On-screen—
The camera focused on Kars.
Reflected in his dark, snake-like eyes was a brilliant red light.
The Red Stone of Aja. How many years had it been? So long that even he had lost track of time. Now... he could finally, finally become the Ultimate Lifeform, a being that stood above all others!
"My, you think this gem is beautiful too, don't you? Just like my eyes..."
Upper Rank Two, Douma, with his rainbow-colored eyes, spoke with a cheerful grin. He seemed completely unaware that his colleague, Kokushibo, had just died at this man's hands.
Then again, he probably wouldn't have cared even if he did know. As someone born without emotions, fear was a concept that had never existed in his life. Even his current smiling face was just an act.
Although a primal, biological terror urged his body to get away from Kars, Douma didn't recognize it as fear. On the contrary, he was curious about this new sensation.
"Give me the Red Stone, and I might let you live." Kars's face was grim, his tone as merciless as the autumn wind stripping leaves from a tree.
He didn't care who stood before him. His eyes saw only the Red Stone. To obtain it, Kars would sacrifice anything.
Sensing the hostile intent, Douma produced his two golden fans. Their edges were sharp enough to slice through steel, a keenness not inferior to Kokushibo's longsword.
"Are you talking about this stone? It's pretty, but that's about it. Or does this little rock hold some secret we don't know about?" Douma said with a smile. To fight his way into the Infinity Castle for a mere stone seemed odd. Either this stone held some great significance, or... it possessed a hidden secret they were unaware of.
Adopting a combat stance, Douma had already activated his Blood Demon Art. If any human or Demon Slayer were present, they would feel their breathing grow weaker and weaker.
Douma's blood contained a potent toxin that he could freeze and turn into a crystalline powder. If inhaled, it would cause the cells of the lungs to necrotize.
However, to Kars, poison posed no threat whatsoever. It was even less of a danger than Kokushibo's sword.
The battle began. Kars sidestepped, his arm blades unsheathed. He charged toward Douma with the speed of a cheetah, the blades on his arms slashing directly for his neck.
With this single strike, he intended to completely incapacitate Douma. Kars held nothing back, nor would he. The Red Stone was right in front of him; he could not afford the slightest bit of carelessness or hesitation.
"Blood Demon Art: Withered Hanging Snowfall." Crystals of ice swirled, and while Douma was a complete scumbag, one had to admit his Blood Demon Art was powerful. Not just powerful, but also incredibly beautiful to behold.
A flurry of ice and snow completely surrounded Douma, forming a barrier far harder than steel. Even Kars's slash couldn't break through, merely leaving a scratch on the ice crystals without harming the demon within.
But this was merely a feint. Kars was not surprised. The blade on his other arm descended from above, crashing down on the ice crystals over Douma's head. This overhead strike utilized Kars's full strength, shattering Douma's defense as easily as chopping vegetables.
However, by the time Kars's blade swung down, Douma was already gone, leaving behind only an ice puppet, a clone-like decoy.
Blood Demon Art: Crystalline Divine Child—one of Douma's most infuriating techniques. He could create an ice clone that could fight in his stead, capable of using any Blood Demon Art he had used before. Their power was not to be underestimated, and Douma could mass-produce them. He alone was equivalent to an entire army.
Knowing Kars was no ordinary foe, Douma was not as careless as he was in the original story. Instead, he unleashed his Blood Demon Arts with reckless abandon.
Clones, icicles, ice vines, and even his ultimate technique: Freezing Fog, Bodhisattva of the Sleeping Water Lily. A giant, Bodhisattva-like ice statue appeared, its hands pressed together in prayer, resembling a great Buddha from a temple.
The series of techniques made the audience exclaim in amazement. While the Demon Slayers and his own colleagues were still painstakingly practicing their forms, Douma had already crossed over into the realm of high fantasy.
Even Kokushibo's Blood Demon Art hadn't been this flashy. From a purely visual standpoint, this Douma seemed even stronger than him.
Of course, the character for "Two" in Douma's eyes dictated that he was no match for Kokushibo, and certainly no match for Kars. His defeat was only a matter of time.
