This is Fate

Diavolo was furious.

Anyone would be in a bad mood after hearing some fortune-teller ranting that they were doomed to bloodshed within three days.

What truly angered Diavolo was that, though he hated to admit it, he had actually started to believe Scarlet's nonsensical ramblings about "destiny."

Because he had always been a believer in fate.

Over a decade ago, when Diavolo was just an ordinary serial killer, he had met a fortune-teller named Enya the Hag in Egypt. From her, he had received a prediction, a prophecy:

"You will become an emperor hidden in the darkness."

"Light and dark, surface and hidden, as long as this secret exists, the deaths of others will continuously bring you happiness, and your prosperity will never wane."

This prediction had clearly come true.

Diavolo had always carefully concealed his true identity, following the path fate had laid out for him, enjoying unending prosperity in the shadows.

But now...

According to this mysterious Stand User, he seemed to have become fate's castaway.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible..."

Diavolo snarled in a low voice:

"I don't believe you. You must be spouting nonsense, trying to interfere with my mind!"

"What's the point?"

Scarlet sighed softly. "We are all merely slaves to destiny."

"Whether you resist or disbelieve, it's all futile."

"Instead of deceiving yourself, it's better to accept your fate calmly, touch 'Rolling Stones,' and let it bring you a painless death."

Even though Scarlet was now forced to have his back to him, Diavolo could still imagine his gaze—

It must have been the look of a dying man, filled with a sickening pity.

"Bastard!"

"How could my fate, Diavolo's fate, be judged by a mere stone?"

He gritted his teeth tightly and commanded King Crimson to grab Scarlet and throw him heavily onto the ground as if venting his frustration.

Finally, Diavolo stepped on Scarlet's neck:

"The Stone of Fate, is it?"

"Then let me ask... Since you believe so strongly in this stone's prophecies, did this stone tell you..."

"That you would die today?!"

"Of course," Scarlet hummed softly.

Even though his neck was being violently stomped on, and his cheeks were bleeding from being scraped against the ground, he remained as calm as a dead man who had already stopped breathing.

Scarlet didn't even struggle. He simply stated calmly:

"Around eight o'clock this morning, 'Rolling Stones' suddenly changed... It carved out my death!"

"I not only know that I will die, but I also know how I will die—"

"I will be shot through the heart and die from excessive blood loss."

"..."

Diavolo didn't know what to say to someone like this, who wasn't afraid of death and already saw himself as dead.

Scarlet, however, continued his story:

"I knew I was destined to die, but I still found a way to refuse 'Rolling Stones'' euthanasia."

"Because at that time, besides carving out my death, 'Rolling Stones' also sensed the fate of another person, namely yours."

"I think..."

"Something must have happened to connect my fate with yours."

"So, I didn't die immediately. Instead, I followed the location of 'Rolling Stones' to find you, this man who, like me, has been sentenced to death by fate."

"However... I never thought our 'connection' would be like this."

He gave a bitter laugh, then murmured mysteriously:

"If I hadn't come looking for you, I might not have died."

"But with my personality, I would definitely have come to find you."

"Haha... Fate, this is truly fate!"

"Enough. Enough!"

Diavolo couldn't listen any longer.

The shackles of 'fate' made him feel vaguely suffocated:

"I don't believe it..."

"Is fate something that cannot be changed?!"

"Right. Hahaha."

He suddenly let out a truly wicked laugh:

"Scarlet, didn't you say that the fate shown by 'Rolling Stones' is absolutely correct?"

"The way it predicted you'd die was with a bullet through your heart, right?"

"Hahaha."

Diavolo crouched down, then grabbed Scarlet by the neck with his hand:

"Fate says you'll die by a gun, but I can kill you in a hundred ways: suffocation, blunt force, impalement, crushing your skull, slitting your veins, peeling your skin…"

"I can think of a hundred ways to kill you!"

"Come on."

"Summon your 'Rolling Stones' and have it predict again, let's see which method I use!"

"……"

Scarlet, enduring the immense pressure on his neck, managed to gasp out:

"Don't bother."

"No matter what you do, I will die by a gun, just as 'Rolling Stones' predicted."

"Incorrect answer."

Diavolo chuckled coldly:

"It seems your 'Rolling Stones' isn't as reliable as you make it out to be."

As soon as he finished speaking, he prepared to increase the force in his hands, intending to strangle Scarlet to death.

But, at that very moment…

"Stop!"

"Don't move!"

Two sharp shouts suddenly echoed from the mouth of the alley.

They belonged to two young police officers, heavily armed.

They had responded to an emergency call, specifically to investigate the murder of the taxi driver.

And from their perspective, Diavolo was currently pinning an innocent citizen beneath him, strangling the other man with all his might.

"Stop right there!"

The two young officers, guns in hand, nervously pointed them at Diavolo from behind:

"Pink-haired guy…"

"Get off that man!"

"Police? Damn it…" Diavolo didn't turn around. "Did my outburst just now attract them?"

"Hey!"

The two young officers behind him continued to shout sternly:

"If you don't stop, we'll shoot!"

"Wait…"

One of the officers suddenly noticed something:

"This pink-haired guy… this guy is that lunatic who just killed the taxi driver and ran away, right?!"

"S-shoot!"

Upon realizing they were facing a deranged killer, the young officer immediately lost some composure and pulled the trigger.

Amidst the smoke, a bullet was fired.

The sharp crack of the gunshot, like popping beans, also struck a nerve with his colleague, causing the other officer to instinctively fire as well.

Bang bang!

Two bullets, at this short distance of three to four meters, flew directly towards Diavolo's back.

"Damn it!"

Diavolo hadn't expected those two rookie cops to be so reckless with their shooting.

As the superior of the superiors of these police officers, the superior of their protective umbrella, he felt like calling and getting these two serious disciplinary violators fired.

But with the bullets about to hit his back, Diavolo had no time to think:

"King Crimson!"

He had no other choice but to instinctively activate Time Erasure.

Diavolo's body instantly became an ethereal existence, outside the timeline, and the bullets passed through him harmlessly.

Then, while Time Erasure was still active and everyone was moving unconsciously, he unhurriedly walked deeper into the even darker alley.

Finally, the Time Erasure process ended.

Diavolo had completely vanished from the sight of the two police officers.

"Huh?"

"Wh-where did he go?!"

The two young officers' faces changed drastically at the same time: "How... how is this possible?"

"That man with pink hair is gone!"

"Th-then where did our bullets go?"

The answer was self-evident:

All the bullets they fired had passed through Diavolo's body and struck Scarlet, who had been pinned beneath him.

Scarlet's heart was pierced from behind by the bullets, and blood gushed out like a fountain. He was clearly not going to survive.

"Heh heh."

"How could mortal weapons like these harm me? I should thank you for helping me deal with this..."

Diavolo, far away, felt a slight, instinctive sense of pride, and then—

"Wait?!"

Diavolo abruptly stopped his retreating steps and turned his head back with difficulty:

"He... he..."

"He still died from the bullets?!"

In the pool of blood, Scarlet, with his last bit of strength, struggled to lift his head.

His eyes, which were gradually losing their luster, clearly conveyed:

"See, this is fate."