-Age 782-

One minute. That's how long it took to overpower Cumber, Kamin and Oren. To Goku and Jiren, they only gave them a quick warm-up at most. They had been training as much as they could in their free time and it showed. They weren't called 'The Strongest Mortals in the Multiverse' for nothing.

Jiren had just finished fighting Cumber, who was knocked unconscious by the Gray, and Goku had sent Kamin and Oren flying backwards.

"Oren!" Kamin called out, "Let's do it."

"Yeah, sis." Oren smirked, "Let's."

Holding hands, the two Tuffles were enveloped in a bright light, merging into one, more powerful being.

"Heh." Goku smirked, finding some excitement in this, "So what should I call you?"

"I'm the fusion of Kamin and Oren, so call me Kamioren."

Goku's tail soon unwrapped from his waist, twitching in euphoria, "Alright, Kamioren, bring it!"

Kamioren began the fight by firing multiple ki-blasts at the Earth-raised Saiyan, who dodged or blocked them all with ease. He soon retaliated by elbowing Kamioren in the gut, which didn't faze them as much as it did when they were two people, but it still hurt.

The fusion soon flew up and began to fire a large barrage of ki-blasts at Goku, who flew straight through them, coming up from behind Kamioren and slamming them to the ground with his tail.

"You might as well give up now. There's no point in us fighting anymore." Goku stated, knowing well that the Tuffle fusion had met their match.

"NO!" Kamioren yelled, regenerating from their wounds, "I am the strongest! I won't let you beat me!"

As the fight continued, the four Angels and Hearts seemed to have no worries or concerns regarding this outcome, and the Core Area Warriors leader seemed somewhat excited over this.

"These fighters are incredible!" Hearts exclaimed, "It's no wonder they're deemed the strongest."

Cukatail nodded, "Their power would deem useful to my father and the Universe Seed." he soon turned to Hearts, "Don't forget the plan."

"Yeah, I remember." Hearts smirked, turning to one of his friends, "Lagss!"

"Right."

Lagss floated over, quickly teleporting the unconscious Cumber to Hearts and soon faced Jiren, with the Gray not seeming fazed by the woman.

"Well, this'll be fun." Lagss stated with little-to-no enthusiasm, snapping her fingers and summoning multiple shards of glass around her, aiming at Jiren.

"I suggest you leave now." Jiren narrowed his eyes, "You stand no chance against me."

"If you think I'll lie down, think again!" Lagss yelled, "Hearts' alliance with the Grand Priest is only the beginning for us, and I won't let you ruin his plans for a chance for freedom!"

The member of the Glass Tribe fired her shards of glass one by one, with Jiren punching through them with little difficulty. He then appeared in front of Lagss with a Power Impact in hand. The woman was briefly caught off-guard but she summoned a wall of glass the moment he fired his signature technique, causing a massive explosion. However, she wasn't left unscathed by that attack and suffered a few bruises.

Goku appeared back-to-back with Jiren, smirking as he faced his own opponent, "These guys are pretty strong. Good thing we spent a year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, huh?"

"I guess." Jiren replied, "But if they've aligned with the Grand Priest, then this won't be as easy as we think it will be."

Goku solemnly nodded in agreement, and they both prepared to charge at their respective opponents, only to be stopped by a sudden increase in gravity, pulling them to the ground.

"W-What?" Jiren struggled to get up, "This gravity... i-it's unnatural."

"I... can't move!" Goku yelled.

Hearts chuckled, forming a cube around the two struggling warriors, "Both of your kis will provide nourishment to the Universe Seed. And even though I don't like working with deities, I'm sure the Grand Priest will be most pleased with this."

Mustering what little strength he could, Goku reached out to his mate despite the heavy gravity, "Jiren!"

Jiren quickly did the same, slowly and painfully reaching for Goku as the cube around them began to close in on them. Although the gravity was taking a toll on them, they managed to hold onto each other, allowing Goku to do what he wanted.

"Hold... on!" Goku yelled, grunting as he placed two fingers to his forehead and, in a blink of an eye, they were instantly teleported out of the cube and to a location unknown to the invaders.

Hearts dissipated the cube, sighing, "I knew they were resilient enough, but I didn't imagine determination such as this."

"No need for concern, Hearts." Awamo stated with indifference in his tone, "My fellow Angels are collecting the ki from the rest of the universes that participated in the Tournament of Power, and I assure you that things are going smoothly on our end."

The Core Area Warriors quickly regrouped, and Hearts' smile returned, "We'll get their energy eventually, for now, let's focus on those Destroyers."

"We'll deal with them." Cukatail smiled, "They are our students after all. We'll leave your group to deal with the remaining Gods of Destruction."

And with that, the Angels flew off, leaving the the group to find and take down Beerus, Mule, Belmod, and Champa.

