"No, Dawn. I meant spare his life. The Boss might find him useful."
Dio spoke slowly as he descended the stairs.
Dawn rubbed his nose, sheathed his sword, and went over to check Hewitt's breathing.
"Enemies might hold their breath to fake their deaths, Dawn. That's the kind of battle wisdom you need to learn."
Dio gave him a careful lesson, then kicked Hewitt. When he didn't react, Dio immediately bent down and pressed his ear against Hewitt's chest.
To be safe, Dio rested a finger against Hewitt's temple, ready to execute him on the spot if he so much as stirred.
"Hmm... I can still hear a faint heartbeat. Looks like he's not quite dead yet."
Dio turned toward a load-bearing beam, took a deep breath, and summoned his Stand, The World.
"MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!"
The World unleashed a rapid barrage of punches, pulled out the steel rebar, and kneaded it around like a noodle, then tightly bound Hewitt with it.
"Dawn, if he wakes up and uses Hamon on me, that could be a problem. So you carry him."
Dio picked Hewitt up like a little chick and placed him on Dawn's shoulder.
Seeing this, Dawn immediately brought out the ultimate wage slave—Diavolo.
"King Crimson..."
Diavolo weakly summoned his Stand and hoisted the unconscious Hewitt onto his shoulders.
First a fight, and now manual labor.
What kind of nonsense was this?
At that moment, Diavolo deeply understood why his subordinates had rebelled. What was the point of working when being the Boss was so much more comfortable?
The two men and one Stand carried Hewitt and hurried toward the city limits. All the vampires were distracted by Notorious Big, so no one paid them any attention.
If all went as expected, after this night, nobody in Night City would want to stay.
The rampaging crimson monster had turned the place into its playground. After realizing they couldn't fight it, the vampires would probably abandon the city.
Once they were out of the city, Dawn and Dio quickly slipped into the woods and headed for their agreed meeting point.
Before long, they spotted Cloud Dragon hovering in the sky and found Dabi and Joestar safe and sound.
"Joestar, my dear friend! Life is full of surprises. Now we're both vampires."
Dio enthusiastically went over and embraced Joestar. His arms tightened, and Joestar's mouth twitched in pain as several ribs cracked.
"Dio, you broke my ribs."
Joestar pounded Dio's back with all his might. The broad back gave off a dull, solid thud, as if he were beating a piece of old cowhide.
"Sorry, old friend. I was just so worried about you."
Dio gave a wild laugh. For some reason, Dawn found it a little unnerving.
After the two sides exchanged pleasantries, they didn't have to wait long before Steel Ball Run burst out of the ground and the fat man jumped out.
"I nearly died of fright! I ran into a terrifying enemy in Night City's sewers. I almost didn't make it back."
Dawn walked over, handed him a cigarette, and asked curiously, "What enemy? Wasn't Hewitt the only one?"
As he spoke, he pointed at Hewitt, who was lying motionless on the ground.
Weasel patted his chest, still shaken, and took the cigarette. "I went back through the sewers as planned, but I ran into a crimson monster hunting vampires down there. I barely got away."
Dawn didn't know what to say, so he just patted Weasel on the shoulder.
"You're one lucky guy."
Everyone boarded Steel Ball Run and headed for the cavern where their camp was located.
The Phantom Track was fast, and the ride was completely smooth. The whole way was clear, so clear that Dawn began to feel suspicious.
"In a city as big as Night City, what were all the other Stand Users doing? Not one of them came to stop us."
Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Woo~ Woo~ Woo~
Steel Ball Run slowly came to a halt. Dawn leaped off, with King Crimson carrying Hewitt close behind.
They had reached the camp.
"Dawn, bring Hewitt. We're going to see the Boss."
Dio sounded relaxed. This mission had been extremely dangerous, and they had Dawn's Stand to thank for taking out so many vampires.
The two of them walked up to the stone house. Dawn and Dio exchanged a glance; they could both hear footsteps pacing inside.
Dio stepped forward and knocked.
Knock, knock~
Rohan Kishibe seemed to have been waiting right behind the door. As soon as he heard the knock, he pulled it open.
"Seeing that you're both safe and sound puts my mind at ease."
Rohan stepped aside and invited them in.
"Please, have some tea."
Rohan poured them each a cup of hot tea, then asked how the mission had gone.
"It went smoothly. Thanks to Dawn's Stand, we were able to rescue Joestar and take down Night City."
Dawn smiled modestly and took a sip of tea.
"Not only that, we also brought back Hewitt, the time thief. He's in the dungeon now."
At that, Rohan's eyes lit up. He stood up at once.
"Take me to him!"
The three of them went to the dungeon. Rohan opened the door, then seemed to remember something and turned to Dawn.
"Mr. Dawn, you should come along too."
Dawn's heart stirred, and he hurried after them.
At the very back of the dungeon, Hewitt sat against the wall with his head lowered, saying nothing.
Rohan turned around, a probing glint in his eyes.
"Dawn, you know what I'm going to do. Do you have any suggestions?"
Before Dawn could answer, Hewitt lifted his head at the sound of his voice. His eyes were bloodshot.
"A born villain, the destroyer of humanity, a demon from hell..."
Hewitt muttered to himself, his gaze full of hatred and wariness.
"Wasn't he a gentleman?"
Dawn lit a cigarette and asked Rohan curiously.
"Who knows? Maybe he just can't accept that his ideals have been shattered."
Rohan answered casually and opened the iron door, heading toward Hewitt.
Hewitt didn't back away. Convinced there was no way out, he glared at Rohan without flinching.
"Breakneck Speed!"
Hewitt summoned his Stand through gritted teeth, attempting one last struggle.
"Heaven's Door!"
But Rohan was faster. He summoned Heaven's Door and pointed at the center of Hewitt's forehead.
In an instant, Breakneck Speed collapsed to the ground, and Hewitt sat there in a daze, motionless.
Hewitt's face opened like a book, its pages covered in tiny writing that recorded his entire past life.
Rohan began making edits with his pen, occasionally turning back to ask Dawn for suggestions.
Dawn's spirits lifted, and he spoke solemnly.
"My dream is to devote myself to raising my children into proper gentlemen. It's a shame I don't have any children yet."
Rohan turned around and stared at Dawn, who looked completely serious. His eyes widened in shock, and the hand holding his pen trembled slightly.
"Mr. Dawn, I understand your regret, but..."
Dawn sighed.
"I see. What a shame. Looking for the arrow fragments is sure to be perilous. If I happen to die..."
Rohan's mouth twitched. His pen flashed as he wrote, moving so fast it was only a blur.
Hewitt opened his eyes in confusion, Dawn's face reflected in his pupils.
"Father!"
Hewitt sprang up and clung tightly to one of Dawn's legs, bawling with tears and snot running down his face.
"I'm ashamed that I chose the wrong path and followed it to the bitter end. Thank you, Father, for knocking some sense into me. I'll... never forget this as long as I live."
Before you continue