3

"That is quite too far…" Someone in the newly formed crowd scolded Subaru.

"If you have nothing more to say, I'm leaving, I have better things to do." The elven girl, now annoyed and disgusted, proclaimed; walking away from the shocked and confused Subaru.

Diavolo could only stare in annoyance; of course he had to be associated with this moron.

Subaru, whilst trying to wrap his head around what just happened, noticed the blonde speedster amidst the crowd. He decided to yell out,

"Felt!"

More than the Elf girl, the call out managed to reach Diavolo faster than her, as his eyes widened seeing her pass by.

But it seemed to be too late, as in that moment she had already stolen the insignia from the once to be Satella, who turned around confused.

She glared at Subaru after checking her pockets,

"You were stalling me?! You're working with her huh?" She remarked.

"N-N-" The boy tried to intercept, but it was to no avail as the elven girl chased after her.

Strangely enough, it felt like they were gone almost instantly.

Unbeknownst to everyone, though; Diavolo had his hands in his pockets, as he held the Insignia in one of his concealed hands, smiling a devilish smile.

He turned to Subaru, who was gawking while looking for the girl, but she was far out of their reach at this point.

He walked over to him, putting a hand onto his shoulder…

Strangely enough, he felt a chill run down his spine the moment he did; likely a reminder of the consequences that came with disobeying the rules.

Subaru quickly faced Diavolo, who reached into his pocket pulling out the Insignia that Felt stole.

"I-Is that?!" He examined it in his hand.

Diavolo only nodded, he didn't even break a sweat nabbing it from that girl. It was his fate to hold onto it after all.

"Let's make our way over to the loot-house again. With this, we'll be able to perhaps nab some of this world's currency for ourselves." Diavolo chillingly said, obviously disregarding the feelings of the 'emotional' Subaru.

"Don't suggest such things Doppio, we have to return it to Sa- to that girl!" Subaru exclaimed, swiping it from Diavolo's hands.

He sighed, clenching his fist and accepting his powerlessness yet again.

"Whatever, fool." Diavolo stated.

They reached the same alleyway they were so familiar with, being yet again stopped by the 3 goons.

"Would you just stop it already?!" Subaru yelled out as they let out the usual remarks, walking towards them.

"No one is this damn persistent!" Subaru tried to walk past the group, but in a moment even Diavolo didn't see coming, he had been stabbed in the gut by one of them. Causing him to fall over onto the ground.

Diavolo facepalmed, he should have just pushed this moron away.

The 3 goons quickly scattered, seriously not expecting to kill someone.

"Let's get things right next time." Diavolo walked over to Subaru, crouching down examining the blade lodged in his stomach.

He saw the pain in the boy's eyes as he began to sweat and hyperventilate, slowly bleeding to death.

He'd put him out of his misery; but the rules dictate he'd have to die first. So, sorry Subaru; you're gonna have to take the long haul for us.

He saw the tears forming under his eyes as his final moments were finally being reached; it could only remind him of the many deaths he faced. He could almost feel remorse… Nah; he still didn't care.

When he finally died, Diavlo was able to seamlessly witness the teleport back in time this iteration, as he was instantly back at the Appa stand with Subaru yet again for like the… 4th or 5th time now?

The difference this time being the overconfidence which was for some reason now present in the idiotic Subaru; as Diavolo pushed him forward, almost like a command to get moving to the alleyway.

"Wait a second Doppio; AHEM, Excuse me sir, have you seen me before today?" Subaru asked the appa stand owner.

"No; are you going to buy something now?" He answered.

Subaru, having picked up on this, followed Diavolo to their favorite part of Lagunica, as they prepared to discuss their new plans.

Diavolo waited as he saw Subaru rummaging through the supplies he was sent with in this world, almost as if he was doing some sort of inventory check.

"Doppio, I believe I figured out what's going on!" Subaru exclaimed, holding a fist up whilst looking passionately into the Boss.

Diavolo, who was unimpressed, just let out a simple sigh; waiting for the useless knowledge to pass through his ears.

"Every time I die, I return to my initial state! I have the ability to time leap when I die! I'll call it… Return By Death!" Subaru patted himself on the back.

"That's great Subaru; I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything but I figured that out the first time you died at the loot-house in loop 1. So actually, I am completely and utterly ungrateful." DIavolo facepalmed as Subaru looked at him shocked and betrayed.

"Well whatever, at least I finally figured out my ability; I wonder what other magic I'll unlock as we keep going…" Subaru put a finger on his chin, wandering off.

