(③)
The moment Gai Tsutsugami appeared and interrupted Shu Ouma mid-Void deployment, Inori Yuzuriha knew she had to play her final card. The situation had deteriorated largely because of her own accumulated "sins," but she didn't regret a single one. If Gai wanted her dead, she would strike back without a moment's hesitation.
The last Void Genome. The instant Eve began her counterattack, Inori used her final scrap of strength to inject it into her own body. A conversation surfaced in her mind unbidden, one she had witnessed not long ago between Mana Ouma and Haruka Ouma.
A conversation about this particular Genome.
...
...
"The Void gene traces back to one of your father's research projects."
"Building on your uncle's Intron RAM Hypothesis, your father constructed a theory of Genomic Resonance, which became the key to unlocking the riddle of evolution and selection..."
Haruka spoke from memory, recounting it piece by piece while Mana listened in silence, never interrupting.
"But one critical formula was still missing. It was as though God had erected a barrier to keep humanity from solving the puzzle. Kurosu spent his entire life trying to crack it and never succeeded... until the meteorite fell on Oshima. Da'ath's emissary appeared, and everything fell into place."
"After your father died, your uncle used his theories to develop a weapon capable of converting a person's genome into physical matter. That was the origin of Voids."
"However, the very first Void Genome—Specimen 001—was a failure."
"It could extract the Voids of others, but it couldn't return them intact the way the later versions could. Anyone whose Void was extracted would crystallize completely. And yet our test subject, the man codenamed 'Scrooge,' still managed to use that incomplete Power of Kings to stop Lost Christmas."
None of this had appeared in the original anime. It was lore that had later been filled in through a game, patching the holes in the worldbuilding.
"Afterward, we refined it and successfully produced Genomes 002 and 003, both free of side effects." Haruka had been part of the research team for those two Genomes and knew them inside and out.
"What's the difference between them, Aunt Haruka?"
That question was one Inori had asked Mana to pose on her behalf.
She had seen Shu use both Genomes in the original series, but she hadn't been able to spot any difference. As for the early side effect where extracting someone's Void knocked them unconscious and wiped their memory, that had been caused by Shu's own incomplete recollection. In theory there was no distinction. But Genome 003 was the final version. It had to be hiding some secret she didn't yet know.
"...Fine. I'll tell you."
Haruka hesitated, because this was a secret known only to a handful of core researchers.
"Void Genome No. 003... was crafted from the recovered right arm of the original False King, Scrooge. It carries the will of him and his partner, Carol."
After using Void Genome 002, King Crimson had undergone a small evolution: Inori's desire to conceal her identity had granted it the ability to act independently and be controlled at range. And the "Arrow" that triggered Stand awakenings and upgrades was itself made from the meteorite's material. So Inori reasoned: if she used Genome 003 on top of 002, and 003 contained the genetic legacy of the failed Specimen 001, then using it would mean she possessed the full breadth of Void power in the entire world.
She didn't know the details of the Lost Christmas storyline. She hadn't even known it was Scrooge and Carol who stopped it until Haruka told her. It was only a hypothesis, but perhaps at the critical moment it could produce unexpected results.
Yes. Make King Crimson evolve again... perhaps even reach the level of Requiem!
...
...
Inori was encased in a thick shell of purple crystal. She had played her final card. All three Void Genomes in the world now resided within her single body. There was no pillar of light this time, no streaming visual effects, but her consciousness, which had been slipping toward oblivion, snapped wide awake.
This is the world after time has been excised.
King Crimson stood before her, still within arm's reach even while she was trapped inside the crystal. It had already begun to change.
"King Crimson ACT1... I shall name you: the Ever Crown."
That was the proof that the girl called Inori had shattered the shackles of fate and would stand forever above all kings.
It was not Requiem, but it was a metamorphosis all the same. A brand-new ability born from the desperate need to escape her current predicament, and Inori understood the reborn King's powers the instant they manifested.
The first ability originated within herself: the power to extract "spiritual energy" from others, much like a Void, and even to seize another person's Stand. But it came with numerous restrictions, to be explored later.
Because the real prize was the second ability.
"It seems you've already figured it out."
She heard a voice and turned toward it. A blue-haired girl in a hat stood there, and behind her was the faint silhouette of a man in a red robe. They were people long dead, yet they had entrusted their will to save the world inside this final Void Genome.
"Carol... the Spirit of the Future."
"I see."
Inori's eyes widened in understanding, and a small smile crossed her lips.
The core of King Crimson, its most defining ability, was Time Erasure, which meant its fundamental attribute was "time." No matter how it evolved, its powers would always relate to time.
"Yet to Come."
Erase a fixed duration of time, then cut an equal duration from a specific point in the future and splice it into the present.
In other words, Inori could use this ability called Yet to Come to delete time from the future and bring that deleted time into the present. But only the "spirit" could be transposed; memories were outside its operating range.
Put simply, through the Ever Crown's second ability Inori could wield the power she would possess at some future point in time, but only for a brief window. The longer the span she borrowed, the longer the cooldown before she could use it again.
She didn't know which time period she had tapped into. The only thing she could say with certainty was this: once Yet to Come activated and she borrowed some power from a future version of herself, the Apocalypse Virus, Da'ath, Eve, all of it could no longer pose any threat to her whatsoever.
King Crimson began to transform violently. Cracks split across its towering frame and the entire outer shell shattered apart.
Like the molting phenomenon that occurred when a Stand evolved, Inori had expected to see a more refined King Crimson, perhaps even a feminine version of it befitting its user. But what appeared before her was something else entirely, something as breathtaking as a butterfly breaking free of its chrysalis.
It was a butterfly of red and gold. It was a garment.
It had a boldly cut-out chest panel and a completely exposed back, with a red-and-yellow flower at the waist. The scarlet base was adorned with scattered black diamond patterns, paired with two black thigh-high stockings and red sandals below. Trailing sleeves and hem panels in a gradient of gold completed the look. It was Inori's most iconic outfit from the original series: the goldfish dress.
But it was not merely clothing. It was a special Stand, and its name was King Crimson ACT2: Nameless Monster, the second evolution that the future Inori and King Crimson would inevitably achieve.
Inori didn't know its specific abilities, because the Ever Crown couldn't grant her memories of the future. But this feeling, this unprecedented sensation, so exquisite it made her want to break into song, was the feeling of an immortal body, of undying, ageless Stand power.
Time inscribed itself once more.