As early as the water battle with Biwa Juzo and Kurosuki Raiga, Linto had already gotten rid of the Ripple User's biggest limitation – air.
Plus, the subsequent absorption of natural energy and Orochimaru's genetic knowledge.
Linto had mastered the "Qi" within his body.
Breathing or not, it didn't affect his ability to use Ripple.
Besides, the heart? The throat?
These weren't considered fatal wounds to Linto either.
When a fist landed, even if it was blocked by ice and the Ripple power couldn't spread, it still shattered Dio's skull and splattered his brains.
Dio's thoughts suddenly became chaotic, the memories, illusions, and reality in his brain overlapping.
With a strong instinct for survival, he successfully activated time stop.
But Linto could still move.
Linto maintained the posture of choking Dio's throat, clenched his right fist again, and looked at Dio with calm and slightly eager eyes.
Dio, who had eaten small bread his whole life, was very clear about the meaning of that look.
"You… you want to eat me?!"
A mere human actually dared to show "appetite" towards him… wait, is the guy in front of him really human?
The recovery power of being immortal.
The power of transformation that changes in many ways.
Even…
The ability to throw punches even during paused time.
Rather than calling him "human," the guy in front of him seemed more like a "monster" that was even purer than him!
Linto's second punch came.
Dio, relying on his last instinct, raised his arms to block, and with two cracking sounds, his arms broke. A fist penetrated flesh and bone, unabated, and slammed heavily on Dio's shattered head.
"Bugah!!!"
Dio's body fell uncontrollably, rotating one hundred and eighty degrees in the air, and was smashed into the ground by Linto's punch.
Boom—
The asphalt surface collapsed, and fine cracks appeared, spreading outward like a spider web.
It stopped.
Linto stopped moving.
Dio had only one eyeball left, half his head was gone, wrapped in ice, which was the only reason he didn't die immediately.
But he was only a hair's breadth away from death.
When time stop ends, he will die.
"Wor…ld…"
Dio murmured and called out.
The golden world appeared, cracks appearing on the armor all over its body.
Dio's weakness was also reflected on it.
It grabbed Dio and carried him on its shoulders.
Time stop countdown 3 seconds.
The World used its last strength to throw Dio like a javelin, arcing through the air and landing in the crowd.
These people were surrounding Joseph's body, looking terrified.
Countdown 2 seconds.
Dio crawled to Joseph's side and stabbed old Joseph's throat with his right hand.
Countdown 1 second.
Dio slowly got up.
The injured body healed, the shattered head grew back, and a steady stream of power surged from his body.
"As expected, Joestar's blood tastes the most delicious."
Countdown 0 seconds.
The onlookers saw Dio suddenly appear and screamed in fright. The next second, Dio's hands swept across, and everyone turned into corpses.
The people's blood flowed, covering Dio's boots.
He lowered his head and looked at the blood, then looked up at Linto, who was rushing over, and a smile suddenly appeared on his cold face.
"I know how to defeat you, the immortal 'monster'."
Dio jumped into the sky and leaped quickly between buildings. Linto followed closely behind.
Both were extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they reached the center of Cairo.
It was only eight or nine o'clock in the evening, and Cairo was a tourist city with a long history. There were a lot of tourists and locals in the downtown area.
Dio laughed wildly as he jumped into the crowd and shouted at Linto, who was rushing over:
"To defeat a monster, you need the efforts of a 'hero', and naturally you need the contribution of every 'commoner'."
As he spoke, his right eye turned scarlet, and he used "Space Ripper Stingy Eyes" again, sweeping around, and hundreds of people were cut in half at the waist, banging on the ground.
For a time, blood flowed like a river, and wails of grief were everywhere.
Dio took off his shoes, threw them aside, and stood barefoot in the pool of blood, absorbing the power of life.
"This way… it's fair."
Linto landed gently, stepping into the pool of blood.
"Huh?"
Dio noticed that Linto hadn't attacked, or even looked at him.
Linto quietly looked at the limbs and broken bodies all over the ground.
They were still alive, suffering the pain of being cut in half alive. There were young people, old people, and children in the crowd. Linto also saw many tourists with yellow skin and black eyes, speaking his familiar homeland language.
Linto closed his eyes and took a deep breath:
"I'm treating this as a trial."
"If I win, I'll naturally be happy. If I lose, and die, I'll also admit that I'm not as good, that you're more skilled. At worst, I'll come back next time."
Anyway, for Linto, death was just wasting a level-up star core, and he could retreat safely.
Because it was a trial, a contest, Linto always treated it with a normal attitude when fighting Dio. No matter how sinister or cunning the other party's moves were, Linto could deal with them calmly.
This was part of the trial.
Linto looked at the bloody scene.
He told himself that these were all NPCs, fictional characters.
But…
"Dio Brando."
Linto stretched out his right hand, blood flowed back, and under the Ripple's manipulation, it flowed into his hand, condensing into a blood-colored destruction blade. He stared coldly at Dio:
"Next, it's not a trial."
