Chapter 52: DIO, Death
First, Jonathan's body. Although doing this felt like an affront to Joseph and the others, Shirou Emiya had no intention of holding back. Or rather, instead of letting a vampire like DIO continue to desecrate Jonathan's body, it was better for him to let Jonathan's remains return to dust.
With this thought, the fists of [Pseudo-The World] opened up with full force, violently blasting apart the interior of the torso. He directly tore out DIO's head—which, from within the body, still radiated a primal terror toward Shirou and this stopped time, a fear displayed unobstructed in his pupils—and exposed it to the light... No, rather, he funneled a century's worth of overdue Hamon baptism entirely into DIO's skull!
"I suppose something is missing since I can't hear your final wails in this frozen world, DIO.
But this feeling—of being able to see and feel everything yet being unable to resist—is actually more terrifying, isn't it? Oh, I forgot. You probably can't hear anything right now anyway."
Shirou, reciting the very words DIO had once spoken in the original timeline, gripped the head in his hand with immense strength.
"—Hamon Overdrive!!"
He crushed it with a surge of power. The head, already crumbling under the evaporation of the Hamon, was allowed to scatter with the wind the moment time resumed its flow.
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On the other side, just as DIO had spotted Joseph's group, Joseph and the others had seen DIO flying toward them. Even if they didn't know exactly what DIO intended to do, having been briefed on the Stand abilities of both DIO and [Anubis], they understood the situation perfectly.
If the infinite growth of [Anubis] was "troublesome," then DIO's ability was "invincible." Aside from Jotaro Kujo, they had no means of countering Time Stop. Thus, Joseph, realizing that continued hiding would only make things worse, immediately changed his strategy.
His built-up Hamon and the "Slinky Punch" he had been holding back were suddenly unleashed. Using this technique that [Anubis] could never have predicted, he funneled Hamon into the bystander currently wielding the sword—whose consciousness and body were both being puppeted by the blade!
"I see, so this is the Hamon energy that Lord DIO was so wary of?"
The bystander's arm, struck by the Hamon, twitched. While Hamon is effective against ordinary humans, Joseph wouldn't dare use his full power to "cook" an innocent person's body. There were advantages to having information leaked, after all.
"I, [Anubis]—"
"Your next line is: 'I, [Anubis], have already memorized your Hamon attack patterns!'" Joseph interrupted the Stand's boasting.
"Have already memorized your Hamon attack patterns... Wh-what!?"
[Anubis] looked in horror at Joseph, who stood with a confident expression that seemed to say "You're already dead," having ceased all movement after firing that one Hamon strike. It wasn't just that Joseph had predicted its words; it was the arm of the innocent man it was controlling. The spot hit by the Hamon had actually broken free from its control.
Not only did it ignore the Stand's intent to keep slashing at Joseph, but the strength in the hand vanished as if all energy had been drained in an instant. The motion to raise the sword turned into a fumble that sent the blade flying through the air!
This was Hamon. It seemed unremarkable, but once Joseph struck the bystander's body, the Hamon began to fight [Anubis] for control over the man's muscles, making it impossible for him to grip the sword. Once it lost its wielder, the infinitely growing [Anubis] was nothing more than an antique sword unable to move on its own.
"Avdol!"
Seeing everything go according to plan, Joseph immediately called out to Avdol, who was on standby.
"Yes, I Am! [Magician's Red]—Crossfire Hurricane!!"
The surging, high-temperature flames incinerated [Anubis] instantly, leaving it no time for last words. Only after finishing this did Joseph and Avdol turn with heavy hearts toward DIO's direction.
They watched as, the moment time resumed, DIO crumbled into dust in Shirou Emiya's hands and drifted away...
"...Huh?"
"Eeeeeh? DI... DIO is dead just like that!?"
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"How is this possible? How can this be!?
DIO, my dear friend! How could you die so simply? This is impossible!?
...Right, this is a dream! This must be that detestable Prophet copying my Stand and pulling me into this incredibly fake illusion using my own power!"
It wasn't just Joseph and the others who couldn't believe it.
Although a young Joseph could hold his own against a horde of vampires even while exhausted from fighting Pillar Men, DIO was no ordinary vampire—he was a Stand user with the power to stop time.
Combined with the stories Joseph had heard from his grandparents and the descriptions from Avdol and the others—who still trembled when recalling their encounters with him—DIO's image as a powerful, beautiful, and immortal being was deeply ingrained.
This was doubly true for Father Pucci, who was fanatically loyal to DIO. Seeing this scene as he rushed to help, his first instinct was that he was under a Stand attack. It had to be a hallucination created by that cursed Shirou Emiya.
"If you think you can use my own Stand against me, you are too naive!
My [Whitesnake] is a long-distance pursuit type, but it possesses its own consciousness like an automatic type!
Once [Whitesnake] wakes me up from outside this illusion, your trickery will crumble, Prophet!"
Pucci shouted with confidence. And what was the state of mind of [Whitesnake], upon whom Pucci placed such high hopes?
"Pucci! You idiot!!"
Yes, it was cursing. It was cursing its own Stand user. Because...
"Pity. It's full in here; you have nowhere left to run."
Shirou Emiya, having crushed a manhole cover under his heel, was now standing with Jotaro Kujo and the others—who had reunited with him at some unknown point.
Appearing before [Whitesnake], Shirou said: "Not just you, [Whitesnake], but every other Stand user under DIO's command as well."
Announcement!
Hello everyone, I'm VarieTL 😊
I'm happy to announce that I have posted 2 new Fanfiction!
You can find them in my second account VarieTL02(an account can only have a max of 20 fanfiction it seems)
Hikigaya and the Witches' Romantic Comedy
Hikigaya Hachiman, a high school student and staunch believer in celibacy, lives by the motto "Loneliness is freedom."
That's how it should be.
However, on his first day of high school, this motto is shattered.
A gyaru who transferred for him, an incredibly cute pink-haired girl sitting next to him who's always secretly watching him, a perfect superhero with long, straight black hair and an overflowing sense of justice, a childhood friend who always smiles and approaches him in a kimono, and that lone wolf with no boundaries…
Hikigaya Hachiman's daily life is completely disrupted.
Even more absurdly, all these girls are witches.
Crossover Oregairu/Manosoba (Magical Girl Witch Trials)
The Trash Returned from Warhammer
Shinji Ikari awakens in Neo Tokyo-2 with his memories and iron will as a Space Marine Librarian who served the Imperium for a century.
When a letter arrives from his estranged father, Gendo Ikari, summoning him to Neo Tokyo-3, Shinji ignores his past traumas. Instead, he interprets the summons as a holy mission from the God-Emperor. The former Astartes sets out to defend humanity once more, treating the events of Evangelion as his next theater of war.
Read ahead (100 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting