7

Before I could process it, I had returned to the carriage which had brought me and the boy to the Roswaal manor hours before. I was alive, and it was perplexing, considering how long I was 'dead' in our last iteration. Somehow, I could even remember that. The feeling of dying was something I was all too used to after all; but I actually had started to lose myself in that time. I still wasn't entirely used to the disorienting feeling that followed being sent backwards in time, and I looked over to Subaru, who expressed pale lifeless eyes. It seems he was still worse off than me. Figures though, he was inexperienced, and worse yet, stupid.

It took a few minutes of sitting there to finally adjust, I took the time to note it was still dark outside; meaning there was still time to plan accordingly before we both arrived. It was also worth noting that the location we had returned to was different. I had wondered if the change in location correlates to events which transpired in the loop we just underwent. Or maybe before?

What had influenced this sudden change, though? Was it perhaps caused by us finally making it through the night? Saving those people? Possibly even Subaru's state of mind? Nothing is out of reach here unfortunately.

I can't rule out the possibility that Subaru possesses a stand too. Many signs point to such a prospect, but there aren't any concrete details that can confirm it. He doesn't actually know what a stand is either, which makes conversing about it significantly more difficult. Furthermore; the scent of the 'witch' of envy appears to follow us. Clearly the last thing we need right now, following the many events we've already triggered.

I paused to see Subaru finally blink in front of me, his face contorting to panic in a matter of seconds. It was proven to me he wasn't very mentally stable after our last encounter. It makes sense, but it is still not very convenient for me. The last thing I want to do is comfort him.

Upon seeing him frantically panic, I then remembered the pain which flooded me upon being crushed by the bludgeoning force of the maid's mace, the agony I had felt for those few moments before she destroyed my head. She was going to pay, there is no doubt there.

That moment I had blundered; it was completely avoidable. If I had just used that magic door from before, perhaps I could have escaped her clutches; although it seemed we were fated to die despite my or her interventions.

Subaru then turned to me after blinking for a few seconds, his eyes darting up and down my body, he seemed somewhat relieved about something, perhaps acknowledging that I was alive. As fast as he awoke, he began to calm down and soften his expression.

I observed him open his mouth,

"D-Doppio-" his lips opened slightly, as if he was struggling to get the words out.

'"What do you want?" I cautiously asked, wondering if he was going to discuss important things.

"Can we talk? You know, after everything that just happened?" Subaru shivered in either the cold or at the mere thought of what happened, as he whispered for some reason beyond me. Although, I didn't really understand why he wanted to talk to me about it.

I then sighed, rubbing my eyes. If there was anything to be thankful for regarding Subaru, it was his ability to pick up on things. His unneeded willingness to save others was in contrast problematic for me though, as it had caused too many complications and external factors that make the loops we're in complicated.

"What is there to discuss? We failed." I simply said, folding my arms. The boy looked at me with disheartened eyes.

"If anything, we'll need to change our approach." I scoffed, I was clearly not as powerful as before in Italy. The proof is evident in my encounter with Reinhard. This was frustratingly unexplainable, besides my appearance in Lagunica. What the hell even changed?

That also begs the question; why has fate proven constant for me in the face of such a man?

"Well… I agree and… I've been wondering this for awhile but, do you mind explaining your power to me?" Subaru raised his voice a little, immediately covering his mouth not wanting to wake up Emilia from my assumption. At the same time, I was surprised at this sudden shift in Subaru.

I sighed again, I already came to the resolve that I would need to explain King Crimson sooner or later to this idiot. It was just whether or not he was smart enough to understand my explanations. The only other I had ever been forced to describe the complexity of King Crimson to was Doppio, but even he had trouble understanding its many attributes. I took a deep breath,

"...Alright, listen closely then. My power is not as simple as teleportation or magnificent speed as you may initially think."

I took another deep breath, this was going to be a mouthful but he would have to know.

"First, let's cover what a stand is." I started,

Subaru nodded, he was looking at me attentively. The question was how long he would stay that way.

"I possess an ability known as a 'stand'. In essence, a stand is the manifestation of a person's will, it is their spiritual power given form." I explained.

"Ok… how exactly do you… have this?" Subaru questioned. He was already making me lose focus of what I was talking about, but I had to keep up.

"If you would let me explain…" my eyebrow twitched at his curiosity, increasing my aura.

