[58] Testing the World

"Cough, cough..."

In an instant, DIO once again absorbed a massive amount of Ripple.

However—

At first, he did feel his Ripple strengthening, but... it didn't take long for him to sense that he had reached his limit!

By the time JOJO, with his hair turned completely white, collapsed, DIO felt that his body was about to burst with an overwhelming amount of Ripple!

"Damn it... What is this—? Jerry! Witness my Ripple Dash!"

In an instant—

DIO found a solution. Before he exploded from the surging Ripple within him, he unleashed all of the tremendous Ripple energy inside his body—

"So, it has limits after all..." Kazuya nodded, watching DIO's condition and gaining a better understanding of Ripple system.

It wasn't about unlimited transmission; everyone had their own limit of life energy they could bear.

Otherwise—

If hundreds or even thousands of people learned Ripple and transmitted it to one person, that person would become explosively powerful. But now, it appeared that wasn't the case. DIO's Ripple had already reached its limit.

In normal circumstances—

If this were the real world, Kazuya would undoubtedly have turned and fled.

His Vaporizing Freezing Technique probably wouldn't work on the current DIO.

However, this was a dream—

A dream world!

So, he didn't care. He didn't fear anything. After all, he had died countless times in dreams and had become accustomed to it. What he needed to do now was test the limits of his abilities—

Therefore!

Kazuya approached—

Facing the threat of the current DIO, he transcended his own limits—

Space Ripper Stingy Eyes—

The liquid within his eyes was compressed and shot out.

Simultaneously, his hands were covered in ice—

Vaporizing Freezing Technique!

Puchi—

The liquid from his eyes pierced DIO's chest, but at the same time, DIO's fists, surging with Ripple like explosions, collided with Kazuya's fists, coated in ice—

Boom—

"Ah, ahhhh—!"

"Ooooooooh—!"

"What is this—?" Kazuya stared in astonishment at everything before him. The ice on his arms gradually melted, and Ripple traveled through his arms toward him!

Unexpectedly, even after reaching the limit of Ripple, there was still this possibility—

"It's not over yet—take this! Jerry!" DIO yelled. As his Ripple was consumed to a manageable level, in an instant, a vast amount of Ripple spread from underground, extending toward Kazuya—

"Oh—well done! Just like that. But I won't end it so easily—"

Even though he was on the verge of death, Kazuya was smiling. He saw the limits of two different abilities, the various applications of these powers, and that was enough for him!

Puchi—

The next moment, two more Space Ripper Stingy Eyes pierced through DIO's throat—

"Ha... ha... impossible... I'm DIO... I'm DIO—Healing... I can't heal—?"

DIO attempted to use Ripple to heal his wounds but failed—

The excess Ripple had been exhausted, and his damaged throat made it impossible to breathe and generate new Ripple.

On the ground...

Ripple emanating from his arms and legs had already destroyed Kazuya's entire body. He gradually turned to dust, with only a trace of consciousness remaining.

His remaining consciousness didn't awaken but gazed at this space, witnessing DIO's final moments.

"No... it shouldn't be... my life... it just... started... it should be..."

He said, lying on the ground, unable to get up.

DIO... died—

Kazuya also exited the dream safely—

"Ugh..." Kazuya, who had just awakened, rubbed his head and looked at the floor of the room.

"Well... propagating Ripple from underground, huh? Maybe I should change the carpet at home soon. Although I had a custom-made scarf before, it doesn't seem sufficient now. I should replace the floor and walls with materials that efficiently transmit Ripple!"

Replacing everything with materials that could efficiently transmit Ripple—

In that case, this room would become his fortress.

Once he completed this, he could send the original manuscript of "Fate/Zero" to Tohsaka Tokiomi and, of course, send his sister away first.

He was prepared for it—

To test whether he could enter the mystical world!

Ripple... Stone Mask.

It was about to reach its peak. With his current power, he didn't think he would lose to any magus.

However... even if "Fate/Zero" was serialized and no magus came to trouble him, it might indicate that there were no mysteries in this world. 

However... in that case.

He might end up breaking ties with the Tohsaka family as well. After all, portraying their daughter like that...

What he did is making even himself sick...

But he didn't change.

He admired Tohsaka Tokiomi's style. If this world didn't have any mysteries... although in that manga she's still called Sakura, how many people in all of Japan are named Sakura?

A few thousand? Tens of thousands? Or hundreds of thousands?

When he was drawing, he intentionally didn't follow the original impressions, like the hair color and the way of drawing the face. Besides the name, everything else was completely different.

And if this world truly had no mysteries...

He could even go on television and say that he had a good relationship with the Tohsaka family, so he borrowed their identity for a bit. But he hadn't been there in a long time, and he didn't expect them to have a second child. And it just happened to be named "Sakura"... Then, he could smoothly change the name of the character in his book.

He could also bring Tohsaka Tokiomi into the picture, although he didn't know if he would agree when the time came.

But this part of the content wouldn't change.

Because—if this world had mysteries, if this world truly had mysteries, this should be enough. It was a reminder to himself and to Tohsaka Tokiomi. If he didn't draw the original, Tohsaka Tokiomi might still send it over...

In that case, it should be able to save the fate of that little girl, Tohsaka Sakura.

If this world had no mysteries, there were many ways to remedy the situation. But if this world truly had mysteries... without a reminder, that girl's future would truly be over.

But all of this was contingent on whether Tohsaka Tokiomi would believe the things in the manga...

Hmm... he should believe it, right? But you never know.

After all, the Tohsaka family's tradition is "dropping the ball at critical moments"...

However, even if that's the case, he will definitely have doubts, and that's enough... with such doubts, he wouldn't dare send his daughter to the Matou family without investigating the situation of the Matou family.

Huh?

Matou family?

Why didn't he go to the Matou family... Well, when he first arrived, his mind wasn't quite clear, so he didn't go.

"Speaking of which, today is the serialization meeting, right... I wonder if Fate/Zero can pass the serialization at JUMP..."

If it's another magazine... the speed of getting into the world might slow down.

And with the large audience of JUMP's readers... there might be magus among them, of course... if this world has mysteries.

Not good—

He forgot something...

If there are truly mysteries, he didn't consider the possibility of the editorial department having magus—

He didn't care about himself, but he had to send Kazumi away immediately!

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