Seeing the iron ball aimed at them, Yoshikage Kira panicked and grabbed Tooru's arm.
"Hey! Hurry up and have your invincible Wonder of U think of something!"
Wonder of U raised its cane and lightly tapped Yoshikage Kira's wrist, signaling him to let go of Tooru, and said in a low voice, "Don't rush. And don't panic."
It had to admit that the strength Ryosuke had shown far exceeded its estimates.
In Dio's description, Ryosuke was a ghost who could travel between worlds and attach himself to different people.
They had set their sights on Ryosuke, even letting Herto Panz go and luring Ryosuke over from another world, all to seize that soul power which allowed him to freely traverse worlds.
As long as Ryosuke's soul was absorbed, Dio was certain he could go one step further and become the king of the myriad worlds.
Tooru and Wonder of U would naturally rise along with him.
"Ryosuke is indeed very strong, but he has a fatal weakness."
Wonder of U's low voice echoed through the room. "He carries calamity so immense that even I have never heard of it, cannot even imagine it."
It had never seen so much calamity concentrated on a single person.
"Calamity and happiness correspond to each other and are influenced by the world. To his own world, Ryosuke may be an extremely important person, and thus able to suppress the outbreak of calamity."
"But here, "
Wonder of U tapped its cane on the ground.
"This is my home field."
Bringing such massive calamity over here was, to Wonder of U, equivalent to Ryosuke holding a gun to his own forehead, disengaging the safety, and handing the gun over to it.
All Wonder of U needed to do was... pull the trigger.
Bang!
A bubble burst.
But more fine bubbles, swept up by a raging wind, flew into the sky and landed on C-Moon's ten-meter defensive perimeter.
Not far away, Josuke Higashikata, his whole body covered in a faint black glow, spread his arms, with his Stand, Soft & Wet, standing behind him.
Those bubbles were Josuke's work.
[Stand: Soft & Wet]
[Ability: When a soap bubble touches something and then bursts, it can take something away from that object.]
What is taken must be something that physically exists, such as friction, a person's eyesight, sound, and so on. It cannot be something conceptual, like the soul or life itself.
And now, what Josuke Higashikata had taken away... Was gravity.
C-Moon's repulsive field vanished in an instant.
Almost at the same time, leaves imbued with the First Bomb.
A meteor flying in from beyond the sky.
A gas pipeline exploding, flames shooting into the air.
A police officer's gun accidentally discharging.
———
Countless visible and invisible attacks, pushed along by the torrent of calamity, flew toward Ryosuke.
"Star Platinum: The World!"
Time stopped.
Ryosuke pushed the meteor away, crushed the incoming bullets in his hand, and flew toward the speeding, fleeing vehicle.
But just at that moment, out of the corner of his eye, Ryosuke saw Josuke Higashikata being caught up in the explosion.
Not only Josuke, Daiya Higashikata and Joshu, who had come over to watch the commotion, were also within the range of the gas explosion.
From a rational standpoint, after purifying Josuke with the Saint's Corpse, if his Soft & Wet could evolve into "Soft & Wet, Go Beyond," it would be extremely beneficial for the battles to come.
From an emotional standpoint… Ryosuke still could not allow innocent people to die right in front of him, especially when he had the ability to save them.
He threw the iron ball in his hand toward Tooru, then turned into a gust of wind and pulled the three people within the explosion's range to safety.
Time stop ended.
The iron ball flying toward Tooru was struck by a falling meteor, knocked slightly off course, and blew out a tire.
The vehicle flipped through the air. Yoshikage Kira shouted for Killer Queen.
The pink big cat flailed with a barrage of punches, smashing through the car roof, allowing him and Tooru to escape.
On the other side, just as Ryosuke finished saving the three of them, a stone suddenly ricocheted out at an extremely tricky angle and flew toward the back of Ryosuke's head.
Star Platinum appeared and caught it in one hand.
BOOM!
The stone was a bomb set by Killer Queen.
Star Platinum was heavily damaged, and cracks also appeared across Ryosuke's body.
At the same time, a high-voltage power line snapped and fell onto Ryosuke's shoulder with a loud slap.
Zzzzt! Zzzzt!
Then came another boom. The vehicle carrying Yoshikage Kira and Tooru exploded, and a steel nail crossed dozens of meters. Amplified by the power of calamity, it precisely pierced Ryosuke's heart.
Yoshikage Kira's face lit up with joy.
Tooru also curled his lips into a smile, once again regaining his usual arrogance and composure.
The torrent of calamity.
Absolutely invincible power.
In the end, the victors would be them...
Tap~
The soft sound of footsteps froze the smiles on Yoshikage Kira's and Tooru's faces.
The high-voltage electricity was still crackling, igniting Ryosuke's clothes as fierce flames burned. And within those flames, a pair of calm eyes looked at them.
Ryosuke tore the high-voltage wire apart to keep it from hurting anyone else. His charred and torn skin fully healed in less than a second.
He glanced at Josuke, who was covered in black light.
Bang!
Ryosuke swung his arm, leaving an afterimage in the air. No one saw what happened, but Josuke passed out and collapsed into Joshu Higashikata's arms.
Soft & Wet's ability was released.
C-Moon's defensive field was restored.
Ryosuke took another step forward and casually pulled the long nail embedded in his chest, tossing it to the ground.
Clang!
The crisp sound landed in Yoshikage Kira's ears like an alarm clock ringing at six in the morning for a wage slave, at the moment it rang, his soul flew out of his body.
He stared blankly at Ryosuke's chest.
Forget wounds, not even a drop of blood flowed out.
"So this is Ryosuke…"
Yoshikage Kira's mind went completely blank.
He had always thought that the "ghost" Dio spoke of was just a figure of speech. Who would have thought it was a plain, literal description, Ryosuke really was an undying, unkillable ghost.
A bizarre ghost who could command so many powerful Stands.
'This is terrifying as hell!'
Yoshikage Kira had died once already. He turned to run, but Wonder of U grabbed him firmly.
"Once you leave my side, calamity can no longer protect you. You'll be the first one Ryosuke kills."
From the previous attack, it was clear that Killer Queen's bombs were among the very few methods that could injure Ryosuke.
If Yoshikage Kira died, Wonder of U would lose an important bargaining chip.
Yoshikage Kira glanced at Ryosuke ten meters away.
"What are you going to do?"
Tooru also looked completely lost.
Wonder of U stood in front of the two of them. "Walk over."
The closer the distance, the stronger the torrent of calamity that would be triggered.
"When he stands face-to-face with us, the power of calamity will reach its peak."
Tooru and Yoshikage Kira understood what it meant.
Running away was impossible.
With Ryosuke's speed, flight, and Hermit Purple, there was no way they could escape.
The only hope was...
"Facing fear head-on."
Ryosuke looked at the people walking toward him. "Not running away, but instead walking straight toward me?"
Tooru and Yoshikage Kira's eyes were firm.
"If we don't get close, how are we supposed to blow you up?"
"Heh."
Ryosuke did not continue this conversation filled with a sense of deja vu. Step by step, he walked toward them.