Gold Experience Requiem.
After reading JoJo Parts One through Eight, Ryosuke believed this was the most unsolvable Stand of all, one that even surpassed Wonder of U.
Wonder of U's ability to control calamity was indeed special, but its combat power as a Stand itself was far too weak. The only thing that could really be considered a weapon… was the cane in its hand.
In front of Kars, it pretended to be an old man, putting on an act of being unable to carry things.
On one hand, that was just laziness, it didn't want to work.
On the other hand, its strength, speed, and other stats really were quite average.
Wonder of U's status panel was full of question marks because it was too mysterious.
Gold Experience Requiem's status panel was full of question marks because it was too powerful.
After merging with the Bow and Arrow and evolving into Requiem, Gold Experience's original abilities were greatly enhanced.
A casually thrown pebble could pierce King Crimson, fragments from shattered pillars could turn into poisonous scorpions, and even more terrifying than that was its new special ability, the enemy can never reach the truth they desire.
Put simply, it was two words, "Return to Zero."
Once Giorno recognizes someone as an enemy, or once someone shows hostility toward Giorno, all intent and power produced as a result will ultimately return to nothingness.
There is no need for Giorno to consciously control it. Gold Experience Requiem, which possesses self-awareness, will react the instant an attack occurs, automatically defending and counterattacking.
Looking across all JoJo protagonists throughout history, if Johnny's Tusk Act 4 is the perfect fusion of Stand and Spin, the strongest spear,
Then Gold Experience Requiem's Return to Zero is the strongest, most unsolvable shield.
Paired with close-combat ability that does not lose at all to Star Platinum, it can be said that behind this unsolvable shield lies a long blade sharp enough to cut down anyone.
Almost the moment Josuke and the others' expressions changed, having already learned about this unsolvable Requiem from Ryosuke during earlier lessons, Hot Pants gripped Cream Starter tightly and murmured in a low voice, "I thought Giorno would be the strongest assistant against Dio… and now he's become the enemy's helper instead."
A sense of powerlessness rose in her heart.
"Even invincible Gold Experience Requiem can't defeat Dio?"
"Don't lose heart."
Ryosuke's steady voice came from the front. He turned back and glanced at Hot Pants.
"There's no such thing as true invincibility. Stick to our rehearsed plan."
Hearing Ryosuke's words, Hot Pants' restless emotions calmed slightly.
Ryosuke wasn't saying this just to comfort his teammates. Gold Experience Requiem truly did have weaknesses that couldn't be ignored.
First, GER cannot exist indefinitely.
It needs to pierce itself with the Bow and Arrow to complete its evolution into Requiem.
From the moment an enemy appears to the moment the arrow is taken out and stabbed in, that fraction of a second is Giorno's most dangerous window.
Of course, this process can be shortened through training or special close placement.
But there must still be a stabbing action.
That means as long as you launch a sudden attack and don't give Giorno a chance to use the arrow, you can defeat the Italian mafia boss.
For most people, this is extremely difficult.
But for someone with the ability to "stop time," it's very easy.
Black light covered Giorno's entire body, overlapping with the golden glow of Requiem. His expression was arrogant and unrestrained, looking exactly like Josuke Higashikata and Avdol had earlier, clearly under Dio's control.
Ryosuke guessed that Dio had taken advantage of a moment when Giorno wasn't paying attention, activated time stop, and struck suddenly.
The second weakness, Return to Zero has certain limits.
Things that have already happened are, in all likelihood, impossible to return to zero.
For example, the already-dead Bucciarati could not be restored to life using Return to Zero.
Nor could Polnareff, who had become a turtle, be turned back into that sunny, cheerful French guy with the broom-like haircut.
GER's Return to Zero is limited to events that occur after it becomes Requiem.
The third weakness is that it cannot affect targets outside its range of vision.
This can be seen from the fact that the Priest's Made in Heaven was able to reset the universe.
During the process of resetting the universe, many people die tragically. Given Giorno's personality, upon seeing this, he would naturally enter Requiem mode immediately.
Yet in the end, Giorno was unable to return Made in Heaven's acceleration to zero.
———
From the moment he saw Josuke being controlled, Ryosuke had already taken Giorno as a hypothetical enemy and devised corresponding tactics.
Tactic One, Before Giorno enters Requiem, stop time and seize the Bow and Arrow.
This plan was now useless.
The Giorno controlled by Dio had guarded against this. The moment Ryosuke's group arrived in the Golden Wind timeline, he immediately entered Requiem mode.
So next was Tactic Two.
"Stay away from Giorno and attack from outside his range of vision, or simply wait until Requiem's time runs out."
Ryosuke raised his hand and threw an iron ball.
Lesson 4: Ripple Golden Spin.
At the same time, Weather Report appeared. Dark clouds gathered, and bolts of lightning struck down toward Giorno one after another.
Both attacks were incredibly fast, far beyond Giorno's reaction speed.
However...
Return to Zero activated.
The falling lightning returned to the sky.
The flying iron ball spun backward and returned the way it came.
Ryosuke didn't mind this at all. The iron ball and lightning were just feints.
Time stop activated.
Ryosuke turned around and grabbed everyone, pulling out Second Jo's signature move, dragging everyone away from Giorno's field of vision as fast as possible.
At his speed, he could cover hundreds of meters in a second. He was just about to escape when... everything around him, including Ryosuke himself, seemed to be rewound, step by step, back to where it had been.
Until… the starting point of the time stop.
Tactic Two, ineffective.
Josuke Higashikata faintly sensed the subtle shift in his body's position. Looking at Ryosuke's expression, he realized that a round of time stop had already been activated.
"So not only can we not attack, we can't even run away… This is Gold Experience Requiem, which stands above causality itself!"
From beginning to end, Giorno simply floated silently in the air, casting a cold gaze down at them, as if looking at a group of people about to die.
He looked even more like a true mafia godfather than in the original story.
Cold-blooded, ruthless, and possessing absolute control.
Josuke swallowed unconsciously.
The next second, he felt a sharp gust of wind rush past his ear.
Gold Experience Requiem had appeared in front of him at some point and swung a punch.
"Soft & Wet!"
Josuke summoned his Stand and moved to counter.
Star Platinum grabbed Soft & Wet by the arm and flung both it and Josuke aside.
Soft & Wet, with Power C and Speed B, trading punches with GER?
It wouldn't take even half a second for Josuke to be completely crushed.
Star Platinum's fist was about to collide with GER again.
However, Return to Zero took effect once more. This time, it was, "Star Platinum can never achieve the truth of defense."
GER's punch passed flawlessly through the defensive net of Star Platinum's fists and struck straight into its chest.
Blood burst forth.
Star Platinum, invincible in close combat, was forced into a disadvantage under Gold Experience Requiem's causality-level attack.
Ryosuke was also blasted away by the impact.
Giorno, whose face had been icy cold since the moment he appeared, curled the corner of his mouth into a smile.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, he heard a faint whistling of wind.
Giorno turned toward the sound.
The Ryosuke who had been sent flying was holding an iron ball that was spinning at extreme speed.
A punch thrown by GER, which manipulated causality, was smooth and elegant, perfectly satisfying the Golden Rectangle.
That vast, surging power was transmitted through, flowing into the iron ball in Ryosuke's palm.
The cavalry's infinite spin was about to fire.