Although his Blood Demon Art was exceptionally flamboyant, even summoning an Ice Bodhisattva, it was all just for show.
The only way Douma was superior to Kokushibo was that his techniques were incredibly annoying, capable of significantly delaying Kars from obtaining the Red Stone. This delay was originally intended to give Lord Muzan time to come and rescue him, but it ended up serving another, unexpected purpose.
---o---
"Yare yare daze... What a terrifying Blood Demon Art. This demon is practically the perfect counter for Star Platinum."
Unseen by Kars and Douma, Jotaro and the others had been drawn by the sounds of battle and had silently made their way to a spot several hundred meters from the battlefield.
Thanks to Star Platinum's powerful eyesight, every move on the battlefield was clear to Kujo Jotaro. Douma's horrifying Blood Demon Art was well within his field of vision.
Clones, long-range attacks, and area-of-effect damage. If the opponent was even slightly cautious, the invincible Star Platinum would be completely helpless against him.
"It's him... There's no mistake. It's definitely him! He's the one who murdered my sister."
Though they were far away, with the help of Star Platinum's "photocopier" vision, Shinobu Kocho quickly confirmed it. Douma was the one who had killed her sister, Kanae Kocho, all those years ago. He was the target of the revenge she had asked Kujo Jotaro to help her with.
Seeing her nemesis again, the veins on Shinobu's temples bulged. Her normally gentle eyes became exceptionally fierce, even turning slightly red. Her rage was palpable.
Fortunately, she did not lose her reason to her anger and charge into the center of the fight. Kars's perception was top-notch. If he weren't busy fighting Douma, he would have discovered their "little snacks" hiding hundreds of meters away.
"What great luck! We just have to wait for them to wear each other out, and that'll be our chance to strike!" A smile crept onto Joseph's lips. He had clearly recognized Kars.
Although that demon couldn't kill Kars, he could weaken him significantly. When they made their entrance then, they would be able to defeat their fated enemy with ease.
And so, the group lay in wait, ready for Kars and Douma to reach a point of mutual exhaustion before emerging to capture them both in one fell swoop.
---o---
Light Curtain Barrage—
Detective Conan: "Nice! This is it! They just have to wait until Douma is about to die at Kars's hands, then swoop in like the fisherman and take the prize. They can beat Kars without breaking a sweat."
At the Mouri Detective Agency, Conan let out a huge sigh of relief. He had been worried that Joseph and the others wouldn't make it in time, but now it seemed his fears were unfounded. With Joseph's cunning and Jotaro's power, Kars was the one in danger now.
Utaha Kasumigaoka: "At this rate, it won't matter if Kars gets the Red Stone. Joseph and Jotaro, plus more than half the fighting strength of the Demon Slayer Corps... even the Ultimate Lifeform might not be a match for that lineup."
The young Utaha stopped her pen, feeling a sense of joy. The good guys now had a massive advantage. With only Kars left out of the three Pillar Men, there was no way he could defeat the JoJos.
Qingque: "Yes, yes! A normal, happy ending is the best ending. It's so great that none of the good guys died."
The slacking Master Diviner of the Xianzhou, Qingque, typed this out right in front of Fu Xuan. For an ultimate slacker, the light curtain was the perfect form of entertainment. You could take it anywhere. It was way better than a phone.
The Overseer of Schicksal: "Will it really be that simple? The Ultimate Lifeform that Kars seeks... it surely won't be as simple as just removing his weakness to the sun. The Ultimate Lifeform... Ultimate... what profound meaning is hidden within that word?"
Putting down his coffee, Otto mused thoughtfully. Would Joseph and the others... really defeat Kars so smoothly? This leader, who wasn't even the strongest of the three Pillar Men, why was he being saved for last?
These questions piqued Otto's interest. A Pillar Man who had lived for tens of thousands of years... how could he be doing all this simply to no longer fear the sun...?
---o---
On-screen—
The battle between Kars and Douma was nearing its end. Although Douma had tried his best, the biological gap was insurmountable. A sheep, no matter how strong, could never defeat a wolf.
