At that moment, faint cicada cries drifted from afar, rising and fading.
Melodramatic, exaggerated soap opera dialogue floated out of an apartment building's open windows, mixed with bizarre canned laughter.
The wind swept past a damaged advertising sign on the street corner, drawing a low, sustained moan from its sheet-metal edges.
All those sounds seemed distant and indistinct to Suguru Geto.
He watched Dio in silence.
The dark fabric of his robes rippled gently in the wind, and loose strands from his half-up bun brushed his neck.
His face, usually mild and smiling, was utterly expressionless now.
Sunlight slanted through the gaps between buildings and fell across his face.
So dazzling...
"...Fine. Do you love humans that much?"
He spoke softly, his voice frighteningly calm.
Suguru Geto was confident he would not lose-however gifted the young man before him might be, he was only a fledgling who had just awakened.
A fledgling's wings were not yet strong enough to reach the true sky.
"I am loved for my strength, and I answer that love with strength.
Ordinary people may be as fragile as clay figurines, but I still want to do my best to protect them.
As long as it's within my power, I'll help whoever I can and save whoever I can."
Dio spread his arms, openly exposing his centerline, as relaxed as if he were welcoming guests into his own living room.
Before crossing into this world, he had once been described this way in a psychological assessment:
You have an exceptionally rich inner world, and that is also the source of your strength.
You always follow your heart, are highly accepting of others, consider their feelings, and treat them generously.
Having you as a friend is a lifelong treasure.
"How can you connect with people without recognizing their weaknesses?
How can you treat others with compassion without understanding that all living beings suffer?"
Dio spoke softly, his tone holding no accusation, only understanding.
"Wanting to eradicate suffering is a good intention.
Perhaps you were once just like I am now.
But in the end, you've taken the wrong path."
He slowly brought his arms back in front of him. His feet scraped against the rough concrete as he staggered them slightly, lowered his center of gravity, and turned his body halfway sideways, settling into an ancient, solid fighting stance.
"Empty words won't help. Let me prove it to you."
Within him, the energy called "cursed energy" surged like floodwater bursting through a dam, every cell hungrily drawing in and releasing this new power.
Saturated with cursed energy, his muscle fibers gave silent, trembling screams, and his bones seemed to be forged anew, light yet resilient.
His physical abilities broke through their former limits in an instant, entering an entirely new realm.
His five senses became as keen as light:
Dio could hear the faint sound of ants crawling over fallen leaves ten meters away, see every drifting path of dust motes in the air, and clearly distinguish the three utterly different cursed energy signatures before him.
And even-
Dio's perception broke free of the present's constraints, faintly giving him the illusion that his senses were briefly extending into the future.
The world before him seemed overlaid with a translucent preview.
He could "see" the air's movement in the next second, the way his opponents' muscles would exert force, and the paths along which cursed energy would gather.
This was not "prediction" based on experience and deduction.
It was "prereading" that transcended the perception of time, a new realm that Mind's Eye had reached under the reinforcement of cursed energy.
Acting before the opponent?
No-this was acting before even that!
Dio calmly swept his gaze over the three before him, then exhaled and called out, "Come on. All of you at once!"
"So you're looking down on us!
But fate is fate for a reason. Just as fish are born to live only in water, monkeys will always be monkeys. They can never become true humans.
Blindly yearning for the freedom of the sky will only bring more sorrow."
That was Suguru Geto's response to Dio's sermon.
"Larue, Riku, since he's so eager to fight, let's take him on together-show him what a real curse is!"
He tapped the ground with his toes and withdrew half a step, his broad sleeves billowing with the movement.
In an instant, cursed spirits known for their numbers-centipedes, giant skeletons, bone-faced gorillas, ghouls, and more-poured out like a tide, forming layer upon layer of barriers before him.
At the same time, he slipped one hand into his sleeve and drew the Special Grade Cursed Tool Playful Cloud from the Inventory Curse Worm's mouth. Gripping its two ends, he settled into a stance as steady as a mountain.
Beside him, Larue summoned that enormous hand.
Toshihisa Negi quietly moved to the flank, drawing the short blade at his waist without a sound and slipping into the surging crowd of cursed spirits to wait for an opening.
Almost at the same moment, a radiant golden figure materialized beside Dio.
It planted both hands firmly against the conspicuous red heart ornament on its abdomen and leaned back at a forty-five-degree angle, like a powerful bow drawn taut and ready to fire.
After completing that almost ritualistic entrance pose, the World moved.
There was no warning, no windup-only a blur of golden afterimages sweeping forward like a raging storm.
"Useless, useless, useless, useless!"
With that ringing battle cry, its fists rumbled against the air, the dense barrage of punches moving so fast that they merged into a golden curtain of light.
Larue's giant hand and the cursed spirits lunging forward did not even have time to mount a proper attack before sheer force tore them apart on contact.
Cursed residue splashed everywhere like ink. Not a single one managed to get close to Dio.
Toshihisa Negi had intended to circle behind him for a sneak attack, but Dio's unhurried sidelong glance met him, and he froze.
He gritted his teeth, mustered his courage, and charged forward with his blade.
Dio brushed his bangs with his left hand and casually flicked his right hand upward and back to the side.
Before Riku could even react, he shot skyward like a meteor flying in reverse. Within seconds, he sailed over rows of tall buildings and vanished beyond the edge of sight.
Dio withdrew his hand, his tone that of someone judging a bland dish. "That's it? You won't convince me with that."
Suguru Geto's pupils contracted slightly. He shifted Playful Cloud to one hand and spread the fingers of his free hand-three distinct presences descended simultaneously from a black vortex.
"As expected, that rabble was no match for you. Shall I turn up the difficulty?"
Myriad Skulls Behold the Lord-its base was formed from countless piled skulls, and curse-soaked bandages wrapped its entire body. Countless cloudy eyes stared out from the gaps between the wrappings, making it resemble some blasphemous living pillar.
Falling Ravine-the octopus-like cursed spirit burrowed into the ground the instant it appeared, racing beneath the surface.
Sitting Ape-its lower limbs resembled clasped palms, and its enormous upper limbs rested across its knees. The floating cursed spirit, shaped like a baboon Daruma doll, hung motionless in midair, radiating a heavy sense of pressure.
Yet golden light flashed again.
The World moved so fast that it seemed to disregard space and distance.
By the time its figure became clear again, its fist had already punched through Myriad Skulls Behold the Lord's chest-the bandages burst apart, and the blindfolded human head at its core shattered under a single blow.
Then it stamped one foot down. The ground exploded with a roar, and Falling Ravine, which had yet to fully emerge, was violently hammered out of the earth, its torso twisted and deformed.
Sitting Ape raised its left hand, pressing its thumb, index finger, and middle finger together and pointing them upward while curling its ring finger and little finger into its palm.
"ZOMBA."
The whisper that activated its cursed technique sounded, and a massive gravitational field shot out a moment too late, crashing down beside the World as it swiftly darted away. The ground beneath was also compressed into a neatly cylindrical crater.
Sitting Ape never got a chance to activate its cursed technique a second time.
The World raced through the air like a maglev train and threw its second punch-a straight golden streak pierced both Sitting Ape's raised blocking arms and its chest.
Three strikes, three Grade 1 Cursed Spirits destroyed!
Before you continue