The Tournament of Power 11/27

Jayr POV - Dragon Ball Universe, Null Realm - Age 780

The more I look at the damage left behind on Monna's arm by Peppars' technique, the more familiar those cubic holes appear to me to the point that I completely focus on them while thinking, 'Those cubic holes...Why do they look so familiar...? I'm sure I saw something like that before...'

While I'm thinking that, I hear the Grand Minister announce, "The contestants Gamisalas-san and Damom-san from the 4th Universe have dropped out!" which is immediately followed by the Zenos bringing up their GodPads and marking the elimination of those warriors as cheerfully as usual while commenting.

"Let's see... Let's see... Gamisalas... Gamisalas... Here! Tap!"

"Damom... It's here! Tap!"

"The 4th Universe has only one warrior left!"

"And it looks like the warriors are in trouble too!"

"Is another universe about to lose?"

""So exciting!!""

Suddenly, something clicks into my mind and I immediately realize where I have seen such strange cubic wounds before, 'It's D4C! It's the same as the freaking Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap! The Stand of Funny Valentine, featured in the seventh part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Steel Ball Run. That Stand has the bullshit power that allows its user to pass into parallel worlds at will and pull people from them back into his world. On top of that, if a person or an object comes into contact with themselves or itself from an alternative world, both of them will be destroyed. Once two iterations of the same person or thing enter close proximity, portions of each in the form of Menger sponges will fly toward and collide with their alternate iterations, being completely annihilated without a trace; when the duplicate people or things themselves collide, they merge as well and are eradicated completely, potentially damaging those in the immediate radius of the collision.'

At this point, I can't help but wonder, 'Could it be that Peppars has a power that works in a somewhat similar manner to D4C...? He clearly created a spatial portal to counter Monna's attack. Is it possible that the portal actually leads to a parallel dimension? Damn why didn't I use my Cosmic Awareness to check when he first created that portal? Oh well, I'll just do it the next time he uses that technique, after all, there are still many powerful warriors on the fighting stage, he will surely be forced to use it again.'

At the same time I reach that conclusion, Peppars doesn't give Monna any chance as he quickly closes in on her with the clear intent of finishing her off and knocking her out just as he did with her teammates.

However, Monna regains her bearing and quickly reacts by making her lower body swell in size, forming a giant ball before she starts to quickly spin her body and roll toward the approaching Peppars with greatly increased power and momentum, so much so, that Peppars swiftly changes his tactic and jumps out of the way to avoid a direct confrontation.

Because of her massive momentum, Monna isn't able to stop herself in time and continues to advance even after her target is no longer in her previous path until she crashes against a nearby hill-sized rubble with such force that she creates a sizable crater in it.

At this point, I see that Monna is having some problems as her legs are aimless flailing around and soon realize that she is actually struck into the hill-sized rubble and is unable to free herself and I'm not the only one who noticed that as Peppars calmly approaches his struck opponent and once close enough, he charges his Ki before he unleashes a massive Energy Wave that completely decimates the rubble and blasts Monna out of the fighting stage.

Shortly after that, the Grand Minister makes his announcement, "The contestant Monna-san from the 4th Universe has dropped out!" which is immediately followed by the Zenos bringing up their GodPads and marking the elimination of the last warrior of the 4th Universe, which also marks the inevitable end for it.

"Monna dropped out!"

"They're all black!"

"All black!"

"The 4th Universe is gone."

"It's gone."

""Hehehe.""

Hearing that, the God of Destruction of the 4th Universe can't help but yell in despair, "No! I don't want to be erased! I-I-I-I... I won't allow it! Why do we have to be erased!? I won't accept this! In that case, I'll take you all with m-"

However, before he can even finish that sentence, the Zenos raise their hands and charge twin blue spheres of energy in their hands that are going to be used to erase the 4th Universe from existence.

At the same time, the warriors and Gods of the 4th Universe in the Null Realm, excluding the Guide Angel Cognac, are frozen in place, start flashing in a white aura before the Zenos cheerfully announce.

""Ready, set, squish!""

