Creating Anime In A Fantasy World

Chapter 246: The Premiere of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure! (Part 8)

Under the eager eyes of the audience, the movie continued to unfold.

This time, the timeline leapt forward once again—seven long years had passed.

Jonathan Joestar had grown into a robust young man, popular among his peers. Dio, too, had become a star at the academy, and outwardly, their relationship seemed to have improved with the years. They even competed together, side by side.

To outsiders, the two looked inseparable—true companions, as close as brothers.

But deep inside, both Jonathan and Dio knew the truth. Between them lay a wall of hostility, heavy and unyielding.

Returning home after classes, they discovered that Lord Joestar had fallen gravely ill. Dio suggested that the old man avoid the hospital, claiming he would recover better within the comfort of his home. Lord Joestar, trusting his adopted son’s words, agreed.

Meanwhile, Jonathan’s attention turned once more to that strange stone mask. Seven years earlier, he alone had seen it react to Dio’s blood, but he still did not understand the significance of its transformation.

Determined to uncover its secrets, Jonathan searched the family library—and stumbled upon an old letter. The contents made his expression twist with shock.

From the letter, he realized a horrifying truth.

“Could it be… Dio?!”

With disbelief gnawing at his chest, Jonathan rushed to the staircase—just in time to catch Dio delivering medicine. His sharp eyes caught it: Dio was secretly switching the packet of medicine with another.

“Dio! What’s in that packet?!”

Dio stiffened, caught off guard for a moment. But almost immediately, his expression hardened into icy calm.

“What are you talking about?”

“Dio, you’ve been the one delivering medicine to Father all this time, haven’t you?”

“That’s right. What of it?”

“I found a letter your father wrote, seven years ago. I could read it aloud to you right now.”

Jonathan raised his voice, the words like a blade in the quiet hall:

“『I am sick. I know I will die soon. I don’t understand this illness. My chest aches, my fingers swell, I cough constantly!』 Dio, these symptoms are identical to Father’s illness. What is the meaning of this?!”

Dio let out a faint sigh, lowering the packet in his hand. His voice, however, was cold and sharp.

“…And what exactly are you trying to imply?”

“That medicine. I want to examine it myself.”

Jonathan reached out, but Dio struck his hand away, snarling.

“JoJo! If you dare inspect this medicine, then you are doubting our very friendship! Do you understand? You’ll throw away everything between us! Put it down now—and I will forget this foolish suspicion of yours ever existed!”

Jonathan faltered only briefly before responding firmly:

“Dio, if you are a true gentleman, then swear it. Swear by the name of your father, Dario Brando, that your hands are clean. Do that, and I will return this medicine. I’ll never bring this matter up again.”

At that, Dio’s mask of composure cracked. His face contorted, his voice trembling with rage.

“You dare demand I swear on his name?! Don’t be absurd—how could that filth of a man possess anything resembling honor?!”

His fist shot forward, striking Jonathan square in the face.

But Jonathan did not retreat. His gaze, cold and resolute, bore down on Dio.

“My suspicion is now a certainty. Your agitation, your hatred—it is not normal. Whatever happened between you and your father, one thing is clear. You are a parricide, a beast who murdered his own blood!”

“I will protect my father. I will protect the Joestar household.”

With those words, Jonathan seized Dio and hurled him from the second floor. His voice rang out like steel:

“Dio, I’ve seen through you. These past seven years, I know exactly what’s been in your heart. There was never any friendship between us! From this moment on, I won’t let you near Father again! Once I’ve analyzed the contents of this medicine, I’ll have you thrown into prison where you belong!”

With those words, Dio was cornered at last. There was no room left for excuses. Jonathan immediately summoned a physician and the local constabulary, ensuring Lord Joestar’s safety.

Dio, however, seethed in the shadows. His fury did not burn toward Jonathan alone—it reached back to his own father. That wretched man, whose cruelty had scarred him from childhood. That man’s vile existence had stoked his hatred so deeply that even now, Dio’s composure had shattered. And because of that hatred, his grand plan had collapsed in an instant.

Grinding his teeth, Dio arrived at a single conclusion: he would strike first. He would murder Jonathan Joestar and erase the evidence of his crime.

And the weapon he would use… was none other than the Stone Mask.

Yes—he would drive its spikes into Jonathan’s corpse, passing off the incident as a tragic accident during his so-called “research.”

Compared to earlier scenes, the story’s pace had quickened noticeably. Against the matured Jonathan, Dio’s wickedness could no longer hide—it was laid bare under the light for all to see.

The audience’s fury toward Dio only deepened as the truth of his poisoning came to light. Yet, as the film briefly touched upon Dio’s miserable childhood, a small number of viewers felt a fleeting sense of pity. His cruelty, they realized, had been forged in those bitter years.

But whatever sympathy they held vanished the moment Dio resolved to kill Jonathan. The instant he chose murder, he cut himself off from any shred of forgiveness.

For many in the theater, a single desire now burned in their hearts: they wanted Dio to die.

“Unbelievable… after everything Lord Joestar did for him, raising him as his own son for seven years, Dio still tries to poison him?!”

“And worse—he murdered his real father with poison too! Sure, the man was scum who deserved his fate, but Dio’s cunning is terrifying.”

“He’s the kind of viper you can never tame. If someone like that existed in real life, you’d have to stay as far away as possible.”

“I just hope Jonathan survives this. Dio’s schemes are so underhanded—it’s terrifying.”

“Forget Dio—what about that stone mask? There’s no way something that sinister is just a prop. If it ends up in Dio’s hands, something terrible will happen.”

“Yeah… my heart’s pounding. I can’t relax at all.”

“….”

The theater was gripped in tension. No one dared look away from the screen for even a second. Every soul in the audience was desperate to know—would Dio’s vile plan succeed?

After all, the Joestars were good, honest people. To think that such a family might be destroyed by Dio’s treachery… it was a fate too cruel for ordinary hearts to accept.

Meanwhile, far from the common folk, the mages of the Imperial Mage Academy viewed the film with a different focus altogether.

Though they, too, had whispered about the plot earlier, their gazes were now fixed upon the Stone Mask in Dio’s hands.

A mask that sprouted strange spikes when touched by blood… such a device could not fail to stir their professional curiosity.

What principle lay behind its creation? What arcane knowledge had given birth to such an artifact?

For the mages, the mystery of the mask was every bit as gripping as the fate of the Joestars.