Dio slinked through the dark forest, the ritual knife dancing between his fingers like a shard of cold moonlight. The blade was his implement, wielded with the precision of a professional and the tenderness of a friend. He was more than familiar with this kind of weapon. Silently, he crept towards Jajo, his purpose as honed as the sharpened edge he was caressing.
The World is broken in what I assume is backlash after its destruction at the hands of Jotaro years ago. It doesn't matter right now, though. I can deal with this much on my own.
Jajo was keeping watch next to the camp, but at that moment, he stiffened suddenly as pain stabbed deep like a red-hot poker had been driven through his abdomen. His head snapped towards the origin of the excruciating feeling, and his breath hitched when the curved ritual knife twisted.
The blade was torn free, rending flesh and shredding muscle with its jagged edge. His clothes were slick with blood that pooled in his trembling and confused hands as the strength in his legs evaporated like a breeze, but through sheer force of will, he remained standing.
He stared, stunned, at the throbbing hole in his liver before his eyes trailed up to the culprit.
"Dio." He gasped through laboured breaths.
"I hope you find peace knowing your death will fulfil a greater cause than your futile life, in serving me." Dio plunged the bloody dagger into Jajo's neck and watched as his blood surged out, covering him from head to toe. Finally, Jajo's eyes glazed over before he dropped to the floor dead.
This is my first step to power in this world. The knife easily slid out of Jajo's neck and was replaced by Dio's index and middle fingers, which fervently siphoned his blood.
Such vitality! There's something about the blood in this world that I just can't shake. Something living. Growing. It's as if the blood has blood of its own. Dio thought, and soon he couldn't help but move his mouth to Jajo's open wound and sucked on the deflating corpse with reckless abandon. Dio effortlessly lifted Jajo above his head and drained what remained of his blood, grinning in glee, as the blood rained down on his face, staining his clothes and matting his golden hair.
Swept with ecstasy, Dio couldn't help but shiver as Jajo's blood invigorated his being. His frail and sunken flesh was slowly filled in with larger muscles befitting his frame. His pale skin acquired a healthier hue of white with a subtle difference to its former, almost sickly pallor.
He stood tall as Jajo's remains were reduced to a dry and shrivelled husk. He ran a hand through his hair, opening up the pores of his skin to absorb what he could of the blood that had begun to stick.
Wha- What has come over me? This blood is extraordinary! I have no doubt I'd go mad with ecstasy if I consumed it too carelessly.
He felt as if he was supercharged with energy. His mind was drawn to the new level of clarity in his thoughts, his body that felt electrified and his fingers that twitched to receive every command.
Whatever lives in the inhabitants of this world, after consuming such a large amount of blood, I can feel it too. This... energy, this overwhelming strength. Dio thought as he took hold of the energy now present in his blood. It pulsed through his body with every beat of his heart, seeping into his flesh and bones. If his vampiric physiology gave him masterful bodily control down to the cells, then this newfound energy strengthened and charged the cells themselves.
The vital energy, or so he called it, seeped into his heart, and every beat of his heart seemed to shoot it through his body. As it seeped into his brain, the world around him seemed to move at a different pace, his already inhuman reflexes reaching new heights. His whole body began to emanate the changes made present from the absorption of Jajo's vital energy, perhaps with more efficiency and strength than Jajo himself.
As he strolled back to camp, Dio felt joy in the strength he felt in his rejuvenated body. Said strength was not quite befitting of his vampiric nature yet, but he could already feel he was approaching the level of physical power he had achieved in his previous life, thanks to the vital energy in Jajo's blood. The grin that graced his lips casually revealed his razor-sharp fangs, and he couldn't help but chuckle as he revelled in the feeling of his electrified blood.
Dio felt so sprightly he found himself cradling his own body, his nails fiercely scratching at his shoulders, drawing blood, as he hugged himself and marvelled at the speed of his regeneration. It looks like my body exhausts vital energy to expedite my rate of recovery.
He remained like this as he walked back to camp, testing and stretching the abilities of his vital energy. After just three minutes, he had already exhausted half of the energy present in his body and decided to leave it at that.
At this time, he was carefully searching their campsite for the wolfsbane that Gwen had mentioned.
It seems my wounds have all finished healing. It's faster than in my previous life, but this 'vital energy' is only a temporary power; if I run out of it, I'd need time to recover, and therefore I need more blood to effectively strengthen my physical body as well as my stand, more permanent power sources.
Although confident in his strength and cunning, Dio was not blinded by conceit. This was something he'd grown out of. You learn a thing or two after being defeated by a teenager. He didn't have much of a choice, with the decades he'd been forced to reflect on it.
When he finally found something that resembled what Gwen had mentioned, he nodded to himself and pocketed it. Then he began his silent slaughter, slashing the throats of the hunters one by one.
