Over the next few days, Diego shuttled back and forth between the Hori household and the library.
"Beneath the pitch-black curtain, the light elf dances gracefully—its figure beautiful and ethereal, tightly drawing my gaze..."
Diego closed the fairy tale collection, stopped reading aloud, and looked at the already sleeping Sota and Hori.
The night had grown deep. Time to rest peacefully.
Diego slowly stood, moved quietly to the window, and gazed up at the clear moonlight, letting out a soft sigh of admiration.
"Powerful and beautiful light... an invincible light body..."
"Hm? Thanking me? You're not that nice?"
"No, I was just speaking my true thoughts. I have no intention of flattering anyone—ko no Dio would never grovel to anybody."
"Ever since I crossed over, it's been a long time since I could calmly appreciate the moonlight... Eh?"
Diego suddenly realized he was conversing with some unknown entity.
"...Who is it? A light elf?"
"I see. You can help me?"
With that, Diego grasped a beam of moonlight shining down. With a slight exertion of strength, he twisted—and a sword of light appeared in his hand, gleaming brilliantly as he swung it.
Diego tightened his grip on the light sword. With a crisp crack, he shattered it in his palm.
"That damn god..."
"In that case, wind elf..."
Diego's body slowly lifted into the air. The next second—he shot forward in a burst!
Under the moonlight, a nimble figure danced through the sky, weaving between skyscrapers.
"Muhahahahahahaha! Hahahahaha! Perfect—too perfect!! This ability to communicate with spirits is insanely useful. It has tremendous development potential!"
"This proves no one can surpass ko no Dio! Insignificant humans—I will dominate you all!"
For some reason, Diego suddenly felt an urge to jam his finger into his head and twist it wildly.
Hm?
Someone's watching me...
That little girl really has some fate with me. Staying up late at night using an astronomical telescope to look at the moon—and she actually got to witness ko no Dio's graceful form!
On the balcony of a distant residence, Takanashi Rikka stared in astonishment through her telescope at Diego soaring through the air.
"Humans... can fly...?"
The next second, Diego rode the wind and appeared before Takanashi Rikka. Bathed in moonlight, he slowly extended one hand.
"Do you... believe in gravity? Do you think there's any meaning in you being able to witness me using my power?"
"I... believe..."
"Then... you have to grab this hand, okay."
Their eyes locked. Diego's hair fluttered in the wind. His stance, standing on air, resembled that of a deity.
Takanashi Rikka steeled herself, leaped with all her strength, and jumped from the balcony toward Diego.
A smile appeared on Diego's face as he caught the girl—who suffered from mild autism after losing her father.
Diego leaned close to Takanashi Rikka's ear and whispered softly: "Don't you think the encounter itself holds meaning? Though I don't know what your first impression of me is..."
"But the reason I came out tonight was precisely for 『an encounter』. When the sun rises, I'll leave. If someday in the future you want to see me, just take this ring. Call on it, and I will appear before you."
Diego pressed the Cosmic Stone ring into Takanashi Rikka's hand and spoke again:
"Do you believe our meeting has meaning?"
"I..."
"No need to answer right away. Let me show you an unknown world." Diego cut off Takanashi Rikka's reply—after all, following on impulse alone wouldn't be good.
"Scary Monsters!"
Diego partially dragonized. A hint of ferocity appeared on his face. Beside him, Takanashi Rikka gradually began showing signs of dinosaurization as well.
"Don't be nervous. This is normal. Scary Monsters will give you an experience like no other."
On the rooftop of a skyscraper, in the depths of mountain forests, at the center of a tranquil lake, high in a quiet valley, in the far north where thick snow fell like goose feathers...
So beautiful... I've never felt anything like this.
Snow slowly settled on Takanashi Rikka. Suddenly she felt like crying. Tears welled up as she spoke in a trembling, choked voice:
"My dad... passed away so suddenly with no warning... I can't accept that he's gone! I just wanted... to talk to Dad again—even one more sentence would have been enough..."
A child just like me. The reason I set out for the resting place of souls was to speak to Mom one last time.
Diego's gaze softened. He gently stroked Takanashi Rikka's head and spoke slowly: "Scary Monsters is the strongest. I will take you to find your father."
"Scary Monsters... is the strongest!"
...
Three years before Diego went missing...
"Frieren, today marks the second anniversary of the day I dragged you away. Lord Dio has decided to give you a present—so accept it with gratitude." Diego took a piece of Cosmic Stone from the bundle on Silver Chariot and waved it in front of Frieren's eyes.
Frieren glanced at it, continued flipping through her grimoire, and said calmly: "What's there to commemorate about being kidnapped for two years..."
"Shut up. You have to accept it whether you want to or not—no one can change ko no Dio's decision. I'll carve it into jewelry. Pick a style." Diego handed her a book of accessory designs and grumbled, "By the way—as a captive, shouldn't you be overflowing with gratitude when receiving a gift?"
"If you gave me grimoires, I might consider being grateful." Frieren flipped through the accessory book and casually pointed to one. "As for jewelry... this one, then."
"Let Dio see..." Diego leaned in to look—and his words stopped dead.
"What's wrong? Too difficult to carve? Want to switch to something simpler?"
"No... don't mind it... I just..."
Mirror Lotus Flower...
Why this one of all things...
I remember the flower language is... eternal love...
Hiss—I originally planned to give her something whose design carried symbolic meaning.
But it turned out to be eternity... In that case...
For the sake of this eternity, I will spare no effort—no matter what it takes!!!
