The battlefield was no longer a cavern.
It was an open abyss between two worlds.
The collapsed walls burned.
The stone altar floated in fragments.
The energy of the sun spun around Kars, as if the universe itself were celebrating him.
And before him…
still standing…
Leo.
Bleeding.
Trembling.
But still carrying his Stand.
Still with 36% of Kars's archive copied.
Still with the story between his fingers.
Kars descended slowly, floating.
—To absorb me. What an… absurd idea.
Leo lifted his head.
—You said you were perfect.
Not unreadable.
Kars walked forward.
His arm morphed into a web of filaments made of restructured DNA.
—I've learned your tricks.
The attack came instantly.
Leo twisted, stepped back, cut one strand—
but another wrapped around him.
A piece of his coat evaporated.
His shoulder bled.
[Status: critical. Narrative stabilization: failing.]
The system began to flicker.
[⚠ ALERT! Partial absorption destabilized.]
[User condition: 42% physical integrity.]
Leo gasped.
Fell to his knees.
Kars looked at him with pity.
—You're interesting.
That's why… I'll keep you as part of my archive.
He raised his hand.
A solar spear formed in the air.
And then Leo laughed.
Low.
Rough.
Almost broken.
—What are you… laughing at?
Leo lifted his face.
—Because you're finally where I wanted you.
[Activating unique ability: "Endpoint Nullification."]
[Requires: complete knowledge of the original narrative.]
[Condition: facing an entity whose ending does not exist.]
Kars took a step back.
Leo stood.
—You don't have an ending, do you?
Canon threw you into space because it didn't know what to do with you.
Because it didn't want to write how perfection is defeated.
—And you think you can?
—I don't need to kill you.
I just need to end your story.
His Stand rose, pages fully unfurled.
Each page bore a name: Caesar. Joseph. Santana. Lisa Lisa.
And at the end…
Kars.
Leo clenched his fist.
—Narrative seal: activated!
[Fragment "Kars" — forced full absorption condition.]
[Executing command: End.]
A chain of white light encircled Kars.
Not physical.
Not spiritual.
Narrative.
Kars tried to move.
But there was nothing left to move.
Because for the first time in his existence…
he was contained in a sentence.
—You… can't do this, he said.
—I can.
Leo stepped forward.
—Because all of this is a story.
And I hold the pen.
[Existential line closed. Fragment "Perfect Kars" absorbed at 100%.]
Kars screamed.
Not from pain.
But from something deeper.
Silence.
And then, simply…
he unraveled.
As if he had never been there.
As if the story… had forgotten him.
Leo fell to his knees.
His body trembled.
His Stand collapsed into ash.
But in his mind…
[Archive "Perfect Kars" secured.]
[Biological adaptation, total regeneration, solar form: limited.]
[System status: evolved.]
Leo smiled.
The world lay in ruins.
Joseph stared at him in horror.
Caesar didn't understand.
Lisa Lisa, shaking, could barely keep her eyes on him.
But Leo was thinking only one thing:
—Now then…
we can move on to another universe.
There's still so much left to rewrite.