"The range has reached its limit, hasn't it! Once I pull you in front of me, I'll show you what I can do!"
Ghiaccio let out an arrogant laugh as he saw Heaven's Stairway getting closer and closer as he pulled it.
"I'm going to freeze your main body along with your Stand into ice..."
Ghiaccio's voice abruptly stopped.
"What did you say you'd freeze?"
Appearing before Ghiaccio was not the main body and Stand he imagined, but only the Stand.
Ghiaccio's eyes widened as he looked at Heaven's Stairway.
Is this guy's Stand not a close-range power type? No, based on his previous performance, he didn't seem to be a long-range type. If he were long-range, where's his main body? Did he fall into the sea!?
That's right, in front of Ghiaccio was only Heaven's Stairway. Takatsuki, as the main body, was nowhere to be found. The words he had just heard came from Heaven's Stairway's mouth.
"Could it be that this guy's Stand is like Melone's, a long-range automatic operation type? Using other people's Stands to create new Stands?"
It wasn't surprising that Ghiaccio was overthinking, after all, their group had someone who created Stands using other people's blood, and the Stands created could also speak, like that little thing that just called him father.
It's important to know that while both close-range power types and long-range automatic operation types can be humanoid Stands with extremely strong close-combat abilities, their essence is completely different.
With the former, if the main body is injured, the Stand will also be injured, while with the latter, it will not affect the main body at all.
"Ah!!! Never mind! No matter what type it is, just destroy it!"
Ghiaccio wasn't stupid, but faced with such a complex situation, he didn't have time to think too much. He directly swung his fists and punched Heaven's Stairway.
His proud armor could block all damage, giving him the capital to engage in close combat with other Stands.
But...
"Nani!!!"
A sudden darkness swallowed Ghiaccio, and Ghiaccio's attack landed in empty space, hitting nothing.
"What happened!"
Ghiaccio felt as if he had gone blind, seeing nothing, but the ground beneath him was still tangibly present, and the ice blocks he had generated by unleashing cold air around him were also tangibly present.
But...
Why couldn't he see!?
Standing in the distance, Takatsuki, who had transformed from a large bird back into human form, watched Ghiaccio attacking wildly around him without speaking.
He looked at a rectangular card in his hand. The card depicted a graceful, elegant woman in black, like a tarot card, with English written below it.
THE DARK
Darkness...
This was the item Takatsuki had drawn from the gacha after defeating multiple enemies and contemplating for a long time.
Takatsuki, who originally didn't want to draw cards because he hadn't obtained Formaggio's Stand ability, thought for a long time. Or rather, during the dozen or so hours in the room inside the turtle, after reaching a certain level of reconciliation and trust with the Bucciarati Squad, he decided to draw an S-rank item to facilitate the completion of his mission.
As for the other things he drew, he naturally left them in the room inside the turtle or simply discarded them.
It seemed that because he had lost the luck bonus from his main body, Takatsuki had to draw a full hundred times to get an S-rank item this time, and the A-rank items were also completely pity draws.
But the result was still good.
His explanation to others was that this was part of his Stand ability, and by paying some price, he could obtain some items.
Among the low-level items, most were cold weapons and high-value valuables like gold jewelry, which Takatsuki directly discarded. However, what he didn't care for, others really wanted.
This was also why he quickly became familiar with Mista and Narancia.
Both were straightforward people. They liked what they liked and wanted what they wanted. However, taking favors made them feel indebted, and after taking Takatsuki's things, their favorability towards Takatsuki greatly increased.
However, Takatsuki didn't care about the favorability of two men.
Takatsuki didn't think much of anything below A-rank. If it were the original Takatsuki, he wouldn't even think much of A-rank items.
But now, he could only make do with them.
The reason Takatsuki transformed into a bird in the recent battle was due to an A-rank item, a Devil Fruit, the Bird-Bird Fruit, Albatross form.
This Devil Fruit was almost useless aside from its flight ability, and it was also an artificial Devil Fruit, which is why its rating was so low.
