Giorno maintained his Requiem state as he searched the skies above Morioh for traces of Uchiha Madara and the others.
His expression was relaxed. He didn't take the remaining people seriously at all.
Based on the intelligence they had, aside from Ryosuke, the only ones who could cause Giorno even a little trouble were Johnny and Gyro, who also wielded the Cavalry Spin.
But those two… Would never have the chance to stand in front of Giorno.
"Father's plan is perfect. Once the remaining few are dealt with, all that's left is to wait for the Calamity God Tree to mature, and then..."
"The Brando family will stand at the top of the world."
Thinking of that thrilling scene, Giorno couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth lift slightly.
"But is this really the right thing to do?"
The voice appeared behind Giorno.
He suddenly turned around and found himself staring straight at Gold Experience Requiem.
Although GER had developed its own will, a Stand and its user were fundamentally connected in mind. GER naturally knew what Giorno was thinking, and it slightly shook its head to indicate that it wasn't the one speaking.
Giorno frowned deeply.
He knew who it was.
His past self, that foolish, stubborn version of him.
Even though Dio had bestowed a massive amount of dark energy upon Giorno and sealed away many of his memories, his former self was still like a persistent ghost, clinging tightly to him, appearing at the edge of his vision, slipping into every gap between his breaths.
Buzz!
A sharp ringing suddenly filled his ears.
Giorno spread his hand, and another pitch-black sphere of light condensed in his palm. He swallowed it, and the ringing gradually faded, transforming into the crisp sound of a phone ringing.
"Drrr! Drrr!"
Giorno took out his phone and saw that the caller was marked as "Unknown." After answering, the low voice of Wonder of U came through the receiver.
"I've locked onto the location of Higashikata Josuke and the others."
"They've returned to the alley that doesn't allow turning back. Looks like they're planning to set a trap and ambush you."
Deep within the Sea of Fog, Wonder of U gently tapped its cane against Hirose Yasuho's forehead.
Using her Paisley Park and the branches of the Calamity God Tree that pierced into different JOJO worlds, it looked down upon all of Morioh as if watching live surveillance footage.
Wonder of U received no response from Giorno. It only heard his faint, slightly weary breathing, and asked, "Are you injured? Should I send someone over to support you?"
It waited for a long time.
Still no reply.
Just as Wonder of U was about to contact the rear and send someone to replace Giorno, Giorno's cold, arrogant voice came through the receiver, "Who do you think I am?"
"Support?"
"Who is qualified to support me?"
With that, there was a click, and the call ended.
Wonder of U stood there in a daze. After quite a while, it finally snapped back to its senses and asked Kars, who was sitting cross-legged cultivating Ripple energy, "Isn't he a bit too arrogant?"
Kars opened his eyes and glanced at it.
"Why don't you ask how much Dio and Father Pucci modified his memories and mind?"
"The fact that he hasn't gone insane, hasn't started slaughtering people all over the world, and has instead maintained a certain level of restraint… I already find that insane enough."
Wonder of U thought of the scene where Dio altered Giorno's consciousness. After a long silence, it still nodded.
Kars chuckled softly and shot Wonder of U a sideways glance.
"Compared to Giorno, you should be more concerned about our wager."
Kars believed that Gold Experience Requiem could kill Ryosuke.
Wonder of U believed it couldn't.
They had agreed that the winner would become the main body, and the loser would become the Stand.
Now that Ryosuke was trapped in the Evil Spirit Space of the alley that doesn't allow turning back, unable to escape, it was essentially no different from death. Given the personalities of Kars and Wonder of U, neither would stoop so low as to refuse to count that as death.
Wonder of U nodded. It didn't really care who became the Stand and who became the main body. It just felt that, "This doesn't seem like it'll end so simply," Wonder of U said.
Kars immediately became interested. "You think Ryosuke can turn the tables and kill Giorno? Then why don't you notify Dio to come and provide support?"
Hearing this, Wonder of U let out a "heh heh" sound like a blower fan and asked in return, "Do you care about your 'descendants'?"
"Of course not."
"In that case…"
Wonder of U crossed its arms, leaned against the Calamity God Tree, and looked into the distance. "Do you really think that Dio has more compassion than you? More humanity?"
Kars thought it over for a moment, shrugged, didn't take it seriously, and closed his eyes again to cultivate.
After all, as far as Dio's plan was concerned, the manpower scattered across the various JOJO worlds were nothing more than spacetime boosters, devices to push the eight JOJO timelines far apart and sever their causal connections.
