I am a Type-Moon comic artist!

The bone spur popped out!

After some preliminary research, he concluded that it must have been an ancient execution tool. If a criminal wore such a thing, the bone spurs would pierce directly into his brain and kill him.

Who took this thing, and for what reason?

I don't understand, I don't understand at all.

"That's it! Could it be DIO?"

Five years have passed since that incident. Five years have passed, and DIO is no longer as aggressive as before; they have become friends.

However, he could not feel the friendship, and the thought of it still filled him with doubt and fear.

JOJO leaned on the table, lost in thought.

I don't understand... but one thing is certain: I have to get the Stone Mask back! It's the murder weapon, and it wouldn't be good if someone used it.

Thinking this, JOJO ran out of the room: "Butler, have you seen DIO?"

"I remember that Master DIO just returned recently."

"Is that so? I understand." JOJO nodded, relieved. Sure enough, a moment later, he saw DIO walking towards him.

"What's wrong, JOJO? You look flustered." DIO smiled, straightened his collar, and walked over. Seeing JOJO's flustered face, he was pleasantly surprised.

"No...it's nothing. DIO, have you seen anyone enter my room?" JOJO was thinking about how to say it without making DIO think he was suspicious of him. Five years ago, when the Stone Mask changed, he took it to his room instead of hanging it in the hall.

"Hmm? What happened?"

"Um, the Stone Mask was taken by someone, do you remember?"

"No, it doesn't matter who took that thing, right?" DIO said nonchalantly, but inwardly he was already getting angry, and his whole face changed color!

'Damn JoJo! He actually suspects me? He must be suspecting me, suspecting that I, DIO, took the Stone Mask! Just wait...just wait! In two more years, I'll reach the legal age to inherit the estate. Then, JoJo, I'll take everything from you!'

It's ironic—

This person, who has been plotting to seize the Joestar family's wealth and disregards the law, consistently ranks number one in law class!

"Is...is that so..." JOJO gritted her teeth: "If someone really took the Stone Mask, that would be terrible!"

"Why don't you ask who has approached the Joestar residence recently? That would give you the answer, wouldn't it?"

"That's right! Thank you, DIO!"

“No, it’s nothing. Aren’t we friends? Do you need my help?” DIO said with a smile, while inwardly thinking: 'Doubt me! JOJO, this time I’ll let you doubt me all you want. You’re someone who gets stronger with each setback, but this time, I’ll leave you with a sense of guilt as I help you find the Stone Mask. That way—next time… when I take action against Sir Joestar, you’ll never doubt me again! At that time, you’ll definitely remember everything that happened today—JOJO!!'

"That's great." JOJO said gratefully, glancing at the situation outside. "Then let's get started quickly, the sun is about to set."

......

Sizzle sizzle sizzle ——————

A light rang out in Kurokawa Kazuya's room.

The stone mask slowly fell off Kurokawa Kazuya's head—

Kurokawa Kazuya opened his eyes.

"Looks like... it's a success, huh... I see. This amount of ripples is enough. But my five years of accumulating ripples haven't been in vain."

That's right, Kurokawa Kazuya didn't make a move right away. Instead, he accumulated Ripple over five years and then—meticulously distributed these Ripples in his brain—finally allowing the Stone Mask to develop its potential and become a vampire without being consumed by malice.

不 ...

There are, I would say.

Previously, I might have been a 5 in good or a 5 in evil.

Currently, it might be like this: Good 4, Evil 6...

The accumulation of ripples is still a little insufficient.

However, this is the body in the dream; his real-life self has almost as many ripples as the ones accumulated over five years. And if he were to perform some more precise manipulations, he might not be affected at all.

His room had all the windows sealed off, leaving only a tiny hole through which sunlight streamed in to help him tell the time.

"It looks like the sun is about to set. Let's wait here a while longer, until it's completely gone. I can also use this time to familiarize myself with my powers—"

If he's not mistaken, the battle should begin soon.

The person who came must be none other than JOJO!

Because—when he stole the Stone Mask, he deliberately left an impression among the people around him, just so that JOJO would find him!

"Before, I always fought vampires as a Ripple user. This time, I want to test how I, as a vampire, fight, how I fight against Ripple users! And the effects of Ripple hitting me... Heh heh..."

The second part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is still ongoing.

The first volume of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is about to be released.

Before that, maybe I can redraw JOJO... With the personal experience I have now, I'm sure I can draw an even better JOJO!

"Um...excuse me, is this Officer Jerry Coffdale's house?"

"Hmm? That's fast." Hearing that familiar voice, Kurokawa Kazuya frowned slightly: "I didn't expect JOJO to be so fast. The sun hasn't even set yet... It seems I'll have to wait a little while."

Chapter Fifty-Three: Power

"JOJO, don't you feel like something's off here?"

DIO looked at the mansion in front of him and took a small step back, saying that he had a bad feeling—as if there was something terrifying inside the room.

This was something he had never felt or experienced before!

