Chapter 151: Three-Star Dragon (Part 4)
"It disappeared!"
After catching Carrit, Caulifla moved to act—but Three-Star Dragon's position had vanished from her energy detector.
Hearing Caulifla's cry, the others quickly checked their own detectors. Sure enough, only their own light signatures remained. The marker showing Three-Star Dragon's position had disappeared.
Apparently Three-Star Dragon had realized the group managed to fight it to a standstill because of their special detectors. That's why it concealed itself—no wonder it had been so confident telling Caulifla to find it.
The five Saiyans reached this conclusion simultaneously. They exchanged glances, then instinctively looked toward Turles.
Seeing their gazes, Turles slowly approached and shook his head helplessly. "What? Already out of options?"
Though Turles's words carried no reproach and his voice remained calm as always, the five felt ashamed after hearing him. Their heads dropped unconsciously.
Seeing them bow their heads, Turles didn't mind. He simply continued: "I know what you were like during your missions before. But based on your recent performance, I'm disappointed."
"Uh!"
Caulifla's head shot up, about to say something—but meeting Turles's calm, water-like gaze, the words stuck in her throat.
"Haven't you noticed? You've been relying on me more and more lately. No matter what happens, your first instinct is to look at me, hoping I'll step in and solve things. Isn't that right?"
Turles's words weren't harsh, but to the five they struck like thunderbolts.
Yes—when did this start?
This thought flashed through their minds. Recent memories began surfacing, and the more they recalled, the uglier their expressions became.
Seeing they'd recognized their problem, Turles smiled with satisfaction.
He'd only just realized this himself.
Perhaps Turles's strength was simply too overwhelming compared to theirs, and Saiyans naturally admired power.
Perhaps Turles had shown them landscapes they'd never imagined—especially Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan God transformations.
Perhaps Turles always produced excellent solutions when facing difficulties.
Perhaps...
Between all these factors, the group's dependence on Turles had grown stronger and stronger. That's why when encountering problems, their first thought was always Turles.
Being trusted so completely naturally made Turles happy. But he'd already come to consider them friends. He would eventually return to Universe 7—naturally he didn't want his presence to rob them of independent thought when facing challenges.
As strength increased, friends who could keep pace would grow fewer. Pursuing ultimate power was fine, but Turles didn't want to end up completely alone.
That would be far too boring.
Carrit's group could keep up with him—especially Cabba and Caulifla. Their talent was sufficient.
Fortunately, he'd discovered this before it was too late. Watching them sweat profusely, Turles knew they'd taken his words to heart.
After saying his piece, Turles extinguished the light orb in his hand. As darkness descended, a drifting voice reached their ears: "Think more about the enemy's characteristics!"
With Turles's light orb gone, the area plunged back into darkness.
But facing this darkness, Carrit's group didn't feel the same unease as before.
"Three-Star Dragon's characteristics!"
These words echoed continuously in their minds. Following this train of thought, everything they'd heard about Three-Star Dragon at the Supreme Kai Realm began surfacing.
"Darkness abilities, can devour light..."
"Haha! I've got it!"
Suddenly, Caulifla burst out with this declaration. Her unbridled laughter rang out.
Along with her laughter, Caulifla completely released the suppression on her aura, raising her power explosively.
As Caulifla's energy erupted, the full majesty of Super Saiyan began blooming.
Waves rippled outward through the darkness. Golden ki flames appeared around Caulifla's body, like igniting a golden fire in the shadows.
Seeing Caulifla's actions, how could Carrit and the others not understand?
Of course! Three-Star Dragon controlled darkness. As the opposite of light, it would naturally be repelled by illumination. Since they couldn't find Three-Star Dragon, they'd make it come to them.
Understanding this, the other four followed Caulifla's lead, no longer suppressing their auras but unleashing them fully.
Soon, five golden pillars of light appeared in the region. The five golden columns blazed like scorching flames, dispelling a vast swath of darkness and illuminating the entire area.
Turles's figure emerged from the shadows. Watching the five golden flames, a satisfied smile crossed his lips.
When Three-Star Dragon's form appeared in Turles's vision, his smile grew even broader.
"How dare you! I hate light!"
Three-Star Dragon's figure suddenly materialized behind the five. Roaring furiously, it charged at them.
Caulifla's group had been waiting for exactly this. Naturally they showed no fear. Exchanging glances, they rushed forward in perfect coordination, immediately clashing with Three-Star Dragon again.
If facing an ordinary enemy, the five might have maintained Saiyan pride—perhaps fighting one-on-one as Caulifla had suggested earlier.
But Three-Star Dragon wasn't an ordinary opponent. This crisis determined the universe's survival. So all five tacitly chose to attack together.
Moreover, Three-Star Dragon's light absorption would drain their energy simultaneously. Unleashing Super Saiyan at full power placed tremendous strain on their bodies. This time, the five held nothing back.
Of course, they still instinctively chose close combat, avoiding energy attacks.
With five Super Saiyan 1s attacking at full strength, Three-Star Dragon—whose base power only slightly exceeded Super Saiyan 1—quickly fell into disadvantage.
"Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!"
Surrounded by five attackers, Three-Star Dragon could only roar in frustration.
It wanted to devour the flames surrounding their bodies, but the five had completely seized the battle's rhythm.
Having already formed coordination by helping Turles achieve Super Saiyan God transformation, then each experiencing the transformation themselves, their teamwork had deepened further. Working together, Three-Star Dragon couldn't find any openings.
One second it caught someone's weakness and prepared to activate absorption—the next, another attack arrived, forcing it to dodge.
Like this, Three-Star Dragon bounced between the five like a punching bag, quickly beaten until it vomited blood repeatedly.
It seemed the five would defeat Three-Star Dragon soon—but Turles's brow slowly furrowed.
"Something's wrong, something's off!"
Turles muttered under his breath, eyes constantly scanning their surroundings.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. He started to speak—but stopped mid-word, simply continuing to watch the battle.
The five fighters, completely absorbed in combat, didn't notice Turles's concern. They simply kept attacking relentlessly.
Smack!
Suddenly, Caulifla's confident strike was easily caught by Three-Star Dragon's right hand. Her battle rhythm shattered.
"Hehe! Caught you!"
Three-Star Dragon's face slowly emerged from behind the fist, grinning viciously at Caulifla. Then it opened its mouth—missing several teeth—and took a long breath.
As Three-Star Dragon activated absorption, the golden flames around Caulifla immediately destabilized. She tried controlling her aura, but Three-Star Dragon's absorption power far exceeded her expectations. Soon, her ki flames began flowing into the dragon's mouth.
"Caulifla!"
Seeing Caulifla captured, the other four shouted anxiously, then accelerated even faster toward Three-Star Dragon.
"Destructive Energy Wave!"
"Planet Crusher Punch!"
"Power Cannon!"
"Photon Strike!"
The four disregarded their concerns about using energy attacks against Three-Star Dragon. All unleashed their signature techniques, bombarding it without reservation.
Not that the four didn't care about Caulifla's life—but Three-Star Dragon moved too quickly. By the time they closed in, it had already completely absorbed her flames.
After losing her energy, Caulifla could no longer maintain Super Saiyan transformation. The drain left her body weak. When Three-Star Dragon released its grip, she could only fall downward.
The four's attacks struck fast, slamming into Three-Star Dragon within an eyeblink and raising clouds of smoke around its body.
Seeing their attacks land, smiles immediately appeared on the four's faces.
But they'd celebrated too soon. They didn't know that a certain bug-law existed in the Dragon Ball world—
"Smoke means no damage."
Turles cradled the weakened Caulifla in his arms, muttering softly.
"What...?"
Caulifla heard Turles's voice and weakly raised her head.
