The Bug Arrow is a good thing.
Plug and play, assign as needed.
Ryosuke's team and Dio's fight had entered the final stage.
After killing Father Pucci, the only enemy left was Dio.
Without Made in Heaven's speed boost for non living objects, Dio naturally gave up the throwing knife tactic.
Giorno decisively withdrew from Requiem.
Ryosuke could not use the Bug Arrow alone.
Jotaro's reversing cause and effect did not have much effect on Dio.
So the Bug Arrow fell into Johnny's hands, and an extremely terrifying pink war god shouting "Chuu mimi" appeared on the battlefield...
[Tusk Act 5]
[Ability: A strike that crosses time and space. As long as the target is locked on, it will definitely hit some node in the target's past, present, or future.]
Hit the past: For ordinary people, since they already died in the past, their existence would simply disappear.
For Dio, it would remain in the form of hidden injuries, constantly affecting him during battle.
Hit the present: The injury of infinite rotation would erupt immediately.
Hit the future: Because it is a future injury, it would affect the current "fortune" in reverse, and misfortune would slowly descend.
A comprehensive Stand combining causality, fate, and space.
In terms of a single ability, Tusk Act 5 was not as specialized as White Requiem, Gold Requiem, or Tear Requiem, but it could affect and weaken Dio from all directions.
More importantly, Tusk Act 5 was long range, so there was no need to worry about Dio's counterattack.
With Ryosuke and Jotaro holding the front, Johnny could fire nail bullets without restraint.
Even if Dio could use Overwrite Reality to erase the nail bullets, the heavy firepower still made him extremely annoyed.
On the other side, Jotaro was consuming Dio's time stop.
Jotaro would activate time stop first, and Ryosuke would not.
At that moment, Dio faced a choice.
Either follow up and activate time stop.
Once he followed, even if Dio only tangled with Jotaro for one or two seconds, when Ryosuke activated time stop afterward, Dio would end up with 1.99 or 2.99 seconds of being unable to move at the end.
If he did not follow, then he would just be beaten wildly by Star Platinum.
After hesitating between being beaten by Ryosuke or being beaten by Jotaro, Dio chose the latter. Anyway… He was used to it.
Dio turned to look at the Sea of Mist.
The eight JOJO timelines were close at hand. As long as he endured two or three more time stop cycles, the collision with the Ninja World would happen, and all the unfavorable situations would reverse.
"At that time… it will be your death!"
Dio roared in his heart while being beaten by Star Platinum.
Time stop ended.
Weather Report's thunder.
Johnny's Tusk Act 5 nail bullets.
Jotaro's Star Platinum.
And the two poisonous snakes created by Giorno's Gold Experience.
All rushed toward Dio at once.
"A bunch of trash, stop blocking my sight!"
Dio punched and exploded all incoming attacks. His gaze stayed fixed on Ryosuke galloping toward him on horseback, landing on the steel ball wrapped in the power of belief in Ryosuke's palm.
Dio was ready to respond.
Suddenly, he sensed something wrong. His gaze shifted sharply and landed on the two poisonous snakes rushing toward him... Dio smelled his own scent.
His heart skipped.
"This… is my clone from a parallel world?!"
More accurately, it was a part of the lifeless flesh cut from Dio's clone, turned into poisonous snakes by Gold Experience.
But…
Dio clearly remembered that within the known range, all his clones had been killed by Funny Valentine and the then controlled Giorno.
This was not blind trust in Valentine and Giorno. Later, after the Calamity God Tree invaded countless parallel worlds, Paisley Park had investigated one by one.
There was absolutely no Dio left behind.
"Could it be that Funny Valentine betrayed me?!"
Dio gritted his teeth.
He misunderstood.
Funny Valentine did not betray him.
Because from the very beginning, he had never offered loyalty.
From start to finish, Valentine treated Dio as a partner.
For the suddenly appearing Dio, the President naturally liked him very much and treated him as a living Saint's Corpse, a wish machine beneficial to himself.
But after the initial novelty passed, Funny Valentine realized a problem.
To gain power, Dio did not hesitate to sacrifice the Ninja World to devour it.
If one day, to become stronger, Dio sacrificed America or even the entire Steel Ball Run world, what then?
Friends who often serve as president all know that even toward allies and political friends, you have to keep a trump card.
This is to prevent the other party from flipping the table, and also to prepare yourself to have the ability to flip the table at a critical moment.
Keeping a trump card is not to harm the other party.
It is to make the other party think twice before harming you.
Only this kind of cooperation can last longer.
So Funny Valentine kept a trump card… In a literal sense.
During the period when Giorno was controlled by Dio, his self will was constantly fighting against Dio's black light and would occasionally have hallucinations and auditory illusions.
Funny Valentine took advantage of that time to secretly keep half of Dio's body, mixed it with a pile of frozen pork, and hid it in a cold storage in a remote area.
Hiding the corpse was done before the Calamity God Tree was planted. At that time, Paisley Park had not yet spread across parallel worlds.
