I may not normally seem so, but I really, and I mean really, am very easily irritated.

Which is why it pains me to listen to your so called 'theories' that directly contradict the red truth. Just because you're so utterly blind doesn't give you the authority to ignore the red like some sort of rebel. But, fine. I get it. You'll need time to consolidate your conclusions. At the very end of this tale, I'll compile the red into on nice, easy page for you fools to read in one sitting.

Are you finally satisfied?

God(pardon the expression), you people are really irritating sometimes. That brat and Wright are testing my patience as well. I swear, one of these days, I'm just going to...explode.

'Now that you've separated two people from the main group,' Will said. 'You've made things much easier.'

'Really? Are you sure?' Beside him, the Blue Witch grinned. 'I'm not that stupid, you know!'

'Here,' Bernkastel said, splaying her hand and unleashing a stream of red. 'Genji locked the mansion's main door. In short, Rudolf and Hideyoshi could not have entered the mansion.'

'Either of them could have swiped a master key from one of the dead servants.'

'For this game, only the servants will use their master keys.'

'And the culprit returns to Kinzo, huh,' Will grunted. 'Seems that you're determined to pin everything on him.'

'There's no other explanation, Mr Will!' the Blue Witch said. 'Unless you think I did it, of course.'

Will was about to reply a snapping retort, but he reigned it back in time. He was going to say she didn't exist. He should have said it, but for some reason he hadn't. This irked him. Somehow Bernkastel had planned this, as usual.

'Don't get so upset so soon, Wright,' Bernkastel cooed, 'Even if there's no alibis for everybody, you still can't explain how Kumasawa teleported several floors above them in a few seconds, you know...?'

'As a matter of fact, I think I do,' Will snapped his fingers. 'The magical aspect of this, at least, is by far the easiest thing you've ever thrown at me.'

'Well then, Wright, what are you waiting for?'

'I'll save it for later,' Will said. 'The fourth twilight's no problem. On with the game.'

Bernkastel's tail twitched again. 'I don't like your attitude, Wright.'

'Same here. On with the game.'

'You're really smart, Mr Will.' the Blue Witch added, almost as an afterthought.

It hardly seemed real that they could have a chance at leaving the island alive anymore. They were surrounded by four walls and a sturdy locked door, but they might as well be surrounded by paper. If the culprit could just whisk away Kumasawa in seconds right under their noses, there was anything he or she could do. Anything.

'Hey, old man,' Battler said, after things had calmed down somewhat. 'Do you keep any alchohol in here?'

Kinzo stared at him for a moment, and then burst into laughter. 'In the left drawer.'

Battler stepped over to the desk and began rummaging through it. Kinzo grinned madly at the rest.

'What're you so sad about?' he said.

'Kinzo...' Nanjo murmured. He had his head in his hands. 'Please...'

'Oh, I know why,' Kinzo had looked frail before, but now he darted over to Nanjo's side in seconds, his eyes flashing madly. 'Kumasawa was all chopped up, right? And the rest - Eva and the rest. Don't tell me Rudolph's dead too?'

'He's not,' Battler said, opening a small flask. He sat on the desk and drank.

'At least one of us has guts, then. Don't count on him surviving through the night, though. Don't count on any of us leaving here alive,' he smacked his lips and laughed a little. 'Come on, why so glum? The hour of our lives is upon us!'

'We're going to die!' Gohda warbled.

'Yes, that's true,' Kinzo said. 'You say it like it's a bad thing.'

'What - ?' Rosa couldn't bear the sadistic grin much longer. 'What are you saying?'

'Perhaps I can clarify Master's statements,' Genji said, standing up. 'He is suggesting our deaths will bring us salvation from the chains of life.'

'Huh?'

Genji swept his arm over to the portrait in the corner. The Blue Witch watched over them all, triumphant in her soft, sickly smile. 'The Blue witch will take us all to the Golden Land. So, we don't need to worry about dying. The Blue Witch will release us from Life.'

Hearing Genji talk like a 12th century cultist did nothing to assuage anyone's fears.

'Genji...even you think the Blue Witch exists?' Nanjo said.

