"Ahhh! While I hope Ainz-sama wins, I don't want Little Yi-chan to lose either!" Shalltear, who was secretly watching the battle from the VIP box, said with a lovesick expression.
"Princess Elizabeth cannot win." Cocytus made a calm judgment.
"Huh? Cocytus, what do you mean by that? Do you really want Little Yi-chan to lose? Uh… if Little Yi-chan wins? Then wouldn't Ainz-sama lose? Uh… this is so difficult." Shalltear was utterly conflicted.
"Although it would be disrespectful to say so, purely in terms of skill, Princess Elizabeth, under my guidance, completely overwhelms Ainz-sama. It's just that…" Cocytus once again turned his gaze to Ainz and Princess Elizabeth, who were still fiercely battling in the arena.
"Just what?! Cocytus, explain yourself! What's wrong with Little Yi-chan?! Isn't Little Yi-chan suppressing Ainz-sama?!" Shalltear also secretly peeked out, watching the two in the arena.
…
It was unknown how many rounds they had already fought. Basically, Iri would attack first, and after her attack was defended, Ainz would try to counterattack. Iri would then nimbly dodge and create distance, continuing to wait for an opportunity to launch her next attack.
Iri clearly understood that she was far inferior to Ainz-papa in terms of strength, so she adopted a hit-and-run tactic. Although, in the long run, this method would put her at a disadvantage since she didn't have the upper hand in strength.
However, that premise was only valid if Iri was a normal person. With her special constitution, Iri had not felt even a trace of fatigue up to this point.
Although Iri was indeed panting heavily now, this was merely due to the excitement of finally having Ainz-papa as an opponent.
Now Iri was waiting. She was waiting for Ainz-papa's opening. Although Ainz-papa had rich PvP experience, he was still under the influence of Perfect Warrior and could not use magic. Ainz-papa, without magic enhancement, was only engaging her in close combat, and sooner or later, he would 'reveal' a flaw. And so… Iri finally waited for it.
Just after Iri launched another surprise attack, Ainz-papa made a small error in his defense.
After defending against one of Iri's horizontal heavy blows, Ainz-papa miscalculated his speed and Iri's agility. Immediately after blocking the attack, Ainz-papa swung the one-handed sword in his hand widely, bringing it down on Iri, who seemed to have no time to dodge.
The plan succeeded!
This flaw was intentionally 'revealed' by Iri. Iri had long prepared for a counterattack. Before Ainz-papa's sword could fall, Iri had already reversed her grip on the warhammer's handle.
"Martial Art! Dragon Fang Thrust!!"
Iri used the end of the warhammer's handle as a spear tip, aiming it at the hilt of Ainz-papa's one-handed sword and thrusting it forward.
First strike, with Ice Aura Level 5! Of course, Iri knew very well how high Ainz-papa's resistance to elemental attacks was. Attacking him directly would have no effect whatsoever.
But what if the target of the attack was Ainz-papa's weapon? The result was that as soon as the end of the warhammer's handle touched the hilt of Ainz-papa's one-handed sword, it immediately froze. And that wasn't all.
The Dragon Fang Thrust that Iri had just secretly learned from the old green man was a two-hit attack. The second hit was imbued with the fire element, and it still struck the frozen one-handed sword. This attack also had a certain degree of gamble involved.
After the second heavy blow landed on the frozen one-handed sword, as expected, the one-handed sword in Ainz-papa's hand snapped with a clear sound. The broken blade flew into the air and disintegrated, disappearing before it even hit the ground.
Iri had indeed gambled correctly. Ainz-papa's equipment was transformed by Perfect Warrior, and at most, it would be around Level 33 gear. When it encountered a quasi-Divine-tier hammer (approximately) crafted by Warrior Takemikazuchi, combined with the martial art Iri had secretly learned, it was enough to shatter it.
"Hoh…" Ainz-papa seemed very surprised, and his next movement showed a hint of hesitation.
