Chapter 23
Summary
Zeppeli tells Jonathan that the only way to beat a vampire, or zombie in this case, is to destroy their brain completely. Jack the Ripper, still alive, grabs onto the sword embedded in the tunnel's ceiling. He pulls it down, revealing a secret passage that he then runs into. Speedwagon is afraid of following Jack, and Zeppeli says that they have to pursue him, but Jonathan will go alone. Zeppeli tosses his full wine glass to Jonathan, which he catches without spilling a drop. Zeppeli tells Jonathan of an old saying they had in Norway:
“The Northern Wind created the Valorous Vikings”
Zeppeli tells Jonathan that he must defeat Jack the Ripper in the secret tunnel without spilling a drop of the wine, or Zeppeli will abandon Jonathan on his quest, regardless of whether he defeats Jack or not. Speedwagon objects to the ridiculous challenge but Jonathan, understanding Zeppeli's use of the saying, enters the cave.
Zeppeli starts to tell Speedwagon a story of a brave angler he once met, who fished in waters with sharks over ten meters long. One day, sharks attacked his boat, and he fell into the sea. In a bold move, he severed his own leg with his fishing spear. This then attracted a shark to his location and when the shark attempted to eat the angler’s severed it leg became one of the angler's greatest catches. Speedwagon, now understanding Zeppeli, asks if Jonathan will be able to finish his challenge. Zeppeli replies that if Jonathan fails, he will not be able to defeat Dio.
Meanwhile, Jonathan searches the maze-like secret passage with a torch. Unfortunately, because of the structure of the passage, even with a torch some places are too dark to see. Suddenly, Jack the Ripper comes from nowhere with a strange instrument of torture, shaped like a horses rib-cage. He tries to trap Jonathan in it, but he misses and breaks a pillar with it instead, cutting it into circles of rock. He vanishes into the darkness. The weapon has cut Jonathan in several places along his back and arm, and he almost spills the wine because of this. From this narrow miss, Jonathan deduces that Jack is targeting his torch. He extinguishes it in an attempt to catch him by surprise, but quickly realizes that without the light, he cannot tell where Jack is hiding. His attempt to conceal his presence proves futile because Jack, hiding just around the corner, can smell Jonathan's blood from the cuts he gave him earlier, and Jonathan is approaching his hiding place.
As Jonathan is about to round the corner, he suddenly notices a ripple in the wine. Jonathan realizes that this is the reason Zeppeli gave him the glass. The ripple in the wine acts a way of detecting the zombie, which meaning that the wine glass detected life around it. Jonathan uses the Sendo Ripple Overdrive technique to attack Jack through the wall. The attack connects with his face, burning off the left half of his face entirely killing him.