He flinched, pursing his lips.

"I have this ability because my will is strong enough. That's all there is to it." I really didn't know how else to say it. Some people demonstrated strong enough spiritual potential to not need a stand arrow. It was as simple as that for me.

"Right…" Subaru seemed to squint his eyes at this.

"More to the point, all stands provide their users with a unique ability, usually corresponding to what they desire most in the moment it is unlocked."

"And essentially, I've been granted the ability to alter fate…or to change reality, in a sense." I started, hoping this was enough for him to understand.

"Alter fate?" Subaru wondered to my disappointment, it was time for the long explanation.

"Okay- think of it like this. Imagine a piece of toast standing idly on a table… and… some observers. The toast represents me, and I can choose to change fate because I am unbound by it, but not the table or any of the observers unless they are bound by a similar fate to mine, or a fate which I know will transpire for them." I tried my best to explain with simple concepts for Subaru to grasp.

Subaru was keeping track, nodding diligently, it seems using toast as an example was enough for his brain to process.

"Originally, let's say that I, the piece of toast, was to fall and land flat onto the table. Well, with my stand's intervention, I can instead fall in the other direction… or, stay standing, or even move from my original place; basically, anything else. The key difference being, when fate is actually changed, a secondary piece of toast, which is where my perspective moves to, is created in another reality. Meanwhile, the previously mentioned observers only can see the original fate transpiring for the toast." I explained the best I could.

"Ok… but this seems needlessly complicated?" Oh Subaru, if only you knew.

"It doesn't stop there, so pay attention. We've established that the toast can be altered, and we've established that there are 2 pieces of toast, in 2 different realities, and finally that the observers only see 1 of these 2 realities. So, say, for instance, the toast in the original reality was to fall, and in the second, it stood. In this reality all observers have their perspective on what happens, the toast will still technically fall, to everyone who is watching it fall in that reality, but the toast will still stand, to me who makes it stand in that second reality. What happens now is, when the toast actually falls it now stands, and then, time is erased during this small period, in which the toast is going from falling to standing, and both realities are merged. Consequently, everyone who was paying attention to the toast before, has now forgotten how it arrived to such a point, except me who made it stand. The toast will stand, but no one will know how or why it is standing, and will assume it was originally supposed to be standing in the first place. Additionally, it may feel like you skipped a couple of seconds forwards in time after time has been erased." I caught my breath after such a long winded explanation. Hoping the readers and Subaru would understand.

"So then… the toast can freely move during this 'time erasure' and no one will understand how or why or even when it is moving then?" My, he is actually paying attention? This was a great development.

"Yes, and no one is able to remember as a result, in most cases." I affirmed this.

"And the toast moves in a sort of limbo dimension when time is being erased?" Subaru asked another good question, shocking me.

"Yes…and no. My secondary ability, Epitaph, allows me to see and predict 10 seconds into the future, whilst King Crimson allows me to actually interact and change said predictions for myself exclusively. Technically speaking though, there really is another reality that King Crimson accesses when time is being erased, and while the reality it creates is warped and broken, it still allows me to focus on exactly what I need to face in that moment." I answered.

"Ok then, how come I am able to feel or notice when time is skipped? If what you say is true, shouldn't I be oblivious like everyone else is?" Subaru put his thumb on his chin in a sort of thinking pose. I pondered the question he asked for a moment.

"Those who have had multiple encounters with King Crimson or direct encounters with its power can focus on it, from my observations. It's a subconscious development. Ideally, you wouldn't be able to even realize it exists and would be oblivious to it otherwise. It has to change something in a way that is relevant to what you are currently doing, and that way it is actually noticeable in that instance. Hence why, I often use the element of surprise to catch my enemies off guard." I crossed my arms, I still wasn't entirely sure how Giorno and the others were able to notice when time was erased back then like they had; But, I think this inference is conclusive regardless, a good example being Polneraff at that stairway those many years ago.

"So, based on what you've said then, If my fate was to die, and you knew it was…" Subaru started

"I could kill you during time erasure by manipulating your predestined fate, that is If I was certain your fate was to die." I finished, arms still crossed. I did something similar to Trish all those years ago, back when Buccirati was escorting her.

"And, If my fate was to live…" Subaru started again

"I could save you, doing the same. The way it happens does not matter. As long as fate is determined." I finished again, this was evident in our battle with Elsa, and even during the skirmish with Rem.

