5

"Hey kid… you don't look so good…" The appa stand owner peered into the boy; with eyes of concern.

His eyes seemed almost lifeless; as he now was beginning to understand the situation he was in.

Subaru stood, still comprehending what just happened a few seconds ago.

The first thing DIavolo saw upon opening his eyes, was that idiot, still alive..

Emperor's Takeover : Chapter 5 Neverending

Subaru backed away from the stand after a few moments, Diavolo knew it wasn't worth intervening this time.

He turned to Diavolo; causing his eyes to fill with shock.

"O-Oh…. It's you." Subaru coughed, nervously twiddling his thumbs. It wasn't hard to notice he was not excited about their reunion.

Diavolo simply sighed, when they split up back at the alleyway, something clearly happened to Subaru. His entire demeanor was completely different from when they were initially looping.

"H-Hey mayb-"

"We should put an end to this nonsense once and for all." Diavolo cut in before Subaru had a chance to speak.

Subaru nodded, looking down.

Diavolo wasn't necessarily very caring or even nice; but if he wanted to make any progress; it seems like he'd have to try to appeal to Subaru's emotions. Absolutely pathetic.

They made their way to a fence overlooking a lake this time, it was more secluded, and passive in comparison to other environments in Lagunica. The sun reflected beautifully onto the bright blue water.

"We aren't going to be making any mistakes this time." Diavolo gave Subaru a disapproving look.

The boy raised a brow back, still thrown back by the ruthless nature of Diavolo.

"No. But we are saving all of them." Subaru still couldn't back down, even in this state.

Diavolo scoffed as his eyes closed, this moron was still throwing extra problems into the mix.

"That's-... how exactly do you plan to do that?" Diavolo questioned him

"With you, of course." Subaru pointed at Diavolo cheekily, his gleeful nature somewhat returning somehow.

"You expect me to-" Diavolo stopped and realized, this was inevitable.

HIs eyes shut, as he crossed his arms looking down shamefully.

"Why do I even bother..." Diavolo gave up; knowing he literally couldn't fight back against him in this reality.

Subaru just gave him a worried look; was it really so hard to go out of his way to help someone?

Diavolo knew just as well running away was out of the question too, if Subaru dies, he get sent back, this was already established loops ago.

"So what are we going to do?" Diavolo shot another question towards Subaru,

"Well… I don't know about you but; I think by now I have a pretty good idea of the order of events, especially around the loot-house." Subaru began.

"Just tell me where I fit into this." Diavolo growled,

"For starters, no more killing, especially as you did in that last loop; I'm still shocked you went so far…" Subaru reminisced chills running down his spine at the thought..

"No more killing? Are you stupid? Wait… Nevermind you ARE stupid." Diavolo ended his thought.

"And no more of that either!" Subaru pointed at Diavolo, who tilted his head.

"What?" Diavolo was still confused as Subaru stared at him with annoyance.

"This is annoying.." Diavolo sighed putting his hand on his temple, 'tell me about it!' Subaru thought,

"Who made you the one to call our shots anyway? If it were up to me we would be long gone by now; past this 'saving' nonsense. Dying is a natural part of life, move on fool." Diavolo towered over Subaru, in a hopes to gain some high-ground. Dying is a natural part of life; making Diavolo and Subaru very unnatural.

"I mean… I'm not going to force you to help me or anything, not like I could anyway. But I know that you're the only other person who consistently remembers what happens when I die, and by extension of that, you're sent back with ME every single time. If anything, it's it's clear we are linked to the same chain here." He reasoned

'He's finally starting to use that brain of his. I can't necessarily argue with that logic either.' Diavolo observed

"Hmph, it appears you aren't a complete idiot after all. You're still a long way away from my respect however." Diavolo commented, a little impressed.

"I told you to stop that!" Subaru pitched in annoyed.

"I will still kill when I deem it required though. It is the most effective solution in most cases." Diavolo seriously replied

"Clearly we are going to have to set some boundaries here…" Subaru sighed

"*Ahem*, anyway; I think the best way to go about this is to get as much firepower against that Elsa woman as we can. I say we enlist the help of that knight guy who made clean work of you, and maybe even try and find that girl agai-" Subaru cheekily went back to the topic,

Diavolo's aura pressure increased, Subaru looked a little scared by this.

"Are you insane? Did you even see what he was capable of?" Diavolo raised his voice, surprising the boy.

"W-What? That's exactly what i'm talking about here! If he can beat someone as strong as you, then clearly he won't have an issue with El-" Subaru was caught off guard as Diavolo stepped in front of his face.

"You're missing the point. That man… Reinhard Van Astrea, he is one of the most dangerous individuals in this world. Absolutely NO ONE, is able to out-predict or withstand the sheer power of my stand. Yet… He did it with such ease… with so called 'blessings'."

Those blessings were a serious problem; How would he even start to penetrate them? Perhaps he would need to study the 'magic' of this world.

"Uh… Y-you're point is?" Subaru was still confused

"My point is… What if he remembers? " Diavolo paused… what was he even saying?

He was so humiliated by a mere knight, a pesky insect.

He's just a man at the end of the day, a man with too much luck for his own good.

But if he joins forces with them; it's possible he could sense through lies, or even recover past memories like him and Subaru have. Nothing is out of the question for blessings.

Is it really worth having an asset that could incapacitate you at any moment?

"If he remembers… " Subaru exhaled loudly running his hand through his hair

He thought for a moment, before coming to a consensus,

"Look, I don't know what happened when we separated; but if it would make you less….. Irritated, then how about we call off asking for his help? You're strong… right?" Subaru had a warm expression on his face, as he held up his hand in a fist.

Diavolo reflected on the action, but also thought about the implications.

Why would he do this for him? What does he seek to gain?

He's exhausted this boy, treated him like absolute dirt, and yet, he still goes out of his way to appease him?

Diavolo choose not to return the gesture to the boy, who disappointedly lowered his hand.

"I think these terms are more acceptable." Diavolo looked into the distant water, his hair flowing in the wind. His face was as stoic as it usually was, but there was a hint of ease that only his eyes reflected.

Subaru stared at him, a smile fitting on his face. Looks like there is a chance he can go on the right path after all.

They made their way to the loot-house swiftly; barley saying anything to each other the entire trip.

"You shouldn't be dumb enough to require an explanation of what is going to happen here by now, right?" Diavolo seriously asked the boy; still very traumatized by the sight of the building.

"I think I've got a clear understanding. First, we get in with their password, then, we try to convince Felt and Rom we are buyers, and you handle Elsa, and finally we get that insignia and give it to the girl.." Subaru replied.

"Very close Subaru, you're just missing one key aspect. After that; we are doing things my way, are we clear?" Diavolo gave a terrifying gaze to his companion, as he nodded anxiously rubbing his arm.

"Excellent." Diavolo smiled, looks like things are finally going to go his way.

Subaru walked up to the door, knocking a few times.

A familiar voice spoke;

"For a rat…"

"P-Poison?" Subaru stuttered

"God fucking damn it…" Diavolo facepalmed, did he know the password or not?

"For the white whale…"

"A…. spear." Subaru answered somewhat confidently.

The old man paused for a moment…

"To the noble dragon we are…."

Subaru paused himself, as he already forgot what she had said before…

"Doppio help me out!" Subaru whispered to his companion, who didn't have a clue himself.

"Hm…. Trash." Diavolo guessed for him.

"Close enough." The man unlocked the door.

"Oh?I don't recognize you 2 but ya' know the password… are ya' buyers?" The giant man sized both of them up, putting a finger on his chin.

'Where is Felt?!' Subaru didn't see her anywhere inside.

"Y-Yes, we're here to offer a counter offer for that insignia Felt went out to get." Subaru pitched in quickly.

Diavolo nodded, crossing his arms.

The man picked up his club, which was now placed next to the door, and moved over to the bar which Subaru was very familiar with.

…

"Hm… and yer' offerin' a metia?" He began drinking some substance from a glass he poured earlier.

Subaru had done this too many times to not have this down to a science.

"Exactly; and it's got some pretty good value to it; i'd gage possibly 20-25 holy coins right off the bat." Subaru winked, as a professional salesmen for metia's.

"I've never seen one in person… I'd fetch around that too, this seems like it's in good condition; 20 tops." He replied examining and testing the phone.

"Well; I suppose when Felt comes back we'll have to wait for the other buyer; from then on we'll negotiate a final offer and one of ya will walk out with it." Rom concluded this.

"Right… the other buyer. You know I've heard rumors about them." Subaru began to scheme a little.

"Rumors?" Rom raised his brow

"Yeah… I hear she is a complete psychopath! She like… kills for fun! Gutting em' up and stuff." Subaru dramaticized his tale, adding some of his personal experience.

The man burrowed into laughter for a good minute after hearing this.

"Bwahaha, there's easier ways to denounce competition boy. You must really need this thing if you're willin' to lie like that about them." He began to calm down.

"I-I promise! I heard it from a good source… Y'know, a couple other people she's bought from before." Subaru was not very convincing.

"We'll just have to see if them rumors are true, won't we?" Rom poured some more liquid into his gigantic cup.

"And you!" Rom pointed to Diavolo; downing his cup.

Diavolo tilted his head.

"Me?" He pointed to himself

"Are you like; his bodyguard? To protect him from this 'psychopath'" He moved closer in a little drunk.

"That is basically the arragment." Diavolo accepted this.

Subaru almost cried; they had come so far from being completely distant strangers.

"Hmph, Then maybe I should be a little worried." Rom got a little more serious.

"They are not of any concern." Diavolo smiled to himself, she really was nothing to him.

Subaru didn't ever forget what this man has done. He knows Diavolo is strong, too strong for his own good, and he has secrets. There is something wrong with his mindset, but what could he even say at this point?

"Heh; Well I can just tell yer' strong. I'll trust ya' then." Rom chuckled, his aura really didn't ever stop pressuring him since they entered.

After a few more hours, someone eventually knocked on the door.

Diavolo activated Epitaph instantly, his hair flew in front of his face, covering it completely.

He saw a future; the door had opened, and he saw a familiar girl.

He eased up; as his hair fell back down.

Subaru looked at Diavolo shocked; what the hell even was that?!

Rom went over to open the door asking the same questions yet again,

Subaru lowered his arm as his heart rate returned to normal; once the door was finally unlocked Felt stepped through.

"Hm? Who are these guys?" Felt looked up at Rom confused

"Whatcha' mean; they said they came here to buy that thing ya' just stole." He replied confused by the question.

"Nah; I ain't ever seen em. This feels sketchy." Felt looked at them a little concerned.

"Y-You don't remember? I thought I told you back at your tent I was gonna give you a killer counter-offer for that thing." Subaru was quick to try and manipulate the situation in his favor.

"Except I ain't ever seen you before stranger; Though you do have my attention with a possible counter offer." She caught on

"Rom; What's he offering?" She looked back at the giant, who quickly answered.

"20 holy coins; he's got a metia with him." Subaru raised the phone as proof.

"Hm… this all still feels a little weird. But I guess I'm not going to argue with that." Felt shrugged

"Now we just have to wait for the other buyer." Subaru sat down into one of the wooden chairs, as Diavolo just stood with his arms crossed.

"Why do ya' even want this thing for?" Felt held up the insignia as it glowed mysteriously.

"Well; I have a good spot to put it back at my place. I think I can give it a good home." Subaru lied.

"So; you're kinda like a collector then?" She put it back into her pouch.

"Yeah something like that. I can't get enough of nice looking things." Subaru was now fully in character.

Diavolo was a little impressed by his quick-wit, it seemed things were going to finally come to a conclusion.

"Fair enough I guess. What's his deal?" She pointed at Diavolo; who gave her a terrifying look.

She shivered from his presence alone.

"All you need to know; is that he's going to protect us." Subaru said while nodding.

"Protect us?" She raised a brow at this; protect them from what exactly?

"The kid says that the other buyer is some kinda psycho; it's just rumors though." Rom chimed in.

"Hmph; if they try anything their no match for Rom; I know that for sure." She crossed her arms confidently with a smirk.

'Don't be so sure brat.' Diavolo chuckled remembering the man lose his arm in a previous iteration.

