The Sneakiest Pincer Attack

Chapter 1: The Most Insidious Pincer Attack

Deep within human bodies lies a mysterious power. After training over and over again, the unleashing of this ability is limitless!

Light Squadron! (Crossed out. Wrong crossover.)

Stand User!

"It is already too late, Huo Yuhao! Jodio! I am going to kill you ten million times!"

The Sea God Trident pressed down toward Jodio with boundless divine power and spirit energy, and One Goes, Never Returns from the Golden Thirteen Halberds erupted. Jodio watched the golden radiance growing larger before his eyes until his breathing nearly stopped. If he took this move head-on, he would definitely die, but now, the timing was ripe!

"Right now!" Huo Yuhao shouted from afar, his entire body stained with blood.

"King Crimson!"

Jodio leaped up abruptly and activated his Martial Soul once again. A tall, red-and-white humanoid immediately appeared behind him, striking a resolute pose with its arms raised to protect him. That Martial Soul looked less like a person and more like a demon; it looked malevolent, standing in stark contrast to the sense of holiness radiating from Tang San before him.

"It's already been!"

The ground in front of Jodio instantly split apart as if sliced by something. A roaring sound echoed across heaven and earth, and even the light of the sun grew dim. Countless stars replaced everything around them, and the only things surrounding Jodio and Tang San were the floating earth and a boundless world of stars.

"You fell for it, Tang San! This is my escape route!"

Jodio's ninth spirit ring flashed instantly, and King Crimson turned crimson at that moment, suddenly transforming into a different appearance.

It was a more noble posture. The malevolent look of its face had transformed into a pure white inverted-triangular mask resembling that of an entertainer, its two eyes revealing only emerald-green light while concealing all other expressions. The white on its body increased, though without major changes. The mask representing Epitaph appeared right on its chest, and ragged shawls resembling Diavolo's hair draped behind its back. The entire figure looked like an arbiter!

"King Crimson Requiem!"

"Requiem ability: Ouroboros, activate! Time Travel! And then, External Soul Bone ability, Time Reversal!"

Two different forces converged, causing Jodio's form to immediately turn illusory. Next, a strange force swept across the entire world. The karma related to Jodio was severed one by one, and he vanished before Tang the God King just like that.

"Tang, San!"

"The day of my return shall be the moment of your doom!" After leaving behind those words, Jodio completely and utterly vanished.

"Pincer Attack, activate!" In the distance, a blood-stained Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth and spoke with boundless yearning.

"Boss Jo, I'm counting on you!"

Jodio Joestar, male, thirty-five years old, a Spirit Master.

His home was located in a small fortress town within a border province of the Star Luo Empire. He was unmarried, and his job was to collect the bodies of soldiers who died on the front lines of continental conflicts. He neither smoked nor drank, went to sleep at exactly eleven o'clock every night, and made sure to get a full eight hours of sleep. Before sleeping, he usually drank warm orange juice and practiced spirit power cultivation for twenty minutes. Doing this allowed him to sleep soundly until morning, and healing-type Spirit Masters all said he was very healthy.

Yet even such an "ordinary" person was forced to oppose Tang San, and the reason was simply that he wanted to become a god.

Just like an infant would cry when hungry, Hakimi would hiss when triggered, or Hakiwang would be sent to the Pan-() park when triggered. Jodio had not come to this world to enjoy growing old in solitude, but to use this opportunity to rise upward. To avoid drawing the attention of Tang the God King, he never proactively involved himself in other disputes; even though he appeared twenty years earlier than Huo Yuhao, he kept a low profile for so long that he only began seeking "power" inward at the age of thirty to achieve a breakthrough. One could say he was cautious to the extreme.

He never proactively colluded with any faction, hunted spirit beasts in remote locations, or displayed the unique traits of his Martial Soul. He avoided the spirit beast faction and the protagonist faction as much as possible, and even steered clear of the villain faction to avoid being observed. His thought was simply to become a god along the way. Since Tang the God King was so formidable, surely he wouldn't care about some minor upstart god contemporaneous with Huo Yuhao, right?

Obviously, Jodio miscalculated. When he first faced his Trial, he was bombarded and suppressed by Tang San, nearly dying on the spot. Filled with rage, his mental defenses broke for the first time, and he finally understood why everyone hated this thing. Son of a bitch, you really treat this place like your backyard, huh? If King Crimson doesn't show its might, do you take me for a pushover?

King Crimson truly lived up to its reputation as a top-tier Martial Soul, or rather, a King Crimson pierced by the Stand Arrow was truly a top-tier Martial Soul. Even just using Time Erasure and Epitaph, it could easily slaughter enemies of the same rank or a realm higher. Most of the time, Jodio didn't even need to use Continuous Time Erasure. That truly was an era of sweeping invincibility; beneath the gods, he was invincible on his own.

