Chapter Thirteen: The Spoils of War

As the Stand "The World" drew ever closer to the Stardust Crusaders, even DIO couldn’t hide a flicker of satisfaction. Having a hostage meant there was still a chance to escape, and as a villain, DIO had no intention of fighting to the death without retreat.

“We’ve won!”

Naturally, Jotaro was chosen by DIO as his target. Not only did Jotaro carry the bloodline of the Joestar family, but more importantly, he was still young. If DIO had not witnessed Polnareff's strength firsthand, he might have even considered sparing a few Joestar heirs to keep the future interesting. But on second thought, that would only cause trouble when he reemerged, facing yet more descendants of Jotaro.

The plan was to capture Jotaro as a hostage and find a way to escape, then feed on his blood to become stronger.

“This is troublesome…”

Yet, what DIO didn’t expect was that just as "The World" was about to seize Jotaro, who theoretically should have been frozen in time, Jotaro suddenly lifted his hat and looked up.

Having suffered setbacks before Polnareff, DIO’s soul trembled in terror!

No matter how hard he tried, he never imagined that besides that incomprehensible monster, even Jotaro could move in a world stopped in time.

The next moment, Jotaro’s Stand, "Star Platinum," violently swung a fist that punched straight through "The World’s" chest.

Completely caught off guard, DIO was blasted away by the Stand's impact.

After experiencing firsthand that his Stand could also wield the time-stopping ability, Jotaro’s "Star Platinum" had surprisingly mastered it as well.

Although Jotaro and "Star Platinum" could only act for a brief instant during time stop, this unexpected blow decisively wounded DIO.

“DIO… huh? What just happened?”

The five seconds of stopped time quickly passed, and the Stardust Crusaders only felt a momentary blur. That utterly wicked DIO lay on the ground, his chest pierced, glaring fiercely at Jotaro.

“Time stop—it’s nothing you can just do casually.”

Normally taciturn, Jotaro didn’t hesitate to taunt this villain, rattling his mindset.

“You bastard! Impossible! That can’t be! Gah…”

Unable to counter Polnareff’s strength with his prized time stop ability was bad enough, but to be undone by Jotaro’s breakthrough pushed DIO toward madness.

Before his wounds could heal, he tried to unleash his Stand again.

“ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA…”

However, before DIO could activate his Stand’s power, Jotaro preemptively stopped time.

Within that frozen moment, "Star Platinum" surged at DIO with breathtaking speed, grabbing his shoulder and positioning him for the most effective assault.

What followed was a relentless barrage of furious "ORA" punches. Though the Stardust Crusaders had sustained no injuries and the battle felt almost like a casual outing, only Jotaro truly understood the gravity of the situation.

If it weren’t for joining the Dimensional Chat Group and receiving Polnareff’s help, even defeating DIO would have cost several comrades dearly.

“Truly terrifying…”

Polnareff coldly remarked in the realm of stopped time.

Had it not been for his assistance, even with Jotaro’s time-stopping ability, DIO wouldn’t have been so completely overwhelmed.

Jotaro’s time stop still couldn’t match DIO’s full five seconds, and soon time began to flow again.

“No…”

Before DIO could utter a sound, he was pummeled fiercely into the ground.

“Boom boom boom boom boom…”

Jotaro’s relentless punches showed no mercy. The moment time resumed, dozens—perhaps hundreds—of blows hammered DIO into an unrecognizable mess.

His body sank into the earth like a lump of flesh, and even with the vampire’s unnatural regenerative powers, he was immobilized for the time being.

Only his flattened face faintly revealed a mix of reluctance and terror.

“Let’s end this here. What should I call this move… Got it! ‘Sunlight Shower!’”

Polnareff snapped his fingers lightly!

Endless, dazzling light poured forth from him, so brilliant that even the pitch-black night sky was completely illuminated.

Night turned to day, as if the sun had risen over Cairo at that very moment, purifying all darkness and filth from the world.

DIO didn’t even get a chance to cry out before he was transformed into a wisp of smoke and vanished from this world beneath the radiant light.

“…”

The Stardust Crusaders were left utterly speechless. Polnareff, staring directly at the scene, even shed tears of ‘emotion.’

“The Sun God…”

Albud whispered softly.

As a native of Egypt, Polnareff’s astonishing display had led this somewhat mystical fortune-teller to believe he was none other than Ra, the Sun God of Egyptian mythology.

Why would the Sun God appear in person? It was simple: DIO’s underlings had been so brazen as to impersonate the Nine Pillar Gods, so the real deity had come to confront them.

“So strong… What was that? What’s going on… Light… Sun…”

Polnareff was so overwhelmed he babbled incoherently, unaware that besides him, Kakyoin and Joseph had all silently agreed to act as if nothing had happened. Even Iggy gave him a disdainful look.

Their great master—no, great deity—had intentionally concealed his identity and prepared a false name. It was just that Polnareff liked to talk too much.

Looking back, DIO’s death was hardly undeserved. The Sun God Ra is the supreme deity of Egyptian mythology; having such a divine figure intervene personally made even death worthwhile.

“Thank you for your help, Mr. Polnareff.”

Jotaro wasn’t inclined to mistake Polnareff for a god, but even knowing his true identity, he couldn’t help but be impressed by his power.

“No need to thank me. It’s not charity. As agreed, the spoils are mine.”

Polnareff pulled out several test tubes and shook them.

Inside were the flesh and blood remains of DIO’s Stand, pierced by Star Platinum’s fist and tainting DIO’s body.

Though DIO himself had been utterly destroyed by Polnareff’s ‘Sunlight Shower,’ the preserved tissue wouldn’t disappear with him.

“Of course, and there’s also this…”

Jotaro nodded and helped Polnareff thoroughly search DIO’s mansion. They eventually found the most important prize intact on the top floor of the tower.

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