"More importantly, how about we kill that 'Elsa' woman at the loot-house, instead of foolishly wasting our time playing games." Diavolo shook his head.

"Good point, let's get goin-"

And yet again…

"Well lookie here boys!" one of the goons announced, to the annoyance of both Subaru and Diavolo.

"I'm sick of these guys; but I've learnt my lesson this time." Subaru prepared to do something, not expecting Diavolo to stand in front of him; one of his green eyes staring him down.

"Let me handle this…" Diavolo turned his neck to the 3 goons and his stare was menacing.

"Watchya gonna do to us? Cover us in those nets you call a fashion statement?" One of the goons joked.

"Well, I could do that… but how about we do something MUCH more interesting?" Diavolo grinned

"What did you have in mind, shitbag?" The skinny one bit back still keeping up his smile.

"I'll put up a wager, that if I can kill all of you in less than 15 seconds, then one of you can leave this alleyway alive." He announced, to the shock of Subaru and the goons.

'He's willing to kill them just because they got in our way? He must be bluffing, he does have an intimidating appearance and power after all.' Subaru thought to himself silently.

"K-Kill us? Yeah, haha! Nice try! Like we'd be fooled like that." The midget argued. Feeling the pressure increase ten fold as the towering man stared at him.

"Very well then, your fate….

Is decided."

Upon the finishing of that sentence, the brute charged at the phantom of Diavolo, who still stood in front of the boy.

To his surprise though, he just disappeared as the brute stopped himself from hitting the wall. He slowly turned to his other friends,

He heard some gorey noises, like the sounds of meat being split open and clothes being ripped apart.

"Where did that bastard go-" His eyes widened upon seeing his friend,

'Oh' Subaru thought whilst he stared in shock.

"H-Help…" The skinny one called out, an invisible hand piercing his chest, as blood pooled in his mouth and onto the floor from his open wound.

Behind him, the vicious glare of the previously unnerving Diavolo. The darkness was illuminated by the light in his eyes as he just stood with his arms crossed.

"H-How did you do that…" The brute stumbled backwards into the wall hitting it.

He stared into Diavolo's cold calculating eyes, but then was staring at the wall which was behind him for a couple of seconds, he blinked, before he quickly readjusted, noticing him appear behind the midget, who was equally as terrified as him in the current moment.

The brute, deciding to tighten his resolve, ran over to his friend in an attempt to rescue him. But it was too late, the same noise was heard; as the midget floated mid air as if stuck onto a spear, and hovering blood in the shape of fingers dripped onto the floor.

His corpse was tossed into the wall ruthlessly by the invisible force, and a faint snapping noise was heard as the midget's neck was broken from the impact. His lifeless body staring directly into the brute's soul.

"How many seconds is that? Were you keeping count for me?" Diavolo slowly stepped over to the poor Goon who began to pray for his own safety and salvation. Each step grew closer and closer, making his entire world shatter.

"P-Please don't kill me." The goon begged, clasping his hands and bowing down to the former gang boss, who spat onto the trash that he saw in front of him.

"Take a good look Subaru, this is the power you should strive for. THIS is the power we could use to escape." Diavolo looked over to Subaru, while laying his foot onto the head of the goon, pushing his face into the concrete; a smile rising onto his face.

"So pathetic… you make me fucking sick." Diavolo put more pressure onto his head as the man began to suffocate.

Subaru however; could only stare at the entire scene before him in disgust and horror, witnessing this horrific side of Doppio he saw all the way back on the first loop. He knew that Diavolo was a bit on the crazy side, but this is straight up psychopathic..

He walked over to Diavolo, past the corpses of the 2 former goons who were surrounded by pools of blood now, putting a hand on his shoulder and staring into Diavolo with angered eyes.

"That's more than enough, Doppio. This is too far! You didn't have to kill them and you especially don't have to torture this guy to death. What the hell is wrong with you?!" Subaru explained pointlessly.

His words meant little to Diavolo, though, as he just shrugged his arms in defeat knowing he had lacked the ability to disobey this clown, stepping back and releasing his foot from the goon.

The brutish goon took a moment to breath again, and he looked at his dead friends for a moment, before running off with tears streaming from his eyes.

Diavolo, who absolutely was not having it; decided to make his thoughts known to Subaru,

"Let's just forget about all of the trouble they've caused us then, shall we? Remember that one time they nearly kicked you to death in this alley? How about the time they literally stabbed you 20 minutes ago!? Ring any bells yet, Subaru? Do I have to remind you that they consistently make us waste our time every single fucking loop?! Or is it impossible to get even that much into your tiny insignificant skull! WE. HAVE. BETTER. THINGS. TO DO." Diavolo pressured the boy, who stared at him with unimpressed but conflicted eyes.

