Dragon Ball Z: The Beast Within - CH18

[Guru POV.]

I could feel him.

My brother.

The scourge of Namek.

Slug was close.

I could feel his energy, nearing… festering wound in the air—foul, oppressive, drenched in absolute malice. It twisted through the currents of the universe like a storm on the horizon, drawing nearer with each passing day.

There was no doubt anymore.

He was coming.

After centuries of exile, after all the precautions I had taken, after all the prayers I had whispered to the Gods so that he might never return—he was coming home.

But this was no homecoming.

It was a reckoning.

I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly.

How much time did we have?

Days.

Maybe a week.

No more than that.

And we weren’t ready.

Escarot and Nail had improved a lot. I could feel it. In just a few months, their power had grown tremendously, far beyond what I had anticipated. Their daily battles had shaped them into warriors more formidable than any Namekian had seen in centuries.

But it still wasn’t enough.

Not against him.

Slug wasn’t a mere warrior. 

He wasn’t just a powerful opponent. He was the first Super Namekian. A being that had long transcended the limits of our people. The last time we had crossed paths, before the Great Cataclysm, I was still young. Naïve. I had thought him misguided. Thought he could be reasoned with.

I had been wrong.

And that mistake had nearly doomed Namek once before.

Now, the mistake was coming to collect.

I opened my eyes, staring at the vast landscape of Namek before me. The blue skies, the rolling green hills, the gentle streams of water reflecting the light of our three suns. Peaceful.

How much longer would it remain that way?

How many of my children would die because of him?

“Elder.”

I turned my head slightly.

Nail stood before me, fists clenched, his expression firm but questioning. He had felt it too.

“How long?” he asked.

“Days,” I rumbled. “No more than a week.”

Nail’s jaw tightened. “Then we need to push harder.”

I nodded. “You must.”

He looked down for a moment, thoughtful. I could see the gears turning in his mind, calculating, strategizing. He knew just as well as I did what they were up against.

When he lifted his gaze, his eyes were filled with steel. “Escarot and I will train until we can no longer move.”

“You already have,” I reminded him.

“Then we will push past that.”

He was determined. He always had been. And yet, I could sense the weight pressing down on his shoulders. The unspoken truth neither of us dared acknowledge aloud.

They weren’t ready.

Not yet.

But they would have no choice.

I wished, more than anything, that it wasn’t their burden to bear. That Slug’s evil could have remained nothing more than an old, terrible memory.

But fate had decreed otherwise.

And all I could do now…

Was trust them to face a threat they never should have had to face.

—---------------------------------------------------------

[Nail POV.]

I flew straight to Escarot’s island, cutting through the clouds in the sky.

Lord Guru’s words echoed in my mind. He is close.

The great evil of Namek, the darkness that once threatened our people before the great cataclysm… was nearly here.

Slug.

I could feel him now. His energy was still distant, but it loomed at the edge of my senses like a storm on the horizon. Heavy. Malicious. Overwhelming.

I had never thought possible for one of our own to… be this evil, this corrupted by malice.

We weren’t ready.

Not yet.

We had grown stronger… but we were still weak.

I landed near Escarot’s training ground, only to find him in the middle of a spar with Okara. She was breathing heavily, her stance loose but determined, while Escarot barely looked winded. He was coaching her as they fought, sidestepping her attacks with ease, correcting her footwork in real time.

But the moment I arrived, his head snapped toward me. His eyes locked onto mine, and I saw something I didn’t expect.

Recognition.

“Escarot…” I began, but he cut me off.

"Yeah… I can feel it too.”

I stiffened. He could feel it?

That wasn’t possible. That shouldn't be possible.

Escarot had only learned to sense ki recently, a few months ago. And very recently, he had struggled to pick up anything beyond a few miles. Yet now, he had sensed Slug’s approach just as I had?

I had come to warn him—to tell him what was coming.

But he already knew.

“He’s much more powerful than we are,” Escarot stated, his voice disturbingly calm. But his tail flicked behind him, the only sign of the tension I could spot.

Okara, still catching her breath, scowled between us. “Oi, what the hell are you guys talking about?! Who’s ‘he’? And why are you both acting like something’s about to explode?!”

Neither of us answered her.

Slug’s ki pressed against my senses like a growing tidal wave, still distant, but undeniable. It carried no restraint, no subtlety. Just raw, oppressive strength. The kind that crushed worlds beneath its heel.

I turned back to Escarot.

"We need to resume training. Immediately.”

His grin widened. "Good. I was getting bored."

I narrowed my eyes. "Escarot, this isn’t a game. Slug isn’t just some strong opponent coming to spar. His power is monstrous. If we don’t prepare, we will die.”

I expected him to sober up.

Maybe even falter.

Instead, his pupils dilated. His breathing picked up.

“You know…” he muttered, rolling his shoulders, “Even knowing this guy is way stronger than us… I can’t help but feel—” He exhaled sharply, his smirk stretching wide. "Excited."

My grip tightened.

For a moment, I didn’t see the young warrior I had been training.

I saw a Saiyan.

A true Saiyan, like Lord Guru had described.

And despite myself…

I felt it too.

—-------------------------------------------------------

[Escarot POV.]

I could feel him.

Slug.

His ki pressed against my senses, growing closer with every second. Heavy. Overwhelming. Suffocating.

And yet…

A hungry grin stretched across my face.

Because he was strong.

So much stronger than me.

