Chapter 121: Chapter 121 – Equivalent Exchange
Ajax grimaced as a massive, dark purple wave of energy exploded outward from Frieza. The sheer force of the Kiai forced both him and Goku backward as they struggled to stabilize themselves in mid-air. Behind Frieza, the fractured mountain let out a deep, agonized groan before crumbling into a towering plume of swirling dust and tumbling stone.
But Ajax barely spared the devastation a second thought.
The collapse of a mountain was trivial compared to the battle at hand. In a fight like this, where the outcome could be decided by the narrowest of margins, the next ten exchanges would be whispers of the wind by the time the rubble reached the ground.
And true to that notion, as the first stones broke free, Frieza was already in motion. His speed was blinding—no, instantaneous. Ajax caught only the faintest blur of movement before the tyrant drove a searing orb of energy into Goku. The momentum sent Goku through the air like a blazing comet, his body contorting unnaturally as he vanished into the horizon.
Frieza pivoted sharply, his piercing gaze inevitably locking onto Ajax. His lips curved into a mockingly playful smirk, promising torment, and the atmosphere grew oppressively heavy.
Ajax barely had a moment to brace himself before Frieza disappeared. The tyrant's speed was unreal, like a phantom moving in the spaces between heartbeats. A moment later, their fists collided with explosive force, sending shockwaves through Ajax's body and shattering the ground beneath them into a chaotic maze of craters.
It was no contest. Frieza remained unmoved with that icy, maddening smirk plastered across his face, while Ajax flinched backward from the sharp pain shooting up his arm.
The tyrant's smirk deepened.
"My turn~!"
The air shrieked in protest of the velocity of Frieza's fist as it slammed into Ajax's gut with the force of a landslide. Agony detonated through Ajax's core as his ribs groaned from the crushing pressure. Frieza's energy—searing and impossibly dense, brimming with what had to be over 60 million units of Ki—was like a furnace blazing inside him.
But, for a moment, the tyrant's smirk faltered—just slightly.
Ajax gasped for breath, but even through the pain, a shard of his focus remained on Frieza's reaction. He understood it instantly—there was no blood, no snapping of bones, no gratifying sound of a warrior being broken into submission. Ajax was hunched over, gasping for air, yes, but still upright. Thanks to his adaptation, he had taken only half the damage he should have.
Frieza blinked, and a flicker of irritation flashed across his features.
Before the tyrant could anticipate Ajax's recovery, Ajax repaid the favor in kind. His fist slammed into the tyrant's gut with the force of a warhammer, and the blow earned a sharp wheeze from Frieza as the impact knocked him several feet backward.
Straightening himself with effort, Ajax met Frieza's hateful, disbelieving glare. Slowly, Ajax wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, the gesture deliberate and faintly taunting.
"That's it?" he rasped, his voice strained but steady. "I expected more from the self-proclaimed 'emperor of the universe.'"
Taunting Frieza at this moment was a dangerous and somewhat reckless gamble, not unlike a little scrappy Sandile using "Swagger" on a Machamp. Ajax wasn't fooling himself—he knew he couldn't overpower Frieza as he was now. But Frieza, humiliated by being beaten by two "monkeys," must be far from being in the right frame of mind. So, if he could keep Frieza angry, off-balance, and, most importantly, distracted, there was still a chance to turn the tide in his favor.
Unfortunately, any hope of Ajax's strategy paying off was extinguished almost instantly.
Frieza's expression shifted. Gone was the veneer of smug amusement, melting away to reveal something far more horrifying: a calm, focused rage that twisted his features into something monstrous. His lips peeled back into a snarl that was more beast than civilized man, and his eyes, once gleaming with sadistic glee, now burned with searing hatred, like twin furnaces. Stripped of all pretense of patience, Frieza had become a true nightmare made flesh, but he was, unfortunately, still very much calm.
And that's when Ajax realized he might have fucked up.
"I!" Frieza bellowed, his voice a thunderous roar that shook the air. His head snapped forward like a battering ram and collided with Ajax's skull in a savage headbutt that made Ajax's world explode into a storm of light and sound.