From this moment on, Diego Brando made a decision that went against his ancestors. Wherever he went, his claw marks were left behind.
...
The glory of the SBR Competition—that is power enough to shake Shuchiin's special-admission policy for undocumented individuals! To seize this power, I will spare no means!!
"Hmph... needing ID just to take a test. You people really are senile."
Diego glanced at the dinosaurized registration staff and strode into the exam venue without looking back.
The exam proceeded extraordinarily smoothly. Diego advanced to the final round without any obstacles. His law paper even drew repeated praise from the examiners, who called it the work of a once-in-a-millennium genius.
A law professor at the academy extended an olive branch, promising that if Diego became his disciple, he could skip the competition and be directly admitted!
But Diego refused.
I will make the name Diego Brando resound through the heavens in my own way—so that my mother in heaven can hear it and feel proud of her son.
With the name of champion!
On the day of the finals, Diego entered the exam room. After finishing the earlier questions, he looked at the final major essay prompt.
How do you view human society?
Diego gave a faint smile and wrote on the answer sheet: The Human Pigeon Flock Theory, expounding confidently.
".......
In the end, humans are just like flocks of pigeons. As soon as one flies right, all the rest follow right behind. Merely a group composed of pathetic worms obsessed with their own interests and filled with extreme arrogance.
But I will stand even more pompously atop this 『pigeon flock』 and dominate them completely!
..."
The finals were graded on the spot. After the exam time ended, the examiners collected Diego's and the other contestants' papers, discussed them, and scored them.
Diego sat with his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair, legs shamelessly propped on the desk, quietly awaiting the result.
"The SBR Competition champion: Diego Brando."
The examiner announced the result expressionlessly.
Diego wasn't surprised. He straightened his clothes and turned to leave. The moment he stepped out of the exam room, he was swarmed by countless reporters thrusting microphones toward him.
"As the winner of the SBR Competition, what are your thoughts?"
"We heard Kaguya Shinomiya of the Shinomiya family also participated this time. How do you feel about decisively defeating this genius young lady in the competition?"
"Do you like spicy food?"
...
So noisy. One person asks, and the rest all rush to follow. One after another—just like that.
This phenomenon once again proved Diego's Human Pigeon Flock Theory.
"The winner ko no Dio! That's all there is to it. Report the news like that."
Diego couldn't understand what was worth asking about. In his view, he had effortlessly crushed the competition from start to finish with zero difficulty.
With that, Diego ignored the swarm of reporters and left on his own. The journalists, like dogs smelling shit, had excitement gleaming in their eyes as they began crafting headlines in their minds.
In another exam room, Shinomiya Kaguya gripped her answer sheet tightly. Her expression was unreadable as she stared down, lost in thought.
Beside her, Hayasaka Ai comforted: "...Young lady, victory and defeat are common in battle. Even you can't win every time. Next time at Shuchiin, just beat him back."
Even so, Hayasaka Ai was still deeply worried. She knew Shinomiya Kaguya's pride all too well. Being defeated for the first time was a severe blow—especially by some unknown commoner.
Shinomiya Kaguya's heart jolted. Words echoed endlessly in her mind:
I failed... failed... failed... failed... I failed... failed... failed... failed...
I lost... completely defeated head-on... I lost utterly... On the final question, I had almost no chance to fight back...
When the two papers were presented to the examiners, the result was already set in stone. Nearly all discussion revolved around Diego's Human Pigeon Flock Theory.
Kaguya had already known the outcome the moment she read Diego's answer sheet. Is this really all someone bearing the name Shinomiya can achieve...?
"Let's go, Hayasaka." Kaguya spoke. A dark, uncertain shadow hung over her face.
"...Yes, young lady."
...
"Finally found news of Dio. Old man, I'm heading to Japan." A voice of unmatched confidence rang out—it was Jotaro Kujo, who had spent days searching fruitlessly for Diego.
"Be careful, Jotaro. I can't help anymore. Hermit Purple isn't picking up any trace of Dio either, and I can't reach Polnareff."
"I will. After all, I still have to help you deal with your illegitimate child situation."
"Oh My God! Please don't bring that up, Jotaro—your grandma finally calmed down after so much trouble."
"Yare yare daze... I just hope everything goes smoothly."
Jotaro boarded the plane to the Land of of Rising Sun. Behind him stood Joseph Joestar, face full of worry.
The next day, various news headlines dominated the trending lists.
Sota sat in front of Diego. Diego watched the reports on TV with boredom.
"Defeats the Shinomiya Empire's New Star!"
"The Man Who Reached the Pinnacle of SBR Competition Glory Declares the Shinomiya Family Nothing Special!"
"The Secret to Diego Brando's Genius? This Chili Sauce!"
...
What the hell? I only said one sentence—how did they twist it into this nonsense?
For the first time since arriving in the modern era, Diego truly felt the terror of public opinion.
"Big Brother Dio, you're so amazing." Sota looked at Diego with pure admiration while Hori brewed coffee for Diego in the kitchen.
"I like being first—so I'm going to be No.1."
Diego stuffed a snack into Sota's mouth to quiet him. A knock came from the door. Hori went to open it.
Something's off. There's clearly only one person's scent outside—but it's full of killing intent...
Whoosh!
The next moment, Diego flashed forward and appeared in front of Hori. He gripped her wrist firmly and said gravely: "They're here for me. Go back inside—I'll handle the guest."
"...Eh? Dio, how did you know..." Seeing Diego's serious expression, Hori said no more and returned to the living room.
Now then—let ko no Dio see exactly who it is!