"This hole was Ozone Jackers' ability, wasn't it?"
Joseph looked at the perfect circle before him and realized how the hole had been made.
Ozone Jackers could devour its user and itself to form a spherical swallowing void, which could move freely and devour anything it touched.
The scene before them clearly showed that when the mansion collapsed, Ozone Jackers had used its ability to dig a hole and cover Dio's escape.
"Then what are we waiting for?! We can't let that bastard Dio get away!"
As he spoke, Polnareff impulsively tried to jump down, but Joseph stopped him. "Wait, Polnareff! It's a trap!"
"Why do you say that?"
Joseph stared grimly at the hole in the ground. "There's only one passage dug by Ozone Jackers. If we jump in, we'll have no choice but to follow the route it made. We have no way of detecting Ozone Jackers. All it has to do is lie in ambush somewhere along the tunnel, and we'll walk straight into the trap."
"Then what do we do?! Are we just going to let Dio escape like this?!"
"Don't panic, Polnareff. Of course we can't let that bastard Dio get away!"
Hermit Purple swayed around Joseph's arm, crackling with Ripple electricity. "Now that we've found his hiding place..."
"Hermit Purple!"
He slapped the ground, and the dust and rubble scattered across it by the collapsed building assembled into a map of the surrounding area under a strange force.
Two pieces of rubble on it trembled as they moved.
"This is where Dio and Vanilla are! Let's go!"
After confirming Dio's location, the group immediately gave chase.
Kiana also shouted and was about to follow when a flash in the distance caught her attention.
She carefully made her way across the uneven ruins and discovered that the gleaming object was a golden arrow.
"Why would something like this be here?"
Kiana reached out to pick it up, but a sudden sting shot through her fingertip.
"Ow!"
Just as she was about to inspect her injured finger, Kiana realized, "Huh? Aren't I wearing armor?"
She could not see the injury through her armor. This time, Kiana carefully picked up the arrow and discovered that only the arrowhead remained. It bore an engraving resembling a crawling insect, and there was still a trace of blood on its blade.
"This thing can actually pierce through my armor?"
Kiana tested the arrowhead, but it could not penetrate the armor formed by Impact Steel.
"How strange. Whatever, I'll show it to Qin Mo."
Pinching the blunt end, Kiana took the Arrow and ran after Qin Mo.
After only two steps, Kiana felt how cumbersome the full-body armor was.
"I should put it away first. Otherwise, it'll be hard to move."
As the thought crossed Kiana's mind, the armor suddenly changed. The full suit covering her entire body became only gauntlets over her forearms and boot-like gear on her feet.
"It can do that too?"
With her equipment now lighter, Kiana easily caught up with the others.
"Qin Mo, Qin Mo, I picked something up."
Joseph was using pebbles by the roadside to track Dio's location. Kiana caught up and handed him the Arrow.
"The Arrow? Where did you get this?"
Qin Mo naturally recognized the distinctive Arrow. Taking the arrowhead from Kiana, he noticed the trace of blood on it and hurriedly asked, "Kiana, did this thing stab you?!"
"Yeah. I don't know why, but it somehow stabbed me when I picked it up. It obviously couldn't even scratch this armor. Qin Mo, look, I changed the armor into this. Pretty amazing, right?"
The Underground Palace
"Strange. Why haven't Dio and the others moved for so long?"
The group tracked Dio as he moved underground, only to discover that the two had remained in the same place.
"Could it be a trap?"
Avdol could hardly be blamed for thinking so. Something was clearly wrong.
"Even if it's a trap, we have no choice but to go. Everyone, be careful."
Though they feared it was a trap, none of them intended to retreat. Yet when they reached the location marked by Hermit Purple, they found a cave leading underground. The pitch-black entrance practically had the words "come into the trap" written across it.
"Looks like Dio prepared a place like this long ago."
Joseph examined the cave from outside. Clearly, it had not been dug recently; no one knew how long it had been there. They could even see uncleaned metal fragments in the surrounding rock, as though an iron door had once stood there.
"These marks... were they made by Ozone Jackers?"
"What should we do, Mr. Joestar?"
"Hmm..."
Joseph pondered the dark cave before him. "Even if we know it's a trap, we can only go in. It seems Dio has prepared himself to deal with us during the daytime. I'll be counting on you, Avdol."
Avdol nodded, and Magician's Red appeared at his side.
He pressed his palms together, releasing a six-pointed flame from Magician's Red's hands.
"What's that?"
Seeing the others curiously eye this new ability, Avdol did not hide it. "This flame is a detector. It reacts to the breathing of living things, the movement of objects, and Stand energy."
"Avdol, can you make a few more?"
Qin Mo watched the flame slowly drift forward and asked.
"Hm? This detector has a range of fifteen meters. We don't need that many."
Qin Mo shook his head. "That's not what I mean. Your detector can't detect Ozone Jackers when it's hidden in the air. The cave is so narrow that all it needs to do is wait along our only route, and we could run into it without realizing."
Avdol looked at Qin Mo for a moment. "In that case..."
With a snap of his fingers, the flame detector, originally only the size of a chandelier, suddenly expanded and filled the entire cave passage. "This will slow it down somewhat, but it can fill the entire tunnel."