Immediately after the flashing warriors and Gods disappear and using my Cosmic Awareness, I confirm that the same is true for the whole 4th Universe, which now became a completely blank, empty space, leaving behind only a calm Cognac who continues to sit on the spectator stand watching the fighting stage as if nothing happened.

At the same time, the Grand Minister plainly announces, "The 4th Universe has been erased."

This time both the warriors and the other spectators were already somewhat prepared for what was about to happen when the last warrior of the 4th universe was eliminated and thus with the exception of a small pause when the Zenos erased the whole 4th Universe, they quickly focused back on their battles without any excessive reaction on their part.

As the battles resume all over the fighting stage, a particular match-up catches my attention as Gohan and Piccolo now find themselves face to face with one of the warriors of my team, Algol.

Gohan takes a quick look at the Perseus Silver Saint before he politely introduces himself, "You must be one of the Saints that Jayr-san told us about, right? My name is Son Gohan." followed by Piccolo, who simply says while still keeping his guard up, "Piccolo..."

In response, Algol nods and also introduces himself, "I'm Perseus Algol, proud Silver Saint of the Goddess Athena. I'm here to represent my universe and train myself against the possible threats from other universes I may face in the future."

Shortly after their brief introduction, Piccolo steps forward and says, "Gohan, leave this one to me. I think it is wiser to let me test the water, then simply dive right in without any information."

Hearing his mentor, Gohan nods with a focused expression on his face and steps back giving space to both Piccolo and Algol, who patiently wait for his opponents to be ready before he takes his fighting stance and states, "I hope you are stronger than the opponents I have faced until now as they have been quite disappointing so far!"

Piccolo simply smirks confidently before he stretches his right arm by expanding and contracting the cells in his body through willpower allowing him to attack Algol with a swift whip-like attack, however, Algol easily reacts to Piccolo's surprise attack, ducks under his opponent's stretched arm, and quickly starts to close the distance between them by stepping in.

As Algol closes in and launches his attacks, Piccolo immediately retracts his stretched arm and moves to defend himself by masterfully parrying, deflecting, and blocking every attack coming his way before taking advantage of every small opening to launch his counterattack, however, Algol is also able to easily negate every offesive attempt of his opponent.

When their fists clash one last time during this intense exchange, they both take advantage of the rebounding force to leap back, creating some distance between the two.

As soon as Piccolo lands on the ground, he puts his hands together in front of him and immediately uses his Ki to charge a yellow energy sphere in his hands.

Then, without giving any chance to his opponent, who just landed on the floor, he brings his hands forward and fires the energy sphere, aiming it at Algol, where it explodes with immense force upon impact, raising a massive cloud of black smoke mixed with dust.

Watching this scene makes the people of the 7th Universe quickly cheerfully celebrate and comment out loud.

"Yosh! Good job, Piccolo!"

"As expected from Piccolo-san... He is a truly experienced warrior!"

"That green guy is not that bad! Sure, he isn't a monster like Goza, Goku, Vegeta, and Broly... However, he has a good head on his shoulders, and his techniques are quite refined for a mortal. This battle ends in our favor!"

"I think it's way too soon to celebrate, Beerus-sama. The Saint from Jayr-sama's universe can't be underestimated."

It seems that Piccolo is of the same opinion as Whis because despite the fact that his Light Granade hit the intended target, Piccolo doesn't lower his guard and continues to calmly look at the thick smoke, waiting for his opponent to reveal himself or make a move.

Soon, the thick smoke clears away, revealing the completely unharmed figure of Algol, who calmly lowers the arm with the Medusa Shield before he smirks and comments in an even tone, "Congratulations. That was quite the heavy blow. If I didn't use the Medusa Shield to defend myself, I'm not sure if I would be able to walk out of it unharmed."

In response, Piccolo also smirks before he says, "That shield and armor of yours are indeed quite sturdy. Jayr told us a little about the Cloths used by Saints, but experiencing them first hand is something else entirely." which makes Algol confidently state, "You have seen nothing yet! Now it's my turn to attack!"

At this point, Algol disperses a burst of his Cosmo in the surrounding area around them, generating a very realistic illusion of countless gigantic snakes attacking his opponent.