The sudden use of his full name, and the power contained in Linto's gaze, made Dio's smile freeze for half a second, followed immediately by rage—
What are you being arrogant about!
I am the strongest Stand user, The World is the strongest Stand!
The two rushed toward each other again, blood splashing everywhere. The sound waves generated by the collision of Star Platinum and The World's fists shattered glass within hundreds of meters.
"Stop the time!"
Dio lifted a car with one hand and threw it at Linto.
Linto cut it in half with one slash. Star Platinum rushed out from the broken vehicle and smashed The World away with a punch.
After one slash and one punch, Linto and Star Platinum froze.
But The World dared not approach Linto casually, fearing another sneak attack, so it grabbed a truck and smashed it heavily on Linto's chest.
"Six seconds, seven seconds…"
Dio laughed wildly: "The power is still surging! Let me see, what is my limit!"
Nine seconds, time stop ended.
Dio thought that Linto would be knocked away, but he only took half a step back, stomped the ground hard with his right foot, and endured all the impact, just to increase the battle frequency and kill Dio again.
The two clashed in Cairo, and buildings and vehicles, falling into their hands, became the most terrifying weapons.
Dio panted heavily.
Fast!
Too fast!
He didn't dare casually approach Linto. The previous two punches almost killed Dio.
But nine seconds was too short to kill the immortal monster in front of him.
Even…
At some point, Dio discovered that he was activating time stop, not to attack, but to gain a moment's respite, to allow his shattered body to recover.
Linto indeed didn't have Jotaro's ability to gradually awaken during battle, allowing Star Platinum to break through the limits and gain the talent of 2 seconds, 3 seconds of time stop.
His body was strong, and his spirit was tough.
But no two leaves in the world are exactly the same. Linto's strength and Jotaro's strength ultimately had some differences.
Linto could still only move for "a moment."
But he had his own way.
That was to squeeze Dio's usage of time stop.
When time stop could only be used to rest and recover, even if the body wasn't fully repaired, what was the difference between stopping time for one second and stopping time for nine seconds?
Dio, tired of fighting, glanced at the vehicles queuing for gas not far away, and next to them was a tanker truck.
After several fierce battles, and being punched in the head, his dazed brain suddenly cleared.
"That's it!"
Dio opened his arms, "Linto, the wind of victory is blowing from my back! In the end, who will be defeated will be revealed soon!"
"Za Warudo!"
The World turned gray.
One second passed.
Two seconds passed.
Three seconds passed.
"Give me…"
Dio, carrying the tanker truck, appeared. Under emotional excitement, his eyes were red, and he had long forgotten about sucking blood to steal power.
He just wanted to kill Linto!
In this world, one immortal monster like him was enough!
"Die!!"
The tanker truck slammed heavily on Linto, and with the huge impact, it crashed into the gas station next to it.
"Muda muda muda muda muda muda!"
Dio was like a madman.
Four seconds passed.
Five seconds passed.
Six seconds passed.
"Wryyyyy!!!!"
The madness on Dio's face suddenly disappeared. He jumped up, walked calmly and elegantly to a man parking to refuel, and took a lighter from the man's pocket.
Seven seconds passed.
Click.
A flame appeared.
Dio threw the lighter at the smashed tanker truck.
Eight seconds passed.
Dio raised his chin and whispered proudly, "Disperse with the flames, you monster who has been eliminated by history."
Nine seconds passed.
He took a step, about to leave.
Dio froze in place.
"Did I let you leave? Your nine seconds are over, my moment… has not been used yet!"
Linto could only stop time for "a moment."
But many times.
A moment is enough.
A gas nozzle rope was thrown out, wrapping around Dio's right foot. Linto pulled back suddenly, and Dio's body flew uncontrollably towards Linto, towards the center of the explosion.
Dio wanted to break free, but he couldn't move at all. He roared madly:
"Are you crazy!"
"Since you have 'a moment', why not use it to escape!"
Linto didn't seem to hear Dio's roar, pushed aside the broken tanker truck, and let the gasoline flow down like shower gel, waving at Dio:
"Come!"
"Let's compare, which of us…"
"Is tougher!"
The moment ended, and time began to flow.
The flames of the explosion soared into the sky.
The shock wave slammed into Dio's chest. He wanted to use this impact to escape, but he felt pain in his shoulder blades. Looking down, a hand burning with flames was piercing deeply into his body.
One hand?
Then what about the other hand?
Of course, it was used to beat him!
Dio looked up suddenly.
Meeting Linto burning with flames.
The fire was reflected in his eyes, lighting up like a blazing sun.
Star Platinum appeared behind Linto.
One person, one Stand, the exact same action, punched down towards Dio.
"The World! The World! The World!!"
The golden Stand appeared.
But having just ended time stop, it couldn't activate it again immediately, so it had to raise a foot to block.
Star Platinum's fist smashed on The World's leg, breaking its defense. Linto followed closely, and the fist landed on Dio's head.
Crack—
The World and Dio shattered together and fell into the raging fire.
Dio Brando.
Unable to rise again.
"Star Platinum Trial Stage Completed."
"Unlocked: Star Platinum · The World."
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