"Whoosh!"
Seeing that Dio's head was completely flattened, Yang Yun immediately had Star Platinum toss it upward.
Instantly, Ripple gathered in the Stand's arms, and an uppercut was unleashed to bring Part 1 of the story to a close right here and now.
Yet the moment Dio was tossed into the air, he suddenly shuddered—though he should have been entirely unconscious.
In a flash, two blasts of freezing cold erupted from his palms.
Dragging himself along the air by this momentum, Dio landed on a boulder a hundred meters away and managed to scramble to his feet.
"Damn you! I, Dio, actually driven to this extent by the likes of you!"
Dio's hateful voice rasped in a distorted, hoarse tone.
"Zombies, stop them for me!"
"Come forth, Bruford, Tarkus—my two mightiest knights!"
At his shout, the ground all around Yang Yun and Jonathan began to tremble and fracture like an earthquake.
One ugly zombie after another, grotesque in form and filled with a frenzy of madness and hunger, shrieked as they clawed their way up through the shattered earth.
Zeppeli and Jonathan moved to strike, but to their astonishment, the huge stone platform beneath their feet began to rise!
Then, before their shocked eyes, a massive boulder weighing hundreds of pounds slowly lifted into the air.
Beneath the stone stood a tall knight-zombie and his cohort.
With just a single finger, the creature propped up the giant boulder, fixing Zeppeli and the others with a vicious, venomous glare!
Faced with this bizarre sight, Yang Yun frowned. He truly hadn't expected Dio's vitality to be so absurdly tenacious.
Even after smashing his head straight in—even after beating it completely flat and shattering it—the bastard still wouldn't die!
That was some bullshit luck if he'd ever seen it.
"Tell me, Dio, you don't actually think a bunch of worthless trash like this can stop me, do you?"
Watching Dio prepare to slip away now that the zombies had appeared, Yang Yun taunted him aloud.
Since he hadn't managed to finish Dio off just now, he couldn't afford to let him escape now.
Otherwise, with that cockroach-like resilience, something catastrophic was bound to happen!
And having been through this, Dio would undoubtedly become far more cautious and hide in the shadows.
When that happened, Dio would become a beast lurking in the dark, ready to pounce and deal a devastating blow to him, Jonathan, and Zeppeli at any moment!
So no matter what, he had to leave Dio here today—even if he couldn't smash him to death, locking him away would do.
As for the plots of Parts 3 and 5, those were matters of destiny, none of his business.
Hearing the taunt, the battered Dio, who had been staggering away, suddenly stiffened. His flattened face contorted in a silent gnash of teeth.
Yet the fists he had clenched slowly relaxed. Acting as though he heard nothing at all, Dio turned and prepared to leave without looking back.
"Damn it!"
Seeing that Dio was actually swallowing his anger, Yang Yun couldn't hold it in anymore, spitting out a curse.
This had put him in an impossible dilemma!
If he left to chase Dio down, Tarkus would kill Zeppeli before long.
If he chose to stay and fight, Jonathan would never grow, remaining a fledgling under his protection and losing his golden spirit.
And if he stayed put without attacking, remaining constantly on guard, he wouldn't be able to capture Dio.
Yang Yun had considered using The World to rewind time—after all, the cooldown for The World only took a few breaths.
But five seconds ago, this horde of zombies had already emerged, meaning he couldn't possibly wind back to the moment before he tried to execute Dio.
Glancing back at the battle already raging behind him, Yang Yun hesitated, but ultimately chose to pursue Dio.
Before leaving, however, he handed another soon-to-ripen fruit from the Immortal Tree Emperor over to Jonathan.
He repeatedly instructed Jonathan that this fruit was meant for Zeppeli, and that it had to be eaten when he was on the brink of death from grave injuries, as it would have miraculous effects!
Jonathan had already witnessed the power of the fruit, so Yang Yun wasn't worried something would go wrong.
Even if that particular fruit wasn't fully ripe yet, it didn't matter—he believed in his Stand!
The moment the instructions were given, Yang Yun dashed off in the direction Dio had fled.
Yet, whether by the will of fate or mere coincidence:
In this brief span of time, Dio seemed to have already escaped into the castle, leaving behind multiple decoy trails.
If not for Star Platinum's meticulous observation, noticing the subtle shifts in the dust on the ground and tracking the real path, Yang Yun would have returned empty-handed this time.
The castle where Dio now hid had once been a knight-training ground in the Middle Ages before being converted into a prison.
Consequently, its interior corridors were a maze of passages, and since Dio's arrival, all manner of hidden mechanisms and traps had been reactivated.
The moment he stepped through the prison gates, the hanging iron portcullis slammed down, driving deep into the stone floor to cut off his retreat.
At the same time, a cold wind swept through the brightly lit corridor, extinguishing the firelight and plunging everything into pitch darkness!
"Dio, did I beat you so hard your brain stopped working?"
"Or is your IQ really that high? You actually think garbage like this can stop me? Aren't you being a bit naive?"
Looking at the darkened passage ahead, the pairs of glowing crimson eyes within it, and the sound of dripping drool, Yang Yun spoke casually and unbothered.
The castle was vast, but Yang Yun knew Dio could hear him.
And what he wanted was to keep infuriating the bastard so he wouldn't run off again.
With those words, Star Platinum manifested over Yang Yun's body.
With every step Yang Yun took, Star Platinum unleashed a rapid flurry of punches.
With every blow that fell, the corridor illuminated with golden light like a brilliant river of stars, accompanied by the faint crackle of lightning.
Beyond that, the loudest noises were naturally the shrieks of various zombies being melted away, alongside the mechanical clatter of sprung traps.
Yang Yun walked twenty-three steps. He had no idea how many zombies he had killed or how many mechanisms he had smashed through.
Yet when he finished walking and reached the wooden door at the far end, a flash of lightning split the sky outside, illuminating the entire passage in an instant.
The once neat and smooth stone walls of the corridor were now riddled with holes.
They were bristling with crooked arrows, iron blades, and the broken parts of various trap weapons.
There was also structural damage from kicks and strikes, and even the floor was pitted and uneven.
It looked as though a heavily armed, elite military force had just marched through rather than a single man.
Stepping through the wooden door at the end of the corridor, a ruined cell block met Yang Yun's eyes.
Only, the prison guards and inmates were long gone, leaving the place desolate and hollow.
Only the sound of human screams, echoing from higher levels, served as a reminder that this was still a prison.
Among those screams were men, women, and even infants.
With each scream that rang out, Yang Yun knew Dio was recovering.
Yet he felt neither haste nor anger.
Because those dying weren't members of the Joestar family, nor were they members of the main cast.
It might look cold-blooded, but the meaning he had given to his life was to save the Joestars and the main cast.
He wasn't here to save the world or the common people—that was a job for heroes and champions of justice.
He was no hero, nor did he possess a golden spirit.
Perhaps only Johnny's Jet Black Intent from Part 7 truly resonated with him.