-The Lookout-

The two warriors gasped as they reached the Lookout, slowly getting up as they began to get used to Earth's gravity again.

"You alright, Hikari?" Jiren asked. Goku nodded, turning to the warriors currently being healed by Dende alongside the others who joined prior.

Piccolo was the first to notice them, "I saw the fight. You two didn't seem to have any trouble earlier, what was going on down there?"

"I dunno." Goku began as he scratched his head.

Jiren looked at his hands, "That guy in the coat, Hearts, I believe his name was... he used some sort of gravity manipulation technique to stop us and trapped us in a cube."

Goku nodded, "Yeah, and he said we were going to be nourishment for some 'Universe Seed,' what is that?"

Everyone shook their heads as they had no idea what that Universe Seed was. Though, that was the least of their worries on their mind as they knew that there were bigger problems.

"The Grand Priest." Hit muttered, "I overheard the Angels talking about how this would be beneficial to him."

Suddenly, the assassin realised something dreadful and his eyes widened, "Wait, if this has something to do with the Grand Priest then..."

"I'm afraid your assumptions are correct, Legendary Assassin."

The group turned to the owner of those words and saw Merus and the Supreme Kai, Shin walking forward alongside Kibito and Old Kai.

"Supreme Kai, what's going on?" Goku asked sternly, a serious look in his silver eyes.

Shin sighed, "The Multiverse is in jeopardy due to the Universe Seed, and I've just received word from the Supreme Kais of Universe 3, Universe 11 and Universe 6 that the Core Area Warriors are fighting the Gods of Destruction, presumably to absorb their energy."

Jiren clenched his gloved fists, knowing that his comrades in Universe 11 could be in danger due to this.

"But why are they doing this?" Krillin asked, "What's the point in gathering their energy if they're already the strongest warriors in their own Multiverse?"

This time, Old Kai spoke, "It's not for them. It's for the Universe Seed, a seed that has the ability to create an entire universe."

"A-An entire universe?!" Vegeta exclaimed in shock, "But how?"

"I don't know the details." Old Kai shook his head, "But all I know is that these 'Core Area Warriors' are working with the Angels, and if that's the case, then I dread to think what would happen if they collect enough energy for this powerful seed."

Goku and Jiren looked at each other in worry as they were beginning to have their doubts about this. Sure, they were the strongest mortals, but they had only barely surpassed at least six of the now eighteen Angels, and if the Grand Priest was involved, then they needed to find a way to get stronger, and fast. This wasn't just the fate of the Earth or the fate of the universe, this was the fate the entire Multiverse hanging in the balance, and they needed to do something.

"What do we do? We can't let these bastards do what they want!" Caulifla exclaimed, slamming her fist onto the staircase she was sitting on.

Jiren looked up, a serious expression on his face, "We need a plan. Right now those 'Core Area Warriors' are going to or are going up against Destroyers which is putting all of the Supreme Kais at risk."

"We should probably warn the Supreme Kais so they can at least rally their strongest warriors." Shin suggested.

Goku soon remembered something and turned to Merus, "So why're you here, Merus? I thought you'd be on your family's side."

Merus clenched his fists, "Family or not, what they are doing not only breaks Angel laws, but goes against what we stand for. I won't tolerate it!"

Vegeta scoffed, "You do realise you're putting yourself at risk here, right?"

"I understand that, which is why I'm helping you all out, even if it does go against our code." the Angel walked forward, "I believe the universe most at risk right now is Universe 6 considering that there is no one to help Champa against Lagss."

Hit and the Universe 6 Saiyans understood what he was saying and they nodded.

Kale spoke up with a determination not seen in her outside of battle, "Yeah, we'll help out our universe first."

"Call us if you need anything." Hit stated to Goku, who gave him a short nod as they were teleported to Universe 6 thanks to the teleporter Hit had on him.

"I believe the Saiyan known as Cumber is in Universe 3 facing against Anilaza." Kibito added, "We need someone to head there immediately and support him."

"I'll go." Broly volunteered, standing up, "I've got a battle to finish."

Kibito nodded as Shin used his Kai-Kai to teleport Broly to Universe 3, leaving two universes left in danger.

"I'll help out Universe 11." Merus continued, reassuring the Pride Trooper immensely, "That way, both Goku and Jiren can take out Hearts and his crew."

"Alright!" Goku punched his fist with a Saiyan-like smirk on his face, "I've been itching for a good fight!"

Jiren chuckled weakly, finding Goku's enthusiasm refreshing in these tense times, "They're hiding their ki pretty well, though if we can find Beerus or Whis' ki, we may be able to find them."

At that Goku tensed slightly, and Jiren understood that. If Whis was on the Grand Priest's side, then it wouldn't be easy, as he was his master and he helped him reach the level he was at now. Fighting him didn't seem right.

