Duel at the Elven Royal Castle

Duel at the Elven Royal Castle was a battle between one of the Sorcerer Kingdom's 6th Floor Guardians, Mare Bello Fiore, and the Extra Seat of the Slane Theocracy's Black Scripture, Antilene Heran Fouche. It would end up being the spark that led to war between the two nations.

Background
Whilst on a covert mission in the Elf Country with the 6th Floor Guardians, Aura and Mare, to get it's Dark Elf population to migrate to the Sorcerer Kingdom, Sorcerer King Ainz learned that the Slane Theocracy would soon be attacking the Elven Capital. Not wanting the treasures within to just fall into enemy hands, he infiltrated the city alongside the twins with the intent to loot the treasury. However, this led them to cross paths with Elf King Decem, who assumed the Floor Guardians to be his grandchildren and ordered them to bear his offspring. This enraged the Sorcerer King and a battle ensued which ended in Ainz's victory. However, the Elf King managed to escape, prompting Ainz, who wanted his equipment, to send Mare after him while he and Aura looted the treasury.

Meanwhile, the Theocracy launched a full-scale assault on the Elven Capital, intending to finally end their long-term war with the Elf Country. As part of this offensive, the Theocracy sent Antilene Heran Fouche to assassinate the Elf King. Intercepting him in his throne room as he attempted to flee the country following his loss to Ainz, the Elf King assumed her to be Aura and Mare's mother. However, Antilene had no idea what he was talking about and proceeded to kill the already exhausted monarch with ease.

Right after Antilene completed her mission, however, Mare entered the throne room. Assuming him to be one of the grandchildren who the Elf King mentioned earlier (and a girl due to his cross-dressing), she attempted to kill him by throwing the monarch's corpse at him. However, Mare dodged it, surprising her. Striking up a conversation, Antilene is shocked when Mare introduced himself as being from the Sorcerer Kingdom, recalling the "Thousand Leagues Astrologer's" report on the Dark Elf who accompanied the Sorcerer King during the Massacre at Katze Plains.

Antilene continued to question Mare, but all she got were some stuttering replies that did not reveal anything aside from that he was not alone. Concluding that she will not get any information from this conversation and now knowing that he had allies, she decided to just subdue and kidnap him so she can properly interrogate him later.

Battle
Closing the distance between them instantly, Antilene swings her scythe at Mare's legs. However, despite being caught off-guard, he blocked it with his staff. Although surprised at being countered so easily, Antilene continues swinging her scythe as a confused Mare repeatedly deflects her strikes whilst stumbling back to try to create some distance between them. Considering her opponent's strength, and the fact he has allies likely on par with him, Antilene concludes that she will have to settle this quickly and gives up on adducting Mare in favor of just killing him and taking his corpse to be [Resurrected] later.

Antilene's suprise attack failing meant that the fight would now become a battle of attrition. Having concluded Mare to be a fighting type, she is shocked when he buffs himself with thewer of Gaia] and [Elemental Form - Earth]. Having no idea what class those spells fall under, she uses the Inquisitor skills [Denounce Heretic] and [Sentence Heretic], which increases MP costs and spell failure rates for Priests that believe in a different god than her.

Taking the offensive for the first time in the battle, Mare rushes at his opponent at incredible speed and swings his staff at her. Despite being able to easily dodge the straightforward attack, Antilene chooses to block it with her scythe to feel the extent of the buffs. However, the strike is so strong that she is shoved to the ground and forced to use all her strength to push it away. With Mare right open now, Antilene swings her scythe at the unarmored portion of his armor, the belly, with the Martial Arts [Greater Wind Stride], [Steeled Arm Strike], [Greater Piercing], [Greater Ability Boost], and [Greater Possibility Sense]. Before she can pierce his organs, however, Mare uses the skill [Instant Counter] to knock Antilene away.

Using the Martial Arts [Pain Suppression] and [Greater Wind Stride], Antilene regains her footing and applies first aid with the 3rd-tier spell [Greater Recover]. Mare, meanwhile, uses a Scroll containing the 6th-tier spell [Heal] to completely heal the wound Antilene just inflicted on him. Watching the little progress she achieved being undone, Antilene once again attacks with her scythe, this time aiming for his wrist. However, he tanks it with his right arm before swinging his staff at his opponent with her left. Unable to avoid the attack, Antilene resorts to using the Martial Art [Greater Reinforce Defense] to endure the hit. Still, she could not completely negate the damage.

Putting some distance between them again, Antilene found that, as it stands, the battle had entered a repetitive circle that would certainly end in her opponent's victory. As she considers using the spells infused into her scythe, which she avoided using until now because she did not want to reveal her hand, Mare unintentionally taunts her by questioning why she was not attacking. Angered, Antilene uses the Martial Arts [Double Air Slash], [Steeled Arm Strike], and [Flow Acceleration] to fire two blades of air at him. However, Mare once again just tanks the hits whilst closing the distance between them and swinging his staff at her, which Antilene barely avoids.

As Antilene retreats while Mare gives chase, she finally starts using her scythe's spells by summoning five Spartiates though [Create Undead]. With the Undead occupying her opponent, Antilene jumps behind him to pincer him, only for Mare to jump out of the formation. As Antilene orders the Spartiates to attack, with herself following closely behind, Mare takes out a scroll containing the spell [Firestorm] and uses it to severely burn both her and the undead. Undeterred, Antilene hits her opponent with her scythe's pommel, which barely does anything, and the Spartiates also hit him with their spears, which does nothing. Now knowing that only her attacks are effective, Antilene swings her scythe at her opponent's legs, slicing through one of her summons in the process. However, Mare is barely affected while Antilene begins stumbling from exhaustion. Seeing an opening, he swings his staff at her but one of her Spartiates pushes her out of the way.

While Mare destroys the remaining Spartiates with a spell, Antilene regains her footing. Seeing that her opponent was only reacting to her attacks, Antilene feigns aiming for his wrist before redirecting her attack and slicing his unprotected neck. However, Mare then once again forces her back by hitting her with his staff. Repositioning herself again, Antilene sees that her attack once again failed to do major damage.

Sensing his opponent's discomposure, Mare suggests she surrender, claiming he will guarantee her safety in return. While this proposal disgusted her, briefly considered accepting the offer, needing a way to get out of the current situation. However, she then concluded that her opponent must be attempting to buy time and once again attacked. Aiming her scythe at Mare's face, he countered the attack for the first time since the start of the fight. He then follows with an attack of his own using his staff, but she barely dodges it using the [Greater Evasion] and [Instant Counter] skills.

] As Mare and Antilene continued to exchange blows, the latter once again considers using her two trump cards but wonders if now is the right time to use them. However, after being blown away by one of Mare's staff strikes, she concludes that she cannot wait anymore and resolves to use her first trump to end the fight here: the power of the God of Death, Surshana, which she can use through her scythe, [The Goal Of All Life Is Death].

Aftermath
TBA