Iri had no intention of letting this even bigger opening go. After using the hammer as a long spear, this time Iri did not create distance again, but instead chose to pursue further.
After unleashing the Dragon Fang Thrust, Iri naturally lowered her stance and directly rested the hammerhead on the ground, pressing down on the hammer's handle with both hands.
When Iri was still alive, there was a popular meme on the internet that she was now using here.
Take this, Rising Dragon Hammer! Hmm… All martial arts come from Rising Dragon!
Iri pressed down on the hammer handle and swung it upwards with all her might. With this swing, even Iri herself flew into the air. The hammer in Iri's hand scraped the ground, delivering an upward strike that kicked up sand from the arena and fiercely struck Ainz-papa's chin.
At the same time, Iri, who had already leaped up, pulled back the hammer that had struck Ainz-papa's chin and swung it again in the air. The next blow landed on Ainz-papa's head.
"It! It succeeded!" Hellank was overjoyed at the sight. Skeletons are very vulnerable to bludgeoning attacks. The hammer in Iri-meimei's hand looked like a high-grade item. Two consecutive direct hits, both to the head—even such a powerful skeleton would surely take damage!
However…
"Negative Energy Blast!" Ainz-papa shouted a skill name Iri had never heard before.
From the sand kicked up by Iri's Rising Dragon Hammer, Ainz-papa's hand reached out towards Iri, who was still in mid-air, and a black wave of light with immense impact rushed towards Iri.
"Ah!" Before Iri could react, she was blown away, crashing heavily into the arena wall, creating a large crater.
"Iri-meimei!!" All members of the Four Strategists Squad immediately ran over, only to see Iri motionless, leaning in the large crater she had created.
"Roba! Heal!!" Hellank shouted nervously. Roba also cast recovery magic on Iri, but Iri remained motionless there.
"What is this??" Shalltear, who was peeking, was also puzzled. Didn't Little Yi-chan just attack Ainz-sama? And directly hit his head? Isn't Ainz-sama weak to bludgeoning attacks?
"High-tier Physical Invalidation. As long as that exists, Princess Elizabeth cannot defeat Ainz-sama." Cocytus said.
At this moment, Iri felt very strange, extremely strange. She felt no pain at all, even though she had been blown so far away, even though she had crashed into such a large crater. Why didn't it hurt?
No, it wasn't that it didn't hurt, but rather… she felt nothing at all!
Iri struggled to open her eyes. And when she did, the entire world was upside down, blurry, and chaotic.
Although she could hear Hellank, Roba, Imina, and Arshe shouting something, when it reached her ears and was processed by her brain, it became a chaotic jumble of noise. What was happening to her… could her body still move?
Iri thought to herself.
Then she wiggled her fingers. They could still move… Her arms? They could still move… Her legs? They could still move… So, there was no problem.
But when she tried to stand up, she couldn't… Huh? Could she move just now?
No? Did she move just now?
Iri glanced at her limp, powerless body with eyes that could no longer see anything clearly.
Ah! She hadn't moved at all just now. She couldn't understand. She clearly couldn't move, so why for a moment did she misunderstand that she could move? It seemed Ainz-papa's skill had confused her!
"Well done, but it's not enough." Ainz-papa said with full majesty, then walked step by step towards Iri with empty hands.
The members of Four Strategists were very nervously ready for battle, but after witnessing Iri's fight, they clearly understood the gap between themselves and Ainz. Rushing in would be no different from suicide.
"So, the bloodline of Nazarick, just a little bit more. Are you unwilling?" Ainz-papa stopped and asked.
Unwilling? What are you talking about? I'm not unwilling at all… I already knew I couldn't win before fighting Ainz-papa. Ainz-papa could easily crush me with any magic, so I'm not unwilling at all.
"No… unwilling." That's what she thought, but her body was very honest! Iri replied with great difficulty.
-----------------------
To read the next 40 chapters in advance, you can follow and support me on Patreon.
I'll be posting early chapters there so you can always stay ahead and never miss any new content.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT