DIO Brando was dead.
The being that had plagued the Joestar family for over a hundred years… was finally, genuinely, undeniably dead.
Jonathan gazed at the unmistakably real corpse lying before him, and a quiet, dazed thought drifted through his mind as his eyes fell slowly shut.
"Take his body out into the sunlight afterward," he said, lifting his head with an expression of grave seriousness. "Let the sun reduce him to ash. That's the only way to guarantee he won't come back."
Joseph gave a nod at that, then reached up to scratch the side of his head — and ventured, carefully:
"Yeah, sure, of course — appreciate it. But, uh… kid, who exactly are you? What are you doing here? And that Stand of yours…"
His eyes drifted to The World standing behind Jonathan. For a moment, the words died in his throat.
And then he caught it — the subtle but unmistakable shift in Jonathan's expression. Something had gone dark behind those eyes.
DIO is dead. Which means next up… is the Joestar family business.
Jonathan cleared his throat quietly. He held Joseph's gaze for a long moment — then, out of nowhere, let a single calm sentence drop:
"Don't I look familiar to you?"
Familiar?
Joseph blinked, thrown off. He stared at Jonathan for a long beat — and then something clicked.
"I am Jonathan Joestar."
Jotaro Kujo's expression shifted slightly at the name — the Joestar surname catching his ear in a way he couldn't quite place. But it was Joseph whose eyes went wide as saucers, the memory finally slamming into place.
Holy — my grandfather?!
In an instant, Joseph's face cycled through an absolutely spectacular range of emotions. The next moment, he pulled himself together and set his jaw with exaggerated seriousness.
"Now listen here, kid — you can't just go around saying things like that. Look at me. I'm old enough to be your—"
"I know a great many things about you," Jonathan said, pausing for just a beat before continuing. "Including the time you dressed as a woman in your youth. And the time you peeked through a keyhole at your own—"
"OH MY GOD!"
Joseph's yelp cut Jonathan off with the force of a physical impact. On pure instinct, every fiber of his being screamed one thing with absolute clarity: Jonathan must not be allowed to finish that sentence. Not under any circumstances.
Okay. It really did seem like this was his grandfather, Jonathan. But the question was—
"You're… actually still alive?"
"More precisely — I was just resurrected," Jonathan said, letting out a quiet sigh. "I owe it entirely to a friend of mine."
As he spoke, his gaze drifted — toward the direction where Anthony's soul still lingered.
Perhaps because of the chat group bond between them, Jonathan could still see Anthony's soul clearly.
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: @Lord of the White Holy Throne — quit messing around and wrap this up already.]
[Let Night City Burn: Huh? It's already done?]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Yeah. I had the whole thing on screen-record, and I confirmed a few of my theories along the way. All in all — Jonathan's situation is wrapped up perfectly, and he's back among the living.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: You can talk about what I did however you like. Just don't mention the chat group.]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: Got it.]
After that, Jonathan gave everyone a broad-strokes explanation of his resurrection — the how and the why of it, and the vague shape of the help Anthony had provided.
Given that Avdol had, technically speaking, gone through his own resurrection at some point, the group's threshold for accepting this kind of thing was, on the whole, reasonably high.
The only one with any real objections was Joseph — the man who had almost had his most embarrassing secrets aired in public. Though in the end, even his objections amounted to nothing.
And so, shortly afterward, DIO's body was hauled out into the sunlight and left there until the job was done. With that, the matter was finally, definitively closed.
From that day forward, DIO Brando was gone from the world entirely.
It wasn't long, however, before Jonathan received a reminder from Anthony.
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: @Founder of the Golden Spirit — DIO's dead, but don't let your guard down just yet.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: There are still plenty of scattered Arrows out there that Jotaro and the others will need to track down. DIO may be gone, but his influence isn't.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Bottom line — there's still a lot left to do. Don't fully relax yet.]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: Understood. I'm aware.]
Reading Jonathan's reply, Anthony let out a quiet breath of relief — and then, without ceremony, pressed the button to return to his world.
There's still plenty of work left in the JoJo world. Everyone knows that DIO dying is basically just the start of the JoJo series — if anything, things only pile up from here.
One thing after another, and each one bigger than the last.
With that thought turning quietly in his mind, Anthony felt the familiar sensation of being clubbed over the back of the head. His vision went dark. When awareness returned, his consciousness had slipped back into the Soul Foundation — and he blinked, slightly dizzy, at the shimmering, kaleidoscopic surface of the Primordial River.
Then the mission completion notification box popped up in front of him.
[Support Mission · The Resurrection of Lazarus — Completed!]
[Participants: Founder of the Golden Spirit, Lord of the White Holy Throne]
[Reward Received: 10,000 Points, plus one random ability.]
[Please visit the chat group to claim your random ability.]
Staring at the 10,000 Points that had just materialized in his account, Anthony felt the very genuine urge to burst into tears.
Oh thank god. We're finally solvent again.
Sure, if past experience was anything to go by, he'd be completely broke again within a few days — but that was a problem for future Anthony. Today's Anthony was going to enjoy today's windfall.
He opened the chat group with a cheerful tap, fully intending to go claim that ability — when a fresh string of notifications blinked into view.
[Main Storyline — Third Arc Support Mission: Complete.]
[As the Main Storyline has been completed through its Third Arc, the next arc will be released in 24 hours.]
[As the Main Storyline has been completed through its Third Arc, new members eligible to join the chat group have been detected.]
[Welcome, "Warrior of Sinseoki-Frieren" to the group chat!]
[Welcome, "The Demon King's Strictest Father" to the group chat!]
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Eighth update of the day — and we're done! Phew… votes and follows are very much appreciated!
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