"Dio is in that castle."
After taking care of the corpse criminals (like Jack the Ripper), the corpse warriors (Bruford and Tarkus), and the army of undead created by Dio, Jonathan and his team arrived at a grim, ominous castle.
The castle where Dio resided—DIO Castle.
There's no denying Dio was a character brimming with presence, turning the powers of a vampire into something almost elegant.
Thanks to Yamcha's intervention, Zeppeli avoided death. After regrouping with his master (Tonpetty) and senior disciples (Adams and Straizo), the anti-DIO team became exceptionally powerful.
After eliminating a batch of corpse soldiers raised by Dio for his own amusement, they finally came face-to-face with him.
"I've returned from hell, DIO."
"So you're still alive, JOJO."
With this exchange, the fated duel began.
"I will execute you without mercy."
"I won't feel the slightest guilt in killing you."
Just as the two were about to clash head-on, Zeppeli's junior disciple, Dan, stepped forward to stop him.
"JOJO, step back. Leave this one to me."
As Zeppeli's fellow disciple, Dan was unquestionably strong. Throughout decades of wandering, he had slain more vampires than Jonathan had even seen in the past few days.
Even though Dio was a unique vampire, Dan didn't think much of it.
To him, Dio was just a rookie who had turned vampire a few days ago.
He stepped forward to show Jonathan the proper way to use Ripple in combat. After witnessing the potential in both Jonathan and Yamcha, the veterans had decided to invest in training them.
"Watch closely now."
"How to properly kill a vampire."
"Don't be careless. This Dio is highly unusual. He's nothing like the average vampire."
Zeppeli reminded everyone from the side. After all, if Yamcha hadn't stepped in when he did, Zeppeli himself would've died at the hands of Dio's undead creations.
If just his minions were that powerful, then Dio couldn't be treated like any ordinary vampire.
"Relax. He's not a regular vampire. And I'm no average Ripple user."
As Dan stepped forward, his body split into multiple afterimages.
The move resembled an Overdrive Flicker, but in terms of technique, it fell short—it mostly just caused visual blur, not actual confusion for Dio.
Then, in their very first exchange—
Dan was instantly frozen into a giant ice cube.
Dio truly lived up to his status as the final boss of both Part 1 and Part 3—a genius among geniuses.
After being defeated by Jonathan's flames the first time, he retreated into the shadows. While testing Jonathan through waves of undead, Dio learned something crucial: he wasn't invincible, even at night.
There existed a power in this world that could counter vampires—Ripple. Once Ripple energy flowed into him, he could be defeated instantly.
So, to counter Ripple, he developed a unique technique—Vaporization Freezing, which instantly vaporized moisture from his body to steal heat from opponents. One touch would freeze them solid.
This was a move unique to Dio. No other vampire ever replicated it.
Dan was frozen the moment he touched Dio.
"You all came here just to die," Dio laughed wildly, locking Dan in place. "I'll kill you in the most brutal way possible."
"Then each of you will follow, one by one! I! Am the king of the world!"
The entire exchange had happened so fast that no one had time to react. By the time they rushed to Dan's aid, it was already too late.
Dio's plan was to quickly eliminate one of them to create fear and pick off the rest one by one. Though not a martial artist, he had mastered the art of psychological warfare.
Everything was under control—until...
Just as Dio was about to shatter frozen Dan into pieces, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in both wrists. Then, a powerful force struck from his tailbone, launching him into the air.
Dio quickly flipped midair and landed smoothly.
"Who?!"
Both his wrists were broken, and boiling red liquid—like magma—poured out. His undead minions quickly surrounded him as he growled, scanning for the attacker.
He didn't have to look far.
Yamcha stood in plain sight, placing the frozen Dan down gently for Zeppeli and the others to thaw out. Then he turned to Dio and, in his signature awkward, overly formal accent, said:
"Hey, buddy. That was not cool. I told you—if I ever saw you bullying people again, I promised I'd kick your butt hard with my boots."
A large boot print was now clearly visible on Dio's butt.
Not much damage, but extremely humiliating.
"Harr-ry (Pot)–ter!"
As the saying goes, enemies truly hate running into old foes. Seven years ago, Yamcha had already taught Dio a lesson. Now, once again, he was ruining Dio's plans. Even Dio's calm demeanor couldn't suppress his rage.
"I'll kill you."
"Oh, I mean—I bet you won't. I swear on the Holy Mother Mary. And your face right now... it's like Aunt Susan's apple pie next door."
"Full of expired cheese. Absolutely revolting."
"Bastard!"
Dio's fingernails extended like razor blades, and he lunged at Yamcha at a speed faster than any known animal.
But Yamcha was faster.
He dodged effortlessly while throwing out a storm of trash talk.
"Oh, you rude little cretin, your words and mannerisms offend me deeply. But for God's sake, I'll only toss you into Old Tom's pigsty—filthy like a sewer that's been puked in. Oh, Lord! I'm such a merciful man."
Dio: "WRYYYYYY!!"
"Oh my god, I can't believe what you just said. Buddy, Uncle Porter doesn't like stubborn kids."
Dio: "Boxers boxers boxers boxers!"
"Oh dearest God! What are you doing? Honestly, this is outrageous! I swear, if my eyes linger on you one moment longer, my hereditary diabetes will flare up. I'm reporting this to Pastor Jerry next door! Damn it!"
Dio: "MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"
Yamcha moved with bizarre footwork, effortlessly dodging Dio's furious attacks. Every strike missed by mere centimeters—Dio's nails now stretched 30 centimeters long and still couldn't land a hit.
"This is terrifying. You sound like a Mexican—I mean, sir, if you keep using that tone, I swear I'll kick your butt again with my boots!"
Dio: ...
Dio was going insane with rage. For the first time, he was this furious. He launched relentless attacks at Yamcha—but couldn't even graze a single hair.
Eventually, he got kicked in the butt again.
Now with one boot print on each cheek—a perfect pair.
(End of Chapter)