The final battleground was in a square behind Amiens Cathedral. Bright bonfires dotted the area, illuminating a towering cross at its center. Lisa Lisa was nailed to it, her wrists pierced and bleeding. Blood seeped steadily from the gashes in her chest and wrists, trickling down along the rugged surface of the crucifix—echoing the agony of another savior two thousand years before.
Were it not for the Hamon she was desperately channeling, she would have long since succumbed to blood loss. Even now, her time was rapidly running out.
Across from her, seated atop a grotesque throne built from bones, was Kars—the leader of the Three Pillar Men. He lounged casually, resting his cheek on one hand as Ray Chu emerged from the darkness.
"The Red Stone wasn't with this woman. I suppose that means she gave it to you." Kars greeted Ray Chu calmly, as if speaking to an old friend.
"That's right." Ray Chu withdrew a necklace from his pocket, a gleaming red jewel mounted within an ornate metal setting. The Red Stone of Aja shone brilliantly in the firelight, its surface flawless, like freshly spilled blood.
At the mere sight of the stone, Kars's breathing instantly quickened. With a sharp whistle, twin bone blades burst violently from his forearms, slicing the air.
"Light Slip Blades"—the deadliest technique of Kars's Light Mode, and the very move responsible for Lisa Lisa's current predicament.
But Lisa Lisa's true defeat wasn't caused by Kars's technique. Rather, it had come from the twisted, half-decayed vampire lying curled up nearby.
Kars, that despicable coward, never intended to fight fairly. From the start, he had used a vampire altered in appearance and memory as a decoy, hiding himself beneath the battlefield. He struck suddenly in the moment Lisa Lisa relaxed after defeating her opponent, gravely wounding her.
Yet despite his meticulous plotting, when Kars searched Lisa Lisa's body, the Red Stone was nowhere to be found.
"I see. While I was scheming against you, it seems you pulled a similar trick against me," Kars remarked lightly, crossing his hands beneath his chin, an amused expression on his face. "By the way, how are my two comrades faring?"
"If I'm standing here, shouldn't you already know the answer?" Ray Chu replied calmly. Although Wamuu's battle was ongoing, it wasn't difficult to guess that against a fully serious Joseph Joestar, even he would soon fall.
Once Kars was defeated, this entire conflict would finally reach its end.
"I see." Kars's expression hardened, unreadable. He tilted his gaze to the stars above, releasing a faint sigh. "So I, Kars, am the only one left. But it's fitting—after all, there can only be one being who stands at the peak!"
"Unfortunately, you won't get that chance," Ray Chu said curtly, stepping onto the platform and approaching Kars.
"You didn't honestly think… that I'd prepared only myself to deal with you?" Kars smirked, waving his hand toward the ground on his right. "Come forth, my vampire army!"
The earth shuddered violently, bursting open as countless figures clawed their way to the surface.
Dozens of Nazi vampires emerged, eyes glowing crimson, fangs protruding from their distorted faces. Their forms twisted by grotesque mutations, yet their original consciousness remained intact. They dropped to one knee, bowing respectfully toward Kars.
"I must admit, these Nazi soldiers turned vampires are far superior to the trash I created previously," Kars gloated. "You've already expended considerable energy against Esidisi. How long can you hold out against this elite vampire legion?"
Kars had no intention of fighting personally. His way was caution—minimizing risk, exploiting every advantage, and using his cunning above all. Whether by deceit or overwhelming numbers, his single goal remained: securing the Red Stone and evolving into the Ultimate Life Form.
At his command, the Nazi vampires launched a suicidal assault. Already conditioned to sacrifice themselves without hesitation, their newfound undead bodies made them fearless beyond reason.
Yet becoming vampires didn't erase their prior strengths. Compared to primitive weapons like fists or blades, the firearms of modern warfare remained their greatest tools of slaughter.
Ratatatata! Ratatatatatatatata—!
Heavy machine guns spat blazing tongues of fire. Recoil that would have ripped apart human limbs now felt effortless. Combined with their uncanny movements, these Nazi vampires became true reapers on the battlefield.
A deadly hail of bullets shredded everything in sight. Ray Chu, sensing the threat a moment early, swiftly retreated into the woods, taking cover behind thick trees.
Nearby, a massive tree trunk—wide enough for three men to encircle—was torn apart, sending splinters flying. The relentless gunfire plowed the earth, turning soil to dust. The vampires closed in from all directions, tightening their formation.
"[RICOCHET OVERDRIVE]!"
Ray Chu hurled metallic spheres coated in specially prepared oil, their elasticity amplifying the Hamon he channeled into them. The spheres ricocheted wildly off the ground and branches, instantly pulverizing two vampires.
But against their sheer numbers, two casualties meant nothing. The remaining vampires quickly zeroed in on his position.
BOOM!
A grenade exploded, sending up a massive pillar of smoke and flame. Amidst the chaos, Ray Chu darted from behind a tree, firing two more bursts of Ricochet Overdrive, eliminating five vampires with precision timing.
"You too, advance!" From his throne, Kars coldly barked another command, sending another squad of Nazi vampires forward from the left flank. Deliberately raising his voice, he mocked, "If you don't hurry, that woman will soon bleed to death. Perhaps we can make a deal. Give me the Red Stone, and I'll let you and the woman leave unharmed."
Both sides knew he was lying. But when cornered and desperate, even a lie could become the final straw to break one's resolve.
Ray Chu executed another flawless maneuver, using ground ricochets to kill three more vampires. Yet with reinforcements pressing in, his area to maneuver had shrunk to mere dozens of meters.
"Against my vampire legion, how much longer can you really hold out?" Kars taunted, using psychological warfare to unsettle Ray Chu.
But the next instant, his eyes shot sharply toward the opposite direction.
Light.
A piercing radiance cut through the darkness from afar—a dazzling, heart-stopping brilliance like the first ray of dawn, eradicating the gloom of the night and blazing straight toward them.