Raised in Dungeon

"God's blessing: The Masque of Red Bridle"

Anticipation filled the air, everyone awaited the outcome what will Francis do. However, time seemed to stand still as the seconds ticked away with no visible result. Confusion settled everyone like a dense fog, for Francis had just said his god's blessing. None of them could fathom what was happening, except for one person - Nishizaka.

As Francis turned, Nishizaka found herself frozen in fear. In the distance, a strange, masked creature was soaring towards them in a blood-red cloak. Nishizaka couldn't make out its features, but the creature's inhumanly long fingers were visible even from afar.

A wave of terror washed over Nishizaka as she realized the creature was heading straight for her. Despite her fear, she found herself paralyzed, unable to move as the creature closed in. Then, with a single swift movement, it stabbed her, plunging its fingers deep into her chest and gripping her heart.

Nishizaka felt a jolt of pain, but her fear had locked her in place, and she was powerless to retaliate. The creature maintained its grip for a few seconds before releasing her, and Nishizaka collapsed to the ground, shaken and struggling to regain her strength.

Nishizaka was scared out of her wits, as behind Francis, she saw a strange masked creature flying in a blood-red cloak Nishizaka couldn't make out its features, but the creature's inhumanly long fingers were visible even from afar. A wave of terror washed over Nishizaka as she realized the creature was heading straight for her. Despite her fear, she found herself paralyzed, unable to move as the creature closed in. Then, with a single swift movement, it stabbed her, plunging its fingers deep into her chest and gripping her heart.

"AKH!"

Strangely, the creature suddenly disappeared, Nishizaka went back to check her chest, pierced by the creature's fingers earlier, but there was nothing there. It was as if everything she saw was just a fantasy.

But Nishizaka remembered the fear she felt at that time was real.

Francis walked over and picked up his sword. Then ran towards Nishizaka.

'What the hell was that? Is his god's blessing only giving terror? Then its not really a big deal,' Nishizaka thought.

Francis swung his sword at Nishizaka, and Nishizaka ducked it. As they clashed their swords, that's when Nishizaka felt something strange.

Not only Nishizaka, Harald and others who were watching also noticed the strangeness.

"What are they doing? Are those terrorists doing a sword-playing with the prince?"

It's not strange that someone would say that. Because Nishizaka, who had been moving agilely and brutally swinging her sword through people's heads, now looked very slow, as if she was playing swordplay with Francis.

'What's going on? Why does my body feel so heavy!' Nishizaka thought.

Francis relentlessly swung his sword at Nishizaka, determined to defeat her. Nishizaka could easily see Francis' movements but could not have a little time to react. She found herself struggling to keep up with Francis' attack. Her body felt frail as if it could not keep up with the movements her eyes and mind required. Every swing of the sword felt like an immense effort, as she fought to defend herself against Francis' slash

"Hey look! Wh-what's that!"

Everyone realized that beside Nishizaka was a tiny creature wearing a mask and a red robe. It was a doll-like creature, the same appearance as the creature that gripped Nishizaka's heart before flying beside Nishizaka.

'Since when has that thing been there?!' Nishizaka thought. She immediately kicked Francis with all her might to get him away from her. Nishizaka then tried to slap the creature that was flying beside her. But her hand went right through the creature as if it was just a hologram.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Nishizaka asked Francis.

"Guess what..." Francis came forward again and attacked Nishizaka with his might. His movements were slow, but Nishizaka was just as slow as Francis.

After clashing swords with Francis, she tried to analyze it; Nishizaka came to the least reasonable but most reasonable conclusion she could think of.

'This puppet probably appeared when he activated his god's blessing. Judging from the similar movements between him and me, it was apparent that his ability must be to equalize status. Upon engaging in combat, I came to the realization that my movements were as sluggish as his, and my strength was no different from his, weak and unremarkable.."

But even though they were now equally strong, Nishizaka was still slightly superior due to her experience, technique, and the effect of her blessing that hurt Francis' head.

Harald didn't understand what was happening but thoughtlessly approached them.

Nishizaka realized Harald's action and intended to run away immediately, but her body could not follow her mind. At that time her strength and speed were on par with Francis, the weakest prince in the country.

'I'll have to retreat!' Nishizaka thought.

Nishizaka's body shone. As Harald was about to slash at him with his sword, Harald's sword bounced off. Francis also went to attack her glowing body but could not.

"What is she doing?!" said Harald.

The bright light slowly disappeared. A transparent square now surrounded Nishizaka's body.

Nishizaka bowed her head, looking tired and in pain. She was panting, and from her eyes, it could be seen that she was exhausted.

"Kami no Mikago: Bougyo No Tenka"

Harald tried to hit her as hard as he could, but his fist couldn't reach Nishizaka; it was like hitting a tough wall.

'Bogyou no tenka, is the advanced level of Jiyuu no kosoku. I can create a new isolated space inside the space. Unfortunately, because I isolated myself inside the soace I created, I need double the mana to use it, I can only use this once in three days, and it can only last for 5 minutes. Since I've already used my god's blessing twice, I can only use this skill for 2 minutes. I have to get out of here quickly!' thought Nishizaka.

