---o---
Light Curtain - Asakusa Streets
The Demon Slayer Corps and the two JoJos—this was arguably the strongest lineup the forces of good could currently muster.
In the scene, the group walked through the bustling city. The surroundings were lively, and the night view of Asakusa was among the most modern of its era. Yet, as they made their way toward the city center, a mysterious, cold aura hung heavy in the air.
Along the way, a bone-chilling wind swept over them. It wasn't winter yet, and everyone else around them seemed perfectly normal, but the atmosphere felt terrifying and desolate, as if something terrible was about to happen.
It was obvious... it was killing intent. A killing intent so deep it seeped into one's bones, powerful enough to envelop the entire city. DIO was watching them. The blood flowing through Jotaro's and Joseph's veins was trembling in proximity to him.
The sun gradually set. Everyone knew that when night truly fell, the real battle would begin. After sunset, DIO would launch his attack.
As the screen slowly darkened, the hearts of the audience outside and everyone within the scene were in their throats. The bone-deep killing intent grew more distinct, and the memory etched into their blood grew clearer.
"Haaa~" DIO exhaled a frosty breath, having finally waited for the sun to set.
"Come, descendants of Jonathan. Let me see if you can unravel the mystery of my Stand, The World." He slowly walked out from his cold castle. This was a trial.
A trial that DIO absolutely could not escape. Fate was guiding Jonathan's descendants to stand in his way. Likewise, fate was also showing him the path to Heaven.
With a confident smile, DIO emerged from the government building and boarded his private car—a black sedan. In that era, only the wealthiest high-ranking officials and nobles could afford such a western vehicle.
After DIO settled into the car, the scene's color palette shifted from cold to warm. In contrast to DIO's leisurely pace, Joseph was currently in another car with the Water, Wind, and Sound Hashira.
To increase efficiency, they had decided to split up to find DIO's location. The Demon Slayer Corps' Kasugai Crows, with their ability to fly and remain hidden, would serve as tools for communication, ensuring they wouldn't be picked off one by one.
Joseph, sitting in the driver's seat, suddenly seemed to sense something. His expression shifted slightly. Glancing at the black sedan approaching from behind in the rearview mirror, he spoke to the Water Hashira beside him. "Something's wrong with that car. It's following us. DIO is in that car."
Hearing this, the expressions of the three Hashira changed. They looked toward the rear window. The short-tempered Wind Hashira even wanted to get out and settle things with DIO right then and there, but he was quickly stopped.
"Excellent. Now it's my turn to shine!" The Sound Hashira flashed a flamboyant smile. Several black spheres had appeared in his hand from nowhere. He hurled them through the rear window directly at DIO's car.
The sound of gunpowder grinding in the air was followed by a rapid expansion and contraction. Once they exploded, their power would be enough to flip the entire vehicle.
However, faced with this, the corners of DIO's mouth curled slightly upward. He sat in his seat, completely unfazed, and simply lifted a single finger. In the next instant, a golden phantom appeared in front of the car and flicked its finger.
Immediately, the black spheres of gunpowder detonated, but it was all smoke and no fire. Not only did it fail to flip the car, it didn't even scorch the paint. The World had deflected the entire attack elsewhere.
"H-How is that possible?" The Sound Hashira, seeing his attack rendered useless, couldn't help but cry out in astonishment, his face a mask of disbelief.
So that was DIO's Stand. Its precision was terrifying. Combined with DIO's vampiric constitution, it was simply monstrous!
"Is this the power of DIO?" In the driver's seat, Joseph's face instantly darkened. He had already held high expectations for DIO, but with that single move, the power of DIO's Stand had far surpassed Hermit Purple.
"I can't let myself stay on the defensive. Come on, DIO! Let me show you my Hermit Purple!"
Hermit Purple Hamon Overdrive! Purple vines entwined with golden Hamon, sparking with electricity as they shot straight toward DIO in the back seat.
Hamon was DIO's weakness; he would never take such a hit head-on. As expected, The World manifested again, smashing its fist violently against Hermit Purple's vines.
The immense force was instantly transmitted through the Stand to Joseph, causing his recently healed injuries to throb with pain once more.
"As I thought, it's a bit much to ask a support-type Stand like Hermit Purple to go head-to-head, isn't it? But DIO... now I know your Stand's range!"
Joseph was Joseph, after all. He never expected to defeat DIO so easily from the start. The previous attack was merely a probe using Hermit Purple. What he hadn't anticipated was that The World's power was several times greater than his own Stand's. If it weren't for the defensive properties of Hamon, he likely would have died from his Stand being destroyed.
The disparity in power quickly became apparent. Although young Joseph's Hermit Purple was not weak, having developed abilities like Hamon amplification that his older self lacked, its stats had already finished growing after the battle with Kars. Against a Stand like The World, which boasted both immense power in its stats and a powerful ability, it was still sorely lacking.
With almost no suspense, Joseph was on the verge of defeat. But... for the audience who firmly believed in Joseph's incredible intellect, the battle had only just begun.
"The Stand's attack range... is it about ten meters? And from the way it attacks with its fists, it probably doesn't have any long-range capabilities. It's a close-range power type, similar to Star Platinum."
Joseph analyzed rapidly, quickly dissecting The World's capabilities, aside from 'Time Stop'.
"If I can attack from outside ten meters while DIO is distracted, then I have a chance to win!!"
The condition for defeating DIO was clear. Unfortunately, neither Star Platinum nor Hermit Purple possessed long-range combat abilities.
---o---
Light Curtain Barrage
As the audience outside the screen expected, Joseph quickly analyzed most of DIO's Stand. But Joseph was not omniscient. He had missed the most critical and important point... time stop!