"WILL!" Frieza's knee crashed into Ajax's chest with bone-shattering force, launching him backward like a ragdoll. But the tyrant wasn't finished—not even close.
"NOT!" Frieza was already there, his fist driving into Ajax's stomach like a meteor. The impact folded Ajax in half as pain erupted in his core. Blood spewed from his mouth and splattered the distant ground far below.
"BE!" Frieza's tail lashed out against Ajax's side with the sharp crack of a whip. The blow sent Ajax spinning wildly before he crashed into the ground with great force. A deep trench was carved into the soil as his battered body slid to a halt.
Gritting his teeth, Ajax dug his fingers into the dirt, his entire body trembling as he struggled to push himself upright.
"HUMILIATED!!!" The final word erupted from Frieza in a crescendo of fury as his foot crashed down onto Ajax's chest with crushing force. Ajax's ribcage buckled with a sickening crack as the blow drove him deep into the ground. The earth beneath them split into a jagged crater as Ajax's blood streaked the broken terrain and stained it a vivid crimson.
Air refused to come.
And when it did, each breath he drew felt like pulling shards of glass through his ribs. Above him, Frieza loomed, his dark silhouette blotting out the sun like some harbinger.
"You dare mock me?! You will die for your insolence!"
Ajax braced himself for the inevitable strike, but before Frieza could make his move, salvation came as a flash of orange.
A blur of motion cut across the battlefield faster than the eye could track. Frieza, unable to sense Ki, didn't feel the attack coming, but he saw it—the barest flicker in his peripheral vision. It gave him only a fraction of a second to react.
The impact was sudden and explosive. Goku's fist slammed into Frieza's face with a resounding boom like a crack of lightning. Ajax watched as the tyrant's head snapped back, the blow launching him into the sky. Relief bloomed in Ajax's chest—brief, fleeting—until he felt it.
Frieza's tail.
The muscular appendage had coiled around Ajax's waist with a deathly grip at the exact moment of Goku's strike. As Frieza hurtled backward from Goku's attack, Ajax was yanked off the ground and dragged along helplessly for the ride.
In the air, Frieza recovered with inhuman speed, halting his flight as though the punch had been nothing more than a mild inconvenience. His face betrayed neither pain nor fury from the surprise attack—only a chilling, detached calculation as he glared at Ajax.
The tail around Ajax's waist tightened, trapping him within the tyrant's immediate reach. It felt as though he were ensnared by a serpent, its fangs poised to deliver its venomous bite from any angle or direction it desired.
Then the real torment began.
A fist crashed into Ajax's face, snapping his head back and scattering pretty stars across his vision. Another blow followed. Then another. And another. Frieza's fists rained down like hammer strikes, each one powerful enough to pulverize bone and rupture organs had Ajax been any less resilient.
Ensnared by Frieza, Ajax could do little but shield himself and endure as blow after brutal blow landed. Stunned and immobilized by the tyrant's tail, he felt like a punching bag—a lifeless object for Frieza to vent his fury upon.
He couldn't even find the relief of being sent flying by the blows.
A sharp sonic boom suddenly reached them, one that snapped Ajax out of his haze of pain. It was Goku speeding toward them, his face twisted in an expression of rare panic.
But the flicker of hope was short-lived.
Frieza's eyes darted toward the approaching Saiyan. With a casual, almost mocking gesture, he raised a finger above his head.
The Supernova he summoned was deceptively small, barely larger than a basketball, but its compact form hid the immense destructive potential contained within. To anyone attuned to Ki, the threat was clear—this was not an attack that could be judged by its size alone.
With a flick of his finger, Frieza casually lobbed the Supernova toward Goku. The motion was almost nonchalant, as if discarding a mere toy. The glowing orb zipped past the approaching Goku, missing him by a whole foot.
Goku's face twisted in confusion. Then, realization struck, and his eyes widened in alarm as he whipped his head toward the orb hurtling toward the planet below.
