stand-in creed

——Cream.

Among Dior's subordinates, there are only two stand-in messengers named neither after "Tarot Cards" nor after "Egyptian Gods".

At the moment when Yakong Miasma's figure completely appeared in everyone's sight, even Darby, who was an ally, couldn't help shivering, and subconsciously moved his footsteps to the side.

Little Darby was frightened.

While fearing this double that can disappear from this world space, he is even more afraid of Darby who holds this double.

"Now is Dior-sama's important nap time.

"I, Vanilla Ace, will never allow anyone to disturb Lord Dior's precious rest!"

Vanilla Ace swears so.

The ferocious "subkong miasma" directly swallowed its own body into the dark space in the mouth, and even swallowed the double's own feet and body in the mouth, leaving only the head and hands exposed in the air.

"Compared to the yellow temperance over there, your sub-air miasma is a substitute for offense and defense in the true sense, Vanilla Ace. Then the problem comes, the "range" of your sub-air miasma is not so Far, how many meters is it?

"My "Stairway to Heaven" is a stand-in for mastering gravity, the overlord of the sky.

"I won't be so stupid as to give up my advantage and fight with you on a narrow ground. Let me see how far you, Dior's goalkeeper, can go..."

Clearly speaking arrogantly declaring war, Nero and the "five cars" flew straight into the sky.

Fly higher and higher.

Fly farther and farther.

In an instant, it completely disappeared from the sight of Vanilla Ace and Darby Jr.

"...Hey, Ace! Why did that guy run away?"

Little Darby looked at the place where Nero disappeared, and said in a daze.

However, Vanilla Ace, who showed a face from the ferocious mouth of Yakong Miasma, just glared at little Darby: "Don't you have anything else to do, Darby?"

"Ah, this..."

Little Darby was a little nervous: "You also know that if my "God Atum" wants to activate its ability, it must make people feel defeated!Normally, I rely on my mind-reading skills to expose people, but I didn't expect that fellow Holle Hess..."

"There is no need to talk about extra things, Darby. If the ability of the stand-in is not useful, use boxing and kicking to fight! If it doesn't work, use knives, guns, and grenades! At worst, you can go to the side Stay away, don't get in the way."

"Ah, it's... huh?!"

Just as Darby moved a few steps to the side, he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be something extra in the sky.

That's a black spot.

Increasingly large black spots.

"……meteor?"

Darby said subconsciously.

At the time of the end of the world, the sky and the earth are contradictory and the stars are out.

The black meteor streaked across the sky, falling straight from the blue sky to Cairo City, and then to Dior's mansion.

However, when the meteor was getting closer and closer, little Darby's eyes widened when he saw clearly what the thing that fell from the sky was.

"Hey, are you kidding me?

"It's not a shooting star at all, it's 'five cars'!That Zeppelin used the ability of the heavenly ladder to send the "Zeppelin Airship" that sent the yellow temperance to heaven!And now, this kid actually smashed the airship down!

"This is a space-based kinetic energy weapon?!"

Just five years ago, on March 1983, 3, U.S. President Ronald Reagan proposed a strategic defense initiative, the Star Wars Plan.And in this plan, the U.S. military has a preliminary idea of ​​​​developing the "God's Rod".

Launched from space, it is a weapon that relies entirely on kinetic energy to cause damage to targets.

But obviously.

The "altitude of 8000 meters" that Nero transported the five cars to was far lower than the height expected by the U.S. military, and it lacked a propulsion system for kinetic energy weapons. acceleration.

"Although it can't be compared with the "God's Rod" that was not completed until the time of crossing, it is enough if the target is only a foreign-style mansion.

"Since you're on your lunch break, then—

"—it's time to get up, Dio."

pat.

Nero snapped his fingers lightly.

The gravitational force from Mother Earth returned to the five cars and the garbage with a total weight of nearly six tons, pulling them from an altitude of 8000 meters towards the city of Rome and towards Dior's mansion.

Altitude - 8000 meters.

Time - 40.39 seconds.

Speed ​​- 395.9 m/s.

Mass - 6 tons.

Kinetic energy - 4.7 million joules.

The six tons of garbage that broke through the sound barrier experienced a full 40 seconds of acceleration, converting the gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy comparable to 110 tons of TNT, approaching Dior's mansion.However, facing such a terrifying kinetic energy blow, Vanilla Ace, who was standing on the roof, did not have the slightest confusion in his eyes, and jumped forward.

"—Argon miasma."

The force field of sub-air miasma passed across the falling car diagonally.

Most of the car body disappeared.

The body disappears.

Mass disappears.

Kinetic energy is gone.

Only the left and right parts connected to the car doors remained, and they splashed around the mansion with bursts of roaring sound.

roof.

patio.

Entrance.

corridor.

room.

……

The mansion is riddled with holes.

