Jotaro had been hit; a knife buried itself dead-center in his head.
At the same instant his body plummeted from the sky, lifeless, crashing to the ground with a dull thud.
Onlookers scattered in alarm—no one had expected a person to drop out of nowhere.
Seeing this, the Stardust Crusaders wore looks of 'deep worry'; had Jotaro just died like that?
They knew it was only a video, yet watching a comrade die before their eyes—if only on screen—still felt unbearable.
Meanwhile, inside the castle in Egypt where DIO resided…
DIO curved his lips in a smile. Although his Stand's ability had been exposed and Jotaro had discovered he could move within the frozen world…
…seeing his future nemesis 'dead' still sparked a flicker of delight inside him.
Whatever the future held, DIO intended to savor his existence as a vampire right now.
But his grin soon froze, while the Stardust Crusaders broke into relieved smiles.
Because on-screen Jotaro wasn't dead; he lifted his head and muttered in annoyance, "Damn it, stabbed over and over—you've ruined my favorite uniform."
Everyone wondered how he had survived.
Jotaro slowly lifted his jacket: a book was tucked inside, and another lay against his head.
In other words, in that split second he had used Star Platinum to shift the knife's angle and fake his own demise.
Jotaro thought: I picked up some magazines in case of long-range weapons, but I never expected a rain of blades.
'Play dead first, then strike when he drops his guard—best plan I've got.'
'I've got to blow his head off; otherwise the bastard won't stay down.'
As the thought crossed his mind, DIO descended from above. Looking at the 'corpse,' he said calmly, "As they say, better safe than sorry."
"The Joestar bloodline is unnaturally lucky; he could be shamming to fool me."
As DIO spoke, Jotaro lay motionless, but the tremor in his pupils betrayed his surprise at such caution.
"I'll make absolutely sure he stops breathing!"
Ever the thorough villain, DIO snatched a circular road sign, snapped it free with a kick, and added, "I'll use this to take his head."
"Final blow, Jotaro!"
With that shout DIO rushed in, sign raised to strike.
At that instant a burly silver-haired youth appeared behind him—Polnareff.
"!!!!!"
Both DIO and Jotaro froze in shock.
The next moment a medieval silver knight materialized behind Polnareff—his Stand, Silver Chariot.
Before DIO's stunned gaze the newcomer drove his sword straight through the vampire's forehead.
"Die, DIO!!!"
'Polnareff!'
Jotaro was astonished; he hadn't expected Polnareff to arrive at that moment.
Polnareff roared, voice blazing with fury; from his perspective every comrade was already dead.
To kill DIO he had become the perfect assassin, and his blade had pierced the brain—a wound any normal being would die from.
"Bzzt—!!!"
At once the world around DIO drained to gray.
Viewers from other worlds gasped: could the ability activate without an incantation?
"The World—time, stop."
With time frozen, DIO calmly slid his head off the blade, turned, and said, "As I thought—Polnareff."
The instant he finished, he punched Polnareff. "Time, resume."
When time flowed again Polnareff was flung away, coughing blood.
"A shame, Polnareff."
DIO regarded him with admiration. "One heartbeat more and you'd have twisted the blade, shredding my brain."
"D-damn… how…?" Polnareff stammered, disbelieving that his flawless strike had failed, and then he collapsed.
Outside the video, in the JOJO World…
"Aaaargh! What have I done?!" Polnareff shouted at his on-screen self. "Jotaro was about to ambush him and I stole DIO's attention!"
"I've doomed Jotaro!"
The instant those words left his mouth…
…inside the video DIO advanced on the fallen Polnareff. To save him, Jotaro deliberately made a noise, drawing DIO's focus.
And shattered the perfect set-up.
"Aaaaah!!"
Polnareff writhed with guilt.
But Jotaro laid a calm hand on his shoulder. "It's only a video, Polnareff. Don't worry—and that sword thrust? It was beautiful."
"Huh?! JOJO, weren't you just standing right next to me?"
At this moment, Kakyoin Noriaki felt something was off. Jotaro had clearly been right beside him a second ago, so why was he now next to Polnareff?
"Could it be?!" Joseph widened his eyes, staring at Jotaro in disbelief, as if he had just realized something.
Avdol also looked at Jotaro with a hint of anticipation.
"Ah." Jotaro nodded slightly, looking at everyone with a smile. "I've learned it, just in that instant."
"Star Platinum: The World. Although it was only for a moment, with more practice, I can stop it for longer."
After speaking, Jotaro looked at the video, where Dio was skillfully listening to his breathing and heartbeat to confirm if he was dead. Jotaro said calmly, "Next time I see Dio, I won't be lying there like a corpse."
Demon Slayer World.
"This guy, he must be a demon." Tanjiro looked at Dio's regeneration ability and his strange strength. He said seriously, "Why does that guy named Dio look exactly like a demon?"
"Sucking human blood to enhance self-regeneration, coupled with that monstrous strength—indeed, there is no doubt this fellow is a demon."
Rengoku Kyojuro also nodded slightly. He looked at Jotaro on the screen, his eyes shining with a different light. He said earnestly, "Perhaps we can go to the comments section and look for them."
"Because it's highly likely they have developed the newest Demon Slaying Power. Even if they haven't, we can still ask where the power of the 'Stand' comes from."
to read more chapters check my patreon page and you can also receive 18% discount, if you subscribe between now and the new year
Patreon.com/brainiacc