That night. The outer shores of Supplena Island.
On the mainland separated from the island by a stretch of water, two towering figures stood gazing across at the island — that island that had served as the training ground of ripple masters for generations.
"Lord Kars, the several dozen converted vampires are fully assembled. On your word, they can move out at any time." The broad-shouldered man spoke with quiet deference, the wrappings of his headband catching the low light.
This was Wamuu — one of two oblivious infants whose lives Kars had spared when he wiped out the Clan of Darkness, raising them as his own instruments.
In truth there had been three infants. Unfortunately, a third child — barely half a year old — had been caught in Kars's Light Mode attack aimed at the parents who were shielding the children, and killed by accident.
— But Kars felt no remorse. This was simply destiny.
Destiny chose who walked alongside him. As the "deity" he was fated to become, Kars would one day stand sovereign over this world overrun by lesser lifeforms.
"Well done, Wamuu."
"Everything we do will not be in vain. When the Stone Mask set with the Red Stone remakes our flesh — we, too, shall stand as equals to the 'Saint.'"
"Esidisi has done all that could be asked of him. Now it is our turn."
"As you will, Lord Kars."
Wamuu said nothing more. He only tilted his gaze up once — a long, upward look at Kars's mismatched eyes. One in particular held his attention: one eye, entirely white, radiating something that felt almost sacred.
If Shin had been there — having watched all of JoJo Part 7: Steel Ball Run — he would have identified it instantly. That was one of the Eyes of the Saint's Corpse.
Fate had favored his lord. It had granted them a means of breaking their destiny — from awakening a Stand, to overturning the fate that would have seen Lord Esidisi fall to a human ripple user.
Wamuu thought himself fortunate — fortunate to be able to pursue a greater power alongside one such as Lord Kars.
And yet also unfortunate — for perhaps, in the future ahead of them, there would no longer exist any being powerful enough to bar Lord Kars's path. No worthy rival would ever emerge again.
— Seven days still remained, but Wamuu already knew: the ripple user called JoJo would not get his chance.
The moment had come. Wamuu turned, both arms extended toward the stretch of water separating the island in the lagoon from the outer shore —
[Vile Wind] — Sacred Sand Storm!
An instant before the technique was unleashed, a green phantom flickered to life behind Wamuu's back. Riding the powerful wind pressure his turning arms generated, the Sacred Sand Storm — soaked through with an unknown power — swept across the lagoon.
Rush and surge...
Strengthened by that invisible force, the Sand Storm's column of wind did not dissipate across the water. Instead it held its shape, forming a continuous "wind path" across the lake's surface — sturdy enough for a person to walk across.
Step. Step. Step...
Vampires — once human, now transformed — poured out of the darkness. Without waiting for any signal from Kars, they stepped onto the wind path and moved forward across the water.
The vampires surrounded the two Pillar Men, matching their pace, marching in formation — soldiers flanking their king.
Kars didn't bother concealing his approach. Through the residual Eye he had fused into his own body, he had seen the threads of fate laid out before him with perfect clarity.
The vampires spread out across the island the moment they reached it, encircling the quiet lagoon island — ensuring not a single soul would have any avenue for escape.
The villa on the island was lit. As though the people inside had sensed nothing of the danger descending upon them.
Kars narrowed his eyes. He stood still for a long moment, gazing across at the villa where JoJo and the others were staying, making no move to immediately go and eliminate those presumptuous human ripple users.
Instead he followed the path at a measured pace, with Wamuu beside him, and came to a stop inside the training ground where the ripple users practiced their art. The Saint's single eye embedded in his face gleamed with an eerie light — as though he could see through everything around him.
"Lord Kars — why have we come here?" A note of puzzlement entered Wamuu's voice.
The last message Esidisi had transmitted was that he had secured the Red Stone, but suffered unexpected injuries in the process and had gone into hiding somewhere on the island to await rescue.
So why had Lord Kars not gone to find Lord Esidisi first — but instead come to this training ground?
"Give the flies enough space — and it becomes so much easier to sweep them all away at once."
"I'm right, aren't I, JoJo?"
"?" Wamuu's expression shifted as Kars's words landed.
And in the next instant — the whistle of thorns cutting through air. Several vines, dense with ripple energy, surged from behind Wamuu — targeting the heads of both Wamuu and Kars.
— But as elite warriors and fighters both, Wamuu's response to danger was already inscribed in his body's instinct.
The green phantom behind him flickered. The purple vines driving in from several meters away were sliced into countless pieces by an invisible wind blade, falling to the ground in a scatter.
The ambush had clearly failed to connect — but it was precisely because of that that Wamuu now noticed the five figures stepping out from all four sides of the training ground, encircling the two of them.
Three men and one woman. Four ripple users.
And one more — a human girl in a nun's habit?
"Old man, you really dropped the ball there — that was a perfect opening!"
"Holy shit! Kid, old me doesn't need you to tell me that!"
Seeing the ambush fall short, old Joseph — positioned behind Kars and Wamuu — wasn't particularly disheartened.
He shot back at his younger self, then fixed a careful stare on Wamuu and the green phantom hovering faintly at his back. Just as he had suspected — it wasn't only Esidisi. The other Pillar Men had awakened Stands too.
"You're... JoJo? No, that's not right..."
Wamuu's gaze moved over the old man who had just ambushed him, then shifted to the young man on the other side — the one he had once planted a poison ring inside.
"Two JoJos... interesting. A warrior of your caliber appearing in duplicate — perhaps this will be more entertaining after all."
Wamuu did not question Kars's decision — for instance, why Kars had walked voluntarily into an encirclement. A lion on the African savanna never fears stepping into a herd of deer alone, and it was no different for a Pillar Man.
Though the fact that JoJo and the others were already here did mean something about Lord Esidisi —
"Well done, JoJo."
Kars gave a slow, quiet clap. The gaze from those mismatched eyes sent a chill through anyone it landed on.
"Even after I forewarned Esidisi of his fate — you still defeated him. I don't know how you came to know the code phrase between him and me, but the courage it took to overcome that foreknowledge is genuinely admirable."
"What do you say — shall we let this be the burial ground of those who dared defy their 'destiny'?"
"Enough with the monologue!" Caesar moved — exchanging a glance with young Joseph, the two of them igniting their ripple almost in unison.
"I'll avenge my father myself, Kars—"
"Your next line is: 'Kars — while you were busy making speeches just now, JoJo and I already laid our trap. Your arrogance is the very reason you'll lose!'"
"Kars — while you were busy making speeches just now, JoJo and I already laid our trap and you—"
"— ?!"
The words caught in Caesar's throat. He had already released a spread of ripple-charged soap bubble blades — but Kars speaking his lines before he could had thrown him completely off-balance.
Beside him, young Joseph's expression darkened too. His fingers tightened around the end of the wool thread he had been feeding along the ground behind him — the conductor for his ripple trap — and for a moment he had absolutely no idea whether to proceed with the plan or not.
To be continued…