Why would Gazef Stroganoff, the strongest Warrior Captain of Re-Estize, appear here?
Could it be that this Old Sir truly isn't an ordinary person? Arshe thought, just about to greet Gazef, when Gazef motioned for her to be quiet, then silently stood beside Arshe, staring intently at the two people confronting each other in the arena.
Iri, on the other hand, didn't notice that other spectators had arrived; her attention was completely focused on the old man.
For a human, he was indeed quite formidable, by human standards.
Uh... his strength is a bit weaker than Gaguran's, right? His speed is very fast, though not as good as Brian's Four Light Slash; after all, that's his ultimate technique, and from those few moves just now, it seemed the old man wasn't using his full power.
In that case, this Old Sir really has some skill; it seems I've picked the right person to provoke.
She was quite eager to spar with such powerful individuals now; to disguise herself, she still needed to base her actions on humans, as it would be a better reference.
Although she had already publicly declared herself a Vampire True Ancestor, when demonstrating her power, it was best not to overdo it.
Thinking of this, Iri recalled Tia, who she had instantly killed when she met Princess Lana.
She had originally intended to just half-cripple her and then heal her, but she ended up killing her directly; fortunately, she had a resurrection short staff with her and was quick-witted enough to put on an act, which was a good thing, but Iri didn't want to do that again; the resurrection short staff also had a cooldown on its uses.
"Little girl, you seem quite at ease, don't you? I admit I underestimated you," the Old Sir said.
"Oh! Is that so? Then I'm truly honored by your high regard, Senior. Those few moves just now, Senior, were just you playing around, right? Well, I only used half of my strength to deal with it," Iri retorted with a smile.
"Young people nowadays really like to joke. Indeed, I just used half of half of my strength to test you," the Old Sir replied, not to be outdone.
"No, no... I misspoke just now. It should be half of half of half of my strength!" Iri continued.
"Then I was half of half of half of half," the Old Sir followed up.
Are you elementary school students? Gazef and Arshe, watching from outside, felt utterly drained. Are you here to fight or to argue?
"Then please, Old Sir, use your full power!" Iri also noticed that she was arguing with an old man like an elementary school student, felt a little embarrassed, and then said.
"Then, little girl, bite down and prepare!" As soon as the Old Sir finished speaking, he lunged forward, and a rain-like barrage of thrusts arrived.
So fast!
Although it hadn't reached the point of being unmanageable, for a human, it was already extraordinary.
The Old Sir's speed was different from Brian's; Brian's was an instantaneous burst of extreme speed, so fast that even Iri could only block the third strike.
However, this Old Sir's speed was a continuous, relentless quickness; although he didn't have Brian's instantaneous burst speed, the Old Sir's continuous attacks lasted for a long time, and his speed didn't decrease at all.
They were all very simple thrusts, without even a slashing motion. If the opponent were a normal human, even if they could block the initial attacks, the later ones might not be so easy. Facing a continuous onslaught like a 'tide', it became a battle of stamina, focus, and perseverance between the attacker and defender.
For Iri, as the defender, facing such continuous rapid attacks, if she was slightly careless or if her stamina and focus couldn't keep up, she could very likely be directly stabbed to the ground by this Old Sir. However, the premise was that Iri was a "normal" human.
Iri, looking completely at ease, blocked each of the Old Sir's attacks with the wooden sword in her hand.
Although Cocytus, the teacher who specifically instructed Iri in weapon combat, wasn't a character known for his speed.
But... Cocytus is a four-sword style user, and the weapons equipped in each hand are different, which he can use skillfully. The current Iri can even last for several minutes against the four-sword style Cocytus, so the Old Sir's attacks could only be considered a warm-up.
But Gazef, outside the arena, was stunned. Even he, in his current state, wasn't confident he could block Teacher Visch's rapid attacks. Yet, this princess from Nazarick easily defended against them. As expected of Lord Cong's daughter! Is she that strong in close combat too?
That should be enough, right? Although I don't want to bully an old man, he is a senior, isn't he? I should at least save him some face in front of his disciple! Iri thought.
Iri had already noticed Warrior Captain Gazef, the combat power unit of the Kingdom, who had entered to watch the battle at some point.
His presence there, combined with the Old Sir's earlier boast that he only accepted disciples he deemed worthy, and his senior-like tone after learning of Iri's Adventurer status, basically made it clear who this Old Sir was.
He must be that person from the Kingdom's first Steel Rank Adventurers team, Crimson Drop? Gazef's master. She remembered he was mentioned once in the original novel, and only that once. Her memory was quite good.
