A mysterious aura enveloped everyone present, and the air seemed to freeze.
Selene looked toward the interior of the castle, her expression uncertain.
If she hadn't met all the existing Vampire elders and recognized their auras, she would have truly thought a certain elder had personally arrived based on the intensity of this aura alone.
But why did this feeling seem so familiar?
A figure flashed through her mind; it was the Magician Oka, who hadn't shown himself since entering the castle.
Originally, she thought this Magician had fled the battle, but at that time, she had already entered combat and had no time to look for him.
Now it seemed the other party might have gone straight to raid the base?
But why would a Magician emit an aura that felt like a Dark Creature?
At this moment, Dio was even more startled, because he knew the direction the aura came from was his room, and there, was the bow and arrow that could turn people into Stand Users!
This bow and arrow set was given to him by his subordinate, Granny Enya. When a person is shot with this bow and arrow, they either die on the spot or awaken a Stand.
It was clear now that someone had infiltrated his room and might have already used the bow and arrow.
A cold light flashed in Dio's eyes; he didn't care about one more Stand User, his Stand, The World, was invincible.
But what was this aura that made his body instinctively fearful?
He had clearly abandoned his human identity and become a higher-level Vampire!
This sense of fear originating from his bloodline was unacceptable to him!
This made the young man who, many years ago in the Berlin mansion, shouted "I'm not going to be human anymore!", seem like a joke now.
For a moment, a long-lost panic filled his heart. He spread his arms, "The World!"
A faint clock sound seemed to echo in the air, and invisible ripples spread outwards from within Dio's body. In just an instant, everything seemed to have been put on pause, and even the particles frozen in the air were clearly visible.
Behind Dio appeared his humanoid Stand.
It looked like a muscular humanoid Stand, and its appearance was very similar to Dio. It wore a headdress that covered the bottom of its nose, and its face and inverted triangle shape somewhat resembled the red crown of Egypt. Its whole body was golden, as if clad in golden armor, and there were heart-shaped decorations on its chin, abdomen, and knees.
This was his Stand, The World, its ability was time stop.
Just like the Stand's name, once its ability was unleashed, he was the master of the entire world, and any living things around him were his for the taking.
Looking at the female Vampire in front of him, he could, if he wished, freely plunge a sharp blade into her body.
Upon entering this silent world, Dio's heart calmed down.
Although he only had three or four seconds now because his body hadn't fully recovered, in this space he could feel true safety. He was the king here, and no one could defy him in this fragment of time.
Tap, tap…
In this completely still space, the sound of footsteps was sudden and clear.
Dio's expression froze, and he could no longer maintain his arrogant look.
He looked in the direction the sound came from, his face full of horror, his pupils contracted to their limit.
He had already stopped time, so why were there still other people's footsteps?!
At this moment, Dio felt as terrified as if he had clearly cut off all the electricity in the room, but then saw the TV screen suddenly light up with static.
As the footsteps approached, wisps of black mist drifted out from all directions, appearing even more bizarre in the still space.
The mist gradually gathered in front of Dio, swirling into a humanoid shape.
The humanoid figure didn't look tall, only about 1.6 meters, and its entire body was enveloped in mist.
As the mist gradually dispersed, the humanoid figure slowly revealed its original appearance.
Beneath a mop of silver-white messy hair, a pitch-black mask covered the lower half of its face, revealing only black skin and blood-red eyes. Faint traces of scales could be seen on the surface of its skin.
White cloth strips wrapped around its limbs and torso, and the outline of muscles could be seen through the strips. Several ends of the cloth strips fluttered behind it.
"This is, a Stand?"
At this moment, the time stop, which had lasted less than 4 seconds, ended. Selene's vision blurred for a moment, and she found that Dio, who had just been facing her, suddenly turned around and was looking ahead with a solemn expression.
And standing in front of him was…
"This… is another Stand?"
A Stand is essentially a manifestation of externalized spiritual energy, so except for a limited number of physical Stands, almost all Stands cannot be seen by anyone other than a Stand User.
Even though Selene was a Vampire, she could only see faint outlines, but at this moment, she was very surprised to find that she could clearly see the entire appearance of the humanoid figure in front of her.
Dio had no time to pay attention to her at this moment; he was in a state of questioning reality.
There was actually a Stand that could move freely within the range of his time stop?
Dio's eyes were fixed on the end of the stairs in the distance, which was the room the sound came from.
The tense atmosphere made Selene concentrate and look as well. The next second, her heart relaxed, and then tightened again.
The person who turned out from the end of the stairs was none other than Oka.
However, although Oka came here as his ally, after helping them deal with the doorman at the beginning, he disappeared.
Now it seemed, perhaps obtaining the Stand ability was his true goal.
It was difficult to figure out whether the other party's current stance was that of an enemy or a friend…
Selene had already begun to slowly move towards Ciel, preparing to slip away at any time.
Dio looked at Oka's unfamiliar face. Although he was panicking internally, his eyes were still full of disdain and disregard.
"An unknown nobody, daring to trespass into my mansion."
"Then let me introduce myself, Oka, Oka Ebo."
Oka walked forward calmly. The Stand wrapped in white cloth lightly stepped on the ground with one leg, slowly floated up behind Oka, and wrapped one arm around his neck.
But the difference in their sizes at this moment was too great; the Stand and Oka looked like a father and son, with the child wanting to be carried by the father.
The Stand evidently noticed this as well, let out a cold snort, and descended again.
Dio frowned. Was this Stand too human-like?
"Oka," Dio repeated his name, seeming to confirm he hadn't heard it before.
The next moment, Oka's expression changed, and he awkwardly sidestepped to dodge.
The World had suddenly appeared beside him at some point. He dodged the incoming punch, but his body was still knocked back two steps by the fierce punch wind.
"Mr. Dio, that seems a bit underhanded of you."
Oka tidied his black robe; even though he dodged the attack, the fabric of his black robe on his chest had become tattered.
The Stand behind him let out a cold laugh, unsure if it was mocking Dio's underhandedness or his embarrassment.
"Mr. Oka, the thief, doesn't seem to have the right to call me underhanded."
"That's true."
Oka curved his lips into a smile.
"White Dragon."
As soon as he finished speaking, White Dragon, wrapped all over in white cloth, let out a cold snort and walked towards The World, seemingly a bit unwillingly.
Compared to The World, which was 1.85 meters tall and had a sturdy build, White Dragon looked thinner. The two Stands with vastly different sizes faced each other from a distance.
But White Dragon still had a look of disdain on its face, extended a finger towards The World, and wiggled it, full of provocation.
Seeing that this big idiot had no emotional fluctuations, a hint of boredom flashed in its blood-red eyes.
Selene watched them nervously. She was carefully pulling the dagger out of Erica's chest and then feeding her with her own blood.
Her gaze swept over, and the flashing reflection on the ground entered her field of vision.
She turned her head and glanced.
The next second, her pupils suddenly widened.
Her ice-blue eyes were filled with disbelief.