Chapter 208. Even a Stray Dog Has a Noble Soul
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"Lord DIO said — human resolve holds an unfathomable power, but you're nothing more than a lowly puppy!"
"Resolve? A noble soul? ... You don't deserve any of it! You filthy dog!!"
Vanil Ice screamed frantically.
At the same time, Pucci was discussing film produatters with Kujo Jotaro and the others.
In "Stardust Crusaders", Polnareff and the others' battle against Vanil Ice progressed at a rapid pace.
It happened so quickly that the audience could barely keep up!
If you used the Nine Glods' stand users as a reference point, then Vanil Ice, with his stand ability [Cream], stood out as something beyond the norm.
Once Polnareff and his group discovered [Cream]'s weakness, Vanil Ice would iably turn from a fearsome predator into a vulnerable prey.
After all, "Stardust Crusaders" had never shown a stand with both invincible powers and an invincible spirit.
Let's put aside other matters for now.
From a realistic perspective, if a stand's ability was truly invincible, there would be no reason for its user to experience failure and grow strohrough overing frustration.
Take the [Thoth] stand, for example. Why were Oingo and Boingo so useless?
It was because the [Thoth] stand was too powerful. As long as they followed the fate it dictated, they would naturally obtain whatever they wanted, blindly entrusting everything to [Thoth]'s guidance.
There was a stark divide betweerength of a stand's ability and the strength of its user's spirit.
This is exactly why, when the audience saw Polnareff discover [Cream]'s weakness, they thought victory was at hand.
Based on previous stand battles, this should have been enough to decre their win!
But [Cream] wasn't named after the Nine Glods.
Moreover, the weakness Polnareff found wasn't plete…
In an instant!
Polnareff, who had been focused on his surroundings and overlooked that [Cream] could also attack from the ground — since solid floors were just as iive at stopping [Cream]'s destru as walls — was caught off guard.
Even though Polried to dodge upon realizing the danger, he couldn't avoid [Cream] from dev half of his foot, losing his ability to move.
The situation, which had been in Polnareff's favor, quickly swung back toward Vanil Ice.
This was the first sudden reversal.
However, if they gave up just because of this…
Polnareff and the others wouldn't have made it this far!
Despite the pain and aoward Vanil Ice's resurgence, Polnareff remained calm. Using Vanil Ice's fear of [Silver Chariot], he preteo attack wildly, f Vanil Ice bato [Cream]'s dark space.
This bought them time — time during whieither side could see each other — allowing them to set up a rap!
Just like how Iggy could sculpt [The Fool]'s body out of sand and even color it.
By destroying the enviro with [Silver Chariot]'s wild attacks, Polnareff and his group could hide in the newly created craters while using Iggy's sand for cover!
More importantly, if [The Fool] could create other objects with sand, then could it not also sculpt DIO's figure? And if they trolled this DIO figure like a stand, could they use it to attack Vanil Ice?
Yes! Absolutely!
This olnareff and his group's backup pn!
The sed twist.
Though they weren't sure of Vanil Ice's loyalty to DIO, throughout their jouro Egypt, they had fought tless assassi by DIO. Whether cowardly or resolute, these stand users were all fiercely loyal to DIO, never revealing any information about him.
Some feared the sequences of betrayal, while others were willing to sacrifice their lives for DIO.
Regardless of where Vanil Ice stood, upon seeing this "DIO," he would never abandon his master areat into the dark space!
And that, was their ce!
Their ce to finally kill Vanil Ice!
However, during the execution of their pn, something ued happened…
Vanil Ice was, indeed, loyal to DIO. So loyal that, if DIO wao take his life, Vanil Ice wouldn't hesitate — he would even it suicide before DIO's eyes without question!
And here was the problem.
Vanil Ice's loyalty was too absolute.
Just like a die-hard fan colleg every possible piece of information about their beloved idol, Vanil Ice, who viewed DIO as his idol, knew all of DIO's likes and dislikes — down to every detail!
In this sunlit room, DIO, a vampire afraid of sunlight, would never dare e here!
Moreover, DIO had already entrusted him with the task of eliminating Polnareff and the others.
The shame of feeling like he had been denied by DIO, bined with the fury of having to destroy a "DIO" figure himself, sent Vanil Ito a crazed rage, shing out wildly at Iggy!
That's right!
Vanil Ice didn't use his stand.
Because [Cream] would instantly devour its victims in an instant.
But beating Iggy with his undead strength, dragging out the pain and terror of approag death, gave Vanil Ice a greater sense of revenge!
And this… this was the third twist.
Not only had the audienever expected this, but even Iggy, who had always been nont and had avoided serious frontations with DIO's stand users, never yielded this time.
Despite fag Vanil Ice's wrath, Iggy didn't beg for mercy.
He didn't even sider surrendering, and instead gave Vanil Ice a mog, defiant gnce!
Was this really the Iggy they knew?
Was this the same Iggy who had begged for his life so many times in the past and only fought back when pushed to the brink by Pet Shop?
Even Pucci, who filmed the se, couldn't believe it wheched the footage again with Jotaro and the others through the full-dive helmet.
The ce to face death calmly…
It sounded simple enough.
