---o---
He no longer needs time stop?
What does that mean? What does he mean he no longer needs time stop? Is it because he has surpassed Heaven?
Could it be, just as Jotaro predicted, that DIO has awakened some new power? A new power that makes even the time stop he once prided himself on pale in comparison?
Numerous questions lingered in the minds of the audience outside the light curtain.
Light Curtain Barrage
Utaha Kasumigaoka: "Star Platinum learned time stop too! Does that mean Star Platinum really is the same type of Stand as The World?"
What a pity. It's a real pity. If Star Platinum had learned time stop just a little sooner, DIO would have had no chance of becoming this ultimate being. He would have been finished off long before ascending to Heaven.
Detective Conan: "So this is what an A-rank in Developmental Potential looks like. It's completely different from The World's B-rank. And even among A-ranks, Star Platinum and Hermit Purple are different."
The Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion: "Surpassing Heaven... I'm quite curious as to what new ability DIO has awakened."
Otto Apocalypse: "The power of time is already at the top tier across the entire multiverse. An existence more powerful than time is not a common sight."
---o---
Light Curtain
Covered in wounds, DIO had just uttered the words "time stop is nothing to speak of" to Jotaro.
Clearly, Jotaro's earlier guess was correct. DIO had indeed obtained a new power, but what that power was, he did not yet know.
"To think that even The World: Over Heaven is slightly inferior to Star Platinum in terms of power and speed."
Heaven Ascension DIO was bleeding. His vampiric constitution was helping his body to gradually recover, but the process was abnormally slow.
The World: Over Heaven returned to DIO's side. The next moment, DIO's body, for some unknown reason, was instantly restored.
No... "restored" isn't the right word. Recovery takes time. DIO's body, rather than recovering, seemed to have been reverted to its original state.
It was as if he had never been injured in the first place, as if Jotaro had never landed a single blow.
"!!!" Jotaro, who had been observing DIO closely, was stunned by this. He was certain this was absolutely not the power of a vampire.
"Is this DIO's new ability?"
Jotaro gritted his teeth, his forehead covered in a dense sheen of sweat, a clear sign of his current tension.
The numerous 'abnormalities' surrounding DIO made Jotaro feel an unprecedented sense of destiny. The feeling had been there ever since he first met DIO, but it had never been so intense.
"Yare... perhaps it's just as DIO said. This is the final round."
"Learning The World's time stop has already exhausted Star Platinum's potential for growth, but now DIO has awakened yet another new ability."
Although Star Platinum and The World were the same type of Stand, The World had now been completely reborn, while Star Platinum had only just barely learned to stop time. Jotaro Kujo did not believe Star Platinum could replicate The World's power again and again. This one time was already its limit.
"Well now, the last blood of the Joestar family. Your mission ends here. It is time for you to fall before me, DIO."
The fully restored DIO resumed his enchanting cat-like walk, step by step, toward Jotaro.
Jotaro, having already experienced DIO's new ability, gradually calmed his heart.
What is it? What is DIO's ability? Only by figuring this out could he defeat him.
Closer. As he gradually neared Jotaro, DIO lunged, his body wrapped in a golden and purple light, looking exceptionally bewitching.
"Tch!" Jotaro snorted. Star Platinum appeared, and with a powerful push from his legs, his body shot backward into the air.
DIO smiled slightly and mimicked Jotaro's move, landing and launching himself into the air in pursuit.
Like meteors streaking across the sky, the two began a chase above Asakusa, flashes of blue and gold streaking through the air.
In the distance, the Demon Slayer Corps, having finally managed to evacuate the civilians and gain control of the Japanese army, arrived late. With their naked eyes, they strained to watch Jotaro Kujo and DIO in the sky, wanting to help but being utterly powerless to do so.
"Mr. Jotaro, be careful!" the kind-hearted Tanjiro prayed silently as he gazed up at the sky from the ground.
The scene shifted back to the sky. As DIO closed in, The World: Over Heaven clenched its fist once more and smashed it toward Jotaro's body.
Unable to dodge, Jotaro instantly had Star Platinum cross its arms to block. However... the punch from The World: Over Heaven was completely beyond his imagination.
Even though it struck Star Platinum's crossed arms, even though Star Platinum had successfully blocked the attack, he was hit in that instant.
"Pfft—!" Taking a direct punch from The World, Jotaro spat out a mouthful of blood, his school uniform instantly soaked through.
DIO's eyes, however, lit up with the thrill of vengeance fulfilled. "Hahahahaha! Jotaro, is this all you have?"
"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"
The World's fists did not stop. Just as Jotaro had done to him, they rained down upon Jotaro's body.
With a final punch, Jotaro was sent hurtling down to the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Even with Star Platinum's protection, he was in terrible shape.
"M-Mr. Jotaro!!!"
The members of the Demon Slayer Corps were horrified. They had never imagined DIO would be this powerful, that even the seemingly invincible Jotaro Kujo would be no match for him.
But after a brief moment of shock, these human swordsmen, who were not Stand users, pushed their Breathing Styles to the absolute limit and charged recklessly toward where Jotaro had fallen.
Even if it seemed to any ordinary person that Jotaro was surely dead after taking that hit, these swordsmen still went. The reason was simple: DIO was a demon, and Jotaro was the only one who might be able to defeat him. If people had to die, then let the Demon Slayer Corps be first.
"Cough, cough—" On the ground, Jotaro was covered in blood. He lay there, clutching his chest, a pathetic sight, with no trace of his usual invincibility.
"Am I... going to die?"
