Dragon Tamer: Ultimate Lifeform

An abandoned cottage.

Diavolo went outside to deal with the one spying on them. He returned successfully a short while later and immediately said, "The wind's picked up outside. It might rain soon."

Dawn nodded and began urging everyone to pack up and get ready to leave.

"Dawn, Purple Hermit still hasn't picked up Mista's whereabouts. Isn't it a little too soon for us to set out?"

Joestar set down the dried-out hare in his hands, looking somewhat puzzled.

"No. This has happened many times already. Our enemy now isn't Mista, but Kars."

Dawn briefly explained the situation. Everyone exchanged shocked looks, but still chose to trust him.

"Kars's Stand can copy our abilities in an instant. How are we supposed to deal with an enemy like that?"

Joestar sat atop Cloud Dragon, his tone troubled and unwilling.

"Don't worry. I've already thought of a way."

Dawn stroked Cloud Dragon's scales. Thinking about what was about to happen, he felt intensely excited.

Massive thunderclouds were rapidly gathering, and lightning flashed now and then, illuminating the pitch-black night sky.

Mista was getting to work. Thunderclouds from across the globe were converging on this area.

To avoid being struck by lightning, Dawn had Cloud Dragon lower its altitude and race toward Mista's location.

"An unprecedented supercell thunderstorm. Kars is indeed powerful, but even he has to bow before overwhelming numbers."

Cloud Dragon soon reached their destination. Sensing Mista and the other person, it let out a low growl, descended, and landed on the ground.

"Return to your normal size. We've got a tough battle ahead."

Dawn reminded Cloud Dragon, then looked at Mista.

"How's it going?"

Mista nodded, looking somewhat exhausted. Repeatedly activating Death Rewind had placed a considerable strain on his mind.

Having to get shot in the head every time would push anyone to the brink.

Everyone concealed themselves and waited quietly.

A boom rang out from the sky. A giant falcon swooped down, beating its wings before landing steadily on the ground.

"Why is it that I feel some familiarity when I look at you?"

Kars took human form and frowned. Dawn gave him a complicated feeling, like both an old acquaintance and an enemy.

"What a strange feeling."

Kars murmured to himself and stepped forward.

Dawn looked up at the sky. The thick, pitch-black clouds seemed to press down like a mountain. Just one glance brought on an intense feeling of suffocation.

Rain poured down in torrents. Dawn's figure gradually blurred behind the curtain of rain, making him hard for Kars to see clearly.

"A cheap trick. You're the demon who will destroy the world, aren't you?"

Kars spread his arms, savoring this unprecedented downpour as he stared intently at Dawn.

Then bone blades sprang from his arms. He took a step forward, burst through the curtain of rain, and charged straight at Dawn.

"Wait!"

Hewitt swung his cane, trying to stop him.

"Silence."

Kars's bone blade flashed, a cold gleam glinting from it. Hewitt's headless body fell to the ground. It took him a long time to get up and feel around in the rain for his missing head.

"Rainwater can't stop me."

Kars scoffed and raised a hand slightly, murmuring to himself.

"This is an ability I happened to obtain—Sun."

A giant fireball two meters in diameter rose into the air, radiating intense light and heat. It vaporized the raindrops before they could even fall.

Dawn shook his head and answered Kars's searching gaze. "Rain alone can't kill you. At most, it'll cause you a little trouble. The main event is still to come."

Dawn raised one finger. Thunder rumbled across the gloomy sky, like the terrifying roar of some unknown creature.

The thunder rolled on without end as lightning danced wildly, weaving a dazzling tree-like pattern.

Kars glanced at the sky. Lightning flashed just then, revealing some unknown behemoth stretching its body within the pitch-black clouds.

ROAR!!!

The giant creature churned the dark thunderclouds. Its blue, vertical pupils fixed on its target, and an invisible pressure bore down on Kars.

Kars's unruly hair floated slightly on its own, as if charged with static—a sign that he was about to be struck by lightning.

"What have you done?!"

