Chapter 239. Why is it the Other Way Around?
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As a villain.
As the savior of evil, DIO certainly embodies the ultimate quality of a true antagonist—
It's not just the nauseating evil radiating from him.
But rather, as a villain, DIO is incredibly smart!
And he never gets flustered or enraged over a momentary setback.
Instead, he's highly observant and reflective, analyzing his failures to correct his weaknesses.
Just like in "Phantom Blood", when DIO first lost to Jonathan.
He realized his temper was a flaw and decided to conceal his emotions, pretending to be Jonathan's best friend for seven years.
And upon learning about Hamon's effects, he immediately developed the Vapor Freeze Technique to counter it.
When DIO was jolted out of his fantasy that [The World] was invincible by a punch from [Star Platinum],
His innate wisdom and calm naturally reasserted themselves!
"You kept your eyes on me in the frozen world, didn't you? It's like you could clearly see my every move, Jotaro."
Time suddenly stopped.
When it resumed, DIO had already moved several meters behind Jotaro, observing how Jotaro still kept his gaze on him, unwavering despite the time stop.
He sneered, "It seems Kakyoin did quite the job. Thanks to Kakyoin unraveling the mystery of [The World], you realized you could move in stopped time and managed to enter my world…"
Time stopped again.
DIO's voice echoed from a different direction, saying, "So now I wonder, how long can you move in the frozen world?"
"Two seconds, three? Or maybe five like me, and you're just pretending otherwise?"
No one understands time stop better than DIO.
And no one understands Jotaro's current state more than DIO.
Even for him, it took substantial practice to extend his initial time stop from a fleeting moment to the current five seconds.
With that experience, DIO couldn't believe that Jotaro, having just learned time stop, could wield it with such mastery.
Actually, the fact that Jotaro tricked him into thinking [Star Platinum] couldn't stop time was proof of Jotaro's inexperience, wasn't it?
"According to my reasoning, you should only be able to move once."
"But since you've grasped the knack of moving in stopped time, it wouldn't be wise to underestimate you or approach you carelessly anymore."
After all, once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years.
Though DIO was very confident in his deduction,
He couldn't be sure he'd be as lucky as before if Jotaro managed to land another punch.
"So, Jotaro, I've come up with an execution method that will definitely kill you, no matter how long you can move in stopped time!"
With a smile, DIO revealed the rows of knives he had swiped from a store earlier.
That's right! From now, [The World] would now take on the role of a long-range stand!
Or rather, this strategy was inspired by Kakyoin and his [Hierophant Green].
For close-range stands like theirs, the wide-area attacks of long-range stands are always the hardest to counter.
Otherwise, DIO wouldn't have used time stop to deal with [Hierophant Green]'s barrier.
That moment exposed [The World]'s true ability, allowing Kakyoin to pass on this intel, which ultimately led Jotaro to learn time stop.
In other words, if he couldn't handle the barrier without time stop,
Then [Star Platinum], a similar stand, would face the same issue!
So, by stopping time and he threw all of them surrounding Jotaro with a rain of knives. Unless Jotaro also used time stop to move in the frozen world, he'd be pierced to death!
And with that, Jotaro's hidden ace would be exposed!
DIO: In other words, the advantage is mine!
....
"...Uh, Jotaro, are you sure you went to find Dio to ask him how to beat him, and not to tell him how he could beat you?"
Watching the scene unfold, Polnareff couldn't hold back and asked this soul-piercing question.
Although earlier, Polnareff and the others were pretty worried about Jotaro.
But neither Polnareff and his friends nor Jotaro, they are not the kind of people who would hide words.
…At least, not from each other.
So upon learning that Jotaro wasn't as defeated as they had thought,
But instead was trying to figure out the best way to defeat DIO with minimal sacrifice,
Polnareff's worry turned into curiosity about whether Jotaro had actually figured out a method and what that method was.
After all, with full-dive filming, there was no fixed script.
The outcome depended on both the crew's direction and the actors' efforts.
Whether they steered it toward success or ruin…
Otherwise, why would Jolyne fantasize about using a chaotic group of actors to ruin the entire production?
As a result, they always felt that in "Stardust Crusaders", Jotaro, although gained the power to stop time which allowed him to fight DIO on equal terms, why did his situation not only didn't get better, but instead became worse and worse?
Did Jotaro really not give away how to defeat him?!
Otherwise, why was DIO throwing knives from a distance, but worried that it would not kill Jotaro, so he chose test Jotaro by attacking Polnareff, and listening for Jotaro's heartbeat to confirm he was dead or not…
As if he wouldn't be satisfied until scattering Jotaro's ashes?
"Yare yare..."
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