"... So… How did you lose to Reinhard then? Shouldn't you have been able to change your fate to win against him?" Subaru looked genuinely confused, naturally, I still wasn't sure myself.

"I've been thinking about it a lot ever since it happened. It could be a variety of things, most of them including possible blessings, but I think the key takeaway is that I've grown weaker. My fate then was to lose, and I somehow couldn't change that." It wasn't easy to admit, I've only lost 2 times before, to Giorno, and to that knight, Reinhard. Both cases of overwhelming power.

"My ability is still grand, but for some reason I have noticed such a drastic change. I was able to erase time for significantly longer periods, and however many times I had wanted, regardless of condition. But, now I feel as if I have become weakened by the transition to this world…" What even brought me here though? Some kind of miracle? A god? Perhaps even that witch?

"So what length of time can you erase now?" He stared at me. Continuing his train of actually provoking questions.

"Well, from what I have observed, I believe I can only erase up to five seconds… maybe less? Take the manor for instance, when the maid was attacking. I somehow didn't have the ability to save you and kill her at the same time, and with my limit, I had to think quickly. So hesitantly, I chose to save you in order to prevent another loop, I didn't want another situation like before with Elsa. However, it seemed at that point we were already out of options. Regardless of my fate, no amount of things I could've done there would've saved the both of us. You were clearly destined to die there, and I was out of energy due to the poison. Regardless of these facts though, I am unfortunately not able to assess someone's abilities and powers in under 30 seconds, especially in a world that is almost completely alien to me, we were defeated then.." I hate this feeling of defeat, but I know that things will be different now.

I noticed Subaru looked down now, and hoped he was starting to understand how much we needed to plan ahead.

"Look up, boy." I looked at Subaru, who raised his head at me yet again. His eyes filled with frustration.

"What am I even supposed to do then? I don't have a 'stand' or any sort of magic powers. All i'm really good for is dying in our arrangement!" He looked incredibly frustrated. Naturally though, I knew what we had to do.

I sighed again though, wondering where the spine I saw him display at the loot house had gone. I closed my eyes, and had invigorated myself with his idiotic energy for a moment.

"While, yes… You are very, VERY inconvenient to have my fate intertwined with. I must admit, you have spirit, and are not prone to giving up easily. As much as I can say I despise you… at the very least, know that I realize there is only so much you can do alone." I didn't stop looking at Subaru whilst saying this, who for some reason had been filled with a determined spirit at my words.

"So your saying…" Subaru finally began to have a realization it seemed. I continued,

"I'm saying it is finally time to stop this back and forth between us. We need to put our differences aside and work as a combined strength, rather than a divided one. You can't get out of this situation without my help, and I can't get out without yours. Do you understand?" I stared at him with my fiercest expression. I'd hoped he would finally listen to me.

"Yes. I understand!" Subaru smiled at this, he wore a dumb grin that made me want to throw him out of the carriage we had sat in.

"Then, from here on out, I shall lead us on the correct path. If you have any complaints, then have fun rotting in this loop with them." I stood my ground, hoping he would not defy me any longer.

Some shade covered his eyes for a moment, as he nodded slowly. He was still hesitant, but I expected as much. I don't care anymore.

A thought had then crossed my mind, it was something I was thinking about for the longest time now. My nature dictated that I shouldn't ever reveal such a thing, but I knew it was pointless to hide it any further here.

"One last thing, My name isn't Doppio…"

Subaru tilted his head at my comment, but I didn't stop at these words.

Now all shall be cast aside, and a new era will be forged by our hands.

"My name is…"

The weak will be purged, and the throne shall be cast by a true king, a true emperor.

"Diavolo."

I stopped now, looking away from Subaru. It took too much of my resolve to say something as simple as a name. Though considering my circumstances beforehand, it did seem reasonable I was not as willing to share such information without some kind of insurance.

When I looked back at Subaru, I was greeted with a grin, and a hand held out. I was confused to say the least.

"Nice to meet you, Diavolo."

Maybe I really should throw him out the carriage?

"A pleasure." My eyebrow seemed to twitch on it's own as I held back my fury.

…

The sun had begun to rise, I didn't sleep the entire night discussing the steps of my plan with Subaru. Somehow the girl managed to sleep through our entire conversation, I honestly forgot she was even with us.

