Chapter 463
Back to reality, they were in the air, far from the solid ground of the Furnace. This tiny change brought terrifying consequences.
Bang!
Gunshots rang out, and Yuki, now free, blasted the Hunting Spider to pieces, thus breaking free from its restraints. Everything happened in an instant. Don't forget that although the Furnace disappeared, the Eternal Night still shrouded everything.
Eternal Night Stealth.
Without any time to react, he appeared directly on the giant shield. The dozen or so Stands were at a loss, having lost their opponent. Dio Brando's control was also delayed, and he couldn't recall them instantly.
He did it on purpose!
To attract attention, to test my control Limit, to calculate my control latency, and more importantly...
Consume my Stand!
It's a very simple and straightforward trick, but just because the brain can react to it doesn't mean the body can do it.
Bang!
The second gunshot ignited all the surrounding Stands. The Golden War God defended against the bullet, but couldn't stop the lightning blade that came crashing down in his face.
Swish--
The Dragon Spear pierced through the golden surface of his body and plunged into his chest cavity. As the armor shattered, the Epic Metamorphosis of 'I Am the Stand' was activated once again, and Dio Brando transferred all the damage.
But this was of no use, because he was in the Eternal Night, Yuki was everywhere, so he could only barely summon the 'King Crimson'.
It was no use. Yuki was already close in, and the Witch God's Soul Crystal was still suppressing him. Dense sword shadows enveloped him, shattering Dio Brando and reducing the 'King Crimson' to dust.
"No matter how many stand-ins you have."
Yuki vanished in a blur, his Blood-Burning Heart in its Wildfire state making him even faster than Moonshadow Ghost Step. With a back kick, he blasted Dio Brando, who had just escaped, back into the Eternal Night.
"One comes, I kill one, I'll keep killing until--"
"Stop thinking!!!"
Chapter Seventeen: The Stand User
Dio Brando was right; this was indeed a short war of attrition.
The Stand is bizarre, and its ability to take someone else's life is like a bug. As long as there is a Stand nearby, the Ultimate Creature can keep living, and can use this time to escape or fight back.
This intelligence was obtained by Alavis and Ikaros through probing. Yuki's battle plan was to wear down Dio Brando, taking advantage of his biggest weakness: being unpredictable but lacking in physical strength. He didn't believe that this bastard had unlimited Stands.
First, use the Night Furnace to peel away space, ensuring that no Stands are hiding in unseen places. Then, give him a chance to counterattack, destroy the multiple Stands he summoned, and finally trap him in Eternal Night.
At the same time, keep Warm Blade to maximize speed and power.
The overwhelming speed created a chain reaction. With no chance to escape, Dio Brando could only rely on his Stand to withstand the attack. When pure physical strength was at a disadvantage, even summoning multiple Stands was not enough to unleash their full potential.
In order to escape as quickly as possible, the highest-level Stands have been used up, and the remaining ones are no match for even a single blow. Even if they are used to prolong life, they will eventually come to an end.
[Player Yuki, you have hunted down the Judge. Your faction will be wanted, but you will receive some abilities or items.]
A muffled murmur, devoid of any emotion, Yuki stop his slaughter. Dio Brando, this ultimate creature, was even more miserable than before. Yuki had killed him dozens of times, shredded him, and Annihilation him to ashes, leaving not even a speck of dust behind, much less giving him the chance to say, "This is my escape route."
A sure kill doesn't require a single blow, but rather a complete annihilation until the bones are reduced to ashes.
"You guessed right, but not entirely. Ikaros's role is to determine the range of your Stand's attack. As long as Eternal Night completely covers it, no matter how fancy your moves are, you won't escape my grasp."
Even if you're still holding back, I still have Conceptual Craft Essence I haven't used.
Yuki's order to Ikaros was simple: escape, escape for your life. At that time, Dio Brando had become the King of Haste, and he would not hold back if he could intercept him.
