In the Court of the Blind King

Chapter 15 - Fate on the Scale

   "Unless..."

   King Crimson grabbed it and assumed a throwing stance.

   "Unless I use a distraction!"

   He threw it again and time resumed. Jade saw the incoming trident and was ready to catch it, but right before he did, time erase was activated again. Diavolo ran as fast as he could and grabbed the trident before Jade could touch it. He got behind him, only a few meters away. King Crimson once again prepared to throw the trident.

   "Let's see you dodge THIS!"

   Just as time went back to normal, Jade attempted to grab the trident he assumed to be in front of him, only to swipe the air in confusion. He quickly turned back, just in time for Wake of Poseidon to swat the trident away.

   "Ha... nice plan."

   Diavolo made an irritated expression.

"It seems like this is a safe range to attack. But I need to find a way to attack him from a distance. I can't rely on his trident forever..."

   Jade began to approach him.

   "You will have to up your tricks if you want to have a chance, Diavolo."

   Diavolo started to look around, trying to find something that he could use to attack Jade.

"But there's nothing here... so I guess it will have to do for now."

   He began to slowly walk towards Jade, who was now in a ready stance. He used time erase and quickly got close to him, King Crimson grabbing the trident from his stand's hand. However, he could not take it off his hand and stopped.

   "What the hell?!"

   While attempting to pry open Wake of Poseidon's hand, it suddenly moved the arm in a powerful pull forward, throwing Diavolo off his balance. He fell to the ground and time resumed. Jade looked at him with a slight sense of surprise.

   "So it worked? Interesting..."

   "WHAT THE-"

   The trident went directly towards Diavolo's head, but he dodged it at the last second.

   "Your ability to... erase time, was it? Interesting, but there is a clear flaw to it, isn't there? Whatever anyone is fated to do, they will. Except for you. With Epitaph and if your opponent doesn't know what to expect, that is a deadly combo. But..."

   He grabbed Diavolo by the neck, pinning him to the ground.

   "...none of these are the case right now."

   King Crimson sweep kicked Jade, making him fall to the ground. While still down, Diavolo rolled on the ground to get away from Jade. He rose up recomposed himself.

"He might be right... but I can't let that stop me!"

   Jade was still on the ground, trying to get up. Diavolo immediately ran towards him. When he got close, he jumped over Jade, seemingly to attack. Wasting no time, and still on his hands and knees, Jade switched with Diavolo. But while he expected to attack, Jade simply flew over Diavolo and fell to the ground a few meters away from him. Diavolo crawled back up and began to attack the top of a pillar near him with a barrage of punches by King Crimson.

   "Your ability locks you to a set number of actions, Jade, and in this case, I'm the architect!"

   He got behind the pillar and King Crimson began to kick it.