“Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!” Several fierce wind blades struck again, aiming straight for Diavolo’s neck and legs.
Seeing this, Diavolo leapt backward violently, narrowly dodging the blow.
Turning his head to look, he saw a pink-haired maid standing not far away, her eyes equally vicious and dripping with intent to kill.
That was none other than Ram.
At that moment, Rem leapt down from the second floor, landing steadily without making a sound.
Yet the morningstar flail in her hand slammed heavily onto the ground, the thunderous boom shaking up clouds of dust.
Even with Diavolo piloting the body, Natsuki Subaru felt a tremendous amount of pressure.
Even I can feel this immense pressure.
What about Boss then?
As the one truly facing the danger, what is he thinking right now?
Perhaps…
he’s disappointed in me…
Looking at the thick malice painted across the faces of Rem and Ram…
Subaru began to reflect on himself.
Before long, the two gradually closed in from front and back, trapping Diavolo in the middle and completely sealing off all escape routes.
“You deliberately lured me here—what do you actually want?
I am truly not with the Witch Cult.
At a time like this, there is no reason for me to lie to you!” Diavolo continued to verify the situation while maintaining the standoff.
He couldn’t fathom it.
If they were targeting the Witch Cult, why target them, who had only just arrived here?
He didn’t buy the claim that he was a spy.
Could it be because of that insignia?
Yet the logic still didn’t add up.
Diavolo’s thoughts raced, and he soon grasped the crucial point.
“Heh, drenched in the Witch’s foul stench, and you still want to keep deceiving us?
Lord Roswaal has already uncovered your true identity…
a spy of the Witch Cult!” Ram said in a cold voice, her eyes filled with murderous intent.
Just as I thought.
The enemy hadn’t laid a trap in advance to wait for him.
It was only after meeting Subaru and sensing the so-called Witch’s stench that they concluded Subaru was a Witch Cultist, concocting this ambush on the spot.
His earlier deduction about being lured in was incorrect, meaning that Emilia was likely innocent.
Of course, such reasoning could also be flawed.
After all, Ram had just said—Lord Roswaal has already uncovered your true identity.
But how could two newcomers who had just arrived have any “identity” to uncover?
Roswaal was clearly lying.
However, analyzing the absolute truth required more information.
“My, my, Subaru-kun, what a shame~ You were indeed an honored guest of this mansion, but unfortunately, according to my intelligence, I’ve successfully discovered that you’re a spy planted in the mansion by the Witch Cult.
That leaves no choice but to eliminate you.” At that moment, Roswaal strolled out slowly from who-knows-where, his tone mocking, adopting the stance of a mere spectator.
He hadn’t originally intended to step up in person.
However, since even Elsa the Bowel Hunter had lost to Subaru, it meant this body harbored some other, unknown power.
For the smooth execution of his plan, he didn’t dare leave the twin sisters to fight alone, stepping up personally to hold the line and guarantee the outcome.
Besides, he didn’t plan on staying hidden behind the scenes forever anyway.
For this action, Subaru was bound to trigger time rewind, so whatever he did didn’t matter.
Not to mention, he had plenty of backup plans.
After all.
As revealed by the “Gospel,” everything was prepared.
Even if it wasn’t exhaustive and didn’t explain Subaru’s exact ability or his current anomaly, it was more than enough for Roswaal.
“Brat, next I’m going to try taking them down.
The enemy is a Margrave’s faction; even if we run, we’ll face endless hunting.
The current situation speaks for itself—smoothing things over is impossible!” Diavolo spoke to Subaru in his mind.
“Taking them down…
is it?” Subaru was torn internally, but he remembered Diavolo and his own two previous painful deaths.
Why am I hesitating?
Yeah.
Why am I hesitating?
The opponents are just strangers I barely know with no bonds between us.
Why should I care about them?
On the other hand, what about Diavolo?
He’s my good big brother, the Boss who has been helping me and keeping me company ever since I transmigrated.
Is there any need to keep overthinking it then?
If life is truly one-shot, then when facing a life-and-death crisis, I must survive at all costs!
Even if I can Return by Death and won’t truly die.
“Boss, I’m counting on you!” Seeing Subaru finally come to his senses, Diavolo’s eyes instantly turned ruthless.
Like a mad dog, he locked eyes with the pink mad dog and the blue mad dog.
King Crimson was also primed and ready to strike.
“Rem, Ram, I have business this morning.
Wrap this up quickly.” Sensing the shift in Subaru, Roswaal’s expression turned cold as he ordered them to move.
However, he didn’t intend to strike personally.
After all, the more one did, the more one exposed—especially in front of Subaru, who possessed the power to alter the world.
Yet the others didn’t know any of this.
The moment Roswaal’s words fell, Rem charged forward instantly.
“Rem, wait!
Don’t rush!” Rem, who harbored a bone-deep hatred for the Witch Cult, had long had her mind clouded by rage.
Completely deaf to any voice, she charged recklessly right into King Crimson’s range.
Seeing this scene, Ram had no choice but to follow.
In the ensuing brawl, Diavolo deliberately held back his true strength, avoiding direct combat, parrying, and retreating throughout.
He intentionally let Subaru’s body take hits and sustain injuries, pretending to be driven back step by step under the twin sisters’ suppression.
Scrapes and cuts continuously appeared on the surface of his body, making him look utterly miserable and causing the opponents to drop their guard completely, believing the outcome was already sealed.
However, retreating forever was ultimately not a solution.
After observing that no new enemies were appearing in the vicinity, Diavolo finally intended to act.
After successfully blocking another flurry of attacks, Diavolo stared dead at Rem.
She’s a healer.
Kill her first.
King Crimson!
“Subaru-kun, what are you planning to do?!” Roswaal, who had been observing the battle all along, suddenly spoke up, as if guiding him, or perhaps testing him.
What?!
Diavolo’s brows knitted slightly as his vigilance spiked instantly.
Could he know King Crimson’s ability?!
The opponent knew he held a trump card and was constantly forcing him to expose his ability?!
Dammit, even so…
There’s no time to care about that anymore!
Woom— 『King Crimson!!』 Time began to leap forward.
Diavolo instantly broke free from the joint attack of Rem and Ram.
The twin sisters’ offensive whuffed entirely on empty air, striking strictly according to their previous trajectories of destiny as they unleashed wildly against nothingness.
Meanwhile, Diavolo himself had already used the gap within erased time to close the distance instantly, rushing straight for Rem.
King Crimson floated in front of him, its sight locked firmly on her head.
There were too many oddities with bizarre abilities in this alternate world.
Attacking the head was the most reliable, absolute way to execute a target.
Whoosh— Fixing his stance, time resumed its flow.
“Eh?” Ram and Rem, who were in the middle of intense combat, realized Diavolo had vanished into thin air.
Both froze at the same time, their faces filled with utter shock.
Just as Rem prepared to search for Subaru’s whereabouts and activate her magic for defense, an extreme, lethal sense of crisis wrapped around her entire body.
She instinctively tried to raise her hand to trigger defensive magic.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Pfft!