The Dimensional Codex of Destruction Chapter 29

Qin Mo, who had Epitaph activated, foresaw the trajectory of the attack and pushed Kiana away. He then erased the 0.5 seconds during which Ozone Jackers passed through him.

By the time everyone reacted, the circular void in the air had already reached the other side.

Thanks to the kicked-up dust, the otherwise undetectable Ozone Jackers revealed its presence, constantly devouring all surrounding matter, including the dust in the air.

However, even seeing it, they were helpless against it. Ozone Jackers was a truly infuriating Stand; as long as it remained hidden, it was absolutely invincible.

No physical object or Stand ability could touch it.

This was why Qin Mo had switched back to the long-unused Diavolo. The focus of Time Erasure and Epitaph wasn't offense, but rather foresight and altering the future through temporal deletion.

As Diavolo said, if he could foresee all traps, he would never fail.

"Hey! Qin Mo! Think of something! This guy's ability is too invincible! Even Avdol's flames couldn't do anything to it."

Silver Chariot stood ready with a broken sword. Polnareff had initially refused to believe it and tried to stab it with his sword, only for a part of it to be devoured.

"That's right! My Stand, Ozone Jackers, is something you can never defeat!"

After distancing itself from everyone, the main body of the Ozone Jackers Stand appeared in mid-air. Vanilla's face emerged from its large mouth.

Although invincible within Ozone Jackers, one couldn't observe the outside world from inside it, and there was no oxygen. Vanilla Ice had to surface periodically to observe and breathe, no matter how good his physique was.

After all, Ozone Jackers, like Silver Chariot, was a Stand without sight, which gave this almost invincible Stand a weakness.

"I will grind you all to dust in my, Vanilla Ice's, dark space! How dare you even think of defeating Lord Dio! I, Vanilla Ice, will correct your arrogant thoughts."

Ozone Jackers closed its mouth again and hid itself in the void.

It also realized that the dust in the air would expose its location, so it would never reveal itself within anyone's range.

"Ahhh! What dark space! Let me show you my Killer Queen!"

The group had been dodging Ozone Jackers' attacks. After several such attempts, Kiana finally couldn't take it anymore.

"No! Kiana!"

Before Qin Mo could stop her, Killer Queen swung its right hand towards Ozone Jackers.

Buzz!

"Ah! My hand!"

Killer Queen's hand disappeared into the dark space, and Kiana's hand was severed as if cut by something, flying off.

The principle of Killer Queen was that the eraser-like object on its right hand could erase space, requiring contact with the right hand.

Ozone Jackers, on the other hand, created a devouring space around itself.

The devouring space couldn't be destroyed, but Killer Queen's hand could be.

"Kiana!"

Fortunately, Qin Mo pulled Kiana back at the critical moment. Mei immediately ran over and used Crazy Diamond to reattach Kiana's severed hand.

Fortunately, Stands were merely manifestations of spiritual energy. Although injuries would reflect back, the physical body wouldn't disappear out of thin air, and it was still within Crazy Diamond's repair range.

"So that's how it is. It can even repair injuries caused by Ozone Jackers? It seems I must deal with you first."

Vanilla watched Mei heal Kiana from a distance, making no move to stop her, but he set his sights on Mei, who had been covering them all along.

"Qin Mo! Hurry and think of a solution!"

"A solution..."

Qin Mo looked up in Vanilla's direction. "Vanilla, you're the only Stand user under Dio in Egypt right now, aren't you?"

"If Dio were to be killed, what would you do?"

Vanilla's eyes widened instantly. "You! Do you know what you're saying?!"

"Dio's men would never..."

Just as Vanilla was enraged by Qin Mo's words, the battle on the other side took a sudden turn.

Time rewound about ten seconds.

In the battle of power and speed between Star Platinum and The World, Dio played a little trick. The World suddenly changed its attack, catching Star Platinum off guard.

However, the changed attack wasn't heavy, merely a minor injury.

"As expected, both in power and precision, my World is superior. Hmm, I'm satisfied. Now, I'll finish you all off in one go!"

"To finish you off! I must use The World's true ability!"

"The World! Stop! Time!"

An imperceptible wave instantly erupted. In Dio's eyes, everything in the world turned black and white, even the dust kicked up by the wind was frozen in mid-air.

"With this, the Joestar lineage will finally be extinguished by my hand."

The World raised its right hand and swung it towards Star Platinum's neck: "Die, Jotaro!"

But at that very instant, Star Platinum suddenly turned and dodged The World's attack, while simultaneously driving its right fist deep into The World's chest.

"Nani!!!"

Dio stared at the void that appeared on his chest, mirroring the wound on The World, his face contorted in a grimace.

About half a year ago…

To test the power and speed of his Stand, Dio had unintentionally awakened the ability to stop time.

At that moment, he realized this was proof of his uniqueness.

Unlike other Stands that could only affect a certain range, The World's power could affect the entire world!

It wasn't about stopping time within a limited area, but the power to completely dominate the world!

This completely still space was Dio's alone, a world that no external force could invade, and proof that Dio had surpassed everyone, all Stand users, all life!

The World, having completely mastered the power of time, felt as refreshing as sunlight breaking through darkness.

But!

At this moment, his special proof had been overturned!

And!

Why him of all people!

Why the Joestar bloodline!

Dio's original Stand was Hermit Purple, just like Joseph's, and he had used this ability to "recruit" many heavenly Stand users.

