Chapter 27: Art is an Explosion
—"Phew~~ Thankfully, my skill is still a cut above!"
Wiping non-existent sweat from his brow, Cameo continued to watch Jotaro Kujo and the others with eyes full of anticipation.
'Drink. Drink it already.
Drinking this soup is truly a wonderful thing.'
Just as Cameo was starting to think that Jotaro Kujo might be the most difficult one to deal with in Joseph's group—and that once he used a few tricks to subdue Jotaro, the rest would naturally be of no concern—a new voice followed Jotaro's, ringing out:
"No, Mr. Joestar. A simple inquiry like that isn't enough to prove there's nothing wrong with this food."
'Wait, again?'
He just wanted to poison their food. Why was every single one of them popping up like a gopher, one after another, to question whether he had poisoned the meal?
Is there no justice? Is there no law?
Even though Cameo was confident in his methods, he was reaching the end of his patience with Shirou Emiya and the others.
—"Should I just come out and kill the Joestars directly?"
—"...No, no, no. My [Judgement] isn't a front-line combat Stand. I'm no match for the Joestars in a direct fight."
The thought was dismissed as soon as it surfaced.
—"I'd better stick to honestly tricking the Joestars into eating this meal."
—"With my ability, they can't see through anything anyway."
Though he was a coward when it came to fighting Shirou's group head-on, Cameo was brimming with confidence regarding his specific ability. After all, his Stand power was wish-granting. Despite the flaws—like the user being unable to use it for himself and the creations being "fakes"—no one could tell they were fake unless they were destroyed.
By the time Shirou and the others realized the truth, it would be too late. This ability to kill invisibly, to judge others according to his whims...
Truly worthy of his Stand—[Judgement]!
—"So no matter what you Joestars do, it's useless!"
—"My [Judgement] is a truly invincible Stand!"
Just as Cameo was proudly declaring that he could handle any probe or trick they threw at him, Shirou spoke. And his opening words silenced Cameo instantly:
"Mr. Joestar, confirming whether there's an issue with this food is actually very simple.
Just use your [Hermit Purple] to perform spirit-writing on the food.
As the ultimate information Stand, this answer should be child's play for [Hermit Purple]."
'Wait, wait, wait... is that even allowed?'
Cameo, who had been monitoring the situation and waiting to counter their moves, was stunned.
'Cheating!'
He wanted to report someone for cheating! Who in their right mind would think of using [Hermit Purple]'s spirit-writing to check if food was safe? Normally, wouldn't the standard procedure be to have someone else taste it first, or use silver items to test for chemical reactions?
Given Cameo's confidence in [Judgement], those normal tests would have shown absolutely no issues. But no one had ever told him that [Hermit Purple] could be used like this!
While Cameo was having this mental breakdown, Joseph—who had long since evolved to the point where he no longer needed to smash a camera, simply needing to wrap [Hermit Purple] around a blank photo—successfully placed a developed spirit-photograph onto the dining table.
Although the photo didn't explicitly write "Problem" or "No Problem," the figure revealed in the image...
If Cameo could move his Stand slightly and use its vision to see the photo, he would have discovered that the silhouette spirit-written onto the paper was none other than his own Stand—[Judgement]!
"It seems the answer is quite obvious, Mr. Joestar."
Shirou stood up. Similarly, Jotaro and the others, having seen the photo, stood up one after another, fixing their gazes on the surrounding clay waiters.
An answer that didn't explicitly say "Problem" or "No Problem"?
Wrong! The very appearance of [Judgement] on that spirit-photo was the answer itself!
"Guests... is there something we've done wrong?"
Cameo, still unaware that he had been exposed, could only hope that Joseph's [Hermit Purple] was as unreliable as the rumors suggested—that every attempt at spirit-writing was
hit-or-miss. Forcing himself to continue, he manipulated a clay waiter to say: "The chicken soup won't taste good if it gets cold..."
The response the clay waiter received, however, was a single shout:
"ORA—!!"
Along with a strike from [Star Platinum] that blew the waiter-puppet back into its original form as a pile of mud.
"As I thought, these waiters are all clay puppets made by [Judgement]."
Jotaro, who had only committed to attacking the waiters after receiving Shirou's hint, confirmed the result of his strike. He validated Shirou's earlier suspicion: "The fact that they said in unison that the food was fine and that no new staff had been hired...
They really were all replaced by the power of [Judgement].
Now that we know that, there's no need to hold back."
Seeing that the clay puppets didn't flee—but instead, once their identities were revealed, began to swarm them for a full-scale assault—not only Jotaro, but Shirou and the rest lost all psychological burden.
One by one, they summoned their Stands!
—[Fake Magician's Red]!
—[Magician's Red]!
—[Hierophant Green]!
And then...
BOOM—!!!