Omake 29: Dio’s Multidimensional Adventure (Re Zero 1)

This happens roughly a few weeks before the last battle of the two Dios in Arc 1…

A forest. This looked to be different compared to the ones I was accustomed to see back at the manor.

I could just blink and look around as my brain grasped the intensely dreadful situation I was in. This wasn’t… home. It was a hunch driven by a sense of familiarity- I’ve seen this before and… it wasn’t something back in London. No, this was… far from there. I woke up within a cold bush. The forest had numerous trees that were known to grown in those areas where snow was known to fall frequently. The darker texture of their barks just cemented this notion, and soon I tried to understand where I was.

First I stood up. Then I dusted my good clothes from the small mud and snow that had latched onto the jacket and shirt. As I did so, I grimly noticed that I was already wearing normal day clothes when I clearly went to bed with my sleepwear. I felt a sense of irritation and… confusion. I would have gone through more silent studying over my current circumstance as there was no chance I was going to move before having a full grasp of where I was. My first plan was to climb one of the trees through ｢ACT 1｣ and see for myself if I could find any landmark I could recognize. Simple thing, nothing really risky…

And yet I had to pause from going through this as I felt it, a familiar hint of energy and battle. Hamon was being used, with my sense perceiving that a fellow user was nearby. A blink, my brain grasped at these clues and assumed the easiest and most logical solution. This was a dream, one based within time travel. Or as much as a dream could be due to how ‘realistic’ it just felt.

The idea stemmed from the fact that when I think of Hamon users and cold forests, my brain could only imagine Caesar’s last stand against Wamu. It was sensibly possible, and I knew that the Jojoverse was bizarre enough to encourage Time Travel. One would just need to think about the Josuke’s cancelled ‘help past self’ plotline or even the madness that was Jorge Joestar. I started to delve deep into the foliage to try and see where it was all coming from, and I was well sure that I didn’t have to fear that much due to the lack of threats in the forest if my assumption was correct.

…

I was proven wrong when I perceived something malicious slithering right behind me. Fast, difficult to understand its form, and… mindless. Only an instinct seemed to flare out from that entity, the need to kill me. Sighing I rushed around and tried to avoid getting too close to it as I saw trees, bushes, even small flowers, perish and rot before my own eyes. This creature… it was killing everything it could touch. This realization resulted in a single possible strategy.

The Spin was the only way out of this matter. I had the first two steel balls rotating as soon as I was done jumping one to one of the upper branches of the nearest tree, aiming the dangerous technique right at the core of the monster before releasing both shots. Two quick explosions ensued, with the spinning balls tearing and dividing the being in two distinct bits. Its body squirmed at the damage, but I could see no blood pouring out of the beasts’ deadly wound. It was like I wasn’t exactly fighting a sole entity, but a hive of multiple monstrous worm-like beings born from the darkest pit of hell. The monster shrieked some more, clearly far from dead but… in the process of going back to the maker. I prepared one last Spinning ball, adding a little element to it to make it the perfect explosion.

The ball soared and zeroed the distance between it and its target. The resulting blast was fueled by fire itself, created through the familiarity of the process that was gasoline-induced hell. The infernal attack scorched the monstrous entity and pretty much that part of forest all around it. It croaked, it shrieked and then… stopped moving as the flames did a fine job in purging the monster from existence itself.

Truly a troublesome foe, but one that managed to delay me from reaching my current destination. Frustrating, but I couldn’t have killed it any faster from the way it handled close encounters. With that in mind, I bolted back to the origin of the noises of battle. After about a minute or two, I was there, witnessing something terrible unfolding before my own eyes.

If before I had some minor doubts that my early assumption was correct, now I was completely certain that I had been mistaken about the situation. Here, before my own eyes, I could see Jonathan barely standing in a somewhat defensive manner while aiding an equally wounded and perhaps more damaged… Guese.

