As Kiana was surprised by the astonishing combat power on the other side, a circular transparent object emerged from the dust raised by the underground storm and collided towards her.
Takatsuki, who had been keeping Epitaph active, foresaw the trajectory of the attack and pushed Kiana away, then deleted the 0.5 seconds when The Cream passed through him.
When everyone reacted, they saw that the circular void in the air had already moved to the other side.
Thanks to the stirred-up dust, The Cream, which was originally imperceptible, revealed its whereabouts; it continuously devoured all surrounding matter, including the dust in the air.
However, even if they saw it, they had no way to deal with it; The Cream was such a rogue Stand. As long as it kept retreating, it was absolutely invincible.
No material or Stand ability could touch it.
This was also why Takatsuki switched his character card back to the long-unseen Diavolo. The focus of Time Erase and Epitaph was not on offense, but on foreseeing the future and deleting time to change the future.
As Diavolo said, as long as he foresaw all traps, he would never fail.
"Hey! Takatsuki! Quickly think of a way, this guy's ability is too invincible, even Avdol's flames can't do anything to him."
Silver Chariot, holding a broken sword, stood ready. Polnareff initially refused to believe in evil and insisted on stabbing the opponent with his sword, the result being that part of his sword was swallowed.
"That's right! My Stand, The Cream, is absolutely undefeatable by you!"
After moving a certain distance away from the crowd, the main body of The Cream Stand appeared in mid-air, and Vanilla Ice's face emerged from its large mouth.
Although invincible inside The Cream, Vanilla Ice could not observe the outside world at all from within, and there was no oxygen inside The Cream, so Vanilla Ice had to show his head periodically to observe the situation and breathe, even if his physique was excellent, it was useless.
After all, The Cream, like Silver Chariot, is a Stand without sight, which gave this almost invincible Stand a weakness.
"I will grind each of you to dust. You actually dare to dream of defeating Lord Dio. Let me, Vanilla Ice, correct your arrogant thoughts."
The Cream closed its mouth again, and its body disappeared into the void.
He also realized that the smoke and dust in the air would expose his position, so he would absolutely not show himself within anyone's range.
"Ah, ah, ah! What void! Let I show you my The Hand!"
The group had been dodging The Cream's attacks, and after several consecutive times, Kiana finally couldn't hold back.
"Don't! Kiana!"
Before Takatsuki could stop her, The Hand had already raised its right hand towards The Cream.
Buzz!
"Ah! My hand!"
The Hand's hand disappeared into the void, and Kiana's hand was also severed and flew off as if cut by something.
The principle of The Hand is that the eraser-like object on the Stand's right hand can erase space, so the premise is to make contact with the right hand.
And The Cream, after devouring itself, forms a devouring space around its body.
The devouring space cannot be destroyed, but The Hand's hand can be destroyed.
"Kiana!"
Fortunately, Takatsuki pulled Kiana back at the critical moment, and Mei immediately ran over to help Kiana reattach her severed hand with Crazy Diamond.
Thankfully, a Stand is merely a manifestation of spiritual energy; although injuries are reflected, the physical body does not disappear into thin air, and it was barely within Crazy Diamond's repair range.
"I see, so it can even repair injuries caused by The Cream. It seems I must deal with you first."
Vanilla Ice watched Mei treat Kiana from a distance with no intention of stopping, but he also set his sights on Mei, who had been providing cover nearby.
"Takatsuki! Quickly think of a way!"
"A way, huh…"
Takatsuki looked up in Vanilla Ice's direction: "Vanilla Ice, you are now the only Stand user under Dio here in Egypt, aren't you?"
"If Dio is killed, what will you do?"
Vanilla Ice's eyes widened instantly: "You bastard! Do you know what you're saying!?"
"Dio's men will never…"
Just as Vanilla Ice was enraged by Takatsuki's words, the battle on the other side suddenly changed.
Time rewinds to a dozen seconds earlier.
In the contest of power and speed between Star Platinum and The World, Dio played a small trick, and The World suddenly changed its move, catching Star Platinum off guard.
However, fortunately, the blow from the changed move was not heavy, only a minor injury.
"Indeed, whether in power or precision, my The World is superior. Hm, I'm satisfied. Now, I'll finish you all in one go!"
"To finish you all! I still need to use The World's true ability!"
"Za Warudo!"
An undetectable ripple instantly erupted. In Dio's eyes, everything in the world turned black and white, and even the dust stirred up by his punches was frozen in the air.
"This way, the Joestar family will also be extinguished in my hands."
The World raised its right hand and chopped down towards Star Platinum's neck: "Die! Jotaro!"
And at this very moment, Star Platinum suddenly turned and dodged The World's attack, while simultaneously, its right fist slammed heavily into The World's chest.
"Nani!!!"
Dio looked at the hole appearing in his chest, synchronized with The World's injury, his face contorted in rage.
About half a year ago…
To test the power and speed of his Stand, Dio inadvertently awakened the ability to stop time.
At that time, he realized that this was proof of his uniqueness.
Unlike other Stands that could only affect a certain range, The World's power could affect the entire world!
It wasn't about stopping time within a certain range, but about completely dominating the power of the world!
This completely still space was a world belonging solely to him, Dio, a world that no external force could invade, and it was proof that he, Dio, surpassed everyone, all Stand users, all life!
The World, having completely mastered the power of time, was as refreshing as sunlight breaking into darkness.
But!
At this moment, his special proof was overturned!
And!
Why him of all people!
Why the Joestar bloodline!
Dio's Stand was originally Hermit Purple, like Joseph's, and he also used this ability to "recruit" many Stand users from the heavens.
As he gradually began to control Jonathan's body, he gained a new Stand, The World!
Hermit Purple's energy was devoured by The World, growing like mistletoe devouring its host's nutrients.
He had once believed that Hermit Purple originated from Jonathan's body, and The World was a Stand exclusive to him, Dio.
But he never expected!
Another Stand with the same ability would appear within the Joestar bloodline, and even the Stand type would be completely identical!
In an instant, just an instant, Jotaro severely wounded Dio.
Although the surprise attack, which lured Dio closer, prevented a hit to his head, Star Platinum's active time was not limited to just that instant.
Ever since learning about Dio's Stand ability and Star Platinum's latent ability, Jotaro had been secretly practicing, never actively using this power.
Only when fighting Hanged Man did he utilize the exact moment Dio activated time stop to defeat him.
Fortunately, Dio frequently activated his ability every day to practice and fully master The World's power, and Jotaro had also been secretly practicing along the way, and Star Platinum's active time during time stop had already reached three seconds.
This was something he could do even before setting foot on India's soil.
And no matter how much he practiced afterward, the time could not be increased.
Jotaro realized that this, perhaps, was the limit he could reach as a human in a short time. A Stand's energy is the energy of human spirit, but without significant emotional fluctuations, the ability a Stand can display also has its limits.
And Dio's time was much longer than his, so Jotaro understood that competing in endurance with a vampire was unwise, so he had been enduring, hiding his true strength, waiting for this moment!
After piercing The World's chest, Star Platinum didn't even pull out its fist, directly striking The World's head with its left fist.
The World raised a leg, and its knee collided with Star Platinum's fist.
Dio felt his right knee shatter completely, and he used the force of that impact to pull The World's body out of Star Platinum's fist, thereby escaping Star Platinum's attack range.
And at this moment…
Jotaro's active time had run out. After flying backward for one second, the time stop also ended.