"Ryosuke, the worst decision you made was spreading your subordinates out."
"If Giorno and Higashikata Josuke, these two groups, were all here…"
Dio curled the corner of his mouth.
"You could have died together."
"Now... "
A roar burst from under Dio's feet. The Sea of Mist set off rolling waves, piling up into layers of mountain-like tsunamis behind him. Carrying unmatched killing intent, he charged forward and growled, "You can only die in different worlds."
After confirming Ryosuke and Jotaro's combat level, Dio no longer needed to hold back any extra strength. He launched a full assault, planning to kill the four people in front of him in a short time, then chase after Josuke and the others to finish them off as well.
As for the wandering Giorno group?
Just defeated opponents.
Dio fighting Giorno was no different from a father beating his son.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The battle between Weather Report and Father Pucci was like a war between ancient gods.
One stood high in the sky, protected by endless thunderclouds, with wild wind, ice, lightning, and blazing fire crashing down nonstop.
The other moved like a ghost, weaving through lightning, occasionally throwing knives. The moment the knives left his hand, they turned into streaks of cold light.
With roaring thunder dragons and flashing blades in the background, Dio arrived in front of them. The moment he attacked, it was filled with absolute killing intent.
"Kujo Jotaro, I'll start with you!"
"Die!"
The World's cold eyes locked onto Jotaro. Its right fist rose high. Just the act of clenching that fist shattered the Sea of Mist and the countless thunder dragons. The shadow of death descended...
Slash!
Scarlet blood sprayed out.
"What?!"
Father Pucci, who was fighting Weather Report, let out a cry of shock. His heart seemed to stop as he stared in disbelief at Dio's body, torn open with countless wounds, blood pouring out, his life force dropping to the bottom.
Dio was even more shocked than Pucci. He stared at Star Platinum's chest.
The Stand Arrow had pierced into it.
Ryosuke needed destiny ink to evolve into Requiem. That was the system's restriction. But others had no such limit. And now standing before Dio was...
[Star Platinum Requiem]
[Ability: Reverse cause and effect]
It can create out of thin air the "fact" that an enemy is injured, produce the near-death "result," then while the enemy is near death, control Star Platinum to heavily wound the enemy and make up the "cause."
The moment Dio stepped into Star Platinum's range, the reversed cause-and-effect damage landed on him.
Star Requiem threw a punch.
The World appeared and clashed fists with it.
For Dio, as long as The World tied up Star Requiem, he could use his own hands to touch his body and instantly heal all injuries.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Rapid hoofbeats sounded.
Ryosuke and Johnny held the reins, riding horses formed from mist and golden ripple threads.
Two infinite spin steel balls shot out. Even Dio could not ignore them. He had to raise both hands, one steel ball in each, erasing the power of the spin.
The World was entangled with Star Platinum.
Dio's two hands were each restrained by a steel ball.
Dio suddenly realized that he was like standing naked, without any protection.
It was true that with a vampire's body strength, normal damage meant nothing to him, but...
Right after throwing the steel balls, Ryosuke appeared behind Dio at a speed even faster than the steel balls. In his hand was a straight, pitch-black, wide blade.
The Ruin Greatsword.
Seeing this, Father Pucci's eyes almost split open. He burst forward with Made in Heaven's extreme speed to rescue Dio, only to be blocked by Ryosuke's Made in Heaven.
Red flames burst from behind the blade, pushing its already terrifying speed even higher.
Ryosuke slashed toward the back of Dio's neck.
"Za Warudo!"
At the last moment before his head fell, Dio activated time stop.
The two infinite spin steel balls hung in midair. One hand slapped onto his body, clearing all injuries. The other hand slammed heavily onto the Ruin Greatsword.
Under Made in Heaven's acceleration, the time stop lasted less than one second before ending.
Bang! Bang!
The infinite spin steel balls flew into the distance.
Ryosuke fell backward with the great blade, sliding dozens of meters across the mist before stopping.
Seeing Dio completely unharmed, Johnny and Jotaro's expressions became extremely serious again.
"Muda! Muda!"
Dio laughed wide, revealing two sharp fangs.
"These little tricks of yours are useless against me!"
Star Platinum Requiem's ability had been erased. Before paying back the corresponding "cause," Jotaro could not use reverse cause and effect again. For Dio, it had already lost its threat.
If Ryosuke, who could control multiple Stands, were able to use the Arrow and endlessly switch Requiems, that might have been troublesome for Dio.
But Ryosuke did not do that. So Dio knew it was not that Ryosuke did not want to. It was that he could not.
Dio did not care about the reason. He only needed to know one thing...
"You won't get another chance like that!"
He had figured it out. Jotaro had grown old. Johnny's methods were limited. Weather Report was not worth worrying about. Among the four in front of him, the only one who could truly threaten him... was Ryosuke.
Dio's expression turned fierce. His golden hair danced wildly. Like a demon god descending, he arrived in front of Ryosuke in a single step.
The World overlapped with him. One punch smashed toward Ryosuke.
With this punch, Dio would grant Ryosuke the "reality" of death.
Jotaro and Johnny rushed to help.
Even Weather Report had to temporarily put aside his hatred with Pucci, turning into a streak of lightning and crashing down.
But it was too slow.
Dio's fist landed first.
BOOOM!!!
The Sea of Mist exploded with huge waves.
The others rushing forward had to stop, bend low, raise their arms, and shield their heads to avoid being swept deeper into the mist and losing their direction.
Once they steadied themselves, Jotaro immediately looked up toward the center of the shockwave.
"Hm?"
The worry in Jotaro's heart instantly turned into shock when he saw what was in front of him.
Not just him. Everyone present, even Kars and Wonder of U watching from the core of the Calamity Divine Tree through Paisley Park, were stunned.
Ryosuke caught Dio's punch with one hand.
'The World Over Heaven's ability to overwrite reality was nullified?!'
With Star Platinum's precision, Jotaro quickly discovered the real reason.
He looked at the crimson light appearing in Ryosuke's palm.
"It's not nullified. Dio's ability is still working normally. It's Ryosuke, he…"
"Used a far greater and purer energy to offset Dio's ability!"
At this moment, in the ninja world...
The Annihilation Army stationed across towns and cities raised their right hands. Ripple light shimmered in their palms.
The residents of the ninja world had already learned through broadcasts and television about the war happening beyond their world.
Some copied the Annihilation Army and raised their right hands. Some clasped their hands together and prayed silently, murmuring words under their breath.
No matter the gesture, their belief was the same.
The faith of the entire ninja world gathered through ripple resonance, passed through the space-time crack left by the Saint's Corpse, and poured into Ryosuke's body.
Ryosuke had used a similar ability once before when dealing with Toneri.
Tens of millions of ripple crystals blasted Toneri away and sent him to sunbathe.
Not long ago, in the evil spirit space, he had also felt this power.
It forced the evil spirits to scream and scatter.
If Dio's Over Heaven possessed an invincible mechanism...
Ryosuke had no mechanism.
He only had absolute stat crushing.
Ryosuke tightly gripped Dio's fist. Bones cracked with harsh crunching sounds.
Dio's expression twisted in pain.
The unknown power made him uneasy.
Even more unsettling was Ryosuke's cold gaze.
Under that unease, Dio's spine, which had just straightened... Bent down again.