Chapter 71: Isn't This Exit a Bit Too Hasty?

"Ora ora ora ora—!!!"

"Puga!"

Terence T. D'Arby, Stand Name: Atum, unable to battle.

Kenny G., Stand Name: Tenore Sax, unable to battle.

Stripping away all the dialogue and leaving only the combat visuals... Well, this was hardly an even match. Given the massive disparity in power between the two sides and the fact that all intelligence had leaked like a sieve, the battle could be distilled into just three steps: Chen Mo spots the enemy, Chen Mo throws a punch, and the enemy becomes unable to battle.

The most lethal threat, Vanilla Ice's Cream, was also easily neutralized by the group.

Although Cream was invisible while consuming itself to form a spatial sphere capable of erasing space, the dust it wiped away from its path and the air currents it generated were sharp enough to be caught by Chen Mo's acute animalistic senses.

Furthermore, Vanilla himself could not observe the outside world while inside Cream, relying entirely on intuition and occasionally poking his head out to recalibrate his actions. This precisely handed the group their window of attack.

There were no tense and thrilling battle scenes. Much like the previous two encounters, the moment Chen Mo found an opening, he delivered a clean, decisive Void Piercing Punch that blew Vanilla's head apart, swiftly concluding the fight.

Vanilla Ice, Stand Name: Cream, unable to battle.

"I somehow expected something a little different."

Kaguya couldn't help but sweat slightly as she looked at the three Stand users who had been dealt with so carelessly.

"Shouldn't the fight have been a bit more intense or something?"

"It would be strange if we had to fight an enemy of this caliber for three hundred rounds. Just look at the gap in our power levels," Chen Mo replied, casting a strange look at Kaguya.

"That's true too~"

In theory, this group could have simply marched in and slammed DIO along with his subordinates and mansion straight into the ground. However, considering they might damage valuables inside DIO's house—such as the Arrow capable of awakening Stands and the diary capable of reaching heaven—they chose to enter the building and crush the enemy with minimal collateral damage.

"Hm?"

Chen Mo paused, raising his head to look up the stairs ahead of him.

Unbeknownst to him, a bewitching man wearing a yellow jacket, a green heart-shaped headband, and emitting a chilling aura was already standing on the landing.

He was their target for this journey: Dio Brando!

"To think you could make it all this way and so easily defeat my subordinates... Heh. As enemies of DIO, you are more than qualified."

DIO stood on the stairway, shrouded in shadow, obscuring his facial features.

Ah, the familiar Koyasu voice acting, the familiar staircase, the familiar time-stopping travel... You aren't going to pull some stunt involving time-stopping and body-carrying in a second, are you?

"Aah! A vampire!"

Aqua suddenly perked up, leaping forward and pointing at DIO on the stairs.

"A creature of inherent evil, let me, the Goddess of Water, purify you right here and now—Sacred Turn Undead!"

In an instant, a blinding, intense light engulfed the dim hallway. It was like someone had dropped a flashbang; the sustained brilliance made it hard to keep one's eyes open.

Yet Aqua's attack did have an effect: under her Undead Purification, someone was indeed hurt by her spell.

"Gwa! My eyes!"

Watching Aqua rolling back and forth on the floor with zero ladylike dignity, the others fell into speechless silence. Then, they uniformly turned their eyes back to the slightly bewildered and completely unscathed DIO on the stairs, remaining utterly wordless.

Damn it, wasn't that your own spell? Why are you the only one getting hurt?!

"It seems the vampires around here aren't undead creatures..." Chen Mo suppressed the urge to retort and turned instead to Jotaro beside him.

"DIO is here. Do you want to deal with him yourself since he shares your type of Stand, or should we handle it?"

"I'll do it," Jotaro stepped forward, letting out a long breath.

"After a journey of forty-five days... though thanks to you lot, the trip was a lot easier, and we relied on your help to resolve many crises and prevent the tragic future where companions died..."

"Still, I want to put the final period to this story with my own hands."

"Fine by me," Chen Mo didn't mind, taking a step back. "Then I'll leave this guy to you."

"You guys... are you looking down on me?!"

Seeing them chatting away in front of him as if he didn't even exist, completely ignoring him, even DIO—who wanted to maintain his aloof and mysterious persona—began to crack.

"You think Jotaro alone is enough to deal with me? What a ridiculous joke. Fine, I'll let you witness the true power of my Stand, The World..."

"Star Platinum: The World!"

"Nani?!"

The familiar sensation of stopped time washed over the area. In this frozen world, Kujo Jotaro vaulted up from the foot of the stairs, Star Platinum manifesting behind him and throwing a heavy punch toward the momentarily stunned DIO.

Too slow to dodge, DIO could only summon The World to block.

One second passed.

"Ora ora ora ora—!!!"

"Muda muda muda muda—!!!"

The two humanoid Stands began exchanging fierce blows. Terrifying shockwaves swept across the entire hallway, making the entire building tremble under the sheer, violent force.

Two seconds passed.

"Ora————!!!"

However, knowing the future story, having learned the Ripple breathing technique from Joseph, mastering the Dragon-Elephant般若 Technique, and consuming strange heavenly treasures, the power of Jotaro's Star Platinum at this moment was overwhelming. It sheerly crushed the power of The World, blasting it and DIO backward together, shattering the wall behind him and knocking him entirely out of the building!

And the sun had not yet set!

"WRYYYYYYy—!!!"

Three seconds passed...

Nani?! How could I, DIO... actually lose so easily?!

"NO ya————!!!"

No amount of shouting would help. Even though Jotaro had not yet fully mastered the ability and could only stop time for three seconds, leaving him two seconds of free movement for DIO... in a world where time was stopped, the sunlight still existed, unstoppable.

As a vampire, DIO had no defense against the power of sunlight. In this frozen expanse of time, he could only watch helplessly as his body flew further away while being continuously burned by the sun, disintegrating into dust.

Four seconds passed.

Half of DIO's body had been incinerated by the sunlight.

Five seconds passed.

The sunlight thoroughly destroyed DIO's brain, reducing his entire body to ashes.

DIO died right there within his own stopped time and space.

The stopped time began to flow again, and the gray-white space gradually regained its color.

A gentle breeze blew, scattering the dust of DIO in the air in all directions, leaving not a single trace behind.

"Although I could kind of guess you'd win..."

Looking at the DIO that had suddenly exploded and scattered before him, Chen Mo still couldn't help saying.

"Isn't this ending a bit too fast? I thought you'd have a three-hundred-round epic battle with DIO."

"Didn't you say it yourself?"

Jotaro stood before the wall blasted open by the impact, the sunlight spilling inward and washing over his figure. He turned his head toward Chen Mo, a hint of a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"It would be strange if we had to fight an enemy of this caliber for three hundred rounds."

"...That's true too."