The Use of Ouroboros

April 6, 1999, 6:08 PM.

Amidst the astonishment and confusion of Li Qing and the others, Diavolo's figure vanished in a mere second.

Then, almost without any interval, in the very next instant, he mysteriously reappeared in the same spot.

When he reappeared, Diavolo, who had been completely unharmed, had become a bloody mess with rotten flesh and twisted bones.

He collapsed to the ground as soon as he appeared, his blood stains turning the silvery-gray, wet cement beneath him red.

Look at Diavolo's pathetic state, barely breathing.

It seems that he will die in agony on his own without anyone having to lift a finger.

What's going on?

Everyone was stunned by Diavolo's unbelievable move.

But Jotaro did not hesitate.

He was closest to Diavolo, who was now sitting there, severely injured and Diavolo, right in front of him and Star Platinum.

Although he was somewhat bothered by Diavolo's earlier performance, the moment Diavolo reappeared before him...

Jotaro suppressed his hesitation immediately and made the right choice:

"Attack, Star Platinum!"

The Star Platinum, which had been poised to unleash its power for some time, is now stirring up a storm once again.

The immense power contained within those knotted muscles poured out like a floodgate being opened, seemingly about to engulf and submerge Diavolo in the next instant.

The Star Platinum, unleashing its full power, attacks a nearby, severely wounded, and vulnerable human.

The outcome of this attack was almost a foregone conclusion.

However, amidst the astonished and suspicious gazes of the crowd...

Star Platinum's Riot Games actually passed right through Diavolo's body.

Diavolo seemed to vanish into thin air, a phantom; even the immense power of Star Platinum could not affect him.

"The attack penetrated through again."

"What happened a second ago was repeated."

"His body became 'nothing' again the moment it returned, and Star Platinum's attack was completely ineffective."

Jotaro frowned slightly, a sense of unease creeping into his heart.

He couldn't understand Diavolo's abilities at all, and didn't know why this guy would disappear into nothingness, reappear, and then disappear into nothingness again.

The unknown always makes people nervous and conflicted.

What made Jotaro even more uneasy was Diavolo's expression at that moment.

A second ago, when he first disappeared, his face was full of despair and confusion.

But now, after reappearing with severe injuries, Diavolo's expression has become resolute and confident:

"I understand. I finally understand."

"There are no useless Stand abilities, only useless Stand User."

"I wasted so much time in despair and confusion, never bothering to explore the full potential of the 'Ouroboros'."

Diavolo's eyes burned with fanaticism as he muttered words that no one could understand.

Meanwhile, his body was rapidly becoming ethereal and transparent.

An invisible force of spacetime is rapidly transforming his body, and will soon cast him into that elusive river of time.

Diavolo is now "invincible"; no one can hurt him.

With the Ouroboros, whose cooldown can be refreshed infinitely, he doesn't need to worry too much about his self-preservation after returning.

"But."

"Star Platinum's time stop is ultimately a problem."

Diavolo had long realized that Jotaro, who could manipulate time, was his real threat, compared to Li Qing, who could only fight.

If Star Platinum seizes the opportunity to stop time, no matter how strong his abilities are, he won't be able to use them.

"How exactly should we solve this problem?"

"Wait a minute! I've got it!"

A flash of inspiration struck Diavolo:

He seems to have discovered another use for Ouroboros besides "refreshing cooldown time".

"Jotaro Kujo."

At this moment, time seemed to stand still.

In that almost frozen moment, Diavolo silently uttered the name that had once filled him with fear.

Looking at Jotaro and Star Platinum, with whom he had had two intimate encounters, his gaze remained remarkably calm.

"That's right. Although I spent a full hour on March 27th."

"But for Jotaro right now on April 6th, he should have only experienced less than a second."

"And in such a short time, he had just used the ability to stop time once!"

Because dialogue, thinking, and mental activity all become timeless under the influence of some mysterious world rules.