…

Time passed; as Subaru kept telling various stories to Rom and Felt about his various 'collection items' which involved a series of game consoles and trophies he had owned from the real world.

"So… You're saying that you had been given a trophy for running… that's it?" Felt sat at the bar table drinking milk; meanwhile bonding with Subaru over his various tales.

"Yeah; I actually used to be a pretty good track runner." Subaru boasted.

"Well I guarantee you aren't faster than me. If I did that 'track' thing i'd probably be swimming in those trophies." The girl teased him and thought about the possibilities; knowing she could move at whirlwind speeds.

"Well; I don't think they account for people who can-" Subaru was cut off by a knocking again.

He turned to the door, it was definitely Elsa.

He looked over at Diavolo; who was yet again covering his face with his hair somehow.

"Prepare yourself." Diavolo warned him, epitaph predicted she would arrive.

"This must be that buyer, huh?" Subaru was shaking in his chair, trying to pretend to remain calm.

"Yeah, should be around the time they get here." Rom nodded, going to open the door.

When the door finally opened, Elsa stood; wearing that same grin she never let go of.

'Should I just finish her now?' Diavolo wondered, he knew she was capable of surviving fatal injures, but to what extent? He'd also have to account for the others reactions. Subaru wouldn't be pleased if they didn't receive that insignia morally, and the others likely wouldn't take kindly to murder, they haven't seen her mask slip yet.

Diavolo stepped up; managing to somehow be taller than her.

She stared at him; as Rom walked back to the bar.

"Can I help you…?" Her amethyst almost pitch black eyes blinked.

"How much are you offering for the insignia woman?" He asked her outright; much to everyone else's shock.

"..." She paused, before reaching for her pouch containing the coins.

She lifted it up in front of everyone,

"Twenty holy coins." She replied gleefully.

Rom looked over at Subaru and back at her,

"Any more then 20?" He asked

"No." She quickly answered him.

"Then it's settled, the boy gets the insignia." Rom announced.

The woman went silent.

Actually, the entire loot-house went silent, no one had expected Diavolo who was quiet the entire time to do something like that.

"U-Uh that's not usually how we handle negotiations but… I guess it's settled then…" Felt awkwardly commented, reaching for the insignia.

The woman prepared to speak, but quickly stopped, and then giggled to herself.

"My, I really was not expecting this." She sighed

"Yeah… we really weren't either." Rom tried to ease the tension but didn't really know what else to say.

Subaru in the meantime, was just wondering when she was going to attack.

"I guess you'll be off then." Diavolo stared at her, grinning. Serves her right.

She couldn't hold her smile at this comment, it was just rubbing salt in the wound. Her eye twitched slightly

"Is that so?" She quickly regained her signature insane smile, as her eyes went completely dark.

"Yeah. It is." He dryly added.

The silence was cut off by Elsa almost instantly slashing at Diavolo; who dodged her slash effortlessly.

"Pathetic." He stared down at her.

She turned shocked he could move so quickly.

"W-Woah! He moved so fast!" Felt couldn't even keep track of him, backing away from the doorway.

"Just who are you?" She questioned whilst looking directly into his cold eyes, her smile was gone now.

"A monarch of change." He stood in defiance to her and raised out his arms, as King Crimson appeared from nothingness.

"Because soon…

No one will stand in my way"

"We'll see about that!" She slashed at him,

"KING CRIMSON!"

He activated Time Erasure, as the loot-house shattered into nothingness.

He floated behind her as her phantom began to slash at his previous position,

He then called upon his stand to slash at her head, as time was erased before it struck.

…

"Because soon, no one will stand in my way!" Subaru watched as Diavolo boasted, before Elsa prepared to attack him again.

"We'll see about that!" Elsa lunged at him, as he stood confident.

"Diavolo! Look ou-

-t"

Before Subaru could even say anything, Elsa's head began to fly upwards decapitated, and Diavolo stood behind her with a horrifying blank expression.

Her body collapsed to the floor, and her head soon landed afterwards.

"W-Woah!" Felt jumped back surprised, as Rom looked shocked at the display.