Without a moment's hesitation, Goku broke off from his charge toward Frieza. In a flash, he reversed direction and chased after the Supernova, putting every ounce of energy into intercepting it before it reached the planet.
With Goku temporarily occupied, Frieza's attention shifted back to Ajax—but by then, Ajax's fist was already speeding toward Frieza's face.
Frieza's eyes flicked toward the incoming punch, and for a brief moment, it seemed as though he might let it land. But ultimately, in a fluid motion, he raised his arm and intercepted the blow midair. The Pinpoint Impact crashed against Frieza's forearm with a deafening crack of energy and an explosive shockwave.
Frieza's eyes flashed with brief surprise at the faint pang of pain in his forearm, but his mask of control quickly snapped back into place. His teeth ground together as his sharp gaze narrowed even further.
Ajax had remained standing—or, more accurately, was held upright by Frieza. He was bloodied and battered, but still defiant. His Ki reserves were dwindling thanks to the Kaioken, and his aura flickered like a dying ember, but his eyes never wavered from Frieza's.
In that position, they stared each other down, the air between them thick with mutual loathing.
"You pest!" Frieza snarled, venom dripping from his words as his arm drew back. "I refuse to accept that I can't kill you!"
Frieza's fist drove into Ajax's gut with earth-shattering force, ripping the air from Ajax's lungs and sending a mouthful of blood erupting from his lips. The sharp tang of iron flooded his mouth as he doubled over in agony.
Frieza didn't pause. With calculated malice, he pulled his arm back, winding up for a second blow. His faintly glowing fist tore through the air and slammed into the exact same spot on Ajax's abdomen. The impact folded Ajax around Frieza's fist like a broken marionette.
A sneer twisted Frieza's face as he drew his fist back again, this time surging it with a sinister purple energy that crackled ominously along his arm. "Let's see how much more of this you can endure!" he hissed, driving his glowing fist deep into Ajax's stomach once more.
The impact struck with the force of a meteor, and Ajax's Kaioken aura shattered in a burst of crimson light. The sudden loss of the aura felt like his final line of defense had crumbled, leaving him utterly exposed. His body went slack, and his head lolled back as his consciousness wavered.
For a moment, it seemed Frieza might simply keep beating him into submission. But then, something shifted in the tyrant's expression—perhaps a glint of sadistic inspiration. His lips curled into a wicked smile, and he pulled his hand back.
Energy swirled in Frieza's palm as it compressed itself into a dense, glowing sphere. The orb began to spin faster and faster, its shape warping as it flattened, its edges growing razor-sharp. Before long, the energy transformed into a spinning purple disc that hummed low and ominous.
Frieza's lips curled into a smug grin as he admired the deadly construct spinning in his grasp—a technique replicated effortlessly on his first attempt, partially thanks to it repeatedly being used against him throughout this battle. His gaze shifted to Ajax, his grin widening as he took in his opponent's motionless form, which watched the attack as it took shape.
But while Ajax's body was battered, his mind remained sharp and alert. He immediately recognized the technique—the Kienzan. Though in the canon, Frieza had dubbed it something else, a dramatic name like the "Death Saucer" or whatnot.
The irony of the moment wasn't lost on either of them, though. Frieza was poised to execute Ajax using the very technique Ajax had just attempted to use against him not long ago.
"Not quite the death you pleaded for, but still... a rather poetic curtain call, wouldn't you agree, Ajax?"
Ajax's thoughts churned as he stared at the Kienzan. He knew the battle was already lost. For him, the scales had tipped irreversibly beyond his control the moment Frieza unleashed 50% of his power. Even with the Kaioken pushed to its limits, it was no match for Frieza now—just an added strain on his worn body.
But losing this battle didn't mean losing the war.
From the instant Frieza tapped into half his true power, Ajax had already shifted his approach. Even now, with his body hanging limp and every sign pointing to his defeat, he wasn't idle. No—his mind was sharp, calculating, laser-focused on something crucial.
Because now was not the time for him to die.
