“Vampire blood! Ageless, undying! Stand power! I didn’t think vampire blood would hit this hard! I’m so freaking high right now!”

Pity pricked first, like a thorn under the nail. Lian watched DIO froth with the same frenzy he’d had after drinking Joestar’s blood, a beast under red moonlight. She felt bad for him again, and a little guilty for thinking this DIO hadn’t been brain‑debuffed. Different man, same net of fate. No escape.

After raising that death flag, DIO called the Stand from behind him, like a shadow peeling off stone.

“The World! Stairway Guardian! Vampire’s Treasure… Ah! I didn’t just get that guy’s Stand—I got my own back. Invincible time, invincible space…”

His body shook, a string humming under too much pull. “Hahahahahaha! I’ve gotta admit, I’m stronger now!”

Lian stared like she was watching a madman beat air, calm as a winter pond. She still couldn’t see his Stand, so to her he was just talking to ghosts. At last she couldn’t hold it in and cut him off.

“Hey! O… Dio! Are we fighting or not?!”

As if only now noticing her, DIO stopped and looked over, a hawk pausing mid‑glide.

“Fight? No, no, no. You’ve got it wrong. Fighting only counts when both sides are equal. Pigs eat grass, men eat pigs, vampires eat men, and I eat vampires. A predator that feeds on predators—that’s the lord of all things. You want to fight the lord of all things? Don’t make me laugh.”

Annoyance flared hot, like a red cross pulsing over her brow. Her palms itched to thrash this edgelord until the wind rang.

“Arrogant idiot. See? You shouldn’t have drunk blood—the brain debuff is obvious.”

She drew the Darkness Sword from her back. Mana poured in with a river’s steady pulse; the dark blade shone like wet ink under a sliver of moon.

“Righteous Plunge!” A trick learned from a certain Sun Knight. Lian leaped high, blade raised like a dawn pillar, then cleaved down. The instant before she hit, DIO vanished. Steel bit stone with a ringing cry. A chill rippled through her. She ripped the blade free and scanned the world, nerves tight as bowstrings.

In that instant she felt time wrinkle, a hairline crack in the glass of the air. DIO had used The World. And the time stop had touched her. That meant The World wasn’t just a Stand on him anymore. He’d been bolstered by the World Consciousness.

Her playful mask cooled, like a lantern snuffed in wind. Against someone on the world’s side, she had to take this seriously.

“Ara, ara—only now you’re afraid?”

DIO’s voice dropped from above like frost. Lian bolted forward on instinct. A heartbeat later, a massive road roller slammed down where she’d stood, shedding oppressive magic like heat haze. If she hadn’t moved, she’d have been flattened. Stands were such a pain.

“Aer, got anything?”

When in doubt, ask Aer. That law was carved in her bones. Aer didn’t let her down. Two spells blossomed, soft blue as dawn.

“Energy sense. You still can’t see the Stand, but you’ll track its path. And this—faster parsing. Push it. Crack that Stand’s ability.”

Buffed, Lian’s confidence rose like a tide. Two blue phantoms shimmered before her eyes—that had to be DIO’s Stands.

DIO didn’t interrupt. He waited like a gentleman at a tea pavilion, then finally spoke when they finished.

“Well? Ready? Then here I come.” He didn’t move. But the blue phantom behind him did, a ripple behind a waterfall.

“The World! Time, stop!”

Bzzz! A hum stung her ears, a hornet trapped in a shell. For a heartbeat, color washed out. Black and white bled over the world like an ink wash. Time stop. Lian froze an instant later. Even with Aer’s magic, she couldn’t parse a miracle in a blink.

Inside the stillness, DIO looked at frozen Lian. His eyes held little killing frost—only a drift of pity.

“Good grief… You remind me of my daughter. But you’re my enemy. So that’s that.”

A dozen throwing knives winked into his hands, cold silver like fish under ice.

“Knife Barrier—two‑meter radius!”

Shff! The blades flew and locked into a half‑dome around Lian, centered on her like a trap of winter reeds. Every point aimed at her heart. Silver edges flashed. If time moved, they’d skewer that small body the next breath.

With four seconds left in the stop, DIO took out a silver pocket watch, cool as moonlight. His daughter had given it to him; she’d gotten one herself and insisted they match. But stopped time doesn’t let watches tick. He wasn’t looking at the hour. He was looking at the sticker on the case—a photo of a short‑haired, silver‑haired girl.

He slipped the watch back, and with it he put away the longing in his eyes. He looked at Lian again.

“Nine seconds… And then—time resumes.”