"Fuck you! How dare you say that?"
Jodio froze for a moment, then nearly lost it. What do you mean, I didn't live through it, so I have no right to judge you? Fuck you. You just came out with that loser excuse like it was perfectly reasonable? Has it occurred to you that, if I were you, I'd have started making plans to beat your social-Darwinist older brother to death ages ago? If your brother survived me, he'd get a thumbs-up. If he managed to escape me, I'd give myself a thumbs-down.
"What was I supposed to do? My older brother is six years older than me and a whole eight levels ahead! What could I possibly do?" Dai Mubai demanded furiously.
"You're getting worked up," Jodio said calmly.
"Have you ever been beaten by someone like that? Have you? Can you even understand how hopeless it felt?" Dai Mubai was practically screaming.
"I have," Jodio said, suddenly serious.
"No, really. I have." He didn't look as though he was making it up. It seemed he was talking about something that had actually happened.
Golden divine power tore through heaven and earth. A single blow destroyed the entire forest, leaving only ruins behind. Jodio coughed up blood and pushed himself faster, fleeing deeper into the woods at the greatest speed he could muster. He couldn't lead Tang San toward Little Huo and the others. They were still assembling the formation. They needed time. More time.
Jodio's consciousness blurred for a moment. He snapped back to his senses and kept running, gasping for breath. Another blast of divine power swept toward him from behind. Like Pantheon's ultimate, it tore up earth and trees as it came, plowing forward like a bulldozer. Tang San was clearly trying to kill him. Against an attack like that, Jodio was running out of options.
"King Crimson!"
The earth shattered with a roar, and stars flickered above Jodio's head. In that world moving as though in slow motion, he looked at King Crimson. King Crimson showed him a vision: Epitaph had activated!
Through Epitaph, Jodio saw Tang San close in at terrifying speed and pierce him with another thrust of the trident. Then Tang San flew toward Huo Yuhao and the others. No. I can't let that happen. Even if I have to drag this out by force, I have to hold him off until Huo Yuhao and the others complete the Soul Guidance Force-Dispelling Defense Matrix. It's the only way!
Jodio watched Tang San slowly approach the spot where he had been standing within Time Erasure, then sweep the trident around with overwhelming force. Faced with that sight, he searched for an answer. How can I overcome his sheer power? There has to be a way. The invincible King Crimson has to have one.
"Then this is the only choice." Jodio steeled himself. His sixth and fifth Spirit Rings lit up together, activating Time-Anchored Erasure and Time Frame Extraction. In the final two seconds of the fourteen-second Time Erasure, he met the eyes of Tang San, who could already move again. Then he immediately ended Time Erasure and leaped backward!
"Die, Jodio!" The instant Time Erasure ended, Tang San hurled the Golden Trident toward Jodio's retreating figure. Because Tang San had retained his memories of the last two seconds, he recovered his awareness faster than an ordinary person. He could locate Jodio and launch a lethal counterattack!
"Too late, Tang San! Your reactions are too slow!" Jodio laughed.
"King Crimson. The World!"
"Time, stop!"
Jodio's eighth Spirit Skill lit up. His crimson hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring and King Crimson erupted in golden light. Tang San felt everything around him come to a standstill. Irritation and hatred surged through him. If not for this revolting Spirit Skill, he would have caught Jodio countless times already.
"One second has passed." Jodio abruptly vanished before Tang the God King's eyes. Tang San could only seethe as Time Stop robbed him of consciousness. Granted, Jodio couldn't break through his defenses, but who knew what that bastard might try?
"Time resumes its flow."
Jodio's voice rang out alongside a sound like gears starting to turn again, but Tang San could no longer tell where he was or which way he had gone. By now, that was nothing new. Tang San simply charged off again to hunt Huo Yuhao and the others first.
Heavy rocks came flying from every direction. Boulders the size of elephants hurtled toward Tang San one after another, but he swept them aside with ease, stopping every one.