Death would come, eventually—he knew that much. But it wasn't his time yet. Not while there were still possibilities, still untrodden paths, still chances, however faint.
In the original timeline, Krillin's death alone hadn't been the turning point, despite what many may believe.
No, what truly triggered the transformation was the despair that followed—the crushing weight of hopelessness.
It wasn't just the loss itself; it was the fact that even the Spirit Bomb, their final hope, had failed. Goku had given his everything, and yet, his all simply hadn't been good enough. He had been utterly powerless, and that sense of helplessness, more than anything, was the catalyst.
From that breaking point, an opportunity to rise was born.
But this? This wasn't that moment.
Not yet.
It wasn't time.
That's right, it wasn't time.
So, he couldn't die yet!
Not yet!
The thought sparked through Ajax like a jolt of electricity, infusing him with a sudden clarity.
The Kienzan buzzed in Frieza's grasp with a whine that reminded Ajax of a swarm of enraged hornets. Frieza's gaze bore down on Ajax, his lips curling into a cruel smile as the tyrant savored every second of his inevitable triumph.
But Ajax wasn't really looking at Frieza anymore. His focus had turned inward.
He knew he wasn't ready—not entirely. To reclaim that state, to wield its power as he had before, he needed Mushin. But then again, he didn't need the full measure of it this time. He only needed a single second. Just one.
Ajax's lips curled faintly, the barest ghost of a smile. He could almost feel it—a phantom thread that always seemed to connect him with Mushin, taut and steady at the center of his back. It wasn't truly there, not anymore, but that didn't matter.
In the quiet recesses of his mind, Ajax offered a silent whisper,
'Thanks, Mushin.'
And with that, his body—slack and limp moments before—stirred. His head, which had hung like a marionette with its strings cut, snapped forward in a sharp, deliberate motion. His eyes sparked to life—literally.
From the corners of Ajax's eyes, lightning erupted—bright and alive with energy.
At that moment, the world slowed.
The Zone had answered his call, blessing him with a moment of perfect clarity. It would last for just a single heartbeat—just one precious second of razor-sharp awareness.
But that was all Ajax needed.
His battered body moved with renewed purpose as he threw himself backward, pulling Frieza's tail taut with every ounce of strength he had left. The tyrant's tail still bound him, so the distance wasn't much—barely more than a foot or so. However, that small gap was enough—enough to create space, enough to slip just out of Frieza's immediate reach.
Ajax thrusted out his tightly clenched fists, parallel like a Jiangshi, aimed directly at Frieza's chest just two feet away. Every fiber of his being sharpened, fully focused on this one critical moment.
Frieza's eyes widened. His gaze flickered between Ajax's fists and eyes, and the tyrant's smug confidence evaporated. A flicker of sudden realization—perhaps even déjà vu—crossed his expression.
"DIE!" Frieza snarled, his voice cracking with both anger and a hint of panic. With a frantic motion, he hurriedly hurled the Kienzan at Ajax from point-blank range.
Too late.
Silver electricity flared from Ajax's eyes.
"ROKUOGAN: SAI DAI RIN!!!"
The air itself seemed to shudder as an immense, pressurized shockwave erupted from between Ajax's fists. The blast tore through the space between them, colliding with the descending Kienzan.
For a moment, it seemed as though the shockwave might stop the spinning disc in its tracks. But the attack carved through the pressurized force like a blade slicing water in the next instant, its momentum unbroken. Ajax had neither the time nor the room to dodge. Frieza's Kienzan struck his chest, and his body jerked violently as the energy disc sank deep into his flesh.
But as the Kienzan found its mark, so too did the Rokuogan.
The tyrant's chest took the full force of the pressurized shockwave. For a fleeting moment, his body held firm, his Ki barrier flaring brilliantly as it attempted to diffuse the incoming energy.
But this was no ordinary attack—or rather, it was too ordinary.
The flaw was simple. A Ki forcefield, by nature, repels external Ki, dispersing it via destructive interference to reduce impact. Even physical strikes were mitigated, as every fighter's body, including the attacking party, was protected by its own Ki forcefield.