"Yare... yare daze. I haven't even figured out DIO's ability, and I'm going to die here helplessly like a dog?"
Fighting through the pain, the light in Jotaro's eyes began to fade. Clearly... he was now on the verge of death.
---o---
Light Curtain Barrage
What happened? How could this be? Jotaro was just ORA-ing DIO, how could he be on the brink of death in an instant?
Utaha Kasumigaoka: "No, that's not right. Star Platinum definitely blocked DIO's attack just now. With Star Platinum's precision, power, and speed, this is impossible!"
This was a Stand with five A-ranks, a heaven-defying stat sheet. How could it fail to block The World's punch? Not just Utaha, but the entire audience outside the light curtain found it impossible to accept.
Nobita Nobi: "No, no, no! Jotaro can't die! Doraemon, you have to do something! Jotaro's about to die! Waaaaah!"
Nobita, who saw Jotaro as a hero from an anime, completely refused to accept the sight of the light fading from his eyes, and he frantically shook the blue robot cat's head.
"Nobita, stop shaking me! I know what you want to say, but even if you beg me, there's nothing I can do," Doraemon said with a sigh, breaking free from Nobita's hands. He was truly helpless now. The light had already gone out in Jotaro's eyes. Even if he went to that world, he could only use something like the Time Machine to bring him back.
Otto Apocalypse: "I never expected it to end like this. The villain defeats the hero and achieves total victory. It's truly lamentable."
Detective Conan: "It seems the true protagonist of this second viewing was DIO all along. Even the gods don't always side with humanity..."
Elysia: "No, they won't. Jotaro Kujo will absolutely not die like this. Tragedy is not the end, but the beginning of hope. DIO's ability hasn't even been revealed yet. How could he die so simply?"
In the Elysian Realm, Elysia, who firmly believed that victory would always belong to humanity, still had faith in Jotaro. No... she still had faith in humanity.
---o---
Light Curtain
The light in Jotaro Kujo's eyes dimmed. His life force was fading. He was only human. Even with an invincible Stand, he was, in the end, just a seventeen-year-old high school student. DIO, with his vampire body, could be ORA'd by Star Platinum several times and still act as if nothing had happened.
But Jotaro was different. Even if his physical condition was better than an ordinary person's, he was still human. He couldn't withstand a beating like that from The World.
"Ho... no breath, heart has stopped, life force is rapidly disappearing. Is he dead... Jotaro?"
Slowly descending from the sky, DIO, ever cautious, performed a full scan of Jotaro, just as he had done before.
"It seems you're not playing dead this time, Jotaro."
"However... even the corpse of a Joestar cannot be underestimated. After all, the Joestar family always manages to escape death through all sorts of coincidences and accidents."
DIO strutted over to Jotaro's side. He was only two meters away, but unfortunately, Star Platinum could no longer take this opportunity to attack.
"It's over. It's completely over. All I have to do now is slowly drain Jotaro's blood, like lifting the skirt of a shy girl, and everything will be finished."
Extending his long fingernails, DIO was about to pierce them into Jotaro's veins. In just two or three seconds, he would become a dried-up husk, just like Joseph before him...
Now, Joseph was dead, and the entire country had fallen into his, DIO's, hands. There was no one left who could save Jotaro.
But just then, just as DIO's fingers were about to pierce Jotaro's body, a steady voice filled with righteousness sounded in his ear.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, Godspeed!!"
"BOOM—!!"
An attack like a bolt of lightning slammed into DIO from the side without a hint of fear.
DIO, whose attention was completely focused on Jotaro, was utterly unprepared for this sudden thunderous strike. Before he could mount any defense, he was sent flying into the air.
Zenitsu Agatsuma—the yellow-haired demon hunter, the "coward" who followed Tanjiro around. Most of the audience didn't even know his name.
And yet, it was this person who had now miraculously appeared on the battlefield like a hero.
"Jotaro... Mr. Kujo... Fish-seller..."
On the brink of death, a series of voices reached the ears of the fallen Jotaro.
If he could open his eyes, he would see that the ordinary demon hunter swordsmen were now surrounding him in a protective circle. The remaining Hashira were working together, moving to support Zenitsu, to at least hold DIO back.
Shinobu Kocho, Lady Tamayo, and the other medics were desperately trying to save his life. That was the only reason he was still conscious...
"No... I can't die yet. At least, I have to take DIO with me..."
His consciousness struggled furiously in the darkness. In this world, though he had only spent a few dozen days, they were unforgettable. Those demon hunters of the Demon Slayer Corps... they had no quarrel with DIO, yet they fought him to protect the world.
And now, they had formed a protective wall of their own bodies around him. How could he, Jotaro Kujo, die so easily here?
As this thought arose, perhaps through a miracle, or perhaps through the unseen hand of fate, Jotaro propped himself up, as if rising from the dead.
"M-Mr. Jotaro?"
Although their goal was to save him, to see Jotaro, who hadn't even been breathing, come back to life was a medical miracle that left even Shinobu and Tamayo utterly shocked.
"I get it... I'm starting to understand. DIO's ability!"
That's right. Why DIO could instantly recover from grievous wounds, why DIO could bypass Star Platinum's defense to strike his real body. Everything... Jotaro now understood it all.
DIO said he had obtained a power greater than time stop. That meant the series of events he had just witnessed was the true ability of The World: Over Heaven.
"Truth... It's the power of truth. The World: Over Heaven has the ability to overwrite reality. It allows it to forcibly change the laws of nature."
"Star Platinum's attack just now, and DIO's injuries from before... it was all because The World: Over Heaven overwrote reality."