Dragon Ball: Ascension

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Kairos opened his eyes and spoke with deceptive gentleness. "Should I be happy that you managed to escape from this golden-haired monkey?"

Though the King's tone seemed mild, his words sent a piercing chill straight through Aiken's heart. The casual dismissal in that soft voice was somehow more terrifying than any roar of anger.

"King Kairos, I... the golden-haired monkey is too powerful," Aiken stammered, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kairos's gaze sharpened into a deadly glare as he spoke with ice-cold precision: "No need for excuses. Before you escaped, let's acknowledge what you've become, beaten and regressed to the form of a child. Even the lowliest soldiers in the city could kill you easily now. Tell me, do you still have any value whatsoever?"

"No, King Kairos! If I can just absorb some indigenous life force, I can quickly recover my strength and serve you again! I can—"

"Kanduba," Kairos interrupted with casual finality, "dispose of this waste who was defeated and reduced to his primitive state."

With those few words, he sentenced Aiken to death.

"Yes, my King!" Kanduba, one of the two generals standing beside the throne, turned his fierce gaze toward the trembling Aiken below.

"Aiken, you are the shame of our Kaimo clan," Kanduba declared as he grabbed the diminished general like a piece of trash. "Why didn't you just die honorably at the hands of that golden-haired monkey instead of daring to flee? You should know that since our clan began conquering the universe, every warrior who dared to escape from battle has been treated as refuse, without exception."

Aiken had thought himself fortunate to escape assassination by the golden-haired monster, only to find himself sentenced to death by his own murderous King. Knowing that death was inevitable, his entire being deflated like a punctured balloon, his limbs going limp with despair.

"Ah," he whispered with bitter clarity as his mind became strangely clear in his final moments. "I saw Hagas easily killed by that golden-haired demon, and I was so terrified that I couldn't even summon the courage to fight him properly. All I could think about was running away. If I had just faced him with whatever courage I could muster, even knowing I might lose, at least I wouldn't be ending like this."

In the eyes of King Kairos, the defeated had no value whatsoever.

And so Aiken died, not at Karnel's hands, but executed by his own people.

After disposing of the failure that was Aiken, Kanduba returned to his position beside the throne and bowed respectfully. "My King, both Aiken and Hagas have been killed and defeated consecutively. This golden-haired monkey's strength is probably quite formidable."

"Indeed," Kairos said with grudging acknowledgment. "To kill Hagas outright and force Aiken to molt and flee... his strength is certainly not negligible."

While Hagas and Aiken's power meant nothing compared to Kairos, King of the Kaimo clan, they were still forces capable of dominating entire sectors of the Western Galaxy. For both to be defeated so decisively demanded serious consideration.

Nedovich, the other general flanking the throne, spoke up confidently. "My King, while this monkey may be strong, he's probably only marginally better than the four of us. If Kanduba and I work together, we should be able to eliminate him on the spot."

"Exactly," Kanduba agreed eagerly. "We all know Hagas was simply an arrogant fool. That self-righteous attitude of his was always disgusting, I'm not surprised he got himself killed. As for Aiken, he was just scared witless. He didn't even have the courage for direct combat, only thinking about how to escape. How could he possibly demonstrate his true strength under those conditions?"

Nedovich nodded enthusiastically, seeing an opportunity. The two of them working together to kill this golden-haired threat would surely earn the King's praise and favor.

Kairos raised his hand, silencing both chattering generals with a gesture. After a moment of deep contemplation, he spoke gravely: "This golden-haired monkey is not as simple as you think. I don't believe he used his true strength from beginning to end. I can sense that from his fight with Hagas to his defeat of Aiken, his energy fluctuations remained smooth and rhythmic, he didn't appear to be exerting himself fully."

"As for how much strength he's actually hiding, even I cannot determine that clearly. It may be that he's only marginally stronger than you two, as you suggest. In that case, your combined efforts would indeed have excellent chances of success. But if that's not the case..." He let the implication hang in the air. "Then you would be no more useful than those two idiots, and likely meet the same fate."

"But... King Kairos," Nedovich said urgently, "can we just let him continue like this? I can sense that the life forces of our newborns who are hunting and feeding on wild beasts outside the city are constantly disappearing."

Though he maintained an attitude of indifference toward the deaths of low-level soldiers, every newborn was vital to the Kaimo people. No one could predict whether another exceptional specimen like King Kairos himself might emerge from their ranks.

Kairos considered this for a moment before reaching his decision. "You two go first to stop him from slaughtering our infant clan. If he proves too powerful for you to handle, then I will deal with him personally."

"Yes, my King!"

Nedovich and Kanduba departed the palace with eager anticipation, transforming into streaks of light as they flew toward the golden-haired monkey's location.

In their minds, if the King had to intervene personally, that monkey would have no chance of escape whatsoever.

Meanwhile, outside the capital city, Karnel was systematically hunting down Kaimo newborns in the wilderness.

"The fifty-seventh one," he muttered, firing another energy beam that obliterated a young Kaimo that had been stalking wild prey below. "The Kaimo people's natural strength really is remarkable. They have nearly a thousand combat units right after birth, and after feeding on beasts, their power increases at a rate of roughly twelve thousand units. With that kind of rapid strength development, no wonder they can rule the entire Western Galaxy."

"These newborn forms are still simple-minded and easy to track," he continued, scanning the area for his next target. "At this rate, I should be able to clear out all the wild ones fairly quickly. Then I can march directly into the city and see if that so-called King of the Kaimo tribe will finally crawl out of his palace."

As he spoke, two powerful energy signatures appeared on the horizon, approaching at tremendous speed.