As expect, Piccolo also falls for the illusion as he starts to move around and attack the air in the attempt of dodge the snakes' attack and repel them, but soon he is encircled and with no room appearentily left to dodge he unleashes a Kiai to blow away all the illusions which disperse under the force of the shockwave generated by it.

However this leave Piccolo exposed to Algol's follow up attack as he gathers his Cosmo into his legs and jump high in the air, and taking advantage of the opening created by the illusion, he focus all his Cosmo in his right foot and attack Piccolo with a powerful and devastating jump kick while yelling, "Ra's Al-Ghūl Gorgoneion!"

Piccolo is barely able to raise and cross his arms before Algol's kick lands right on his hastily raised defense, and the impact is so strong that it generates a shockwave so powerful that it makes the whole fighting stage shake. 

The next moment, Piccolo's arms are blasted apart and his body crashes through countless rubbles until it loses all the momentum and crashes on the floor and stops after leaving a short trail on it.

Seeing that, a worried Gohan quickly rushes to his mentor's side to help him while asking if he is fine, but Piccolo stops him with a single shout, gets up on his own, before he lets out a roar and uses his Regeneration to grow his destroyed arms back.

After that, he walks toward Algol while saying, "Those illusions followed by that devastating kick... Quite a nasty combination, but it is nowhere near enough to defeat me!"

Then Piccolo powers up, flaring his aura before he charges toward Algol with impressive speed, and then he once again starts to exchange moves. 

But this time, it is clear that Algol is starting to struggle as he can't keep up with Piccolo current speed and power and as result, Piccolo's attacks are starting to land more and more and it is only thanks to the defensive propieties of the Perseus Silver Cloth that Algol is able to continue to endure such punishment.

Piccolo also takes notice of this detail, and so, he decides to kick up the pace even more, delivering a truly powerful kick that sends Algol rising up in the air despite the fact that he was able to block the blow using the Medusa Shield.

After that, without giving his opponent any chance, Piccolo charges up and fires several energy spheres randomly in Algol's direction, disregarding accuracy and with no intent on actually hitting the enemy.

Then, with efficient Ki Control, the multiple energy spheres are suspended in the air, completely surrounding Algol, whose momentum has stopped and is about to fall back on the ground.

At this moment, Piccolo commands the energy spheres, which change from yellow to purple color, to rapidly spin around the opponent and inevitably rain down on him with a vicious onslaught from every direction, filling the sky with a blinding light and inflicting a massive amount of damage.

Shortly after that, the smoking body of Algol starts to fall, and it is clear at first sight that he truly felt Piccolo's Hellzone Grenade to the point that cracks started to form all over his Cloth.

However, this is nowhere near enough to take a Saint of combat as during his fall Algol quickly regains his bearing and starts to move his body in a way to break his fall before he lands a few meters away from Piccolo and mutters, "Damn it... I really felt that one... The warriors of this universe truly can't be underestimated. I feel like I'm actually fighting a Gold Saint at the moment."

At the same time, Piccolo takes a look at his opponent's state and calmly comments, "Even after taking my Hellzone Grenade head on, he is still able to stand, the fighting spirit of the Saint is truly astonishing... On top of that, the defensive properties of the Cloth are truly astonishing, and that one is still only a Silver Cloth. It makes one wonder just what kind of level a Gold Cloth reaches..."

He isn't the only one thinking that at the moment, as Champa loudly complains, "Come on! How is that fair!? Those armors can take way too much punishment!! It's a foul!!" which makes Vados quickly correct him, "I'm afraid it isn't so, Champa-sama! Those armors are perfectly legal after all, Zeno-sama already knew about their existence and allowed their use. On top of that, they aren't that much different from Auta Magetta's natural body, or the armors and suits other warriors are using."

Algol quickly focuses back on his opponent and states, "You are without any doubt a very powerful warrior, and I'm not ashamed to admit that you surpass me in pure power, speed, and even technique. However, those factors do not decide everything when it comes to battle."

Hearing that, Piccolo nods in agreement before he says, "That's absolutely right. A weaker fighter can still overcome a stronger one by using to his full advantage other factors like strategy, luck, environment, and so on, or even by simply improving himself and overcome one's previous limits. That is something I've seen happening many times in my life."

