The ground shook violently, and Jotaro quickly steadied his body and looked toward the entrance of the laboratory.
A chilling sound came from there, exuding an eerie aura. The sound was like the wailing of evil spirits echoing in the empty room.
Whimpering accompanied the sound of bones being squeezed, and a large group of students appeared at the doorway. Their eyes were vacant, their whites invisible, their limbs twisted, swaying as they moved like zombies.
"What's wrong with these people?" Shinobu Kocho was startled by the scene before her.
They seemed to be without intelligence, and though the narrow entrance shouldn't have allowed so many to enter at once, they insisted on pushing inside together. The doorframe was already overwhelmed and had started to crack.
Jotaro frowned, his expression grave. 'These people are strange, could it be related to the explosion just now?'
While he was deep in thought, the wall in front of the lab suddenly collapsed with a boom, and a dark mass of people surged in.
Jotaro's gaze swept over them and found that they were all students and teachers of the school. Just moments ago, these people had been normal, but now they looked completely different. Their joints were twisted, their movements erratic, very similar to the zombies he had seen in movies.
As if sensing Jotaro and the others' presence, their bodies suddenly trembled, and then those seemingly soft and powerless bodies exploded with tremendous energy.
They moved like rabbits released from a trap, like hungry tigers pouncing on prey.
Because they were ordinary people, Jotaro did not use his Stand right away, he used his hands to block a crazed woman.
"Women shouldn't have this much strength!" Jotaro bared his teeth, astonished by the heavy pressure coming from his arm. He felt that what he was resisting was not a weak woman, but a sumo wrestler.
With force, he pushed the woman away, but to his surprise, more than a dozen people rushed toward him. They all piled onto Jotaro.
In the blink of an eye, he was buried beneath them. He stretched out his hand and twitched his fingers twice before being completely swallowed by the sea of bodies, disappearing without a trace.
"Jotaro-san!" Shinobu Kocho moved swiftly, evading all those rushing toward her in just a single leap.
Like Jotaro, she couldn't bring herself to harm these innocent people. As she watched the growing heap of people on top of Jotaro, her eyes trembled.
'Why isn't Jotaro-san using his Stand? Is he concerned about these ordinary people? Even at a time ...'
A sudden idea came to her, 'Ripple!'
With her own strength, she surely couldn't push these people away, but if she could transmit Ripple into their bodies, she could potentially control them to a certain extent.
Just as she took a step forward, she suddenly realized, with Jotaro's intelligence, he couldn't have failed to think of that. Why, then, had he still made no move?
She lowered her gaze and looked at her feet, confused.
And also, why were her movements becoming sluggish? She tried to lift her foot again, but it felt like it was weighed down by lead, incredibly heavy.
She was horrified to discover, she couldn't move.
A sinister laugh echoed from the window. Fran leaned on the windowsill, drawing a perfect arc with his feet in the air, and landed gracefully.
Looking at that human pile, he regretfully said, "To be crushed under so many people, his death must have been painful. What do you think, did he die from being crushed, or from suffocation?"
Shinobu Kocho frowned and coldly said, "It was you. You're behind all of this?"
"That's right," Fran admitted readily.
Shinobu Kocho asked, "Why? I don't remember us having any sort of grudge."
Fran growled viciously, "No woman can reject me."
Shinobu was stunned, then sighed helplessly and said, "Just because of that?"
She never imagined that this foreigner, dressed like a gentleman, would have such a petty heart. Just rejecting his invitation, and he bore a grudge, waiting for revenge. With his previous politeness and cultured demeanor, she had mistakenly believed he was a good person.
Recalling the elder's words, she seemed to understand something and smiled bitterly, "Sometimes, humans can be more terrifying than demons."
Years of isolated life with the Demon Slayer Corps had made her believe that without demons, the world would be beautiful. But now, it seemed... that wasn't the case at all.
A strange vibration came from beneath her feet. Shinobu Kocho was slightly startled, then smiled brightly.
That pure, flawless smile, so innocent and charming, was like morning dew, crystal clear. Fran couldn't help but stare in a daze.
He licked his lips, already unable to wait. "Why did you reject me that day?"
Until now, he had never been rejected by a woman. This was the first time, he wanted to understand why.
Shinobu Kocho replied simply and mockingly, "Because I'm not interested in you."
"Oh? Is it because of that man? Do you like him?" Fran raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Of course not." Shinobu replied firmly.
But her evasive gaze and subconscious expression were still caught by Fran.
As a seasoned playboy, he understood at once. His expression darkened, "Too bad. He's already dead."
His lecherous gaze swept over Shinobu Kocho's body, revealing a perverted smile. "Playing with you beside his corpse, ssshhh—"
Fran inhaled comfortably and stepped toward Shinobu Kocho.
"Just the thought of it excites me."
Shinobu Kocho's expression was cold as ice. Her body trembled slightly from struggling.
"It's useless. This nerve-control agent, once inhaled, means all your actions are under my control."
Fran sneered, "As long as I will it, you'll obediently come to me yourself."
Shinobu gritted her teeth. "You're a beast! Even demons aren't as evil as you!"
"Oh-ho! Hahahahaha!" Fran laughed wildly like he had heard something funny.
"Do you know?" He straightened his back and arrogantly said, "Back in the day, demons had to be punished for killing! But me, I can ignore all your rules."
"Even if I kill you, I won't be punished! Your damn emperor has already been controlled by us Gomaericans!"
"Compared to us Gomaericans, you Japanese are just lowly scum!"
"Evil? No, no, this is the power of the strong! If I kill you, not only will I not be punished, your government will have to apologize to me."
"Weakness is what's evil!"
With that, he reached out to grope Shinobu Kocho's body. What could refusal do? The strong could have whatever they wanted.
A loud sound came from underground. The ground cracked and collapsed, and a pitch-black figure leaped out, grabbing Fran's hand!
"Impossible! You dug a tunnel?! How did you do it?!"
Seeing the suddenly reappeared Jotaro, Fran was dumbfounded.
Jotaro would never harm innocent people. When that mindless crowd rushed over, he had used Star Platinum ahead of time to dig a tunnel and escape underground.
"Yare yare..." Looking down at the blond foreigner before him, Jotaro's light-green eyes glinted coldly. "The game is over."
He raised his hand, and punched Fran square in the face.
A crisp sound of bones breaking, along with fresh blood gushing from split skin, echoed.
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