"Ora!"
Star Platinum's fist swung down.
BOOM!
An explosion sounded from underground, another gas explosion. The manhole cover beneath Tooru's feet was blasted upward by the force, carrying him high into the air. By the narrowest margin, he dodged Star Platinum's punch.
Tooru was shaken with lingering fear.
If not for Ryosuke's cellular mutation draining most of his vitality and affecting his mental strength, there was no way he could have dodged that punch.
Both Tooru and Wonder of U understood, they had lost.
Like knights charging with lances in hand, staking their lives in a decisive clash, they were the ones who lost, because they chose to retreat, afraid to take that final step.
In the sky above, Wonder of U pressed down on its hat, its voice carrying from the air, "Ryosuke, you did indeed win, win one round."
"But fighting, killing, these kinds of things… what matters is who survives to the very end. And you…"
"Will eventually walk toward death."
Physical mutation.
A weakened Stand.
And the distance pulled open once more.
In Wonder of U's view, as long as he waited for Ryosuke's flesh to gradually turn into plants, his remaining vitality would no longer be enough to withstand endless calamities.
Ryosuke's life had entered its final countdown, "Hm?"
Wonder of U looked at the small red bottle that had appeared in Ryosuke's hand.
Ryosuke downed it in one gulp.
A healing potion made with pearl jam as the main ingredient, one bottle was enough to completely heal any injury in a very short time, as long as there was still a breath left.
And as for that same potion, before Ryosuke had set out…
Samui had stuffed thirty crates of it into the ghost room that had been burned down.
The flowers blooming on the ground exploded like fireworks at a festival, turning into streaks of light that flew into Ryosuke's body.
Ryosuke's weakened vitality surged back to its peak.
The expressions of Wonder of U and Tooru both turned grim.
The enemy could not only "lock his HP," but could also "take meds to heal"… just who exactly was the villain boss here?!
From the very beginning, every ability this guy named Ryosuke had shown was far too freakish.
To dodge Star Platinum's punch, the manhole cover beneath Tooru's feet had launched him into the sky at tremendous speed.
At this moment, Tooru had risen more than ten meters into the air, reaching the highest point.
Below, a truck loaded with mattresses drove in. The driver was screaming in panic, but the vehicle was out of control, charging straight into this battlefield filled with ruins.
At the current speed, when Tooru fell, he would land squarely on the mattresses.
Completely unharmed.
Wonder of U's voice was deep and severe, "Second round… let's continue. No matter how much medicine he brought, there will eventually be a time when it runs out…"
"There is no second round."
Ryosuke took out the Saint's Corpse.
Streams of holy light were released from the remains. Using the souls of Vanilla Ice, Ringo, and the Notorious B.I.G. as fuel, the Saint's power descended.
He lightly touched the corner of his eye and pulled out a blade of tears.
The Ticket to Ride.
A power that also symbolized calamity.
The tear blade spun once in Ryosuke's palm, its tip pointing toward Tooru, who had reached the highest point and was about to fall.
Ryosuke said softly, "You will die here, guided by 'calamity.'"
Turning heaven and earth upside down.
'Ryosuke was actually using calamity to curse Wonder of U?!'
Tooru let out a snort of laughter and was about to mock him, when he suddenly noticed the silent Wonder of U. His heart trembled for no reason.
That's right.
The tear blade truly could not be compared to Wonder of U.
The tear blade was five-star.
Wonder of U, in terms of rank, was on the same level as Made in Heaven.
The key lay in the blessing of the Saint's power, obtained by burning sinful souls.
The Saint's power itself was the transference of blessings and calamities.
With the two combined, the tear blade broke through its limits. The blade formed of tears was coated in a layer of golden light.
Ryosuke flicked his wrist. The tear blade turned into golden light and shot out, piercing straight through Tooru's body without the slightest resistance, then disappearing.
Tooru received one second of misfortune.
Wonder of U was, after all, the ultimate manifestation of misfortune. Even with the Saint's power added, the tear blade could only maintain its effect for one second.
And that one second was extremely weak.
If Ryosuke had actively attacked Tooru, under his subjective "approach" and "malice," Wonder of U's calamity would have immediately overridden the tear blade's calamity.
But after throwing the tear blade, Ryosuke reined in all killing intent.
No one wanted to chase Tooru. No one wanted to kill him. He had simply blown himself into the sky, and during the fall… his somewhat "unlucky" neck collided with the railing of the truck and was severed on the spot.