Anxiety welled up in Kars. His body twisted rapidly as a layer of insulating skin grew over it, in an attempt to quell his unease.

"I'll kill you in one second!!!"

Kars's five fingers detached from his hand, twisting into venomous little snakes that burrowed into the ground and raced toward Dawn.

Meanwhile, wings sprouted from Kars's ribs, and he charged at high speed through the gale and torrential rain.

Watching from the shadows, Dio gritted his teeth, but all he could do was worry helplessly. If he stopped time now, Kars would learn the ability, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

Then, not just Dawn—everyone would die here.

"Thunder, obey my command."

Dawn pointed at Kars. A streak of deep-blue lightning suddenly struck down, forcibly halting Kars in his tracks.

The wild lightning ravaged Kars's cells, pierced his insulating skin, and rampaged through his body.

"Is that all you've got?!"

Kars gritted his teeth and endured, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold smile.

The five venomous snakes reached Dawn. They burst out of the ground, opening their jaws midair and baring their sharp fangs.

"I told you. I'll take you out in one second."

Kars looked certain of victory. A moment later, his expression froze, and his teeth ground together with a grating sound.

"Phasing? Damn Stand ability."

Kars struck a pose and activated his Stand, Gaia Consciousness.

"No, no! Why can't I learn it? Something's wrong!"

Dawn exited Wasting Time and drew his sword to cut down the snakes. Seeing Kars striking a pose, he immediately understood what Kars was trying to do.

"Cloud Dragon, give it everything you've got!"

Cloud Dragon let out a low growl from the gloomy sky. Its massive body churned the thunderclouds, and bolts of lightning as thick as barrels struck down one after another.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The lightning almost formed an unbroken line. No matter how Kars dodged or split his body apart, he couldn't escape it.

Thunder that shook the entire world roared without pause.

"Damn demon!"

Kars forcibly split his body in two to break free from the paralysis caused by the lightning. His upper body burrowed underground, while his lower half burst apart and scattered in every direction.

Dawn still wouldn't let up. Rainwater flooded into the tunnels, and the lightning followed close behind, using its conductivity to restrict Kars's movements once more.

"Even the remaining flesh could grow into another Kars. Don't let a single piece escape!"

Joestar shouted. Dawn knew that, of course. Lightning rained down from the sky, pursuing the remnants as they fled into the forest.

The air began to fill with the smell of burning.

After a long while.

At daybreak, the raging lightning gradually ceased, and the black thunderclouds dispersed. The entire forest was nearly wiped off the face of the earth.

The relentless lightning had left the land scorched and carbonized, while the rocks had crumbled to dust. All the surrounding trees and plants had vanished, as if the apocalypse had come.

As the white smoke cleared, the place where Kars had hidden looked like a meteor crater. Arcs of electricity still flickered now and then, and the area continued to radiate intense heat.

An unknown creature lay at the center, its body covered in deposits of graphene and metal. The surrounding sand and soil had fused with it.

This form, somewhere between living creature and mineral, had preserved Kars's life to the greatest extent possible.

"Kars, you're still not dead after all that?"

An immortal body—truly astonishing.

Everyone gathered around the crater. Mista drew his hand cannon and fired at Kars, but the bullet bounced off without leaving a trace.

A white object fell from the sky, and Dawn reached out to catch it. Cloud Dragon, now as thin as a finger, instinctively coiled itself up and went still.

[Stand: Dragon Tamer: Beyond Imagination]

Activated.

Cloud Dragon swiftly transformed into a pale-white dragon egg, floating in Dawn's palm.

Dawn placed the dragon egg on Kars's body. At last, his immortal, indestructible form began to be devoured, leaving not the slightest remnant behind.

Crack—

The egg hatched. A sturdy figure with a pair of horns on its head and a few scales on its body crawled out.

The figure stood up and opened its pale-gold, vertical pupils. Its words and gestures were strikingly like Kars's.

Dragon Tamer: Ultimate Lifeform.

Born.