"Star Platinum!"
"Crazy Diamond!"
"The Hand!"
"King Crimson!"
Four powerful close-range Stands appeared simultaneously on the car roof, all swinging their fists towards the sky. They forcefully protected the car from the overwhelming flames.
"The enemy isn't making precise attacks, but rather large-scale strikes, which means their main body can't see us!"
While King Crimson was attacking, Takatsuki didn't forget to use Epitaph to observe the surroundings, but still found no trace of the enemy. The enemy was merely using continuous lava bombardments to force them not to stop the car.
"Stop the car quickly! We have to find a place to hide!"
"No! The car tires are melting!"
Polnareff tried to slow down, but found the car somewhat out of control, constantly skidding on the ground.
"Mr. Polnareff, please continue to stop the car. I'll take care of fixing it."
Raiden Mei immediately controlled Crazy Diamond to start repairing the car tires, which were melting due to the high temperature, saving the car that was already somewhat out of control.
"Ahhh! How can this Stand be so strong?"
Kiana continuously used The Hand to erase flames that was about to reach them, but the more she erased, the more alarmed she felt. The attacks of this Sun Stand felt as endless as the real sun.
Moreover, the feedback from the Stands outside indicated that the external temperature, unlike the air-conditioned car interior, had reached an exaggerated level.
"Almost there, everyone! We'll stop by that cliff ahead!"
Suddenly stopping a car that was speeding at 200 km/h was not easy, especially with partially melted tires. However, with everyone working together, they were finally close to succeeding.
The main force defending against the sun was The Hand and Star Platinum; one had exaggerated punch speed and precision, the other had a wide range of spatial erasure. The molten lava and flames could be blocked by these two without issue.
Takatsuki's main effort was continuously activating King Crimson's Epitaph to foresee the future, observing for any stragglers or enemies that might expose a weakness at any moment.
Suddenly, Takatsuki's eyes narrowed, and he lunged to the right.
"Danger! Mei!"
Raiden Mei was controlling Crazy Diamond to ensure the car wouldn't malfunction under high speed and high temperatures, but she didn't notice a bizarre face appearing behind her, lunging at her back with a strange smile.
At that moment, Takatsuki suddenly blocked her. The bizarre thing's tough claws pierced Takatsuki's chest.
"Ah! Takatsuki!"
Although he had become a Stand user, Takatsuki's body was still that of an ordinary human. After seeing The High Priestess's Stand ambush Mei through Epitaph, Takatsuki couldn't safely save Mei.
The only thing he could do was use his own body to block The High Priestess's attack.
The result foreseen by Epitaph was absolute. Fortunately, Epitaph only showed the moment The High Priestess attacked, not the moment Mei was hit.
"Heh heh… Got you!"
Although his chest was pierced and even his windpipe was constricted, Takatsuki didn't waver in the slightest. Immense pain radiated from his chest.
But this pain was far less severe than the feeling of Honkai erosion throughout his body.
However, while a human body could grab a Stand, it couldn't cause damage to it, nor could it compare to The High Priestess's strength.
Takatsuki's action merely delayed The High Priestess briefly, resulting in his arm and several fingers being severed, and The High Priestess once again merged back into the car.
"Takatsuki!"
Raiden Mei, who had been pushed away, widened her eyes, seeing Takatsuki's grievous injuries. Without a word, she recalled Crazy Diamond to heal him.
"Damn it! Stop this!!!"
Seeing that the car was no longer safe, Polnareff disregarded the danger of a high-speed emergency stop, even summoning Silver Chariot to help control the steering wheel.
With a screech of brakes, the car finally came to a stop.
"Everyone! Get out of the car quickly!"
As soon as the car stopped, several people directly kicked open the doors and rushed out.
Takatsuki, using his newly recovered body, simultaneously covered Mei and Kiana as they rushed out.
It seemed as if they knew the group had left the car, as the sun's lava rain became even denser.
"Everyone! I used Star Platinum to dig a hole! Quick, hide in it!"
As Jotaro approached the cliff, he quickly had Star Platinum use its light-speed fists to rapidly smash a hole into the hard rock.
The group quickly rushed inside. The car, left unprotected by Stands outside, was riddled with holes by the lava rain in just a few seconds.
"It's so hot."
Inside the car, with the air conditioning, it was fine, but once they left the car, the continuous high temperature outside constantly scorched everyone. In just a few tens of seconds, everyone was drenched in sweat.
"The outdoor temperature must be seventy degrees Celsius!"
Polnareff looked at the air outside, distorted by the high temperature. Even the sparse plants around them had wilted under the deadly sunlight.
Kiana and Mei each held one of Takatsuki's hands, looking around.
"Don't worry, it's fine now. Mei has completely healed me."
But even so, Mei said with some lingering fear, "How could you be so foolish? If I hadn't been able to heal you in time…"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Even the Honkai erosion couldn't kill me, could it?" Holding both of their hands, Takatsuki's hands were sweaty due to the high outdoor temperature, but there wasn't much change in the two girls' hands.
Takatsuki then remembered that both of them were Herrschers. Although they couldn't wield Herrscher powers at the moment, their physical constitutions had truly ceased to be human.
"I'm sorry… If it wasn't for me… I can't do anything…"
Before Mei could finish speaking, Takatsuki covered her mouth. My goodness, even though he skipped story in games, he knew the password for 'I can't do anything'. He quickly stopped Mei and said, "No need to apologize. You just need to trust me."
Takatsuki spoke words that even he felt embarrassed by, completely disregarding the presence of others nearby.
"Takatsuki, stop flirting. Hurry up and release your White Album, we're all about to die from the heat."
Finally, Polnareff was the first to speak, interrupting the scene.
With the release of White Album, the temperature inside the cave instantly dropped, creating a tug-of-war with the scorching outside temperature.
Meanwhile, inside a black carriage.
"They actually hid in the cave and used a Stand to lower the temperature."
A beautiful woman in a long dress, sitting in the passenger seat, bit her thumb, then looked at a fat man in the back seat: "Hey, fatty! Can your Stand attack inside?"
"Ah, Lady Midler, my Sun can't go down, and I can't see the situation over there. I can only attack randomly like before."