Tooru's head remained on the truck.
His headless body slammed onto the ground with a bang.
The Calamity Bringer, Tooru… was completely dead.
Ryosuke did not relax his guard. He formed another tear blade in his hand and charged toward Wonder of U.
Wonder of U did not dissipate with Tooru's death.
Or rather, as the embodiment of calamity, Wonder of U would not disappear so easily.
Having lost its Stand user, Wonder of U's expression grew even darker.
It vanished from where it stood and reappeared dozens of meters away, on the roof of a three-story building.
A fierce wind blew past as Wonder of U held down its hat.
"Ryosuke, I must admit your strength. However, you did not defeat calamity, you defeated this relatively safe world."
The calamities that could appear in Morioh Town were, after all, limited.
"When we meet again, it won't be this easy for you."
A burst of black light appeared from within Wonder of U, and its figure rapidly faded.
Ryosuke tried attacking several times, but every attempt was blocked by newly appearing calamities.
Having lost Tooru, its main body, Wonder of U might not be able to maintain a physical form for long.
For Ryosuke, trying to injure a Stand that could teleport, pass through walls, and was protected by calamity had become nearly impossible.
Wonder of U escaped.
Before leaving, it threw out one final sentence, "Tooru's death is ultimately connected to you. In the near future, you will suffer an unimaginably painful blow. I hope… you don't die from that attack."
"So that I can kill you with my own hands."
Wonder of U vanished.
Two streaks of light flew over from Tooru's corpse.
One was a tainted soul, and the other was the Saint's Corpse that DIO had given him.
The second piece of the Saint's Corpse.
This time… it was the legs.
Current collection progress: 2/9.
Ryosuke let out a breath, put away the second piece of the Saint's Corpse, and released Uchiha Madara and Hot Pants from the ghost room.
Another difficulty in this battle was that, in order to maintain the ghost room, Ryosuke could only use one Stand at a time. He had to constantly switch and was unable to perform Stand combination techniques.
Fortunately, everything was over.
Uchiha Madara looked around, then folded his arms and asked, somewhat puzzled, "You fought this politely?"
Indeed, they had only blown up a few streets and wrecked a dozen or so cars.
For Madara, there would have been no need to even summon Susanoo, one Great Fire Annihilation would have done it.
The implication was that Ryosuke hadn't needed to put him into the ghost room at all.
Ryosuke smiled, about to explain slowly, when suddenly he heard a scream and turned his head.
Not far away, Yoshikage Kira, his face deathly pale, blood flowing from his neck, was clutching Higashikata Daiya's hand and rubbing it against his face.
Kira glanced at Ryosuke and, at nearly a rapper's speed, rattled off his name and crimes like listing dishes.
It worked.
Kira turned back again. Seeing Ryosuke walking over, the despair in his heart reached its peak.
"He's coming! Third bomb: Bites the Dust!"
"Activate!"
Click!
Killer Queen pressed the detonation switch.
No reaction.
"Why?!"
Despair, normal.
Killer Queen, normal.
So why couldn't Bites the Dust activate?
'Could it be...'
Kira's gaze fell on Higashikata Daiya. In despair and terror, he couldn't help blurting out what was in his heart, "You're a Stand user? B-but… impossible!"
"I've been observing all along. Your eyes never looked toward the battling Stands, which means you can't see Stands at all, you should be an ordinary person!"
Kira clutched his wounded neck and looked around. All the ordinary people had already fled. Only Higashikata Joshu, Daiya, and Josuke were left.
Josuke was unconscious. Joshu was a Stand user and had been watching the fight the whole time.
Only Daiya met the conditions for Bites the Dust.
She was also Kira's final hope.
Yet that hope shattered right before his eyes, in a way he couldn't understand.
Five fingers gently landed on the top of Yoshikage Kira's head.
Ryosuke's voice came from behind, kindly explaining, "Her name is Higashikata Daiya. She is indeed a Stand user. She's had poor eyesight since childhood, you can think of her as… blind."
Let alone watching Stand battles, Daiya, this cute, petite girl with an especially large chest, couldn't even tell whether the thing standing in front of her was a person or a dog.
Kira jerked his head around.
He saw Killer Queen, belonging to Ryosuke, tilting its head, one hand gently resting on the top of Kira's head.
BOOM!
The first bomb detonated.
Yoshikage Kira died.