At this point, Algol smirks and says, "Well, be proud of the fact that you've forced me to use my trump card! Medusa Shield! Awaken!"

After yelling that, Algol raises his shield on his forearm, the Medusa Shield, to reveal the relief of the Medusa's face engraved on its face, aiming it at Piccolo and sending all his Cosmo into it, which, under his command, unleashes its most frightening ability.

The relief of Medusa's face on the Medusa Shield slowly opens her closed eyes, which shine in a crimson light, while Piccolo makes the fatal mistake of looking directly at Algol's Medusa Shield, taking the full hit of the legendary Medusa's Gaze.

In an instant, Piccolo's body quickly starts to turn into stone making Piccolo mutters, "Shit... This is... Just like... Da... bu... ra..." before he completely turns into seemingly lifeless stone while Gohan, worried, yells his name with clear panic in his tone.

Seeing the worry on Gohan's face, Algol quickly reassures him, "Do not worry, he is still alive and well. After all, killing is forbidden in this tournament. On top of that, I can turn him back to normal whenever I want, so he isn't in any particular danger at the moment."

At the same time, I notice that the Zenos and the Grand Minister seem quite interested in the power of the Medusa Shield, so I calmly explain, "That is the most frightening ability of the Medusa Shield. The legendary Medusa's Gaze that can transform anyone who looks directly at it into stone. The shield's power works even if the target closes or covers their eyes, because it passes through the blindfold and eyelid, and goes directly into the retinas. The only way to avoid it is by simply not looking at it or being completely blind. Of course, that ability isn't absolute because, as you've noticed, the activation of Medusa's Gaze is quite slow, and an opponent powerful and fast enough can easily take advantage of that time to defeat Algol before it is fully unleashed. Moreover, the Medusa's Gaze itself only works on mortals, Divine Beings can easily shrug it off with little to no effort."

Hearing my explanation, the Grand Minister chuckles and comments, "Heh. Despite all those demerits, Medusa's Gaze is still quite a powerful ability, especially with the element of surprise. It will be interesting to see how the other warriors chose to face it."

While we are talking about that, I see Gohan focus his gaze on Algol and asks in a serious tone, "I have already encountered a similar petrifying ability before. At that time, when I defeated the one who used it, those turned into stone by him also returned back to normal. Is the same going to happen if I defeat you?"

In response to his question, Algol honestly explains, "Nope. If you simply defeat me and knock me unconscious, those turned into stone won't return to normal. After all, if the ability worked that way, all the enemies I turned into stone would break free whenever I went to sleep. The only ways to undo the petrification are by my own choice or by killing me."

Seeing the shock on Gohan's face, Algol smile and adds, "However since this is a tournament, I swear on my honor as Saint of Athena that if you or someone else defeats me and eliminate me from the tournament, I will undo the petrification on all the warriors that are still on the fighting stage at that time."

Hearing Algol's words and promise, Gohan's expression becomes very focused as he mutters, "Good..." before he takes his fighting stance.

At the same time, Algol smirks and says, "However! I for sure won't let myself be defeated so easily! Medusa Shield! Awaken!"

After yelling that last part, Algol doesn't waste any more time and once again raises up his shield on his forearm, the Medusa Shield, to make the relief of the Medusa's face engraved on it face Gohan this time while sending all his Cosmo into it which under his command unleashes its most frightning ability.

Then the relief of Medusa's face on the Medusa Shield slowly opens her closed eyes; however, this time Gohan is more than ready, and as soon as Algol rises up the Medusa Shield, he immediately powers up to his Potential Unleashed state with a burst of white spiked aura enveloping his body.

The Potential Unleashed is a powerful state accessible to someone who has had their latent potential unlocked, most often through Old Kai's Unlock Ability, which allows them to use their latent power at its highest level. As a result of this, the user enters into a state that unleashes their full dormant potential and can focus it to push their power well beyond their normal limits.

When Gohan accesses his Potential Unleashed state, his appearance does not undergo any drastic changes, very different from all the other known transformations present in this universe.