The boosters had already completed their job. If they could conveniently take Ryosuke out as well, that would naturally be even better.
If they couldn't, it didn't really matter.
The only thing Dio truly cared about was the Calamity God Tree guarded by Kars and Wonder of U, used for "equivalent exchange."
———
The alley that doesn't allow turning back.
"Hand over the Saint's Corpse and get lost."
Giorno looked down at the five people below. "I can allow you to live."
Toward weaklings who voluntarily shed their fangs and claws, crawl on the ground, and submit, the Brando family had always been capable of showing sufficient tolerance and generosity.
Giorno's response was,
The raised gun barrel of Hot Pants.
Josuke Higashikata's bubbles.
Uchiha Madara's Fire Release.
Dense attacks blasted toward Giorno in the sky.
Giorno's eyes were hollow. He found it utterly boring. Gold Experience Requiem slightly raised its hand.
Return to Zero.
All the incoming attacks seemed to be played in reverse, retracing their paths and disappearing completely... No, not all of them!
There was still a slender purple vine, covered in the marks of time and wrapped in strands of golden light, shooting straight toward Giorno.
At the end of the vine was Old Joseph.
Weak Ripple energy surged across his skin. His hunched back straightened again. Old Joseph removed his reading glasses, and his eyes, clouded for many years, briefly regained clarity.
"Relying on the power of the Saint's Corpse?" Giorno snorted coldly.
GER's Return to Zero would neutralize the power of the Saint's Corpse slightly slower than other abilities, but only slightly.
Perhaps if that Saint were still alive, they could counter GER's Return to Zero.
But to think a mere fragment of a corpse could deal with GER?
A pipe dream.
Besides… So what if Hermit Purple hit him?
"Old man, you seem to have forgotten. Let me say it again on behalf of my father..."
"Your Stand is the most useless!"
GER grabbed Hermit Purple and was about to yank Old Joseph over and beat him to death with a flurry of punches.
At that moment, another burst of Ripple light erupted.
It was Joseph.
Ripple energy surged through his young, peak-condition body. Amplified by the Saint's Corpse, it transformed from a lightning-like form into blazing Ripple flames.
His mental will reached its peak at that instant.
Joseph suddenly turned his head and spun around.
The rules of the alley that doesn't allow turning back were triggered, and countless evil spirits reached out with their hands.
But in that brief moment when they grabbed to pull someone in, a rift opened between the real world and the Evil Spirit Space.
"Hermit Purple!"
A tall, humanoid, fully purple Stand wrapped in vines appeared behind Joseph.
Joseph raised his hand.
The humanoid Hermit Purple did the same.
Evil spirits and death charged toward him.
Countless thoughts flashed through Joseph's mind. Given his personality, he really wanted to run away right now. But stronger than his desire to flee was... to overturn everything.
Purple vines shot out. With Ryosuke as the target of his thought transmission, guided by causality, they flew toward Ryosuke within the Evil Spirit Space.
At the same time, inside the Evil Spirit Space.
With the help of Epitaph, Diavolo, who had already foreseen the future, had long since activated Time Erasure.
Within the erased time, Ryosuke unconsciously controlled the mud horse he had condensed, galloping wildly until he reached the moment of the Golden Rectangle.
The Cavalry Spin: Fired.
Outside, in the alley that doesn't allow turning back.
Giorno immediately understood their plan and instantly activated Return to Zero, trying to nullify everyone's actions.
However, under the protection of the Saint's Corpse, the speed of Return to Zero was a bit slower than usual.
Giorno didn't wait. He directly rode GER and charged at Joseph, throwing a punch.
In front of him were the reaching hands of evil spirits.
Behind him was GER's fatal punch.
Yet there wasn't the slightest trace of fear on Joseph's face. He turned his head and glanced at Giorno, whose face was filled with unease, and said, "The next thing you're about to say is, 'Ryosuke! You can't possibly hit me!'"
At the same time, a steel ball with Infinite Spin flew out, shredding all the evil spirit hands. A spatial hole large enough for a person to pass through appeared.
Ryosuke and Diavolo stood behind the opening.
Seeing the incoming steel ball, Giorno abruptly retreated and shouted, "Ryosuke! You can't possibly hit me, what?!"
Giorno was suddenly shocked.
The sound of the Infinite Spin was closing in. He turned his head and saw the steel ball, like a speeding train, curve along the vines of Hermit Purple and fly toward him.
'How was this possible?!'
Even with the protection of the Saint's Corpse, Hermit Purple's tracking should have already been almost neutralized by Return to Zero.