'I am only repeating the legend,' Genji said carefully, before Kinzo rammed into him and threw an arm around his shoulder.

'Of course he does! We all do! What's there left to believe in, right? Don't tell me you believe in something like money, or believe in - god forbid - people. I'm sick and tired of this planet. But the Blue Witch...there's something to believe in. How could you not fall for that angelic smile?'

'Her smile's nice,' Kruass said, to Rosa's horror.

'Hmm? What was that, my worthless son? Don't tell me you've finally grown a backbone!'

'Krauss!' Rosa said.

'I'm sorry..I mean...I don't know what to believe anymore. The murders...they were...impossible...'

'But that doesn't mean...'

'A year ago,' Krauss ploughed on, 'I was in my office. I was doing normal things. Typing letters. Then I found a note on my desk. It just appeared. No one had put it there, it just appeared. It said three words. Believe in me.'

Kinzo roared with laughter. No one else did. Krauss didn't seem to notice.

'I thought it was a joke - don't they always do? - but then the door slammed behind me. I got up, tried to pull it open, but even though the knob turned it couldn't budge. I was trapped. I was scared. And then I turned around, and the note - remember the note? It had vanished from the table. So I went over to search for it, and then I looked back, and it was lying in front of the door. But this time it was stained with something red. I thought it was jam. It was probably something else.'

'Someone laughed from behind the door. It was a girl's cackle, a witch's cackle. Then the door swung open, and I ran out. I don't know what happened that day. But I never went to that room again,' Krauss shuddered. 'I was foolish. Weak. I refused to believe. But now...'

'Krauss, you can't be serious - '

'You don't know what it's like!' he shouted at her. 'You don't know what it was like, just cooped up in that office, feeling that terror, that terror, that I was - so - so small, and she was leagues above me, and - '

'That's enough sob stories now,' Kinzo said. 'Still, welcome to the family, Krauss!'

Krauss, his back hunched, lumbered over to them. His face had turned grey. Everyone stared at the three of them clustered in front of the door, the heretics of reality - Kinzo, Genji, and Krauss.

'But...' Nanjo raised a weak finger.

'But? But what? Speak up, old friend!'

Nanjo left his mouth hanging in mid-air.

'You can't,' Kinzo rasped. 'You can't say anything.'

'Kinzo, she can't exist.'

'She does!' Kinzo bellowed, shaking the windows with his voice. 'She does, and don't you dare say otherwise! She - she - '

His voice cut off in a strangled gurk. His face fell apart, and he launched into a coughing fit, his hands scrabbling to loosen his collar.

'Master!' Genji rushed to aid him, ushering to him to his chair. Kinzo's body seemed to shrink as he continued to hack out his lungs. The illness had finally caught up with him. No matter how hard Kinzo had tried to run, the illness had finally caught up with him.

Finally, Kinzo stopped. He slowly got to his feet, swaying slightly, pushing Genji away when he came to help.

'She has to exist,' he grunted, wiping the specks of blood off his tie. 'I've spent eighty years. Eighty years, dealing with all this crap. Dealing with all you vultures. I deserve this.'

'She doesn't exist, old man.'

The bottle danced across the floor as Battler jumped off the desk. Kinzo glared at him. Battler glared at Kinzo, raised a hand, and pointed.

'Witches and magic don't exist.'

'They do.'

'They don't.'

'Then prove it, my beloved grandson. Prove it.'

'Alright. I have a few theories.' For the first time since the others had seen him, Battler wore no expression on his face. No anger, no hate, no sadness. He just looked incredibly tired.

'You dare - ?' Kinzo rasped, his lips curling up. 'You dare, Grandson, tarnish my loooove?'

'I guess so.'

'Then come!' Kinzo his body forwards, arcing his arms out as if to embrace his grandson. 'I'll tear you down to the ground Battleeer! How dare, how dare you tarnish heeeeee - '

The world flashed grey, and everything froze. Kinzo's cape, Rosa's sweat, Battler's finger - they all froze up, as if time had stopped. The scene shimmered, then whirled in on itself, and then Will stood up from his chair.

'We need to talk,' Will said.

As the last fragments of reality faded away, Bernkastel stood up from her own chair. 'You'd better have a good reason for this, Wright.'

