Chapter 200. A Pitch Black Will
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The bone-chilling cold gathered in Pet Shop's mouth.
The azure light of the ice reflected the power of this strike.
But of course, the most important thing was…
"Oh no! My [The Fool] is still behind!"
Even though it wouldn't do much, following the principle of buying as much time as possible, Iggy still maintained his Stand on the cage.
This allowed the ice blocks created by Pet Shop not to crush the cage too quickly.
However, this cautiousness...
Or rather, Iggy, who still held a faint hope that [The Fool] could withstand [Horus] underwater, and wanted to confuse Pet Shop with the external [The Fool], was deluding himself.
In doing so, he had actually pushed himself into the abyss of despair.
"There's no time to defend, and no way… to escape..."
This trap that Pet Shop had deliberately dug for him...
While it covered all of Iggy's escape routes, due to the ice blocks made by [Horus] crushing the cage and squeezing away the available space...
This opening, to be frank, was incredibly small.
There was absolutely no room for him to dodge.
Which means… death!?
…
"This is just too ridiculous, isn't it?"
"Or is it that among the Nine Glory God, only the Stand users with elemental powers understand what real combat is, while the others with rule-based Stands automatically win once their abilities are activated and don't even know what it means to fight to the death?"
Looking at the constantly reversing situation before him—
To be precise, it was Iggy constantly trying to escape and counterattack, while Pet Shop continued to chase and attack relentlessly!
Even though he was injured, he acted as if nothing had happened and attacked Iggy even more fiercely.
Sora couldn't help but complain.
Pet Shop reminded Sora of one person—N'Doul, the user of [Geb].
Why did he think of him?
Simple. Among the Nine Glories, N'Doul was the only one who could truly be called a worthy opponent.
The other Stand users were essentially useless.
Once their abilities were figured out, they would almost immediately surrender.
N'Doul, on the other hand, would fight to the death even if his ability was exposed, even when the battle was against him.
Wasn't he the only abnormal one among the Nine Glory Gods?
They had previously discussed whether they should remove N'Doul from the Nine Glory Gods.
They even thought that his decision to preserve information by committing suicide wasn't an overreaction.
Looking at the incompetence of his fellow Stand users, if information were really leaked, they might actually surrender!
N'Doul was so out of place that it was hard not to wonder if he'd picked the wrong card or was just too late in drawing the Nine Glory Gods card.
But before they finished that discussion—
"Stardust Crusaders" gave them a wake-up call.
Who said N'Doul was the only tough guy among the Nine Glory Gods?
The final member of the Nine Glory Gods, [Horus], was another warrior just like N'Doul, someone who could fight to the very end!
Although [Horus] and [Geb] were both types that didn't need to worry once their abilities were exposed...
Even though it sounds harsh—
If Pet Shop really was the same type as N'Doul, Sora increasingly doubted that Iggy could win.
Even if he could come up with a way for Iggy to win in this situation, without the resolve—the will to achieve victory—Iggy wouldn't be able to meet the conditions required to win.
"So what's the point of this episode?"
"To show us the danger of DIO and his base?"
"Or to once again confirm that only those with unwavering resolve can defeat DIO?"
"Or maybe they're just handing out death flags?"
Yeah, Sora had already assumed that Green Dolphin Studio would be handing out death flags in "Stardust Crusaders".
This conclusion was based not only on lessons learned from "Phantom Blood" and "Battle Tendency", but also on the fact that even though no one named Zeppeli was on Jotaro's team this time, the noble soul of humanity wasn't something only the Zeppeli family possessed.
It's just that only the Zeppeli family had been able to fully demonstrate it so far.
Moreover, this death flag had been blatantly foreshadowed in the opening theme, set up by Green Dolphin Studio.
Whether it was Jotaro or Joseph, all members of the Egypt Crusaders were on the list.
Not a single one was spared!
After watching this OP, which resembled a death notice, for more than ten episodes, it was hard for Sora not to accept it.
"But according to the OP, Iggy should still be going up the stairs with Polnareff, right? I'm not wrong, am I, Shiro?"
"Hmm."
See, he wasn't mistaken this time.
Hearing Shiro's confirmation, Sora felt relieved about not having to worry about memory loss. At the same time, he began muttering more about the current storyline of "Stardust Crusaders": "There's no way Iggy will suddenly awaken a Golden Spirit and say, 'I'll fight alongside Jotaro and the others to defeat the boss,' right?"
Although this is a common trope in many stories...
Without any prior buildup—
And considering that Iggy had no desire to cause trouble before, and his relationship with Jotaro's team wasn't one of comrades but something far more distant, Sora really couldn't see how Iggy could be motivated to help Jotaro and the others.
A sudden cavalry rescue, where Jotaro's team saves Iggy at the last second, and Iggy fights with them out of gratitude to defeat DIO—that kind of traditional storyline?
…
As Sora and the other viewers speculated wildly about the plot...
Iggy, one of the characters living through it, had only one thought in mind—
It's over.
This time, he really was going to die.
Would he really die?
No, he wouldn't die!
His panicked gaze gradually turned fierce.
Looking at Pet Shop's menacing eyes locked onto him, Iggy stared back with equal defiance!
Sora was right.
Iggy had no understanding of what a Golden Spirit was.
As a different species entirely, it was impossible for him to fully commit himself to helping Jotaro and the others.
In fact, even Polnareff, a fellow human, only truly became part of Jotaro's team after seeing Avdol "die" in front of him and Kakyoin helping him get revenge.
For Iggy, who had no such attachments, it was practically impossible.
However, though he didn't understand the Golden Spirit, Iggy had known one thing since his days as a stray dog:
You have to live for yourself.
Dogs, too.
Whether for survival or for some other reason, you must have a will—
A will so strong that, even if it means sacrificing yourself, you would kill your enemy to survive—a [Pitch Black Will]!
Only then could you snatch food from those who wanted to take it from you!
So…