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Chapter 108. The Enlightened Ones are Forever Blessed
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The enlightened ones are forever blessed.
Although Caesar didn't know this saying, as an actor who had entered the script world of "Battle Tendency" and engaged in a life-and-death battle with Wamuu in the role of "Caesar A. Zeppeli," he clearly understood one thing:
If you don't have the resolve to kill the enemy without hesitation when necessary, and only act after the enemy attacks, or react belatedly due to character and plot prompts, you won't stand a chance against a determined Wamuu.
It's like a 50-meter or 100-meter sprint exam, where the gym teacher tells students not to consider the finish line as the end, but rather to imagine the finish line a bit further beyond, so that when they are close to the end, they won't slack off and let the thought of being almost finished slow them down.
The difference in resolve manifests in those one or two seconds. This is why Caesar so desperately hoped Gintoki could break free from the script.
Indeed, the existence of the script determines the rules for victory. But if there's a delay in achieving victory according to these rules, can one still win?
In a sprint exam, a delay of one or two seconds might mean the difference between passing and failing. But in a battle, if there's a delay of one or two seconds while the opponent doesn't delay, the result is obvious.
In the fight against Joseph, Wamuu suffered continuous setbacks. Not only were all his moves predicted and countered by Joseph, but even his proud technique, Divine Sandstorm, was broken. Joseph even used trickery to secretly wrap ripple-infused reins around Wamuu's hands, causing him to break his own hands.
This humiliation undoubtedly made Wamuu exhibit a resolve far stronger than when he fought Caesar.
"Because I relied too much on my sight, I allowed him to exploit that vulnerability!"
Wamuu, after violently gouging out his own eyes and using his control over his body to prevent them from healing, fixed his rotating, blind gaze on the once again leading Joseph, using the horn on his forehead.
"From now on, I will forsake light and rely only on this [horn] to sense the [wind]!"
But the problem doesn't stop there. The actor playing Joseph, Gintoki, hasn't yet realized this in his subconscious.
Self-mutilating one's eyes is certainly shocking, but Joseph, who hasn't suffered any losses yet, doesn't think Wamuu, despite his resolve, is doing anything particularly significant.
As they finished the first lap, the weaponry automatically refreshed at the start of the second lap. This time, two crossbows—one large and one small—were placed on the track.
Even though there were now two weapons instead of one, the rule of first come, first served still applied.
Having already seen how Wamuu smashed his war hammer with the large stone pillar in the first lap, Joseph quickly grabbed the large crossbow, which had greater range and power than the smaller one.
All he had to do now was maintain his lead, stay out of the smaller crossbow's maximum range, and find the right moment to shoot Wamuu in the face. Victory would be his!
Moreover, Wamuu, having forsaken his sight and relying solely on his powerful control over his body to sense the wind, now had no way to perceive Joseph's small tricks. But Wamuu, who was using the wind to sense his surroundings, would naturally be affected by the wind too.
For example, the hot wind stirred up by the bonfire in the center of the track, which disturbed the airflow around it!
These favorable conditions were the source of Joseph's confidence and the reason he didn't feel the need to show the same level of resolve.
But as mentioned before, the enlightened ones are forever blessed!
Gulp, gulp! Bang, boom——!!
These were the sounds of the metal ball shot from Wamuu's small crossbow rolling along the wall of the track.
And then, the sound of this ball bouncing off a protrusion in the wall and hitting Joseph squarely!
"Hmph, how naive. To avoid being sensed by Wamuu, JOJO could only position himself at a 180-degree angle, symmetrically opposite Wamuu! And he had to be near the bonfire!"
"This was practically announcing his location to Wamuu!" Kars mocked.
This battle was one between the enlightened ones. Those without resolve, who avoided danger and sought safety, could never win.
As Wamuu used the wind to identify the best angle on the wall to eliminate Joseph, while continuing to drive and map out the track, Joseph, struggling to draw the large crossbow and under constant fire from Wamuu's small crossbow, lost his courage to fight back and could only flee, clinging to a false hope.
In doing so, he lost his chance at victory.
Had the large crossbow not been so difficult to draw, thus reducing the power of Wamuu's small crossbow after it bounced off the wall, Joseph would not just be lying on the ground struggling to breathe after being hit—he'd be split in two!
So, seeing all this unfold, Kars confidently said, "Finish him off, Wamuu!"
"But JOJO is a cunning man. Be cautious when you approach him!"
"..."
Has he been found out?
Hearing this, Joseph bitterly looked at the large crossbow that he had finally managed to draw, after leveraging the gravity from his fall.
But even without this warning, Wamuu would likely have noticed.
Carefully loading the iron ball, Joseph, unsure whether his movements had been sensed by Wamuu through the wind, could only prepare for the worst.
To be honest, this was Joseph's last chance.
Yet, even now, he struggled to muster the kind of all-in resolve that Wamuu had.
This wasn't because Joseph—or rather, Gintoki in his subconscious—feared death.
Rather...
"Because of me..."
Watching this scene through the fully immersive device, Caesar bitterly said, "Because I took off Wamuu's lip ring at the last moment, Gintoki's subconscious now can't fight without holding something back."
"He needs to fulfill his promise to me, to drink the antidote after defeating Wamuu. Because only by doing this can he ensure my sacrifice wasn't in vain. Naturally, Gintoki can't accept the possibility of failure, and so he can't fully commit."
And perhaps most importantly, I'm right here...
Because of Akiyuki's attempt to use this typical hot-blooded story trope—having a friend's spirit awaken a miracle and push the actor's subconscious to break through limits—Gintoki's subconscious is even less likely to break this promise.
After exchanging glances, both Caesar and Akiyuki realized they might have made an unnecessary move, and they sighed deeply.
"Forget it, let's just forcibly end the full-dive filming here."
Akiyuki said, "Although doing this might plant a seed of never being able to win in the actor's subconscious, it's better than the worst-case scenario where Wamuu truly defeats him, and that seed takes root and grows."
"At least this way, we can minimize the loss... Wait! Don't stop yet!!"
"Is this...!!?"