If it were the original Takatsuki, he would never have eaten it himself, and he would have felt like he was scamming others if he gave it to someone close to him.
However, since it was Fugo's body, he just ate it.
After jumping from the bridge, he feigned being carried by Heaven's Stairway towards the sea, but in reality, he had already transformed into an albatross and flown to the other end of the bridge, circling behind Ghiaccio. With Heaven's Stairway's panel data exploding, it had long surpassed the range limit of a close-range power Stand, but Takatsuki was merely feigning weakness and maintaining the disguise.
Then, using that S-rank item, the Clow Card: Dark, he made Ghiaccio lose his vision.
This card had no destructive power, but it didn't need any. Just like the current situation, Takatsuki felt there was no better card to use than this one.
Ghiaccio was still attacking wildly in place like a headless fly, while Heaven's Stairway had long since darted to the side.
Ghiaccio thought he had pulled Heaven's Stairway's fishing line to its limit, but it was just an illusion Takatsuki had given him.
After making Ghiaccio lose his vision, Heaven's Stairway quickly extended its fishing line again, moving away from Ghiaccio.
White Album's armor gave Ghiaccio extremely strong defense, but it also completely nullified his sense of touch, and his other senses were greatly diminished. Without vision, he almost completely lost his perception of the outside world.
When Ghiaccio remembered the fishing line in his hand and began pulling it, attempting to forcefully drag Heaven's Stairway in front of him, Takatsuki watched amusedly as Heaven's Stairway stood three meters away from Ghiaccio, continuously producing an endless supply of fishing line from its fingertips.
According to Takatsuki's estimation, Heaven's Stairway's fishing line could extend up to two kilometers, a very exaggerated distance.
Watching Ghiaccio continuously pull the fishing line towards himself with both hands, Takatsuki looked at another location.
The fishhook, originally held in Ghiaccio's hand, had secretly slipped out due to Ghiaccio losing his vision and sense of touch.
Because of the armor, Ghiaccio couldn't feel that the fishhook had slipped out.
Beach Boy's fishing line was very peculiar.
Although it had a limit, it wasn't a conventional physical law that required more fishing line to be released from the source; it could abruptly extend at any position.
Therefore, the fishing line originally wrapped around Ghiaccio's arm abruptly extended, and the fishhook, as if alive, slowly moved like a swimming fish.
Ghiaccio freezing the surrounding air could not stop the fishhook's movement.
These frozen ice blocks were not Stands; in front of the fishhook and fishing line, they were things that could be directly ignored and passed through, and the fishhook's target was behind Ghiaccio.
Although Ghiaccio's Stand armor could not be directly penetrated by the fishhook, there was a small hole behind this armor, at the connection between the helmet and the neck, which was Ghiaccio's ventilation hole for breathing.
Although Ghiaccio could freeze the air to block it, the frozen air was as good as nothing in front of Beach Boy's fishhook.
"Gah!"
Although he couldn't see, Ghiaccio still felt it when the fishhook entered through the ventilation hole and hooked onto his body.
"Nani!!!"
"How could this be... the fishhook was clearly in my hand..."
The darkness around Ghiaccio receded, and he finally saw Heaven's Stairway standing not far from him. At this moment, there was still a large coil of fishing line at Heaven's Stairway's feet; the fishing line that had been wrapped tightly around his arm was not even half of that.
"How is that possible!"
Ghiaccio's eyes were bloodshot; he couldn't understand why Heaven's Stairway's range was so exaggerated, but it was too late, and he knew his defeat was certain.
Once Beach Boy's fishhook hit, it wouldn't let go, and the opponent could easily destroy his heart or brain.
However, this usage was what Pesci would choose.
In fact, Takatsuki always felt this usage was a great waste.
Pesci used the fishhook to attack vital points to be lethal because he lacked offensive power himself.
But if the fishing line was used well and cooperated with others...
Heaven's Stairway raised one hand, and the screen on that hand switched to the appearance of White Snake, striking the fishing line in its hand with a hand chop.
Special energy instantly transmitted along the fishing line to Ghiaccio's body.