"The Arrow I gave you—you still have it."
DIO had not pursued Yimi's fleeing group. Instead, he turned his attention to the young man named Pucci.
Just moments ago, the Arrow he'd gifted Pucci had automatically pierced the boy's chest. A wound that should have been fatal—yet it posed no danger to him whatsoever.
Why had the Arrow he'd given all that time ago only now taken effect? This, perhaps, was the arrangement of fate.
He'd met this young man at a theological seminary while sheltering from the sun. Pucci had let DIO stay without the slightest suspicion. Believing in "gravity," DIO had healed the congenital defect in the boy's feet and bestowed the Arrow meant to awaken a Stand.
About a week ago—around the time he'd first discovered Yimi, adopted by Joseph, through Spirit Photography—he'd felt an inexplicable pull to visit Pucci again. Despite their vastly different personalities, this young man had an extraordinary ability to keep DIO's company without excessive deference, and DIO had genuinely enjoyed their conversations.
"My, what a fascinating ability."
As an honest seminary student, Pucci had no inclination to hold anything back. He openly described the power he'd sensed stirring within him.
The ability to extract others' memories and Stands, sealing them into DISCs that could then be inserted into other compatible hosts.
"Stands are composed of spiritual energy. And you, drawn to me by the pull of fate—what is it that awakened this particular power in you?"
DIO seized Pucci's hand and raised it to his own forehead. The newly awakened, still-unstable ability caused a DISC to pop partway out of DIO's forehead.
"Right now, all you'd need to do is move one finger, and you could take my Stand—The World. What do you say?"
"DIO?" Pucci remained perfectly still, meeting his gaze in silence.
"..."
DIO released his hand. "My apologies. I've insulted you again."
In that moment, he knew with certainty: this young man was the "trusted friend" required for his ascension to Heaven.
"As compensation, let me give you this." He placed a piece of his own toe bone into Pucci's hand.
"Did I get her? According to the abilities DIO-sama described, that Kakyoin might detect my position. But just now, if I'd aimed for him instead, he could've easily dodged."
"I should move to the six o'clock position to scout for their location. Unlike them, I closed my eyes beforehand to adapt to the dark. I can see them hiding in the shadows."
Inside Cream's void, Vanilla Ice reasoned through his next move. His Stand's nature had honed his spatial awareness to the point where he could navigate by memory and calculated distance alone, even without sight or touch.
Slap—
"What? That's impossible!"
Before he could even emerge from Cream, a small hand—unmistakably not an adult's—seized his face from behind.
In this space that annihilated all matter from the real world, the only things that could exist were Cream itself and its user.
"Hah!"
A force no human being could possibly generate slammed into his shoulder. That single blow cost him half his chances of survival, sending him tumbling through the weightless void.
But loyalty to DIO kept him from reactivating Cream to escape. He twisted his body around to look—and there she was. A little girl wreathed in holy white radiance, closing the distance. Every second, the void's erasing effect ate away at the foreign matter that didn't belong here.
How could she possibly be in here?
No wonder DIO-sama had designated her as the primary target.
"DIO-sama, you ordered me to capture this brat alive. But one thing I can say for certain: anyone capable of emanating this kind of light is an absolute mortal threat to you!"
This space had never once admitted real-world matter besides himself. So if he died here—would the person trapped inside be imprisoned forever, or simply released? He didn't know.
"Bring it on, brat!"
Cream materialized behind Vanilla Ice—the one weapon he'd brought into this space. He launched it at Yimi.
His most powerful attack was useless. He would unquestionably die here. But in the process of dying, he would issue Cream one final, absolute order: never open the gate. Under no circumstances would he let this creature reach DIO-sama.
Yimi, thinking about none of that, raised a small fist and drove it into Vanilla Ice's torso. His blocking arm buckled inward, snapping ribs that drove bone fragments into his organs.
Then came the second punch. By the third, Vanilla Ice—who had never been converted into a Vampire by DIO—was dead.
「Congratulations, Host! Achievement unlocked: [Three Punches to Kill Zhen Guanxi]. Reward: 5% portal energy.」
The withered Stand behind Yimi watched in stillness.
It seemed to look down at its own fist.
「Congratulations, Host! Achievement unlocked: [Go Play by Yourself]. Reward: 5% portal energy.」
"Meow?"
...
"Polnareff! What happened?!" Kakyoin called out. The sudden loss of the main light source had left his eyes unable to adjust to the darkness. He could see nothing—only the dread in Polnareff's voice told him something was horribly wrong.
"Damn you! Come out here!!"
An anguished roar echoed through the street. Silver Chariot, its blade shattered, hurled the rapier's hilt in the direction of the incident with all its remaining strength.
Why was it always like this? Again—again it ended this way. He'd sworn an oath just moments ago.
And in the end, he'd failed to save anyone. It was because of that child that he himself had been spared. What good was this sword? Was vengeance truly all it was capable of?
"Why wasn't I the one who died?!"
"What... Polnareff, what are you saying..." Kakyoin, still reeling, staggered half a step back.
"Kakyoin!" Polnareff's voice was raw. "Where is that bastard right now? Tell me!"
Tears were useless now. He had to kill that man—cut him to pieces.
Even without a blade, he still had a weapon.
Polnareff unclipped the Arrow from his waist and tossed it to Silver Chariot.
Perhaps from the sheer force of his rage, the arrowhead snapped clean off at the base. Instead of arming his Stand, it pierced Silver Chariot's palm.
"Polnareff..." Kakyoin, still not recovered from what had just happened, sank into a crouch and clutched his head.
He wasn't the only one affected. Nocturnal birds dropped from the sky. Crawling creatures retreated into their burrows. Even the residents of this block—startled awake just moments ago by that furious howl—collapsed back into unconsciousness.
In the darkness, the insect-engraved Arrow seemed to develop a will of its own. It flowed from Silver Chariot's rapier hilt into the Stand's body, fusing with it. And Silver Chariot's form transformed utterly: jet-black from head to toe, crowned with a broad-brimmed Robin Hood hat.