"So, just to clarify here…." Subaru started, making me cringe.

"We're still going to ask to work here, then pretend to not know about them trying to kill us later tonight, and you are going to 'confront' Roswall?" Subaru summarized our plan like it was created by a 7th grader.

"I can't believe you are asking me again: Yes, we are going to feign ignorance. I'll handle everything, you just do me the favor of staying alive. Why don't you go and pick some flowers with the girl or something." I threw out my hand dismissively.

"So, you are going to kill them then?" Subaru deadpanned, as now it was quiet.

"Is that a problem?" I raised a brow, genuinely curious at his thoughts.

"I… I just don't like it. I know you're the one in charge here now… for real and all, but… in that time we spent with them, I felt like there was a sliver of something." He sighed, this naturally made me sigh as well.

"I don't see things the same. They murdered us outright, poisoned us, pummeled us, turned us into nothing but specks on the ground. Don't get me started on Roswaal either, he seemed to know more about us than he lets on, and I can't even begin to comprehend how he could possibly know we were arriving unless he was spying on us beforehand. " I argued against Subaru, not being able to understand his view.

"You really believe they are murderers?" Subaru began to show doubt in his face, but it didn't matter to me.

"I know they are. YOU know they are." I declared this, he surely knew better.

"I guess you would, huh?" Subaru muttered, looking into the trees. This comment made me flinch.

"What was that?" I questioned him, before he just shook his head.

"Nothing. Let's just get this over with." He answered defeated.

…

The sun was out fully now, as the carriage arrived at the gate of the Manor.

We return; with knowledge of the future. It's time to actually put it to use.

Subaru's habit of staring at Emilia was beginning to make me annoyed on queue, as I watched him place his hand against his cheek and tilt his neck to watch her. He was in some kind of bliss state, seeming to forget about our plan entirely. Typical.

I coughed loudly, as he jolted.

"E-Emilia.." He went over to wake the girl up, nudging her within the carriage. She slowly opened her eyes to look at both of us.

She yawned loudly, stretching her arms outwardly, "Did we arrive?"

"Yes. We've come to meet Roswaal as planned." I took charge, before the idiot could derail us further.

"Ah, well just know that Roswaal isn't a very typical nobl-"

"We know." Both of us had answered in unison, shocking Emilia, who pouted.

"W-Well excuse me then…." She looked down embarrassed.

We all stepped out the carriage, walking over to the front gates. Upon arriving, I looked at the vastness of the mansion again, it was truly magnificent. It was a shame that it would have to be stained.

I motioned for Subaru to follow me, who also motioned for Emilia, but as expected we were greeted by the familiar noble and his maid on our way to the entrance.

I hid my resentment as best I could, putting on a blank expression for Roswaal and the maids to bask at. Regardless of this however, he yet again flinched at my mere sight; further showcasing that whatever he had planned must have immediately shattered from my very arrival to this place.

But why did he even want Subaru? Was he a key in the puzzle that was this world? And just who was Roswaal?

"Greetings, your lordship." I had bowed to Roswaal like a rat, turning to ensure Subaru did the same, which thankfully he did. Emillia seemed very relieved at the sight of us showing proper manners to him, but I knew that it was only a matter of time until she would regret bringing us here.

"Myyyyyy, what a great display of etiquette. Youuuuu seem to recognize meeee." Roswaal smiled brightly, it was disgusting to me he could put on such a strong facade, though; who was I to judge another killer?

"Of course, the owner of such a plot of land like yourself deserves our complete respect, we appreciate your willingness to even converse with us." I kept up my boot-licking act, as Subaru stayed compliant to my relief. He was quiet which was all I really needed.

"Ahaaaaa, no need for such formaaaaalities. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. What were your names again?" Roswaal lowered the tension. Even with this, I still couldn't let my guard down. Rem was glaring at me as per usual, but for some reason she seemed even more bloodthirsty then in the last loop. There is an independent variable at play.

"My name is Doppio, and this is Subaru." I prefaced this with an open palm, doing my best to seem respectful to him.

Emilia nodded at this, meanwhile to my dismay Subaru seemed to pose as if he was a soldier in training. I prepared to kill him before Roswaal spoke again,

"Weeeeeell then, Subaru, Doppio. Please follooow me inside. It's apparent to me you've done a great service to Emilia."

