Could a Stand's ability really be this powerful?
Both the audience and the Stand users outside the light curtain stared in disbelief at the change in Joseph's Stand.
In truth... most Stand users, when their Stand first awakens or during the awakening process, experience changes similar to Joseph's Hermit Purple.
Take Jotaro Kujo's Star Platinum, for example. When it first awakened, it had an incredibly long range, capable of grabbing things from a distance, and even possessed a degree of self-awareness.
Hermit Purple was currently in that stage. Thanks to the powerful spiritual energy of Joseph's youth, Hermit Purple's attributes and abilities far surpassed those of his elderly self.
The most obvious improvement was its stats. The elderly Joseph, due to his weakened stamina and energy, as well as his advanced age, had a Hermit Purple with a Developmental Potential of rank 'E'.
But the young Joseph, with his limitless potential, was different. With a Developmental Potential of rank 'A', his Hermit Purple was in no way inferior to Jotaro Kujo's Star Platinum.
Although its other attributes hadn't changed much, it was common knowledge that, aside from Developmental Potential, a Stand's stats could almost be disregarded.
---o---
[Light Curtain Commentary]
[Conan Edogawa: "Growth A? Like in a game, so Stands have stat panels?"]
[Utaha Kasumigaoka: "I didn't pay attention before, but now that I think about it, the light curtain has mentioned many times that Star Platinum's precision is very high and its range is very short."]
[Yukino Yukinoshita: "Not only that, unlike Hermit Purple, as a power-type Stand, Star Platinum's theoretical stats should be very strong."]
[King of Heroes (Gilgamesh): "Hmph, what's so surprising about that? Servants have stats too, but aren't they just filled in randomly? Only a fool would treat such a thing as the deciding factor in a battle."]
[Artoria Pendragon: "That's right. Stats are certainly not the deciding factor in a victory. Even the powerful King of Heroes can sometimes be defeated due to carelessness..."]
---o---
[On Screen]
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew past as Joseph's figure swung through the streets.
That's right, swung!
With Hermit Purple wrapped around his hands and infused with Hamon, Joseph was able to soar through the bustling nightscape like Spider-Man.
Spirit photography and Hamon amplification. These two abilities alone had increased Joseph's combat power by more than tenfold.
Stars twinkled in the sky above. A charming smile played on Joseph's lips, his eyes brimming with absolute confidence in his own strength.
He had to admit, he was getting a big head. It was as if fate itself was smiling upon him. Natural-born Hamon, Hermit Purple, and this handsome face he was born with—he was just like the protagonist of a Jump manga.
If there was anything in this world that Joseph feared, it could only be a scolding from his Grandma Erina.
This attitude couldn't help but worry the audience, especially those who cared for Joseph, like Lisa Lisa.
[Lisa Lisa: "This is not good. He obtained this power too easily, and it's making him get carried away!"]
[Robert E. O. Speedwagon: "Pride comes before a fall! If this continues, that boy Joseph will suffer a great loss. The enemies aren't just demons, but also the Pillar Men, and the vampire that even Sir Jonathan couldn't kill, DIO!"]
[Erina Pendleton: "It won't come to that. Let's believe in Joseph. He is my and Jonathan's grandson. He would never be so easily arrogant."]
In the dark of night, the Hamon crackled like an electric arc. The golden energy burst through a paper window with a 'whoosh'.
Hermit Purple dissipated from his hands as Joseph landed in a crouch on the windowsill. Like a god of war descending, he stared at the woman 'eating' inside the room.
"Hey, beautiful and charming lady! I seem to have interrupted your meal. But for the sake of Yoshiwara and world peace, could you please do me a favor and die for a bit!"
Joseph, who liked to end fights as quickly as possible, slammed his fist on the window frame. In the next instant, Hamon energy was injected into it.
It traveled along the window, into the ground, up to the ceiling, converging on the woman in the center from all directions.
