Chapter Summaries

A nameless being wandered through darkness, remembered a lost presence and the love it had given him, then pursued a ray of light through the darkness toward a figure guarding it. The light erased his memories as he embraced it, and he declared his resolve to follow and surpass it before the narration identified him as the sleeping Secret Emperor.

• He broke free of his imagined restraints and ran through the darkness until he struck a pale, living presence that vanished before he could speak to it.
• He continued searching, crossed a boundary into a more dangerous realm, and felt a ray of light awaken memories of the lost presence and its love.
• He hesitated as darkness attacked the light, then entered a luminous passage after hearing a distant voice urge him not to miss his chance.
• He ran toward the light despite repeated injuries, while a dark figure held back the darkness and helped him recover.
• He reached the source of light and gathered it into his arms, but it vanished and took his memories with it.
• He vowed to follow the light and rise above it, and the narration revealed that the eternal Secret Emperor slept within a dream.

Dio woke injured and weakened in a sealed, decaying room in another world, where he uncovered a grotesque monster hidden behind a wall. After discovering his body possessed overwhelming strength, he fought back and sent the creature crashing into the masonry; the monster’s fate remained unclear.

• Dio woke beside a ticking alarm clock and sensed a gray-black tentacle in the shadows as his strength drained away.
• Dio realized his wounds and the room’s oppressive negative energy were suppressing his natural regeneration.
• Dio tore a metal support from the bed and hurled it through a wall, revealing a stitched-together monster surrounded by tentacles.
• Dio met the monster’s whipping tentacle with a kick, redirecting it into the creature and hurling its body through a wall.

Dio discovered that negative emotions awakened a supernatural energy within him, defeated a monster with Black Flash, and unlocked the Shikigami The World and his Cursed Technique, Copy. After testing The World’s time-stopping power, he left the desolate district and headed toward the busy streets.

• Dio leaped from the sixth floor and struck the monster with Black Flash, blasting its body apart.
• Dio transformed negative energy into positive energy, healing his wounds and summoning the golden Shikigami The World.
• Dio used The World’s power and stopped time for nine seconds, learning that its ability inserted extra time into the timeline.
• Dio learned that his Cursed Technique, Copy, could reproduce others’ Cursed Techniques, with three copying slots and one technique usable at a time.
• After time resumed, Dio leaped onto a rooftop and walked away from the abandoned district toward the bustling streets.

Dio met Suguru Geto and two companions, who identified Dio as the sorcerer who had exorcised a Grade 1 cursed spirit. Geto explained how curses arose and revealed his plan to kill all non-sorcerers, leaving Dio to hear his justification.

• Geto and his companions found the traces of Dio's exorcism and concluded that a newly awakened, unaffiliated sorcerer had defeated the Grade 1 cursed spirit bare-handed.
• Dio encountered Geto, the blond man, and the bandaged young man outside his apartment, and agreed to hear Geto out.
• Geto explained that cursed spirits were born from ordinary people's negative emotions and that sorcerers fought them in secret.
• Geto asked Dio to help kill every non-sorcerer and build a world inhabited only by sorcerers.
• Dio questioned the plan and asked whether a cursed spirit had killed someone important to Geto, who said that had happened but that he also considered non-sorcerers too useless to protect.

Dio questioned Suguru Geto’s plan to build a world for sorcerers and challenged the beliefs behind it. After Dio reframed Geto’s resentment toward non-sorcerers, he invited Geto to fight for control of the group for the next ten years.

• Suguru Geto explained that he wanted to cleanse the world of non-sorcerers and create a society for the chosen sorcerers.
• Geto said his group had forty-nine members, had killed about a hundred non-sorcerers, and had not yet begun its plan.
• Dio asked whether the victims had been innocent, and the foreigner said Geto had massacred villagers who had tried to kill two young sorcerers.
• Dio argued that Geto should distinguish between protecting children and clearing away what he considered trash, prompting Geto to recognize that he might have been wrong.
• Dio praised humanity’s drive to expand knowledge and create new worlds, and Geto accused him of believing in science.
• Dio accepted Geto’s invitation but challenged him to a fight, with the winner deciding who would lead the group for ten years.

Dio confronted Suguru Geto over his desire to protect humans, then fought Geto and his allies to prove his beliefs. The World destroyed Geto’s cursed spirits, while Geto remained to face Dio.

