Chapter 20

Chapter 20 — Elder God Hera's Warriors Revealed

​The star-metal arena slowly settled its violent tremors as the lingering motes of purple dust—the final remains of the erased fusion—drifted into nothingness across the void. Across the grand, tiered coliseum, a heavy, suffocating silence gripped the assembly of deities. The ruling pantheon exchanged tense, unspoken glances, their divine pride bruised by the sheer dominance on display. Zeus, seated upon his towering central throne of crackling white marble and gold, leaned forward, his imposing brow furrowed in severe displeasure. He slowly raised a hand, his booming voice echoing across the dimensional void to officially declare the end of the match.

​The victor was Elder God Hera.

​Up in his elevated domain, Hera’s posture shifted from guarded observation to absolute, unbridled arrogance. A triumphant, gloating smile spread across his features, his broad shoulders squaring as he basked in the stunned silence of the rival pantheons. He had proven his point in the most brutal way possible, sending a clear, inescapable message to every divine faction watching from the cosmos: his champions were a force of pure, unadulterated annihilation.

​Hades, however, remained entirely unfazed. Deep within his abyssal throne, draped in shadows and dark amethyst light, the Lord of the Underworld merely crossed his legs, a chilling, indifferent smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. A single loss to an anomaly meant nothing in the grand, eternal scheme of the cosmos. With a subtle flick of his wrist, Hades dismissed the proceedings, and in a flash of shimmering golden-white divine light, God Killer Goku was teleported away from the arena, returning instantly to the sacred, starlit domain of Elder God Hera.

​The transition from the deafening roar of the coliseum to the quiet, ethereal expanse of Hera’s sanctuary was absolute. God Killer Goku materialized on the polished obsidian flooring, his violet-silver hair catching the faint celestial glow of the floating nebulae overhead. He exhaled a slow, cold breath, his crimson eyes scanning the familiar arches of the domain before heavy footsteps echoed from the shadows.

​Stepping out from the luminous mist was his fellow teammate, God Killer Vegeta.

​A sharp, confident grin cut across Vegeta's face as he folded his arms, his dark eyes glinting with a mix of rivalry and reluctant acknowledgment. "Not bad, Kakarot," Vegeta spoke, his voice carrying a proud, steady edge. "Hats off to you. You made quick work of that pathetic excuse for a fusion. Though, I suppose style points don't matter much when the enemy is that weak."

​God Killer Goku didn't even break his stride, offering his rival a look of sheer, unadulterated apathy. His expression remained a mask of chilling indifference as he brushed past him. "Save the commentary, Vegeta," Goku muttered, his voice dropping into a flat, metallic resonance. "Stop bothering me. Don't you have training to do? If you slack off like that out there, you might actually get yourself killed."

​Vegeta didn't take offense. Instead, an amused, razor-sharp smile spread wider across his face, his chest swelling with quiet defiance. "Tch. Kakarot, just because you won your match doesn't mean I won't crush mine. I've been through worse hells than anything in your timeline. You don't have the faintest idea what I've endured, what sacrifices I made just to reach this tier of power. That fake fusion is nothing to me—a mere warmup at best." Vegeta scoffed lightly, turning on his heel. "I'll take my leave now. Try not to miss my match."

​As Vegeta’s footsteps faded into the celestial corridors, the ambient light in the sanctuary suddenly warped, bending around a dense, suffocating pressure.

​A new figure emerged from the shadows, stepping forward into the starlight. It was Gogeta—yet, this was no ordinary mortal fusion. His aura radiated an alien, terrifying blend of divine majesty and chaotic destruction, wrapped in a form completely unfamiliar to anyone watching from the outer dimensions.

​Gogeta stopped a few paces away, fixing his dark, piercing gaze directly upon God Killer Goku.

​"Well, well, Kakarot," Gogeta began, his voice carrying a dual-toned resonance that vibrated through the very air. "The half me... you did that Elder God proud, I guess. Hera must be overjoyed by now. Good. We don't need weaklings or dead weight on this team."

​Gogeta paused, a dangerous, competitive glint igniting in his eyes as he took a slow step forward, clenching his fists until his knuckles cracked with the sound of fracturing stone.

​"But that brings me to a proposition," Gogeta continued, his tone turning razor-sharp. "I want to know who among us is the strongest. We decide that here and now."

​Standing nearby, God Killer Gohan froze, caught entirely off guard by the sudden escalation. His eyes darted between the two apex warriors, the unexpected challenge hanging heavy in the charged atmosphere as the words fell like falling thunder.

​God Killer Goku finally halted, his crimson eyes narrowing as a dry, humorless chuckle escaped his lips. He turned his head just enough to glare back at Gogeta over his shoulder.

​"Tch," God Killer Goku scoffed, his voice dripping with supreme arrogance. "I have no need to prove my strength. And as for leadership on this team? I couldn't care less."

​Gogeta’s smile vanished, replaced by an expression of pure, unbridled thrill. He threw his head back and laughed, a dark, spine-chilling sound that shook the foundations of the sanctuary.

​"I didn't ask," Gogeta snapped back, energy violently erupting from his core as his hair spiked furiously into a terrifying array of colors, shattering the surrounding starlight. "Get ready, fools... because daddy is coming."