Oh My, Look Who’s Having a Bad Day

Just as Jonathan and Erina were parting ways.

Behind a thick tree, Dio watched the scene before him with a livid expression.

He stared at Erina in the distance while his fingers continuously brushed over the marks carved into the tree, feeling the rough heart-shaped indentation. A sinister look appeared on his face.

Yes.

He was very unhappy right now.

He did not know who this woman who had suddenly appeared was, but he could tell that Jonathan had clearly been much happier lately and no longer looked so dejected.

And she was the cause of it all.

This blonde woman.

This hateful woman had ruined his plans.

Dio’s goal had always been clear. From the moment he brought Dario’s letter to see George, he had already planned to seize the other man’s family fortune.

Of course, that strange mage named Steve made him extremely wary.

The man’s methods were indeed bizarre. Whether it was those so-called alchemical potions or that magical stone capable of absorbing moonlight, both seemed incredibly miraculous to Dio.

For a brief period, Dio had actually changed his mind.

For example, he could properly follow this strange mage and learn from him. If he mastered those strange techniques, then with his intelligence far surpassing Jonathan’s, given enough time, Lord Dio would surely rise above everyone else and earn more money than the entire Joestar family fortune.

After all, that was supernatural power.

Nothing in the world was more enticing than that.

But before long, Dio’s thoughts changed again, after that damned mage kept targeting him.

Having struggled for so long in the slums, he understood the ways of the world better than that idiot Jonathan. In truth, Dio had vaguely sensed something was wrong as early as when he was bitten by a dog. Then, after being "educated" with thrown rocks and told to return at night for training, he became even more certain.

Compared to himself, this mage perhaps liked that idiot Jonathan more.

Dio suspected the mage had been giving Jonathan special lessons.

After all, they were taught separately. That mountain was full of strange things supposedly called Ice Elves or something, so Dio did not dare sneak over during the day to spy.

Sometimes, while holding the moonlight stone and training at night, Dio would think.

Even if he mastered supernatural power, if that mage secretly taught Jonathan more skills, then no matter how gifted he was, he would still be destined to remain beneath that damned bastard.

Jonathan had already been the son of a noble, born into a prominent position.

If he also inherited the mage’s true teachings and mastered even more supernatural power, would that not mean Dio would forever be trampled beneath that idiot’s feet?

What would be the point of earning more money then?

Whenever he thought about someone in this world being better than him, Dio could not help feeling irritated.

Looking at the moonlight stone in his hand, even the bright moonlight seemed to become dark and cold, like the dark side of the moon that sunlight could never reach, as though reflecting Dio’s current heart.

Even if it was someone else.

Anyone he did not know would do.

But Dio would absolutely never allow Jonathan to stand above him!

So he began making small moves behind the scenes again. Of course, worried that the mage might notice, Dio was initially rather discreet.

He merely studied harder, learned noble etiquette, and practiced magic day and night.

But after some time, Dio discovered that the mage did not seem to care much about any of that. So he used a boxing match as an excuse to beat Jonathan badly. On the surface, it looked like he was venting his anger, but in truth, he was testing the mage’s attitude. If the mage questioned him, he would simply say that he had failed to control his strength during the match.

Yet to Dio’s surprise, the mage did not react at all, as though he spent every day immersed in his mountain, doing who knew what.

Thinking about it carefully, that made sense. After all, the man was a true archmage.

Being willing to take on students and offer guidance was already no easy thing. He surely spent every day researching alchemy or studying new magic. Dio had heard that he even kept a dragon on the back mountain, though he had never seen it and did not know whether it was true.

In short, after this test.

Dio more or less understood. It seemed the mage did not pay much attention to either him or Jonathan. Afterward, he tested things several more times and found that the mage still did nothing, so he gradually became bolder.

He did not choose the most foolish method of physical harm, but instead chose psychological bullying.

Dio wanted to utterly crush Jonathan in every aspect. Magic talent, learning ability, intelligence, etiquette, social skills—he wanted that idiot Jonathan to lose everything. Pets, paternal love, even friends and companions—Dio would ruthlessly take and destroy every last thing.

