Chapter 251. Your Only Defeat
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A nine-second time stop.
Seven seconds spent searching for a steamroller.
No matter how you look at it, it's a rather inexplicable move.
Yet this very action reignited hope among the viewers, who had nearly succumbed to the oppressive despair brought on by DIO's overwhelming presence.
After all, when you really think about it... isn't this just who DIO is?
A savior to villains when he is cornered.
A destroyer of all when everything is going his way.
From the earliest "Phantom Blood" to the current "Stardust Crusaders", this aspect of DIO's character has never changed.
Gaining vampire powers, only to become arrogant and almost get burned to death by Jonathan.
Developing his freezing ability to counter Hamon, only to recklessly let Jonathan nearly defeat him.
Finally piercing Jonathan's throat with the Space Ripper Stingy Eyes to prevent him from breathing and using Hamon, only to end up dragged into mutual destruction.
...
Perhaps the suffocating dread brought by DIO in "Stardust Crusaders" made viewers momentarily forget his reckless overconfidence.
Enya, N'Doul, Vanilla Ice... all of them gave their lives for DIO.
Even Kakyoin and Polnareff were initially frozen by fear of DIO and easily controlled by him.
But now...
With the nine-second time stop, DIO has reminded everyone of his reckless tendencies through his actions!
However, is this really another case of DIO getting overconfident when everything's in his favor?
...
The viewers, expecting the narrative to shift into Jotaro's comeback and DIO's downfall, were stunned as they watched DIO still standing atop the steamroller, arrogantly declaring his supremacy.
"An immortal, ageless body... hehehe! Hahaha! And the power of a Stand!"
With arms spread wide as if to embrace the entire world, as if he, DIO has gained the ownership of the world:
"This proves that no one can surpass me, DIO!"
"Insignificant humans! I am coming to rule you!"
"Bow down before my wisdom and power!"
This seemingly irrational scene... was all part of DIO's plan!
For DIO, armed with a nine-second time stop and his vampire regeneration, killing Jotaro, who can only move for two seconds, is a simple matter.
He only needs to endure Jotaro's two seconds of attacks and ensure those attacks don't cause him wounds that even his regeneration can't recover from in seven seconds.
No tactics required—just brute force.
But wouldn't that imply [The World] is inferior to [Star Platinum]?
Although, technically, that's true.
Whether in speed, strength, or precision, [The World] lags far behind [Star Platinum].
The only advantage [The World] has is its longer time stop duration due to training and its greater range of 10 meters compared to [Star Platinum]'s 2 meters.
Given these facts, could [The World] even withstand [Star Platinum]'s onslaught in those two seconds?
DIO wasn't certain.
And DIO isn't the type to gamble his life unnecessarily.
So, utilizing his nine-second time stop, DIO spent seven of those seconds finding a steamroller.
This seemingly absurd move was designed to waste Jotaro's limited two-second time stop, avoiding direct confrontation with [Star Platinum].
After all, unlike his vampire physique, Jotaro's human body can't withstand the crushing force of a descending steamroller.
Meanwhile, [Star Platinum] simply cannot destroy the steamroller and reach DIO within two seconds to deliver a critical blow.
Trading seven seconds for two? DIO is coming out on top!
But it doesn't end there.
"—Ten seconds passed!"
As Joseph's blood continued to merge with Jonathan's body, the century-old injuries steadily healed, allowing DIO to surpass his nine-second time stop.
"Hehehe, I can now stop time for more than ten seconds!"
Eleven seconds... and counting!
As his injuries heal further, DIO dreams of one day halting time forever.
"Excellent!"
Jonathan Joestar's body is truly the finest!
Feeling his newfound strength, DIO smugly declared: "By the way, let's check Jotaro's body and suck his blood. If he still has blood, I can drink it! Hahaha!!"
…
"How could this happen... this is impossible!"
Sora stared in disbelief at the scene unfolding before him.
Although he somewhat grasped DIO's intentions after seeing the steamroller descend from the above...
When he realized DIO spent a full seven seconds summoning the steamroller, he thought DIO's excessive caution wouldn't just be ineffective—it would backfire!
After all, seven plus two equals nine—the exact duration that [The World] could stop time.
Once time stop ends, [The World]'s six-dimensional stat panel is completely outclassed by [Star Platinum] and would only hasten DIO's demise!
But now, the limit for [The World]'s time stop wasn't nine seconds—it could grow further and had evolved to ten seconds!?
This kind of protagonist-exclusive power boost... why was it happening to DIO, the ultimate final boss villain!?
Sora couldn't understand.
Utterly shocked, he prepared to show Pucci what true JOJO fandom fury looked like! Just as Sora and Shiro were about to hack Pucci's full-dive helmet and expose his browsing history to the public...