Especially in "JoJo's Bizarre Advehe Zeppeli family, known for their loyalty and sacrifieeds no further mention, and the Joestar family is the same!
But this time, the one who faced death without fear wasn't a Zeppeli, nor a Joestar, or even a human—it was Iggy, the one who had previously sidered surrendering!
Pucci, who simply wrote down Araki-sensei's story from memory of his past life, couldn't truly uand.
Why did Iggy end up like this?
"A stray dog also possess a noble soul..." This was Araki-sensei's ao that question.
But it wasn't the answer Pucci found.
However, when Pucci re-watched this story, not alo together with Kujo Jotaro and the others, seeing their expressions slowly ge as they watched, he seemed to uand something.
A stray dog have a noble soul?
Yes, perhaps that is true.
But more than that, it was Iggy's refusal to submit to others, his pride as a stray dog!
Just like how, when he was young, he sidered all the humans around him to be idiots, gave up the luxurious life of a rich family, and ran away to bee the king of the stray dogs.
He followed Joseph and the others here.
Not just because of the generous treatment from the Speedwagon Foundation.
It was also because, when the Foundation was capturing him, it was Avdol and Joseph who fought him and forced him to submit, making him begrudgingly follow Joseph's orders.
As for Vanil...
A guy who could be fooled by such a cheap trid couldn't ha—he was even more of an idiot than the rich people Iggy had entered in his youth!
How could such a fool make Iggy submit?!
"I told you to stop, Vanil Ice!!"
With that mog expression, and as Vanil Ice's beatings grew fiercer, Polnareff shouted out in rage, venting towards Vanil.
And with [Silver Chariot]'s speed, he pushed Vanil bato the dark space of [Cream], f Vanil's stinking foot off Iggy's body!
Even though doing so caused Polo lose yet another opportunity to ambush Vanil, he didn't care!
Besides, who said that just because Vanil hid in the dark space, Polnareff couldn't do anything about it?
Earlier, that might have been true.
But now...
"Iggy! Even though your pn to impersonate DIO with your sand failed, your sand reminded me!"
"I've figured out a way to predict his movements!"
Polnareff said to the barely alive Iggy.
It was as if he was trying to wake Iggy up, urging him not to "sleep" anymore, to open his eyes and witheir moment of reveogether!
[Cream] was indeed an invincible Stand.
Anything it entered would be swallowed by the dark spa its mouth, even light was no exception.
But precisely because of this...
Nothing could stop [Cream] from moving, which clearly revealed its position and movement trajectory!
Surrounded by the sand scattered by Iggy's [The Fool].
And in the sandstorm stirred up by [Silver Chariot]'s rapier, the silhouette of [Cream] erfectly imprinted!
"Keep dev! Keep moving while swallowing the sand, you bastard!"
"When you show that stinking mouth of yours, that'll be the perfect time for me to strike!"
This is it, the moment!
Polnareff, who had been watg the ges in the sand, suddenly saw his d, without hesitation, in that crucial moment when Vanil Ice emerged from the dark space to firm his position again—
He sent [Silver Chariht in front of Vanil Id stabbed his rapier through Vanil's brain!
—[Silver Chariot]!!
The rapier twisted.
Having successfully delivered a fatal strike into Vanil's wide-open mouth, shocked because he didn't expect to run right into [Silver Chariot], Polnareff didn't show any mercy!
Nor did he feel any passion for Vanil Ice!
He would be as ruthless as possible!
Such a wound—fet Vanil Ice being a mere zombie created by a vampire— even vampires wearing the Stone Mask wouldn't be able to trol their bodies until their brain tissue was repaired!
Unless, of course, the oppo was a fanatical madman whose brain was already damaged...
Unfortunately, Vanil Ice recisely such a fanatic...
Losing his brain didn't kill him, nor did it throw his body out of trol.
On the trary, it seemed as if some restraint had been lifted, as he grabbed [Silver Chariot] tightly, breaking both Polnareff's leg and arm in one move!
And that was only because Polnareff had pulled out the rapier and quickly retreated, distang [Silver Chariot] from the now-crazed Vanil, allowing him to barely survive.
But as a result...
Without the rapier to hinder him, Vanil instantly healed the wound on his head and mao retreat into the dark space before Polnareff could attack again.
This time, Vanil wouldn't give Polnareff any more ces.
Because during the previous attack, Polnareff's legs had been severely injured.
Now, he could no longer dodge or escape!
Even if Vanil didn't peek out again to aim.
As long as he used [Cream] to destroy the entire room.
Like a mosquito coil burning from the outside inwards, moving in circles.
Then [Cream] wouldn't miss a single spot, and it would iably swallow Polnareff into the dark space!
Fully aware of this cruel reality...
Polnareff, with the st of his strength, mao have [Silver Chariot] save Iggy, but he could no longer move his injured legs.
He accepted his fate of death calmly.
After all, he wasn't leaviy-handed—he had saved Iggy.
As long as Iggy could reuh Jotaro and the others, not only could Iggy's injuries be treated, but Jotaro and the others would also obtain crucial information about [Cream]!
This was a huge victory!
So...
Abandoniance, Polnareff smiled at Iggy, the stray dog who always bit his hair and farted in his face, and said, "Goodbye, Iggy..."