That way, Jonathan would sink into endless pain and be unable to free himself, eventually becoming worthless.

As everyone knew, worthless people were good for nothing.

Whether Dio wanted to seize the Joestar family’s wealth or inherit all of that mage’s knowledge, a worthless Jonathan would be unable to stop him.

That mage surely would not like someone worthless either.

Even if the mage truly favored the Joestar family in his heart, if Jonathan completely gave up and became a worthless piece of trash like Dio’s father, then the mage could only choose Lord Dio.

Dio’s plan had originally been quite sound.

And it had gone smoothly. Jonathan had indeed been depressed for a long time.

But recently, Jonathan had suddenly become happy, all because of the woman before him. That idiot Jonathan must have fallen in love with her. The two had developed feelings for each other. Love was powerful enough to become someone’s emotional support. If Jonathan became strong because of it, that would be troublesome.

At that thought.

Dio’s expression immediately turned cold.

He, Dio, would never allow Jonathan to fall in love with this woman!

"You two, come with me."

With that thought, Dio immediately spoke to his two lackeys. "In a moment, I’ll show you a grand scene. The things you don’t dare do… I, Dio, will do them for you!"

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Erina was still immersed in the wonderful sweetness of love.

With her current strength, she could actually hear the sounds coming from nearby. But her mind was filled entirely with JoJo. She had even started imagining what kind of wedding dress she should choose. She could not hear anything at all.

Touching Aja’s Red Stone around her neck.

Erina unconsciously revealed a shy smile.

But at that very moment, three people suddenly stepped out from the shadows ahead and blocked her path.

Erina instinctively looked up, only to be immediately startled. Wasn’t this blonde, red-eyed person the bastard Dio that JoJo had mentioned? Why had he suddenly stopped her?

"Yo, you’re called Erina, right?"

At that moment, Dio gave her a smile that did not reach his eyes. "I see that… you and JoJo have gotten quite close lately."

"…"

Seeing the hypocritical Dio before her, along with the two men behind him who always bullied her and were now staring at her with malicious grins, Erina immediately became frightened.

A girl’s intuition made her realize something was wrong, and she instinctively took a step back.

But Dio kept speaking. He was staring at Erina with an extremely aggressive gaze, and his tone became dangerous. "Heh heh heh, JoJo was supposed to be miserable, but he’s been very happy lately… so it was because of you."

"W-what are you going to do…?"

Erina’s heart skipped a beat. She almost instinctively wanted to run, but remembering "Mr. Mage’s" prediction from yesterday, she forcibly suppressed her fear and could not help asking, "W-why do you always bully JoJo?"

"Because I want that idiot to understand that every ‘first’ in his life…"

As he spoke, Dio slowly walked toward Erina. When the two were standing face-to-face, Dio suddenly pointed his thumb at himself. "Belongs to me, Dio!!!"

"What?"

Erina froze.

But Dio had no intention of giving her time to react.

"Have you kissed JoJo? Heh heh heh… I suppose you haven’t, right?"

Dio suddenly revealed a smug sneer, then abruptly grabbed Erina’s wrist. His other hand seized her shoulder as he prepared to forcibly kiss her.

"!!!"

Perhaps because he had mentioned JoJo, Erina suddenly snapped out of it.

When she saw Dio leaning toward her without warning, she was truly terrified. Her mind went blank with a buzz, but her body moved instinctively.

"No!!!"

Erina suddenly let out a scream.

Then she instinctively kicked toward Dio’s groin.

The kick was as swift as lightning. The two people watching from behind had not even reacted yet, and the wind pressure caused merely by her lifting her leg flattened a large patch of grass.

With a crisp crack of shattering bones, mixed with a wet popping sound from something bursting, Dio’s eyes widened as though he were an unfortunate man hanging from the gallows. His pelvis and tailbone shattered into countless pieces in an instant. His eyeballs nearly bulged out of their sockets, his mouth hung wide open, and saliva uncontrollably sprayed from it.

Yet before he could scream.