"Let's just go, Doppio." Subaru stoically said, ignoring Diavolo's opinions and pissing him off even more.

"GRAH! You are such an annoying pest. If you just listened to me I would be out of this by now." He vented.

Subaru had many thoughts in his head while they stood though; He was thinking about that elven girl first and foremost, particularly why she had decided to lie to him about her name. He also thought about Felt, Rom, and that bitch who killed him last time, Elsa. But, in the very back of his mind, he thought about Diavolo.

More specifically, who Diavolo actually was before he was summoned to this world with him. So far with the amount of time he has spent with his unlikely ally, he has not gathered any sort of personal details or information besides his name which is probably not even his actual name, and his home on Earth, which was Italy. His utter silence and lack of input makes him incredibly suspicious in almost all places they go. And he seems to be hiding just how strong he really is, judging by how he was able to handle Elsa with relative ease at the Loot-house, along with the poor goons.

Let's not forget the fact he is a complete murderous psychopath; with an… agenda.

He rubbed his temple with his fingertips, before quickly running his hands through his hair in an attempt to stay focused on the main task which was at hand.

While he tried to get back into his groove, however; he was quickly halted by the powerful voice in the light of the alleyway the 2 still stood in.

"Was it you 2?" The voice said, the words echoing through the entire alleyway.

They focused onto the shadowy figure, their eyes both squinting as they observed the royal clothing for which the man who stood in their path wore.

His hair was definitely a hot red; he was likely a very popular man, as his face was sharp and seemingly lacking any sort of deformities. His eyes glowed a determined and fiery blue. They noticed one of his hands stayed glued on the hilt of their ominous looking sword; it seemed to be incredibly well crafted and made out of precious material.

Diavolo instantly dropped a sweat from the man before him, which came as a surprise to him as he thought it was impossible to feel any sort of nervousness in his entire lifetime again.

Subaru just looked at him wondering what on earth he could have been referring to.

They then saw a man behind the red-head; it was the brute from a minute ago, and it seems he caught the attention of this world's police.

"T-That's them! They were the ones who killed my friends!" The brute cried out, pointing at the 2 new suspects.

Diavolo turned to Subaru, with a 'I told you so' look, as Subaru just frowned at the possibility that Diavolo could be right in his actions previously.

They were quickly taken aback by his next words, it seemed every single phrase he uttered had incredible power, as if he was speaking directly to their souls.

"I see; the situation is clear to me now." The man looked down at the corpses which the pair stood over, "By order of the Astrea family; I, Reinhard Van Astrea, formerly hold you both under arrest. You are going to come with me, or face the consequences for retaliation." He announced, moving his hand closer to his hilt.

'W-Who is this freak?!' Diavolo thought to himself, feeling the incredible pressure spewing from the man in front of him. It was suffocating. This man… no, this monster. He was… he can't win against him right now.

"Subaru… I need you to reset us… right now." Diavolo nudged to Subaru, who instantly retaliated,

"Rese- What?! No way! I don't want to die again!" Subaru yelled out to him.

"Besides; I didn't even do anything wrong in this situation." He claimed, making Reinhard raise his brow.

"Turning sides? That is rather smart. I suggest you do the same; unless you wish to be punished." Reinhard smirked, his confidence causing the Boss to shudder for some reason.

"Heh, I don't fear you. Such a notion is utterly foolish.." The man claimed, hiding his fear flawlessly in front of the new threat; preparing to fight.

Although everything in Diavolo's mind and body were telling him to back out of this fight; but he couldn't, as his very pride was on the line. That was something he would hold onto no matter how many times he died. He was living proof of that.

"Very well. Then by the code of knights, I shall honor your choice and take you in by force." The man didn't flinch uttering this.

Diavolo instinctively activated [King Crimson] out of both fear and insurance.

The alleyways before him turned into floating islands amidst the endless galaxy he now floated in.

He only had 10 seconds to figure out what to do next.

In Diavolo's perfect prediction, the knight had begun charging forwards in slow motion. This will be easier than he anticipated.

He made his way behind Reinhard, his stand getting into position for the killing blow.

"Die; Filth."

As he prepared to lunge the hand of King Crimson through Reinhard's back, he was quickly shocked to see the knight turn around to face the present version of him instead of his phantom.

"W-WHAT?! There's no possible way he can see me!" Diavolo yelled out. Moving away from the knight and towards the entrance of the alley.

Time was erased; as Diavolo met his limit.

