The Loser, Part Two

"Fuck you. How can you even 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're really saying something that pathetic with a straight face? Has it occurred to you that if I were you, I'd have started making plans to kill your social-Darwinist brother ages ago? If your brother survived me, that'd be a thumbs-up. If he actually escaped me, that'd be a thumbs-down.

"What was I supposed to do? My brother is six years older than me and 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 I felt?" Dai Mubai was almost screaming.

"I have," Jodio said, suddenly serious.

"No, really. I have." He didn't look as though he was making it up. He seemed to be 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 a mouthful of blood and ran deeper into the woods, fleeing as fast as he could. He couldn't lead Tang San toward Little Huo and the others. Their formation was still coming together. They needed time. They needed time.

Jodio's consciousness blurred, then snapped back as he kept sprinting, gasping for breath. Another blast of divine power swept in behind him, ripping up earth and trees like a bulldozer. It was coming straight for his life, and there was nothing he could do to withstand it.

"King Crimson!"

The ground shattered with a roar, and stars flickered above Jodio's head. In that slow-motion world, he looked toward King Crimson, and King Crimson showed him what was to come. Epitaph had activated!

Through Epitaph, Jodio saw Tang San close in at terrifying speed and run him through with the trident. Then Tang San flew toward Huo Yuhao and the others. No. I can't let that happen. Even if I have to stall him by force, I have to hold on until Huo Yuhao and the others finish the Soul Guidance Force-Dispelling Defense Matrix. Only then!

Jodio watched Tang San slowly approach his original position within the erased time, then sweep his trident around with overwhelming force. How can I overcome his sheer power? There has to be a way. The invincible King Crimson has to have a way.

"Then this is my only choice." Jodio steeled himself. His sixth and fifth Spirit Rings lit up together, activating Time-Anchored Erasure and Time Frame Extraction. With two seconds left in the fourteen seconds of Time Erasure, he locked eyes with Tang San, who could already move again. Then he ended Time Erasure and leaped backward!

"Die, Jodio!" The instant Time Erasure ended, Tang San hurled the Golden Trident toward Jodio. Having retained his memory of the final two seconds, he recovered his awareness faster than most and could track Jodio well enough to launch a lethal counterattack!

"Too late, Tang San! You were too slow!" Jodio laughed.

"King Crimson. The World!"

"Time, stop!"

Jodio's eighth soul skill flared. His scarlet hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring and King Crimson burst with golden light. Everything around Tang San ground to a halt. Frustration and hatred welled up in him. Without this disgusting soul skill, he would have caught Jodio countless times already.

"One second has passed." Jodio vanished from before Tang San's eyes. Tang the God King could only seethe as Time Stop robbed him of consciousness. Jodio still couldn't break through his defenses, but there was no telling what that bastard might do.

"Time flows once more."

Jodio's voice rang out as though gears had begun turning again, but Tang San could no longer tell where he was. He was used to that by now. He charged ahead once more, intent on killing Huo Yuhao and the others first.

Heavy stones flew at him from every direction. Boulders the size of elephants came crashing in one after another, but Tang San swept them aside with ease.

A follow-up attack? Tang San thought with disdain.

He took flight again, only to find several more enormous boulders hurtling toward him alongside sharpened tree trunks. Irritation gave way to caution. When Jodio pulled a stunt like this, he was always preparing something nasty—at the very least, a sneak attack. That bastard. His persistence is unbelievable!

Is this Jodio's King Crimson using Time Stop again? Tang San wondered as he swung his trident to block the boulders and trunks.

"No. It must be King Crimson's Time Frame Extraction!" Tang the God King knocked aside the trees and stones, none of which posed any real threat. Only Jodio's Time Frame Extraction could set up so many attacks during a brief Time Stop. Sure enough, he had more in store.

Tang the God King looked up at a distant cliff. Jodio stood there in Kars's pose, his eyes full of resolve and the will to fight to the death. Tang San had seen that look countless times. Countless people had faced him with the same determination, only to be cut down like clowns. The Angel God and Rakshasa God were examples. But Jodio was different. He alone could truly hurt him.

"That's right!"

"These are Time Frame Extraction attacks that trigger one after another the moment you touch one! They're already spread across everything within three kilometers!" Jodio summoned King Crimson again and spoke through gritted teeth.

"Neither your movements nor your divine-power ambushes can escape Time Frame Extraction's interception and Time-Anchored Erasure's blockade!"

During Time Stop, Time Frame Extraction had stored a vast number of triggered bombardments and Soul Tool attacks, ready to release them. Combined with Time Erasure, Time-Anchored Erasure could delete the very instant Tang the God King activated a divine-power attack, preventing it from ever happening. 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 Jodio the difference between a god and an insect.

"Take this, Tang San! Radius: one and a half kilometers! Continuous Time Strike!" Jodio roared.

"Jodio, you truly are an exceptional insect," Tang the God King said with an amused smile. "You know how to entertain a god."

"Take a look. Guess who I borrowed this from."

Jodio saw it—or rather, he felt it—and almost started in shock. It was an object imbued with the power of time. Could it be?!

Information currently available:

Level 97 Stand: King Crimson

User: Jodio Joestar (Soul Land 2 era)

Title: World (Time Douluo was already taken, leaving Jodio to choose World as his title. He didn't mind the sound of it. To most people of the Douluo world, though, Jodio's command of time was far more impressive than Shixing's.)

Spirit Ring levels: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, red (Ba Yao), red (Ba Yao), red (hunted), red (self-formed)

Spirit Bone levels: yellow, purple, black, black, red (skull, Ba Yao), red (chest bone, hunted), red (external, self-formed)

Destructive power: A+; speed: A+; range: B−; stamina: A+; precision: A−; development potential: complete

Stand abilities: King Crimson possesses extraordinarily powerful Time Erasure and future-prediction abilities. It is a legendary martial soul almost fused with time itself. Continued advancement gave it the additional ability to use Time Erasure frequently, extract and store a specific frame of time for later release, and anchor and erase a specific action. Its command of time has reached a terrifying realm.

Through the time-reversal ability of his Spirit Bones, his penetration into Time Stop, and his Stand's evolution into Requiem, King Crimson has become truly invincible. No one below god level can match Jodio; against a god up to ten levels above him, he can fight on equal terms. Only a more powerful God King can oppose him.

Because Jodio repeatedly pushed his Stand to its limits under intense pressure from outside forces, it had effectively completed its evolution when it became Requiem at level 90. Reaching level 100 is now extremely difficult. Gathering the secret phrases or the Holy Corpse, or obtaining another artifact of fate—such as the Aja Stone, Locacaca Fruit, or lava—could restore its development potential.