Therefore, his only chance of survival is to conceal the maximum control distance, hide a Stand outside the Eternal Night, and then switch to it.
"But you won't. Even the most cunning person can't hide this trick. That's human nature."
Dio Brando Taiyi as he is remembered, but so what? No matter how cunning the prey is, it cannot escape the palm of the hand. Once the details of the Epic Metamorphosis are figured out, the game is already lost.
Whew, and I will step on you to reach even greater heights.
Yuki was filled with anticipation. Dio Brando didn't have many items on him, so as long as his luck wasn't too bad, the reward was definitely within his expectations. After a few seconds, when the dust in the air had been burned away, he finally received his answer.
[Player Yuki, you have gained the special ability 'Stand User']
[You can divide your items and skills into a Stand. Stands have no independent consciousness, their appearance is self-defined, their control range is limited, and they can merge with the user.]
[Upgrade requires epic-level materials, which will increase the number of clones and the control range.]
[Note: Damage sustained by the Stand will be reflected back to the user in proportion.]
It really is this thing, and as expected, it's different from the Stand rules in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Yuki had already figured this out. Some of Dio Brando's Stands were definitely created by him, such as by separating out certain abilities, but the complete Epic Metamorphosis was much stronger.
It can control many Stands at the same time, using enhancement points or specialization points to focus on strengthening certain ones, and it has the ability to sacrifice itself, which is why it is so difficult to kill.
"Completely different from a clone, and unlike a summoned creature, it's more like some kind of puppet?"
Listening to the thunderous aftershocks of the battle, Yuki pondered amidst the lingering snow. The weakness of this thing was its ability to divide, but upon closer reflection, it wasn't so bad.
It can be controlled from a distance of 100 kilometers. When needed, it can be used from behind the scenes. In the event of an encounter, it can be instantly integrated without weakening its own strength.
The biggest difference between this and Dio Brando is Epic Metamorphosis; that guy completely reversed things, Damage Transfer to the substitute.
"It's especially useful for the current situation; I don't have to risk a trap by directly contacting the Angels and others."
Regardless of how things develop, at least it solves the immediate problem. Without hesitation, Yuki used the soul materials that Dio Brando had dropped to upgrade 'Stand User' to LV1. Then, without thinking too much, she immediately started playing the Miracle Nikki.
A bubble appeared nearby; it looked a bit like a ghost. In the Reincarnation Game, there's no such thing as an invisible 'stand-in'.
The appearance doesn't matter.
The battle is clearly nearing its end, and the second phase is about to begin. There's no time to carefully customize the characters.
He wore a grey trench coat, a round-brimmed hat with the collar turned up to cover his face, black trousers and leather shoes, and leather gloves on his exposed hands.
The Stand has no consciousness and is more like a puppet, but it has its own fighting instincts and can fight on its own. After observing it for a while, he found that this thing Taiyi as Dio Brando's.
His Stand is a derivative of JOJO and can be individually enhanced, but its drawback is that it has a relatively short control range.
This thing is quite far away, and the mental connection is relatively weak, so it's not easy to trace it back to its source, but everyone knows it's a puppet.
Yuki thought for a while and suddenly had an idea. He took out the Fool's Mask and equipped it to his Stand. This ability had been upgraded to LV5. Hayasaka himself could block all detection, and the Stand also had a certain shielding effect.
That's about right. It's not easy to tell anyway. I wasn't planning on using a clone-style multi-line control strategy.
It's not that it's impossible, but it's too dangerous. Yuki art of survival and understands that anything with its own consciousness will bring trouble. Who knows if it might take over? So he doesn't have a single highly intelligent thing in his body.
As for which skills to allocate to the Stand, Yuki has already figured it out.
"Give him the Void Alchemy and Reinforcement Magecraft items. These two skills can synergize. As long as he doesn't get instantly killed, I can take them back."