• Dio told Suguru Geto that he wanted to protect people and urged him to abandon his mistaken path.
• Dio’s cursed energy enhanced his body and Mind's Eye, allowing him to perceive movements just before they happened.
• Suguru Geto summoned cursed spirits and drew Playful Cloud as Larue and Toshihisa Negi joined the attack.
• The World tore through Larue’s giant hand and Geto’s spirits, while Dio sent Toshihisa flying beyond the buildings.
• Suguru Geto summoned Myriad Skulls Behold the Lord, Falling Ravine, and Sitting Ape, but the World destroyed all three with successive blows.

Dio copied Geto’s Cursed Spirit Manipulation and proved he could absorb the cursed spirits Geto released, despite being revolted by swallowing one. Geto then launched a full attack, but Dio stopped both his weapon and a cursed spirit’s sword, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Geto introduced the special grade cursed spirits Incarnate Tamamo-no-Mae and Incarnate Taira no Masakado while Larue attacked Dio from behind.
• Dio evaded Larue’s cursed-energy hand and kicked it back into Larue, sending him crashing into a house.
• Geto explained that Cursed Spirit Manipulation had no upper limit and that he possessed more than six thousand cursed spirits.
• Dio copied the technique, absorbed ten cursed spirits Geto released, and swallowed one despite its revolting taste.
• Dio urged Geto to pledge loyalty to him, but Geto refused and charged with Playful Cloud as his two special grade cursed spirits attacked.
• Dio caught Playful Cloud and stopped Incarnate Taira no Masakado’s sword with his bare hands, then mocked Geto’s attack.

Dio defeated Suguru Geto and his cursed spirits, healed Geto, and persuaded him to try changing the world together instead of pursuing salvation within his lifetime. Their agreement left Dio’s Victory node halfway lit as the story turned toward their shared plan.

• Dio overpowered Geto and Incarnate Taira no Masakado, then used The World to unleash a barrage during stopped time that critically injured Geto and the cursed spirits.
• Dio healed Geto with reverse cursed technique and asked whether controlled cursed spirits could keep drawing strength from human emotions.
• Geto explained that controlling cursed spirits could reduce their attacks but would not solve the problem permanently, since future generations might lack a Cursed Spirit Manipulation user.
• Dio proposed that immortality through cloning bodies and transferring souls could let them suppress cursed spirits indefinitely, and Geto agreed to give his plan a try.
• Dio invited Geto to change the world together, and defeating him caused Dio’s Victory node to light halfway.

After defeating Suguru Geto, Dio traveled with him to the Time Vessel Association’s headquarters and learned about jujutsu sorcerers, cursed spirits, and cursed techniques. Dio quickly learned Simple Domain and offered to teach Reverse Cursed Technique as they arrived to meet Geto’s gathered followers.

• Dio healed Larue and Toshihisa Negi, who woke among the ruins and accepted that Suguru Geto had lost.
• Suguru Geto invited Dio to the Time Vessel Association’s headquarters, and Dio agreed to meet the thirty-three followers waiting there.
• During the drive, Suguru Geto explained Satoru Gojo’s Limitless and Six Eyes, described Yuki Tsukumo and Yuta Okkotsu, and outlined the locations and sealing of special grade cursed spirits.
• Dio questioned Suguru Geto about jujutsu, absorbed his explanations, learned Simple Domain from a single demonstration, and offered to teach Reverse Cursed Technique.
• Manami Sugata greeted the group at the headquarters and escorted Dio, Suguru Geto, Larue, and Toshihisa Negi toward the meeting room.

Dio took command of Geto’s group and ended its plan to slaughter non-sorcerers, proposing instead to capture powerful cursed spirits and protect the world. The group prepared to travel abroad together, while Geto urged Dio to investigate and eliminate the corrupt elders who had put them on wanted lists.

• Suguru Geto introduced Dio as the group’s new leader and explained that Dio also possessed Cursed Spirit Manipulation, allowing them to share the burden of controlling accumulated curses.
• Geto revealed that Dio had defeated him without using his own cursed technique, astonishing Miguel and the others.
• Dio ended the policy of killing non-sorcerers and proposed that he and Geto capture high-level cursed spirits while their allies gathered intelligence and support.
• Geto suggested killing the elders who had put them on wanted lists, and Dio agreed they sounded like possible targets but said he would investigate their crimes himself.
• Dio announced that the group would begin traveling the world the next day to capture special grade cursed spirits, and he invited everyone to join.

Dio led a group of sorcerers to India to hunt special grade cursed spirits, beginning their trip in Delhi with a plan to search Europe afterward. After arriving, the group settled in and shared a meal, while Suguru Geto began to relax and grew closer to Manami.

