The orange beam dimmed, flickered, and finally vanished.

Fused Zamasu slowly lifted his head, his icy gaze locking onto Levos.

The radiant glow of the halo behind him lit up the entire battlefield.

A crushing aura surged from his body, forcing Levos to involuntarily retreat.

A deep, disdainful voice echoed.

"So, you were trying to swap souls with a god? Humans truly are ignorant and foolish!" Zamasu's glare swept across the battlefield until it landed on Captain Ginyu. "Disgusting. That such despicable abilities exist in this universe…"

The air turned suffocating. Ginyu trembled violently in Levos's grip.

Levos narrowed his eyes.

The attempt to take over Fused Zamasu's body had failed.

The battle had now reached a point of no return.

He tossed the frog to Piccolo. A crimson aura surged around him.

Kaio-Ken. Every muscle, every joint, every bone in his body snapped into optimal combat alignment.

Twenty-five times Kaio-Ken wasn't even close to this body's limit. If not for concerns over energy consumption, Levos could've kept this state indefinitely.

Whoosh!

A shadow flashed. Zamasu's massive black scythe came slicing down at Levos, cutting space itself in two.

Levos frowned slightly, unwilling to take it head-on. His body flickered and narrowly evaded the blow.

Suddenly, a black vortex spun open beside him Zamasu's palm pierced through space, a dark purple energy blade poised to stab into Levos's chest.

But Levos caught the wrist mid-thrust. With a thunderous knee strike to the elbow

Crack!

A sickening snap echoed.

Zamasu's arm broke.

His twisted face contorted in agony.

Levos didn't give him time to recover. Gripping the fractured arm, he yanked hard.

"Argh!"

Half of Zamasu's body was dragged into the spatial vortex, his struggles in vain.

Then, a dark violet blur streaked out from Zamasu's body, slicing across him.

Riiiip

A sharp glow tore Fused Zamasu's body in two.

To escape Levos's grip, Zamasu had severed himself.

The half in Levos's hand, though detached, still squirmed grotesquely.

Looking past the fading vortex, Levos saw the mutilated stump on Zamasu's body squirming, regenerating rapidly.

Twisted purple tissue swelled, stitching the body back together within seconds, he was whole again.

So this was the effect of immortality?

Levos glanced at the wriggling mass in his hand and grimaced.

With a sweep of his tail, the mace-like tip opened and swallowed the chunk of flesh.

Glurp, glurp…

Levos stood frozen, carefully monitoring any changes in his body.

If anything went wrong, he'd spit it out immediately.

Eventually, the flesh dissolved into raw energy nothing more.

No signs of special effects or new abilities.

He hadn't gained any of Zamasu's traits.

"So absorbing flesh isn't the path to Cell Max's evolution. Either it doesn't work… or I've reached the limit of what this method can offer." Levos frowned and muttered. "Still, recovering energy isn't a bad deal."

He flicked his tail and looked thoughtfully at Fused Zamasu.

Could he fully absorb an immortal?

Then, he noticed Zamasu staring at him like he was a ghost.

A flash of insight crossed Levos's mind.

If absorbing flesh restored his energy… then why bother conserving power?

Just break the enemy apart, absorb the pieces, and restore himself!

Levos's eyes gleamed.

"Kaio-Ken"

"Fifty times!!"

His aura exploded.

In a blur, Levos launched himself toward Fused Zamasu.

A brutal kick shot straight at Zamasu's head.

BOOM!

The shockwave alone nearly sent Zamasu flying.

"You filthy human!" Zamasu roared, swinging his massive scythe.

Crash!

The moment their attacks collided, the dark blade shattered.

Levos smashed through his defense and slammed his leg into Zamasu's skull.

CRACK!

The divine halo behind Zamasu burst with blinding light, shielding him.

But it wasn't enough.

The strike split the halo fine cracks spread across it.

Zamasu shot backward like a missile, crashing through hundreds of meters of rock.

His body spasmed uncontrollably, blood spilling from his mouth.

Before he could recover, Levos was there again. Another crushing knee strike exploded against his jaw.

BANG!

A crisp shatter rang out.

The divine halo disintegrated into fragments of light his last layer of protection was gone.

BOOM!

The ground quaked. A crater hundreds of meters wide collapsed inward.

Levos blurred into a blur of motion, fists transforming into a storm of strikes that hammered Zamasu's joints and weak spots.

Crack! Snap!

In mere moments, every bone in Zamasu's body had shattered. He lay limp in molten rock, only able to wheeze in pain.

But even in the red glow of magma, Levos could see his bones and flesh writhing healing.

The damn immortality was disgusting!

"Human… What are you?! How do you possess such terrifying power?!"

Levos didn't bother replying. His tail lashed out, wrapping around Zamasu's entire body.

Glurp, glurp…

Zamasu thrashed wildly, trapped in the tail's chamber.

Levos could feel his lost energy rapidly replenishing.

But Zamasu's life force remained undiminished.

A stalemate.

Zamasu's body kept regenerating.

And Levos kept absorbing.

But neither could end it.

As expected of a Super Dragon Ball wish even half-immortality was this hard to deal with.

His body could only hold so much energy. If this kept up, he might burst from the overload.

Levos frowned.

He needed to find a way to end this. Fast.

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