Brock, then Creel. They both jolted awake only to realise Dio had already taken their lives. Dio moved on to the next one and left both Brock and Creel to choke on their blood. Their eyes followed him, their expressions a mixture of anger, betrayal and pleading. Then they were lifeless.
He sneered in contempt.
Though he wouldn't admit it, more than he wanted to kill them for power or simply because they hunt vampires, he wanted to kill them because they had murdered the vampires who summoned him. The first people he had spoken to in what felt like centuries. He hated how weak and pathetic this made him feel.
He hated how, in his own eyes, or perhaps in the eyes of the man he used to be, before being trapped in that damned stone, he was now just as detestable as a human.
Attachment is a weakness, a curse. I kill for power and security; I kill those whom I despise. Nothing more, nothing less.
With these words, Dio hardened his heart and came to face Gwen. In a swift motion, he slashed her neck open, and she began to bleed out like the others.
As he came to slice James' throat, the man's eyes shot open before the dagger touched his skin, and he leapt out of his bedroll. Dio's blade drew only a single drop of blood as James scarcely escaped certain death.
He dashed for his crossbow and quickly turned to face Dio, who was watching him with silent loathing.
"You! What the hell are you doing!"
"I told myself your death would be slow, but I've learnt from my mistakes with Jojo. It's wiser to kill you while I have the chance than to ensure your suffering." Dio flashed a fang-filled grin.
"You were wrong about me, James."
James recoiled in shock. "V-Vampire! You're a vampire! But how? The holy water! I shot you with a silver bolt! Just what kind of evil are you?"
Dio greeted the question with a mocking chuckle and lunged towards James, who immediately fired his bolt at Dio's heart. Dio deftly deflected the bolt with his raised blade and closed the distance in a single bound, forcing James to drop the crossbow and draw his sword.
James moved to stab Dio's heart, utilising his longer reach and a known vampire weakness. The blade met little resistance and pierced Dio's heart with ease, emerging on the other side of his body. At first, James felt triumph, but he only noticed Dio's wicked grin when he failed to rip his sword free.
Fool.
Dio's dagger slashed at James' hand before he was able to let go of the sword, taking them both. James painfully held a scream, with eyes that twisted in horror when he watched Dio remove the sword from his heart, with his hand still attached, and proceed to suck his severed hand dry in seconds.
"Delicious." He said, licking his lips and grinning at the gradually paling James.
James' blood ran cold with a fear that chilled him to the bone. His body was screaming so many different commands at once that for a second, the pain in his arm was drowned out by the roaring urge to get away.
Despite this, he felt paralysed, like a deer caught in headlights; his eyes couldn't snap away from the object of his terror.
What's happening to me? You're a vampire hunter, James. Get a grip, get help, warn your friends. Warn Gwen. He regained his senses just in time to scramble away from Dio, who was slowly approaching and dash to Gwen's side.
"Gwen! Wake up, Gwen!" He screamed, but when he twisted Gwen's body onto its side, he found that she was covered in blood and her expression was twisted in fear and confusion. She was still alive, but as she slowly drowned in her own blood, it was clear that would soon change.
James turned back to Dio, but winced when he felt the pain in his shoulder and realised that Dio was behind him. He lashed out with an elbow that caught nothing but air, and his head whipped around him, but Dio was nowhere in sight.
Laughter echoed from the surrounding forest, and James' head began to swim from the blood loss. He reached for the pendant around his neck with his remaining hand and cradled the dying Gwen in his arms. He held the pendant high and whispered a prayer as he faced death.
Dio grimaced at the sight of the pendant. That pendant is dangerous. He thought. It's emitting an energy similar to the sun.
Purple-thorned vines took hold of his dagger and slung it like a harpoon at James' neck before he could whip out any more sun-charged artifacts.
The dagger shot straight through James' throat, and he collapsed to the ground, gargling on his blood next to Gwen, who shared a similar fate.
He stared into her eyes with regret and longing; to say words he never had the chance to, to kiss her and tell her how he'd been holding them for the right time. Alas, a Hunter's life is one of tragedy, and he'd held onto the words for too long.
In the end, he could only gurgle as he slowly suffocated, having fainted from the blood loss.
How pitiful. Dio sneered as he emerged from the trees and walked towards the pair, at first wary of the pendant in James' hand. The closer he got, the more he could feel the presence of the sun, and his skin began to tingle and singe as he knelt by the couple.
Despite this, Dio approached. He approached because he felt the mysteries of his body were beginning to make sense. He felt that he understood why his body was the same as the one from his past life. Why the star on his back seemed to be pulsing with energy every second.
He grasped the pendant in his hand, and although his hand should've combusted before he even came into contact with the pendant. Instead, it hissed and began to blister, boil, and singe, yet somehow it didn't burn.
