The Skeleton Heel rose between two limestone cliffs, like a theater forgotten by the gods.
The broken columns opened into a semicircle, forming a natural arena.
The ground was ancient, covered in symbols carved by civilizations without names.
At the center, a circular scar: the mark of countless duels.
The ultimate battlefield.
Lisa Lisa, cloaked, stared at the place in silence.
Joseph walked beside her, restless.
—Are you sure about bringing that with you? he whispered, eyeing the capsule hanging from her belt.
Lisa Lisa didn't look at him.
—The base is no longer safe.
The vampires are infiltrating.
If Kars knows where the Stone is, he'll steal it without effort.
Here, at least, I have control.
—And if he takes it in front of everyone?
—Then we'll know exactly what we're dealing with.
Leo, walking a few meters away, barely smiled.
[Narrative justification established. Red Stone present in battle.]
[Condition for theft: imminent.]
The balance was perfect.
Wamuu appeared first.
No escorts.
Bare-chested and with the gaze of a warrior ready to die.
Caesar followed him.
Bubble in hand.
Silence in his throat.
Hamon pulsing through his veins.
They stood face to face and bowed.
No words.
And from atop a column… Kars watched.
Unmoved.
Serene.
But his eyes weren't on the battle—
they were fixed… on Lisa Lisa.
Leo noticed.
[Kars has identified the capsule. Initiating covert movement.]
The fight began.
Wamuu was a storm.
He struck with blasts of air that shattered columns.
Caesar danced through rubble, leaving trails of Hamon-charged bubbles.
Explosions lit the central ring.
Joseph stood watching.
Lisa Lisa crouched, ready to intervene if anything went wrong.
And Leo…
Leo pretended to watch Caesar.
But his attention was split between two things:
the duel… and Kars's movement.
Caesar was losing ground.
A diagonal strike threw him against a broken column.
Wamuu leapt over, launching a deadly blast of pressurized air.
And Leo… made an imperceptible gesture.
With his hidden Stand, he nudged a small loose stone into Wamuu's path, shifting his landing.
The attack missed by inches.
Caesar rolled, bleeding…
But alive.
[Minimal intervention. Detection: 0%.]
Joseph shouted:
—Come on, Caesar! NOW!
Caesar roared.
His bubbles multiplied.
A cross of light blazed in the air.
Wamuu launched his final attack.
Caesar channeled everything into a final laser-bubble powered by Hamon.
Impact.
The explosion echoed like a sealed thunderclap.
Wamuu fell to his knees.
He smiled.
—You have won… like a warrior.
And he died.
Not as a monster.
But as a soldier.
But no one celebrated.
Because when they looked toward the column where Kars had been…
he was gone.
Lisa Lisa spun around.
Joseph ran to her side.
The capsule…
was gone.
Leo arrived last.
He touched the sliced belt.
Scanned the surroundings.
—He didn't even leave a shadow.
Lisa Lisa clenched her jaw.
—He moved during the duel.
Right when all eyes were elsewhere.
Caesar dropped to his knees, exhausted.
—Did you know? Joseph asked Lisa Lisa.
—I feared it, she replied.
Now it's no longer a possibility.
Leo looked toward the horizon.
The sky was still dark.
But the world had already changed.
[Red Stone: in possession of Kars.]
[Final evolution: initiated.]
[Absorption condition: unlocked only after perfection.]
Leo closed his eyes.
—Let him rise all he wants.
He opened them.
—I'll be the fall.