So, Iri feigned being out of breath and took a step back, giving the Old Sir and Gazef the impression that she wanted to retreat from the attack range to catch her breath.
Iri's plan was to put on a show, lure the Old Sir into attacking her further, then feign surprise and, with a swift counter, knock his wooden sword away.
However, just as Iri took that step back, deliberately revealing an opening, the Old Sir immediately stopped his attack and put down his wooden sword, which was quite awkward.
"Hmph! Not bad, little girl... to be able to last so long. I can tell you're not an ordinary person. Alright, just consider everything I said just now as nonsense. Little girl, you can go now." The Old Sir dropped the wooden sword in his hand, turned around, and impatiently waved his hand.
Huh?? What's going on? Why aren't you following the script? Iri was a bit bewildered... Was her acting just now not good enough?
She had put on quite an effort to appear exhausted, you know? And that tiny step backward was indeed taken by relaxing her body, you know? How could that not look like a full of openings?
You, Old Sir, are stopping now and backing down? That doesn't make sense! Although I decided to just put on a show and knock your sword away to save you face in front of your disciple.
If Gazef hadn't been there, her original plan was to defend until the Old Sir's speed slowed down, then knock him away with one sword, and then act as if she had plenty of strength left, taunting him, "Is this all you've got?" That's what she would have said.
"Uh..." Watching the Old Sir walk directly into the inner area without looking back, completely unwilling to bother with Iri anymore, Iri was quite displeased, but being displeased was useless. She couldn't just lash out without reason, could she? Besides, he had already backed down, no choice... Forget it!
"Princess Elizabeth... that was a truly spectacular match just now." Gazef walked over, intending to speak to Iri, who was still dazed.
"Oh... Hmm? Lord Gazef? When did you arrive? I didn't have a chance to greet you back at the Royal Capital. It's truly wonderful to see you here. My father often speaks of you!" Iri said, feigning surprise.
"You flatter me, Princess Elizabeth. Compared to you, I am still far behind. Um... did Lord Cong mention me? How embarrassing," Gazef said humbly.
This couldn't even be considered humility anymore; Princess Elizabeth, standing before him, effortlessly surpassed him in both status and strength. Yet, she still used honorifics towards him, which he truly felt unworthy of.
"Yes, my father often mentions you in front of his subordinates, and I personally admire you greatly!" Iri said with a smile.
This wasn't Iri feigning either; while what she said about Ainz Papa mentioning him was indeed made up, when it came to respect, Iri truly admired the Warrior Captain.
When she saw him in the Royal Capital before, with the Old King and so many people present, Iri, as a Princess of Nazarick, found it difficult to approach him. Now that she could see him here, she should seize this opportunity to gain some goodwill!
"Princess Elizabeth, you overstate it. By the way, my master offended you just now; I apologize to you on his behalf." Gazef also felt a bit awkward and could only change the subject.
"Eh? That arrogant Old Sir just now is your master? Uh... I really couldn't tell. Lord Gazef, you are so excellent, how could your teacher be such an arrogant, unreasonable fellow? It's truly unbelievable." Iri said this intentionally.
Because Iri had already noticed that after the old geezer hid in the inner area, he turned around to eavesdrop on her conversation with Gazef.
Then a thud came from the inner area; it must have been the sound of the Old Sir angrily hitting a wall, right? This counts as getting back at you!
Gazef looked at the inner area with an awkward expression, understanding what was going on, while Iri pretended to be completely clueless, smiling and continuing to speak to Gazef.
"Although his personality is terrible, his swordsmanship is still decent! But... Lord Gazef? Was your swordsmanship really taught by that Old Sir? I somehow feel it's not like that... I think Lord Gazef, you should be even more formidable, you're just too humble. I don't think that's good, you know. While respecting elders is certainly something one should do, if you keep indulging an old man with such a bad temper, I always feel something bad will happen!"
With a thud, another sound of hitting the wall came from the inner area, and Iri secretly gloated.
"Uh... this, it's not that I'm humble, but..." Gazef became even more embarrassed. He wanted to say something more, but Iri didn't give him the chance.
"That's Lord Gazef's gentleness! Even though you're clearly stronger, you're still so considerate of that Old Sir with the bad personality. Lord Gazef is truly a good person!"
"Ha..." Gazef himself was utterly awkward, not knowing what to say to the Princess from Nazarick standing before him.
She's truly difficult to deal with!
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