The golden Hamon shimmered like arcs of electricity, emitting a light as brilliant as the sun.
The enclosed room lit up as if it were filled with incandescent bulbs. Before Daki could even react, she was struck hard by the attack.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!!!" A painful scream instantly echoed throughout the entire building.
This was the power of the sun! And what was the sun? It was the natural enemy of demons. Once exposed to it, let alone Daki, even Muzan Kibutsuji, or even DIO and Kars, would have to surrender乖乖束手就擒 (obediently and await capture).
Fast. It was too fast. Joseph's attack was too fast.
Without a shred of hesitation, as if it were all calculated beforehand, the moment Joseph confirmed her identity as a demon and witnessed her feeding, he launched his attack.
The series of actions left the audience breathless.
Although Daki was a demon, she was also a stunningly beautiful woman, and she hadn't even had a chance to act. Was it really appropriate for Joseph to strike so swiftly?
If it were his grandfather Jonathan, he would have certainly, in a gentlemanly fashion, waited until both sides were ready before slaying her with Hamon.
But Joseph was different. A one-on-one duel? A beautiful woman? A fair fight? What a joke.
This was a man-eating demon. It was because of things like her that Grandma Erina had lost her husband and suffered so much alone.
Although Joseph never said it, he held an unforgivable hatred for such creatures.
This was his style. A gentleman on the battlefield wasn't a gentleman, he was a fool. Defeating the enemy with the least amount of effort and loss—that was the Joseph Joestar way.
"Hmph, what a shame. You've killed so many people, there's no turning back for you. If there is a next life, try not to continue doing evil..." Joseph sighed under the moonlight, quietly watching Daki melt under the power of Hamon.
Demons, vampires, and Pillar Men—when they came into contact with Hamon, their bodies would melt like snowmen, just as they would under the sun during the day.
"..." For a long time, Daki's screams persisted.
The confidence in Joseph's eyes faded as he realized that Daki, who should have been dead by now, had not completely melted away.
Half of her head was already gone, and her body was covered in a magma-like substance produced by the Hamon melting her flesh, but... why was she still able to scream?
This was clearly not right. Could it be that the demons of this world didn't die even when exposed to the sun? Were they truly immortal?
Swish—
A crimson sickle aimed for Joseph's neck, slicing through the air.
The sickle spun rapidly. By the time Joseph noticed it, it was too late to dodge.
"Hermit Purple, come out!!" Before the words even left his mouth, Hermit Purple's thorns wrapped around Joseph's neck.
The next moment, golden arcs of electricity—clearly Hamon—flashed across the thorns.
CLANG—
Infused with Hamon, Hermit Purple produced the sound of clashing metal as it collided with the sickle. Seeing its attack was ineffective, the sickle, as if with a mind of its own, suddenly reversed its course.
Holding the sickle was a gaunt young male demon with many black spots on his face and body, and short, black-and-green hair. He crawled out of Daki's body.
His movements were extremely cautious, as if he were deliberately avoiding the parts of Daki's body that had been seared by Hamon.
"B-Brother... it hurts! My body feels like it's being burned by the sun! It's being torn apart! I want to die, it's so painful!"
Perhaps sensing Gyutaro's presence, Daki seemed to have found her pillar of support. She stopped screaming and, enduring the intense pain that felt like being burned by the sun, poured out her suffering to the man before her.
Gyutaro knelt on the ground, a helpless look in his eyes. He wanted to help his sister heal, but his demonic instincts made him afraid to touch her injuries.
"No, no, my dear sister. No one has been able to separate us for all these years. I, Gyutaro, will absolutely not let you die, and I will not let you suffer."
He then stood up and faced Joseph, his eyes filled with savagery. A glimmer, like a teardrop, shone in his deep pupils.
"Yes, it's all because of this guy that you're like this! Don't worry, brother... I will definitely avenge you, my dear sister! I'll use his blood to heal your wounds!"
