The World of Void was a peculiar dimension entirely separate from the twelve universes — no rotation, no revolution, no trace of life, like an ancient continent that had existed since the dawn of time, adrift in the fabric of space.
The arena had been reinforced by the Grand Minister using a special technique, spanning roughly the size of a small town. True to his childlike nature, Grand Zeno had decreed that all eighty competitors must determine a victor within 100 Takas — forty-eight minutes.
The winner could be a team or a single fighter. The universe represented by the last one standing would earn the right to survive, while Grand Zeno would erase the remaining seven.
The Grand Minister would provide the victor with the Super Dragon Balls, capable of granting that person one complete wish.
Once all competitors had arrived, Ino recited the tournament rules.
"First: the match lasts 100 Takas. When time expires, the competition ends, and whichever universe has the most fighters remaining wins. Second: every competitor's gravity is set to match that of their home planet. Third: falling off the arena counts as elimination. Fourth..."
She ran through the full list of rules, including the prohibitions on killing opponents, using recovery items, and using flight techniques.
Truth be told, the rules were largely moot — because Rule Nine stated that Grand Zeno held final say on all interpretations, and that was the only rule that actually mattered.
If he said yes, it was yes. If he said no, nothing you did would change that.
Things had gone slightly differently from the original timeline. With all the competitors and deities present, Ino added a supplemental announcement.
She swept her hand, and a specially made scroll — five meters wide and over thirty meters long — slowly unfurled from top to bottom.
The match had not yet begun. Gods and competitors alike sat in the stands, and every one of them turned to look at the impressively large scroll.
With their exceptional eyesight, they could all make out the names of all eighty competitors written across it.
Ino pointed at the scroll and spoke. "Fellow competitors — perhaps you stand here out of a sense of justice, perhaps you had no choice and were forced to participate. But I want to say this: this tournament is also a stage for you to display your true abilities. This is a supplemental reward I arranged in consultation with His Majesty Grand Zeno and the Grand Minister... the Divine Registry."
"Any warrior who performs with distinction — who earns special attention through personal courage, wit, and force of will — may have their soul preserved on the Divine Registry, even if the universe they represent ultimately loses and is erased. After the next cycle of new universes is born, they will become a Supreme Kai or Destroyer of a new universe."
The competitors in the stands were visibly shaken by the news.
The blame for this whole mess still fell squarely on Grand Zeno. He had announced the tournament and demanded it start immediately, leaving everyone embarrassingly little time to prepare. Counting from when Ino's clone had been persuading Zamasu, only about four hours had passed in total.
Within those four hours: half an hour gathering the gods, half an hour explaining the rules, two and a half hours for universes to register their participants, and the last half hour rushing to the World of Void to compete.
The whole affair had been rushed beyond belief — several times more chaotic than the Tournament of Power Son Goku had proposed in the original timeline.
Someone like Yamcha was the textbook definition of being railroaded into it. Four hours ago, he'd been surfing with his new girlfriend. Then Son Goku inexplicably flagged him down. Before he'd even figured out what was happening, he'd been shoved into the Room of Spirit and Time for a recovery workout, and then dragged out here to fight for the survival of the entire universe.
Even the perpetually unruffled Frieza was feeling a bit put-upon. Just before this, he'd been sitting in a tree listening to those cartoon bears and little lions singing their digging songs, still a little dazed, when he'd been yanked over to compete.
The Seventh Universe at least had the Room of Spirit and Time as a buffer — their fighters had managed to get their bodies properly tuned up.
Competitors and deities from the other universes had no time to prepare at all.
Ino had already explained the rules to the assembled gods back at Grand Zeno's Palace, but she'd noticed that many competitors in the arena had no idea what the rules even were — which was why she was going over them again now.
Using the Divine Registry announcement as a natural pause, she slowed her pace and explained everything methodically from the ground up, buying all eight universes just a little more time in the process.
Was it enough? Not even close.
The assembled Supreme Kais and Destroyers stared at the trio on the dais — one child, one young boy, one young girl — and seethed with silent resentment. Is this any way to run a tournament? Not a shred of organizational competence! But resentment was all they could manage. Not a soul dared say a word.
The Divine Registry was no concern of theirs — when their universe was erased, they'd be erased with it. The competitors, however, cared deeply. A few of the sharper-minded ones had already begun calculating how to squeeze the maximum benefit out of this terrible situation.
If your universe was destroyed and you went down with it, but you could survive through this Divine Registry — that was obviously a good thing.
Helles, the Destroyer of the Second Universe, had a decent relationship with Ino. She was the only female Destroyer among them.
Unlike Beerus and Champa, who slept their eternities away, Helles had poured her heart and soul into building her universe. The Second Universe prided itself on being the Universe of Love, with a Civilization Index averaging 6.5 — not far at all from Grand Zeno's benchmark of 7. Given just a little more time, they'd surely have reached it. Being lumped in with the underachievers for this tournament was frankly a bit unfair.
She spoke up clearly. "Lady Supreme Kai of Time — you mentioned that fighters can earn 'special attention.' What exactly does that entail?"
She wanted to find a way out for her universe's warriors of love. She herself could accept being erased — but the spirit of love she had instilled must be carried forward.
Ino had visited the Second Universe before, and her relationship with Helles was slightly less close than with Champa's side. She answered without hesitation. "By 'special attention,' I mean votes. Any Destroyer or Supreme Kai present — even Apprentice Supreme Kais — can vote for a competitor they recognize. Reach a sufficient number of votes, and that fighter can be enshrined in a future new universe as a god."
The specific threshold for "sufficient votes" was left deliberately vague. How many votes counted? Unknown. The same rule applied as always — Grand Zeno held final say on everything.
In the framework she and the Grand Minister had designed, it was roughly one vote per Destroyer, one vote per Supreme Kai, and one thousand votes from Grand Zeno...
That sort of thing was better left unsaid. No need to announce it on the spot and crush everyone's morale.
Competitors who had decent relationships with the deities leaned over and whispered to their Supreme Kais and Destroyers, tallying up the total votes in play, calculating how to come out with the best possible outcome given these dreadful circumstances.
Ino paused for two minutes, then swept her hand. The spatial passage to the arena opened. Unless you had wings of your own, flight techniques were now completely prohibited.
The tournament felt a bit like the Forest of Death exam from years gone by — each team entering through a separate passage, the competition formally underway.
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