Silver Chariot Requiem

"You're... Diavolo!!!"

Polnareff's vision blurred. The boy, who had looked so young and green just moments ago, had turned into a figure he knew all too well.

"Polnareff, why aren't you fighting me yourself?"

Diavolo stood on the stair landing, watching Polnareff with a hint of mockery in his voice.

With that, he took another step toward the stairs.

"Time was erased just now."

Polnareff's expression turned grave. He raised his hand, bit through his index finger, and let the blood drip onto his prosthetic legs.

He chose to fight head-on rather than try to escape. With both legs severed, getting away was out of the question.

One drop, two drops, three drops.

With a strange sound like space cracking, Polnareff's consciousness blurred again.

The blood he'd been watching from the corner of his eye had instantly become... eight drops!

King Crimson had activated Time Erasure!

The process of the blood falling had been completely erased. It had jumped straight from three drops to eight. Diavolo would surely take this opportunity to close in.

Polnareff's gaze sharpened. He had no time to think. He immediately shouted, "Silver Chariot!"

Whoosh!

Silver Chariot appeared in a faint shimmer and raised its rapier. It began with a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree sweep, kicking up dust that formed an almost perfect circle.

"Did it work?!"

Polnareff panted nervously, drenched in sweat.

"Polnareff, that was a clever tactic."

Diavolo clutched his wound and wiped the blood seeping from his chest. "You've grown a lot, and your timing was excellent. If I'd gotten any closer, I might have been seriously wounded."

"But this farce ends now."

Diavolo's words made Polnareff's heart tighten. He immediately summoned Silver Chariot to grab the wheelchair and fling him away.

"King Crimson!"

Time was erased once more. Using Epitaph's ability to see the future, Diavolo watched Polnareff's trajectory through the air.

Diavolo strolled over to where Polnareff would land and waited. When Polnareff hit the ground, he casually wiped the blood from his wound, swung his arm, and expertly flung it into Polnareff's eyes.

Secret technique: Blood in the Eyes.

Diavolo smirked and raised his arm high, holding his hand like a blade above him.

"I am Diavolo, the emperor!"

Just before his hand came down, Diavolo suddenly sensed something was wrong.

He stopped and looked at Silver Chariot in midair, his pupils contracting slightly.

The Insect Arrow had pierced Silver Chariot's head.

A sudden unease gripped Diavolo. Gritting his teeth, he raised his arm again and shouted, ending Time Erasure in sync.

"Time! Start moving again!" (Just like in the original.)

Diavolo's palm came down, nearly cleaving Polnareff's entire shoulder apart. Then, leaving him no chance, he followed with a Heart-Piercing Blow.

Two fatal wounds. Polnareff's life was over.

Before he died, Polnareff ignored the pain in his body and gave one final command.

"Protect the Arrow."

Silver Chariot's body began to melt and reform. As it did, a drop of something—neither quite liquid nor tear—wavered in its eye.

The Insect Arrow fell from the air, and Diavolo reached out and caught it. He slowly raised it.

"So this... is the Insect Arrow?"

He didn't use it right away. Diavolo still didn't know exactly what the Arrow did.

Brilliant light illuminated the entire arena, drawing everyone's attention.

In a corner, Dawn lit a cigarette.

As he exhaled clouds of smoke, he watched Silver Chariot Requiem transforming in midair, his eyes glinting with an inscrutable emotion.

The power of the Insect Arrow was truly fascinating.

The light radiating from Silver Chariot Requiem drew Giorno and the others over. Dawn emerged from the darkness as well and walked toward Diavolo.

"Dawn, you bastard. Have you been hiding in the shadows, spying on me this whole time?"

Diavolo immediately went on guard, not daring to let his guard down for a moment. He'd just used Time Erasure and needed a brief moment to catch his breath.

Dawn gestured with his hand. Cloud Dragon, circling overhead, immediately swooped down and coiled around him.

Cloud Dragon glared at Diavolo, opening its mouth slightly to bare its fangs, its expression furious and ferocious.

Even though it was now only a dozen meters long, Cloud Dragon was still powerful enough to make Diavolo wary. He didn't dare make a rash move.

Dawn ignored Diavolo and instead looked toward Silver Chariot in midair.

Diavolo followed Dawn's gaze, but kept the corner of his eye on him, silently on guard.

The light faded, revealing a mysterious figure, its entire body pitch-black.

Silver Chariot Requiem had arrived.

"Who are you?"

Diavolo gripped the Insect Arrow tightly. Caught between a wolf in front and a tiger behind, he felt as if electricity were coursing through him, his hair standing on end. "When did you appear?!"

Silver Chariot Requiem tilted its head slightly and said nothing. It simply continued walking out of the arena.

"Stop!"

Diavolo rushed after it. As he passed a corner, his hand suddenly felt light. The Insect Arrow had vanished.

"Impossible..."

An overwhelming drowsiness swept over him. In just a few seconds, all three million people in Rome, animals included, had fallen completely asleep.

Diavolo's eyes brimmed with reluctance, but he had no choice but to close them and fall into a baby-like sleep.

After who knew how long, everyone gradually woke up.

Dawn opened his eyes, looked around, then got up and headed toward the stairs.

Soon, he saw his own body crouching on the ground, a pair of sharp eyes looking back at him.

Dawn rubbed his forehead. That look could only belong to Narancia.

"Black history. This is definitely black history."

Dawn walked over and took back his cigarettes and lighter with practiced ease, then pulled one out and stuck it between his lips.

"Click."

The cigarette caught fire, and smoke soon curled through the air.

"Whose body is this?"

Dawn muttered to himself, then took a deep drag and slowly exhaled.

When Narancia saw Dawn start smoking, his eyes slowly widened, as if he'd just discovered something unbelievable.

Footsteps sounded nearby.

A figure came around the corner.

Dawn looked up. At least on the outside, it was Diavolo.

"Giorno, what are you doing?"

Diavolo sounded annoyed. "When did you start smoking? You're only fifteen."

Diavolo stepped forward and gently took the cigarette from Dawn, scolding him as he did. "Minors aren't allowed to smoke."

Narancia's eyes shook with shock. His mind raced, and he felt as if he were dreaming.

"Huh? Giorno? Me?"

Dawn pointed at himself, looking bewildered.

Then he raised a hand and touched his hair: three carefully styled curls, smooth and neat.

"No way, I've become Giorno?"

Dawn grabbed one of the curls and pulled it straight. That looked much better.

Diavolo frowned slightly. What was going on with Giorno?

He was acting so strangely today. Diavolo had only corrected his bad behavior, and now he'd even changed his hairstyle. Could he be going through a rebellious phase?

Meanwhile, the others began waking up one after another, and chaos broke out.

Trish stood with her legs spread wide, exposing a large expanse of pale skin. She bent down and picked up the gun on the floor. It was obvious: he was Mista.

"Not ladylike at all!"

Mista folded his arms and sniffed his armpit. "I stink!"

This was Trish.

Suddenly, Trish seemed to notice something and yelled as she pounced on Mista.

"Don't put your hands down there! And if you spread your legs like that again, I'll kill you!"

Trish pinned Mista against the wall, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

Scolded, Mista awkwardly rubbed his face and protested, "But these underwear are really tight, and they're uncomfortable."

"Shut up!"