"That was a close call!" Iri thought, then breathed a sigh of relief. She swore she would never try something so reckless again; it was terrifying.
She had originally come to gain experience points, but almost became Death Knight's experience points instead.
Looking around, her current location should be not far from the teleportation plate Irubyue had set up.
Sensing around… there were indeed still human presences, which should be the Blue Rose members. They probably teleported over, found someone missing, and were still waiting there, right?
Normally, wouldn't the priority be to escape in such a situation? From their perspective, she was a princess of an enemy nation, so her life or death shouldn't concern them, right?
Besides, she had voluntarily stayed behind to cover their retreat. It seemed Blue Rose was quite loyal, so her favorability increased by one point.
"Then let's quickly rendezvous with them. Although I escaped, it would be troublesome if Death Knight went berserk and chased after me regardless. But before that, Iri thought, I need to prepare."
Then Iri activated her Ice Aura to create a very sharp piece of ice, which she used to cut her clothes.
Although she felt a bit sorry for Albedo, considering there were so many spare outfits, Albedo probably wouldn't blame her!
Cutting her clothes wasn't enough; merely cutting her clothes wouldn't look like something that happened in battle. To make the act complete, Iri directly dove onto the nearby grass and rolled around on the ground...
After rolling several times, she felt that her current disheveled appearance should look like she had been through a major battle. "Alright… time to meet up with Blue Rose."
Just as Iri was getting up from the grass, she felt a sharp pain in her chest again. Iri looked down and saw that the wound from Death Knight's slash was still there.
Although it had stopped bleeding, the scar remained. It seemed her double-bladed scythe had an effect that hindered regeneration.
Normally, such minor cuts would heal completely in a few minutes, good as new. Well… having this wound would also make the upcoming act more convincing.
"Who's there?" Tia shouted, on alert. Everyone's gaze focused on the direction Tia was facing, and they immediately prepared for battle.
Then they saw Iri, whom they had been waiting for, appear. She was dragging her extremely weary and disheveled body, slowly walking over, then stumbled and fell.
Quick-witted Tia stepped forward and supported Iri. Only then did Tia notice Iri's disheveled appearance, thinking she must have gone through a very brutal battle to cover her companions' escape.
Although it was their first time seeing the Theocracy's Black Scripture, Tia had heard rumors about them. She never expected them to be so formidable; even Iri, who could use Ultimate Magic, was beaten to this extent. But thankfully, she returned safely.
"Illy-dono, are you alright? Quick, healing magic!" Lakyus, seeing the situation, anxiously wanted to cast healing magic on Iri.
When Iri heard this, her heart jumped… she cried out "Oh no!" in her mind. "Hey, Lakyus, don't make things more complicated!"
Her current persona was that of a Vampire True Ancestor. According to this setting, receiving healing magic would harm her. In reality, Iri's special constitution, while having the Vampire True Ancestor's regeneration, completely lacked the Vampire True Ancestor's weakness to healing magic. If Lakyus cast healing magic on her, wouldn't her true nature be exposed directly?!
No choice… if she was exposed, she would just make up some excuse about it being a True Ancestor's privilege or something, right? Uh… but that still felt too far-fetched.
"Lakyus, do you want to kill her?!" Irubyue immediately stopped the flustered Lakyus. Only then did Lakyus remember Iri's persona. "Good, good, thankfully Irubyue remembered!"
"I… I'm fine. Thank you for your concern. For now, let's hurry and escape!" Iri said, feigning a very strained expression.
"Let's just get out of here first!" Iri thought. "Death Knight chasing after us is no joke."
Everyone also strongly agreed with Iri's words. After all, even Iri, their strongest combatant, was beaten so badly. If Black Scripture chased after them again, it would truly be no laughing matter. So, everyone nodded in unison and looked at Irubyue.
"Then, activating the teleportation magic here should be fine, right?" Irubyue asked with lingering fear.
Recalling the moment she was hit by the delayed teleportation, Irubyue felt utter despair. At that time, Irubyue had already prepared herself to die, yet her teleportation magic still activated successfully.
After teleporting to the pre-set teleportation plate, she realized that Iri was missing from the team. This largely explained the situation: Iri had bought them time to teleport.
"No problem, I've already checked with the bell," Gaguran said, holding a magic bell that could detect trap magic.
"Alright then, activate teleportation magic!" Irubyue began to cast the magic. This time, the destination teleportation plate was a bit far, so it required a period of chanting.