'I never forgot just how strong this guy is!' Subaru gasped in a mix of relief that it was over, and fear of what was to come.

"The Insignia?" Diavolo walked over her corpse without thought, holding out his hand to the girl.

"S-Sure." She passed it over without second though, still processing what just happened.

"Subaru." He looked over at Subaru, who instinctivly reached for his phone and put it onto the table.

He was Subaru's bodyguard, yet he looked so unnerved to be protected by him.

"We will be leaving now." Diavolo spoke for the both of them, as Subaru blinked.

"S-Stay safe!" Subaru waved to them as he followed Diavolo out of the loot-house looking down anxiously at the corpse, as Felt and Rom stared at the corpse which was now in front of the door in shock and disgust.

"Y-Your just gonna' leave?!" Felt yelled out pissed off.

"Uh… I…I guess so? Are we not gonna help them out with this Doppio?" Subaru was still unsure about everything, turning to his protector.

He groaned in annoyance, why did he have to worry about such insignificant things all the time.

"It's not our problem, it's the responsibility of the owners." Diavolo retaliated.

"So it's our responsibility to dispose of the bodies of people you decapitate within our property…?" Felt's eye twitched in anger and resentment.

"You heard me. We are only here for the damn insignia." Diavolo glared at her, as she didn't try to further antagonize him after what she witnessed him do.

"R-Right." She gulped, as Rom looked over concerned.

"I didn't realize you were spreadin' rumors about yourselves. If I weren't a good judge of character i'd say you were more psychopathic than that woman." Rom commented, a little betrayed.

"You don't know anything about us. Let's leave already fool." He kept walking signaling for Subaru to follow him, until he stopped to see Epitaph activate on it's own. An alert from the future.

"This bitch…." He gritted his teeth. She really didn't know when to stay down and die.

He turned around, as Subaru looked at him confused and a little annoyed.

"What?" He turned around too, to see Elsa was now standing where she had once been killed.

"S-She's alive?!" Subaru was awestruck.

"Let me guess, a blessing?" Diavolo walked towards her, as her neck began to reattach her head to her body, a scar being left where it was cleanly cut.

The moonlight illuminated the desolate rocky landscape, as Diavolo's crimson aura cast bloody reflections onto the ground beneath him.

She was not happy, as she didn't even bother to reply to him, lunging towards him at impossible speeds with two blades in hand. She put so much power into this lunge, her foot had cracked from the sheer force.

No matter how fast she could be; it was no match for Diavolo.

Subaru jumped out of the way quickly.

Diavolo dodged effortlessly, as Subaru had landed in an entirely different place from where he had jumped, it felt like he had cut to the landing before he even reached the air.

"W-What the?!" He looked around wondering where he was now, it was almost like he teleported to a different part of land.

He saw Diavolo standing next to him.

Elsa had stopped in her tracks, her foot mangled from the launch.

She turned to see Diavolo standing a impressive distance away from her.

"You're a problem." She knew that much, panting in exhaustion.

"I'm much more than that." He swiftly replied, now somehow being behind her.

Subaru looked to his side and just realized Diavolo teleported again.

She gasped in surprise, as she tried to turn around and slash at him, but it was too late.

Her arms were slashed off before that, as blood pooled out from both sides. And her limbs hit the ground.

She wouldn't let up, as she then tried to kick him with her legs, but those were quickly dismembered too, as she was almost instantly on the ground.

By now she was just a head and a torso.

"You've lost this time Elsa." He spit onto her face in genuine resentment, making sure to kick what little left of her was on the ground with his foot.

She yelled out in rage, trying to bite at him with what little movement she could still muster.

Diavolo could only laugh at this, she was truly put in her place this time.

"Die" He didn't even bother to erase time, simply slashing her head clean off a second time with King Crimson's hand, and finishing it of with a incision across her entire body, splitting it in half.

A enormous pool of blood formed under her remains.

"Let's see you come back from that." Diavolo examined her mutilated and deformed body.

Subaru got up, walking over to Diavolo who stood over Elsa.

"Is it finally over?" He questioned, holding back the urge to throw up at the grotesque imagery before him.

