"You bastard! I'm going to slaughter you!"
Genuinely infuriated by the intruder's arrogance, Okuyasu Nijimura instantly summoned his Stand. [The Hand] manifested beside him, its heavy right palm already beginning a broad, sweeping arc through the air.
"?"
BOOM!
Accelerator had been absolutely certain that he was untouchable in this world, but the reality of the situation shattered his expectations in a single heartbeat.
Whoosh!
The distance between him and the delinquent vanished in an instant, as if space itself had been compressed or deleted.
Because of their sudden proximity, Accelerator's [Reflection] triggered, hurling Okuyasu backward with a force that would have pulped a normal human.
But even as the boy was sent spiraling away in a cloud of blood and broken bone, he had managed to complete the swipe of his Stand's right hand.
Splat.
"..."
A sharp, searing pain flooded Accelerator's senses. He looked down in shock to see that he had been slammed against the ground. More importantly, his right arm was simply gone, severed by an invisible force.
Something unknown had bypassed the logic of his [Reflection] and caused a catastrophic anomaly in the vectors of the space he occupied.
"Okuyasu!"
Watching his friend roll across the pavement in a spray of blood, Josuke didn't hesitate for a second. He ignored the threat of the enemy and sprinted toward his fallen comrade.
'What the hell just happened?!'
For the first time in his life, the look of smug superiority had vanished from Accelerator's face. In its place was a rare expression of genuine suspicion and alarm.
'He broke through my reflection?'
'It wasn't a physical matter. It wasn't energy.'
'Was that a spatial manipulation ability?!'
He pushed himself up from the ground, his mind frantically analyzing the data from the last few seconds.
Whether it was his sudden "teleportation" into Okuyasu's range or the movement of the boy's arm, there hadn't been a single trace of "Energy" or "Mass" for him to calculate.
There hadn't been a ripple in the airflow. No change in the wind pressure.
It was as if the laws of physics had simply been overwritten in a localized area. That was, without a doubt, a power rooted in the manipulation of space itself.
If it had been a standard spatial ability, he would have had his filters ready; after all, he was well acquainted with the mechanics of teleportation.
'But this guy's spatial power is a type I've never seen before. It operates outside of my previous calculations.'
Grasping that answer, Accelerator felt a cold sweat prickle his skin.
It was only because his calculation capacity was being divided among so many variables that the "Reflection" had failed to adjust in time to prevent the damage.
He took small comfort in the fact that he had avoided a direct hit to his vitals. If the swipe had been more precise, his entire body might have been torn in half.
He had paid for the information with an arm, but in his mind, it was a profitable trade.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
"..."
The maid took advantage of the opening to launch several more throwing knives. Accelerator didn't even bother to look at her.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
As expected, the knives were instantly caught in his [Reflection] and sent whistling back toward the thrower. Sakuya dodged her own projectiles with ease, her face darkening as she analyzed the mechanic.
'I stopped time for a fraction of a second, but even within that void, the knives were impossible to land. The moment time resumes, the reflection triggers with absolute priority.'
'It's like a wall of iron that denies all entry.'
Though the exact principle eluded her, she understood the surface manifestation perfectly. It was a form of absolute reflection.
A domain of exclusion that rejected all incoming objects and attacks.
The mechanism was still a mystery, but knowing the nature of the wall was enough for now.
"[Crazy Diamond]!"
Josuke summoned his Stand. The pink and blue spirit unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of punches upon the broken body of Okuyasu. DORA DORA DORA DORA DORA!
"Heh... thanks, Josuke."
As the horrific injuries vanished, Okuyasu sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He was perfectly healed, without a single scar to show for his brush with death.
"?"
Accelerator watched the scene with a mix of curiosity and annoyance.
The brat he had just broken in half was now standing there, looking as healthy as ever.
'Is that also a Stand power?'
This was beyond the capabilities of most healers he knew.
Okuyasu's internal organs and blood vessels had been ruptured by the force of the reflection, yet he had "returned to life" in a matter of seconds.
The Master named Josuke possessed a Stand that was exceptionally troublesome.
"Next time... I'm definitely going to erase your head!" Okuyasu shouted, his eyes fixed on Accelerator with a look of pure, murderous intent.
'Come back, Berserker. Staying here any longer is too dangerous.'
"Hmph. What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
Hearing the voice of the girl in his head, Accelerator let out a dismissive snort.
Though the current tactical situation seemed slightly unfavorable, it was far from a total loss.
He hadn't encountered a power like Okuyasu's before, but that didn't change the ultimate outcome.
Even with an unknown variable, Accelerator's mind was capable of analyzing and incorporating the logic of the anomaly into his [Reflection] given enough data.
All he needed was to observe the mechanics of the "Space" being erased.
He needed to see exactly how it moved... and how it functioned.
He had to see it clearly!
And then...
"Whoa!!"
"The guy is gone?"
Just as Okuyasu prepared to launch a second strike, the white-haired stranger simply vanished from the street.
"Wait!"
Josuke grabbed Okuyasu's shoulder, stopping him from charging into the empty air. He exchanged a significant look with Sakuya.
"His Master likely used a Command Spell to retreat."
Sakuya's voice was calm, her eyes scanning the rooftops for any sign of a lingering threat.
"It seems they didn't want to risk a prolonged engagement after we draw blood."
"That guy's power is beyond weird."
"Is it some kind of Noble Phantasm?"
Without a full understanding of the enemy's identity, the group was left with a heavy, uneasy feeling in their chests.
That illogical "Reflection" was a type of obstacle they had never faced before.
"Oh man! It's almost nine o'clock! We're completely late for school!!"
"Koichi! Take it easy!"
"Hey! Wait for me!"
"Sigh..."
From a vantage point on a nearby building, Homura Akemi watched the group depart. She had arrived just as Caster was attempting to use her time-stop against the white-haired Servant.
She had seen everything.
'Archer.'
"What is it, Miyu?"
Homura responded to the mental call, noting that Miyu rarely addressed her as anything other than by her name.
'My Stand... it seems to have awakened. Can you come back now?'
"Understood."
If Miyu was asking for her return, it meant the situation was significant.
The nature of Miyu's Stand would dictate the future of their involvement in this war.
Without a moment's hesitation, Homura turned and disappeared into the distance, heading toward their hideout.
"Mr. Jotaro, did you feel that just now? Was there another anomaly with the flow of time?"
Rohan Kishibe and Jotaro sat in the luxury sports car, discussing their shared unease.
"Yeah. Aside from the brief pause, it felt as though another kind of temporal ability was at play."
"It was like time had been accelerated. Even though it only lasted for a moment, neither you nor I have any memory of what happened in that interval."
Jotaro tried to reconstruct the last few minutes, but the gap in his memory remained a stubborn, opaque void.
He had intended to buy a magazine from the convenience store, but he had suddenly "Fast-Forwarded" to a position inside Rohan's car.
It was beyond suspicious.
"Assassin, did you notice anything?"
"I'm the same as you. I can feel that something is fundamentally wrong, but the details are hazy and blurred."
The erasure of time didn't just affect a single individual; it affected the entire fabric of the world.
When Diavolo activated [King Crimson], the rest of the world experienced a momentary "Trance."
They had lost the memory of those ten deleted seconds.
"It seems the situation in this city isn't as simple as just hunting down Yoshikage Kira."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]