Nero overlooking the mansion is clearly visible. The mansion is already like a sieve, and one house after another has been turned into ruins as if it has experienced the baptism of war artillery.However, even so, there is still one place intact, that is the third-floor bedroom and below that Vanilla Ace strictly guards against.

There is Dior's bedroom.

"...Noisy."

Dio muttered.

Dior in the bedroom felt the vibration of the mansion, stared at some building materials falling from the beams and walls, was stunned for a while, then lowered his head to read his book again, and let the outside of the mansion die.

And Nero, after a while, returned to the sight of several people, and slowly landed about ten centimeters above the ground.

Nero looked seriously at Vanilla Ace in front of him.

"You're more difficult than I thought, Vanilla Ace."

"As I said, it's Dio-sama's lunch break now. As long as I, Vanilla Ace, are here, no matter what happens, Dio-sama's lunch break will never be disturbed, so——

"—Come here, Nero A. Zeppelin."

Chapter 24

On the vacant lot of the mansion that was devastated.

Vanilla Ace and Nero were about five meters apart, and their four eyes looked at each other to maintain a confrontational state. Little Darby, who knew that he was powerless to intervene in such a battle, silently retreated to the edge of the ruins and turned the venue It was completely left to these two ruthless people.

"..."

Looking at Nero floating in the sky, Vanilla Ace tiptoed backwards into the wreckage of the mansion despite his murderous look.

Although the foreign mansion is completely devastated at the moment, due to Vanilla Ace's previous timely protection, about a quarter of the main structure, including Dior's bedroom, is still intact, barely looking like a house.

Although Ace is brave and fearless, he is even willing to give his life for Dio without hesitation, but this does not mean that he is stupid.

He is very clear that if he confronts the flying "Stairway to Heaven" in the open air, his "subair miasma" will definitely be at a disadvantage, and Nero must be led to a more suitable place for combat.

"Dare you follow me, Nero A. Zeppelin."

The voice of Vanilla Ace, who jumped into the room, came to Nero's ears leisurely.

Facing the scene in front of him, Nero did not hesitate at all, and walked towards the room in an open and honest manner.

But just as he was about to enter the room, the little Darby at the side suddenly spoke.

"Aren't you afraid, Zeppelin?"

"You already knew the answer when you asked this question, didn't you, Darby? On the contrary, I'm curious. Don't you plan to avenge your brother?"

"..."

Listening to Nero's answer, little Darby looked directly at Nero's soul, listening to the soul's response——

No no no!

"Is this the so-called enlightenment? It's really enviable."

Little Darby muttered like this, took a cigarette from his arms and lit it.

He took a puff of smoke lightly: "Unfortunately, although my brother and I are blood brothers, our relationship is not as good as you imagined, so revenge or something... I never even thought about it, even if I really want to be with you... You did it because of Lord Dior's order."

"You guys don't seem to be as "loyal" as others? "

"Hey, hey, don't say that? I'm Lord Dior's most loyal housekeeper!"

"You're just scared of that vampire, coward—unlike the guys I've met before, unlike Vanilla Ace who's inviting me into the house right now, you gambler didn't sacrifice your life for Dio plan."

"……so what?"

You should have something similar to your brother's "soul chip", right?Now I don't have the time to deal with you, let's liberate those souls as soon as possible and disappear.In this war where all lives are on the line, there is no stage for a cowardly egoist like you, half-assed gambler. "

leave this sentence.

Nero and the Stairway to Heaven resolutely stepped into the remaining mansion.

Only Darby was left smoking a cigarette outside, looking at the blue sky.

"Ahhh, being despised by a 15-year-old brat...uh cough cough cough!"

As he spoke, Darby coughed violently.

After coughing, Darby looked around.

"A lot of "dust", is it the reason for the collapse of the mansion?It's really troublesome, will you get lung disease if you stay here..."

……

pat.

Nero stepped into the hall.

And in the ruins of the building where the red walls collapsed, Nero saw a figure.

It was a strong Egyptian male who was crushed to death.

The waist down was completely engulfed by the heavy building ruins, his eyes were wide open, and the blood spit out from his mouth stained the ground red, looking like he had just died not long ago.The only thing that is of concern is the bloody right index finger that the man stretched out high and pointed forward when he died.

The index finger touched the floor, leaving a line of blood on it.

"After seeing this line of blood, the moment you look back, you will die..."

Nero read the line.

At the same time, the sub-air miasma hidden in the corner quietly opened a hole, and Vanilla Ace, who was hiding in the mouth, confirmed Nero's position, and suddenly charged towards the Ripple Envoy with all his strength.

However, Nero's figure floated high towards the ceiling, avoiding the death charge of the sub-air miasma just right.

puff.

As the sub-air miasma drew a slender arc-shaped dent on the floor, a circular gap was instantly opened on the wall at the other end of the hall.