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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 29: Esecuzione, Part 3

Fast.

Risotto growled as his pace was being disrupted by the intense attitude taken by the armored Servant. He knew that he was fighting a powerful entity, but his Stand was nothing to scoff at when it came to aggressive assassinations. ｢Metallica｣ was quick to coat his whole frame in iron particles, reflecting the light and blending his appearance into the location, thus depriving his current opponent of the chance to strike him down when she could.

The armored knight was quick to understand it was invisibility, but her approach to it was cautious and slow, a mistaken take on how to handle his Stand's ability. ｢Metallica｣'s capacity to manipulate Iron came handy into understanding the scale of the danger he was facing. The knight's armor had some iron, but the particles couldn't be influenced for some reason. Magic, maybe, or something within the alloy that wasn't recognized by his Stand as Iron. So, rather than try to squish her to a quick death, Risotto shifted his focus on weakening her.

The knight's slow-paced resolve was quickly put to test when she suddenly was forced to lift her helmet to spat some paper clips that had formed in her throat. That should have put everyone to a pause, but she swiftly expelled the iron-made items, and jumped away from Risotto's proximity. That was not a reaction he wanted his target to have. Not when his maximum reach was ten meters and she was well away from that.

Approaching was also unfeasible with Diavolo acting as some sort of eagle over the field, keeping an eye on noises and using his power to predict his pattern. A tricky situation, but not one he couldn't shift to his opportunity. Diavolo was bound to that throne, arrogantly thinking he was safe from any issue, but looking quite surprised when the iron his Servant ejected was turned into daggers that soared towards him.

｢King Crimson｣ manifested and dealt with the attack, creating a mistaken location to where he was and gaining the Lancer's attention. The woman struck the ground near her pool of blood, thinking that disrupting the blood would spare any other troubles. She didn't know how wrong she was.

Right as she dispersed the liquid, her body froze as she was forced to eject more of it from her mouth, this time it was stapler pins. But rather than fully deal with it, the Servant struggled and found the chances to force the pins out of her throat much more difficult than it had been with the clips. And this was his chance to strike. The closer he was, the more control he had over iron. And with just a few steps towards the Servants, Risotto had all he needed to secure himself a win.

"He's behind you, two meters!"

Too little, too late. No amount of tattling would assist the Servant as, while the woman shifted to hit him with her lance, her body froze as ｢Metallica｣ took over and shredded bones in her limbs. It was not enough to break them, but it paralyzed her with pain. It gave him the edge to rush and shatter her skull with it and... that didn't happen.

The lance suddenly activated, a powerful pulse of energy came and formed a barrier that slammed onto Risotto and pushed him onto some broken chairs' pieces. The wood stabbed into his body, but only his left leg and arm were maimed the worst. The wounds aren't healing fast enough to make a difference, and, while Diavolo looked hardly in good shape, he was still alive and well on the path of recovery.

Which was quite negative for his planning. Coughing a bit more blood, but shifting the iron around the spilled red to get back in his body and temporarily seal his damaged self, Risotto wasn't ready to give up just yet. It wasn't a permanent fix, but it was enough to give him a chance to kill them for good.

Or it would have been a good way to secure a chance if not for a situation he didn't expect. The armored knight stood straight just as he did, and it felt odd how her body was just... moving flawlessly. There was no sign of limping or of hunching with her steps. It was like she had completely healed from that much damage. Which would have been terrifying had this been a normal human being- but this was a Servant. And one that instantly shattered his hopes when another pulse, this one stronger than the previous one, broke him up once more, rupturing his makeshift fix for his injury and leaving Risotto in a close-to-death situation.

He was reaching a critical situation and the Lancer was slowly approaching when something smashed through the rooftop and landed right near Diavolo. It took a moment for the dust to clear out, but soon the sight of a familiar blond was now clear.

"Giorno Giovanna," Diavolo greeted. "Your presence here is... most unnecessary. Even so, I have to say... I was surprised when I found out that your father was the very man that bought most of the Arrows for himself."

"I am not DIO, Diavolo," His knightly form dematerializing as another individual manifested. One that was quickly staring angrily at the fellow knight.

"Father!"

"Mordred."

Father and son, heh?

"How dare you summon my Father in such hideous form! I will not forgive you, pink bastard!"

Diavolo scoffed at the insult, but he seemed more interested in Giorno.

"I could give you so much if you allowed these mongrels to die. You are young, so is Narancia and Fugo- you three can survive given that lapses of youth are something I am quite familiar with."

"This rebellion- no, this revolution, Diavolo, is not one that you can stop with bribes," Giorno rebuffed his chance, something many his age would have taken. "The stakes are too high, and I refuse to let more children be hurt by the drugs you bring here in this country. This ends now!"

Risotto coughed weakly, trying to keep up and provide assistance, but he was struggling to even listen as a tiny figure in the form of Nursery Rhyme rushed forth to help him. He could see it in the child's eyes- there was no hope for her to heal him. He was too far gone. He wanted to be angry at this- the chances of his conquest of Passion dashed away by a situation well beyond any planning. He wanted to be frustrated- he wanted to scream at fate for its unfairness but... he couldn't

Risotto just stood there, weakly dying as he knew that, even as Bucciarati came to his rescue, his odds of survival were grim at best. Yet, he trusted Giorno. Something about his resolve and his chances made him believe- plus, something about this fit right into what he had hoped to see.

The old broken by the new, a new generation of criminals that followed the patriotic view of some of the early brigands. To protect their land and people rather than for the riches and the control of everything. And Giorno was going to lead it- him and those of the same mindset. And it all reminded Risotto of something he once heard from Xuanzang back when he first met her.

His skepticism was ruptured by a wisdom that went beyond her youthful appearance and that brought into him a sense of newfound doubt and self-thought. He always defined himself unworthy of the crown, willing to take it because there was no choice. But when he rejected the notion of doing it because he was a hero, especially since he regretted none of the deeds he was responsible for which deprived lives, old and young, the monk didn't seem upset by this genuine self-evaluation.

Her ensuing words were what now gave him one last wish to pray on.

You know, that's what Sun Wukong told me. "How can I be a hero even after what I did to so many people? I don't regret it, you know?" You know what I told him, Risotto? I started with "It's quite simple. If you can't be a hero, then help one become it."

If Risotto couldn't take that crown, then someone with a brighter future would. The bloody legacy of Diavolo was not one a man that lived and served him for so long could really entertain. Not without being corrupted by it. Giorno was young, yes, but Bruno was going to stand beside him. And while Bucciarati was no king, he could easily become a king-maker through his advice and guidance.

Yes, Risotto knew it. A new age was in front of them and his passing, together with Diavolo was going to give it the might it needed to happen. Gone were the old monsters, for new heroes were now here to cleave the taint out of the Italian territory...

AN

So, today I was quite busy being outside for RL stuff. I am literally cooked because the heat is atrocious here and the UV Index is quite worrying. I had initially planned to just delay the writing of the full chapter to after lunch, but even as I got myself a power-nap, my body just refused to put itself into the production of a proper one.

Heck, writing this small one took a few hours of planning, battling tiredness and drinking a questionable amount of cold tea and... it gives me an opportunity to expand the last few chapters without delving too much in the flashback. What I can say right now is that next time will have a proper chapter. And since this one was not planned, let's add an extra chapter to the finale's count.

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c