Re:Zero. I hadn’t thought about this particular possibility… which meant that the monster I had killed just now was the Kurohebi itself. I felt dread and relief washing over me at the same time, realizing that my cautious approach prevented me from being killed by some sickness induced by the monstrous ‘Black Serpent’. The slithering plague was the cause of many horrible sicknesses and I doubted Hamon would have worked against it.

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Behind the two protectors, there stood little Emilia and her Aunt, Fortuna. The older elf looked slightly drained, perhaps her use of magic as a support to the two frontline fighters had dented over her capacity to use spells. Not a pleasant sight, especially when they were pitted against two individuals they couldn’t win against. Well, one since the most dangerous of the duo was sitting this one out. I doubted Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory, would have tagged along even with the presence of Jojo. Jonathan was strong, but his current arsenal was fairly limited to Hamon as of yet. He could use the Spin in limited amount… but it wouldn’t work well against someone like Regulus Corneas. The Archbishop of Greed’s truest strength came in the front of a flexible defense that could be turned in a devastating offense. The capacity to alter the time of a specific object, even something as abstract as breath itself, to make it so that he can use it as a weapon against his enemies.

Troublesome, but not the worst circumstance possible due to my own prerogative over Time itself thanks to my Stand. Just as I thought of this, I saw the man lift up his left fist, within it, small particles that had been taken from the ground below. Gravel, I quickly deduced, and I felt panic intensify when I saw the man throw the fistful of that material towards Jonathan and Guese. Such an attack could technically be deflected by Guese’s Unseen Hands, but Jojo didn’t have anything on himself that could have gained the same effect.

So, I had to intervene as I, Dio, wasn’t willing to allow this debauchery to continue any further.

Just as I saw the particle gain absurd momentum due to the jerk’s authority, I manifested ｢ACT 1｣ and used its ability on our newest enemies. The particles continued to soar really fast towards the young Joestar for a while… before stopping in a state of true stillness and being set free from Regulus’ ability.

Shock filled the Archbishop as the reality of what just happened sunk in his brain. Something had happened and… it had stopped his nigh-invincible ability. He was just enough stunned that he barely registered the rock I threw at him with my Stand, the modest-sized and shaped pebble blitzing in the air and easily striking him on his face. A yelp, blood, the impact on his forehead was loud enough to cause some noise, but not enough to outright killing him. The concussion would still help as it put that kind of mess out of commission.

The second development finally broke away the shock as people started to slowly turn towards the epicenter of these two absurd events. I didn’t hesitate in walking out from the bushes, fixing a dirty part of my jacket while doing so.

“Apologies for the delay. I was rendered busy by some annoying worms,” I commented flatly, my words aimed at the group, yet my gaze aimed at the one I should be more afraid about if she decided to engage in a direct confrontation. Pandora stared back, curiosity and wonder filling her sky-blue eyes. Like a child… with a terrifying amount of power.

“D-Dio?”

I merely nodded, finally turning to gaze on Jonathan as I helped him with my own Hamon to kickstart his own reserves.

“How bad is the situation, Jojo?”

“I… I don’t know how strong is the girl but-”

“But she seems frighteningly powerful from the way she is barely reacting to what just happened,” I added with a sigh, turning back to Pandora as the child approached us. “I guess that’s something to be concerned about.”

“Dio. That’s your name,” She muttered calmly. “What are you?”

I blinked. “I thought you just said that. I am Dio, and you are an accessory of a few heinous crimes you committed by being allied with that fool.”

“Crimes?” She wondered in surprise, intrigue filling her voice. “Which are?”

“Attacking innocents, altering reality itself and… hurting my younger brother, young lady.”

My voice grew cold at that last point, something that Pandora reacted visibly at from the way she shuddered at my tone. I was glad that I had that effect, but I knew it barely mattered if she started warping reality to kill us all…

Except I knew she wasn’t.

Not when the key to her current goal needed to have a fair portion of sanity within her, or else everything she did her would be for nothing as little Emilia couldn’t open the door she sought. Despite my small confidence on the matter, I still felt a chilling sensation of danger the more she approached.

A deadly battle was going to begin soon...