I knew it the moment I felt him—his presence dwarfed mine like a mountain standing over a grain of sand. He wasn’t just powerful. He was a fucking monster.

And still, my blood burned with excitement.

A thrill shot through me, my heartbeat hammering like a battle drum in my chest. My tail lashed behind me, my body thrumming with energy, my muscles coiling like a spring ready to explode.

Every fiber of my being was screaming at me.

Telling me to fight.

To challenge.

To win.

I clenched my fists, barely able to contain the sheer need surging through me. The instinct, the hunger, the Saiyan thrill of battle, it was intoxicating. My body didn’t care that Slug outclassed me. It didn’t care that he could obliterate me with a flick of his wrist.

Every part of me wanted to face this foe… head on.

I clenched my fists, feeling my ki flicker in response. This was it. This was what I had been waiting for.

The real thing.

The Saibamen?

Nothing.

My spars with Nail?

Training. There was no real danger to them.

But this?

This was an actual battle. A real fight. The kind where losing didn’t mean a bruised ego or a few broken ribs. It meant death.

And it thrilled me.

I let out a slow, shaky breath as my body trembled, my grin widening. My instincts were running wild, my body begging to throw itself into the fray, to tear into the enemy, to test myself against an opponent who could actually kill me.

This was newground for me.

That being said… instincts or not, I couldn’t be an idiot, so I exhaled sharply, forcing my excitement down. I had to keep a level head. Charging in blindly would be suicide, and despite how eager my instincts were, I had to be smarter than the average saiyan.

I had to be careful… Slug was a true adversary. An actual threat. Someone who could—and would—kill me if I wasn’t careful.

I needed to be smarter. Stronger.

I needed to be ready.

I rolled my shoulders, shaking out the tension building in my muscles. Calm down. Focus. The battle would come soon enough.

For now, I had a few days to train a bit more.

And I was going to use those days to push myself harder than ever.

This was the moment I had been waiting for.

And I was not going to waste it.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Third Person POV]

[Lord Slug ]

The darkened halls of Slug’s command ship hummed as the ship moved forward. The only sound that broke the silence was the faint beeping of the navigational system, confirming what Slug already knew.

Namek was in sight.

Finally.

A few days away.

He had searched for his homeworld for centuries. The place of his birth. The world that should have belonged to him, the benchmark of his empire. Instead, his foolish brother had exiled him, had cast him out into the farthest reaches of space, fearing his ambitions.

Slug’s wrinkled lips curled, his thick fingers gripping the armrests of his throne.

But now, here it was.

A green jewel in the vast nothingness of space, untouched by war, unclaimed by any empire. And soon, it would be his.

No, not just Namek.

Everything.

With the power of the Dragon Balls, he would cast aside his limits. He would return to his prime, a force greater than any had seen before. The so-called "Cold Demons" would fall, the PTO would crumble, and he would carve his name into the stars.

But first, he needed those wishes. He needed the Dragon Balls

And he was not a patient man.

Slug turned his head slightly. “Angila.”

His second-in-command stepped forward, bowing. “My lord?”

Slug’s eyes remained locked on the growing sight of Namek. “Take a squad and begin the invasion. I want those Dragon Balls collected before I arrive. Kill whoever gets in your way, except for Guru… he’s mine to kill.”

Angila rolled his shoulders, stretching as if he were preparing for an exercise. “Please, my lord. If we actually needed your strength to handle this backwater planet, I’d be disappointed.” A flicker of energy crackled at his fingertips. “We’ll have them before dinner, and save you the dessert.”

Slug’s gaze finally shifted, his glowing red eyes narrowing. “Don’t get complacent, Angila.” His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it, a sharpness beneath the surface. “I’ve waited far too long for this, if you fail… I will kill you.”

The smirk on Angila’s face faltered—only slightly—before he gave a fearful nod. “Understood, my lord.”

Slug leaned back, exhaling through his nose. He did not expect resistance. His kind was a peaceful race, weak, pathetic, their warriors barely worth noting. Even their strongest would be nothing before him.

Still. He had waited centuries. He was not about to take any chances.

His eyes flicked across his other warriors.

“Zeeun. Dobodaro. Medamatcha,” he commanded. “You’re going with him. Any Namekian foolish enough to resist—kill them.”

Zeeun saluted, his posture stiff. 

Dobodaro chuckled under his breath, his claws flexing in anticipation. 

Medamatcha, the toad-like warrior, merely grunted, crossing his bulky arms.

“Spread out,” Angila ordered. “Find the villages, shake them down, and bring me those damn balls.”

Slug closed his eyes as his warriors left the throne room. His fingers tapped against his armrest.

Soon.

Soon, he would have his prime. Soon, he would take what was rightfully his.

A cruel grin formed on his lips.

“Immortality, eternal youth…” he murmured. “The universe will kneel. The Cold Demons will fall. And Guru…”

His bony fingers clenched into a fist.

“Will burn for what he did to me.”

—---------------------------------------------------------

Power Level Section:

Lord Slug (Old): 610,000

• Super Namek: 916,000

Angila: 48,000

Medamatcha: 42,000

Zeeun: 40,000

Dobodaro: 39,500

Escarot: 38,879 > 48,250

• Escarot (Surge): 60,313

• Escarot (Oozaru) 482,500

• Escarot (Oozaru + Surge) = 603,125

Nail: 44,250 > 53,750

Okara: 2278 >  7115

Garlik: 604 > 5326