Suddenly, Giorno saw the steel ball spinning along the vine.
It was the power of Infinite Spin canceling out Return to Zero.
The moment the steel ball made contact with the vine, Giorno's Return to Zero became ineffective.
Guided by causality.
The steel ball was guaranteed to hit...
"Gold Experience Requiem!"
Giorno shouted.
GER appeared.
Just because Return to Zero was ineffective didn't mean Giorno had no defensive measures left.
GER clenched its fist and slammed it into the ground. Countless gravel flew up and, in an instant, transformed into insects, birds, fish, and beasts. In this way, it formed a "biological shield" in front of Giorno.
But...
"Ora!"
Star Platinum smashed through with a punch, utterly shattering the biological shield.
GER hastily exchanged a punch with Star Platinum, but it no longer had the spare capacity to deal with the incoming steel ball.
Bang!
The Cavalry Spin struck Giorno in the chest, blasting him backward.
They won!
Everyone present felt their bodies lighten. That terrifying sensation of having their actions, abilities, and even thoughts returned to zero vanished.
GER was a Requiem Stand with autonomous action, so it didn't disappear when Giorno lost consciousness and fainted.
However, it didn't launch another attack.
Instead…
It let out a soft sigh of relief, looked at Ryosuke who had emerged from the Evil Spirit Space, and said, "Thank you."
No one knew what GER had gone through when Giorno's consciousness was altered.
It was thanking Ryosuke for helping Giorno break free from control.
And also thanking Ryosuke for not truly killing Giorno.
Ryosuke adjusted the angle of the spin.
While this steel ball could neutralize Return to Zero, its Infinite Folding ability would pass through Giorno's body, conduct into the ground, and gradually dissipate.
Perhaps before long, a road similar to Extortion Road would appear in this world's Morioh as well.
Considering that Morioh already had all kinds of strange phenomena, having one more bizarre road didn't really seem like a problem.
GER gave Ryosuke a final nod.
Clang!
The Stand Arrow fell to the ground, and GER vanished along with it.
Ryosuke turned back toward the others, about to ask about everyone's condition.
Suddenly...
"King Crimson."
The ability of Time Erasure activated.
Ever since leaving the Evil Spirit Space, Diavolo, who had kept a low profile and remained silent, finally revealed a smile. First a grin, then loud laughter, then maniacal laughter.
The power of Requiem now belonged to King Crimson, belonged to him, Diavolo.
Diavolo glanced at Ryosuke, then looked at the unfamiliar faces one by one.
He didn't know what abilities this group possessed, but there was one thing he could be sure of, this group had gathered together for the sole purpose of defeating Giorno.
If Giorno, that nobody, could use the power of the Stand Arrow to ascend to the strongest, and even Ryosuke, the "god" in Diavolo's eyes, had to team up with companions to deal with him…
Then what if it were King Crimson instead?
The last time Diavolo failed to use the Stand Arrow was because Silver Chariot Requiem hadn't died, which gave Giorno the chance to snatch the Arrow.
But now, the opportunity was in Diavolo's hands.
The alley was very narrow. Giorno, after being blasted away, was only a few steps from the group. Diavolo controlled King Crimson to appear beside Giorno, while he himself crouched next to the Stand Arrow.
In the erased time, Diavolo couldn't interfere with the real world.
He planned to have King Crimson kill Giorno at the instant Time Erasure ended, then pick up the Stand Arrow himself and stab it into his body, achieving a second evolution of his Stand and becoming the strongest Requiem.
Thinking of the endless deaths he had endured, Diavolo let out a low roar, "Giorno Giovanna, today is your death day!"
"As for Ryosuke… if you're willing to submit, then for the sake of you saving me, I can take all of you under my command."
The former Passion organization, due to Diavolo's caution, had only controlled Italy.
With the power of Requiem…
"I will conquer the world!"
Time Erasure ended.
King Crimson's fist slammed heavily into Giorno's body.
At the same time, under everyone's stunned gaze, Diavolo picked up the Stand Arrow and stabbed it straight into his chest without hesitation,
The arrow struck nothing.
Diavolo looked down.
His body was gone?
No, not gone. It was...
'Folded?!'
The Infinite Spin that should have conducted into the ground had instead been completely absorbed by King Crimson. As the Stand user, Diavolo naturally shared the damage.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
Diavolo let out a horrified scream, and in the end, amid repeated folding... He vanished.
Clang!
The Stand Arrow fell once more.
Ryosuke picked it up.
[Detected acquisition of special item, Stand Arrow. Use in combination with Destiny Ink?]