enormous portion of his lifespan, he could forcibly extract every last shred of energy within him and release it in one final, explosive burst.
Violent energy surged from Boros once more. While it still fell short of the overwhelming pressure exuded by Kizaru, it certainly didn't lack in visual impact.
"…Impressive."
Kizaru murmured softly. He himself would never use life-burning moves like Meteor Burst or Eight Inner Gates, but he held a deep respect for any warrior willing to sacrifice their life in pursuit of their ideals.
Of course, that respect was reserved for genuine life-sacrifice techniques—not those fake, scripted "cheat skills" that only looked risky on the surface but were secretly safeguarded behind plot armor. Kizaru always looked down on those.
"Let's end this with one strike, Kizaru! Take this… Collapsing Star…"
Boros, fully aware this would likely be his death on Earth, showed not a trace of regret. His fighting spirit blazed, filling every inch of his being.
As a long-lived species, the sheer volume of energy released by burning such a vast amount of lifespan was nearly uncontrollable—even for someone as naturally attuned to energy as Boros. He had no choice but to channel it in the simplest way possible.
Boundless energy gathered and compressed in his hands, waiting to erupt and annihilate everything in its path.
While the Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon didn't literally live up to its name, its destructive power was more than enough to level Earth's surface.
"Flash: Solar Deity…"
Kizaru did not disappoint. Knowing full well this would be Boros' final, desperate attack, he still chose to face it head-on.
A radiant arc of light appeared behind him.
Blinding light poured from Kizaru's body, illuminating him like a true god descending upon the world.
"…ROARING CANNON!"
"…DIVINE RADIANCE!"
The energy beam and light blast collided in midair. This time, powered by his life force, Boros' attack had significantly closed the gap between them. The two forces clashed and held for several long heartbeats—until the Roaring Cannon, lacking sustained energy, finally crumbled.
Kizaru's full-powered strike not only completely obliterated Boros—it flooded the entire world in divine brilliance. The ground-based heroes had to shut their eyes, or risk being burned by the light.
The dazzling radiance lit up nearly half the Earth.
Not just City B, tens of kilometers away—even cities over a thousand kilometers from City A found themselves bathed in that impossible glow.
"Aagh! My eyes!"
"So bright!"
"What's happening?!"
Countless voices cried out in alarm.
Even cities still shrouded in dusk or night were turned into day by Kizaru's brilliance.
Thankfully, most of the destructive force of the Divine Radiance was tightly controlled and condensed by Kizaru himself. The widespread phenomenon was due to the unique nature of the Glint-Glint Fruit's power.
Though the radiant burst caused widespread confusion and temporary blindness, no one was actually harmed—apart from the one caught in the blast.
Boros.
His body slowly turned to ash, completely engulfed by the light.
And in that final moment, Boros felt fulfilled. He had given everything in him—perfectly. He had poured his life into a battle that, while not perfect, was more than satisfying.
He had witnessed Kizaru's true power… and even felt that Kizaru had enjoyed their battle, in his own way.
If he had one regret, it was simply that he wasn't strong enough—to do for Kizaru what Kizaru had done for him.
After all, for someone as powerful as Kizaru, forced to linger on this weak, primitive planet… surely he must be even lonelier than Boros ever was.
"Tch… don't flatter yourself. Who the hell asked you to 'fulfill' me?"
It was probably a hallucination in Boros's dying moments, but at the brink of death, he actually heard Kizaru's voice.
His body had been destroyed in an instant, and yet, for some reason, that "instant" felt way too long.
He'd already reviewed his entire life in his mind, and was even seeing hallucinations he shouldn't be—but his consciousness hadn't completely faded yet.
"What's going on…?"
Boros opened his one remaining eye in confusion. At this point, it was the only part of his body that hadn't been annihilated—and yet, bizarrely, he was still "alive." He could even speak.
"What do you mean, 'what's going on'? I haven't given you permission to die yet."
Kizaru's figure emerged from the blinding light. It was the light itself that had halted Boros's disintegration—as if time itself had been paused at that very moment.
The entire world was frozen in this second, save for Boros and Kizaru.
"I'm already done for. Even if you wanted to spare me, I've burned through all my remaining life force…"
Boros glanced curiously at the other figure standing behind Kizaru—an identical copy. At first glance, it looked like some kind of out-of-body soul projection, but the more he looked, the more it didn't quite feel like a real soul.
Yet he could feel the same kind of oppressive pressure from this "duplicate" as he did from the original Kizaru—as if two Kizarus were standing before him.
Time-stopping powers, and now a clone that seemed to double combat strength—neither of these techniques had shown up in their earlier battle.
Realizing this, Boros couldn't help but feel a twinge of melancholy.
Maybe it would've been better to just die earlier. Turns out he had fought with all he had and still hadn't forced Kizaru to go all out.
"It's just your lifespan. Tell me… do you want to keep living? I could show you opponents far stronger than you've ever seen. Of course, you'll have to become one of my men first…"
Kizaru gave Boros a satisfied look.
His Stand, The Flash, really was useful—especially for someone like him, a shadowy puppet master… a Navy man carrying the banner of justice, of course!
Most final bosses always died because they talked too much. But really, what's the point of spending centuries plotting if you don't get to monologue a bit in the end?
Kizaru was different. He knew how to flex at the end without worrying about being suddenly defeated—he simply waited until all threats were eliminated before starting his act.
Even if some "protagonist" tried to power up last second, it wouldn't matter. Just look at Boros now—helpless, watching as Kizaru showed off.
"To become your slave, huh… sure. If it's you—and if it means I get to fight even stronger enemies…"
To Kizaru's surprise, Boros accepted without hesitation—and went even further than he asked. The mighty universal overlord tossed his dignity aside without a second thought!
"Tch! I said subordinate! Who wants you as a slave?!"
Not that Kizaru had anything against the term. It was just that two women had already called themselves his "slaves," so the term had a… specific connotation for him.
Just imagining Boros emotionlessly calling him "master" made Kizaru's scalp go numb.
"Whatever. But one day, when I become stronger than you…"
Even as nothing more than a single eye, Boros radiated a terrifying intensity.
Kizaru, mentally linked to Boros through some kind of psychic connection, could feel the searing heat of his fighting spirit.
This guy wasn't just battle-hungry—he was born for it. If he had a tail, Kizaru might've mistaken him for a mutated Saiyan.
"You can challenge me any time… hmm, no repeat challenges though. Once every ten years should be good."
Kizaru was a bit surprised by how readily Boros accepted the deal.
But when you considered that Boros, this galactic emperor, didn't even care about the lives of his own officers, it was hard to imagine he really thought like a traditional ruler.
He'd spent twenty years journeying to Earth just to fight the "prophesied warrior," and if he went back, that would be another twenty years. Even for someone with eternal life, wasting forty years like that was extravagant.
Honestly, Boros wasn't much of a ruler at all. He was more of a pure warrior—one who belonged in a coliseum, so long as the opponent was strong enough to satisfy him.
°°°
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