He completely failed to understand what this aura was. This profound feeling seemed to be swallowing him whole—

"Hmm... Be careful, DIO. I sense something's off here too." Jojo observed the room in front of him—

The room was a very ordinary English-style building, but for some reason all the windows were completely sealed off... There was no sign of any living person around, it was like a haunted house.

"The sun is about to set, JOJO. Since we know that Officer Jerry came yesterday, why don't we come again tomorrow morning?"

“No.” JOJO refused: “Since Officer Jerry is there, he might have some clues—hmm? Could it be?”

At that moment, JoJo suddenly had a bad thought—

Could it be... that the criminal also saw Officer Jerry and then silenced him?

"DIO! You wait here, I'll go in and check—"

“No, let’s go together.” DIO smiled and said, “I wouldn’t feel at ease just letting you in like this.”

Although DIO said this, his true thoughts were completely different: 'Damn Jojo! How dare he underestimate me? Underestimate me, DIO!! A murderer? Perfect! If there really is a murderer, let him die in there, Jojo. That way, I can inherit the Joestar family fortune even more legitimately, and no one will be able to stop me!'

Meanwhile, Jojo's inner monologue: 'So... I really did misunderstand DIO? Was DIO's initial behavior because he was suddenly in an unfamiliar environment and afraid of his surroundings? Was he acting so aggressive from the start because he was worried I would bully him? But is he actually a good person?'

Thinking about it, JOJO felt a little relieved and said with a smile, "Ah, let's go together, DIO! If the two of us are together, we can handle any situation!"

This has already been demonstrated in schools.

As long as I cooperate with DIO, we will definitely win!

"Alright, maybe nothing's wrong. Officer Jerry might be tired and went to bed early. Okay, let's go in." DIO said with a smile, but inwardly he was cursing: 'Die in there, JOJO! Die in here!'

As for himself—

DIO was confident in himself; even if a murderer existed, he could escape! No, that's not right, not escape, but defeat the enemy!

His plan was to make Jojo appear to die alongside the murderer—but there was a condition.

That is, there really is such a murderer in this room!

DIO is waiting for an opportunity, waiting for any chance to inherit the Joestar family's legacy—

"Bang bang—"

The two knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

JOJO and DIO exchanged a glance. Although they could be considered enemies, they were surprisingly in sync.

DIO automatically took a step back.

"Ha—!" JOJO shouted and smashed open the locked door from the inside!

"Wow, that's amazing. As expected of JoJo, his explosive power is as strong as ever." DIO said, taking a step forward and then stopping.

ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ

'Wha...what's going on? This chill...' DIO leaned back, shielding himself with his arms: 'It's so cold! A bone-chilling cold. How could it suddenly get this cold this time of year? What happened? Is...the murderer really inside? It's best to leave now—'

clatter--

Oraoraoraora

JOJO had already stepped inside. He walked into the room, which was filled with a chilling atmosphere—!

The next moment, DIO gritted his teeth, clenching his fist as he watched Jojo walk inside: 'Damn Jojo! If I back down now, doesn't that mean I'm inferior to this guy? Inferior to this scum?!'

"It's so dark—there's not a single ray of light... Hmm? What is this—?"

DIO gritted his teeth and followed Jojo inside. Suddenly, he felt like he bumped into something. He bent down and looked at the thing on the ground in the last rays of the setting sun shining through the doorway. Suddenly, he froze: "Stone Mask! This is... Stone Mask—!"

"What? The Stone Mask??"

JOJO was taken aback and quickly walked over: "That's right, it's Stone Mask... but why is Stone Mask here?"

"Hmph, need I say more? It must have been Officer Jerry who took it. Alright, now that we have the Stone Mask, let's go." DIO said to JOJO. He felt uneasy all over here, as if he was being watched by something.

"No—maybe that's true, but... something's not right here." JOJO looked around the room and said, "Something's very wrong here. This atmosphere, and Officer Jerry hasn't said a word yet. We went to the police station to ask him, and he should have been back by now, but he hasn't made a sound. Even when I slammed the door open like that, there was no response! Something's definitely wrong. We can't just leave him like this—DIO! We have to rescue Officer Jerry!"

"J...JOJO, you bastard..." DIO looked around and said, "Since you want to die, I'm not going to keep you company. The atmosphere here is obviously wrong. It's not a smart thing to go in here when you can clearly sense the danger. I'm leaving! JOJO!"

"That's true, but DIO, didn't you come in too?"

'Damn it, JOJO dared to fool me! No... calm down... calm down.' DIO knew his weakness very well, which was that he was too easily angered. He had decided to correct this five years ago and hide his true feelings, but—today, drawn by the atmosphere around him, he couldn't calm down for some reason!

Boom boom—

Splash splash ...

Rain began to fall from the sky outside, dark clouds obscured the last rays of the sun, and lightning raged across the sky.

"It's raining, JOJO. I don't want to stay here any longer. I'm going back." With that, DIO turned and walked towards the door.