You call this a projection?

Is there such a person in this world? A person who, despite having no idea they are being ambushed, can—at the exact moment the attack arrives—gracefully dodge a lethal bullet like a certain ”Knowledge King” dancing to YMCA. ...When that example comes to mind, the question above effectively answers itself.

As a man explicitly designed with three lucky moles, DIO—though unable to see the Hamon beam shooting toward his back at extreme speed—could feel the searing heat, akin to the sun itself. His vampiric constitution reacted instinctively. In one subconscious movement, DIO shifted; the beam only managed to blast away his left ear.

As for the subsequent Hamon energy that began invading his body, the moment DIO realized he was under attack, he shouted without hesitation: ”——[The World]!!”

He forced time to halt under his will. But during this Time Stop, DIO didn’t have the luxury of wondering why his various diversions had been seen through so quickly by Shirou Emiya.

Nor did he try to trace the attack’s origin to find Shirou or attempt to hide again. Instead, his feet never stopped moving. While using his palm to slice away the flesh infected by Hamon, he sprinted toward the location he had determined through Spirit Photography.

”Almost there, just a little further! As long as I reach that place... as long as I reach that place...!!”

——[Anubis]. That was the object DIO needed to find and retrieve. A sword that possessed its own Stand.

The reason DIO was willing to ignore even Shirou Emiya just to get his hands on this sword (which technically belonged to him anyway) was simple: it was the ability of the Stand [Anubis]. As long as it fights an opponent once and isn’t completely destroyed, its six-tier stats will increase to a level that surpasses that opponent.

In the original story, after [Anubis] fought the Speed-A Stands [Silver Chariot] and [Star Platinum], its original stat sheet was effectively shredded; it grew to surpass even the invincible parameters of [Star Platinum].

In other words, if DIO obtained [Anubis], he could combine his vampiric immortality with the sword’s infinite growth. He would no longer need to fear Shirou’s high-speed movement. He would become even faster than Shirou. The previous situation, where he was toyed with by Shirou, would never happen again.

DIO clearly understood the priority of the situation. Thus, when time resumed its flow and Shirou regained his ability to act, he looked for DIO only to find that the vampire had already leaped dozens of meters away.

—”He dodged even that?”

—”DIO really is like a cockroach. However, whether it’s Time Stop or DIO’s innate high Luck, I’ve already taken those factors into account.”

Seeing that his charged strike had failed to achieve any effect, Shirou Emiya didn’t lose heart. In fact, if he simply wanted to fire Hamon beams using a projected gemstone, it wouldn’t have been this complicated. At the very least, he wouldn’t have needed to divert a portion of his Hamon to boost his own speed.

If DIO had turned around during his Time Stop, he would have undoubtedly seen that Shirou—who previously needed the armor of [Pseudo-Silver Chariot] to move at high speeds—was no longer wearing it. His only means of protection was the Hamon-infused fire of [Pseudo-Magician’s Red].

Had DIO chosen to attack Shirou during the Time Stop, that single layer of Hamon flame might not have been enough to stop a DIO capable of the Vaporization Freezing Technique.

Unfortunately, just like in the original story where DIO lost his nerve for close combat after being pummeled by [Star Platinum], he simply didn’t have the courage. He would rather waste seven seconds finding a steamroller than use his four-second advantage over Jotaro to gamble on whether Jotaro could kill him before the Time Stop ended, or if his vampiric immortality could outlast the clock for a one-hit kill.

Similarly, having been ”pummeled” by Shirou’s ”Time Acceleration,” DIO didn’t have the guts to spare Shirou a single glance before obtaining [Anubis].

Back to the previous question: Why did Shirou discard the [Pseudo-Silver Chariot] armor? Why didn’t he use the Stand’s speed to hit-and-run as he had in his previous attacks?

The answer was simple...

”The so-called ’Resolve’ is not the determination to sacrifice oneself, but the ability to carve out a path of light that one should follow in the pitch-black wilderness.

That’s a quote your son will say in the future. I think it hits the mark quite well.”

Instead of aiming directly at DIO’s position, Shirou controlled the rapier of [Pseudo-Silver Chariot] to tilt upward slightly. Calculating the timing perfectly, he violently launched the rapier’s blade.

”I discarded the armor of [Pseudo-Silver Chariot] not to prove I have the resolve to trade my life for yours. I discarded it because only by shedding this armor can I secure the victory that follows!”

The blade soared. He had made all these preparations before even firing the initial Hamon beam. Even shedding the armor was for this single purpose. As if responding to Shirou’s resolve, the Hamon beam—thick with intense solar energy—collided precisely with the flying rapier blade as planned.

Then: fire, reflect, reflect... reflect!

That’s right! Shirou had pre-infused every piece of the [Pseudo-Silver Chariot] armor with Hamon and ejected them into the surroundings to act as mirrors. The Hamon beam that had missed its initial mark struck one piece of armor and was instantly reflected by the Hamon within to another piece.

With the final arrival of the rapier blade, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. All the armor fragments linked together, forming a laser-reflection cage saturated with Hamon!

”So, DIO, as his father, do you possess such resolve?

The one with resolve is always happy. DIO, you’ve already used Time Stop once just now—you can’t stop time again yet!”

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