This... was really a Stigmata from over a hundred years ago?
Doug wiped away his sweat and slowly backed up a few steps. "What are you doing? Do you really think this is some kind of detective game? I'm done playing. I'm calling the police."
There were quite a few detectives like him. Soon, they discovered that the villa's doors were tightly sealed, there was no phone signal, and some unseen hand had turned this place into an isolated locked-room crime scene.
"Let the deductions begin."
Zhao Bai and Bronya exchanged a glance, seeing the same excitement in each other's eyes.
"What exactly are you doing?" Fine beads of sweat formed on Doug's forehead. "Our lives are under direct threat!"
"That's what makes it interesting."
Bronya put on the air of a seasoned detective-game player.
"If our lives weren't in danger, how could we call ourselves orthodox mystery experts?"
The second challenge came quickly.
Among the crowd, one detective wore a terrified expression. He staggered backward in panic and fell to the floor, but instead of getting up, he scooted backward on his backside. His face was as pale as paper. He must have seen something utterly horrifying.
That was probably no ordinary knight.
Zhao Bai dashed forward and shook the man's shoulders hard, trying to drag him out of his fear of death.
"Don't look at him. Look at me. Calm down."
"Hah—"
The detective gasped desperately, but it did nothing. His gaze remained uncontrollably fixed behind Zhao Bai, upon that empty void where an enemy only he could see was hidden.
"What does the enemy look like? Is it moving slowly or quickly?"
"..."
"It... it's... behind you!"
"It passed through you!"
At the final moment, the man's gaze finally focused on Zhao Bai. But it seemed