Chapter 52: Jedd Says, "I'm Quite Familiar With This"

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Xiu Zuo immediately knew who it was! In this situation, it turned out that the man in the black coat, one of the two from earlier, was now lending him a hand! So, he possessed supernatural powers as well—and such formidable ones at that!

Recalling what Qiao Zhe had said, Xiu Zuo felt a surge of heroic spirit within him. “That’s right! My fate is mine to command, not heaven’s!”

His gaze turned to the still-struggling demon, Oni Juro, and he raised his hand to unleash his own sorcerous power. “I will take control of my destiny! So, ancestors of mine—perish!”

Fueled by the inspiration of Qiao Zhe’s “pep talk,” his willpower erupted, his entire body radiating with supernatural energy. A bolt of light shot forth toward Oni Juro!

This sudden attack from behind completely shattered Oni Juro’s defenses. “Ugh! Why—why, my descendant?!”

Had Jed been present to witness this, he surely would have given Xiu Zuo more pointers on how to fight.

Oni Juro remained bound by Qiao Zhe’s ultra-psychic force. Seeing that Xiu Zuo had made his choice, Qiao Zhe gave a powerful tug with his mind. Oni Juro was yanked out of Xiu Zuo’s dreamscape and slammed hard onto the floor!

Staggering to his feet by the wall, Oni Juro glared at Qiao Zhe, his voice deep with menace. “Cursed fellow! Who’d have thought there’d still be an onmyoji of your strength around? I must destroy you!”

Unaware of Qiao Zhe’s true identity, Oni Juro assumed him to be an onmyoji. As he spoke, he raised his arm, the palm splitting open to reveal an eye staring straight at Qiao Zhe!

Xiu Zuo, just waking from his dream, saw what was happening and called out in warning, “Be careful!”

A beam of purple energy fired from the eye in Oni Juro’s palm. An insidious grin curled on his lips; behind this onmyoji were his companions and Xiu Zuo. If Qiao Zhe dodged, the shot would strike the others. Oni Juro was certain his foe wouldn’t evade, for a human body would be gravely injured by such an attack.

His calculations were meticulous—but completely mistaken.

This level of energy attack didn’t even warrant Qiao Zhe’s attention, much less require him to dodge!

“Old fool! Your sorcery is useless!”

With a golden ripple of power in his palm, Qiao Zhe shattered the incoming beam with a single blow.

“What?!” Oni Juro stared in shock—this was entirely outside his expectations.

Qiao Zhe’s voice rang out. “Your next line is: ‘Damn brat, go to hell!’”

“Damn brat, wha—?!” Oni Juro, halfway through repeating the words, suddenly realized that Qiao Zhe had predicted him exactly.

Meeting Qiao Zhe’s gaze, fear flickered in his heart, though he tried to cover it with a veneer of threat. “Let’s see you block all of these!”

He raised his arm, the eye in his palm unleashing a torrent of sorcerous might. Multiple purple blasts fired, enveloping Qiao Zhe in a barrage.

Yet Qiao Zhe faced the onslaught unflinching; everything was proceeding according to his design. Though using the ultra-psychic force consumed a lot of energy, the golden ripple restored it quickly. Exchanging a few lines with his foe was simply to buy time for his spiritual power to recover.

“Star Platinum!”

With a low cry, Star Platinum burst forth from Qiao Zhe’s body.

“ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!”

Countless violet fists struck out, shattering every incoming beam.

All of this occurred in a mere instant. Star Platinum’s gaze fell on Oni Juro, and in a flash, it appeared before him, peering down menacingly.

This was Star Platinum, newly awakened and still running wild.

But when Qiao Zhe summoned his Stand, he’d already anticipated he wouldn’t keep up with its speed, so he’d set his intention in advance. The Stand would act according to its user’s will.

Thus, Star Platinum didn’t simply obliterate the enemy with a single punch—Xiu Zuo was still in the room, and an explosion could have harmed him.

Star Platinum’s massive hand shot out, seizing Oni Juro by the throat and shaking him violently. “ORA ORA ORA ORA!”

All this happened in a heartbeat; Oni Juro barely had time to react before dizziness overwhelmed him.

Because Xiu Zuo was infused with sorcerous power, he could see the spectral form of Star Platinum. In contrast, I Dream saw nothing, standing there utterly baffled.

Seeing Star Platinum throttling Oni Juro, Xiu Zuo exclaimed in awe, “Amazing! Even my ancestor can’t resist at all!”

“What’s happening?” I Dream, thoroughly confused without his Ultraman powers, couldn’t see Star Platinum at all. He’d already instinctively reached for his transformation device when Oni Juro fired the barrage, almost becoming Ultraman on the spot.

But the next moment, all the incoming blasts vanished, and Oni Juro looked as if something invisible were assaulting him.

The room echoed with the roars of “ORA ORA ORA,” yet no matter how hard I Dream looked, he saw nothing.

“You can’t see it?” Xiu Zuo turned to him, puzzled, and pointed at Oni Juro. “It’s right there—my ancestor is being pummeled by that man.”

Following his gaze, I Dream saw Oni Juro’s head and body whipping back and forth, but nothing else. A chilling thought struck him—could it be another ghost?

“Qiao Zhe, is this your doing?”

Unsettled, I Dream called out to Qiao Zhe.

“Yes, it’s my Stand,” Qiao Zhe replied simply, then added, “You can think of it as a kind of superpower.”

I Dream was left speechless, blinking in shock.

Not again—not another superpower!

“You really can’t see it?” Xiu Zuo suddenly realized, mumbling, “So you don’t have any powers after all. How weak.”

I Dream: “???”

I Dream felt as though he’d been pierced to the heart, his whole demeanor turning gray and morose. But after a moment’s daze, he steeled himself. “Damn it! I must go find Gaia!”

Star Platinum, following Qiao Zhe’s will, shook Oni Juro as it floated out of the villa.

“I Dream, contact XIG—Generation II Gan-Q is about to appear!”

Qiao Zhe threw out the instruction, following Star Platinum out of the villa.

“Oh, right! I’ll notify them at once!” I Dream hurriedly activated his communicator to alert Ishimuro and the others.

He had to keep up appearances, even though Ishimuro already knew, since nothing had been said outright. With only Qiao Zhe and I Dream in action, anyone with a brain would soon suspect something was amiss between the two of them.

Everything was unfolding right in the palm of Qiao Zhe’s hand.