• Dio split the expedition into rotating groups and set India as their first destination before a search through Europe for the Werewolf and Vampire cursed spirits.
• Dio, Suguru Geto, Manami, Toshihisa Negi, and Larue flew to Delhi, where Geto warned that India might harbor powerful and unexpected cursed spirits.
• Larue hired taxis and suggested a local restaurant, while Geto reflected on his unfamiliar leisure and Manami linked her arm through his.
• The group checked into a hotel near Connaught Place, with Geto and Manami sharing a room to discuss tactics.
• At dinner, the group tried butter chicken and other local dishes, while Toshihisa worried about the restaurant's hygiene and protested when Manami cited their stomach medicine and Reverse Cursed Technique.

Dio, Suguru Geto, and Manami explored Delhi at night, then entered the Red Fort to investigate its lingering cursed spirit. After Geto absorbed the spirit, they met a mysterious tea seller who shared the fort’s tragic history and blessed their search for Ganesh.

• Dio suggested that he and Manami stroll alone, but Suguru Geto insisted the three stay together as they explored Connaught Place and sampled jalebi.
• The three sneaked into the Red Fort after it closed, where Geto explained that resentment from the craftsmen who built it had left a cursed spirit behind.
• Dio and Geto found the rubble-like spirit repairing the fort’s inscriptions, and Geto absorbed it after identifying its obsession with unfinished work.
• Outside the fort, the three met an old tea seller who said his ancestors had been buried alive in its walls and that the stones still remembered them.
• Manami noticed the old man had no shadow, and Geto suggested he was an echo rather than a cursed spirit; the old man blessed them to overcome every obstacle.

Dio and his companions investigated Qutb Minar, where a local legend about a Feathered Serpent yielded no convincing evidence of a curse. They learned that the Eye of Garuda would share information about the Elephant God in Mumbai, and Geto connected the lead to cursed residue found after a deadly attack at Victoria Terminus.

• Larue explained the history of Qutb Minar and its iron pillar, while Toshihisa Negi considered taking material to make a cursed tool.
• A blind old woman told Larue and the others that a Feathered Serpent slept beneath the tower and described a tourist's disappearance and alleged snakeskin traces.
• Dio used a coin toss guided by his extraordinary luck to judge the old woman's story as mostly fabricated, and Geto said the snakeskin account still warranted investigation.
• The group searched Qutb Minar but found no fresh cursed residue beyond the energy of the ancient cursed object.
• Toshihisa Negi reported that the Eye of Garuda would provide information about the Elephant God if the group reached Mumbai within three days, and Dio agreed to go.
• Geto recalled that investigators had found cursed residue after the Victoria Terminus terrorist attack ten years earlier and suggested the attack might have involved a curse.

Dio and Suguru Geto met Amit of the Eye of Garuda in Mumbai to learn about Ganesh, the Elephant God, and accepted a job to capture a special grade cursed spirit called the Rat King. They left the others at the hotel and headed to confront the Rat King.

• Dio and Suguru Geto sensed an unusually dense concentration of curses and collective anxiety at Victoria Terminus.
• Amit explained Ganesh's recorded appearances and his ability to bestow concepts, then revealed that the Eye of Garuda had contacted the group to propose cooperation.
• Amit told them that the Rat King controlled vast swarms of empowered rats, had attacked the organization's sorcerers, and might cause victims to lose their memories.
• Dio accepted the Eye of Garuda's offer of ten million US dollars to capture the Rat King, while Amit apologized after learning Dio was a new Special Grade Sorcerer.
• Dio and Suguru Geto told Toshihisa Negi, Manami, and Larue to remain at the hotel, then set out to capture the Rat King.

Amit led Dio and Geto into the forgotten underground sewers to confront the Gnawing Rat Duke, a monster born from the slum’s neglect. After Amit retreated to evacuate residents, Dio and Geto faced the Duke and its vast swarm of rats.

• The chapter recounted how Raju ignored a terrified boy’s pleas for help, and a giant rat later killed Raju as well.
• Amit told Dio and Geto that organized rats had been stealing babies and killing residents in the slum.
• Geto gave Dio the Soul Liberation Blade as a belated meeting gift while they followed Cursed Residue through the slum.
• Dio and Geto descended into an underground passage where thousands of rats gathered around the Gnawing Rat Duke.
• Dio sent Amit back to evacuate the residents, and the eyeless Duke turned toward Dio and Geto from the ceiling.

Suguru Geto and Dio fought the Gnawing Rat Duke amid Mumbai’s endless rat swarms, with Geto aiming to capture the special grade curse. As Dio struck the Duke, it dispersed and reformed, and an enormous new cursed energy presence appeared: the Elephant God.