After a brief test, the control range is 100 kilometers. Within this range, the Stand can be recalled or fused, but there is a delay of a few seconds. Yuki doesn't have many skills or items to allocate, so let's focus on giving him the ability to protect himself first.
Let's leave it at that for now.
He looked up and realized that the sounds of battle had ceased sometime earlier, leaving only a desolate wasteland filled with the aura of destruction. A huge shadow hovered in the sky, and a pure white angel was flying towards them. By now, they were close enough.
"Mr. Yuki, it's been a long time since I've seen you."
With a blurry vision, while the outside world was still clearing out the remaining enemies, Yuki had already been dragged into the Reading Space.
He saw Shiina Hiyori, Hayasaka Ai, Kaguya Shinomiya, and Frieren. Except for Mona, who was still squatting there sullenly, watching the giant whale snore, everyone else had gathered there.
It's strange, but this was the first time the entire team had met. The Judge would never know until his death that a whole gang was working together behind the scenes.
Without meeting or discussing, they quietly set up this game by utilizing their respective races.
"It's been less than a month at most, what's there to lament?" Yuki sighed.
"But we're in the same instance, this is the first time we've each done our own thing."
"This proves that everyone can stand on their own, isn't that a good thing?" Yuki smiled and looked around, seeing the various expressions on their faces, and couldn't help but sigh.
Once upon a time, they had to rely on powerful figures to survive, but now they can plan everything based on just one direction. Yuki doesn't care about the affairs of the Angels and the Monster Race, nor can he, so he completely leaves them to their own devices.
Now it seems they're doing better than I have.
Strategically, progress was made steadily, and each individual received rewards for gaining reputation, but Yuki had absolutely no involvement in these rewards.
"What was the result?"
"Let me speak." Hayasaka Ai calmly stepped forward. As observers of this war, they naturally saw things most clearly. "The Judge have all been wiped out, but Hiyori provided a lot of information, including some life-saving items."
How could they escape from an ambush by three races so easily? Or rather, they wouldn't dare leave until Dio Brando was confirmed dead.
It's done.
Everyone, including Yuki, clenched their fists in excitement. The Judge were completely bewildered in the end. Logically, there was nothing wrong with it, but they always felt that there was a dark hand manipulating things behind the scenes.
As for who it was, they didn't know, nor did they have the opportunity to investigate.
The senior student team had no presence on the ground, and Frieren was just a supporting character, fighting alongside the 'Annihilation Seeker'. When their leader was taken away, the Judge didn't know whether to retreat or fight, and eventually split into two groups.
Some fought desperately to kill Ikaros, for it was their only chance of survival; others wanted to brave the blizzard and bring back their leader.
But they all failed; it was impossible for Yuki to make a mistake on such a simple calculation problem.
"They made the worst choice, but of course, you can't blame them. The whole battlefield was in chaos, and apart from me, nobody knew what happened." Yuki stood indifferently, without the expected excitement. He was hidden in the shadows, and the entire team had fought with all their might, even utilizing the power of the dungeon.
From the moment Dio Brando decided to collaborate with humans, the outcome was already predetermined.
The only downside is that there are no rewards for killing the Judge in the dungeon, only some soul materials, and Yuki won't take these by force.
"The first phase has successfully concluded, and the second phase is about to begin. The Judge is very strong and has caused a lot of trouble for both races, but there is opportunity within death."
Yuki didn't have the energy to observe the overall situation, but even a fool could tell that the Machine Race and the Angels had suffered considerable losses. Those were a group of monster-level powerhouses, and the two leaders even had epic-level strength.
With no hope of survival, Yuki dared not confront the trapped beasts.
"The specific casualty reports haven't come out yet, but at least two eighth-ring angels have fallen, and the mechanical vanguard casualties are also heavy." Hiyori hadn't been watching for nothing; she could roughly estimate the results. Tilting her head, she said:
"In the end, the two races cooperated to annihilate the Judge. Even when the Netway Will and the Nine-Ring Skywing faced each other directly, they did not engage in battle."
