Fifth Chapter: By All Means Necessary

Part 1

Giorno's clone was flying above the black fish after leaving behind his creator. Since all memories possessed by the clone are passed down to the original individual, everything he saw would be seen by the original Giorno.

"Squeee!"

As the fish cried that, Giorno looked back at it, which had been cut down in half. The fish disappeared upon suffering that critical damage, which led Giorno to wonder who had killed him.

"Will you pay me attention now or what?"

The one who said that was a blonde boy wielding a sword. From the aura coming out of it, it was a Holy Sword. Giorno perfectly knew this kid had come from Team Human, but he didn't know his name.

"Who are you?"

Rodrigo's normally blank expression changed into one of anger after hearing that question being spoken to him.

"… Who am I? You are asking me who am I!? Very well, if that is how things are going to be… my name Rodrigo Díaz and I'm El Cid's reincarnation. This sword is the legendary Holy Sword Tizona, whose slashes never miss."

"I would like to test that."

Giorno summoned [Aries] and started to get close to Rodrigo, not paying to what his opponent was doing. The kid didn't look at him with either blank or angry eyes, as they had changed to match his upset expression.

"… So you are going to rely on that shield, too bad, I always believed you were smarter."

After he said that, Rodrigo brandished his sword, cutting through thin air. Despite he didn't touch anything; Giorno's abdomen was cut, having a clear slash of the sword.

"Wha-What was that?"

"I told you, Tizona never misses a slash."

By swinging his sword once again, another slash appeared on Giorno. It didn't matter if it touched the opponent, as long Rodrigo knew his opponent was there, Tizona would never miss, even if it meant distorting space.

"Are you going to fight back or not? If not, then this is going to be extremely boring."

Upon hearing those words of intimidation, Giorno activated [Scorpio], escaping by taking advantage of the sand storm. Even then, he suddenly felt as his back was slashed.

"I have trained my senses intensely, so I can see you even on this sandstorm."

His senses, from hearing to seeing and even smelling, were enhanced to the point they matched those of supernatural beings like Devils and Angels, a training Rodrigo realized with the propose of being The Strongest Human.

Giorno activated [Aquarius] to launch a blast of water towards Rodrigo, but the blonde kid easily evaded it. By slashing a few more times, Giorno could feel as his body was about to break.

Rodrigo moved at immense speeds towards Giorno, sticking the tip of sword on Giorno's neck. If he moved his sword, it would be over, even if it was just a clone. And then, Rodrigo spoke.

"I know you're just a clone and not real deal, so I can kill you without any trouble. Just make sure to send this message to the original you: I'll want to talk to you face to face, since El Cid doesn't deal with intermediaries."

After saying just that, Rodrigo slashed, beheading the clone, which just became smoke after being killed. Rodrigo was disappointed at the fact Tizona didn't have blood on its blade, but it didn't matter. By looking up at the sky, Rodrigo closed his eyes muttered some words.

"Maybe you think I don't know about you, since you don't appear to remember me… yet, I'll surprise you, since we met each other in the past, Giorno Shiobana-niisan. I'm anxious to see you again after so many years."

Part 2

"And… he's dead now."

Said Giorno upon noticing the death of his clone, and then opened his eyes to look at Elizabeth. As far as he could tell, she appeared to be trembling for some reason.

"What exactly do you know about this kid?"

"Beyond his name and heritage, I know nothing of valuable. However, if that unmotivated brat actually attacked on his own, then something must be going on here."

Giorno started thinking, as things didn't match up. What does this kid want by meeting with him? How did he appear to know his abilities? And why did he make such a fuss over Giorno not knowing who he was?

"Come on, we need to meet with him."

"We?"

"Yes, we. El Cid said he wanted to meet with me, so you must come too. After all, it'll benefit you given the rules of the game, since he'll be forbidden from attacking you."