"I shall take you in by force." The knight lunged forwards at incredible speeds; rivaling Felt or Elsa by a mile.

"W-Wait-!" Subaru tried to yell out, being ignored.

He stopped noticing that Diavolo no longer stood before him, as he turned around, his head locked eyes with him.

Subaru turned his head, just now realizing Diavolo had just teleported again.

"How is this possible?" Diavolo cracked, shattering his 'fearless' facade. Anger spewing from him.

"I'll admit; you are incredibly fast. All who I've used that attack on have not been able to dodge it as flawlessly as you just did." Reinhard praised, tightening his grip on his dragon crested hilt.

"How humble of you; to recklessly give compliments to your opponents in the middle of a battle. You must be confident." Diavoilo yelled out, his anger beginning to control him.

The knight chuckled, his smile never once fading from his face. Diavolo could only look at him in contempt.

"I will end this now!" Diavolo yelled out, as [King Crimson] activated yet again. The world shattered around him for a second time.

Was he just seeing things before? Surely it was just a coincidence he saw him during the erasure of King Crimson. It was merely a prediction after-all…

But all of his predictions were correct?

In panic, he yet again floated behind the cocky swordsman, and got into position for a second time, noticing Reinhard's lack of movement.

"Hmph! I don't know if you saw me last time; but I will not let you win so easily.." Diavolo announced, calling a red and white arm before him.

"YOU LOSE!" Diavolo shouted, as the arm of king crimson plunged towards the back of the swordsman until time had been erased again.

"I will end this now!"

The knight carefully watched Diavolo before closing his eyes, focusing…

NOW!

He had used the back of his hand to launch the figure who now stood behind him flying into the alleyway wall. He felt the sensation of what he assumed to be a blade attempt to pierce his skin; however, thanks to his blessing of impenetrability, he stood unphased.

The man let out a pained scream, as his back impacted the wall at an incredible velocity. A few of his bones cracked at the shock caused by the bricks. As an imprint was left where he crashed.

He panted heavily, as blood began to pour down from all over his body, as his green, rage filled, dilated pupils glared aggressively at Reinhard.

Subaru, who was lost the entire time, looked down at Diavolo in both shock and pity, as he tried to lead him onto the right path only minutes ago.

Reinhard turned around, rubbing the back of his fist on the side of his attire whilst keeping up his smile, before looking down at Diavolo; who still glared at him.

"H-How… It's impossible…" Diavolo contemplated, his anger beginning to fade into amazement.

No one had ever been able to predict the power of King Crimson. Even Golden Experience Requiem was forced to reverse his ability in order to stop him. So what did this man do to predict his movements?!

"It took a little practice; but after your first attack, I was quickly able to figure out how you moved because of my blessing of foresight." Reinhard stated.

"I must say though; your speed is completely unstoppable. It is concerning. I'm sure if you had attacked me first I wouldn't be prepared for it." Reinhard remarked inquisitively.

"B-Blessing…" Diavolo muttered this one phrase, before passing out onto the cold concrete face first.

After staring at the man for a while, Reinhard turned to Subaru, who was just standing there watching the fight unfold.

"I have a feeling you weren't actually involved in this." Reinhard stated, his smile dropping as he stared at Subaru.

"Y-Yeah! But, wait a second, how did you know that?" Subaru looked at him confused.

Reinhard chuckled a bit, before putting his smile back up as quickly as he put it down, dropping his guard to Subaru.

"Let's just say I am a good judge of character." He casually said.

"R-Right. Uh, I humbly apologize for my associates actions. I really wasn't expecting him to kill anyone like that. B-But in his defense… as much as I can really defend him… the group had threatened to rob us with weapons." Subaru tried to reason with the knight, who just kept up his smile.

"It's quite alright. What was your name?" The man asked, holding up a hand.

"A-Ah! Subaru Natsuki, Sir Reinhard…Sir!" He tightened up and gave the map a firm handshake.

This only made Reinhard smile brighter before chuckling for a moment.

"No need to be so formal with me, Subaru." He looked over at the corpses and his smile quickly faded.

"It's a shame I couldn't get here faster." He looked down.

Subaru turned to look at the now passed out Diavolo, as he laid on the cold hard grounds of the alleyway.

He couldn't muster up any sort of sympathy for him, as much as he wanted to try. Whoever Diavolo was before their meeting, whatever he did, he was corrupted. It was evident in his actions, in his very words.

He sighed, before remembering his goal. He had to save her, he had to save all of them.

"O-OH! I just remembered I have something to do!T-Thanks again Reinhard Sir! I mean Reinhard!" Subaru fled away