After confirming there was no danger, the group followed Avdol's flame detector into the cave.
Surprisingly, there were no traps or ambushes along the way.
After walking for ten minutes, they saw a faint light ahead.
"At last, the Joestar bloodline has arrived."
Beyond the long, narrow passage lay a spacious hall—or perhaps it would be more fitting to call it a plaza.
This enormous underground space was supported by countless stone pillars. At the far end of its center, Dio sat upon an extravagant chair, while Vanilla stood behind him like a loyal soldier.
"When I met Jonathan Joestar a hundred years ago, I understood that he would be my fated nemesis. And in the end..."
He raised his right hand and placed it over his left shoulder. "He destroyed my body, but I took his body for myself."
"The Joestar bloodline is like a pile of stinking dog shit blocking my path of destiny, but in the end, it will still be used by me, Dio!"
"And next, it's your turn."
Vanilla stepped forward, dropped to one knee, placed his right hand over his left chest, and lowered his head toward Dio. "Lord Dio, there is no need for you to act personally. Allow me, Vanilla Ice, to bring you victory. I will deliver the heads of the Joestar group before you."
"Vanilla..."
Dio's deep, magnetic voice rang out softly. "You are a man of true resolve. I believe you will bring me victory, but..."
"The fate of the Joestar family is something I, Dio, must face myself. Vanilla Ice, remove the other nuisances for me!"
Vanilla Ice rose to his feet, and Ozone Jackers appeared behind him.
"Yes, Lord Dio!"
Before everyone's eyes, Ozone Jackers swallowed Vanilla in a single bite. Then it shoved its feet into its own mouth, followed by its legs and body, until it completely swallowed itself and vanished from sight.
"Eugh, that's disgusting."
"He disappeared!"
The moment the group entered the hall and witnessed that scene, they saw a strip of ground vanish as it rushed toward them. They immediately reacted. "No! Move!"
Whether by design or coincidence, when the group scattered to either side, Joseph and Jotaro were separated on one side while everyone else was cut off on the other.
"By Lord Dio's command, I have come to take your lives!"
Ozone Jackers' upper body emerged in midair, blocking the group's path. On the other side, Dio appeared before Jotaro and Joseph as if he had teleported.
"This body came from Jonathan Joestar a hundred years ago, and now the bloodline of the Joestars stands against me once more!"
"Only the Joestar bloodline—I will wipe it out completely!"
From the very start, Dio bluntly revealed his hostility. Unlike the others, whatever the reason, his hatred for the Joestar family could never be erased.
"Dio!"
Jotaro had not forgotten the purpose of his trip to Egypt: to defeat the monster before him named Dio. A century of hatred? An enemy of humanity? Jotaro did not care about any of that. But he knew that if he could not kill this monster, his mother would lose her life.
"Hoho, you're not running away. You're actually walking toward me, Dio?"
Dio's lips curled upward as he watched Jotaro approach step by step.
"If I don't get closer, how am I supposed to beat you down?"
"Then you'll have to come closer still."
Dio also walked toward Jotaro.
Though it pained him, Joseph knew he could not directly participate in this battle. He had long known Dio's Stand ability, and compared with it, Joseph simply could not fight head-on.
But he still had his own way of providing support from the sidelines.
Dio, however, did not spare him a glance and continued walking toward Jotaro.
"ORA!"
Star Platinum suddenly appeared and punched toward Dio's head. At the same time, The World blocked it and kicked Star Platinum's left leg, interrupting the attack.
Jotaro stumbled, seeing that his pant leg had been torn and his leg was beginning to redden and swell.
"Too slow, too slow. The World is the strongest Stand. Its strength and speed both surpass your Star Platinum."
He glanced at the torn pant leg caused by the attack.
"So it really is the same type of Stand as my Star Platinum. Its range may be short, but its movements are powerful and precise."
Watching The World gain the upper hand in their first clash, Dio folded his arms. "I'd like to see how much stronger The World is than your Star Platinum, though I already know without testing it."
"Your idea of testing it is gently stroking your opponent without even leaving a wound?"
He looked at his torn school uniform pants. "What a shame about these twenty-thousand-yen pants."
"Hmph. Why are the Joestars always so unwilling to admit defeat?"
Dio spread his hands as if helpless. "Then I'll accept your pointless provocation and play with you a little longer."
The World emerged from Dio's body and punched at Star Platinum. After the two power-type Stands exchanged several blows, their speed grew increasingly faster.
"A contest of rapid punches?"
The gusts generated by the two Stands continuously punching each other whipped up a massive storm in the otherwise windless underground space.
"Wow!!! Star Platinum's speed and strength are that outrageous?"
After a brief clash with Ozone Jackers, the others were also drawn to the battle on the other side.
It was also Kiana's first time seeing Star Platinum fight with such full force, and its opponent was a Stand evenly matched with it.
Her previous belief that Stands were powerful only because of their strange abilities and special traits had been completely overturned.
"Kiana! Watch out!"
The Same Type of Stand
Just as Kiana was stunned by the astonishing combat power on the other side, a round, transparent object shot toward her through the dust kicked up by the underground storm.
Before you continue