Chapter 204. The Invincible [Cream]
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Is it possible that Avdol isn't actually dead?
This thought wasn't just a jealous reaction from Sora toward Pucci, leading him to make such a declaration out of impulse. Nor was it merely to comfort himself by saying so.
It was after carefully analyzing the plot of "Stardust Crusaders".
Especially after the OP (opening preview) of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" continuously presenting the story of "JoJo's" as a sort of Easter egg in a factual manner.
Sora was naturally filled with doubt regarding Avdol's death, which seemed to go against the way it was hinted in the OP.
Moreover, as for the Stand ability of [Cream]...
Hasn't Vanilla Ice already explained it clearly?
It's like a black hole, a dark spatial tunnel leading to a place even the Stand user himself doesn't know.
According to the logic that when a Stand user dies, their Stand usually disappears and its abilities fade...
Similar to [Osiris] and [Atum], even though they have the ability to extract people's souls, once the Stand user is defeated, the extracted souls return to their original bodies.
So perhaps, after defeating Vanilla Ice...
Would Avdol, who was swallowed by [Cream], return to the real world?
As for his lost hands, there's no need to worry too much.
The SPW Foundation, which has absorbed a lot of German technology, is unmatched in the world!
Even Stroheim, who was blown to bits by a bomb, was fully revived through robotic modification.
Two lost arms? That's nothing. Just make some mechanical arms like Joseph did—no problem at all!
So when Sora sent out this speculation...
It immediately caught the attention of countless people on the once-pessimistic forum, and many agreed, adding their own ideas to the new post.
In no time, the once mournful atmosphere turned into a lively discussion, with boundless creativity on display.
After all, compared to tragedy...
Comedy is always more beloved.
And most importantly, as the first member of the "Stardust Crusaders" crew to "fake die" and come back, fans had high hopes for Avdol's second "fake death" and return!
Thus, the remaining question became...
—"How can we defeat [Cream]?"
As soon as this post with that title was published...
There was no need for any further prompting.
Those who wanted to know the answer or write it themselves automatically pinned the post to the top of the forum, alongside Sora's previous post titled "Is it possible?"
It became one of the most popular topics on 2CH.
But...
…
"I can't think of a way to defeat [Cream]!" Sora and Shiro glanced at each other, then collapsed into each other's arms in frustration.
"If Avdol hadn't been swallowed, there'd still be hope for victory."
"If you keep using [Magician's Red]'s fire ability, there's still a slim chance that Vanilla Ice, who's in the same dark tunnel, might get burned by the flames that are sucked in."
"If Vanilla Ice hadn't turned into a vampire, [Magician's Red] could burn up the oxygen, producing a large amount of carbon dioxide, forcing him to flee."
"But..."
Now that Avdol had become the first victim swallowed by [Cream], all of that had become impossible.
It was even worse than that.
Because [Silver Chariot] is a purely physical attack Stand with no special abilities.
Its main attack method is stabbing with the rapier in its hand.
But [Cream] is immune to physical damage.
And although [The Fool] can manipulate elements like [Magician's Red], the destructive power of sand is far inferior to that of fire.
Even if the attack enters the dark space of [Cream]...
Would it really be able to harm Vanilla Ice, who's also in the dark space?
If it really could...
Wouldn't Avdol, who was completely swallowed, have fought back inside the dark space?
The more Sora thought about it...
The more he realized how terrifying and invincible spatial abilities like this were, even if they were just simple devouring abilities.
He grew more and more despairing over the current situation.
Could Polnareff and the others really defeat this Stand user?
Of course, it's not like Vanilla Ice and [Cream] don't have any weaknesses.
"Ripple energy and sunlight, which vampires fear, should still be lethal to Vanilla Ice."
"And his loyalty to DIO, just like N'Doul's willingness to die for him, is another potential weakness."
Sora slowly said, "As long as they probe a bit more into the limits of the [Cream] Stand, it shouldn't be too hard to defeat him."
Yes, despite the invincible nature of [Cream]'s ability...
To Sora, there's no such thing as an invincible Stand, only an invincible [ ]!
If Polnareff's place were switched with Sora and Shiro...
Sora would confidently clear the entire Dio's Castle without a scratch.
After all, no matter if it's a Stand user full of resolve or one without any resolve, their weaknesses are too obvious in front of Sora, the psychological master.
Stand users without resolve would collapse at the slightest setback.
And to deal with Stand users full of resolve?
Just look at the villains' strategies.
Whether it was [Lovers] threatening Jotaro with Joseph's life, or [Osiris] and [Atum] using others' souls to gamble and play games to activate their Stand abilities...
They all showed that even the most resolute Stand users have plenty of weaknesses.
But whether Polnareff and the others can figure this out...
And use N'Doul's line "Even villains need a savior," along with DIO's vampire identity, to deduce Vanilla Ice's weaknesses...
Sora had little confidence in that.
"We can only hope that the OP of "Stardust Crusaders" is truly spoiling the ending..."
At least then, Polnareff would still have a chance of victory.
Though even Sora didn't know what that hope of victory was...