By the time Darth Kars regained control of his mindscape using the Force, it was all over.
This was the sole reason he had joined Hyperspace Raiders to begin with—to counter his weaknesses related to mind and spirit.
Unbreakable.
Impenetrable.
Impossible to unravel.
These were the words the top officials of Hyperspace Raiders had used while designing a mindscape for him using his Super Intelligence as core.
As the Sith looked at the Five-Crowned Prince, though, all those claims became meaningless.
Meanwhile, Black had contained his smile as he learned Darth Kars' secret as well.
"The Inheritance of Pillar Men from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Bubble," he said aloud, making Darth Kars grind his teeth in anger even more. "That's… impressive. No wonder… And youpaired it with the Force, stepping on the path of a Sith? Truly splendid."
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was a Bubble that had interested Kai enough to make him remember its various plotlines.
Not only was it one of the more prominent Bubbles out there, like Naruto, Fate, My Hero Academia, Hunter x Hunter, etc., but it also had various unique concepts that benefited Contestants in the long term.
Concepts that could be nurtured to the level of Kings.
The Pillar Men was one such concept.
In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the Pillar Men were a race of ancient, humanoid, superhuman beings. They could freely manipulate their bodies and were near-immortal, with a high degree of regeneration. Also, they were immune to aging and disease.
But the most dangerous trait of Pillar Men was their Super Intelligence.
Perfect recall. Instant analysis. Understanding the mechanics behind anything, including complicated things such as languages, machinery, tactics, systems, and people's minds and actions, within a matter of seconds.
This Super Intelligence alone was enough to turn a Contestant into a monster if bestowed.
Darth Kars seemed to have inherited the very DNA of a Pillar Man!
That sounded about right to Black, though.
Even he, with his Biokinesis, might not be able to replicate some of the body manipulation skills that Darth Kars had used against Meg.
It wasn't just limited to the Inheritance, though.
A Pillar Man could absorb living beings to strengthen himself.
Darth Kars seemed to have absorbed many, many worlds, becoming a monstrous titan.
Such a ridiculous assimilation would have rendered any other Contestant useless in battles, no matter their strength.
However, combined with a Pillar Man's innate Body Manipulation Ability, Darth Kars had turned himself into an ultimate physical weapon. Even his Stats reflected that, with over 60% of his Attribute Points distributed between Strength, Agility, and Stamina, and half of the remaining dedicated to Perception alone.
Biokinesis was different.
It could let Kai control his body at a cellular level, allowing him far greater control when it came to Body Manipulation.
However, unlike Kai, who had Biokinesis as a Skill, Darth Kars' Body Manipulation was an Ability — tied to an Inheritance.
And, like all Inheritances, it could continue to grow as he assimilated his Inheritance even more.
In the end, a Pillar Man could become an Ultimate Being.
Not only would he become a true Immortal then, but this Body Manipulation would also become Biokinesis, letting him have the same cellular control over his body.
Combined with Super Intelligence, such an Ultimate Being possessed all the qualities to easily surpass the threshold of the 4th Set.
And the most broken thing was that this Inheritance could be coupled with many concepts from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
He doesn't seem to have a Stand, Black observed, remembering another concept unique to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. But he does have… Hmm?
Surprising even Ad Infinitum and Lucky Intuitions, everything came to a sudden crawl as if someone had poured a thick, gelatinous substance into the river of time.
Electric sparks rumbled across the Forest Vault.
Then, silently, Darth Kars blinked out of existence.
A BOOM rang out in the next moment as he punched where Black had been standing, his massive fist even covering the spot where Meg lay, half-dead.
Cracks slithered down to the depths of the Forest Vault, creating thousand-meter-long chasms. Then, they slithered up, bending space, before utterly tearing it apart, thick black and blue bolts of lightning snaking out, bringing doom with them.
With the sound of a teardrop, Black appeared tens of miles away… with half of his body.
He was missing a massive chunk on his right side so cleanly that it didn't seem like he had been punched, but rather slashed.
Darth Kars' fist, weighing who knew how many thousands of tons, had crushed half of Black's body. Not only that, tiny, electric sparks were going off over the bloody, crushed part, restricting his regeneration rate.
If Black hadn't had an insanely high Regeneration Rate because of Biokinesis to begin with, then…
Still, that was half of Darth Kars' fist.
The other half had been for Meg, with whom all that humiliation had started.
Unlike Black, who was already regenerating at a visible pace, frowning at his lacking Agility compared to Darth Kars, Meg didn't have such a ridiculous Skill or an Ability.
Yet…
Through a bloody-hued madness in his eyes, Darth Kars stared at the bits of paper stuck to his knuckles.
The abomination had done it again…
He couldn't even sense her real body anymore.
Which meant, not only had the abomination escaped the Forest Vault, but she had done that right under his nose.
As if sprinkling salt on his wounded pride, the bits of paper stuck to Darth Kars' knuckles exploded with tiny booms, like crackers.
Silence.
Fooled…
Fooled…
Fooled…
Fooled…
Today, in a matter of hours, he had been fooled… so many times.
He, Darth Kars, the man known to have the highest potential to reach the 15th Floor, had been fooled… time after time.
"Haha…" the Sith laughed, a strange change humming around him. "HAHA!"
CRACK!!!
Bolts of golden lightning, as thick as Darth Kars' arms, began radiating out of him like rays of the sun. In only a fraction of a second, the 12th Floor Contestant began glowing as if a true sun's surface had replaced his dark, bronze-skinned body.
In the distance, Black stared at the blinding radiance of the massive doom coming alive right in front of his eyes, realizing what was going on… with the slightest hint of trepidation.
"A fusion of Ripple and the Force…?" Black muttered, shocked.
It wasn't like the fusion itself was impossible.
Black was shocked because he had found no such ability in that beastly mindscape.
Which meant, right here and now, Darth Kars of the Hyperspace Raiders…
… had surpassed his self from moments ago — becoming the strongest 12th Floor Contestant Kai had ever met!