As he gradually gained control of Jonathan's body, he obtained a new Stand, The World!

Hermit Purple's energy was devoured by The World, growing like mistletoe absorbing nutrients from its host.

He had once believed that Hermit Purple originated from Jonathan's body, and The World was Dio's Stand alone.

But he never expected!

Another Stand with the same ability would appear in the Joestar bloodline, and even the type of Stand was exactly the same!

In an instant, just a single instant, Dio was severely injured by Jotaro.

Although he couldn't hit Dio's head due to luring him closer for a surprise attack, Star Platinum's active time wasn't limited to just that instant.

Ever since discovering Dio's Stand ability and Star Platinum's hidden potential, Jotaro had been secretly practicing, never actively using this ability.

Only when fighting The Hanged Man did he exploit the exact moment Dio activated his time stop to defeat him.

Fortunately, Dio frequently used his ability daily to practice, making The World's abilities fully mastered. Jotaro had also been secretly practicing along the way, and Star Platinum's active time during time stop had now reached three seconds.

This was something he could do after setting foot on Indian soil.

After that, no matter how much he practiced, the duration couldn't increase.

Jotaro realized that this might be the limit a human could reach in such a short time. A Stand's power was the energy of the human spirit, but without significant emotional fluctuations, the ability a Stand could display also had its limits.

Dio's time was far longer than his, so Jotaro understood that competing with a vampire in endurance was unwise. Thus, he had been enduring, hiding his strength, waiting for this very moment!

After piercing through The World's chest, Star Platinum didn't even withdraw its fist. Instead, it immediately threw a punch towards The World's head with its left hand.

The World raised a leg, its knee colliding with Star Platinum's fist.

Dio felt his right knee shatter completely. He used the force of the impact to pull The World's body out of Star Platinum's fist, thereby escaping Star Platinum's attack range.

And at this moment…

Jotaro's active time had run out. After flying back for a second, the time stop also ended.

Chapter 37: Dio's Escape

From Vanilla Ice's perspective, everything that happened during the time stop was invisible. He only saw Dio, who had been at an advantage moments ago, suddenly fly backward covered in blood. The strange angle of his right leg made it clear that Dio's right leg had also been severely injured.

"See? Do you still think your Lord Dio is invincible?"

Qin Mo had known from the beginning that Jotaro was waiting for the moment Dio let his guard down, and that moment was when Dio activated his ability.

And at that instant, Star Platinum would surely seize the opportunity.

"Damn you, Jotaro!"

Seeing this, Vanilla Ice couldn't bother to stop Qin Mo and the others. His upper body directly emerged from the giant maw of Killer Queen, driving Killer Queen, which also only showed its upper body, straight towards the direction Dio was flying.

Because his goal was to save someone, not to attack, he could only maintain this form, as Killer Queen's attacks were indiscriminate.

"Armor, disengage!"

However, Jotaro wasn't the only one watching for an opening.

Before Vanilla Ice could react, a silver-white figure appeared beside him.

"What!"

Vanilla Ice stared in shock at Silver Chariot, which had arrived at his side. He had never expected Silver Chariot to be so fast after disengaging its armor, nor its range to be so far.

Although he desperately wanted to go to Dio's aid, if he died, saving Dio would be a joke. Therefore, Vanilla Ice had always stayed outside the range of others. Avdol could attack from a distance, but his speed wasn't fast, and Killer Queen's full speed in aerial flight could easily evade him.

So, Jotaro wasn't the only one who had been hiding his strength.

Continuous stabs repeatedly created bloody holes on Vanilla Ice's body. Vanilla Ice quickly tried to retreat back into his Dark Domain.

"No! Too fast!"

Vanilla had countless ways to protect himself if that was his only goal, but at this moment, he wasn't seeking self-preservation!

"For Lord Dio!"

Ozone Jackers directly reached out and met Silver Chariot's attack. After taking several consecutive stabs, Ozone Jackers forcefully grabbed Silver Chariot's arm.

"Nani! You bastard! Are you trying to die!?"

"But! Even so, you won't live much longer with your current injuries!"

Polnareff hadn't expected Vanilla to have such resolve. If the other man had focused on escaping, he could have survived. In his eagerness to kill Vanilla before he could flee, Polnareff had attacked without holding back.

But Vanilla was willing to sustain a fatal injury just to grab Silver Chariot.

"But it's useless!"

Polnareff could already see others rushing towards Ozone Jackers. Silver Chariot's greatest purpose wasn't to kill the opponent! It was to buy time!

"A mere fatal wound is nothing; I don't have time to care about this pain! I will absolutely save Lord Dio!"

Vanilla also noticed the others who were rushing over.

Avdol is hesitant to attack because of Silver Chariot. Silver Chariot's defense is much weaker than my Ozone Jackers. Emerald Splash still needs one second to hit me, and it will take others two or three seconds to get here... Enough...

Calculating in his mind, Vanilla looked in the direction where Dio had fallen. Ozone Jackers tilted its head forward, its Stand speed fully unleashed. Several Emerald Splashes from Kakyoin struck its back, but it didn't waver in the slightest from the attacks, continuing to charge forward.

Silver Chariot was a Stand that focused on speed, so its strength couldn't compare to Ozone Jackers. Once its movements were restricted, it was impossible to dodge Ozone Jackers' life-risking strike.

"Ah!!!"