[x] I speak no evil.

"What the hell?" I cried. "Where is her injury?"

"A-ah! I-I can't find the wound! There isn't any at all!"

"That's impossible! Where is she bleeding from?"

I knelt down to examine Sakuya myself. But I couldn't locate the chief maid's injury, either. All we could do was wipe off the blood that seemed to be seeping right through her skin. I tried putting pressure on her chest, but that didn't stop the bleeding. Damn it! Carefully, I tried shifting the position of her arms and legs, but that didn't help either. Argh! What was going on here? Her body seemed perfectly fine, and there were no visible wounds or bruises. But blood continued to drip from her chest. I became increasingly aware that her face was slowly turning pale white. I raised my fist and pounded on the ground in frustration. No matter what we tried, the bleeding wouldn't stop. Meiling began to weep as she gingerly wiped off some blood that had begun dripping from the chief maid's mouth.

"Miss Sakuya! U-u-uuu.. (hic)... uwaaaaaah!"

"Damn it all, Sakuya!" I shouted. "Didn't you already figure out the truth? Weren't you going to lead us to the culprit? Damn it, don't leave us like this!"

"...so noisy..."

Those words were whispered with great difficulty. For just a moment, I thought that she had recovered. But when I looked, she had only one eye slightly open. Very slightly, her head nodded. Immediately, both of us lowered our heads closer to her lips.

"The Mistress..."

We waited patiently, as there was nothing more we could do. Almost a minute passed before she found enough strength to speak again.

"She is... already..."

"Already?" I said. "Already what? What happened to Remilia!?"

"M-Miss Sakuya... Miss Sakuya? Hey Miss Sakuya!"

"..."

Meiling held the chief maid tightly in her arms and began shaking her as if she had just fallen asleep. But I knew then that Sakuya wouldn't ever open those eyes again. And very slowly, the gate guard realized this as well. Slowly, tears began to well up in her eyes. Meiling stopped shaking her body and cried out.

"No. No! Nooooooooooooo! Miss Sakuya! Wake up! Miss Sakuya! Miss Sakuyaaaaaaaaaa! Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Her cries and sobs echoed loudly along this final hallway. And as I watched her weep, I realized that my own vision had become blurred. I couldn't stop the tears that had finally began rolling down my cheek. This day had been a living nightmare. My friends and acquaintances were found murdered this morning. And now, four of those that I had considered the closest I had to a family had been killed.

I turned away from the others and closed my eyes. What kind of monster would commit such horrible murders? What did any of my friends do to deserve such punishment? Was this just someone's sick idea of a game? This was all just... too much to bear...

"..."

"BANG!"

Suddenly, the door to the Master's room burst open. And from the shadows within, I saw the hint of a smile.

"VERY GOOD! I had greatly underestimated you. Honestly, I had thought that you were just some useless background character. But to get this far unscathed, you have certainly reached far beyond my expectations!"

I quickly wiped off my tears and faced forward. The Master's room was wide open now, and I could spy a pair of red eyes and a toothy grin in the dark. The voice sounded like that of a young girl's.

"Now I understand why she gave you that title. It really didn't make much sense to me at the beginning, but now it all falls into place!"

"Title?" I repeated slowly. "What the hell are you talking about? And who the hell are you, anyway?"

"Hee hee hee! You really haven't figured anything out, have you, Lord of Scarlet?"

'Lord of Scarlet', she had said. The moment I heard those words, I understood. I pulled out my rifle and checked the chamber. It was only partially loaded, so I took a few bullets from my pocket to reload.

"Eeeeeeeh? Why did you pull out that toy, I wonder~"

"Click!"

Then, without a word, I took a step forward. One by one, the murder scenes flashed in my mind. Rumia in the greenhouse. Sunny, Luna and Star beside the gardens. Patchouli and Flandre at the lower library. Koakuma on the way here. And now, Sakuya as well. But I didn't care anymore. None of those puzzling murders matter at all, now that the culprit was right in front of me.

"Ah, I see! You want to play a game with me, don't you?"

A game? Is that all this is to you? Damn bitch... I'll kill you!

"But this hallway is far too dull. A poor place for a final showdown, don't you think?"

Kill you? No, that won't be enough. I'll rip out your eyes, stick my rifle down your mouth, and make you eat those words! Then after you're broken, I'll take my time to tear you apart the same way you did to my friends.

"So then, why don't we head inside? The party has already begun~"

I raised my rifle and fired five times at the shadows. But from the girl's laughter, I was sure that all of my shots had missed. I clicked my tongue as I pulled out five more bullets from my pocket.

"Watch out!" cried Meiling from behind.

But I didn't need that warning. I loaded only two bullets into the rifle. Then, I raised it, aimed, and fired twice in front of me. And with just that, two shadow wolves lay dead along my path. Their killing intent was enough to give away their position.

Without another word, I began marching into the darkness, reloading my rifle as I went.

[ ] "I'll kill them all."
[ ] "I'll KILL them all."
[ ] "I'll kill them ALL."
[ ] "I'LL KILL THEM ALL."