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Chapter 136. Maybe, Just Take One More Look
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Joseph would personally push himself into the abyss of death.
This was what Josuke Higashikata realized after his excitement subsided.
The energy from the volcanic eruption, triggered by the solar ripple amplified thousands of times, was indeed astonishingly vast.
It was enough to allow Joseph, who was on the brink of being killed by Kars, to escape the danger and no longer fear being killed by him. But this escape was merely swapping a death by Kars for suicide by Joseph.
The second cosmic velocity—the speed at which an object on Earth can break free from Earth's gravitational pull, almost no longer being influenced by it—requires 11.2 km/s. This speed is incredibly fast, considering the speed of sound at standard atmospheric pressure is only 340 m/s. Even with elementary math, one can see the colossal gap between these numbers.
Moreover, speed equates to power, and the effect of force is mutual. Even astronauts, who rely on spacecraft to shield them from some of the pressure and spacesuits to bear the rest, undergo extremely stringent selection processes. Without a spacecraft or spacesuit to shield him from the pressure, Joseph, who faced it head-on, even with his ripple-enhanced body, would likely find it hard to completely withstand this pressure.
And even if Joseph could withstand the pressure like Kars, what difference would it make? In the tens of thousands of meters high altitude, could Joseph sprout wings and fly away like Kars?
So, rather than being the Star Sword that banishes the enemy of the planet into the starry sea, the volcanic rock that was blown up by the eruption was more like Joseph's coffin. Now, he had completely sealed himself inside.
As Josuke Higashikata considered the story of "Battle Tendency" completely collapsed, and that the final boss Kars would likely achieve ultimate victory, a hand appeared. A hand that had been severed by Kars, now able to grip Kars' neck, emerged on Kars' flight path, propelled by the volcanic eruption!
No one had anticipated this, not even the viewers who had been following "Battle Tendency." None of them expected that Joseph's severed hand was not just a sacrifice to create a sense of despair, but the key to his impending victory!
"This... this is impossible..."
Josuke found it hard to believe. Did Joseph really calculate all of this from the beginning? Could a human really do something like this?!
Watching Kars and Joseph, Josuke, who had some understanding of the difficulty of full-dive filming, silently listened to the narration in "Battle Tendency."
"In that instant, the moment Kars' attention was diverted by JOJO's severed arm, his fate changed course!!"
It was... rocks! Along with the volcanic debris and the severed arm, rocks that had been blown into the sky by the volcanic eruption!
If Kars had remained on the volcanic rock like Joseph, it might have been fine. Although the rock wouldn't shield against the impact from the second cosmic velocity, the smaller stones that were blown off by the eruption couldn't penetrate the rock's thickness and defense.
But once Kars left the rock's protection, these stones, like the hand gripping Kars' neck, would rain down and pummel him mercilessly!
"He was once again flung into the air by the scorching rocks that he could have originally avoided!" The narration mercilessly stated.
The second cosmic velocity of 11.2 km/s—something even the invincible ultimate life form couldn't contend with!
"Did you plan all this too, JOJO!?" Kars roared in frustration.
The wings that Kars had morphed for flight, intended to help him soar smoothly, now became burdensome as they "helped" Kars endure more stone impacts!
This made Kars question—could it be that Joseph had deliberately lured him into transforming into this form to send him skyward!?
"Of course! Everything is within my JOJO's calculation!!" Joseph also roared, but this time in excitement, unlike Kars.
"Was it... was it really all part of JOJO's plan...?"
As a viewer, Josuke Higashikata muttered in disbelief after hearing Joseph himself confirm it.
Thanks to having a mother who loved watching "Battle Tendency" and friends who loved discussing it, Josuke understood the terror of the ultimate life form. The fact that, up until this episode aired, no one had thought of a way to defeat Kars was enough to prove the ultimate life form's formidable nature.
Even so, those who theorized that the ultimate life form was still just a biological entity and thus could not match the mechanical prowess of a World War II aircraft—a strategy that involved aerial combat to exploit Kars' vulnerability to sustained attacks, chipping away at him until he succumbed... well, it was not entirely far-fetched given certain abilities...
But aside from those specific individuals, it seemed only those who had successfully completed such bullet-hell games could even conceive of such a plan. As for Joseph, who had already crashed two planes... best not to mention it.
So when Joseph was shot down by Kars in the sky, and when magma couldn't kill Kars, and the deep sea probably couldn't deal with the ultimate life form that had all biological capabilities, what method was left to defeat Kars?
Now, Joseph had given his answer.
And when the narration later revealed that Kars gradually gave up thinking in space, and Josuke saw that Joseph, who had inherited a completely different personality from his grandfather Jonathan, not only survived by sheer luck but also brought the first Happy End to "JOJO's Bizarre Adventure," he felt something he hadn't before—a desire to watch the next episode not because his mother forced him to, but because he genuinely wanted to.
"JOJO's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, the third part that's about to air... Maybe I'll just take a peek..."