The so-called Margrave of the borderland.
Now, nothing remained but a puddle of minced flesh, churned into a single heap with shredded fabric.
The exact same style as Elsa.
“Boss, it’s already turned into a puddle of minced meat!
That’s got to be as dead as dead gets, right?
How else are you even gonna check?
Are you gonna press your ear to the ground and listen for a heartbeat?” Natsuki Subaru was thoroughly bewildered.
It was already mangled to this degree, so what else was there to guard against?
“Have you already forgotten that woman we met in the loot cellar?
I beat her into minced meat as well, yet after coming out of the cellar, that puddle of minced meat mysteriously vanished.” “Surely you understand in your heart that she resurrected and withdrew.” Thinking of Elsa, Diavolo felt immense regret as well, only hating that Subaru had been far too naive back then, making it impossible to nip the future trouble in the bud.
What was even more exasperating was Subaru asking if he was going to press his ear to the ground to listen for a heartbeat.
He wasn’t stupid.
A human pressing their ear to the ground couldn’t hear a damn thing.
At the very least, it would have to be King Crimson pressing its ear to the ground.
With Diavolo’s reminder, Subaru snapped to a sudden realization.
“Boss, you’re right…” Saying this, as if thought of something else, his spirits instantly plummeted.
Without another word, he completely validated Diavolo’s caution.
Whatever little yearning he had held for this alternate world chilled by half in an instant.
“Besides, disposing of the corpses further might buy us some more time.
There are bound to be entities akin to law enforcers in an alternate world as well.” Before his words fully landed, Diavolo paced forward, stopping at an open patch of ground.
King Crimson!
“MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA—MUDA!” A rapid barrage of heavy punches struck downward, blasting a deep crater into the ground in an instant.
Diavolo promptly scooped the puddle of minced flesh into the pit, kicking soil over it to bury it tight.
There was no better way to dispose of it.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Done with this, he turned his head to look toward Ram.
King Crimson floated over and extended its palm, passing directly through her torso to crush her heart in a single grip.
Phasing—a standard ability for Stands.
Jotaro’s Star Platinum had once used phasing to steal jewelry, perform CPR on Joseph, and pinch his own heart when DIO listened for a heartbeat.
Diavolo’s King Crimson could naturally do the same.
After all, today’s Stand was vastly different from before.
Diavolo could clearly feel that it held even more undiscovered possibilities.
Afterward, he followed the exact same method to crush Rem’s heart as well.
Then, he used dirt to cover up the bloodstains scattered around, tore strips of fabric from their clothes, and stuffed them tightly into the open wound channels to stop the bleeding.
At this point, three of the four known individuals in the mansion were gone.
Gazing at the mess before him, Diavolo nodded in satisfaction.
Seeing that Boss seemed to be wrapping things up, Subaru—though having failed to comprehend how any of it was accomplished throughout—still asked in his mind: “Boss, what do we do next?
We definitely can’t stay at the mansion.
Should we find a place to hide out first?” “Indeed.
However—” Diavolo cast a side glance at the corpses of Rem and Ram.
“These two are for you to handle.” “Huh?
Boss, didn’t you just finish handling them?” “I merely ensured they cannot come back to life.
What you need to do is hide the corpses.” “Haven’t you ever heard of ‘kill and hide the body’?
If I weren’t so deeply uneasy about that Margrave, his corpse would have been left for you to handle as well.” As if seeing right through Subaru’s hesitation, Diavolo spoke with a tone of exasperated disappointment.
“This is a test.
You cannot rely on me forever.
In an alternate world, there might even be means targeted specifically at the soul.” “When that time comes, you can only rely on yourself…” With that, Diavolo went offline directly, handing control of the body back to Subaru.
Taking back the body, Subaru was left utterly helpless.
Diavolo was right; he had no counterargument.
Besides, he didn’t want Boss to be disappointed.
Even less did he want Boss to come to any harm.
He ran over to pick up his clothes and threw them on first.
Then, grabbing one in each hand, he hoisted the corpses of Rem and Ram up.
Fortunately, the wounds had been plugged, so the corpses wouldn’t leave a trail of blood the whole way, saving him a massive headache.
“Still, thank goodness…
I originally thought Boss was gonna go after Emilia too.” Naturally, Diavolo wouldn’t strike her.
Killing her—wouldn’t that trigger a death-rattle ability and blow everything to hell?
He had known this long ago.
Yet he couldn’t do nothing either.
He could only dispose of the corpses first.
And pray that Emilia would find out later rather than sooner.
Wasting no more time, Subaru headed straight out of the mansion.
Adjacent to the Roswaal Mansion lay a dense forest.
Decaying leaves carpeted the ground, and a damp, earthy smell rushed over his face.
Subaru intended to drag the corpses into the woods and bury them.
“Phew…
I’m exhausted.
Carrying two corpses is really no job for a human.” Panting heavily, Subaru tossed the corpses onto the ground, sending a spray of fallen leaves flying.
Then, he realized a glaring blind spot.
“Boss…
I don’t have anything to dig a pit with.” “Then throw them into the bushes.” “Ah…
alright then.” Subaru dragged them one in each hand, pulling the corpses under a tree and hastily covering them with brush.
Having done all this— “BLEAGH—” Subaru let out a dry heave.
Touching them firsthand vs.
being forced to experience it through Diavolo were ultimately two completely different matters.
Though this time, he didn’t actually vomit.
Mainly because Diavolo had stuffed a considerable amount of dirt into the halves of Rem and Ram’s heads, then ripped up their own clothes to plug the wounds.
That image was simply far too disgusting and horrific.
It made one’s stomach churn just looking at it.
“ROAR!” Just as Subaru was about to catch his breath, an ear-splitting roar detonated abruptly.
Subaru trembled violently in fright, hurriedly looking toward the sound.
He saw a massive dog…
no, a wolf, glaring at him with predatory eyes.
The monster was pitch-black all over, its mane standing on end, its build resembling a blend of wolf and hound.
A short, curved horn grew on its forehead, red vertical pupils gleaming with feral malice, sharp fangs exposed.
Saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth, cold miasma swirling around its entire body, the sharp claws on its limbs casting an intimidating cold glint.
“W-What on earth is that monster?!
One that big, you gotta be kidding me?!” “Boss, take over and help me out, fast!” Subaru panicked to the point of incoherence.
“It is merely a slightly larger dog.
Handle it yourself.
Stop expecting me to step in for every little thing.
I have felt your physical endurance; dealing with a dog is more than enough for you.” “Besides, weren’t you fretting over those two corpses?
Perfect—feed them to it.” Diavolo couldn’t be bothered to interfere.
If he had to step in personally even for a dog, how would that be any different from babysitting?
“T-This…
is that so…” Subaru swallowed hard, deciding to give it his best shot.
It was just a dog, after all.
It was normal for dogs in an alternate world to look a bit scary.
A dog was still a dog.
Even if it was a size bigger, it was still a dog!
Having successfully brainwashed himself, Subaru hurriedly turned back and dragged out the corpses hidden in the bushes.
Though both heads were severely damaged, one could still vaguely tell who was who.
Right now, the one Subaru held in his grip was the one with a tuft of pink hair.
It seemed her name was…
Ram?
Looking at the corpse in his hand, Subaru felt strangely regretful.
“Who told you guys to try and kill me…
I had no choice either.” In the next second, he grabbed the corpse by both legs, exerting sudden force through his feet.
“CRASH—!” With a low shout, the corpse was hurled violently into mid-air.
“I can actually pull off something like this?!” —