Chi-Chi lowered her stance and locked eyes with the two enemies. The air around her grew heavy.
Drum rushed in first. His massive green fist cut through the wind straight for her head. She stood perfectly still. Raising her arm at the last moment made the strike hit bare skin with the smash of breaking stone. Her body did not move a single inch.
Snare tried his luck right after with a low thrust of a bone blade. Chi-Chi simply lifted her knee to block the cut. The weapon slid off the joint and caused zero damage.
She pulled in a deep breath. Dark eyes burned with pure anger.
"HAAAH!"
The roar became more than just noise.
An invisible wall of raw force exploded from her mouth. That impact crushed both creatures and launched them backward. Drum and Snare slammed against the fallen courtyard pillars. A thick cloud of dust rose up.
They tried to stand while coughing blood. Real fear took over their ugly faces. These fighters had never faced someone able to turn a shout into a physical weapon.
"What in the world was that?"
"Her screams hurt!"
She crossed the distance between them before anyone could blink. Appearing midair right in front of Snare let her pull both legs to her chest.
The drop kick blasted straight into his head.
The heavy body collapsed to the dirt.
Goku and Tien stopped breathing for a moment.
Chi-Chi leaped backward and landed softly. She did not waste a single glance on the dead foe. Her right arm came up. A bright blue glow gathered in her palm. That energy let out a high pitched hum. The ground shook.
She fired the blast.
The energy consumed Snare's body completely. There was no green mist. There was no regeneration. When the light faded, only ash remained on the stone floor.
"Man... she destroyed him in seconds." Goku whispered. He tightened his grip on his staff.
Tien nodded. His third eye was fixed on the spot where Snare had stood.
Drum watched the ash blow away in the wind. Fear turned into a blind and shaking rage. He was the last one left. He stepped over the rubble and growlmel.
"You will pay for that. I will wipe that calm look off your face!"
Drum opened his mouth wide. A massive purple glow gathered deep in his throat. He poured all his ki into a single point. He fired a violent beam of energy directly at Chi-Chi.
Chi-Chi raised her left forearm.
The purple beam struck her skin, but she flicked her wrist with ease.
The beam hit her arm and bounced. It reflected perfectly back across the courtyard.
The attack flew toward the high pile of rubble where King Piccolo and Piano stood.
King Piccolo sensed the incoming heat. He leaped high into the air with a snarl. Piano was not so lucky. He was just a servant. He was not a warrior. He stayed on the ground and watched the purple light grow larger in his eyes. He froze in pure terror.
The reflected beam slammed into Piano. The small demon was consumed instantly. There was no scream. There was only a flash of violet light.
When the smoke cleared, the rubble was scorched black. Piano was gone. Not even ash remained.
Drum fell to his knees. He stared at the empty space where his brother had stood. His massive body shook with a terrible rage.
"No! What have you done! Piano!"
Drum let out a sound that was half roar and half sob. He threw himself forward in a blind panic. He just wanted to destroy the woman who made the world feel empty.
Chi-Chi watched the green blur approach. She slowly raised her right arm. She looked at Drum with a deep and heavy sadness.
"I am sorry."
She focused the heat of the fire she survived. She focused the wind that purified her soul. A massive wave of crimson energy exploded from her palm.
Red Dominion.
The tide of burning red ki swallowed Drum. The energy hit him head on. It flowed around him like water. It soaked into his green hide.
Drum stopped mid air. He was suspended in a glowing cage of red light. The red energy began to glow brighter. It ate through his thick skin. It consumed his bones. It erased the shadow that had given him life.
The light faded. Only scorched stone remained.
Goku and Tien could not speak. King Piccolo stood alone. He looked at the ash of his sons. His face twisted with rage.
"You killed them all. You destroyed my family! Now I have to do the work myself."
Chi-Chi turned to face the Demon King.
"The game is over."
"I decide when the game ends." Piccolo stepped forward. The ground cracked.
"You think you are a god because you killed my servants. You seem to have a short memory. You lost to my old self. Now I am rejuvenated. You will never even touch me."
King Piccolo raised his hand. A jagged beam of ki tore through the air. It was much faster than anything his sons had used.
The beam hit Chi-Chi square in the chest. It passed right through her body without a sound.
The attack continued on its path. It struck a massive stone pillar behind her. The heavy rock turned into dust. The explosion shook the entire courtyard.
"Huh?"
He raised both hands high. He fired a rapid storm of ki blasts. They rained down on Chi-Chi like a falling mountain.
Chi-Chi simply shifted her stance.
A ghost of her body remained where the first blast hit. Then another. She used afterimages to weave through the carnage. The courtyard became a hall of mirrors filled with shadows of Chi-Chi.
Piccolo went into a frenzy. He fired beams in every direction. He wanted to erase the ground she stood on.
The explosions were deafening. Castle walls crumbled. Massive boulders ground into sand. The air began to burn with the Demon King's rage.
Goku and Tien scrambled backward. They hid behind a large slab of marble.
"We have to get back." Goku yelled. "The air is burning."
Chi-Chi remained at the center of the storm. She was silent. She moved through the rain of fire like a gentle breeze. She was completely untouched.
King Piccolo stopped. The smoke from his own attacks filled the air. He searched the haze. He expected to see a body. Instead, he saw a silhouette standing exactly where she had started.