All those years I spent in that red stone have changed me. He thought as he felt the energy from the pendant begin to gather in his hand.
I recall that the red stone could absorb, amplify and refract energy. Shortly after coming across it, I discovered that Stand Power wasn't exempt from this. The Stand is bound to the soul; by extension, the stone was able to absorb the soul as well. Similar to a magnet attracting a magnetic material glued to a non-magnetic material.
He watched as light began to creep up his hand, exposing his blood vessels.
In light of this, I repurposed the stone to absorb and... adapt. To secure. The stone takes in one energy source and releases it before absorbing another. It was through this that I managed to cheat death yet again.
After spending years inside of it, I believe that somehow I've picked up a similar trait. Perhaps the power those vampires used to summon my soul to this body, a portion of it was absorbed and reused to shape this body around my very soul.
He flexed his fingers; his whole hand was glowing now, and it hurt, but it wasn't enough to harm him.
My previous biology has been transferred to this body, including my weakness, which is mitigated because of the new properties my body has gained. Fascinating.
The solar energy was then absorbed into his bloodstream, and everywhere it went, he felt pain, but at this level, it was still manageable. His blood vessels had become visible through his skin, glowing with the sun's energy and filling him with power, even as they hissed and boiled because of it. My natural weakness as a vampire, it... It weakens and strengthens me at the same time!
Suddenly, the solar energy diffused into the vital energy- the vitae- that had fused with his blood. Dio dropped the pendant and curled up on the ground. All the muscles in his body spasmed, and he couldn't even scream in pain. The vitae in his body became charged with solar energy, and the temperature of his blood rose so quickly that his body went numb as it began to boil.
He attempted to grasp hold of the burning surge with his extensive biological control and expel it from his body. Still, he couldn't separate it from his vitae, nor could he stop it as the solar-charged vital energy began to fry him from the inside out. His blood was vaporised, increasing the pressure in his veins that threatened to explode.
Dio fought to control the combined energies, dragging it with the effort it took to push a tree as it moved like a viscous sludge through his body, lapping up all the remaining traces of the pendant's solar energy, which was greedily absorbed. He directed the charged vitality through his body to the path of least resistance, his eyes. His vision fractured, and sound began to fade as his ear canals fused shut from the heat.
Dio screamed as the energy was built up and compressed, his eyes glowing a blinding red, before it exploded in a searing beam of immense heat.
The beam erupted from his eyes like a wave and washed over the forest. The explosive red beams of the two mixed energies were filled with the furious heat of the sun's rays, fueled by Dio's vital energy. The resulting effect was two beams that, starting from Dio's eyes, were as hot as the surface of the sun and pierced through the forest. They swept through trees and animals, melting fur and burning bark, leaving charred corpses and smouldering stumps.
The beam persisted for a few seconds before it began to fade and die.
Dio's eyes had long burst from the pressure, and his body emitted an immense amount of steam, a large portion of it being his boiled blood. He was left a heap of sizzling remains. All of his organs were charred and in disrepair, refusing to heal as a result of the solar energy. His skin had been all but incinerated, and he could feel his brain beginning to shut down despite his best efforts to shield it from the release.
His ravaged body made no efforts to heal despite his life-threatening state. For a second, he lay there, no eyes, crackling flesh and half a foot in the grave. He twitched and shook himself when he realised he was blacking out and had to move. To crawl, do something, anything but die a second time because of his carelessness.
Blood... I need blood
Dio could only barely manage to bring one arm in front of the other. His skinless, steaming flesh, peeled on coarse dirt and ashes as he dragged his body forward. He couldn't see or hear, and he could hardly even feel, but he managed to pull one arm after the other until he reached something. He felt a foot and then thighs and a waist, his hands gripped her chest, and he realised it was a woman.
Gwen.
Against all odds, she still desperately clung to life. She was a fighter. Seemingly untouched by his laser-eyed rampage, she was taking an unnaturally long time to die from the gash in her neck. He grabbed her bleeding throat and was horrified when he found that his body wasn't absorbing her blood. He moved his teeth to her neck and tried to suck her blood, but found that his blood vessels had been completely fused shut.
He panicked.
His mind whirred to think of a solution, but his thoughts were already slowing down, and he found himself unable to focus without them fleeing his failing brain. Dio coughed up what little remained of his blood when the idea was brought to him.
Most of his strength had already disappeared along with the vital energy and the majority of blood in his body. Even so, with all the strength he could muster, Dio plunged his hand into his chest and retrieved his heart. He searched for Gwen's neck and pushed his heart inside it, crushing it, his blood mixing in with hers.
Bring me...
"Blood." He croaked, and his consciousness drifted away with his only command.