His powerful Blood Demon Art had managed to tie Kars down, a feat even Kokushibo would have struggled with.
Unfortunately for Douma, right up to his defeat, he never saw any sign of Kibutsuji Muzan coming to his aid. Without a doubt, that piece-of-scum boss had abandoned him without a second thought... no, to be more precise, he had abandoned the entire Infinity Castle.
The final slash fell. Douma's body was pinned firmly to the wall, just like Kokushibo before him. The only difference was that Douma was held in place by Kars's arm blade.
Plucking the Red Stone he had longed for for tens of thousands of years from Douma's waist, Kars felt a joy he had never known before.
Perhaps out of happiness, Kars didn't kill Douma. He simply kicked him aside, raised the Red Stone in his hand, and held it up to the light.
Though the light in the Infinity Castle was dim, Kars could see every facet and refraction within the stone.
"Hmph hmph hmph, ha ha ha, AHAHAHAHAHA!!!" His laughter grew louder, echoing through the heavens. "Finally! I finally have it! The most perfect Red Stone of Aja! The indispensable piece in my transformation into the Ultimate Lifeform!"
"As soon as I embed this into the Stone Mask, the millennia-long ambition of I, Kars, will finally be fulfilled."
Clutching the Red Stone, Kars's voice was filled with an unprecedented excitement, a sound more thunderous than the roar of the crowd if the Chinese soccer team won the World Cup, echoing endlessly through the Infinity Castle.
Finally, Kars calmed down. After confirming that this was indeed the stone he had been searching for, a sudden wave of sadness washed over him.
"Esidisi... my true friend of tens of thousands of years, who followed me from the very beginning. It is because of your blessing that I am able to enjoy the fruit of this victory."
"Though you fell on the eve of our triumph, Esidisi, after Wamuu and I become Ultimate Lifeforms, I swear we will find that Hamon warrior and avenge you!!"
From the moment of Esidisi's death until now, Kars had never once mourned him. Before obtaining the Red Stone, even with the death of his most precious friend, Kars could only hide his sorrow deep within.
But now, with the stone in his hand, that grief flooded his heart, threatening to tear it apart. His confidant of ten thousand years. When Kars's proposal had been rejected by everyone in their clan, only Esidisi had stood up to support him.
Now, the Red Stone was in his hand, but Esidisi would never return...
"Next, allow me to go and reunite with Wamuu in my form as the Ultimate Lifeform."
From somewhere, he produced the iconic Stone Mask, preparing to embed the Red Stone within it.
"Hermit Purple Hamon Overdrive!"
SZZZRAK—
Purple vines, crackling with golden, electricity-like Hamon, wrapped tightly around Kars's arm. At that moment, Kars was just a hair's breadth away from fitting the Red Stone into the mask.
"NO—!!"
With a sickening tear, the Hamon horizontally ripped through the arm Kars was holding the stone with. Both the arm and the Red Stone fell to the ground.
The next instant, Kujo Jotaro, propelled by Star Platinum, leaped forward, closing the distance in a single bound. An "ORA"-powered fist smashed into Kars's face, the immense impact sending him flying.
Just like that, Kars was separated from the Red Stone. The closer he had been to it just a moment ago, the farther he was from it now.
"Success! It feels great to be the fisherman who reaps the rewards! This is a pleasure like no other! Now the last Pillar Man, Kars, will die at the hands of I, Joseph Joestar!"
Joseph's flippant voice rang in his ears. Kars pushed himself up from the ground, his eyes filled with visible venom and hatred.
The last Pillar Man... Could it be that Wamuu... is dead?
Staring daggers at Joseph, Kars's fury burned hotter and hotter. He swore that after he became the Ultimate Lifeform, the very first person he would kill would be Joseph Joestar!
---o---
Author's PS:
Kars will be able to bathe in the sunlight in the next chapter. As for Heaven Ascension DIO, he definitely won't ascend using the method from the original work, the conditions are too demanding. The original ascension method will be modified quite a bit.