Back in the Monster World, Sebastian and Clause had made it back to the Abstract Bizarre Colorful Dimensions, only this time, it appeared a lot different from the last time Sebastian was there. All the doors seemed to have lost color, including the one they had looked over before.

Even the path leading up to here had lost all of its colors. As if a black and white vacuum sucked it up, and looked like it was falling apart. The two guys stood there in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do next.

“Hey, Clause,” Sebastian started, “Is it alright if I look around?”

“Certainly, dear boy,” Clause replied, “Go and explore as much as you like!”

“But wait, before I go, I’d like to ask: who do you think is the culprit?”

“Well...” Clause pondered, “By deductions not too long ago, as well as the process of elimination, I believe the chances are it could be one of your classmates. Or someone in this school.”

Great. Sebastian couldn’t see it being someone who wasn’t a part of the school, but one of his classmates?

“I’m not sure...” He started, when a faint sound rang through his ears.

“Sebastian, come over here.” The mellow voice called out to him.

“I too am uncertain. They seem like nice people, the lot of them.” Clause said.

However, Sebastian could not hear the man anymore as he was too fixated on the soft voice that told him to go down below the central area. He checked and followed the sound of it.

That voice turned out to be coming from Lauren as she appeared floating around. Tired of her nonsense, Sebastian was just about to ask what she was doing; that was when she opened a magic door out of thin air.

“If you want most of your questions answered and discover the way to the culprit, then you better follow me,” Lauren told him before stepping inside, leaving Sebastian behind, speechless.

Sebastian was about to gasp, but he covered his mouth and tried to keep it all in. His eyes fixated on the door. After a gulp, he went forward without looking back or hearing any other sounds as the door closed behind him.

“I mean, we cannot judge by appearance, after all.” Clause continued, “It could be anyone, so it might be best not to trust anyone because if you let your guard down—” He turned around and finally noticed that Sebastian disappeared from his sights, cutting his speech short.

“Huh? Where did you go?” He looked around the area and saw that nobody else there. “You’re not hiding from me, are you? Did you go back to the academy or are you still here?” There was no response. “Can you at least say something and not give me the silent treatment?” Again, no reply. Clause felt uneasy with this unnerving atmosphere and didn’t know what to do next.

He heard some breathing sounds from behind him, and a shadow towering over him. “Sebastian, is that you? I was so worried for a minute that—” As he turned; however, he gasped in shock. “—you!”