However, this fellow Tang San was somewhat too shameless. Upon discovering that Huo Yuhao was inexplicably mixed up with Jodio, this fellow's mental defenses instantly broke, and he descended to attack without any regard for martial virtue. Even with early preparations, Jodio still couldn't win. Divine power was simply somewhat bugged; both sides played with rules, yet something as strong as King Crimson still had to bow before divine power. Damn it, your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul had already turned into the Sea God Trident, and the Clear Sky Hammer had turned into the Asura Sword, so how come you still had those gravity-type spirit rings given by those two stupid spirit beasts? Damn it, gravity-type hard-counters time-type, alright! There was simply no way to fight.

Yet Jodio still had one more plan, and that was his ninth spirit ring: King Crimson Requiem ability, Ouroboros Dream.

Cooperating with his external soul bone, Ouroboros Dream provided the Time Travel effect, while the external soul bone provided the Time Reversal effect. If it came to this. If it came to this, ah, dad's midnight snack...

He would reverse time back to the Douluo Continent of ten thousand years ago and directly strike Tang San at the source of the timeline!

"King Crimson's third ability: Time Pincer Attack, activate!"

Accompanied by the rapid flow of time, Jodio saw the surrounding starry sky and the fractured ground rapidly smooth out. He was running backward along this path, sprinting at high speed while watching the scenery around him gradually change. He watched the trees around him begin to wither rapidly, growing smaller and thinner until they finally became saplings. He watched mulberry fields turn into oceans of blue, deserts turn into oceans, and wind-eroded cliffs turn into mountain ranges. Everything was flowing backward, and the time reversal had begun.

After an unknown amount of time, Jodio suddenly noticed that time was beginning to slow down. All the currents began to gradually stabilize, and time seemed to have been pushed back to its limit.

June, 2636 of the Douluo Continent

"Finally... Finally!"

Jodio practically wanted to laugh out loud. He had succeeded; he had truly succeeded!

"Giggle-giggle-giggle-giggle!"

"Boss Jo, Boss Jo!"

The watch on his wrist suddenly emitted a bizarre call, and then Huo Yuhao's voice came through. The other end sounded extremely urgent, and the sounds of battle echoed intermittently. Jodio's previously good mood instantly vanished, and he realized he had to take action immediately instead of lingering over sentiments about his second life.

"What's the situation? Has that guy gone berserk?" Jodio asked the other end.

"Yes, but it's fine for now. The Soul Guidance Force-Dispelling Defense Matrix is still running and can hold out for a bit. Boss Jo, what's the situation on your end?"

"Time Travel seems to have encountered obstruction. I don't know what it is, but it seems some god secretly acted against me, causing this world to develop a barrier against me. To lower that barrier, I had to subject myself to time reversal as well. Right now, I'm... well, six years old, with spirit power of five." Jodio summoned his Stand Arrow Martial Soul and spoke.

"All six spirit bones were reversed away, and right now I only carry the external soul bone possessing time reversal. But don't worry, the Time Pincer Attack will be executed smoothly. Either I die, or he perishes."

"Take care of yourself alone, Boss, the future depends on you," Huo Yuhao replied.

"Time Communication can still be used four more times. We shouldn't contact each other unless necessary, so as not to be discovered by other gods," Jodio said, closing the Time Communication.

"This is truly exhilarating~ It's just like slipping into a brand-new pair of New Year's underwear. Even though I've dropped to the level of a little brat, I, Jodio! Victory belongs to me, Jodio! Heh heh, Tang San..."

Jodio got up and grabbed onto a nearby tree. The location where the transmission took place should have been near the ruins of the old Shrek Academy, and if he guessed correctly, Shrek Academy must be right around here.

The feel of it seemed somehow wrong. Jodio's reversed body was only six years old, and his hands had also become much more tender because of the reversal. His acute sense of touch immediately made him feel that something was wrong. That tree definitely had something carved on it, seemingly traces of some words.

"Watch out. To your right."

Menacing rumble!

Jodio dove downward almost immediately. He felt a surging divine power frantically crossing the reversal tunnel and approaching him. Immediately afterward, he sensed a divine power strike pouncing from the left. The intel was fake! He had walked right into a trap!

"King Crimson!"

Jodio almost subconsciously wanted to summon King Crimson to protect himself, but then he abruptly realized he was only level 5 right now—what the hell could he summon? It was simply like when you were full of confidence as you reincarnated and stepped into the high school examination room, only to suddenly realize that when you time-traveled you were already a college student. What the fuck! All the high school knowledge was completely forgotten!

"But! It's too late, I have to stab myself right now! Whatever ghost Stand, whatever it is, save me, dammit!"

Facing the closing-in assault, Jodio could only compromise with his life. His Martial Soul was actually not King Crimson, but the Stand Arrow. In the future, after stabbing himself once, he immediately gained level 9 Soul Power and King Crimson's ability, and from then on could never use the Stand Arrow again. Stabbing himself while only level 5 now, he feared some ridiculous character might appear! If something like Cheap Trick came out, it would be a joke.

The golden arrow fiercely stabbed into Jodio's heart. A heart-rending pain and suffocation instantly enveloped his entire body. Following right after was power—endless power!

"Silver Chariot!"

←To Be Continued

Corpse! Awaken!