Chapter 205. Raising the Flags
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Even though it felt like a slim hope.
After reading Sora's post titled "Is it possible?", even those who began seriously contemplating the question and actively searching for a way to defeat the [Cream] gradually came to doubt. Was the [Cream] truly unbeatable?
But when the new episode of "Stardust Crusaders" aired, right on schedule, they immediately put on their full-dive helmets and clicked on the new content.
And they all breathed a huge sigh of relief.
After seeing the [Cream] become so overpowered, they had genuinely feared that Green Dolphin Studio would announce something like, "The enemy was too strong, so DIO and the others win," leading to a rushed and disappointing ending.
After all, in their minds, the best possible outcome was merely shifting the battle scene from DIO's Mansion to that dark spatial tunnel mentioned by [Cream], whose destination remained unknown.
By coordinating with Avdol, who was inside the dark space, they could defeat Vanilla, hiding in that very space, similar to how Kakashi and his team figured out Obito's Kamui phasing ability in "Naruto".
But if it were that simple, Vanilla wouldn't have failed to know the weaknesses of his Stand, right?
So, as the viewers opened the latest episode of "Stardust Crusaders" with a mix of hope and doubt, there was no question—the latest episode delivered a shock right from the start.
Using Vanilla's zombie and psychological weaknesses? Just like the approach to dealing with Obito's space-manipulating abilities in "Naruto"?
...All the methods that viewers had spent a full week coming up with, unsure if they would even work, were, in Polnareff's eyes, far too complicated!
He always had only one method of dealing with Vanilla and the [Cream]—
"It's impossible... Saying that you killed Avdol... Stop joking around!!!"
With Polnareff's furious shout in "Stardust Crusaders", the silver knight appeared instantly, passing through layers of space and descending behind the [Cream]!
—[Silver Chariot]!!
Everyone knows that [Silver Chariot] is almost a blank Stand. Compared to the similarly blank Stand, "Star Platinum", which has a full 5A1C in its stats except for its relatively weak range, the other attributes are almost super-standard.
[Silver Chariot] doesn't even have a sight. Without Polnareff controlling it, it's basically blind. Its only redeeming feature is its A-rank speed.
However, even with that sole advantage in speed, it might not be faster than [Star Platinum].
Because of that, the exact speed of [Silver Chariot] never made much of an impression on most viewers.
...No! To be more accurate, [Silver Chariot] itself never really left much of an impression on viewers!
Otherwise, why would the audience despair when they saw that it was Polnareff fighting the [Cream]?
It was because they had little hope in [Silver Chariot].
Although Iggy's [The Fool] had shown them a black will in the fight against Pet Shop, Iggy's trembling at the appearance of Vanilla and the [Cream] didn't inspire much confidence.
But now...
"What!?"
When [Silver Chariot]'s true speed was revealed—not facing another speed A-rank Stand, but rather slower Stands—the terror of a fast Stand was fully demonstrated to Vanilla!
"It's unbelievable! I never expected Polnareff's Stand to be this agile, with such long attack range..."
Even Vanilla couldn't react in time.
If Polnareff hadn't been blinded by rage and wanted to make Vanilla feel the same helplessness Avdol had experienced, knowing someone was behind him but being powerless to stop them, and had simply pierced Vanilla during his charge...
Vanilla might have died just now.
Because...
Squelch—!!!
The [Cream] was injured by [Silver Chariot]'s thrust!?
This wasn't because [Silver Chariot] was so fast that it pierced space and attacked Vanilla and the [Cream], who were protected by the dark space.
Even though near-light-speed [Silver Chariot] could theoretically warp space under the effects of relativity, that would be like saying DIO's time-stop affected the entire universe—essentially creating a black hole that swallowed everything, which is impossible! Even for just five seconds...
(PS: A fun fact about black holes: there's a region called the event horizon where time appears to stop from an outside perspective. It's literally a case of "one day in the heavens, a year on Earth," or even more exaggerated.)
So the reason [Silver Chariot] could land a hit was much simpler.
Before [Cream] fully engulfed its body in the dark space, it wasn't invincible!
It had a body!
A body that other Stands could attack!
The bleeding wound was proof of that!
Although Vanilla quickly realized this after being struck by [Silver Chariot], causing [Cream] to rapidly retreat into the dark space and re-enter its invincible state...
But once this was confirmed—once it was confirmed that [Cream] wasn't invincible and couldn't outrun [Silver Chariot]'s speed—the previously pessimistic audience members immediately had their doubts cleared and regained full confidence that Polnareff and his team could defeat [Cream]!
The answer to the question that had troubled them for a week was resolved so simply!?
"It's solid!"
"The Easter egg from the OP was real after all!"
"The story of Avdol, Polnareff, and the others isn't over yet!"
Almost all the viewers were excitedly convinced of this.