With these words, a crimson demonic aura erupted from Gyutaro. He tightly gripped two short sickles and charged straight at Joseph.
"Tch, a twin demon? This is the first time I've ever seen such a peculiar demon," Joseph said, looking quite surprised by this display of sibling devotion.
From Daki's condition, she was just a hair's breadth away from death. It was only because her twin, Gyutaro, was still alive that she was clinging on.
Even so, the Hamon continued to burn Daki's body, preventing her from regenerating her injuries. The Hamon had been completely infused into her system; even the regenerative abilities of an Upper Rank were useless against it.
Facing the enemy's charge, Joseph leaped back into the air. The next moment, the spot where he had been standing erupted with golden arcs of Hamon.
Seeing this, Gyutaro immediately halted. He didn't know what that stuff was, but it was because of it that his sister was now in this half-dead state. If he got hit too, then they would both be finished.
However, a huge force suddenly pulled at his wrist. The pull caused his halted momentum to carry him forward, and he slammed hard into the window frame due to inertia.
If Gyutaro had reached the "supreme state," or if his spiritual power was strong enough to see Stands, he would have noticed that a purple thorn had wrapped itself around his wrist at some point.
"Aaargh!!!" A sharp pain shot through his chest. Just like his sister, the part of Gyutaro's chest that had hit the window frame now seemed to be melting, dripping liquid to the ground.
But unlike Daki, Gyutaro quickly endured the burning pain, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Joseph, who was suspended in mid-air.
"Am I being hated like a mortal enemy?" Hermit Purple clung tightly to the eaves as Joseph noticed Gyutaro's expression and gave a bitter smile.
Now there was no way he could leave them alive. But they were man-eating demons to begin with. Even if he wasn't hated, Joseph would have sent them on their way.
"Hey, Gyutaro, right? Your next line is: 'Brat, I will absolutely kill you, no matter what it takes!'"
Suddenly, Joseph pointed at Gyutaro with his other hand and delivered his catchphrase.
"Brat, I will absolutely kill you, no matter what it takes! And... wh-!!!"
Gyutaro, in the middle of his threat, was stunned. The moment Joseph said it, he repeated the line like a parrot.
How? What is this guy?
He was scared. Gyutaro, the demon, was starting to feel fear. Since becoming an Upper Rank, he had never felt such terror toward a human.
"Hey! Don't just stand there, Gyutaro. If I were you, I'd pay attention to what's above your head."
As Gyutaro froze, Joseph's next line rang out.
He instinctively looked up. A golden ripple of Hamon was shimmering above him. His pupils constricted, and the next moment... like a bolt of lightning, the Hamon slammed down on his face!
The combination was executed flawlessly. The one-two punch left Gyutaro completely unable to react and had the audience outside the screen cheering with excitement.
Joseph simply swung back to the window and looked at the fallen Gyutaro with a sigh.
This demon was so naively stupid, it made even Joseph, who always used dirty tricks, feel a pang of moral guilt.
"Ugh, cough cough—"
Struggling to get up from the ground, Gyutaro had never felt so fragile.
That golden stuff, the moment it touched him, it would melt and burn like the sun.
Weren't demons supposed to be stronger than humans? Weren't their bodies supposed to be powerful? Before Hamon, the bodies that demons were so proud of were like paper mâché.
"You... that height, and that mysterious power to stay in the air... could you be the one that even the Demon King in Asakusa fears... Jotaro Kujo!"
The badly injured Gyutaro said slowly. One combo was all it took to completely rob him of his ability to fight. He might just be the fastest Upper Rank to fall...
"Jotaro Kujo?" Joseph repeated the name, then shook his head. "Who's that? The name sounds lame."
"Remember my name, Joseph Joestar..."
---o---
Author's Note:
PS: The fighting pace in this chapter is very fast because I couldn't think of how Upper Rank Six could possibly fight Joseph. Jotaro might have had a bit of trouble, but Joseph has Hamon, which is a hard counter to them.