That's for sure. Initially, the two races were definitely wary of each other, but the Judge were too powerful, so they had no choice but to cooperate. As the old saying goes, the factions in the instance don't know whether players can return or be wiped out.
For them, the opportunity to completely annihilate this formidable enemy outside of the Great Game is only once; if they miss it, the consequences will be dire.
"Oh, right, that mech was stopped by the Elves, or more precisely, by their players." Mai Sakurajima then recalled a detail and gave a brief description.
The Elves are known for their 'cunning,' and this was actually a pledge of allegiance; the player of 'Moonlit Demon Wolf' was in deep trouble.
They wouldn't dare kill the Judge; the mercenary Nine Dragons was practically going berserk, and there was no way to stop him.
"So these players were caught trying to be clever and were imprisoned?" Yuki said with amusement; this was an unexpected bonus.
The team composition between players and races seems fair, but it's actually full of pitfalls. Every race in this world is a war machine, and unless they're on the verge of extinction like humans, why should they be under the control of you, the player?
Conversely, the stronger the race you're matched with, the more dangerous it is, like players of the 'Moonlit Demon Wolf' race, who have virtually no choice.
A full-scale interception would result in being wanted by the Reincarnation Game, while resorting to tricks would lower their reputation. Neither path was easy, and their fates would not be good either, because the berserk Nine Dragons had caused massive damage. He shot down several Elves warships in succession, forcing the latter to use the Spear of Adun. Severely wounded, he decisively self-destructed.
"Let's find a way to make the Elves kill them themselves. The fewer players there are, the safer we'll be."
"Will the Elves listen to us?" Kaguya Shinomiya couldn't help but ask.
"No, but the stage is already set up, and it's too late for the actors to leave. That's Mr. Yuki's main goal," Hiyori explained Hiyori a smile. The end of the first phase means the beginning of the second phase, and his greatest strength is seamlessly connecting the two phases.
At this moment, the actors showed no signs of leaving. In this Inner Ring Battlefield, Angels, Monster Race, Machine Race, Elves, Dwarves, and even humans were all present.
It's like killing an enemy, looking up and finding others all around.
Humans here want to retreat but dare not, while other races are on edge, fearing that the slightest misstep could trigger a second war. In such a tense atmosphere, even the Annihilation Seeker have become obedient.
Yuki's will was split into two parts: one in the Reading Space and the other in reality.
In all directions—east, west, south, and north—a wrecked Machine Race fleet, a massive airship, a magnificent Sky City, and a colossal tree soaring through the sky stand in confrontation. A dragon-like Magical Beasts hovers atop a mountain, fearing that it will be subjected to concentrated fire if it takes flight.
"This is where the gambling begins; it involves the most crucial secrets of the Great Game."
Yuki returned to the dilapidated fortress. Humans are the most innocent and helpless. The aftershocks of a battle between a few powerful races could wipe them out ten times over. Yuki, who led them to this desperate Yuki, didn't say a word, but his heart was beating faster.
There must be a reason why the higher races keep fighting but haven't had a final showdown, but Yuki doesn't know and can only guess.
With the help of the Judge, the stage for the final battle has been handed over to these races, especially the angels, machines, elves, and Dwarves. With their main forces gathered, it is the perfect time to determine the victor.
"But they didn't start a war. Even when the Judge were causing the most trouble, the Angels and Machine Race didn't take advantage of the situation when they were having some difficulties."
"Yes, that's the most illogical part. Logically speaking, this is the best opportunity to eliminate or severely damage the Angels." Hiyori also didn't understand. She still couldn't understand why the Nine-Ringed Skywing Chieftain would personally participate in the battle with such a confident look.
"There must be some tacit understanding here, such as that the war can continue, but the race cannot be wiped out."
"But the Orcs didn't face this obstacle when they wiped out humans," Mai Sakurajima immediately retorted.