As we yet again traversed the manors luxurious interior trailing the noble, thoughts of nostalgia yet again entered my mind. I couldn't think back during these precious moments however; as now was the time for action.

"This is quite the manor, Lord Roswaal." I commented, keeping up my act.

For a moment, he turned his head just to the point one of his eyes met mine, squinting for a second.

"Oh myyyy, such kiiiiiiiind words. I give alllll of my credit to my hardworking maids!" Roswaal kept walking whilst raising his arms in the direction of the maids in front of all of us, who continued to walk in unison.

"I uh-" Subaru spoke, but I quickly glared at him before he could fuck us over for the 100th time.

"Is something the matter Subaru?" Emilia perked up; somehow noticing the very difficult to hear words produced from his mouth. Of course she heard him…

"N-No. I was just thinking about how lucky I was to be in the presence of a great noble." Subaru backpedaled quite nicely, it seems those extensively long lessons I gave him during the planning phase had worked out quite nicely in my favor.

I nodded, affirming he had given the correct answer once he turned to me to make sure he was playing his part right. Though, ideally he wouldn't speak at all.

After passing through a couple more hallways, we eventually made our way to the dining room taking our seats. This time we knew not to eat the food; tempting as it was to partake. Though, perhaps asking the Emillia girl for some of her food would be a safe bet, albeit a little strange without looking suspicious to the threats in front of us.

A few minutes pass before Roswaal speaks,

"Now then, after hearing about your great efforts to retrieve dearest Emilia's insignia, it is in complete gratitude that I allow you to have anything you heart desires. Just say the word and I shall grant it to you!"

He got straight to the point this iteration; that's progress..

"Lord Roswaal, if you must insist; I partition that me and the boy be sanctioned here as new workers for your mansion."

He raised a brow at the request.

"Is that…. Reallllllly what you desire?" He titled his neck. He seemed to already know this would happen.

"Yes lord, after a discussion between me and the boy we've ultimately decided this would be the best way to repay you for your hospitality. As beforehand we had no money nor place to stay."

"Hmmmmmm…. Very well then; I shall heed your request and allow you to begin working here. Ram shall be your guide and fit you with outfits." He concluded.

"Our deepest gratitude." Both Subaru and I bowed and said this in unison.

"I insist you eat your fill; there is much work ahead for the both of you." Roswaal smiled softly raising his hands towards our still full plates.

"Yes, I also noticed neither of you have even taken a bite since we've sat down. You must be hungry; right?" Emilia blinked.

She was right about that; I was practically starving to death. But I knew better than to eat poisoned food, thankfully so did Subaru. It was difficult to fight the urge nonetheless.

"It is fine, we are both light eaters." I lied.

"H-He's right about that. I totally am not hungry at all… not in the least bit." Subaru began,

Ok you can stop now.

"Not in the tiniest smallest itsy bitsy bit." He continued

For the love of our maker please stop.

"AHEM! That's right Subaru I think they get the picture." I stopped him best I could. Of course we were now getting funny looks from Ram, Roswaal and Emilia, with the occasional death stare from Rem.

"Well I suppose it's off to work for us then." I de-escalated the situation.

"R-Right. I suppose that makes sense." Subaru chuckled awkwardly.

"Veeeery well…. Since you are so edgar to work; then I shall allow Ram to get your measurements and tailor you both ooooooutfits." Roswaal sent her off with us. But before we left, I had heard another private conversation between Rem and Roswaal with [King Crimson, hiding behind a door.

"What are you doing Doppio?" Emillia turned to ask this, while Subaru walked over to us.

"H-Hey Emillia, you should check out this trick I can do with my hands!" He distracted her while I got to work.

I listened in. Focusing to elevate my senses.

"They reek of the witch, I can't look at them without feeling rage. I fear that I will lose control if this keeps up." The girl whispered this.

"It is apparent that something is wrong here, Rem. Doppio isn't supposed to be here at all. Keep a watch of them both. They didn't take even a bite of their food." Roswaal gave a signal with his eyes.

"Of course Lord Roswaal." She nodded.

I'll be sure to give you all something to keep watch of.

…

Things proceeded according to plan. Thankfully it seems that even if they were on guard to our actions; they didn't seem suspect we had come from the past or had ulterior motives as far as I could tell. Subaru kept up his idiotic facade, as much as a facade as it could be, while I made a map in my mind of the manor.

