Moments later, Leofric's corpse, Heit, and the spear that pierced him fell.
From above jumped a black-haired girl wearing a mask that covered her face and one eye. The woman held the katana with ease. As she stepped back, the black-haired girl landed gracefully in front of her, blocking her path. Her one-black eyes were hard and determined as she gripped the katana's hilt.
"FRANCIS STAY AWAY FROM THERE!" shouted Alicia.
The moment the woman reached Alicia, she kicked her. Alicia was thrown far back.
'The Noctem Dolls have an other-worlder on their side?!' Alicia thought at the time. Then her body was received by Margareth, who was behind her.
"Thank you," Alicia said.
Margaret just snickered, not answering her.
Swith quickly approached the black-haired woman and pulled Francis' hand. Now he had the upper hand with Francis as his hostage.
"Akh! LET ME GO! Let me go!" shouted Francis.
"Hey! Let him go!" said Maximilian trying to take Francis back.
But Swith was cunning and quick. Before Maximilian and Harald can reach him, he grabs Francis's sword and points it at Francis's neck. The blade cut his skin, but not deeply enough to cause harm.
The female other-worlder who infiltrated was Nishizaka from Noctem Dolls. With a cold and expressionless face, she then slashed her palm with her katana. The metallic tang of blood fills the air. She reversed her katana and pointed the tip of it at the floor. The room fell silent, the only sound being the soft scrape of metal against the flooring, and then she muttered
"Abare: Hisanna Funjin Saigai no Tsurugi"
She let go of the blade, but it didn't fall to the floor; instead, it slowly disappeared from the tip of the blade.
Alicia observed with her god's blessing as her sword dissipated before her eyes; seeing everything that happened through her appraisal, she understood how Nishizaka's armacar rampage skill worked.
'Her sword wasn't destroyed, nor did it disappear. Instead, it dispersed throughout the room. The reason she slashed her palm was to trace her blood to the katana. So, her mana now spread through the room along with the katana. Probably she wanted to activate her god's blessing. And her mana would need to spread throughout the room to do it.'
They realized they had to do something, but no one could move. Alicia couldn't either; they had Francis captive. So they could only stand still, watching as Nishizaka began to kneel to activate her god's blessing.
"Kami no Mikago (God's blessing): Jiyuu no kousoku"
The entire room was glowing, making people panic even more. The light wasn't bright enough to blind people, but it was still very suspicious.
"What's going on?! The room is glowing! Are we going to explode?!" said Maximilian, representing all the questions of the people inside.
Alicia answered him, "Uncle, it's not the room that's glowing! It's the dust from the shattered sword. It carried the mana and spread it all over the room!"
Harald gave Maximilian eye contact to attack them immediately.
Realizing that things might get worse, Harald rushed forward to attack Nishizaka before she activated her god's blessing. Meanwhile, Maximilian tried to take Francis away from Smith.
With his quick reaction, Smith threw Francis at Harald. Smith's actions surprised Harald, but Harald intended to avoid Francis and focused on attacking Nishizaka, who was activating his god's blessing. But after that, Smith threw his sword at Francis.
"WHAT?!"
Harald was forced to catch Francis to avoid the sword. Smith picked up his spear and deflected Maximilian's slash with it.
It all happened in three seconds. And that was enough time for Nishizaka to activate her god's blessing.
The light in the room seemed to avoid Nishizaka's body. It was as if an invisible circle around Nishizaka grew larger until the light now enveloped the entire room. Or rather, the dust from her shattered sword covered the whole room.
Right after she did that, the nobles, who already knew the situation was worse than they thought, immediately tried to leave.
"I won't be trapped and become captive here! I'd better go! The dolls inside are just as dangerous as those outside!" she said.
But as she quickly ran to the door, she hit her head.
"Wh-what is this?!"
At the place where she had poked her head, there was a puddle of some sort. The light that spread throughout the room now looked like a barrier.
It was a barrier that kept everyone in the room from getting out. Seeing that, Alicia immediately knew what god's blessing Nishizaka had.
"Her god's blessing is to create space. The condition for its use is that its mana must be dispersed. She smears her blood on her sword, then uses her sword's rampage skill to spread it throughout the room," Alicia explained.
"So, what's the purpose?"
With a scared face, Alicia answered Harald's question.
"He wants to lock us all up here!"
"Why would he do that?"