So only the President himself knew about it.
He thought this secret would rot in his heart forever. If possible, it would be best never to use this trump card in his life.
But he could not withstand the cross world investigation of Hermit Purple plus the Saint's Corpse.
When he heard that Joseph and the others were searching for Dio's clone, Valentine panicked and rushed over immediately, wanting to destroy Dio's remains.
If the trump card was gone, at worst he would lower his head a little in front of Dio.
But if it fell into the enemy's hands, then both Valentine and Dio would suffer.
Funny Valentine moved quickly.
But he still underestimated the compatibility of Giorno's team.
After Gold Experience hits a target, it can cause the opponent's spirit to run wild, the soul to leave the body, and the senses to become sharper.
For close combat Stands, this was a strong control skill.
But for Hermit Purple, which was purely used for investigation, under Joseph's explosive spiritual power, Hermit Purple's detection range, precision, and ability to track causality rose several levels.
If Joseph was injured in the process, Josuke Higashikata could use Crazy Diamond to repair him.
It was a perfect closed loop.
In this way, Giorno's team ambushed Funny Valentine first, then used him as one end of the causal link to find the half of Dio hidden in the cold storage.
Although not very humane, Giorno's waist pouch contained packs of cold cut Dio meat pieces.
The two poisonous snakes rushing toward Dio right now were his finger and his ear.
Knowing they were his own clone, how could Dio dare to punch them? He lifted his leg to kick away the two snakes.
"Ora!"
Ryosuke's Star Platinum punched Dio's knee.
With a crack, the knee shattered.
The attack on the snakes was forcibly stopped.
The two snakes wrapped around each other, opened their bloody mouths, and bit down on Dio's arms, then canceled Gold Experience's ability and returned to their original form.
Space time annihilation activated.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two consecutive explosions.
Dio's arms and half of his body turned into black charcoal. Looking closely, tiny cubes were falling off.
Dio let out a miserable scream.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!"
Dio was unwilling.
"Ryosuke, I refuse..."
Ryosuke had no intention of listening to his long speech.
If there was anything to say, after death, if there was a chance to enter Civil War, they could talk then.
If not, then it was fate.
For now, Ryosuke only wanted Dio to… Die.
The steel ball in Ryosuke's palm rotated at high speed.
Tusk Act 5 flew over, its finger lightly touching it, once again giving Ryosuke's cavalry rotation the power to trace back time.
Sound was pulled away.
Not only sound, but everything around him.
His companions, the Calamity God Tree, the Sea of Mist, or even the eight JOJO timelines already hanging overhead.
The world in Ryosuke's eyes was constantly doing subtraction.
From three dimensions to two dimensions, then turning into rough lines.
And the target all those lines pointed to... Dio Brando.
The steel ball wrapped in infinite rotation, the power of belief, and time tracing…
'Fire!'
The steel ball shot out from his palm.
"Sigh..."
At the moment the steel ball flew out, a faint sigh came from behind Ryosuke.
He turned to look.
Perhaps affected by Tusk Act 5's time tracing, or by fate's interference, Ryosuke saw his own past.
From a third person perspective.
In the scene, Ryosuke visited Mount Myoboku for the first time and talked with the Great Toad Sage about the future of the Ninja World.
The sigh just now came from the Great Toad Sage's heart.
Although it covered its face with a teacup, Ryosuke, from the third person view, saw the indescribable pity in the Great Toad Sage's eyes.
It… was pitying Ryosuke.
"Did the Great Toad Sage see my future?"
Most likely not.
Since Ryosuke arrived in the Ninja World, the timeline had been changing every moment.
Looking at this past, Ryosuke vaguely understood.
"It cannot see a precise future. As a sage who cultivates the Path of the Future, the Great Toad Sage saw a calamity falling on me."
A calamity that a Great Toad Sage who had lived for a thousand years, witnessed the rise and fall of the Ninja World and the joys and sorrows of humanity, could not speak of, and could only sigh in sorrow.
Ryosuke thought of the triple calamity.
Dio and Father Pucci were world level.
They symbolized the power to destroy a world.
There was another calamity, which Ryosuke named "Great Fortune level."
Calamity, under Wonder of U's control, seemed very targeted.
But in a broader sense, calamity does not necessarily have to harm the person directly.
Wife leaving, children scattered, family destroyed.
Career failure, scorned by thousands.
It is possible that the target of the calamity does not die, but everyone around him dies, leaving him alone. That is also a calamity.
Now the final Great Fortune level calamity surrounding Ryosuke fell on...
Josuke Higashikata.
Because Wonder of U detonated the calamity spring at the roots of the God Tree to offset Tear Requiem's luck.
So the Great Fortune level calamity came in the form of a tree stump flying suddenly from everyone's blind spot and smashed solidly into Josuke.
With the sound of bones breaking, Josuke, covered in blood, was sent flying.
Even so, he still did not let go of Tear Requiem's train ticket.
