All the missions in the Steel Ball Run world had been perfectly completed. Considering how horrifying the mountains of corpses and seas of blood were, Ryosuke had Axl withdraw the Civil War's ability.
White Snake disappeared along with the deceased.
But Ryosuke knew that once he left the trial world, that would be the moment White Snake truly returned.
Holding President Funny Valentine's two discs, he walked toward the others.
Seeing him approach, Axl and Steel, these two men with "er" in their names, both subconsciously took a few steps back.
There was no helping it. What they had just witnessed was simply too shocking.
Roughly counting the numbers, there were around eighty to ninety thousand people, just those who had crawled out of the blood sea.
There were even more unlucky souls pressed underneath, who hadn't had time to come out before being frozen in place by the saint's blessing, completely unable to move.
With so many people, even killing a hundred or so a day would still take five or six years.
In reality… it wasn't that few.
And it didn't take that long.
From the time Ryosuke transmigrated to the Naruto world, counting everything, it had only been about four and a half years.
Unlike Axl and Steel, who showed fear, Johnny, Gyro, Hot Pants, and Lucy, after the initial shock, returned to a calm state of mind.
From the SBR race onward, after experiencing so many things along the way, their hearts had long since become as strong as steel.
No matter how many people Ryosuke had killed, he was still the reliable companion who had fought alongside everyone and defeated the Great President.
That would never change.
"Here."
Ryosuke handed the two discs to Gyro.
Gyro took them, and Johnny and the others leaned in to look. They saw that the discs were printed with photos of Funny Valentine and D4C respectively.
Johnny let out an inexperienced exclamation of surprise, "They're actually in color!"
Before Johnny's legs were crippled, he had been a proper rich kid, so of course he'd taken color photos before.
It was just that in 1890, color photos weren't made with modern color film. Instead, photos were first taken in black and white, and then professional technicians would manually add color during development, resulting in especially strange hues.
When they later viewed President Funny Valentine's life memories through the memory disc, they were even more shocked, completely speechless.
In this era, let alone television, there wasn't even radio. How could they have ever seen moving images?
Seeing them babbling endlessly, Ryosuke smiled and explained, "One is a memory disc, which records Funny Valentine's life memories."
"He's the president, so he most likely holds dirt on other politicians."
"Gyro, you can try contacting a few of those politicians and ask them to write an official letter to the Kingdom of Naples, requesting a pardon for that innocent child's life."
Gyro was an executioner of the Kingdom of Naples. The reason he had crossed the ocean to come to the unfamiliar land of America to participate in the SBR race was to win the championship, bring glory to his country, and use that to ask the king for a pardon, saving an unjustly imprisoned child.
However, one option was pleading with the king for mercy, while the other was a diplomatic letter from the great nation of America. Clearly, the latter had a much higher chance of success.
Of course, this would inevitably involve all kinds of political maneuvering. Steel offered to help in this regard, as repayment for their saving Lucy.
"Johnny, Hot Pants."
Ryosuke handed the Stand disc to them. "This disc seals D4C. Put it into your body, and you'll be able to use the ability to travel between parallel worlds."
Hearing this, Johnny and Hot Pants both went stiff.
In their not-very-long lives, something had happened that they would regret for the rest of their lives, each of them, for various reasons, had caused the death of the family member closest to them.
Ryosuke's gaze swept over their faces.
"You can go to a parallel world where your family is still alive, but you are already dead, and bring your family to the base world to live. But whether you should do that… is for you to decide."
Hot Pants stared at the disc with D4C printed on it for a long time.
After experiencing so many things, she no longer harbored any extravagant hopes of escaping her guilt.
She was willing to carry the torment in her heart and continue forward.
Whether as a nun, or as a Stand user with healing abilities, she would help more people who needed help.
Yes, Hot Pants had made her resolve.
But now…
She lightly punched Ryosuke in the chest and said with a sigh, "You really are a 'demon.'"
Lucy didn't look at the two discs. Her gaze rested on Ryosuke. She was a perceptive girl and had sensed the meaning of parting in his tone.
"Mr. Ryosuke, are you leaving?"
"Yeah, I'm leaving."
Hearing this, the others who were still studying the discs all looked up.
There was reluctance, but also a sense of relief that it was indeed so, when they had fallen into despair, Ryosuke had descended from the sky, just like an angel sent down by the saint.
Now that the world's crisis had been resolved, the angel naturally had to return.
All of them had open, straightforward personalities. One by one, they walked over, gave Ryosuke a hug, and solemnly said their goodbyes.
When it was Hot Pants's turn, it was as if she were taking revenge for having been ridden by Ryosuke all the way. She hugged him especially tightly and whispered, "Your current appearance isn't your real one, is it?"
Ryosuke nodded.
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "Then will I have a chance to see your true appearance?"
"Maybe."
Ryosuke wasn't sure either whether he would be able to come to the Steel Ball Run world again. And if he did come again, whether he would still meet the same main cast in front of him, or whether their memories would be reset.
"All right."
Hot Pants wasn't satisfied with this answer. She clicked her tongue softly, loosened her embrace, and pulled back the invisible hem of her skirt with both hands, giving a slight bow.
"Then… until we meet again, Ryosuke."
"Goodbye, everyone."
Ryosuke took a step back. With a sweep of his hands across his thighs, amid the crowd's outcry, he severed his own two lower legs.
His vision blurred, sounds were stretched far away, and the sensation of the world flipping returned. At the final moment before his consciousness was pulled away, Ryosuke heard Diego's confused and terrified roar, "Why am I here! What did you do to me? Ah! My legs, "
He couldn't hear the rest.
He slowly opened his eyes.
———
[The Historical Memorial Hall]
The familiar statue stood before him.
He was back.
In the Steel Ball Run world, although entering it meant constant life-and-death crises and endless slaughter, Ryosuke's overall mindset had been relaxed.
Because he was familiar with the plot, knew the upper limits of his enemies, and knew what he himself could do. Even if he truly failed, at worst it would just mean wasting a single Ascension Star Core.
After returning, crushing pressure fell onto his shoulders.
Ryosuke glanced at his wristwatch.
There were still forty minutes until the scheduled signing ceremony.
Before entering the trial mission, Terumī had already passed on Ryosuke's orders. The entire Hidden Mist Village had sprung into action, everyone's face filled with solemn tension and killing intent.
They didn't know what was about to happen.
But as soon as they thought of the fact that it was something Ryosuke took so seriously, everyone understood one thing clearly, it definitely wouldn't be something small.
Listening to the sound of hurried footsteps outside, Ryosuke reached out and gently patted the statue, where a young man held a girl in his arms.
"Wish me luck."
He took out the Resonance Speaker.
"Lock on, Civil War."
Ryosuke took a deep breath.
"Draw the card!"