...
"Hahaha... huh?"
"What... what's happening...?"
DIO, who had been outrageously arrogant moments ago, suddenly began speaking with a trembling voice.
"My movements... they're so slow... No, wait! It's not that they're slowing down!"
His expression turned more and more terrified, as if a northerner encountering a flying southern cockroach for the first time. He screamed as though his consciousness was about to disintegrate.
"I... I can't move! This... this is impossible! My... my body... it's completely frozen!"
At that moment...
A voice that the audience thought would never return rang out, accompanied by a figure they would never forget.
"DIO! Eleven seconds... have passed!"
This was...!
It was Jotaro!!!
The audience had thought that DIO, after extending [The World]'s time stop to ten seconds and killing Jotaro with the steamroller, had truly defeated him.
But now, Jotaro had "resurrected"!
How had he done it?
How had Jotaro escaped!?
Even as they watched the scene, nearly all the viewers couldn't resist mentally cursing out Pucci, the "Stardust Crusaders" production team, and possibly the entire staff of Green Dolphin Studio and their families!
If murder weren't illegal...
And if most fans of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" weren't drawn to the show's celebration of humanity's light and incapable of such evil deeds...
They might have done more than just vent their frustration online. Perhaps taking action, as Sora and Shiro intended, would have been their norm.
This, in a way, confirmed the seemingly irrefutable fact that Jotaro was doomed.
Every additional second of time stop fundamentally changed the game. There was a vast gulf between having time stop and not having it.
Jotaro surviving against DIO this long was only because his own time stop deterred DIO from recklessly attacking him, fearing a counterstrike.
Once Jotaro's time stop ran out, however, he'd be as defenseless as Kakyoin and the others, doomed to be killed by [The World]'s time stop.
So, how had Jotaro done it?
Could it be that, just like how DIO's [The World] had evolved from five seconds to nine, and then ten, Jotaro's [Star Platinum] had also suddenly evolved beyond its original two-second time stop!?
The viewers, who had been filled with dread and even despair moments ago, now regained their curiosity.
Expressions of "I'm intrigued.JPG" returned to their faces.
It was like watching "Detective Conan": even though the murder scenes were scary—especially those childhood-trauma-inducing cases—once Conan solved the case and revealed the culprit, fear turned into excitement.
Similarly, the audience of "Stardust Crusaders" transformed their previous fear, worry, and anger into pure anticipation as they watched Jotaro.
...
"It seems... this is the limit of your movements."
Unbeknownst to them, Jotaro, now carrying the audience's expectations, didn't stall.
He explained the logic behind this "disappearing act" of his.
It was simple.
"I stopped time... in the ninth second, and so I escaped."
See? Very simple.
Nine plus two equals eleven.
And eleven is greater than nine—and ten.
This is basic elementary school math.
If Jotaro indeed stopped time at the ninth second, it wasn't remarkable that he could use the remaining two seconds to escape and immobilize DIO in turn.
In fact, it was inevitable.
But the question was, how had Jotaro survived to reach the ninth second?
The first seven seconds could be explained—DIO spent that time summoning the steamroller.
But at the eighth second, when the steamroller fell from the sky...
And at the ninth second, when DIO, realizing Jotaro was resisting, attacked the steamroller with [The World] to pin it down and crush Jotaro completely... Wait, ninth second!?
Counting with his fingers from the seventh to the ninth, Sora confirmed his reasoning with growing horror as he watched the screen.
Yes, it made sense for Jotaro to only start resisting during the ninth second.
Why had they all assumed Jotaro began his time stop during the seventh or eighth second?
"Hehe, to think even we were tricked by Pucci, Shiro..."
"By placing Jotaro's counterattack at the forefront, even without saying anything explicit, our subconscious as viewers automatically imagined Jotaro's counter happening before DIO's actions, leading us to misinterpret the timing as the seventh second..."
Indeed, it was a simple trick of perception.
Jotaro's [Star Platinum] hadn't suddenly evolved.
Nor had it mechanically extended its time stop to ten seconds, like DIO's [The World].
It was all a matter of directing and editing.
The producers made the audience believe Jotaro was "dead" to enhance the drama of his "resurrection."
Paired with the naturalistic performances of the actors, even Sora had been fooled by Pucci!
"That's it! Sister, next time we play a game with Pucci, let's crush him completely and reclaim our dignity!"
Sora grinned as he watched the scene, speaking words that sounded extremely dangerous.
"Yeah, just like this with DIO."
Shiro nodded, adding, "There's only one reason you failed, Pucci. A very simple one... because you made us angry!"
—DIO and [The World], utterly defeated... and dead!
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