"Ah---"
Polnareff looked at Takatsuki displeased. "Ever since we met, it's been 'Polnareff, Polnareff,' and you've been looking down on my Silver Chariot. Takatsuki, right? Do you dare to go outside and duel?"
"This Stand is called King Crimson, right? You said it's a Stand that will cripple me? I don't believe it. This ugly monster can't beat my Silver Chariot."
Polnareff had been holding in a lot of anger: being defeated by Avdol, being rescued from Dio's control, learning about his enemy, and feeling like Takatsuki had been looking down on him ever since they met.
Actually, it wasn't that Takatsuki looked down on him, but Polnareff's fate was truly unfortunate. Pausing time upstairs, deleting time downstairs, living a life filled with guilt, and finally turning into a turtle.
So, even without intentionally judging, Takatsuki's words were filled with sympathy, and coupled with Takatsuki possessing the Stand that would cripple him, it felt even more like a provocation.
At this time, Polnareff had not yet experienced the fight against Dio, so his mindset was very arrogant and impetuous.
"Don't argue, don't argue."
Joseph didn't expect the two to start fighting without a word. Just as he was about to stop them, he heard Takatsuki say, "Mr. Joseph, don't stop them. Polnareff has that kind of personality. He's young and arrogant right now; he needs some serious beatings."
"Ha! Beatings? We'll see who beats whom. Don't worry, I won't attack your vital points."
Polnareff was furious at Takatsuki's obvious condescension.
"Takatsuki... I'm fine..."
Mei thought Takatsuki was accepting Polnareff's challenge because of her. Kiana, now sensing the tense atmosphere, stopped eating. "Yeah, Takatsuki, you just met an old friend, isn't this a bit much?"
Mei and Kiana truly believed that everyone here was Takatsuki's old friend.
"It's fine. Some things are better dealt with early on."
After reassuring the others, Takatsuki said to Polnareff, "Should we fight in an open space? Your Silver Chariot performs better in open areas, right?"
"Ha, you've got guts, kid! Let's go!"
Seeing the two who had agreed and walked out, the others exchanged glances, then quickly followed. Jotaro, who was smoking outside, pulled down his hat and followed after learning the whole story.
Standing in an empty space, Takatsuki said to Polnareff, who was ten meters away, "I won't switch to other Stands. Since you don't believe King Crimson is your opponent, I will only fight you with King Crimson."
"Before we fight, I'll still tell you about King Crimson's abilities, as I know your Silver Chariot's abilities, and it wouldn't be fair to you."
Takatsuki didn't hide anything, explaining all of King Crimson's abilities except Epitaph: "So, King Crimson is not a frontal combat type of Stand, and I won't follow chivalry by only attacking the Stand. You don't need to hold back; come at me with the intention to kill."
"Don't worry, I'll hold back."
Even after hearing King Crimson's abilities, Polnareff remained unfazed, arrogantly stating that he would not lose.
"Then... King Crimson!"
In an instant, Takatsuki vanished from everyone's sight.
"Where did he go! Silver Chariot!"
As a Stand that often falters, Silver Chariot, despite having eyes, lacks vision. Therefore, he couldn't Stand back-to-back with Polnareff to observe the battlefield. However, after the back attack that afternoon, Polnareff directly commanded Silver Chariot to perform a circular slash around himself.
But, naturally, it missed.
"When facing the future..."
Takatsuki, slowly stepping out from the side, looked at Polnareff's missed attack and said, "As long as one can see all the traps without falling into them, life will not fail, and I will always Stand at the top."
Takatsuki chuckled, looking at Polnareff, who had Silver Chariot guarding him.
"What's wrong? Not attacking? In that case..."
"Then I'll attack."
In an instant, Polnareff was suddenly kicked and sent flying.
"This is a trial..."
"A trial to overcome the past..."
Standing in Polnareff's original spot, Takatsuki stood sideways with one hand on his hip. "One can only grow by overcoming a childish past..."
"Hmm? You think so too, don't you, Polnareff?"
Polnareff, who had scrambled up from a face-plant on the ground, shouted and immediately released Silver Chariot's armor.
Although he appeared furious, he was actually very calm inside, and had even planned in his mind to pierce both King Crimson and Takatsuki directly after the next time deletion.
He had originally been a bit overconfident and didn't want to attack the user's body, but now, attacking the user's body seemed best, especially with Silver Chariot's speed after releasing its armor, as long as the opponent couldn't react.
As Silver Chariot charged out, Polnareff felt a sharp pain in his chest as a white hand pierced through him.
"I told you, Polnareff, in front of King Crimson, your Silver Chariot's speed and swordsmanship are meaningless."
King Crimson flung Polnareff off his hand, sending him flying. Severely wounded, Polnareff fell to the ground, but instead of being dejected, he smiled.
But...
He had already calculated the trajectory, and the blade he launched by ricochet, for some reason, went straight through Takatsuki's body and instead plunged into his own leg.
"I told you, Polnareff, your calculations are meaningless. I just deleted 0.5 seconds of time, deleting the process of the blade striking me, leaving only the result of the blade reaching you."
"This, is the true ability of King Crimson! The Result! The ability to make this world only leave behind results!"
Just as Takatsuki was striking a pose, seemingly relaxing his guard because he thought he had won, he had actually activated another ability of King Crimson: Epitaph!
The results seen by Epitaph are absolute...
A swordless Silver Chariot should have lost its combat ability, but he saw a future where Silver Chariot's blade tore through his body.
But...
Silver Chariot, a Stand that only has speed, its swordsmanship itself is not inherent to Silver Chariot, but derived from Polnareff's decades of practice for revenge.
So, a swordless Silver Chariot theoretically lost its offensive capability.
But... speed, itself, is equivalent to power.
He charged at Takatsuki with all his speed, while Polnareff, gripping the blade with his own hand, unleashed his master-level swordsmanship, tearing through the figure that fell off balance in front of him.
"Polnareff!"
The onlookers could see that Takatsuki had been holding back, even with the later killing hand chop, he avoided Polnareff's vital points, but this sword strike was different.
It cut directly from the left shoulder down to the chest, almost splitting the person in two.
"How could this be..."
He looked at the injury on his body, then at the blade in his hand, which had torn his palm from his forceful grip, and the blood on it.
"What you witnessed and touched, that was your future self, the future self seen by your past self from a few seconds ago. This is King Crimson's ability!"