Fear often stems from the unknown, but even though they already knew the enemy's Stand ability, the group still didn't dare to relax.
Time stop. Even if warned in advance about such an absurd ability, it was hard to imagine any countermeasures. This was Dio without any weaknesses, not middle-aged Jotaro; he wouldn't choose to sacrifice himself to save anyone.
Long ago, when Zenith shared the intel he knew, he had already mentioned that Jotaro's Star Platinum had the potential to use time stop.
Perhaps due to their connected bloodlines, Star Platinum shared nearly identical traits with The World. Every time The World displayed a superpower, Jotaro's Star Platinum would always learn it in turn. Whether it was stopping time or ascending to Heaven.
Having never seen this power, Jotaro couldn't use it no matter what. It seemed he had to actually experience the ability being used on him before he could awaken it.
So for now, there was no way to counter the time stop.
"Dio, whether you believe it or not, today is destined to be the day you die. But I know you won't give up without a fight, so show us what you've got!"
Dio! The fated enemy of the Joestar bloodline! Joseph's Hermit Purple whipped toward Dio, its purple vines crackling with the golden lightning of the Ripple in a massive display of power.
"Old man, your Stand is the most useless of all!"
In an imperceptible instant, time stopped. Before absorbing Joestar blood, Dio's maximum limit for stopping time was five seconds.
For a Stand and a vampire, five seconds was enough to do a lot of things. This included, but was not limited to: moving someone down a flight of stairs, pulling out a bunch of throwing knives to throw from all directions, or finding a road roller and sprinting all the way back with it on his shoulders.
Dio's true body didn't move. As a vampire, he would take massive damage if he touched Ripple energy, but his Stand had no such restriction.
Just like his outfit, The World was a domineering gold. In the frozen space-time, the fierce purple vines were gently swatted aside like wet noodles by The World's hand, followed immediately by a sharp punch straight to Joseph's abdomen.
"It didn't pierce through... The old man is surprisingly durable."
There were plenty of opportunities, or rather, for Dio, he had plenty of time. If he didn't succeed the first time, he didn't mind spending a little more time enjoying the battle.
"And now... time resumes."
Joseph instantly flew backward, coughing up a mouthful of blood. The formidable constitution granted by the Enchanted Golden Apple and the defense of his Ripple energy prevented him from taking fatal damage, but the strike still injured his internal organs.
So, the old man pulled a Potion of Healing from behind his waist and, before Dio could even react, completely topped off his health bar.
"Time stop, huh."
Zenith looked at his own hands, then at Dio. Unlike the others, his thoughts weren't frozen in the stopped time. Instead, it was like pausing a game, with a gray overlay covering his entire field of vision. He knew exactly what had happened during the time stop.
At the same time, in the moment time stopped, he had also unlocked a new power.
Three Gold Ingots, two Diamonds, one Clock, two Lapis Lazuli, and one Glass Bottle. Through the power of mods, these could be crafted into an item called the Time in a Bottle.
When the Time in a Bottle was kept in the inventory, it would automatically and slowly accumulate time. By consuming the stored time within the bottle, it could accelerate time for a target!
Placing a Crafting Table, taking materials from the Shulker Box in his inventory, crafting, and accumulating time—all of this required time, and the Dio in front of him obviously wouldn't give him that opportunity easily.
"Zenith..." Dio crossed his arms, looking down at Zenith from his vantage point. "You do not exist within known fate, yet you possess the Stone Mask and the Red Stone of Aja. Your abilities are quite good. I admire that."
He held up a single finger. "Everyone has their own secrets in their hearts. I will allow you your selfish desires, but you must submit to me and become my subordinate."
His voice carried a tone that brooked no refusal. "Hand over the Red Stone of Aja and offer your loyalty, and I may consider sparing your life."
This guy definitely knew something. Zenith narrowed his eyes slightly. "And how exactly do you know about this so-called fate? Because of the guy standing next to you?"
"Fate is history. Established history is like an irreversible timeline, and everyone is just a pitiful worm crawling along it."
Diego stood behind Dio, his expression indifferent. "I came to a parallel world through the power of the Stand D4C. I met a Dio who had already ascended to Heaven, and I witnessed the battles between the successive generations of JoJos and their enemies."
"But you do not exist in any timeline, Zenith. You are an anomaly in fate. Someone like you possesses immense power, enough to allow one to reach Heaven."
D4C was the abbreviation for the Stand Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Its ability was to send a designated object or person into another parallel dimension.
The Diego before him had clearly traveled from the original world of *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7* to the world of *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven*.
From that world, he learned many secrets, eventually making his way to the parallel world Zenith was currently in, and decided to help this world's Dio ascend to Heaven.
Zenith recalled what he knew, combining it with what Diego had said to gradually piece together the reality of the situation. Helping this world's Dio reach Heaven... but if that was the case, wouldn't Father Pucci from this original timeline be completely abandoned?
A Diego who possessed power, knew the future, and was his own parallel universe counterpart was obviously far more suited to help him reach Heaven from every angle than Father Pucci.
Father Pucci must be crying his eyes out in a bathroom somewhere.
"But all of this comes with one prerequisite: you have to be able to defeat me."
Zenith's hands began flying as he rapidly placed blocks on the ground. Of course, Dio wasn't going to give him the chance. "Za Warudo! Stop time! Zenith, you stole my Stand's name, but you lack the power to freely manipulate time. I'll be taking your soul!"
Obviously, the whole "hand over the Red Stone of Aja and I'll spare your life" thing was a complete lie. Once he reached Heaven, Dio would have ten thousand ways to overcome his weakness to sunlight.
"Ora!!"
It was Jotaro! Having known about the time-stopping Stand ability well in advance, and having eaten an Enchanted Golden Apple himself, Jotaro had mastered the ability to stop time after experiencing it just once.
And the amount of time he could stop right now was a full five seconds, perfectly matching Dio's current limit!
"Not Scary Monsters, but two Dios capable of stopping time, huh."
In a world where someone else had stopped time, Jotaro could only move for two seconds. But it was these seconds, accumulating one by one, that gave Zenith the tiny window of opportunity he needed to find and craft the Time in a Bottle.
Want more chapters? 50+ extra chapters are available on my Patreon :
<< patreon.com/Aragai_Sama >>