Piccolo backed away.
"What did you do? No human can survive that. What kind of trick are you playing?"
"I simply stopped being a target."
She took a step forward. The ground beneath her feet did not crack. It vibrated with a low hum.
King Piccolo dropped into a deep fighting stance. His claws dug into the cracked stone. His green face twisted with pure malice.
"Stop being ridiculous, you are just a human girl. You are a bug I will crush under my boot. You do not know what I am. You do not know how horrible I can be when I stop playing games."
Chi-Chi did not reply. She vanished in a sudden blur of white light.
Piccolo blinked. He felt a sudden cold wind on the back of his neck. He sensed a sharp presence that froze his blood.
He turned his head and tried to throw a blind punch to his rear. He was too slow.
Chi-Chi appeared ten feet behind him. She stood with her back turned to the Demon King. She held the hilt of Kumokiri. The blade was already hidden. The metal clicked shut as she finished sheathing the sword.
"Sky Rend." Chi-Chi whispered.
The air around Piccolo suddenly vibrated with high frequency.
Deep red lines appeared across Piccolo's chest. More jagged cuts opened on his thick green arms. The wounds were deep and precise. He gasped in pain. Dark purple blood soaked through his dark clothes.
Piccolo fell to one knee. He clutched his torso. He had reacted as fast as his young body allowed. Yet the steel had found him anyway.
King Piccolo rose slowly. He stared at the deep cuts on his arms. Dark blood dripped onto the stone. His face turned a dark shade of green from pure hatred.
"You wretch!" Piccolo spat.
He gathered a massive amount of ki. A sharp yellow aura covered his right arm. The energy hardened into a blade of pure light. He charged forward with a terrifying roar.
Chi-Chi did not move until he was inches away. She drew Kumokiri again. The steel met the glowing arm with a loud metallic ring. Sparks flew into the air.
They pushed against each other. Piccolo put more weight into his strike. His muscles swelled with a gross cracking sound. He was pouring every bit of his youth into this single press. Chi-Chi felt her knees buckle. The Kumokiri began to vibrate. She could see the sweat on his face. She could feel the heat of his ki burning her skin.
"You are still a mortal. I am a king!"
Chi-Chi watched his feet. He was overextended. He was desperate to crush her. She waited for the exact moment his center of gravity shifted too far.
She suddenly relaxed her arms. She did not pull back. She pushed slightly to the side with a circular motion. The yellow energy blade slid off the Kumokiri.
Piccolo lost his support. He fell forward. His own massive strength became his enemy.
Chi-Chi leaped into the air. She twisted her body in a tight spiral. She delivered a devastating kick to his face. Her heel struck his cheek with the force of a falling star.
The sound of the impact was like a cannon blast. Piccolo was launched like a projectile.
He flew across the ruined courtyard.
He smashed into the base of the central tower. The stone structure groaned and collapsed on top of him.
The heavy stone blocks shifted.
A burst of raw force blasted the debris in all directions. King Piccolo rose from the dust.
He wiped a streak of purple blood from his chin.
His fists clenched. Pure fury boiled in his chest.
He glared at the young woman.
How did she gain this level of strength in such a brief period?
He had beaten her easily before. This massive leap in skill defied logic. It bordered on the ridiculous. She was only human.
Chi-Chi lowered her guard entirely. She walked forward with slow and measured steps.
The dust settled around her boots. She stopped roughly ten meters away from the angry opponent. Her face showed zero fear.
"You will never win. You rely strictly on brute destruction. You fail to understand the true essence of martial arts."
King Piccolo threw his head back. A cruel and mocking laugh erupted from his throat. The harsh sound echoed against the remaining castle walls.
"The true essence of martial arts? You can take that pathetic philosophy and carry it straight down to your grave."
He spread his arms wide. A dark shadow fell over his green face.
"There is no hidden secret to combat. Absolute power and total domination are the only things that hold any value in this world. The weak are crushed. The strong rule over everything."
His eyes locked onto her with burning intent.
"I am going to show you exactly why a mere mortal cannot challenge the Demon King!"
Piccolo planted his feet wide. He unleashed a deafening scream. The ground beneath him shattered into pieces. A massive aura erupted around his tall frame.
The light burned a blinding yellow. Thick bolts of electricity cracked through the glow. The sheer physical pressure of his rising ki pushed the air away like a heavy storm.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The blinding yellow light washed over Chi-Chi.
Her face remained a blank mask of calm.
The violent wind whipped her dark hair around her shoulders. She just stood there and watched the wild display of rage.
Behind a broken slab of marble, the two young warriors braced against the gale.
"His energy is terrifying. It just keeps growing." Tien shouted over the roaring wind.
The deafening screams finally ended. The massive yellow aura shrank into a thick and dense glow around the Demon King. Small bolts of electricity snapped in the ruined courtyard.
Piccolo pointed a sharp claw right at the human girl.
"You can start praying to whatever gods you believe in, prepare yourself for a very slow and painful death."
Chi-Chi's dark eyes stayed locked on the tall monster. She slowly shifted her feet back. She raised her hands into a strict combat stance. Her breathing fell into a steady and deep rhythm.
"I have always been ready for death."