Blades appeared around the witch, handleless, not swords but not daggers either. They weren't meant for fighting. No, they were created for killing. As if she already knew who. As if this wasn't a game at all, but an execution. Just with theatrical staging.
I understood what she was about to do. And understood that she had planned it all in advance, of course.
"Begin," I said. "I'll destroy your arguments without blinking. If my eyes remain, that is."
"You're serious. I like that!" her voice held childish admiration. "But a sheep can never defeat a wolf!"
The world around distorted. Space exploded in a bubble, a sphere inside which one of the past moments froze. Projection? Illusion? No, a memory. As if someone hit rewind and play at the same time, turning reality into a film reel.
"I'm making my first move," she announced. "On the first night, you split into three groups supposedly for safety, but it was a trap. The first group had already decided to lure out the killer."
"Then, secretly from your group, Kamiki and Tiamut joined them. They devised a plan to check if Enua was dangerous via the phone line," she continued, and with each new word, her excitement was palpable. "The whole time they talked, the phone stayed on. Their alibis are confirmed. Undeniably."
"And you? You were sleeping in your room. While Enua, as you say, was on watch. That's when the murder happened. In other words, you can't prove his alibi because you were asleep. Not a single witness in your favor. You're helpless!"
Expected. I knew this would be her first move. All the participants conspired behind our backs. Of course, they decided the killer was Enua. Because it's easier that way.
"No proof on your side. So the first move stays with me!" her voice gracefully shifted to a screech. "Pathetic, pathetic human! Agh-hah-hee!"
"You're wrong," I replied. "How could I let myself lose to a witch? The bet wasn't on Enua being Gerudo's killer at all."
"Then who, in your opinion, did it?"
"The answer is simple. It's all your doing."
"...Ahah-ghah-hah!" her nervous, almost hoarse laugh rang out. "And how will you prove that?"
"Very simply," I answered. "From the start, the game rules nowhere said the killer had to be one of the players. You're not just an observer. You're... something more."
"All this time you've been watching us. But you've been doing more, you've been interfering. That gives you an advantage. You can kill without leaving traces."
"The others just didn't figure it out. Their minds were blinded, they were afraid. They couldn't even imagine it was all the witch's doing."
My first move complete. And my bet is the mistress of the mansion herself.
"Khee..." she coughed, almost from laughter. "Not bad. I thought this match would end in a rout, mine."
"The axe," I continued. "It was used for dismemberment, but when the others went up to the second floor, the axe was gone. And Enua didn't know it was there, he couldn't have known. Meaning he couldn't have used it."
"Ha!" she interrupted. "You're bluffing! He just couldn't prove he didn't touch the axe! Same as his innocence. His 'innocent' look is just a screen."
...Damn. She'll keep parrying, but I'm not backing down. I know for sure it's her. I won't let her hide behind her role.
"Magic," I made the next step.
Sweat appeared on her face. Not fear, no. Rather caution, she knew I could say this. But she tensed anyway.
"We're deprived of magic since arriving on the island. Everyone except you. You can use it even within the game," calmly, without retreating, Aragi continued. "Meaning you could have killed Gerudo without leaving your hideout. Make it look... like someone else's hands."
"The case with the axe was made of super-strong glass. Not even a bullet could pierce it, but it was shattered. Enua couldn't have broken it with bare hands, and if he could, there would be traces on his hands. But there weren't."
Her face changed, she's afraid. My words hit her, but this isn't the end yet.
However...
"But there's a witness," she said. "Who saw Enua leave his room at that exact moment."
...What?
Impossible.
All participants had already gone to their rooms. After nine in the evening, Cheryl, Morgana, they left. The murder happened after nine. Who?
"Witness: Gerudo."
With those words, she waved her hand, and... Gerudo's dead body rose from the darkness. Literally.
"This..." I couldn't finish.
"Exactly. The witness to death is the dead man himself. Confirm: were you a witness to your own death?"
"Yes, I confirm," Gerudo said evenly, without a shadow of doubt.
"Name the killer's name," directly, with confidence in domination, the witch said.
"His name... Enua. He came up behind me while I was cleaning the kitchen and struck me on the head with the axe."
...How? How was I supposed to know? She... she's using the dead as evidence, as witnesses. This isn't a game, it's a demonstration of power.
"I declare check and mate to you, Araaagi!"
One of the blades still hovering in the air shot off and pierced my chest. Faster than light. Faster than I could realize what was happening.
It hurts... It hurt. Real pain, I couldn't even move.
So that's what it is... pain.
I'd already forgotten it. No, I just hadn't felt it since the day a certain vampiress drank my blood. Since I stopped being alive. Or dead, or something definite.
Since then, I couldn't die. Even if I wanted to, even if I wished it. And now... I lost this round. I don't know how to beat her, how to refute every word. Is it even possible?
What was I supposed to do? What did I need to say to stop her?
There was no answer.
My heart stopped.
My brain shut off.
Thoughts vanished.
Consciousness dissolved into ash.
My body burst into flames.
It burned faster than I could feel it burning. Nothing remained, not even ash. As if it had never been.