At this point; I've already come to understand the inner workings of this mansion. It's divided into 4 floors, and splits off into 5 different key areas. I've identified that the library possesses magic attributes, and the girl inside is likely it's keeper. For the time being; she is an ally we can utilize when things start getting hectic; as it appears both me and Subaru are able to manipulate the doors in the manor nearing the library to take us to her consistently.

As for other areas, there is a clearing outside opposite to the entrance of the manor for which both I and Subaru can use as a means of escape, as well as a path leading to a cliffside.

There wasn't any thing else too exciting besides that; so I allocated my time to trying to better understand the world I was stuck in.

I still am having trouble deciding if day and night cycles work the same here as they do in my original world; but from the looks of it not much is different. From the look of the clouds and sun's position I gathered that it was currently the evening, so I'd have to act fast when the time comes.

I sat at a desk, studying the language of the world while Subaru still spent most of his ogling at Emillia or working. I tried not to let it bother me as I began to slowly piece together the similarities between this language and greek.

I had also managed to hide a kitchen knife whilst we were preparing food in order to attempt to be better armed. I typically relied on King Crimson's raw strength when dispatching my opponents, but after Reinhard or even Elsa I have come to doubts about it's efficacy.

My plan was rather simple; but it didn't need to be too complicated anyway. When Emilia would have gone to sleep and most of the residents in the manor have lowered their guards, I would sneak upon Roswaal and prepare to interrogate him. Since I still have limited knowledge of spellcraft and blessings; I'd be sure to take it upon myself to prevent him from being able to speak, move, or use his arms. Better safe than sorry. I would have already killed Rem, who was the biggest threat to Subaru, whomst I would hope would be residing in Beatrice's library as I instructed.

After I would finish interrogating Roswaal for as much information as I could gather; it would be time to initiate phase 2, in which I would find a way to steal ownership of his properties and wealth in order to best suit my needs. From there; I'd use these acquired funds to hire mages that could possibly free us from this curse, and hope there would be a way to return back to Venice the same way.

If this wasn't the case, then phase 3 would be initiated, in which I'll just kill Subaru again to see if anything changes.

Affirming these plans in my mind; I prepared myself. I looked through the glass window to see Subaru walking into the Manor as darkness began to fill the once bright sky. This was it.

I walked over to Subaru who made his way over to the rooms I resided at and stopped him.

He looked up at my curiously,

"So… Still gonna, -Kch-?" He did some sort of cut across the neck with his hand, as I connected the dots.

"Yeah. And I need you to stay in the library until I am done." I said coldly.

"Emilia is going to hate us. She's going to hate me… and all that time with Ram and Rem, it will be… nothing, won't it?" Subaru pouted, sadness overwhelming him.

"Listen Subaru, none of this matters in the end. Both of us aren't supposed to be here, and clearly whoever sent us here had devious intentions; seeing as you can hardly defend yourself, and I can hardly control myself. Don't you want to go home to your old life? See you old friends?" I sighed releasing a bit of frustration.

"But my old life sucks! This is new, this is different! I've never felt so free before, you know? I don't know about you but; I would hate to leave here, even if I am cursed with return by death. I just feel… free!" He looked optimistic for a moment, but it left his face the moment I was unphased.

"I'm not sorry about this Subaru. I'm going to get my revenge one way or the other." I looked disapprovingly at Subaru who had trouble looking back.

"Do what you must then… Just please don't hurt Emilia." Subaru was almost expressionless saying thing, clearly suppressing other thoughts he had about this.

"I promise not to lay a hand on her. As for the others; I can't make any guarantees about their survival." I told him the truth. The girl didn't have to die unless she had ruined my plans.

"F-Fine then. I don't care. None of this matters right?" Subaru seemed frustrated, but I didn't really care.

"Just go to the damn library before I change my mind and kill her too." I angrily pushed him aside wanting to continue my plan accordingly.

"You're sick. You know?" these were the last things Subaru told me before making his way into the Library using one of the many doors.

I rubbed my temple annoyed by his antics. I then reached for the kitchen knife I grabbed from the room I resided in and prepared to deploy the plan.

The sun was gone now, and the moon was out fully.

I held the knife out and carefully made my ascent towards what I had been told was Roswaal's bedroom. Epitaph was ready to warn me at any possible conflict approaching.

