"Ora!"
Star Platinum threw a punch.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted from underground—another gas explosion. The manhole cover beneath Tooru's feet launched him high into the air with the blast, letting him narrowly evade Star Platinum's fist.
Tooru was still shaken.
If Lin Qing hadn't had most of his life force drained by the cellular degeneration, with his mental strength affected as well—
there was no way he could have dodged that punch.
Tooru and Miracle at You both understood—
they had lost.
Like a knight charging with lance in hand, wagering life and death, they had been the ones to lose. They had chosen to retreat, not daring to take that final step.
High in the sky, Miracle at You pressed down its hat, its voice carrying from above:
"Lin Qing, you did win. You won one round.
"But fighting—killing—is about who survives until the end. And you..."
"Will ultimately walk toward death."
His body was deteriorating.
His Stand had grown weak.
And the distance between them had opened up again.
In Miracle at You's view, all it had to do was wait for his flesh and blood to gradually turn into plants. Then his remaining life force would no longer be enough to withstand the endless calamities.
Lin Qing's life had entered its final countdown—
"Hm?"
Miracle at You looked at the small red vial that had appeared in Lin Qing's hand.
Lin Qing downed it in one gulp.
A healing potion made with Pearl Jam as its main ingredient—one bottle was enough to heal any injury in an extremely short time, so long as the person still had a breath left.
And before leaving, Lin Qing had...
Samui stuff thirty crates of the same potion into Burning Down the House's Ghost Room.
The flowers blooming across the ground