Chapter 243

"However, right now——"

"Muda!"

The World's fist blasted out violently, colliding with the Nichirin Blade; the massive impact force numbed Tanjiro's arm, and the flames entwining the blade were shaken apart.

At the very instant Tanjiro's right arm went numb, The World had already flashed to his left side.

A thick arm, carrying a piercing sonic boom, struck straight for his temple; the air ahead of the fist was compressed, emitting a sharp shriek.

Tanjiro's pupils contracted sharply; at the critical moment, his nose suddenly caught something.

It was a special scent wrapped in the fist wind, and an extremely subtle fluctuation change in the air.

"This direction!"

Tanjiro felt a sense of crisis course through his whole body like an electric current; his body had already sunk downward violently under instinct's drive.

The World's fist grazed past his hair, bringing a violent air wave.

"What?!" A flash of surprise crossed Dio's eyes; he hadn't expected Tanjiro to dodge The World's attack.

Borrowing the crouching posture, Tanjiro's right foot stomped hard on the ground. The ground exploded instantly, rubble flying.

His whole person shot toward Dio like an arrow leaving the bow, the Nichirin Blade drawing a crimson arc in the air.

The speed was so fast it even left afterimages in the air!

"THE WORLD!"

Dio roared, and time stopped at this moment.

Tanjiro's figure froze in midair; the crimson blade tip was only a few centimeters from Dio's cheek.

"Truly unexpected." Dio walked a circle around the frozen Tanjiro, "Not only has your strength increased, even your combat awareness has improved this much."

"However——"

Dio halted his steps; The World's figure emerged silently behind Tanjiro.

"Before me, Dio, these are all futile struggles!"

"Muda!"

The World's fist blasted out; the sound of fist tearing flesh was clearly audible; a blood hole instantly burst open in Tanjiro's chest.

The instant time resumed flowing, the massive impact force finally erupted.

"Puh!"

Tanjiro sprayed a large mouthful of fresh blood, his whole person flying out like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Tanjiro gritted his teeth, wanting to prop himself up to stand, but his arms trembled uncontrollably.

The chest wound was too large; even with a Demon's recovery power, such an injury could not heal in a short time.

"How is it?" Dio walked over slowly, looking down at Tanjiro from above, "This is the unbridgeable gap between you and me."

Just then, a clear Shamisen note rang out from afar.

"Clang——"

Muzan's remaining flesh and blood began to wriggle, attempting to use this opportunity to escape. A dozen or so hideous blood vessels crawled frantically across the ground, winding toward the darkness.

"Trying to run again?" Dio turned his head to look at Muzan, "It seems you still haven't understood your situation."

"THE WORLD!"

The instant time stopped, Dio had already flashed in front of the flesh and blood. The World's fists blasted out like a violent rain, smashing all the wriggling flesh and blood to pieces.

"Time Flow Resumes!"

"Damn! Damn! Damn!"

Muzan's voice came from within the flesh and blood, filled with rage, "Who do you think you are? Just a fool who stole my power!"

His voice twisted with anger, "Why. Why must you oppose me?!"

"Oppose you?" Dio sneered, "You're wrong, Muzan. I'm merely clearing obstacles on the Road. This world needs only one Emperor, and that is me, Dio!"

"Bastard!"

Muzan roared, his body swelling and deforming again; over a dozen thick Bone Spikes burst forth from within his body.

The World appeared before Dio, its fists blasting out like a violent rain, smashing the incoming Bone Spikes one by one.

Just then, Dio's nose twitched. A strange bloody scent came from behind.

Before he could react, a fierce wind howled from behind; Dio whipped around. He saw Tanjiro had somehow already stood up, charging at him with Nichirin Blade in hand.

"You recovered this fast?" A flash of surprise crossed Dio's eyes. He hadn't expected Tanjiro's recovery ability to be this astonishing.

"Space Ripper Stingy Eyes!!"

Dio's eyeballs suddenly bulged; a high-pressure liquid jet shot toward Tanjiro like a sharp sword.

Tanjiro raised his blade to block horizontally; the high-pressure liquid struck the blade, emitting a crisp metallic clang.

"A sneak attack of this level" Dio's gaze turned cold, "also wants to injure me, Dio?"

"This time I'll finish you completely!" A ruthless glint flashed in Dio's eyes; the golden Stand manifested behind him,

"THE WORLD!"

The instant time stopped, Dio had already flashed to Tanjiro's side.

"Muda Muda Muda Muda!"

The World's fists blasted out like a violent storm; every punch precisely struck a vital point.

"Time Flow Resumes!"

Amidst the dense punching sounds, Tanjiro's body continuously twisted and deformed in midair.

Flesh and blood splattered, bones shattered; the whole person was beaten into a tattered mess like a rag.

"It's over."

Dio sneered as he looked at the shattered flesh and blood in midair, but his smile suddenly froze on his face.

A wave of intense pain surged from all over his body; he lowered his head and saw that his body was, unknown when, riddled with bloody holes.

"It was just now. Dio's pupils shrank violently, and the scene of Tanjiro charging at him flashed through his mind in an instant.

At that moment, a faint, barely perceptible fragrance had indeed drifted through the air.

"Heh, to actually use this kind of method." Dio wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Want to trap me, Dio, with an illusion?"