Elizabeth couldn't refute Giorno's statement. After all, one rule said members of the same team couldn't each other, or they would be retired. That rule appealed to team work, despite that clearly wasn't going to be the case.

Since they couldn't attack each other, as long as members from different teams made an alliance, there was a greater chance of winning for those individuals rather than the teams them belonged to.

"In that case, at least let me travel my style."

"As you wish."

With that, Giorno flew using his Angels wings while Elizabeth followed him riding over a Wyvern. While they didn't know what the meaning of this meeting with Rodrigo was, they couldn't refuse.

Part 3

Everything around him burned, but that was what he wished for. Virgilio used his purple flames to burn his surroundings, since he'll be able to attract the opponent to his place.

One would think otherwise would make more sense on this kind of battle scenario, but he didn't. As the Joker of Heaven, Virgilio needed to show he was the strongest Exorcist at the time of his of reincarnation into an Angel.

And his flames did work. A man stood in front of him, having black wings on his back. He was clearly Larglees, leader of the [Hunters]. Upon seeing his opponent, Virgilio giggled.

"O Fallen Angel, stray servant of God, isn't you unhappy because of your team's quick decline? Given you're the last member of Team Fallen Angel left, I would highly recommend getting out of my way, since otherwise would mean the complete elimination of your team."

"Joker of Heaven, you are such a condescending guy just like the rest of the Angels. You blind followers of God are willing to do whatever he says without question it, won't you?"

"Of course I won't question the Lord; his word is absolute. It's the law that rules over the world. Only by following God's rules can people reach the absolute peace and order of his perfect world, a world without pain or suffering. Heretics like you, who oppose his laws, deserve eternal punishment."

Virgilio said that with a bright smile on his face, showing no guilt or doubt towards his words. The Fallen Angel known as Larglees was soon nauseated towards this attitude, so he created a spear of light.

"Eternal punishment you say? You call me heretic, yet, you're blindly following a path that only leads to oppression. I'm sick just by thinking there is people like you who actually believe that is right."

Upon hearing those words, a purple light covered Virgilio's body. From behind his body, a winding pillar of purple flames appeared abruptly. The firepower and heat only increased as Virgilio chanted.

"The anointed one was fastened to the cursed cross. By the high priest of the purple flames, the sacrifice is enflamed."

A huge crucifix was formed behind him, and Virgilio looked down at Larglees as the Joker of Heaven rose to the sky. Ten white as snow wings came out of his back, showing his high status as an Angel.

"Blind you say… that word heretics like you use to refer to servants of God like me makes me mad. As such, your punishment will be granted here and now by me and my [Sacred Gear], [Incinerate Anthem]."

The flames gathered in the shape of a giant spear, and close to it, six equally huge spears of light also appeared. Being around 100 metres long each, the seven spears rapidly pointed right at Larglees.

"Feel the divine punishment of God's power, heretic!"

Upon saying that, the seven spears flew at extremely high speeds, hitting the leader of the [Hunters] with all its might. A giant explosion with the shape of a crux of both light and flames covered the sky. Once the extremely power explosion faded away, a sound resonated over the whole area.

[Larglees from Team Fallen Angel retires.]

With that simple attack, it was over. By no means could Larglees be able to stand the divine punishment of the Joker of Heaven, and probably only a few between the participants could have.

"A heretic like you wouldn't have been able to win against me."

As if he was talking to someone, Virgilio muttered words while his surrounding were filled with purple flames, with a huge hole on place of the bushes set by Michael and the other organizers.

"After all, as both an Angel and a [Longinus] wielder, God's power lies within me. I'm not going to disappoint the Lord; I'm going to win this [Battle Royale]-"

By thinking the burn wounds created by that attack actually had a chance of being deadly, and would surely kill a Devil upon touch, the Joker of Heaven smiled as he uttered some final words.

"-By all means necessary."

With his goal set in mind once again, Virgilio continued advancing, burning everything around him with his purple flames.