Josuke wanted to keep his promise with Ryosuke.
Even if it cost his life, he would definitely, definitely destroy the God Tree...
Slash!
A bright silver light flashed.
It was Kars in the form of a hawk.
With one strike of his wing, he cut off the arm holding the train ticket.
Then his wings swung, countless blade lights flashed, and the paper train ticket was torn into pieces.
Tear Requiem's ability… disappeared.
Of course, Tear Requiem still existed. Ryosuke could make another ticket at any time.
But at this moment, who could deliver it?
Josuke traced an arc, lost consciousness, and fell toward the depths of the Sea of Mist. Hot Pants jumped and hurried after him.
He had to receive treatment immediately, or he would surely die.
Madara was a cold blooded warrior. He knew clearly that compared to saving people, killing the enemy was more important now.
"Heh heh…"
Wonder of U stepped forward, its tone returning to calm. It glanced at Kars flying crookedly and said, "Step back, my Stand. Next is the battle between the main bodies."
"Showing off."
Kars responded softly, suddenly rising higher and leaving the attack range of Madara and Jonathan.
One hand of Wonder of U rested on its cane, the other tapped the brim of its hat, and it said unhurriedly, "From now on, apart from waiting for death to descend…"
"You can do nothing."
With the God Tree beside it and the calamity spring underfoot, there was no better main battlefield for Wonder of U in this world.
Yasuho, who had just woken up, fell into sleep again. The arrow's flight path was blocked. More frightening...
Eight shadows appeared overhead.
"They have arrived."
———
Ryosuke's steel ball hit Dio.
At the same time, the eight JOJO timelines crashed heavily onto the Calamity God Tree.
The Sea of Mist shook.
Under eightfold acceleration, the Calamity God Tree was like a holy spear that killed gods, tearing apart the space time barrier and stabbing into the Ninja World.
Unequal exchange activated.
Dio was blasted away by the steel ball. His body, already broken under space time annihilation, became even more unrecognizable.
But he was laughing wildly.
"One move short! Ryosuke!"
A black light similar to Ryosuke's crimson brilliance shone from Dio. All his injuries healed, his aura returned to its peak… no, even stronger.
"The reason you lost is only one, you trusted someone you should not have trusted!"
While speaking, Dio's movements were not slow at all.
He did not dare relax. He wanted to kill Ryosuke in one strike.
The World Over Heaven stepped in front of Ryosuke in one step, and the fist wrapped in black light swung out.
Star Platinum appeared, its fist wrapped in crimson light meeting it head on.
The two were locked in stalemate.
Crackle… Crackle…
Star Platinum's crimson light flickered.
Because of the God Tree's collision, under the influence of space time turbulence, the transmission of the power of belief was affected.
"Your ability is inferior to mine!"
"Now, your power is also inferior to mine!"
Dio knocked away the teammates who rushed to support and roared viciously, "Die! Ryosuke!"
The World's fist finally landed on Ryosuke.
Overwrite Reality activated.
Dio wanted to completely erase Ryosuke's existence.
Without the protection of the power of belief, Ryosuke could not resist the power of Overwrite Reality.
Ryosuke's body began to fade little by little.
His flesh disappeared.
Then his connection with the Stands broke.
Then his soul slowly faded.
Dio's laughter.
The despair of his teammates.
Intertwined together, like reaching the fourth movement of the "Pathetique" Symphony.
Suddenly...
Whoosh!
A gentle breeze appeared.
In the wind was a sweet fragrance.
Endless white light appeared with the wind.
'The Saint's Corpse?!'
No, not the power of the Corpse.
The power of the Corpse… was not this much.
Almost endless light appeared in Ryosuke's eyes. Dio stared at his eyes and saw...
A woman in a white dress, with long black hair and a gentle face.
The Slug Sage.
As fellow cultivators of the Path of the Past, between the Slug Sage and Ryosuke was a thin crack of time.
For many years, they communicated across that crack.
Once, Ryosuke asked her if he could borrow her power from the crack.
Her answer was that they were each other's audience.
An audience cannot step into the other's river of time. It would cause extremely serious rejection.
Today, to save Ryosuke.
The Slug Sage stepped into someone else's river of time and sent all her countless clones and a thousand years of cultivated power over, once again using sheer value to barely fight Dio's mechanism.
The Slug Sage in a white dress and black hair flew out from Ryosuke's eyes like a phantom.
She grabbed Ryosuke's soul.
"Come back alive."
"We are all waiting for you."
After saying that, the Slug Sage threw Ryosuke into the crack in the river of time behind her, into the anchor point of his past projection.
The river of time closed. Ryosuke drifted in chaos.
Until he reached the end...
He opened his eyes.
In front of him was a world of nothingness.
The anchor point of his past projection was set at the time of his conversation with Terumi Mei. He was sent back here.
So this place was…
"After Made in Heaven's acceleration of time, with no time, no space, nothing left, only a void…"
"The old universe."