Well; epitaph had actually warned me just now.

"!" My hair flowed into my face as I had seen a playback of Rem smashing her flail into my stomach.

She's coming from the left side… I activated King Crimson as the world shattered, I moved the other way as she busted through one of the doors near Roswaal's room with bloodthirsty eyes and her oversized flail.

I deactivated King Crimson

She rammed it into where I was standing before as it barley missed me. She then stared at me with eyes of contempt as I glared at her.

"So… you really are disciples of the damn witches cult!" Rem spat out.

"I don't know what this damn cult is or who this damn witch is that keeps ruining my plans; but I'll kill you and then kill her next to put a fucking stop to it!" Rem threw her gigantic flail at me again which I easily dodged due to Epitaph.

She looked shocked at how easily I avoided her high speed attacks.

What I wasn't expecting was a horn to protrude from her head.

As this horn now began to sprout from her hair, she began to laugh wildly and saliva poured from her mouth. I felt an explosion in her aura as the windows around us shattered from the pressure.

I took a step back, surveying this.

"Not bad." I chuckled, grinning at her.

"SILENCE! DIE DIE DIE!" She chucked herself at me with no clear plan in mind as I had used epitaph and time erasure to easily dodge every attack she threw. She seemed manic.

The difference now was the speed of attacks, and I could only keep this up for so long.

I had decided enough was enough, as I stood against a wall awaiting for her to attack once more.

"You're slow!" I shouted at her, hoping she would hear through her mania.

She glared at me a fierce glare, before yelling and launching her flail and body at my now afterimage, as the flail had been stuck in the wall.

She struggled to pull it out, but not before I had erased time, appearing behind her brandishing the kitchen knife from before and stabbed her in the heart from behind.

In what was a shock to me, she wasn't dead after this, as she took the flail out from the wall and pulled the blade out of her chest, causing me to take some steps back in a mix of caution and confusion.

She threw the now bloodied blade onto the floor as it had clanged echoing through the halls, and she had dragged her flail on the ground whilst walking towards me.

"Is everyone in this world fucking immortal somehow?" I sighed getting annoyed at my continuous losing streak.

She looked at me with rage filled eyes, seemingly getting ready for another attack. But, before she could, her horn began to dissipate and her aura began to follow. After long, she was spitting out blood and her internal organs began to shut down. It was only a matter of time then until she hit the ground and died from her wounds.

"Y-You're going to suffer…." She seemed to mutter out these words before perishing.

A few moments now passed.

I looked in curiosity at her corpse wondering if she was really dead. I didn't take issue with a double tap. Using the hand of King Crimson, I sliced through her neck and decapitated the head of her now lifeless body. This was all the insurance I would need for now. I don't need another Elsa.

My objective was still not yet complete, as I had picked up the bloodied knife from the ground and entered Roswaal's room, knowing I was safe due to Epitaph.

As expected, he was waiting for me there, sitting calmly in a cushioned leather chair, whilst Ram had been standing beside him, now glaring daggers at me.

"You've been quite busy, haven't you?" Roswaal dropped his voice, as he didn't even turn his chair to face me, staring at the moonlight through the giant window in his room.

"Well, I am eager to work for you." I took some steps toward him, every step causing the flooring to echo through the damp room.

"Say, did you feel anything at all when you killed her just now?" He spoke again as I stopped. His voice unchanged.

I pondered the question for a moment, before answering.

"KIlling is killing." I took some more steps forward, as the distance was now closing between us.

Roswaal turned his chair to face me as I approached, his signature grin was completely gone, replaced with a unpleased frown.

"I don't know who you are, or what you want, but I assure you that whatever you are about to do will be something you forever regret." Roswaal stared at me saying this, as his hands began to glow a variety of colors as he smiled again.

"Heh, let's see it then.." I didn't stop closing the distance as I was now inches away from his desk.

Ram broke the tension by casting a wind attack from the corner of the room. Already predicting this, I had erased time appearing behind her similar to Rem.

She turned as her gaze filled with dread and shock.

"H-How-" She was cut off by blood filling her mouth as I had pierced her heart similar to Rem. Though there was little to no resistance this time. In moments her eyes turned dead as she hit the ground.

I turned to Roswaal now still holding the knife stained with the blood of the sisters.

Roswaal's face was still fitted with a smile, as strange orbs began to surround him.

