Tony di bugalu said:
I haven't read part 5 (heck, I haven't even started part 3) but in the anime Diavolo was spamming the time erasure like crazy when inside Mista's body.
He could do the same here and take all of them rather quickly, kill one run away, wait for another chance or precog them and go in again.
Alright, I know that I came into this thread arguing that Diavolo has more power than was initially discussed, but even i'm not sure Diavolo could wipe them out so easily.
We have to take into account the speed of the fighters, despite the fact that every single one of Diavolo's attacks from behind after Time Erase haven't been countered in any way before dealing damage, as he struck hard with both Polnareff and Bruno, with Polnareff being one of the fastest characters in the entire series.
There are two theories that I can make with these examples of Diavolo absolutely destroying an opponent with an attack from behind, which should've been counterable.
1. His victim is so stunned by the intimidation of falling victim to his ability that they're too paralyzed to respond quickly the first time King Crimson strikes from behind.
In the same universe where a vampire literally pushes people back with a malicious aura so intense that it can blow like wind, it's not unfeasible to assume that Diavolo's victims are simply too shaken to respond the first time their actions are erased from time before he's talking in their ear about his ability's apparent invincibility just as he guts them. This theory supports the seemingly contradictory case with Polnareff's wildly differing responses to the same scenario.
In his first encounter, he barely moves at all after King Crimson skips time through his sword's first swing, Silver Chariot not even moving away as King Crimson chops into his face. But in his second encounter, long after he's experienced that same terrifying strength that Diavolo exudes, he instantaneously attacks right when he knows that time has been skipped.
This also explains why Bruno didn't do anything after his actions were initially skipped. Part confusion and part intimidation of seemingly hitting his future self and then Diavolo himself explaining his "invincible" power right into Bruno's ear made him just stand there as King Crimson's fist steadily buried itself up into Bruno's back and then out his stomach, and then after that initial attack Bruno had overcome that intimidation and retaliated.
If Diavolo were fighting anyone else but the Stardust Crusaders with prior knowledge, i'd argue that we must consider an initial intimidation factor that renders his victims stunned as he makes his first confusing attack, like a less intense version of DIO's intimidation that'd make most people either paralyzed or run away, but these are the Stardust Crusaders with prior knowledge, which means the group could steel themselves, and prepare to react, instead of being completely confused and shaken by King Crimson, and I don't think Jotaro could be intimidated by anyone. Though, there is a less interesting, but probably more likely theory as to how Diavolo one-hits seemingly fast fighters...
2. Like with DIO's time stop, the manga had things go much more quickly while the anime slowed things down for dramatic effect and reasonable pacing.
In the fight between DIO and Jotaro, DIO claimed to be stopping time for 5 to 10 seconds, but in the anime, it was much more time, because the anime had to fit in all the talking that DIO did, as well as Jotaro's thoughts while in frozen time. With this example, it's likely that the same happened with Diavolo's talking right after he erases time. In reality his killing blows are much, much faster than shown in the anime, much faster than even Silver Chariot could react.
This doesn't exactly conflict with what we're shown, since the only time King Crimson's attacks were overlapped and beaten out in speed was when Gold Experience Requiem Muda barraged him after he'd started to swing towards him, but the amp Gold Experience Requiem got to all stats isn't known exactly, and it could be reasoned that Giorno's Requiem boost made him the fastest stand known up to that point. And Sticky Fingers only elbowed King Crimson because he'd immobilized him with the zipper around his arm stuck through Bruno's body.
While the thought that King Crimson is the fastest stand besides Gold Experience Requiem doesn't sit right with me, as well as me just personally wanting to believe my first theory more, I can't exactly disprove it without a solid example of another stand moving faster than King Crimson could. Polnareff's second attack comes to mind, but i'm not sure if this counts, since if Diavolo really was trying to kill Polnareff right there, and if Silver Chariot was really faster than King Crimson, then Diavolo would've died right then after teleporting into Silver Chariot's all out circle slice. It's likely that Diavolo was just testing how Polnareff would react after his time skip, as this is the very first opponent that already knows about King Crimson, and Diavolo wouldn't just repeat the very same attack Polnareff had experienced before without seeing how Polnareff reacts to his time skip.
If this second theory is the case, then I don't think the Crusaders will win in the long run, not without losing a few members.
So all in all, if the first theory is the case, the Stardust Crusaders win since they're prepared to counter attack and won't be shaken, but if the second theory is the case, then the Stardust Crusaders at least lose some slower members before possibly winning.
