Ainz couldn’t look away from Clementine who took a stance and just glanced a little. He saw two giant dragons made from bones where Narberal was fighting.
“… Are those Skeletal Dragons…?”
“Correct~ You are quite knowledgeable. That’s right~ That’s the nemesis of Magic Casters.”
“I see. That’s the reason why Narberal couldn’t win.”
“That’s~ how it is.”
Clementine regained her cool after the Skeletal Dragon appeared and she teased Ainz. Ainz frowned his illusional face under his helmet.
For Magic Casters, Skeletal Dragons are tough enemies. And there were two of them at the same time, so it was impossible for the current Narberal to deal with them.
Clementine seemed to realize Ainz was worried so she made a movement.
This action served to keep Ainz in check and there should be a follow up. For warriors, they would use the chance to attack when they see a stronger enemy than them show a weak point.
Clearing the issue with Narberal out of his mind, Ainz thrust his left sword out and waved it slightly to keep Clementine at bay as he readied the sword in his right hand.
Clementine’s weapon was the piercing type and lacked variety in attack methods like hack and slash weapons. It was a weapon reinforced for thrust attacks. The delicate structure of the stiletto wasn’t strong enough to clash with the great sword.
That was why Ainz kept his distance by using the sword in his left hand as he waited for Clementine to get close by herself. But the opponent knew this too.
“You have any way of closing this distance?”
“What do you think~”
The crafty Clementine looked calm and collected and had a faint smile. This showed she had a plan.
Clementine slowly changed her posture, similar to the starting position of a sprinter, but she was still standing so it was awkward. It looked funny, but wasn’t a position to take lightly.
At this moment── Clementine took action. Before the tight defence of Ainz, Clementine shot out like a fully loaded spring that had been released.
She charged straight on.
It was hard to believe, even for Ainz who had extraordinary physical abilities.
Like the storm taking everything in an instance, Clementine appeared before Ainz in a blink of an eye, running under Ainz’s sword with the agility to match her speed.
Facing Clementine’s nimble action, the anxious Ainz swung hard with his right hand, attacking Clementine with a power beyond his imagination.
At that moment, Ainz saw the grin of that woman became wider.
“—「Invulnerable Fort」.”
The absurd scene shocked Ainz.
The slender stiletto blocked the great sword which was ten times its weight from the front.
If she blocked Ainz’s powerful blow, the short blade would probably break. But even if it miraculously didn’t break, it would be knocked away by the strong blow. But Ainz’s great sword seemed to have hit a solid siege wall and the blow was deflected back instead.
As if she was throwing herself into a lover’s embrace, Clementine charged into Ainz’s defenceless chest. Half of Ainz’s vision was taken up by Clementine’s smiling face.
Compared to the retreating Ainz, his opponents attack speed was faster. Combining the momentum of the sprint with all her strength, her strike used the shift in gravity terrifically like a shooting star.
With a flash, a screeching sound erupted in the cemetery.
Clementine dodged the counter attack from Ainz’s left sword and backed away.
Ainz grasped the secret behind Clementine’s attack.
“—Martial arts!”
Skills that do not exist in YGGDRASIL, the magic of warriors— martial arts which Ainz had to be wary of.
The effect is probably defending against sword attacks and nullify the power of a sword. She must have used martial arts to deflect Ainz’s attack.
“… How tough~ What is that armor made from? Adamantium…?”
It doesn’t hurt, but he still heard the sound of friction and the feeling of something sharp hitting his left shoulder.
Ainz glanced at the shoulder which received the blow and the armor there was only slightly dented. It didn’t have unique powers, but this armor was still created by a level hundred Magic Caster. The toughness of the armor would increase with level, so the dent was telling of how powerful Clementine’s strike was.
“Forget it. Since it’s like this, next time~ I will attack somewhere more vulnerable~ I wanted to weaken you slowly and torture you when you couldn’t move~ What a pity.”
After learning Clementine didn’t attack his shoulders randomly but was trying to disable Ainz’s arm, Ainz felt impressed by Clementine for the first time.
Ainz could only wield the sword simply to hurt the enemy. With just one direct hit, he could end his enemy. When facing skilled foes, he had to consider how the fight would flow as the battle goes on.
It was a fruitful experience…
“Well, I am coming~”
While Ainz was feeling impressed, Clementine adopted the same forward leaning position like just now. Ainz lifted the great sword in his right arm in anticipation of the attack. He didn’t thrust out the left sword this time.
Clementine scoffed at Ainz’s posture and charged over. She was so fast even Ainz’s incredible dynamic vision had a hard time keeping up. If she wasn’t coming in a straight line at him, she might escape out of sight.
Facing the premonition of Clementine’s charge, Ainz swung his right sword to attack──
“「Invulnerable Fort」.”
───and was deflected by the opponent’s martial art once again, but this was within expectation. In the previous clash, Ainz lost his balance because he was attacking with full strength, so he held back this time.
Absorbing the recoil that was similar to hitting a wall, Ainz swung the great sword in his left hand. Ainz was confident the opponent couldn’t block this second strike.
But in an instant, Clementine activated another martial art.
“「Full Throttle.」”
This martial arts created an unexpected result.
Time in this space seemed to be manipulated──as if he had fallen into a viscous liquid, all his movements were slowed down. Ainz great sword became really slow.
But Clementine retained the same speed in this slow world, dodging the sword easily and made her way in front of Ainz.
It might be the imagination of Ainz. To prevent his movement from being interrupted, Ainz had a magic ring that prevented his movements to slow down because of external factors — or unknown situations.
It was probably because the fight with Clementine was intense, that’s why he felt her speed increased drastically. Most importantly, Ainz had seen this martial arts before and didn’t feel this way back then.