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Chapter 109: The Pillar Men, The Times Have Changed
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Joseph, who bears the weight of bonds and attachments in his heart, is incapable of attaining the kind of resolve that involves abandoning everything.
Even now, as he finds himself in a crisis like most protagonists in fictional stories, he still can't achieve that protagonist's miraculous power-up.
This isn't hard to understand, right?
Bonds, friendships, and similar things are formed by connections with others and are inherited from others. Even the desire to avenge Caesar stems from these emotions being passed on to Joseph's heart.
So, compared to Wamuu, whose heart is clear and purely focused on victory, Joseph, burdened by so many "unnecessary" things, is constrained by them.
Unless he decides to let go of these things, Joseph will never achieve true resolve and thus never attain the hope and victory that "those who are resolved will always be happy."
But if he were to abandon these things, Joseph might not have a reason to fight Wamuu in this duel at all. After all, the antidote from the ring of death is already in Joseph's hands.
So...
Whoosh! The sound of a bowstring slicing through the air echoes.
As Wamuu charges forward with his chariot, about to trample him, Joseph hurriedly picks up the large crossbow and aims.
But not only does he fail to engage in a showdown of resolve like an Old West cowboy with the similarly prepared Wamuu, his unsteady and indecisive hands cause the large crossbow to slip, and the iron ball shoots off in the opposite direction of Wamuu, completely missing its mark.
"What a pity, what a pity. Who knows where that iron ball flew off to," the audience of vampires, including Kars, mockingly laugh with the confidence of victors. "Although the fact that he chose to attack instead of giving up at the last moment is commendable, hahaha."
Indeed, without resolve, the shot Joseph fired just now, as well as his current pitiful act of frantically throwing stones at Wamuu to beg for mercy instead of being trampled to death, only demonstrate that he still cannot let go of the things he bears.
Or perhaps, this is Joseph's resolve—not the resolve to abandon everything for victory, but the resolve to win while bearing everything!
"W-Wamuu, the next thing you're going to say is, 'Don't insult the duel, JoJo!'"
"Don't insult the duel in front of me, JoJo! ...Huh!?"
Blinded, Wamuu cannot see Joseph's eyes right now. Otherwise, he would have seen that they are not the pleading eyes of a beaten dog, but eyes blazing with golden spirit, burning with the resolve like a raging fire!
No resolve? No resolve to abandon everything? That's true. But as I said before, weakening your opponent is just as valid a strategy in battle as strengthening yourself—sometimes, it's even more effective!
If Joseph can't achieve the resolve to abandon everything, then he doesn't have to. As long as he extinguishes Wamuu's resolve to abandon everything, won't they be back on even ground?!
And for Joseph, achieving this is quite simple. Because Wamuu respects the duel itself—so much so that his respect for the duel even surpasses his respect for Kars—he can abandon everything for the duel.
In other words, if the sacredness of the duel in Wamuu's heart is tarnished, then the resolute Wamuu will also bear the burden of anger!
…
"What the hell, can you really do that!?"
Sora, who has seen through everything, gapes in astonishment at the scene unfolding in the full-dive environment.
Yes, when Akiyuki Shinbo saw that Gintoki Sakata had also demonstrated his resolve in this duel, he hurriedly retracted his earlier command to stop the filming. Instead, he directed the crew to focus the cameras on Joseph and the iron ball that had supposedly gone off course. Ultimately, they successfully captured the episode of "Battle Tendency" and presented it to the audience.
Although the anxiety they felt during the filming wasn't disclosed, only Akiyuki Shinbo, the crew, and Caesar, who had been brought in as external support, knew how fortunate they were to complete this episode. However, as the saying goes, "a glimpse of a leopard can be seen in a tube"—the nearly realistic sensation of facing Wamuu created in the full-dive state made the audience truly feel the disparity between Wamuu's resolve and Joseph's lack of it.
No matter how much they racked their brains for the best possible outcome, all they could envision was the typical scenario from hot-blooded works, where Joseph would barely manage to defeat Wamuu through a miraculous power-up. However, Joseph's move hit them like a bolt from the blue!
Did Joseph power up?
No. He still appeared to lack resolve.
But did he win?
Yes! By making Wamuu focus solely on him, Joseph successfully made Wamuu forget, and in turn, made the audience forget, that Joseph had fallen near the only bump on the racetrack wall—a bump that Wamuu had tested and Joseph had personally verified as capable of allowing the iron ball to roll along the wall and hit the target.
Exactly! The iron ball Joseph had supposedly shot off course wasn't off course at all! In fact, this "off course" was the correct trajectory Joseph had aimed for all along! Isn't there a saying? "The shortest shortcut is the long way around."
After taking a big detour, the iron ball finally returned to the wall and, from a blind spot unnoticed by Wamuu, with the superior power of the large crossbow, it pierced through Wamuu's body!
Of course, because the iron ball had been smeared with lard from Joseph's gloves when he touched it, not only did it carry physical force, but it also had Ripple energy, specifically targeting the Pillar Men!
In essence, what should have been a dramatic Western-style cowboy duel of resolve was transformed by Joseph into something more akin to a long-range missile strike, where the enemy was still waiting to draw his gun while the missile had already been launched.
The times have changed, Pillar Men.