A Saiyan's Journey

Under Zuke's perception, the "Ki" of the entire island of San Giorgio Maggiore was laid bare. The "Ki" of the small animals on the island was all sensed by Zuke.

Zuke ignored the "Ki" that was clearly from small animals, as it was too weak, and instead focused on sensing the aura inside the island's only church.

Soon, he detected a rather unique "Ki" at the top of the church's bell tower.

That "Ki" wasn't particularly strong compared to an ordinary person. After all, while a Stand user's "Stand" possesses power far beyond that of a normal person, the Stand user themselves remains within the bounds of human capability.

Diavolo was no exception. His physical abilities might be slightly better than an average person's, but not by much—at best, he was just a relatively strong ordinary person.

Thus, in Zuke's perception, Diavolo's "Ki" was nothing special. It wasn't as low as "trash with a combat power of 5," but it was still in the single digits.

"However, it seems Diavolo has already noticed me."

The moment Zuke sensed Diavolo's "Ki," he knew Diavolo must have already become aware of his presence.

After all, Diavolo was currently on the top floor of the church's bell tower. From that height, he could clearly see any boats approaching the island.

On the church's day off, no one else would come to the island, so Zuke's small boat was the only vessel to arrive. Diavolo couldn't have missed it.

However, Diavolo didn't dare act rashly. He couldn't tell whether Zuke was here specifically for him or if he was just an ordinary tourist unaware that the church was closed.

Of course, what Diavolo thought didn't matter. What mattered was...

From the moment Zuke detected Diavolo's "Ki," Diavolo's life was already completely in Zuke's hands.

...

"What's going on? Isn't today the church's day off? Why is there a tourist on the island?"

At the top of the church's bell tower, Diavolo hid in the shadows, peering out through the window at the edge of the island below.

Zuke's boat was clearly visible, and Diavolo recognized the model—it was a speedboat designed for tourists, popular for its ease of operation.

Diavolo guessed that Zuke was just an ordinary tourist and began thinking of ways to send him away.

After all, he was still waiting for Bucciarati's team to deliver his daughter so he could kill her himself. If there were other people on the island, complications could arise.

But just as Diavolo was observing the situation outside, he suddenly shuddered, overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of fear.

Driven by this fear, he instantly summoned his Stand:

"King Crimson!!!"

In the next moment, a menacing humanoid Stand appeared behind him. Its striped body and slightly distorted features reflected Diavolo's madness.

On King Crimson's forehead was a protruding small face—a byproduct of its ability, "Epitaph."

The effect of "Epitaph" was simple and brutal: it could predict the future. Although it could only predict a few dozen seconds ahead, that was enough to give him an edge in battle.

After summoning King Crimson, Diavolo immediately activated "Epitaph," seeing the next few dozen seconds of the future.

Zuke's figure appeared behind him through instant teleportation, then reached out and effortlessly grabbed his neck, rendering him powerless.

The brief vision filled Diavolo with terror—he saw himself trying to attack Zuke with King Crimson's fists, but failing to even scratch him.

No, it wasn't just that he couldn't scratch him. He saw King Crimson's punches land on Zuke's body without even causing him to budge.

"What kind of monster is this!?"

Diavolo exclaimed in disbelief after seeing this through "Epitaph's" future-predicting ability.

But before he could react further, the future he had seen came to pass—Zuke instantly appeared beside him.

Once Zuke had locked onto Diavolo's "Ki," he could teleport directly to Diavolo's side. Even if Diavolo tried to escape, it would be useless.

Unless Diavolo could find a way to conceal his "Ki," he would never be able to escape Zuke's grasp.

And in the world of JOJO, it was unlikely anyone even knew what "Ki" was, let alone how to hide it.

"The future predicted by 'Epitaph' cannot be changed... unless time is erased!"

After seeing the future through "Epitaph," Diavolo knew he stood no chance against Zuke in a direct confrontation. His only thought was to escape as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, Diavolo immediately attempted to activate King Crimson's ability—Time Erasure!

King Crimson could erase a dozen or so seconds of time. During this "erased time," everyone except Diavolo would act on instinct, while Diavolo could freely make decisions and move.

"Predicting the future" and "erasing time"—these two abilities were the core of King Crimson's power. Used together, they allowed Diavolo to always stay one step ahead of his enemies.

It was through these abilities that Diavolo had made the right decisions at every critical juncture, allowing him to reach his current position.

"King Crimson!"

With a roar from Diavolo, King Crimson erased time—and sure enough, the surroundings changed, and Zuke's movements were caught in the "erased time."

"Good. Now this guy can only act on instinct. As long as I avoid his movements, I can escape..."

Diavolo thought this, but just as he was about to move, he realized something was wrong.

Zuke's actions were indeed caught in the "erased time," forcing him to act on instinct—and his action was to reach out for Diavolo's neck.

Diavolo already knew the trajectory of Zuke's hand. In theory, he only needed to move slightly to escape Zuke's grasp.

But what he hadn't accounted for was Zuke's speed... it was too fast!

In the "erased time," Zuke's hand moved far beyond Diavolo's dynamic vision and reaction speed. Even though Diavolo could see the trajectory, he couldn't avoid it!

"How is this possible... this speed!?"

Diavolo's face turned pale, and as the "time erasure" ended, Zuke's hand clamped down on his neck, slamming him hard to the ground.

"...Oh? Did you just erase time?"

Zuke seemed to sense some subtle change in the environment and quickly realized what Diavolo had just done.

Although he had acted, it felt as though he had lost the memory of the time when he had "caught Diavolo." By the time he regained awareness, Diavolo was already pinned beneath him.

"It seems that even if you can predict the future and react to my movements during erased time... if you can't keep up, you can't keep up."

Diavolo, his neck tightly gripped by Zuke's hand, was on the verge of suffocation. He could only stare wide-eyed at Zuke, squeezing out a few unwilling words:

"Just what... kind of monster are you?"

To be continued…

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