However, while he essentially remains normal in appearance, his facial features become slightly more defined, his eyes become sterner and outlined, showing noticeable intensity when serious, similar to his Super Saiyan forms, and it also tends to make a bang of hair fall over his forehead, but excluding these small details, he mostly looks the same.

(Image Here - Gohan Potential Unleashed)

What clearly isn't the same is his overall power as his Ki spikes to astonishing levels to the point that Gohan can easily contend even with the likes of Goza in his Legendary Super Saiyan state, which is quite an impressive feat.

Immediately after entering in his Potential Unleashed state, Gohan rushes up to Algol with blinding speed and he focuses a massive amount of Ki into his fist and throws a swift, devastanting punch that lands on the Medusa Shield, whose Medusa relief is still in the middle of slowly opening its eyes, breaking it into pieces upon impact making Algol grunt in pain and take a step back while holding his left arm which is now also broken under the immense might of Gohan's punch.

Holding his broken arm, Algol grits his teeth and mutters, "Shit...! The Medusa Shield! This is quite bad..." before he smiles wryly and comments, "It seems that Rigel was right... We can't underestimate the opponents from other universes. It seems I overstated my abilities and trusted the Medusa Shield way too much. I've been overconfident and paid the price."

Hearing that, Gohan calmly looks at his opponent and says, "I understand your feelings. The same thing happened to me a few times in the past. I let power get to my head, got overconfident, and let my guard down, allowing my opponents to take advantage of that..."

Algol continues to smile and says, "Oh well, I had fun and learned quite a bit. Even if I'm not confident of my current chances, I'll face this like a proud warrior of Athena and fight until the very end!"

After saying that, Algol starts to burn his Cosmo even more to the point that a silver aura envelopes his body, and the faint image of the Perseus Constellation appears behind him.

However, before he can make his move, Gohan interrupts him and asks, "Wait! Before we move on with the climax of this battle, I'd like to ask you something first! I'd like to know how powerful you are compared to the other Saints taking part in this tournament. Can you tell me?"

Hearing Gohan's question, Algol thinks about it before he smirks and says, "Sure. Compared to the other Saints taking part in this Tournament of Power, I'm likely the weakest or the second weakest."

Algol's response causes a lot of shock among all those who are listening to their conversation, especially the Deities of the universes still taking part in the Tournament of Power, as they are already quite impressed with what they have seen so far.

Meanwhile, Algol seems to enjoy the slightly surprised expression on his opponent's face before he adds, "I have completely mastered my 6th Sense, however, I still haven't been able to awaken my 7th Sense and let me tell you the difference between the two may seem like one simple level at first glance, but it like the difference between the night and the day. Juan is just like me; he has completely mastered his 6th Sense but fell short of that small last step to awaken his 7th Sense. Because of that, he too is more or less at my level. Isaak and Rigel, on the other hand, did awaken their 7th Sense and also have a good mastery of it, making them much more formidable warriors. Regarding the last two Saints... Heh, those two are absolutely the strongest Saints in our team."

After saying that, Algol makes his Cosmo explode and yells, "Now we have talked enough! It's time to end this!"

Algol disperses a burst of his Cosmo in the surrounding area around them, generating a very realistic illusion of countless gigantic snakes attacking his opponent, however, Gohan has already seen this move and simply closes his eyes and focuses on his other senses without panic while he gathers his Ki.

Seeing that, Algol follow up with his attack as he gathers his Cosmo into his legs and jump high in the air making the illusion follow after him and overlap over his body hiding his figure before he focus all his Cosmo in his right foot and attack Gohan with a powerful and devastating jump kick while yelling, "Ra's Al-Ghūl Gorgoneion!"

In response, Gohan opens his eyes and focuses on one of the huge snakes approaching him, the one where Algol is hidden, before he place both his hands above the head with the palms facing in the now very close Algol's direction and one hand in front of the other with the fingers going in opposite directions as he gathers an insane amount of Ki.

Then he thrusts his hands forward and calls out, "Masenko!!" firing a powerful beam of yellow energy at almost point-blank range that quickly reaches its target, blasting Algol out of the fighting stage before his kick could land, eliminating him from the Tournament of Power.