• Suguru Geto identified the Gnawing Rat Duke as a special grade and agreed to subdue it for his collection while Dio focused on the Elephant God.
• Suguru Geto summoned Incarnate Tamamo-no-Mae, Incarnate Taira no Masakado, and giant centipedes to battle the rats, then fought the swarms with Playful Cloud and cursed spirits.
• Dio lounged on the World while Suguru Geto continued fighting, then agreed to help bring down the Gnawing Rat Duke.
• Dio charged through the rat swarm and struck the Gnawing Rat Duke, but the curse dissolved into rats and reformed farther away.
• Dio pursued the reassembled Duke as an immense cursed energy presence entered their perception, signaling the Elephant God’s arrival.

The Elephant God empowered the Gnawing Rat Duke’s rats with concepts that let them grow and bypass cursed energy defenses, turning the battle against Dio and Suguru Geto. The Elephant God then appeared and opened its Domain Expansion, Sea of All-Phenomena Wisdom.

• The Elephant God strengthened the rats, which coordinated attacks that injured Incarnate Taira no Masakado and overwhelmed Suguru Geto’s low-grade cursed spirits.
• Suguru Geto realized the rats had gained Gigantification and Cursed Energy Defense Negation, then warned Dio that cursed energy reinforcement would not protect him from their bites.
• Suguru Geto and Dio moved closer together as the battlefield’s concealed barrier lifted and the Elephant God became visible.
• Dio studied the Elephant God without fear, while Suguru Geto suspected it had been watching the battle from nearby all along.
• The Elephant God formed the Brahma Mudra and announced its Domain Expansion, Sea of All-Phenomena Wisdom.

Dio and Suguru Geto were trapped in the Elephant God's Domain, where the Gnawing Rat Duke's memory-eroding technique overwhelmed Geto. Dio stopped time, rescued Geto, and launched a coordinated attack that ended with Ganesh's head severed.

• The Elephant God's Domain expanded around Dio and Suguru Geto, and both used Simple Domains to resist its sure-hit effect.
• The Gnawing Rat Duke joined the attack and revealed that its Cursed Technique, Rat Gnawing and Insect Damage, eroded knowledge and memories.
• Suguru Geto's memory loss worsened until he stood helpless as rats swarmed over him.
• Dio activated The World, stopped time, shook the rats off Geto, and hurled him toward the Domain's boundary.
• Dio and The World attacked Ganesh during stopped time, carving its body and striking its limbs and joints.
• Dio leaped from Ganesh's back and severed its head with the Greatsword.

Dio defeated Ganesh by destroying his body and using his cursed spirit as a massive blast that wiped out the rats surrounding them. After the fight, Geto recovered most of his memories, and Dio examined Ganesh’s extracted cursed technique, Concept Bestowal.

• When time resumed, Ganesh’s wounds opened and the force of the World's punches tore his body apart, leaving his head intact for Dio to catch.
• Dio absorbed Ganesh with Cursed Spirit Manipulation-Maximum: Uzumaki, extracted his cursed technique, and fired the cursed spirit as a blast that destroyed the cavern and the rats.
• Geto avoided the blast’s worst effects and landed near the crater after the underground cavern collapsed.
• Dio explained that he had destroyed the surrounding rats to prevent the Gnawing Rat Duke from regenerating, and Geto said most of his memories had returned.
• Dio gave Geto the Gnawing Rat Duke’s remains and said he looked forward to meeting the strongest of the modern age.
• Dio studied Concept Bestowal and its reversal, Concept Stripping, and decided to design a new Domain Expansion of his own.

After Dio gained Concept Bestowal and completed the Mumbai mission, the group rested and prepared to return to Tokyo. New intelligence about Avatar Kali’s early rebirth promised another encounter, while Dio’s growth through Victory revealed Beauty as his next challenge.

• Dio assessed the mental burden of Concept Bestowal and concluded he could safely add only one more technique to his brain.
• The Eye of Garuda paid the agreed ten million dollars and concealed the battle beneath Mumbai as a natural gas explosion.
• Dio, Suguru Geto, and their companions rested in Mumbai before boarding a flight back to Tokyo.
• Amit reported that Avatar Kali’s cursed womb was forming early near Varanasi, and Dio said they would return when the spirit fully emerged.
• Dio’s victory over the Indian Jujutsu Society lit the Victory emblem and expanded Copy, but his next Fire Sword Path concept was Beauty.