It took a few seconds, but Goku finally got a hold of himself and prepared to use Instant Transmission, Jiren quickly grabbing on, "Me and Jiren will head back up here once things are settled."

The Saiyan locked onto Lord Beerus' ki, knowing that he was the target, and quickly headed off, ready to face the challenge ahead.

-Lord Beerus' Planet-

When Goku and Jiren arrived, they were greeted with a slightly bruised Lord Beerus up against a much larger and more brutish version of Kamioren, with Hearts watching from a safe distance.

"Lord Beerus!" Goku yelled, the both of them flying over, "Need a hand?"

Beerus scoffed, "What do you think?"

"Where's Whis?" Jiren asked, dodging a punch from the Tuffle.

"Hell if I know." Beerus replied, firing at Kamioren with little effect, "Haven't seen him since this whole thing started!"

Suddenly, they were all interrupted with a loud roar from Kamioren, causing all three of them to turn to the humongous Tuffle creation.

"Hahaha!" Kamioren bellowed, "With the help of the power of the Universe Seed, I should be the strongest now! You three don't stand a chance!"

Goku and Jiren soon gave cocky smirks, speaking in unison, "We'll see about that Kamioren!"

The couple flew up to their opponent, charging their fiery blue and red auras as they both punched Kamioren in the face, making them stumble back in pain.

Kamioren held their head in pain as they stared at their opponent, "Rrrgh... YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!!"

They fired a mouth beam at the duo, with Jiren blocking it with one hand, making it explode on them and making Kamioren think that they won. Oh how wrong they were.

Their victorious chuckles quickly faded as they saw Goku and Jiren emerge from the smoke without a scratch, although their clothes were somewhat ripped. Goku wasted no time in kicking Kamioren in the stomach, causing the red sphere to crack slightly and sending them flying to the ground, struggling to get up.

"What...?! But... I barely... saw you move..."

Jiren looked on with a stern expression, "Underestimating us will be your greatest mistake, Kamioren."

He soon turned to Goku, who nodded in approval as they flared their ki, charging at Kamioren at high speeds. In a last ditch effort to save themselves, Kamioren stood and fired an all-out mouth beam, with the duo easily flying through the beam, pulling their fists back as they aimed at the cracked red sphere on their chest, focusing all of their ki into their fists as they punched it in unison. The crystal slowly began to crumble, causing Kamioren to fall apart as cracks formed all around their body.

"NO!!" Kamioren yelled as their body slowly shattered, "I... CAN'T LOSE... I'M THE... STRONGEST!!!"

White lights emerged from the cracks as Kamioren exploded in a blinding flash, causing Goku and Jiren to shield themselves from the light. When the light faded, a large crater was shown in Kamioren's place.

Goku seemed to show some hints of sadness and guilt in his eyes, knowing that Kamin and Oren could have been good sparring partners in another time. That quickly faded, however, as he noticed a small light that was floating towards Hearts, hovering in his hand.

"Kamin... Oren..." Hearts seemed remorseful as he stated the names of his late friends, "Your sacrifices won't be in vain, my comrades. Thanks to you, we have enough power to destroy Zeno himself, both future and present!"

Jiren and Goku gasped in realisation, with the former speaking, "So that's your plan? To kill the Omni-Kings?"

Hearts smiled, eyes-closed as he began to power up, his coat being thrown off to the side and his slicked-back hair quickly pointing upwards. At this stage, Goku was glad that he knew Ultra Instinct because he knew that if he didn't, not even Super Saiyan Blue could lay a finger on this man.

"Indeed. You see, the Omni-Kings are mere children and they have the ability to destroy universes on a whim. With this power, I will free mortals from that lack of autonomy, and create a world where we can all live without the fear of erasure!"

At that, the duo had nothing to say. How could they counter something like the truth? They had to admit that Hearts had a good justification for his actions. Knowing that you could be erased in an instant instilled fear into those who knew. However, there was one thing that couldn't be justified, and that was how he gained the power to do so.

"You think that justifies attackin' other mortals and gods just to gain power?!" Goku yelled, his tail frizzing as he spoke, "Doesn't sound like freedom to me."

"In order for freedom to be realised, sacrifices must be made." Hearts raised his hand holding the orb above his head, "Now behold the power of the Universe Seed!"

The orb slowly began to get bigger, engulfing Hearts' entire body. Goku, Jiren and Beerus all charged at him, hoping to stop him before it was too late until they were brought down by his gravity manipulation again.

"You...!!!" Goku yelled as he tried to get up but to no avail. The gravity had seemed much stronger than it was before.

Hearts' chuckles echoed through the bright light.

"Now this is true power! The power... of the Ultimate Godslayer!"