Having tentatively decided on his next course of action, Dio let out a soft breath.
Even so, he did not act immediately. For one thing, rushing would do no good; his enemies were clearly no pushovers.
For another, there was still one piece of loot from last night's victory that he had yet to inspect.
At that thought, Dio picked up the box beside him.
The box looked much like the one Ging had left for Gon in the manga. Back then, Gon had opened the metal casing around it by releasing his Nen.
The metal must have been inscribed with God Script that produced a particular effect. When it detected someone holding it and activating [Ren], it would automatically lose its adhesion.
As an expert in God Script, Gon's father, Ging, could reasonably have possessed that kind of sealing technique.
But why would those two mercenaries have something like this?
The information on their phones mentioned that they had lost most of their companions in a grueling battle, ultimately seizing only a strangely shaped stone.
But there was not a single word about the battle itself.
On the surface, the stone seemed entirely unremarkable. Even carbon-14 dating indicated that it was no antique.
Yet it was incredibly hard, almost impossible to destroy, which naturally made it impossible to reshape.
The two mercenaries had taken it around all sorts of markets, but no one had shown any interest in buying it. Some people had even offered a high price for its God Script-inscribed casing while refusing the stone itself.
For them, the stone had been a complete loss. In the end, they could only remain stuck with it.
What kind of stone could have sparked a battle like that?
Dio fell silent, gripped the box with both hands, and activated [Ren]!
Clatter-
Like magnets that had lost their pull, the metal strips fell away one after another, revealing the dense, mysterious patterns and characters on their inner surfaces.
Once all the outer metal had fallen away, the concealed container was revealed-a square box without a lid.
Soft padding lined the box's inner walls. In the middle lay a strange "stone," sharp on one side and seemingly broken off on the other.
Dio suddenly froze. Why did this "stone" look so familiar?
As he stared at it, the "stone" before him gradually matched up with the [Stand Arrow] he remembered from the JOJO manga!
Whoosh!
Dio shot to his feet, his pupils contracting to pinpoints as shock surged through him!
A fragment of the [Stand Arrow]!
A powerful item that appeared in Part 5 of JOJO. Unlike the other arrowheads, which could awaken Stands, it possessed the tremendous power to evolve a Stand into the terrifying [Requiem] form.
(The original never specified whether the Stand Arrow could awaken Stands. Here, I've decided it can't, or things would get too complicated. One Stand User-the protagonist-is enough for this whole book. Forgive me for taking a shortcut.)
Moreover, the original manga had never mentioned whether the Stand Arrow required any particular aptitude. In other words, any Stand could obtain this immense power.
The abilities of [Gold Experience Requiem] and [Silver Chariot Requiem] from the manga swirled through his mind.
Dio wished he could get the complete [Stand Arrow] right that instant and stab [The World] with it, turning [The World] straight into a time-stopping machine...
Shaking his head, Dio cast those jumbled thoughts out of his mind.
Leaving aside the fact that the [Stand Arrow] before him was clearly only a fragment, it would be such a waste if [The World Requiem]'s ability were still just Time Stop.
A [Requiem]'s ability took shape according to its Stand User's wishes at the moment of awakening. It could create a truly invincible Stand!
Though being invincible usually meant you were about to die.
Dio gazed at the fragment with burning eyes and reached out to pick it up for a closer look.
But the instant Dio picked up the [Arrowhead Fragment], it moved on its own, as though it had suddenly come alive.
The fragment shifted without warning and burrowed straight into Dio's finger!
"What?!"
Dio's pupils contracted sharply. Without hesitation, he summoned his Stand:
"[The World]!!"
He was just about to activate Time Stop when the [Arrowhead Fragment] seized the instant his Stand separated from his body and burrowed straight into [The World]'s arm!
Dio suddenly realized that his body had gone completely rigid. He could not activate Time Stop either. All he could do was watch helplessly as the [Arrowhead Fragment] worked its way upward into [The World].
Once the fragment reached [The World]'s heart and vanished within it, an indescribable sensation suddenly erupted inside Dio.
What kind of sensation was it?
Exhilaration? Excitement?
"Heh... ha..."
For some reason, Dio suddenly felt an urge to laugh. A low chuckle escaped his lips uncontrollably, growing louder and louder.
In the end, Dio even threw his body backward, spread his arms, and began laughing wildly at the sky. His eyes suddenly brimmed with a madness they had never held before!
An indescribable mania flooded Dio's mind, making him call out to his Stand without thinking:
"The World!!"
"Time, stop forever!!!"
With a dull roar, the entire world abruptly lost its color. Everything ceased moving, as though nothing remained between heaven and earth but the echoes of Dio's wild laughter.
"wryyyyy!!!"
"One second has passed... two seconds have passed..."
"...Five seconds have passed. My [The World] is invincible..."
"..."
Suddenly, Dio's laughter cut off. At some point, [The World] had appeared in front of him and was watching him quietly.
The madness gradually faded from Dio's eyes, and only then did he realize that time had begun flowing again.
He jolted, cold sweat breaking out across his back:
"What happened to me?"
"Why did I make that sound?!"
"And that Time Stop definitely lasted far longer than my previous limit!"
Questions swirled through his mind. Dio took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.
Still shaken and uncertain, he touched his chest.
When the fragment had vanished into [The World]'s chest, it had felt as though a new personality had emerged within him.
At the time, he could still see the world around him, but his body had started moving of its own accord.
It had begun laughing wildly on its own, stopped time on its own...
At that thought, he seemed to suddenly remember something and reached out to summon
[The World], which had been floating quietly beside him.
After examining it carefully, Dio confirmed that the [Arrowhead Fragment] had disappeared inside [The World]. Even he could no longer retrieve it.
So... had that fragment evolved The World?
Looking at [The World]'s completely unchanged appearance, Dio felt that was highly unlikely.
He did not sense that [The World] had gained any new abilities. As always, it had only [Time Stop].
Had Time Stop grown stronger, then? Dio recalled how, in that state resembling a split personality, he had stopped time for an unprecedented five whole seconds!
But was it really possible to jump straight from a one-second Time Stop to five seconds? Dio instinctively doubted it.
"I'll test it!"
Dio made his decision immediately and activated his ability:
"The World!"
"Time, stop!!"
Before you continue