"The timing is just right."
Just as Takatsuki finished his instructions to Giorno, time was erased.
"First time erasure, it seems Diavolo is abducting Trish."
When others perform time erasure, just like with his own time erasure, objects in the material world cannot affect those who can move freely within this time.
So Takatsuki directly passed through the wall during this period of time erasure and entered the church, waiting for an opportunity.
However, he had no intention of entering Diavolo and Bucciarati's battlefield, nor did he intend to get too close.
Because within the field of vision during time erasure, being too close could easily lead to being discovered.
Moreover, Diavolo's King Crimson also had Epitaph, which could foresee the future. As long as Takatsuki had an intention to interfere, he might be noticed in Epitaph. So, for the sake of his plan, and to avoid scaring Diavolo away, Takatsuki chose to hide.
All this time, Diavolo had been hiding in the dark.
And this time, it was Takatsuki hiding in the dark.
Although letting the Bucciarati Squad follow the original plot trajectory was also a good choice, letting Diavolo achieve eternal life was quite troublesome.
The Stand Arrow of this world had been taken by Takatsuki and was currently in his backpack, completely inaccessible.
Killing a few people was easy, but if Diavolo died, this mission wouldn't be completed.
So Takatsuki decided to intercept Diavolo in this church and resolve him here.
Soon after entering the first floor of the church, Takatsuki noticed that Diavolo was continuously activating time erasure.
It seemed his battle with Bucciarati had entered a critical moment.
He wondered if Bucciarati, who now knew the truth about Diavolo's ability, would still die this time?
But even if he died once, it was nothing, because the potion Takatsuki gave Bucciarati was precisely the Sacred Blessing Potion he had extracted after defeating Ghiaccio and the others earlier. Takatsuki remembered that there were still eight bottles of this item in his Gate of Babylon.
The duration of this potion was longer than in the game, no longer the original twenty minutes, but the extended time was also limited, twenty hours, less than a day.
The effect was simple: it allowed a person to revive in a weakened state some time after death.
If possible, Takatsuki still wanted to save Bucciarati and his comrades. After all, they were characters he once liked, and they brought him a lot of joy and emotion.
But that was all...
"Oh? Coming up."
A familiar zipper sound echoed in a corner of the first floor. Takatsuki took advantage of Diavolo activating time stop to chase to the first floor, passing through the ground to the basement, successfully avoiding the three.
Soon, he heard Giorno and the others' voices from above.
There were no other sounds of battle afterward, so it seemed Diavolo, just like in the original story, chose to hide due to the large number of people to conceal his identity.
But...
"You cannot escape."
In the basement of the church, Diavolo took out a phone and began composing messages to send to his personal guard.
But at that moment, his eyebrow twitched. King Crimson instantly appeared and activated his ability, simultaneously dodging to the side.
A fishhook instantly passed through his original position.
"A fishhook?"
The abilities of the assassination squad's Stands were unknown even to the boss, as this information was kept secret.
But he knew this was an attack on him, and in his Epitaph, the enemy was hidden in...
Diavolo was just about to investigate and see who dared to attack him when the fishhook suddenly changed direction and flew towards Diavolo.
"Nani!!!"
How could this be! This was clearly his world, his King Crimson, the truly invincible ability of a king. In this ability, everything in the world would operate according to its original trajectory, and only he could move unaffected.
And the ability that extended from this, Epitaph, allowed him to see the future.
He had seen this future when he was ambushed just now.
The future seen by Epitaph was absolute, and could only be broken by time erasure.
But this fishhook violated that definition, continuing to pursue him in the time-erased space with a different flight path than seen in Epitaph.
"Who exactly are you!"
Diavolo had a premonition that this fishhook could harm him, even in this time-erased world.
This world that only he, the king, could control.
Diavolo quickly moved away from the fishhook, and King Crimson swiftly shattered several surrounding stone pillars in an attempt to block the fishhook.
But he found that these materials had no effect on the fishhook whatsoever; it simply passed right through them.
Even the fishing line seemed to be coming from behind one of the stone pillars.
"There!"
Looking at the fishing line extending for over ten meters, Diavolo judged that the opponent's Stand was a long-range manipulation type, with an extreme advantage at range but poor in close combat.
And the fishhook's flight speed wasn't very fast. As long as he could get close!
Although he didn't know why the opponent could move in his world, and even harm him, if he killed him, then no one else would be able to invade his world!
"Got you!"
King Crimson followed Diavolo, stepping forward quickly, and a hand chop directly shattered the stone pillar in front of him.
But the look of fear he expected did not appear; instead, there was a somewhat mocking smile, and a silver Stand filled with a mechanical feel swung its fist at him.
"Surprise~"
Even if King Crimson had just launched an attack, even in his prime, he was no match for Heaven's Stairway.
Just like Star Platinum could beat up Stands all the way without Time Stop.
Heaven's Stairway was currently a force of sheer power.
It broke through King Crimson's defense with a single punch, sending him flying.
Unfortunately, the contact time was too short; the white ability couldn't activate. The White Snake's ability wasn't just a touch; it required several seconds of continuous contact.
"Puh-ha… How is this possible!"
Such a long range, such immense power, and even the ability to move freely within a time-erased world.
Is this truly a Stand that a human can possess!?
It completely shattered the balance of Stands!
No! I'm absolutely no match for this person! I must escape!
Diavolo, having just landed, endured his injuries and immediately activated Time Erase to escape through the wall.
But in Epitaph, he saw a scene that made his soul leap out: that Stand user actually pursued him, and just like him, ignored the walls of the material world.
Wait a minute! This appearance, isn't it Fugo from the Bucciarati Squad!
Could it be that they didn't leave!
He knew Fugo's Stand ability, after all, the Bucciarati Squad wasn't a secretive team like the Assassination Squad.
But he clearly knew that Fugo's Stand wasn't the one he had just seen.
Is there someone else!? Or, was the Bucciarati Squad's departure just a feint!?
Thinking of this, Diavolo's eyes changed.
If that's the case! You forced my hand! Bucciarati!