Another trap? Tang San thought with disdain.
As he took to the air again, Tang San spotted several more enormous boulders rushing toward him, along with trees sharpened into points. He was annoyed, but he grew wary too. When Jodio pulled something like this, he was always up to no good. At the very least, he was working himself up to strike from hiding. That bastard. His persistence is unbelievable!
Is this King Crimson's Time Stop? Tang San wondered as he swung his trident again, deflecting the boulders and tree trunks.
"No. It must be King Crimson's Time Frame Extraction!" Tang the God King knocked aside another barrage of trees and boulders that posed no real threat. Only Jodio's Time Frame Extraction could have set up so many attacks during a brief Time Stop. Sure enough, he had more in reserve.
Tang the God King looked up at a distant cliff. Jodio stood there in Kars's pose, his eyes filled with the resolve to fight to the death. Tang San had seen that look countless times. So many people had faced him with the same resolve, only to be cut down like clowns. The Angel God and the Rakshasa God had been among them. But Jodio was different. He alone could truly hurt him.
"That's right!"
"This is Time Frame Extraction! Touch one, and the attacks trigger in succession. They're already spread across everything within three kilometers!" Jodio summoned King Crimson again, speaking through clenched teeth.
"Neither your movements nor your surprise attacks with divine power can get past Time Frame Extraction's interception and Time-Anchored Erasure's blockade!"
During Time Stop, Time Frame Extraction had stored a vast number of attacks from triggered devices and Soul Tools, ready to release them. Working with Time Erasure, Time-Anchored Erasure could delete the very instant Tang the God King activated an attack with divine power, preventing it from happening at all. This was Jodio's domain of absolute invincibility, a new path to victory he had mastered through repeated, high-intensity battles!
"Hmph." Tang the God King sneered. What a clown. This was all Jodio could do. Tang San had only been playing with him until now. It was time to show him the difference between a god and an insect.
"Take this, Tang San! Continuous Time Strike, one-and-a-half-kilometer radius!" Jodio roared.
"Jodio, you're a remarkable insect. You certainly know how to entertain a god," Tang the God King said with an amused smile.
"Take a look. Guess who I borrowed this from?"
Jodio saw it—or rather, sensed it—and nearly recoiled in shock. The object carried the aura of temporal power. Could it be...?
To be continued...
Currently available information:
Level 97 Stand: King Crimson
User: Jodio Joestar (during Soul Land 2)
Title: World (Jodio chose World because Time Douluo was already taken. He didn't mind the sound of it, though. In the eyes of most people in Soul Land, Jodio's command of time was far more impressive than Shi Xing's.)
Spirit Rings: Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, red (extracted), red (extracted), red (hunted), red (self-condensed)
Spirit Bones: Yellow, purple, black, black, red (skull; extracted), red (chest; hunted), red (external; self-condensed)
Destructive power: A+; speed: A+; range: B-; stamina: A+; precision: A-; development potential: Complete
Stand abilities: King Crimson possesses extraordinary Time Erasure and future-sight abilities. It is a legendary Martial Soul that has almost merged with time itself. After continuous upgrades, it gained the ability to use Time Erasure frequently, extract specific frames of time for storage and release, and erase an anchored action. Its command of time has reached a terrifying level.
Through the time-reversal ability of his Spirit Bones, his growing mastery of Time Stop, and his Stand's evolution into Requiem, King Crimson has reached a state of complete invincibility. No one below god level can rival Jodio, and he can fight evenly against gods ten levels above him. Only a stronger God King can oppose him.
Jodio's Stand had evolved fully when it became Requiem at level 90, driven by his constant high-intensity use of it and the pressure of outside forces. Reaching level 100 is now extremely difficult. However, gathering all of Heaven's Secret or the Saint's Corpse, or obtaining another creation of fate—such as the Aja Stone, the Locacaca Fruit, or lava—could restore its development potential.
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