"I don't know, maybe-"
"Ladies and gentlemen..." Nishizaka began to speak, her voice was small, smooth, and emotionless.
Captain milites, and Maximilian prepared to attack them again, but Alicia signaled them to remain silent. She needed more information about the Noctem Dolls. Besides, if they attacked now, it would only cause more casualties.
Nishizaka continued,
"Before that, there are a few things I must clarify here:
First, I don't have the slightest desire to kill you. Our goal is not to kill you; my goal is not to kill you either.
Second, I will explain how my god's blessing works. My god's blessing is creating a space that isolates us from the outside world.
Everyone inside this room is under the control of a rule that I made. The rule is that no one is allowed to lie. You should know that I am also affected by this rule, so everything I say is the truth," Nishizaka explained.
"HUH?! YOU THINK WE BELIEVE YOU!"
"A CRIMINAL LIKE YOU DOESN'T DESERVE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH!"
"CAPTAINS! JUST KILL HIM!"
Nishizaka clapped her hands, and a large wave of sound came out from her clap, making everyone silent.
"I will not attack; I will only attack you unless you attack me first. I'm sure I would lose if everyone in this room attacked us. But at least I can kill half of you."
As she said that, a gripping aura came out of her, which made everyone believe that she was capable of it and could do it.
Suddenly, from behind Nishizaka, a knight jumped toward her and drew his sword. But Nishizaka, with her speed, got behind the knight, even though the knight had not slashed his sword.
Nishizaka held his head and smashed it to the floor.
'That was fast, but not a speed I can't match,' Harald thought.
"Well, I should have started killing all of you, but since it was the first time, I forgive,"
The knight's head suddenly met an abrupt and fatal end, crushed and ruptured. The gruesome result was a gory explosion of blood and splattered brain matter, causing the witnesses to freeze in silent horror. Their fear grew as they pictured themselves in the knight's ill-fated shoes.
Nishizaka then continued,
"As for why I made up the lying rule, it's because I wanted to ask all of you some questions; please answer... Do any of you know an other-worlder named Higashiro Yamanaka? He was stranded in the same place as me. If anyone can answer, I will release everyone here and guarantee the safety of everyone."
"YOU THINK WE'LL BELIEVE YOU!"
"PROTECT US?! WHAT A FOOL?"
Everything Nishizaka said made Alicia even more confused.
As far as Alicia knew, the Noctem Dolls were an organization of assassins whose targets were mainly corrupt nobles. However, that didn't mean they did it in the name of justice because, in the process, they didn't mind killing ordinary people either. If one was caught, they wouldn't reveal their friend's identity even after death. So Alicia thought this organization had a strong bond with each other, like a family.
But... From Nishizaka's reaction, she didn't seem to care about the Noctem Dolls themselves. It was as if she were only moving according to her purpose.
Among the many nobles shouting at Nishizaka, one noble raised his hand.
"Wait! I seem to know who he is!"
Nishizaka, immediately raised her head with high hopes.
"Really?" asked Nishizaka.
The nobleman came forward; he had a fat and short body. He approached Nishizaka with a big smile on his face.
"If I tell you, will you release and protect me?"
"Of course, I swear."
"Then let me go alone to my house right now! I'll tell you after we get out of here."
'Stupid, how could he believe you,' was what most people thought at the time.
"Alright," and Nishizaka's reply left everyone shocked.
"Seriously?! Then I know him too!"
"I actually know about him too! There are many other-worlders in my territory!"
"Me too! Let me go first!"
"I'll release everyone who knows," Nishizaka said.
'Is she serious? Even without any special abilities, I can tell if everyone is lying,' Harald thought.
Nishizaka approached the short noble who first said he knew about it.
"Before I take you out. Please answer my question first. Is it true that there are other-worlders in your territory?"
"T-that's-true," the noble replied fearfully.
"Then, is it true that he is about the same height as me, and his name is Higashiro Yamanaka,"
Seeing Nishizaka's face hiding behind the mask made the noble become scared and sweat profusely.
"Answer quickly. Did you really know about Higashiro Yamanaka?"
"Y-YEEEEES!"
Nishizaka instantly twisted her robe to cover her body, then suddenly
-SPLASH
The nobleman's body burst like a balloon, his blood spreading throughout the room so that it hit the people around him.
"This is the consequence of the lies you made, the violation of the rules inside this isolated room."
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