During this time, Iri also feigned weakness and thanked Tia, stating that she could manage on her own. Only then did Tia release Iri. It was then that everyone noticed the shocking scar on Iri's chest.
Finally, Irubyue's teleportation magic successfully activated. Throughout this period, Iri kept her senses active, fearing that Death Knight would relentlessly pursue them.
However, Astrology Thousand Miles had already been injured by the backlash, so it would probably be difficult for Death Knight to find them in such a large area. Even so, Iri dared not relax her guard, as that 'vile' lunatic was indeed quite troublesome.
Irubyue's teleportation magic transported everyone to a secluded alleyway within E-Rantel city. Iri remembered this alley; she recalled first encountering Irubyue at the exit of this very alley, right?
The teleportation plate was hidden in such a discreet place, surely because she wanted to secretly run to E-Rantel to find the so-called Fei Fei-daren whenever she had free time!
"Hmmph! As expected of Ainz-papa's fanatical follower, you have quite a trick up your sleeve, Irubyue."
Returning to E-Rantel, she could basically confirm that they were safe. No matter how crazy Death Knight was, she wouldn't come into the city to capture people, right? This was truly a moment to genuinely relax.
Iri absolutely did not want to experience what just happened a second time. Honestly, the level of danger during this encounter with Death Knight was far greater than her fight with Ainz-papa a while ago.
Although the situations in both instances were similar, with Iri having someone to protect behind her, their 'nature' was completely different.
At that time, with the Four Strategists Squad, although Iri was protecting them and didn't want them to perish… in reality, Iri was more enjoying the excitement of fighting Ainz-papa. The lives of the Four Strategists Squad were basically negligible; it would be a pity if they died, but their survival wouldn't affect the subsequent plot. She mostly held this thought, of course, this excludes Arshe's two cute little sisters.
However, this time, although Death Knight wasn't even qualified to carry Ainz-papa's shoes, her killing intent towards Iri herself was very real, although Iri's own reckless provocation was a contributing factor.
If she hadn't done that… the Blue Rose would have truly been in trouble. Iri had tried her best to save Blue Rose this time, because Iri wouldn't live to see the subsequent script involving Blue Rose. So, she couldn't be sure if Blue Rose dying in this place would affect Nazarick and Ainz-papa's "plans" later on.
"Let me support you, Iri-meimei." Just as Iri was still pondering, Gaguran came over and forcefully helped Iri up.
"Ah… I… I can walk on my own." Iri, having snapped back to reality, wanted to refuse. After all, her disheveled state was feigned, except for the chest wound…
"Iri-meimei, don't push yourself. The fact that we are still here is all thanks to your self-sacrificing rescue. At least let me repay a little of this kindness!" Gaguran laughed heartily and directly supported Iri as they walked out.
Uh… she did indeed save them! But indirectly, the reason Blue Rose ended up here was also because of Iri herself, so Iri's current mood was quite delicate.
Afterward, the Blue Rose group returned to the luxurious hotel where Iri was staying. After all, it was a hotel specifically for high-ranking Adventurers, though it couldn't compare to the one in the capital.
Upon returning to the hotel, Tina had initially wanted to use 'medicinal' herbs or something to treat Iri's injuries, but once they were back, the wound on Iri's chest had already completely healed, without even leaving a scar.
This vampire physique was indeed quite convenient. Although Irubyue, also a vampire, was curious about the wound on Iri's chest that had previously been slow to heal, Iri could only offer her speculation: Death Knight's weapon had an effect that hindered regeneration, and that was all.
"Why would the Theocracy's Black Scripture appear in a place like this?" Lakyus complained with a very displeased tone.
"Who knows?" Iri also really wanted to know the answer to that question. Not to mention Black Scripture, the fact that even Death Knight was brought out was absolutely strange, wasn't it?
Death Knight's special identity made it very inconvenient for her to be 'exposed' to the public. Even Lakyus only recognized that bastard Black Scripture, but she seemed completely unaware of Death Knight hiding behind that 'blonde' person. The Theocracy had also hidden Death Knight very deeply.
After all, she was a hybrid, with the bloodline of a divine being and the perverted Elf King. In a Theocracy that upheld humanity as supreme, she was an aberrant existence. In the original work, Death Knight was assigned to guard the Six Great Gods' equipment, wasn't she?
So, what reason could the Theocracy have for releasing Death Knight now? This needed to be thoroughly considered.
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