A large part of DIO's power came from his ability to stop the time of the entire universe, even if only for a few short seconds. That ability alone was something few across the entire multiverse could achieve. The power of time stop was too strong, too unsolvable. Even for Joseph, the audience was terrified, afraid he would never uncover the secret of DIO's time stop. As long as that mystery remained unsolved, DIO was absolutely invincible.
Sora: "DIO already used time stop once during his attack. The World appeared out of thin air. Joseph missed it because he was busy driving."
Having just finished a game with his sister, Sora was now fully immersed in the video. He put himself in Joseph's shoes, imagining what he would do in that situation.
Detective Conan: "Have faith in Joseph. He's the man who exiled a god. The current DIO is far from being on the same level as Kars after he became the Ultimate Lifeform."
That may be true, but Conan admitted to himself that if he hadn't known about DIO's Stand ability in advance, his own deductions would have been, at best, the same as Joseph's. Time stop was just too difficult to guess.
Kurumi Tokisaki: "Even if they knew, it wouldn't be so easy to defeat DIO, would it? Neither Hermit Purple nor Star Platinum can attack DIO during stopped time."
Her brow furrowed in thought. Although she was known as the "Worst Spirit," her brand of evil was vastly different from DIO's. DIO's evil was too pure, and the things he did were far more terrible than anything she had done. At least she, Kurumi Tokisaki, had never thought of ruling the world.
Noriaki Kakyoin: "Be that as it may, the current situation is very bad. Forget DIO's time stop; just having Mr. Joestar in the driver's seat is the biggest danger."
Watching Joseph in the driver's seat, Kakyoin wore a strange expression. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but during their brief journey of less than a few dozen days, every single vehicle they had ridden in had experienced some kind of problem, big or small. If he didn't know what kind of person Joseph was, Kakyoin would have long ago suspected him of being a spy Stand user sent by DIO.
---o---
Light Curtain
As time passed, Joseph and the others tried to shake the black sedan that was tailing them, wanting to temporarily evade DIO's spearhead. As long as the Kasugai Crows could keep track of him, it would be fine.
But clearly, DIO wasn't going to give them that chance, sticking close behind the four.
"The commercial district is ahead! It's just getting dark, so the streets are crowded. We can't shake him!" The Wind Hashira, Sanemi, looked at the passing cars and pedestrians with a hint of anxiety.
But Joseph only slammed his foot harder on the accelerator. "Don't worry, now it's time for me to show off my driving skills!"
The car weaved through the crowded road of pedestrians and vehicles. It had to be said, Joseph had perfectly inherited his father's driving talent. Despite having little practice, he was proficient with almost every type of vehicle.
Behind them, the nameless driver, whose racing skills were clearly inferior to Joseph's, spoke to DIO with fear in his voice. "L-Lord DIO, it's the commercial district up ahead. The roads are all blocked. We've lost them."
His expression was filled with terror, a fear born from a fundamental difference in their level of existence. In DIO's presence, he felt like an ant, unable to even breathe properly.
However, DIO simply pointed to the sidewalk with complete indifference and said coolly, "Isn't the sidewalk wide enough?"
A single sentence that perfectly showcased his disregard for life. In DIO's eyes, the pedestrians on the sidewalk were nothing more than insignificant pieces of bread. Their lives were not lives at all.
Under the terrifying pressure from DIO in the back seat, the nameless driver stomped on the gas pedal, plowing straight into the crowded sidewalk.
In an instant, there was a blur of flesh and blood. Screams, shouts, the sound of a stampede, and the roar of the engine all mixed together, painting a picture straight from hell.
"You... you bastard!!!" Ahead, the three Hashira and Joseph in the car saw this, and their hearts felt as if they were bleeding. They had overestimated DIO's humanity. If they had known earlier, they would never have risked entering the commercial district.
At this point, shaking DIO was no longer possible. It would only cause more innocent people to get hurt. So, the four of them quickly got out of the car, preparing to face DIO directly.
It was at that moment that a black shadow slammed into the car they had been riding in at an incredible speed. A close-up from the light curtain showed clearly that it was the nameless driver.
And so, another vehicle was lost in the history of Joseph Joestar's travels.
"Oh? Not running anymore? I thought you'd scurry and hide like sewer rats."
DIO slowly emerged from the wrecked black sedan. He wore a red cape over a yellow jacket, with a black shirt underneath. His crimson eyes were fixed on the four people before him.
"You complete disregard for life... what an evil, sinful demon! I, Sanemi Shinazugawa, will never forgive you!!"
As the master of Wind Breathing, Sanemi, though he excelled at close combat, his long-range sword-wind attacks were not to be underestimated. Knowing DIO's Stand had a ten-meter range, the utterly enraged Sanemi immediately launched an attack.
The sword techniques of Wind Breathing tore through the air, carrying extreme fury as they flew toward DIO.
The next second, however, DIO's figure vanished from the spot. Then, a figure fell like a kite with a broken string, landing in front of Joseph.
"S-Sanemi?" Joseph's pupils constricted, unable to comprehend what had just happened as he stared at the rapidly cooling body of Sanemi Shinazugawa.
How could this be? DIO's Stand range was only ten meters, that was certain. But... but why did he suddenly appear less than ten meters from Sanemi?
"Noisy. To spout such nonsense in my, DIO's, presence is the height of foolishness."
"Joseph Joestar, grandson of this body, my rival Jonathan Joestar. You're next!"
With a wicked smile, DIO looked at Joseph's shocked expression with immense satisfaction. No matter how clever Joseph was, it was useless. He would never guess the true ability of The World.