"I wonder what she has in mind this time.." Roswaal said this seemingly to himself as he cast his orbs in my direction, but like any other attack towards me it was pointless thanks to epitaph.

What I didn't expect was the next vision I saw.

The entire mansion was about to be turned into smoke, he was casting some sort of explosive spell. That could kill Subaru.

"KING CRIMSON!" I yelled out, causing reality to break.

To him I seemed to flash in and out of reality as I erased time to dodge his attacks before he could cast this spell.

Before long, I closed the distance and proceeded to break both of his wrists with King Crimson, which seemed to cause his casting to end.

He yelled out in anguish as the screams echoed through the manor.

"What's the matter?" I mocked him as a sadistic smile filled my face. Tears streamed down his own as he looked down at his broken and mutilated wrists which began to bleed profusely.

"Your lordship, I actually happen to have a few questions for you." I shoved him out of the chair he sat in as I now took the seat, and he began to lay against the table next to it.

"Heh, you have questions? What a joke." Roswaal somehow smiled through all of the pain he was in, which made me conclude he was just insane.

"Oh come now, you know better than to undersell me you worthless sack of shit." I spit on him. Kicking him off the table onto his sides.

He looked up, his smile not fading.

"Why don't you answer one of my questions while you're at it. Who are you?" Roswaal glared at me.

"I'm your next great ruler, Diavolo." I raised out my arms in pride.

Roswaal began to chuckle at this, in what started as a simple crackle until it was full fledged hysterical laughter.

"Ho~ I don't remember telling any jokes." I proceeded to break one of his legs with King Crimson, the audible cracking of his bones protruding from the room we were in.

His laughter quickly dissipated after that, I looked in his eyes as I began to smile at him.

"Now back to the topic at hand." I then patted Roswaal down and found a book which he was carrying.

"Mind explaining this?" I held it out to him. It was definitely some kind of artifact.

He looked at me with solemn eyes.

"Well?" I pressed it against his face.

"It means nothing anymore." He said this truthfully.

"..." I looked at him displeased with the answer.

I opened the tome, and found it was filled with pages that held events correlated to Subaru, but they didn't match up to anything that had happened. I had even seen some events that were supposed happen in the future. It was some kind of, book of predictions. Clearly it's no match for my Epitaph.

"What is this, a relic?" I chuckled stuffing it into my back pocket. I could perhaps use this information later.

"You know, I didn't realize you were so interested in that boy. He isn't very noteworthy you know." I looked down at Roswaal who seemed pretty sick of this exchange at this point, as he no longer smiled.

"Just kill me already. You've already ruined everything, haven't you?" Roswaal sighed.

"I won't be leaving until you fess up and tell me every little detail about your plans. I have all. Fucking. Day." I stared at him unimpressed.

"Well, unfortunately for you; I've got other ideas." Roswaal looked up at me, then spat blood into my face.

Of course; I had already foreseen this happening, so I simply dodged the naive attack, but I couldn't seem to predict that he would use magic to somehow cause the knife I held to fly out of my hand directly into his neck, hastening his death.

"You little-" I scoffed, realizing this was his ace.

He chuckled as blood gushed from his wound and mouth, and slowly his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

I sighed at my failure, but also came to understand this really didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

"Time for things to play out my way, Roswaal." I glared at him as he died.

After looking around and observing the corpses of Rem outside, Ram to the side of me and Roswaal who lay below me, I came to the conclusion that the mission was relatively successful. It was now time to inform Subar-

"What… What have you done…" A soft rumbling voice spoke. It was Emilia…

Oh dear…

End of chapter 7

Here is a new chapter, I'm sorry it took so fucking long. I've been dealing with college and got sick with a flu recently.

I'd like to address that I guarantee there are still a fuck ton of plotholes, especially with you guessed it, king crimson, but I don't really care anymore since It's so annoying to write about. If you wanna complain about it complain about it because i'm sticking to the way I'm doing things.

When will chapter 8 release? No clue.

Soundtrack Links: All for youtube, you have to put the thing in front of them.

watch?v=2k2y-lI2cYU ( On the Precipice Of Rule) Chapter 7

watch?v=CSmbIC30CLk (Things Will Change Revision) Chapters 4-5

watch?v=XMtFlMkEfwo ( I will Prevail) Chapter 6

Alternatively, find my channel Solid Snek on youtube.