Erina, in her terror, had already launched her second strike.

Though calling it an attack was not quite right. Erina was so frightened that she had not even opened her eyes. To protect her chastity, she merely instinctively raised her right hand and wanted to use all her strength to push this bad man away as quickly as possible.

But the problem was precisely that "all her strength."

Just like when Dio used The World to attack Kakyoin Noriaki in Part Three, Erina struck with one palm. With a wet pfft, she punched straight through Dio’s left chest, turning everything inside into a pile of mush.

"?!"

Dio’s pupils contracted violently as overwhelming fear flooded his entire body.

It was an indescribable terror and despair. Every pore on his body stung as though pierced by needles.

His expression was twisted and absurd, while his body rapidly grew cold. He no longer even had the strength to speak. He stared at the woman before him in disbelief. Was he actually going to die here simply because he had tried to forcibly kiss her? How was that possible? How could this…

How could Lord Dio die like this!

He had not even lived to adulthood… Was he going to die here like some ridiculous post-meal chatter among peasants!?

"Hm…?"

Perhaps the wet, sticky sensation felt a little wrong, because Erina also paused.

She instinctively opened her eyes, only to see the horrifying scene before her. Dio was coughing up blood and staring at her unwillingly, the light in his eyes rapidly fading.

And her hand was embedded in the left side of his chest.

"Huh?"

For a moment, Erina did not even react. She stood there completely stunned.

"Cough… urgh…"

At that moment, Dio happened to cough, and a drop of warm blood splashed onto Erina’s cheek. Feeling that real warmth, the slick viscosity on her hand, and the rusty, pungent smell of blood spreading through the air, Erina’s nerves finally caught up.

"Eek!!!"

Erina immediately screamed in terror and reflexively pulled her arm back.

But this only increased Dio’s bleeding. His tailbone and pelvis were shattered, so he could not stand at all. He fell straight into a muddy puddle like a broken sack, filthy water soaking through his chest and wetting his face and hair, making him look incomparably pathetic.

But honestly, he was no different from dead already.

His heart had been blown apart by one punch, and he had lost a massive amount of blood. Every organ in his body had already stopped functioning, and even his brain was gradually nearing death from lack of oxygen.

Cold, terrifying darkness gradually enveloped Dio.

"D-Diooo!!!"

Only then did the two stunned lackeys behind him come to their senses. Crying and snotting, they fled in panic. "Murder! Crybaby Erina killed someone!!!"

"Plop."

Erina was terrified too, and she dropped straight onto her backside in the muddy puddle.

"I… I killed someone…"

Erina stared blankly at her hands. She did not know how she had done it, nor did she know why Dio had seemed like he was made of paper, breaking apart at the slightest touch. But the blood on her hands told her that she had killed someone.

At that thought, Erina could not help crying in fear.

She wanted to use the first-aid knowledge her father had taught her to save Dio, but his heart was gone. How the hell was she supposed to save him? It was really over now. She was definitely going to die…

"Someone… someone save me…"

Erina fearfully hugged her head and said in a trembling voice.

But just as she was at a complete loss, a warm, large hand suddenly rested on her head.

"!?"

Erina’s entire body trembled as she instinctively looked up at the newcomer.

The person stood against the light, and she couldn’t see clearly his face. But she could see his straight back and broad shoulders. The afterglow of the setting sun gilded him in a pale golden outline, making him seem as towering as though he could hold up the entire sky, filling her with incomparable reassurance.

"Don’t be afraid. I’m here to save you."

A steady voice came from the figure, causing Erina to space out for a moment.

But before she could relax, she saw the figure slowly walk over to Dio, crouch down, and stroke his chin as he appraised him. "Tsk tsk, I never thought you’d have a day like this too, Ass Dio. How does it feel to have your chest pierced by a Power and Speed both A-rank punch?"

After saying that, he took out an Emerald and tossed it onto Dio’s body. "Hahaha, Kakyoin-approved…"

"…Huh?"

Erina was bewildered by this. Then she looked closely and discovered that the person was actually JoJo’s godfather, Mr. Steve.