She glanced around. 'And you've shut the Blue Witch out of here, I see. You'd better have an extremely good reason.'

Her tail was practically shimmering now, and Will knew that just one twitch could blast him to Oblivion. Curiously, though, his desire to set this matter straight overrided all of this. It was against every SSVD doctrine, to challenge a higher being when you had no chance of overpowering her.

Will was about to do just that.

'About the Blue Witch,' Will said. 'Why did you create her?'

'Why?' Bernkastel narrowed her eyes. 'Because I needed a culprit for my game.'

'Cut the crap. Why did you make her this way?'

'I'll give you ten seconds to articulate, Wright.'

'Why did you make her such a Mary Sue?'

'You think she is?' Bernkastel smirked, but only a little. 'It's just like you, Wright, to see Mary Sues in every corner - '

'She's no ordinary one. She's Sue-i-fied to the highest possible levels. She's tailored to be a tsundere. Whatever you call her. She's a archetype, a cliche. Why did you create her?'

'That's some horrible things you're saying about her, Wright,' Bernkastel said, leaving the table. 'What would she think about you - '

'Why did you create her?'

'You're getting awfully liberal with your interruptions.'

'Why did you create her?' Will said, edging around the table to meet Bernkastel's face.

'Alright, I admit it. she's a Mary Sue.'

'You still haven't answered my question.'

'Does it really need explaining?' Bernkastel marched past Will to the other end of the table. 'Doesn't everybody want a perfect savior to arrive for them in shining armor? Rokkenjima wanted someone like that, so I gave it to them.'

Will kept pace with her, training his eyes on her back. 'But she doesn't exist.'

'Do things have to exist to make it real?'

'Yes.'

'Then you're saying the Blue Witch is a fake. That she doesn't exist.'

Will remained silent.

'You're saying that she's just an artificial construct, just a blob of concept floating across the sea, and that she's not a person. Am I right so far?'

'In some aspects.'

'You really can break a girl's heart, you know...?'

'Why did you create a piece like her?' Will said. 'You're tormenting them with something that's fake. The taller the tower, the harder it'll fall, right? You're using her to torture them, and she doesn't even know it.'

'Do I even need a reason?' Bernkastel did an abrupt turn and started circling round the table. 'I just like to torture people. Haven't you learned that by now?'

'Why? Just because they're pieces?'

'No, actually,' Bernkastel suddenly stopped, and Will halted in his tracks as well.

'I consider pieces to be the same level on us, actually,' Bernkastel said, her face turned away. 'It's true, we wield more power than them, but ultimately I hold them in the same regard as I do with everyone else.'

'Then why - '

'We'll all in the same boat, aren't we?' Bernkastel's voice had grown unusually, dangerously quiet. 'They're all in a sea of Oblivion, but we're in a bigger sea. And then some others are in an even bigger sea than ours. They're whole seas piled up on top of each other. It's a frightening thought.'

The hollow hall fell silent for a while.

'Why do you like to tear out guts?' Will said.

Bernkastel whirled round, and there was a grin on her face stretched so wide it cracked her face in two. 'Because everything is worthless.'

The world shattered around them, and darkness swallowed them up. Cold tendrils snaked through Will's body, pinning him to the air, and his heart plummeted down to the bottom of his ribcage. He tried to breathe, but he only could manage a few strangled gasps. All the while, Bernkastel was wearing that demented grin.

'When you really hate something, you want to destroy something, you knoooooooow...?' she cackled, her grin growing more deformed by the second. 'You just want to destroy everything around you, you knooooooooow...?'

Will struggled with all his might, but he couldn't get rid of the chilling darkness, which started invading his body cell by cell. He stared pleadingly at Bernkastel, and she laughed in his face.

'Arrgghhh, you've made me angry, you knooooooow...?' her voice came out horribly distorted, as she laughed and laughed, the darkness writhing around her. 'I hate people who make me angry, you knoooooooooow? Why don't you just die, Wriiighht? Why don't you just face the daaaRRRRKKKkkneeeeSSSS?'

And then, as the darkness plunged its talons into Will's brain, he felt his being slip away. And then he was gone.