Diavolo was covered in cuts from blades. The blades fell from his body, and he slowly stood up from the ground, covered in blood, then saw a pair of scissors appear on his wrist again.
His ability could only generate blades and scissors from places within his line of sight.
Calm down, Diavolo. Diavolo told himself, he had never suffered such humiliation since he obtained the King Crimson Stand.
His ability cannot condense into weapons inside my body, because the condition for activation is seeing, right?
If he can extract iron from blood to create highly lethal weapons, why doesn't he just generate them in my heart?
Because he can't.
The IV drip was already destroyed by me, how did he know when I deleted time?
Damn it.
His long hair fluttered, and fragments of the future began to unfold.
[King Crimson!]
Diavolo silently chanted this name in his heart, a name he was intimately familiar with, his exclusive power, to control time and change the world.
The world began to decompose in Diavolo's double pupils, replaced by a magical, cosmic background—
This proved that he would transcend the three-dimensional world, standing in a higher worldview to observe this world. During the time he deleted, he would gaze upon everything here like a higher-dimensional being observing lower-dimensional insects.
It's like how a three-dimensional world views a two-dimensional world as just a series of original drawings.
This time, he did not rush forward but circled Risotto, observing his movements. During this deleted time, he could not change anything. While observing Risotto, he pried off the scissors on his wrist.
Blood flowed down his arm; every inch of pain, every drop of blood, burned Diavolo's dignity like a raging fire. To force me, Diavolo, to such a state... Risotto, I will definitely make you die.
Diavolo watched as his flowing blood began to turn yellow, dripping onto the ground—
He began to breathe heavily. His anger intensified his Stand's ability, allowing Metallica to strip too much iron from Diavolo's body... As long as he was within Risotto's range, he had to endure such a trial.
Risotto's range was up to ten meters away. In this narrow hospital room, Diavolo had nowhere to hide.
Diavolo looked at his yellow blood dripping onto the ground, then at Risotto's crimson blood... Wait?! When did he get injured? He stared at the blood dripping from Risotto's fingertip onto the ground... Is he using blood drops to calculate the time skip?!
Diavolo was overjoyed, even forgetting his hypoxia and pain. The time deletion was almost over... He retreated several steps, keeping his distance.
"King Crimson · Time now begins to flow!"
Sure enough, Risotto saw several more drops of blood on his fingertip. With a reaction speed beyond human limits, he used Metallica to control the metal in the hospital room, sweeping it around him in a circle. A silver light flashed, drawing a circle in front of him, cutting off all matter around him and Melone... But Diavolo had already moved far away.
Risotto's gaze sharpened, a flicker of resolve in his eyes—
Indeed, Diavolo had already discovered that he knew his ability. The next battle might cost him his life. It was not unexpected for him to be defeated against an ability like King Crimson, but Melone could not die... He had to transmit the information, to let everyone know Diavolo's true face... This was the transmission of hope.
Only then can my and Illuso's lives continue.
"Melone..."
"Captain!"
"I'll cover you with Metallica. Jump down from here." Although it was the fifth floor, Melone's physical condition meant he would be fine.
"Uh..."
"Don't say anything else. Do it now. That's an order."
Melone's eyes widened as he looked at Risotto, then he nodded forcefully. Getting the information out was the most important thing, so their sacrifices wouldn't be in vain... All he could do was make each sacrifice meaningful... His position was relatively close to the balcony, so Melone quickly leaped towards the window sill!
"Trying to escape?!" Diavolo was about to use time erasure again when he discovered countless blades beginning to emerge from his face and right leg, tearing open the yellowish blood. The immense pain diverted Diavolo's attention... Metallica had grown stronger, but my resolve to endure this trial after erasing the past is no less than yours—
—King Crimson! Let time skip!
The world began to detach and peel away before Diavolo's eyes. Once again, he directly observed all things in time as if from God's perspective... Whenever he stood in this position, he always felt like an Emperor... Diavolo stumbled towards Melone. Time erasure was different from time stop; during time erasure, things continued, which meant Risotto's Metallica was still affecting him.
Countless blades fell from Diavolo's body. He walked over to Melone, measured the distance, and considered the blood within his own body... One more time, even if he killed him, he would die from losing a large amount of iron. No... No... No, he couldn't... continue... He had to kill Risotto first... Diavolo raised his constantly trembling hand, which was shaking from lack of oxygen, and splattered blood into Risotto's dark eyes—to blind him with blood.
This way, you won't be able to see the blood drop timer anymore... With ridiculous caution, he listened to Risotto's heartbeat, confirming the location of his heart. He couldn't make the same mistake he made with Illuso again.
He raised his hand high, then glanced at Melone again... Melone and the remaining members of the Assassination Team would be left to Bucciarati.
It was fate guiding Bucciarati to kill them and end their ambition... "King Crimson! Now, let time flow!!"
"Die, Risotto!"
He raised his fist high, and in the moment of Risotto's panic as his eyes were blinded by blood, he plunged it into his chest—
Risotto felt a numb sensation in his chest...—Heart ruptured, died on the spot.
Melone never looked back, instead leaving the hospital room directly.
King Crimson withdrew his hand from Risotto's chest. Risotto collapsed to the ground, utterly devoid of life—
His lifeless gaze remained fixed on the windowsill.
The white curtains were stirred by the breeze from the Cagliari coast... The sky was clear, and the blue was perfect.