Therefore, the timeline experienced by Jotaro and the others is actually as follows:

1.1 seconds ago, Diavolo awakened in despair by stabbing himself with an arrow, and the power of "Ouroboros" began to activate.

0.8 seconds ago, Li Qing noticed the arrow and shouted for Jotaro to stop it.

0.5 seconds ago, Jotaro received the warning and reacted, quickly approaching Diavolo in the paused time.

0.1 seconds ago, Diavolo completely vanished into nothingness.

0.1 seconds ago, Diavolo returned with serious injuries and used Ouroboros again at almost the same time.

In other words, Jotaro's last use of time stop was only 0.5 seconds ago.

"That ability to stop time must also have a 'cooldown period,' right?"

"Otherwise, if it could be used continuously, you should have used it when you attacked just now."

Diavolo suddenly said to Jotaro with a playful expression:

"So, since you can't use time stop continuously."

"You used this ability just 0.5 seconds ago, can you use it again now?"

He just smiled sinisterly, as if he had discovered something interesting.

But Jotaro's ominous premonition suddenly intensified:

Indeed, the ability to "stop time" cannot be used continuously.

"Time Stop" has a cooldown period, but it is actually very short, so short that you only need to rest for a breath before you can use it again.

One breath takes about one second.

And now only 0.5 seconds have passed.

This means that Jotaro will be unable to use his time-stop ability for the remaining 0.5 seconds—undoubtedly, this brief 0.5-second gap will be when his defense is at its weakest.

"But does Diavolo have the ability to defeat me?"

"It's only 0.5 seconds. How will he break through Star Platinum's defenses?"

Jotaro still hasn't figured out Diavolo's trump card:

Even though he couldn't stop time at will during those 0.5 seconds, he had a humanoid beast like Star Platinum to protect him.

Want to take down Star Platinum in just 0.5 seconds?

Jotaro didn't believe that the heavily injured Diavolo would have such an ability.

Diavolo did not provide an answer to this question.

He only glanced down at the watch on his wrist during this almost frozen moment:

This was a rare luxury purchase he made when he was the boss of the organization; it was a top-of-the-line watch with extremely high time accuracy and almost no error.

As Diavolo looked down to check the time, the second hand on the dial happened to point to the next mark:

"21 seconds."

"19:08:21".

He was calculating and thinking rapidly in his mind:

"Subtracting the hour I spent in the past, the accurate time now should be..."

"18:08:21 exactly".

Diavolo remembered this time perfectly.

Then, a cold smile appeared on his lips, and like a prophet, he uttered a startling statement:

"Jotaro, I'll tell you."

"You will die at 18:08, 21 seconds—"

"In this very second, in the very next instant."

Jotaro remained silent.

He had no idea where Diavolo's confidence came from.

But it was precisely because he didn't know that he felt nervous and uneasy.

At this moment, Diavolo's figure had already vanished into nothingness, and he was now in a completely invincible state, unable to be attacked.

Star Platinum's time-stopping ability has not yet been restored.

There was nothing Jotaro could do; all he could do was try his best to guard against Diavolo's possible attack at any moment, and in whatever form it might come.

What exactly is Diavolo's trump card?

"How can he defeat me in that mere 0.5 seconds? From which direction will the attack come?"

The question still lingered in my mind.

And in the very next instant...

Suddenly, a burst of fire erupted from the ground beneath Jotaro's feet!

And the flames didn't just erupt beneath his feet.

This newly repaired and leveled road was engulfed in flames at this moment!

Flames shot into the sky, and the Great Dao was extinguished once again.

"It's a success."

Diavolo's ethereal body appeared and disappeared amidst the waves of fire.

The impact of the explosion did not harm him at all.

He will soon return to the past to personally witness everything he is witnessing now:

"Sow seeds in the past, reap victories in the future."

"This is the true power of the Ouroboros!"

Boom!

The blast wave swept in all directions.

The enormous sound wave was like a tsunami.

In the distance, the road construction workers who had already left the scene stopped in their tracks because of the loud noise coming from behind them.