But the next second, before Turles could respond, she watched the smoke clear as Three-Star Dragon's body reappeared before everyone.
"How is this possible?"
Watching Three-Star Dragon reemerge, the four's eyes widened in disbelief.
Because not only had all the injuries from their combined assault vanished—Three-Star Dragon's body had grown considerably larger. Just from its aura, they could tell it had strengthened significantly.
"Burp!"
Seeming to thoroughly enjoy their shocked expressions, Three-Star Dragon didn't capitalize on the four's dazed moment to attack. Instead, it leisurely let out a satisfied belch.
"Truly delicious!"
Three-Star Dragon licked its lips with lingering satisfaction, then looked at the four with heated eyes.
"Not good!"
Seeing that gaze, Cabba cried out, immediately realizing what had happened.
"Three-Star Dragon absorbed our energy. We can't use energy attacks anymore!"
After understanding, Cabba warned the other three.
"Yes, and not just that—it was already secretly absorbing energy during our battle. Otherwise Caulifla wouldn't have been controlled so easily!"
Following Cabba's reminder, Carrit also realized. Remembering Caulifla's earlier mistake, he made a new discovery.
After Carrit finished speaking, the four fell silent.
Even with Turles's advance warning, they'd been careful. Not only attacking together but trying to finish quickly, giving Three-Star Dragon no opportunities. Yet ultimately they'd still fallen into its trap.
Though Three-Star Dragon's strength had increased, Carrit's group had no intention of retreating. They continued confronting it.
However, they'd learned from their mistake. Their auras dropped considerably, the golden flames around their bodies shrinking to thin layers barely illuminating their immediate surroundings.
Seeing the four suppress their flames, disappointment flashed in Three-Star Dragon's eyes.
Yes—though beaten badly by the five's assault moments ago, the actual situation wasn't as severe as it had appeared.
Controlling darkness was Three-Star Dragon's specialty. Only in darkness could its strength reach maximum potential. How could it simply rage out because the five produced light by unleashing their auras?
Everything had been calculated. Because it could not only actively devour light—like the move it used on Caulifla—
Actually, just being in its dark space meant darkness would passively begin absorbing energy, because light itself was a form of energy.
Though recalling the earlier pain made Three-Star Dragon's mouth twitch.
It had underestimated the five. If facing just one of them individually, Three-Star Dragon naturally wouldn't have struggled. But it hadn't expected them to completely disregard convention and attack together from the start.
Five Super Saiyans produced tremendously powerful effects. Even Three-Star Dragon could barely withstand it.
'Aren't Saiyans supposed to be a warrior race? Why would they attack together? Shouldn't they fight one-on-one, like that little girl said?'
Three-Star Dragon felt somewhat depressed, grumbling internally.
As Evil Dragons born from the Dragon Balls, they actually understood more secrets than anyone imagined. The universe-famous warrior race known as Sadala Saiyans was no exception.
Under normal circumstances, Three-Star Dragon's plan would have been correct. But who could have predicted Turles's involvement?
From the beginning, Turles had emphasized the Evil Dragons' terror to the five. So even though Caulifla's group wanted to maintain Saiyan pride, Turles's words had frightened them enough to attack together.
Naturally Three-Star Dragon didn't know Turles was the reason for everything. Though somewhat depressed, it carefully calculated the coming battle.
Meanwhile, Turles had no idea his influence had disrupted some of Three-Star Dragon's schemes. Watching the confronting sides, he pulled something from his person and held it out.
"Eat this!"
Looking at the unremarkable bean in Turles's hand, Caulifla felt confused. But trusting Turles, she reached out, took the bean, and put it in her mouth.
After chewing briefly, Caulifla swallowed. The next second, her eyes brightened. She looked at Turles with delight.
"This is...?"
Turles nodded to Caulifla, then gestured toward the battlefield.
"Hahaha!"
Receiving Turles's signal, Caulifla laughed excitedly and charged back into battle!
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