Nishizaka, with a limp leg, exhausted, walked quickly towards the exit. Her speed was taken away, her strength was also taken away, plus her mana was depleted. There was no chance for her to continue the mission anymore.

"Stop her!"

At first they tried to stand before Nishizaka, but their bodies immediately bounced off. Then everyone activated long-range amnis. Various kinds of amnis were fired at her, but none of them worked. Nothing could hit Nishizaka inside that space at that time.

"I'll be there soon..." said Nishizaka.

Then suddenly

-CRACK! CRASH!

Like broken glass, the isolation space surrounding Nishizaka shattered, and her aura enveloped the entire space.

"What happened? I still have mana; why did it suddenly shatter?" said Nishizaka in confusion.

"GET HER!" shouted Alicia.

Harald quickly headed towards Nishizaka. Nishizaka tried to run as fast as she could, but Francis's blessing was still active; the red mask puppet was beside her, making her speed and strength as weak as Francis's.

Harald grabbed the back of Nishizaka's head and smashed it against the floor.

"AKH! Why?! Why did my space get destroyed?!" said Nishizaka, who could finally show her angry expression.

Then behind Harald, Alicia slowly walked towards Nishizaka. Nishizaka tried to look back, and from Alicia's face she was sure that Alicia had done something.

"You're the one interrupting everything again! Did you? What are you doing?" asked Nishizaka.

"I'm just analyzing the flow of your mana in the wall and returning it back to ordinary mana."

"Huh?"

"Of course, I won't explain further,"

'My appraisal isn't just looking at people's status. The advanced form of this god's blessing is Evaluation and Analysis. I can see the flow of how blessing works and then rearrange them. The mana of god's blessing is like a tangled thread. All I need to do is straighten the thread again so that it turns into ordinary mana.

"What should we do with this woman, sister? Since we intended to kill her from the beginning, should we just kill her?" asked Harald.

"Hmm... We were about to kill her before getting out of this room. Since that matter is over, we no longer need to kill her. She's a little different from the rest of the Noctem Dolls. We can use her to gather more information."

Suddenly, Alicia could feel the tension of someone's aura behind her. Looking behind, she saw Francis, with a fierce determination, charged towards them, wielding the sword that glinted with the ballroom's light. Francis's mind clouded with a burning desire for revenge as memories of Sabine's senseless murder flooded back. It was an overwhelming force, driving him to take matters into his own hands no matter the cost. As he closed in on Nishizaka, his tiny fingers tightened around the sword's hilt, his heart racing with adrenaline.

Seeing Francis' behavior, Alicia immediately pulled his hand and did a chop to Francis' back neck. Francis immediately fell.

'I-I can't move!' Francis thought.

"Don't do that, Francis. We still need her, and this is not the right time for you to kill someone," Alicia said.

"What did you say sister?! We have to kill her immediately! She was the one who killed Brother Leofric and Sabine! There's no way I'm going to let her live!"

Alicia knew this pattern; she had seen desperate people like this many times while trying to reconcile the rebels with the kingdom. And she knew that whatever she did and whatever she said to Francis would be useless.

So Alicia drew an amnis circle above Francis' head and activated

"Sleeping Wind"

"Sister! Don't! Let me kill her! I want to kill her! I want to kill her with my own hands..."

Francis fell asleep in the effects of Alicia's amnis.

As soon as he fell asleep, the doll flying beside Nishizaka disappeared. Nishizaka's strength and speed returned to normal, but Harald was already holding her so well that she couldn't do anything anymore.

"Take good care of her, brother Harald. Before I deliver the message to Tobias, I must examine Leofric's corpse. There's something strange about their actions. Nishizaka and Swithian keep preventing me from appraising the corpse."

"Alright."

Alicia quickly ran towards Leofric.

But suddenly…

"Abare: Personator"

An invisible rope was binding Nishizaka and Leofric's corpses. Alicia immediately noticed it as she approached Leofric's corpse; from her passive appraisal, she could see an unnatural mana flow around Leofric.

"Brother! Don't let her off from your hand!" Alicia shouted.

Nishizaka's body was pulled by something, and so was Leofric's. Both of them quickly darted out of the room.

The door opened, and everyone looked towards it.

"Oh, we arrived at the right time, Ralph."

"It's all because you've been having fun for too long, Adam. Nishizaka almost got caught; Leader still needs her ability."

A big man was at the door, his body and hands covered in thick chains. The man was now clenching his fist, and his fist was shining bright.

'Wh-what the heck is that?! All the mana around is gathering inside his fist!' thought Alicia who could see everything with her passive appraisal.

The man smiled and said

"God's blessing: Perses Tantrum"

Alicia immediately shouted, "EVERYONE GO AS FAR FROM THE DOOR!"

Adam smiled and said, "too late!"

-BAAAAAM

The Ballroom explodes by Adam's blessing.