"No, I don't think she can actually die. Not by traditional means at-least." Diavolo acknowledged this, blessings in this world were no joking matter. If people like Reinhard can exist, then she is capable of being utterly immortal.

"W-What was that just now? With all the teleporting?" Subaru was actually wondering this since Diavolo's first display of power.

"Explaining that to you would probably require you to use more than 0.2% of your brain, and I don't want to have us reset again so I'd rather not cause your head to explode." Diavolo replied.

"..." Subaru was dumbfounded, had they actually made any progress in this relationship?

"For now, we'll have to bring this pendant to that elf girl. That might be a little difficult though, we don't have a lot of information about her." Diavolo planned ahead, he would have to deal with this quickly if he wanted to actually start making progress on escape from this world.

"Maybe we should wait here? I'm pretty sure she's going to wonder here eventually anyway." Subaru added actually useful input to the conversation.

"Hm… you actually raise a good point. I suppose we will do that then." Diavolo considered this..

"Wait just a minute!" Felt stepped forwards, as they were still relitivley close by the loot-house premises.

"For fucks sake…" Diavolo groaned, already tired of these morons.

"How many times do I have to tell you, we aren't going to-" Diavolo stopped, upon actually noticing another girl next to Felt.

Subaru instantly recognized her, happy she was still safe.

"Is it true? You have my insignia?" The girl looked somewhat concerned.

Diavolo chuckled, it seems that Felt girl was trying to get back at them for making a mess. So much for buyer confidentiality.

"It-" Diavolo was interuptted

"Y-Yes! We actually were planning on returning it to you." Subaru answered with love-struck eyes.

Felt's expression quickly shifted into pure horror as she came to the realization Subaru had lied to her the entire time about being a collector.

"R-Really?!" The elven girl's eyes softened upon hearing this.

"You scumbags! I thought you were actually going to buy that!" Felt kicked the ground in protest.

"To be fair; we did buy it." Subaru corrected her, but she wasn't having any of it.

"Bleh! Screw off!" She made a childish face towards them before flipping them off and running back into the loot-house.

"More importantly, here!" Subaru showed her the pendant.

Her eyes lit up as she took it from his hands.

"What a relief, how can I even repay your for this?" She asked seriously.

"Hm… How can you repay us?" Diavolo asked outloud. Clearly looking to get as much as he could from this.

"OH! How about you're name?" Subaru added

"My name…? You hardly know me but you want my name?" She blinked a few times at this, unsure how to respond.

Diavolo had the extreme urge to strangle Subaru, it was almost impossible to keep in check.

"You bet! Mine's Subaru by the way. Natuski Subaru." He held out his hand for a formal greeting.

"Well, I suppose you retrived my insignia for me. Thought I hardly know you…" She hesitated for a moment.

"Emilia." She replied finally, smiling brightly and shaking Subaru's hand.

'What a stupid name.' Diavolo aleady found a way to be negative.

"That's a nice name!" Subaru smiled even brighter.

"Well; now that we have sorted that out. How about some of the 'other' ways you can pay us back? Particually… with holy coins?" Diavolo immedietly shifted back to business.

Emilia was somewhat unnerved by Diavolo in comparison to Subaru, wondering how to answer his question politley.

"I suppose you did go out of your way to buy it back, but the issue with that is that I don't actually carry any coins with me." She embarrisingly admited.

"So…You have absolutley nothing for us…" Diavolo turned to Subaru with dreadfully dark eyes.

Subaru was quick to jump to the next question,

"D-Do you have anything to pay us back with at your home?" He asked nervously.

"Actually, since I finally have my insignia back I was planning to head back to the manor I've been staying at, I'm sure that Roswaal, the owner who's been letting me stay there would be willing to give you some kind of reward for helping me."

"Manor? You make it sound like you're rich royalty or something." Subaru commented.

"I am a royal selection candidate after-all…" She replied nervously, looking down.

Subaru's jaw dropped to the floor, meanwhile Diavolo began to think of the potential here.

"I'll be speaking for both of us then; We'll come with you to the manor to discuss terms for a reward with this 'Roswaal'." Diavolo stepped up. Subaru continued to stare at Emilia like an idiot.

TO BE CONTINUED