"THE WORLD!"

The moment time stopped, Dio immediately held his breath and retreated rapidly backward, quickly putting a distance of several dozen meters between them.

Dio's wrists rotated rapidly, palms facing outward.

A violent airflow instantly swept through the entire space, blowing away all lingering scents in the air.

Dio's vision became clear again, and at this moment, he saw countless bone spikes attacking him from all directions.

"The World!"

The golden Stand manifested instantly, its fists striking out like a torrential rain. Every punch precisely hit a bone spike, smashing them all to pieces.

"Muda muda muda muda!"

The shattered bone spikes exploded in midair, turning into countless fragments.

Just then, the moment time resumed flowing, a sudden change occurred.

"What?!"

Countless spheres condensed from flesh and blood suddenly manifested in the void, densely covering the entire space.

Dio's eyes narrowed; before he could even react, these flesh spheres had already exploded simultaneously.

"Puchi!"

Blood-red spikes instantly shot out from within, at an astonishing speed.

Even Dio couldn't dodge completely in time; dozens pierced through his body in an instant.

What was even more terrifying was that after these spikes stabbed into his body, they actually began to grow wildly.

The agonizing pain of flesh being torn spread through his whole body; Dio could clearly feel these things spreading wildly inside him.

Right at this critical moment, a figure suddenly shot out from the smoke and dust.

"Right now!" Tanjiro's eyes were bloodshot; his whole body surged forth like an arrow released from a bow.

His right hand gripped the special syringe Tamayo had made; the blood in his body was boiling. This was his only chance; once missed, he would never be able to stop Dio again.

Tanjiro concentrated all his body's strength; the syringe thrust straight for Dio's heart.

"Heh, naive!"

Dio suddenly let out a cold laugh. The blood vessels all over his body instantly bulged, and a bone-piercing cold air erupted from within.

"Vaporization Freezing Technique!"

Extreme cold instantly swept over his whole body; the spikes inside and outside Dio's body became brittle and fragile under the low temperature.

"Crack" sounds of shattering rose and fell in succession; all the spikes disintegrated in an instant.

"The World!"

The golden Stand appeared before Tanjiro in an instant, its thick arm carrying terrifying air pressure as it struck out.

"Won't let you succeed!" Tanjiro gritted his teeth; the blood in his body surged wildly.

He held his blade horizontally with his left hand to block, while the syringe in his right hand continued thrusting forward.

"Bang!"

The World's fist collided with the Nichirin Blade; the resulting shockwave made the surrounding rubble tremble.

But even more terrifying was the force transmitted along the blade; Tanjiro only felt severe pain in his tiger's mouth, and the bones of his left arm groaned under the unbearable burden.

Right at this critical moment, The World's other fist had already slammed into Tanjiro's right wrist.

"Bang!"

The sound of bones shattering was clearly audible; Tanjiro's wrist was directly pulverized under this terrifying force, and the syringe flew from his hand.

But Tanjiro didn't even have time to cry out in pain; Dio's right hand had already clamped around his throat.

"Since you're so eager to die," Dio lifted Tanjiro up, "then let me enjoy your blood!"

Dio's fingers pierced into Tanjiro's neck; warm fresh blood flowed down his throat.

As blood continuously drained away, Tanjiro's body gradually withered. His skin turned pale.

But just then, a strange light flashed in his eyes.

Dio was immersed in the pleasure of drinking blood when he suddenly felt a scorching breath rise from within his body.

That feeling was like magma flowing through his blood vessels; every inch of flesh and blood was burning intensely.

"This is...!"

Dio abruptly let go and retreated violently backward. But it was too late; that burning sensation had already spread throughout his whole body.

Tanjiro swayed as he stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

A victorious smile appeared on his face: "Miss Tamayo's special toxin, specifically targeted at your kind."

"When...?"

"From the start I knew it was impossible to inject blood into your body." Tanjiro panted slightly:

"But with your personality, you would definitely choose to drink my blood. So just now, I injected the toxin into my own blood vessels."

Dio's gaze suddenly turned cold: "So that's why you seemed so vulnerable? Deliberately letting me drink your blood... heh, interesting."

"However, with just this level of toxin..." Dio's blood vessels bulged all over, trying to expel the toxin from his body, "you want to deal with me, Dio?"

But this time, his proud body had no reaction at all. The toxin seemed to have fused into his flesh and blood, inseparable.

"The! World!"

Dio roared, and time stopped at this moment.

His figure vanished from the spot and appeared behind Tanjiro, the world's fist already hurtling toward the back of Tanjiro's head.

But just as the fist was about to strike, Tanjiro suddenly turned, his Nichirin Blade precisely blocking the fist's trajectory.

"Clang!"

Amidst the sound of metal striking metal, sparks flew everywhere. Tanjiro used the force to slide backward, leaving two deep grooves in the ground.

"Impossible!" Dio's pupils shrank violently. "How can you move in stopped time? No, the toxin affected the duration of the time stop!"

He finally realized something was wrong. Time that could originally be stopped for three seconds could now not even be maintained for one second.

His own Jojo body, which had already completely fused, now faintly began to reject him again.

"Next," Tanjiro took a deep breath, a flash of bloodlight crossing his eyes, "let's settle this once and for all, Dio!"

(Chapter End)