"Brother, is this deal done?"

Looking at the smoke billowing from the explosion on the distant road, a road worker asked his foreman this question with a tense expression.

The foreman didn't answer directly, but first looked down at his watch:

"18:08:21 exactly".

"Without a second's delay, the bomb exploded at the time requested by the customer."

He let out a long sigh of relief, and then said to his underlings with a sense of weight lifted from his shoulders:

"Our mission in Morioh has officially ended."

"Go back and report to the master now."

As he spoke, the foreman turned back with a complicated expression and glanced once more at the place where they had spent the entire day working:

"It's best to stay in Morioh as little as possible."

"Yes!" The group of underlings all nodded in agreement.

This peaceful and serene suburban town seemed eerie to them from the very beginning.

Because the mission they received itself was shrouded in an eerie atmosphere:

Two days ago, on April 4th, a mysterious client placed an order from the dark web to the organization they worked for.

The major client offered a reward of up to 500 million yen, demanding that they silently plant a large number of time bombs on a section of road in Morioh.

This task is strange.

If the gang hadn't been struggling financially since the Great Bubble, to the point that its members needed to run construction companies on the side to make ends meet, they wouldn't have accepted such a blatantly suspicious commission.

And after these yakuza members accepted the 500 million yen order and arrived in Morioh, even stranger things began to happen:

They were still struggling with how to silently plant a bomb on a town road without being discovered by anyone.

But just like a pillow for someone who's sleepy, on April 5th, a so-called "Bald Superman" appeared out of nowhere and just happened to smash the section of road designated by the client into pieces.

The road broke down at this time, which gave these gangsters the perfect opportunity to disguise themselves as road repair workers and carry out their mission.

This is certainly a good thing for them.

But upon closer reflection, it seems as if the mystery client knew all along that the road would be damaged at this time, which seems very suspicious.

Not to mention, there's also a "Bald Superman" here who can shatter an entire road into pieces.

The foreman initially thought it was just a ridiculous urban legend.

But it was only after the road repair work actually began that he witnessed firsthand the huge fist-shaped imprints deeply embedded in the ground amidst the ruins of the road, now reduced to dust.

"This place is eerie. This place is too eerie."

"Let's hurry up and leave!"

The foreman involuntarily shuddered.

He took one last look at the explosion site in the distance, then left with his men without looking back.

April 4, 1999, 5:01 PM.

In Morioh, at an ordinary convenience store.

Diavolo is waiting in line at the checkout counter to pay.

He had just noticed a faint smell of blood on the blond man in the suit standing behind him.

This naturally caught Diavolo's attention.

But the blond man's demeanor was so ordinary, as ordinary as a roadside stone, that he wouldn't leave an impression no matter how many times you looked at him.

He didn't look like Stand User at all, nor did he seem like a fellow practitioner with blood on his hands.

After some hesitation, Diavolo abandoned further investigation.

He began to concentrate on waiting in line to pay, while the blond man behind him waited idly for Diavolo, who was ahead of him in line, to pay and leave.

The blond man's name was Yoshikage Kira, and all he wanted to do was hurry home with the "girlfriend" in his pocket.

If nothing unexpected happens, these two strangers who met by chance will never cross paths again.

But the unexpected always seems to happen just as fate has ordained:

"Swipe your card."

Diavolo, like an ordinary person, obediently handed over his card to pay the bill.

This card contained a staggering 500 million yen, enough for him to continue living the wealthy life he once did, without having to worry about money, even after fleeing to a foreign country.

However, in Diavolo's wealthy gaze, there was a carefree confidence coupled with a calm and gentle demeanor.

The cashier suddenly looked up with a troubled expression and said:

"Sir, it seems you don't have any money in your card."

"Ha?"

Diavolo's expression froze:

Are you kidding me? Where's my money?

Something came up and I was late. I only started writing around 8 PM, and I felt a bit out of sorts, so the quality isn't great. I'll just post one update today. (ω)