36 [36] Reentry

"Did it fail? As expected..." The white-haired man said.

He had anticipated the girl's persistence regarding Kurokawa Kazuya, but what he saw in Kurokawa Kazumi's past and future wasn't as rosy as he thought.

However, that assumption was based on the premise that Kurokawa Kazuya remained unchanged.

Now it's different—

Kurokawa Kazuya... This man was an enigma. His records spanned only two short years... Going back further, it was another completely different person named Kurokawa Kazuya...

Someone had tampered with his records, or... he had truly come into existence two years ago.

Either way, it meant he was extraordinary.

However—there was something a bit too ordinary about him, and that was his magical aptitude. His aptitude in this regard was almost nonexistent.

On the other hand, Kurokawa Kazumi was almost the same.

Just an ordinary person.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but now an ordinary person whose future had shifted from known to unknown had puzzled him.

However... though it was unknown, it wasn't entirely untraceable.

Human destinies were like mathematical formulas. Each person's destiny was a number, and then these countless numbers combined into a formula. The final result was the world, the destiny of all humanity, in other words, the "grand scheme."

But—now it had changed. Kurokawa Kazuya had shifted from a known number to an unknown one. At this point, his destiny had to be designated as an unknown variable, to be used to predict his future.

This was very disadvantageous for him and... for his grand plan to be fulfilled in the future.

Originally... it would have been best to kill Kurokawa Kazuya at this point.

Losing that unknown variable would make everything simpler—

However, he was inexplicably favored by The Root, for reasons unknown. Regardless, the reality was as such.

Because of this, not only he but even Gaia and Alaya couldn't directly act against him.

So... he chose to be subtle, to slowly influence that person... to influence Kurokawa Kazumi and control the person closest to Kurokawa Kazuya.

If Kurokawa Kazuya posed no threat to his plans, that would be fine. But if Kurokawa Kazuya became an obstacle... then it would be time to use the card named Kurokawa Kazumi.

However—none of this was worth his attention right now.

Because, in his eyes right now, Kurokawa Kazuya was powerless, just an ant he could crush at any moment—were it not for The Root!

This was something he couldn't understand at all—why. The Root... something that should have no consciousness, seemed to have developed its own consciousness? And it had even taken action? He couldn't comprehend it at all!

...

Watching Kazumi enter the school gate, Kazuya frowned slightly. "Something's not right. There's something off about Kazumi today. My intuition tells me that she seems to be hiding something from me..."

However... it was just a fleeting feeling.

Later on, she seemed to return to normal.

Was it just an act? No... at her age, as an elementary school student, she couldn't possibly understand these things. Even if she was slightly more mature than the average child her age, it was still unlikely.

In other words, from her perspective, it was probably nothing... Did he just overthink it?

"Never mind, if she doesn't even care herself, then it's probably not a big issue..."

The most likely explanation was that she had a bad dream...

"Let's go back. Continue designing... the characters."

Last night, he had once again entered the world of "JOJO"... and then—once again became Jerry, the policeman, starting over from the beginning!

However, just like before, one night's time was simply not enough for him to reach the critical point of the dream.

So, before the plot developed any further, he had already woken up.

What was important was tonight—

Tonight was the time to face Dio again—

...

"JOJO— I won't be human anymore!!!"

With Dio's roar, he once again put on the Stone Mask and became a vampire.

Everything happened just like before—

"Die, Jerry!"

Dio charged at Kazuya, and his hand reached for his head!

Swish—

"Hey? You dodged? You actually dodged my DIO's attack?" Dio shouted as he rushed towards Kazuya, who had bent down to avoid his attack. "Wryyyyyyyyy——————"

"DIO! I won't let you continue killing people!!!" Jonathan Joestar shouted and picked up a purely steel-made spear, which ordinary people couldn't lift, from the side, charging towards Dio.

"Huh? JOJO————!!"

Swish—

The spear pierced Dio's palm but was blocked by him!

"Surprisingly, you blocked it... You actually let your hand be pierced and blocked it—ah! Come to think of it, his injuries have also... healed!" Speedwagon said in despair. "Immortality! Complete immortality!"

Swish—

At that moment, Kazuya also acted. The bullets in the gun had already been fired, and he wasn't sure how much energy Dio had expended. He picked up the sword, similarly used for decoration, from the side—

This was something he could still wield. He swung it towards Dio's head!

But—

Just like Jonathan, Dio caught the sword!

He caught it without regard to his injuries!

"Weak, so weak!" DIO laughed heartily, one hand gripping the spear's tip, and the other hand holding the sword's blade, reveling in his own strength—

Snap!

In the next moment, both the sword and the spear were broken by his immense power—

The sword's blade flew towards Kazuya, piercing through his arm. The spear's tip flew towards Jonathan, stabbing into his shoulder.

"JOJO—" DIO turned his back to them and smiled. "Hold on a little longer... Let me savor this wonderful power a bit more, because I don't even know how powerful this strength can become!"

"Your... wounds on your hands haven't healed," Kazuya said without removing the sword tip that had pierced his left arm.

"What?" DIO looked at his own hand, and his pupils contracted slightly.

No healing?

"I... I get it!" Speedwagon seemed to understand something. "That guy's healing ability has its limits! Right now, that guy's healing ability has reached its limit! After taking so many gunshot wounds, his healing ability has reached its limit, and that guy can be killed!"

"You talk too much!!!" DIO roared and charged at Speedwagon. "Use your blood to heal my wounds—!!!"

"It ends here, DIO!" The voice of JOJO, who had remained silent until now, suddenly echoed.

"JOJO—?" DIO followed the voice and looked over—then his face changed!

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