The Simplest Tactic

A tragedy is unfolding.

Under the dim light, in the dark shade of the forest, scarlet blood gushed out.

"Demon. Demon"

The addict's gaunt face was filled with fear, and his battered body trembled uncontrollably.

He certainly couldn't see the ferocious beast standing next to Anthony, but just like the bizarre experience of inexplicably losing his hands earlier, the unseen is what truly terrifies ordinary people.

"Ugh, it's so dirty."

Anthony stood two meters away with a look of disgust, trying his best to avoid getting the splattered blood on his handsome suit.

"Damn it, they actually forced me to do such a disgusting thing."

"Bucciarati, get back here right now!!"

The shouting stopped, and the woods returned to their usual quiet.

Bucciarati's figure did not appear as he had hoped; instead, the abused drug addict fully awoke in excruciating pain.

"No, don't kill me."

"I don't want to die. Don't let the devil take me away."

The addict struggled to arch his hand-less and wounded body, pitifully and humbly bowing his head to Anthony, the only person he could see, and pleading.

"Enough!"

Anthony pouted, his eyes filled with disgust as he looked at the drug addict.

Although most drug addicts become addicts because of the "local specialties" sold by their organization, Anthony still felt infinite contempt for these disgusting, human-shaped vermin.

"It's all because of you, you piece of toxic garbage that will pollute the land even when you die."

"Your life is so dirty and cheap that even those self-righteous good Samaritans don't want to come back to save you!"

"Never mind."

Anthony grew increasingly angry as he spoke, a murderous rage gradually spreading across his youthful face:

"I might as well just kill you!"

"Since Bucciarati and the others refuse to come back, then I have no choice but to keep my 'promise'."

"I won't beg you."

The drug addict trembled and knelt on the ground, his fear reaching its peak.

In the seemingly empty air before him, a broad, thick tongue, like a slithering python, slowly coiled around his vulnerable and fatal neck.

But just then...

Amidst the shady trees, in the direction from which Bucciarati and Abbacchio had just disappeared, a rustling sound suddenly came from.

"Hmm, is someone there?"

Anthony's expression changed, and the long tongue that was almost reaching the addict's neck suddenly changed direction.

"Haha. It's you. You really came back."

"I knew it! Just like a child who can't help but squeeze out bubble wrap, you pushovers just can't stand watching innocent people die!"

Although the woods, where the lights didn't reach, were dark and barely visible, Anthony was still beaming with excitement:

"Come out."

"Let's have a good fight!"

There was still only a rustling sound over there.

The enemy Anthony was expecting did not appear immediately, but instead lurked in the darkness not far away, doing something unknown.

"Oh, I understand."

A sudden glint of wisdom appeared in his eyes:

"They still don't dare to face my 'familiar' head-on."

"Since that's the case..."

Anthony immediately noticed the ground beneath his feet:

Judging from Steel Chain Fingers' Stand ability, the best way for Bucciarati to get close to his main body is simply to burrow underground.

The fact that the other side is delaying showing themselves must mean they've thought of this, so they're planning a sneak attack from underground.

Anthony made this "anticipating the enemy's moves" judgment.

He stared intently at the ground beneath his feet, even silently calculating in his mind how long it would take for the opponent to approach via earth-penetrating teleportation:

"That's about right, enough time for them to get to my feet."

"King of Rivers!"

With a thought from Anthony, the long tongue from the black toad's mouth slammed heavily onto the ground like a whip.

Anthony, on the other hand, nimbly dodged to the side, creating space for himself.

Meanwhile, to prevent Bucciarati from launching a sneak attack from underground, he had his double brand two fish-shaped marks on the ground beneath his feet.

Thus, when the long tongue imprinted the third mark on the ground, the powerful spatial ability could be activated.

"Swallow this piece of ground and make them show their heads!"

With an excited shout, the black toad suddenly opened its blood-red maw.

In that instant, the soil on the ground suddenly disappeared.

It was as if the soil had been erased from the world out of thin air, leaving a large, square pit the size of a coffin suddenly appearing on the ground.

However.

"No, they haven't burrowed out yet?"

Looking at the empty pit, Anthony's expression was somewhat awkward.

He dug a large pit in the ground for nothing; the pit was empty, like a grave waiting to be buried.

And then...

Why are you attacking the ground?

Bucciarati slowly emerged from the shadows of the woods.

He calmly looked at Anthony, who was shouting at the ground, and revealed his figure with dignity.

"You're not planning a sneak attack from underground?"

Anthony looked at Bucciarati with some suspicion and uncertainty:

Only Bucciarati came – which wasn't surprising, since Abbacchio no fighting ability, and Anthony didn't expect this "minor" to come back to die.

However, what puzzled him was:

Facing the King of Rivers, who was "invincible in close combat," Bucciarati did not launch a sneak attack or hide, but instead stood in front of him without any cover.

Could there be some conspiracy hidden behind this?

Anthony instinctively sensed something was amiss.

But Bucciarati simply looked at him coldly with a calm gaze, as if the boy before him were already dead.

"There's no need for a sneak attack to deal with you."

Because I've figured it out.

"Your so-called 'invincible in close combat' has been a false proposition from the beginning."

"As long as I make good use of the tools, with the speed and strength of my Steel Chain Fingers, I can defeat you fair and square."

As soon as he finished speaking, Steel Chain Fingers slowly emerged from the shade behind Bucciarati, his metallic blue body gleaming under the lights.

But what really caught Anthony's attention now were the two weapons that Steel Chain Fingers had suddenly acquired in his hands:

It's not really some kind of divine weapon.

They were just two short, thick sticks that they had picked out from the woods, and they were durable enough.

However, these two ordinary, thick wooden sticks were enough to make Anthony's expression change:

"You can only devour an object after accumulating three markers."

"For those melee Stands that lack speed, this is certainly an unsolvable ability."

"But my Steel Chain Fingers are stronger than most close-combat Stands. They are fast enough to rival that tongue, and in terms of strength, they can easily overpower your Stand."

This means

"Before that tongue even touched my body, the Steel Chain Fingers were almost absolutely able to flick the tongue away with the wooden stick."

Anthony's expression had become extremely unpleasant:

Indeed.

The King of Rivers didn't really need any strategy to defeat him; as long as his strength and speed were great enough, the enemy could simply charge in with his "shield" without thinking.

However, high-speed and high-power close-combat Stands are very rare. Anthony had never encountered such an "unreasonably strong" opponent before, so he had never realized this special weakness.

Bucciarati paused slightly, then spoke slowly in a tone rarely seen on him, one that carried a hint of murderous intent:

"Next up are simple math problems that even Narancia could solve:"

"One stick can block three times before being swallowed, so two sticks would block six times."

"I just noticed that the tongue can probably be launched up to 7 meters away."

"In other words, I just need to break through this 7-meter distance before I get attacked 6 times, and then beat your Stand head-on."

As he spoke, Bucciarati slowly stepped forward.

Each steady step carried a powerful, awe-inspiring force:

"You'll be the one who dies!"