The air in the Alps smelled of iron, damp stone… and memory.
Snow crunched under Joseph's boots as they walked along the rocky path.
Caesar led the way, tense.
Lisa Lisa closed the formation, alert to every corner.
Leo walked at the group's pace, but his eyes were fixed beyond—
as if he had been here before.
[Scan complete: location confirmed. Original death site of Caesar Zeppeli.]
[Enemy presence detected.]
Sunlight crept slowly down the slopes.
Only minutes remained before the world turned grey.
—We're close, Caesar said, stopping beside a fallen pillar.
There it was:
The old stone cross.
Broken. Half-buried.
Still stained with the dried blood that no longer belonged to him.
Joseph lowered his gaze.
—I'll never forget what I felt here. The emptiness… was absolute.
Caesar said nothing.
Leo glanced sideways at him.
Even the rewritten hero still carried the echo of a death that never happened.
Lisa Lisa raised a hand.
—You can come out now, she said aloud, firm.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then… from the shadows between columns and rubble, Wamuu emerged.
Steady.
Silent.
Like a mountain bearing scars.
—Caesar, he said simply.
Caesar stepped forward.
—Wamuu.
And then, from a higher level of the ruins, descended a figure who walked as if he feared neither time nor names.
Kars.
Hair flowing in the wind.
Hands behind his back.
Eyes that spoke of someone who had already won.
Leo felt the narrative chill the moment he saw him.
[Entity: Kars. Status: incomplete. Evolution: imminent.]
The system pulsed like a heart held back.
Joseph raised his voice.
—Let's end this here! No more delays!
Wamuu raised a hand.
—No.
His tone was firm. Ceremonial.
—This battle deserves no improvisation.
No traps.
No deaths by strategy.
Lisa Lisa frowned.
—What do you propose?
—A formal duel. Tonight. At the Skeleton Heel.
A neutral ground.
No soldiers.
No betrayal.
Just combat.
Kars spoke for the first time.
—Wamuu does not fight out of hatred.
And I do not interfere when honor is at play.
Joseph clenched his fists.
—Skeleton Heel?
Lisa Lisa nodded.
—An ancient ritual amphitheater, shielded from sunlight.
It was used long ago to settle disputes between Hamon tribes and other races.
Leo watched in silence.
It was perfect.
Everything aligned with what he remembered.
Everything followed the script…
so that he could break it later.
[Duel arranged. Estimated time until Kars's transformation: <24h]
[Direct interference: prohibited.]
Caesar lifted his gaze toward Wamuu.
—I accept.
Lisa Lisa didn't stop him.
Not this time.
Maybe because she understood now that some battles can't be stolen.
That night, back at the improvised camp, the mood was like tempered iron.
Joseph couldn't sit still.
Caesar checked his bubbles one by one, as if each were his last.
Lisa Lisa sharpened her breathing.
And Leo… walked to the top of a rock, far from the others.
From there, he watched the night sky.
The stars were unmoving.
But he wasn't.
His Stand floated around him, barely visible in the dark.
The pages turned slowly.
And a new line of text wrote itself.
[Critical condition reached: Kars is preparing to access the Red Stone.]
[Evolutionary state: imminent.]
Leo clenched his fists.
He remembered last night's message.
The frustration.
The strike against the stone.
The red line.
[Absorption denied. Perfect form required.]
Now he was sure.
—Kars will do it tonight.
After the duel.
And I won't stop him.
Because I need him complete.
He closed his eyes.
Breathed deeply.
[Canon rewrite: calibrated. Risk: extreme.]
—Let him rise…
and let him believe no one will stop him.
He opened his eyes.
—I'll write his ending.