I should have gone to Takatsuki and Mei, why did I end up here?
Kiana, who had jumped out of the window, could only flee frantically in a safe direction because Yellow Temperance was closely following her. The window she jumped from happened to be the hotel's back alley. To return to the main entrance and seek help from others, she would have to break through Yellow Temperance's blockade, but judging by its appearance, it was clearly impossible for her to get past it.
Moreover, Kiana's instincts told her that once this Stand latched onto her, she wouldn't be able to shake it off.
"Hahahaha! Run, run!"
Rubber Soul also jumped down from upstairs. Yellow Temperance covered his body like armor, completely concealing every inch of his skin.
"After Lord Dio bestowed upon me this powerful strength, I, Rubber Soul! Am invincible!"
Using Yellow Temperance as armor, Rubber Soul chased after Kiana.
Kiana, as a warrior who could fight Honkai Beasts and possessed innate divine strength, had strong mobility. However, surprisingly, Rubber Soul's speed was also not slow, completely unlike what a normal person could achieve.
Yellow Temperance shouldn't be the type that enhances the user's body either.
Street?
Kiana quickly rushed onto a street. Not far away, there was a teahouse with some customers inside.
No, I can't involve innocent people.
Kiana had no intention of fleeing into the crowd to escape in the chaos, because Dio's subordinates were people who wouldn't care about ordinary lives. Even if she could use others to escape, it wasn't something Kiana wanted to see.
Use The Hand?
No, The Hand's range for erasing space is too small, and Yellow Temperance is too large. Moreover, it doesn't reflect damage back to the user, and with such a large size, even if it stood still for her to erase, it would take a long time.
And once she was caught by the opponent, it would be very troublesome.
Kiana had already recalled some information about Yellow Temperance; its weakness was the user. If she could force him to the water and make him suffocate, forcing him to release Yellow Temperance's defense…
"Don't think you can run!"
Just as Kiana was constantly searching for a river, Yellow Temperance on Rubber Soul's body suddenly surged. A part of its body suddenly extended, swinging towards Kiana's body with inertia, like snot flung out by a primary school student with a severe cold.
"The Hand!"
The blue and white Stand appeared behind Kiana. Even without looking back, she could tell what was happening behind her.
With a hum, The Hand's right hand traced an arc in the air, and a part of the attacking Yellow Temperance was erased by its right hand.
After the failed attack, Rubber Soul did not continue to let the partially lost Yellow Temperance attack. Instead, he recalled it to his body, maintaining the state of completely covering his body.
Finally…
After running at full speed for a few minutes, Kiana saw a river.
"I remember this place; I stayed here yesterday."
Kiana remembered that when she was enjoying the cool water here yesterday, she found the river quite deep. So the next problem was how to force the opponent into the water.
"Nowhere to run, huh! You little brat, you can really run. Once I digest you, I'll pour shit into your nose!"
Rubber Soul, with Yellow Temperance, lunged at Kiana. A few bullets fired from her twin pistols hit him but had no effect whatsoever.
Just as Rubber Soul began to mock her, Kiana leaped into the water, and The Hand grabbed the lunging Yellow Temperance, pulling it into the water as well.
This should work, right…
Relying on her physical prowess, Kiana could hold her breath underwater for a long time, as long as…
Then Kiana saw Rubber Soul's mocking gaze.
"Do you think I still need to breathe like weak humans do?!"
Even underwater, Rubber Soul showed no signs of pain. Instead, Yellow Temperance on his body spread towards The Hand, and he continued to mock her.
"Under Lord Dio's grace, I, the great one, have evolved into a higher being than humans, possessing immortality! Didn't you notice?! My Stand has become so huge because it can constantly feed on meat to grow larger, and the easiest large source of meat here! Isn't it humans?! Hahahaha! I never imagined human blood could be so delicious!"
Rubber Soul was immensely pleased. Originally, his mind had been twisted by Takatsuki's Stand ability, causing him to seek deadly revenge against Dio.
But Dio did not kill him directly. Instead, he used his flesh buds to completely alter Rubber Soul's brain, and after discovering that he was controlled, injected his own essence to transform him into a zombie.
As a zombie, although he feared sunlight, his Yellow Temperance perfectly overcame this weakness for him.
Yellow Temperance and its user exist independently, so even if exposed to sunlight, it would not reflect back to the user. He could completely wrap his body with Yellow Temperance, making him immune to sunlight.
After becoming a zombie, Rubber Soul hunted down lone humans around Cairo, partly to offer blood to Dio and partly to cultivate his Stand. His Yellow Temperance had now grown to the size of more than a dozen humans.
Therefore, he didn't care at all that Kiana used The Hand to cut off a part of his Stand, because compared to the massive size of Yellow Temperance, the small piece that one hand could cut off was nothing at all.
"Want to suffocate me? This underwater is your burial ground!"
Yellow Temperance had already broken through The Hand's blockade and enveloped Kiana's body, and a burning pain spread throughout the areas covered by Yellow Temperance.
Yellow Temperance was a Stand that would feed; any place it touched would be slowly corroded and devoured as if falling into stomach acid. Once contaminated, it was impossible to escape.
Vampire...
The Hand suddenly gave up on attacking Yellow Temperance. That little attack was like a drop in the bucket for Yellow Temperance; Kiana's body would be completely eaten before it could be killed.
The Hand waved towards the sky above the two of them.
Rubber Soul felt the surrounding environment change; the two of them had abruptly moved up several meters.
"Hey, hey, weren't you just trying to drag me down? Why do you want to leave now? I'm having a great time eating!"
Although he said this, Rubber Soul, while controlling Yellow Temperance to continue pulling Kiana down, also silently continued to wrap himself with Yellow Temperance.
After all, he was still a zombie who feared sunlight.
Kiana ignored Rubber Soul's mockery. She couldn't speak underwater, so she could only continuously cut away space upwards, bringing the two of them closer to the water's surface.
When Kiana brought Rubber Soul out of the water, her body was almost completely enveloped by Yellow Temperance.
"Hahaha! What if you escape! You can't resist anymore!"
Rubber Soul was wrapped in Yellow Temperance and connected to Kiana. He wasn't worried about Kiana escaping because she couldn't break free.
"So what..."
Kiana's expression remained unchanged despite the burning sensation throughout her body. She took a deep breath.
"Huh?"
Before Rubber Soul could react to where his bad premonition came from, a golden-yellow energy suddenly burst out from Kiana's body.
"Even if it's a Stand, it's still a living creature!"
Kiana didn't understand the theory of Yellow Temperance, nor did she understand its biological form.
But she knew that this Stand could be touched by ordinary people, could be blocked by ordinary things, and would eat real things, so it should be a living creature!
And living creatures are the best conductors of Hamon!
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
If Kiana's pain from being digested was like having hydrochloric acid poured on her skin, then Rubber Soul's pain was like having magma poured on him.
He instinctively lost control of Yellow Temperance, and the connection of Yellow Temperance broke, causing his entire body to fall into the water. The Yellow Temperance on Kiana's body also fell off.
No, it wasn't a loss of control! It was intentionally cutting off its tail to survive!
Kiana floated in the river, seeing a figure climbing onto the riverbank not far away.
His body was already incomplete; his left leg and left hand were completely gone, a large hole was in his abdomen, and even a third of his head had disappeared.
But even so, he was still alive!
"Don't run!"
Witnessing such terrifying vitality, Kiana knew she couldn't let this guy escape, otherwise, who knew how many people would be harmed.
Without another word, she swam towards the riverbank.