But against a purely physical phenomenon, like a shockwave devoid of Ki? And worse still, an attack designed to devastate from within?
Power levels do jack-diddly-squat.
And that was precisely what the Rokuogan: Sai Dai Rin had done.
This meant that, even though Ajax was no longer powered by the Kaioken and despite Frieza operating at 50% of his full strength, the tyrant's durability offered no more resistance to the attack than someone like Dodoria.
The Rokuogan's shockwave bypassed Frieza's external Ki barrier entirely, tearing through his defenses and striking directly at his core. The compressed pressure tore inward, wreaking havoc on organs, muscles, and veins before bursting violently out from his back.
Frieza's eyes widened in utter disbelief, bulging as his body spasmed uncontrollably. His chest seemed to partially cave inward, his flesh darkening to a grim shade of purple as internal bleeding spread with alarming speed.
A guttural groan tore from his throat, and for several agonizing seconds, Frieza stood frozen in shock. He clutched at his chest instinctively as blood trailed from the corners of his mouth. Then his body convulsed violently, forcing his tail to slacken and slip free from Ajax's waist as the tyrant staggered backward.
But there was no time for Ajax to savor the fleeting victory.
The Kienzan remained lodged in his chest, its razor-sharp edges embedded deep in his flesh, mere millimeters from vital organs. Worse yet, the disc still spun.
His hands trembled as they gripped the deadly disc, every shred of his Ki manipulation and what little strength he had left focused on preventing it from burrowing deeper.
With a raw, primal roar, Ajax summoned every last ounce of his willpower into a single maneuver. He twisted his hand and snapped the Kienzan sideways by applying a perpendicular force against its spin. He knew its weakness—like a katana, no matter how sharp or powerful its edge, it would shatter when struck at the wrong angle.
With a final, thunderous crack, the Kienzan shattered into brilliant fragments of energy that dissipated into the air like dying embers.
Ajax's arms fell limp at his sides, his chest heaving in shallow, strained breaths as blood poured from the massive gash the Kienzan had carved into him. The wound was deep and jagged, cutting through ribs and leaving them exposed.
His body felt weightless, his limbs drained of all strength. Gravity took hold, and he began to plummet toward the earth below. The wind howled past his ears, while the blood flowing from his chest seemed to defy nature itself as it floated as tiny crimson droplets that shimmered in the air like macabre stars.
When Ajax finally hit the ground, it was far from graceful. He slammed into the earth with a boom, causing dust and debris to erupt around him. They slowly settled into the open wound on his chest as he lay motionless, his half-lidded eyes staring at the sky.
Above him, Frieza's rage reached a new, blistering peak. His eyes burned with red-hot rage that could only come from someone who had been utterly humiliated by their foe. With a wet cough, Frieza raised one trembling hand toward the heavens, his fingers splayed wide as he gathered a swirling mass of Ki in his palm. A Death Ball quickly formed.
Ajax might not yet be able to read minds, but even he could tell Frieza intended to end it here. End him. End this farce. Once and for all.
But a massive explosion detonated overhead as Frieza was charging his attack, and a brilliant flash of orange lit up the entire sky. Frieza's eyes snapped upward, his jaw tightening.
The Supernova from earlier—the one he had launched to drive Goku away—had been successfully diverted and detonated far from the planet's surface.
But that meant…
Down below, Ajax lay crumpled in an ungraceful heap on the ground, but his eyes never wavered, locked onto the action above.
With terrifying swiftness, Frieza redirected his Death Ball and flung it straight at the furious, charging Goku. But Goku didn't even blink. Reaching out with a single hand, he caught the searing orb and, with a guttural roar that shook the battlefield, crushed it in his grasp.
The air shrieked in protest.
For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Then, with an earth-shattering impact, the two titans collided. Purple energy clashed violently with crimson as their hands locked midair. Muscles tensed, veins bulged, and the very atmosphere trembled under their power as each fought to overpower the other.
But Ajax could only watch.
His role in this part of the battle was over.
For now.
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