But after that very first clash of fists, Irene's expression changed.
She clearly heard the creaking sound of the bones in her hand straining under unbearable pressure.
It felt as though what struck her was not a fist at all, but an indestructible diamond.
Even with dragon claws, that single blow still sent a piercing pain through her hand, leaving her fingers momentarily numb.
'Damn it. This brat's close-combat ability is not just a little strong.'
Only then did Irene truly wake up to reality and begin taking Kabe's strength seriously.
But by the time she reached that conclusion, it was already too late to pull back and retreat, because what awaited her was a relentless barrage from Kabe, fierce as a storm.
Straight punches, hooks, sweeping kicks, stomping strikes, and even his tail snapping in from time to time.
By the time Brandish and the others below had retreated to what they thought was a safe distance and looked back up toward the battlefield, what they saw was Kabe completely suppressing Irene and pressing her down with overwhelming force.
The three girls all opened their mouths in perfect sync, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
"I-I-I... my eyes must be broken. I am actually seeing Lady Irene at a disadvantage."
Juliet stammered in panic.
At her words, Heine turned without hesitation and slapped her across the face.
Juliet clutched her cheek and stared at Heine blankly, while Heine lowered her head and looked at her own palm.
"That hurt. So I am not dreaming. Then what in the world is going on?!"
None of the three could believe what they were seeing.
This was Lady Irene, one of the Empire's Twin Walls, Scarlet Despair herself.
How could she possibly be getting beaten back by some brat barely more than ten years younger than them?
It was not just the three of them who could not accept it. Even Irene herself could not accept this outcome.
She could react to Kabe's attacks, yes, but his punches were simply too heavy. Her human body could not properly defend against them at all.
'Damn it. I am the strongest female mage in Alvarez. How can I lose to a junior?!'
The fire in her was completely ignited.
After taking another sweeping kick from Kabe, Irene used the force of the blow to pull back and create distance, then suddenly opened her mouth and exhaled a torrent of flames.
Sage Dragon's Roar!!
Compared to the playful little fire pillars Natsu produced, what Irene spat out was practically a sea of fire.
The flames dyed the entire sky red, and the heat was so terrifying that even Brandish, who was already thousands of meters away, began sweating all over.
Even Kabe, caught inside the inferno, could not withstand that temperature. He erupted with his aura and shot sharply upward, breaking out of the sea of flames.
But the instant he flew clear of the fire, an enormous black shadow swallowed him once more.
Sensing something, Kabe abruptly looked up.
What entered his sight was a white-bodied dragon, with scarlet wings like a phoenix, and a mane of crimson fur running from head to tail, a majestic and fearsome beast.
'Weird. Why does a dragon have feathered wings?'
That oddly timed thought had only just surfaced in Kabe's mind when a dragon claw suddenly closed around him and seized him in its grip.
Kabe instinctively began struggling, twisting his body and trying to pry the claw apart with brute force.
Feeling the immense strength coming from the small body in her grasp, a very human look of shock appeared on the dragon's red-scaled face.
Then Irene hardened her resolve, using both claws together to trap Kabe tightly and crush him in her grip.
At the same time, she began chanting a spell.
Knowing full well how dangerous her Enchantment Magic was, Kabe immediately raised his left hand and fired a volley of ki blasts from his palm, trying to interrupt her.
Several orange-yellow blasts slammed into Irene's chest, blowing apart scales and tearing cracks through her dragon hide. From the gaps, burning dragon blood began to seep out.
Ever since becoming a dragon, it had been a very long time since she had suffered this degree of injury.
The shock in her heart, along with the pain spreading from her chest, nearly made her cry out.
But in order to vent her anger and properly teach this brat a lesson, she gritted her teeth and forced the spell through to completion.
"Separation Enchantment: disperse magic, strength, stamina, agility."
As she dumped every separation spell she could think of directly onto Kabe in one overwhelming chain, the force of his resistance visibly weakened almost at once.
Kabe felt as though invisible shackles had suddenly been wrapped around his body, making him unable to exert any real strength at all.
At the same time, it felt as if a huge hole had been torn open somewhere inside him, his stamina leaking out through it as quickly as air from a punctured vessel.
He realized that if he did not do something now, Irene really might drain him dry with this method and force him to taste defeat.
"Dammit... I hate this kind of flashy, tricky magic the most!!!"
With a furious shout, he drew out part of his ki and the little stamina he had left, condensing them into a dazzling sphere of light in his palm.
Then, using the last of his strength, he hurled it toward Irene's dragon head.
'A final desperate struggle before death?'
Irene's heart tightened, and she was already prepared to take one vicious hit head-on.
But the milky white orb, formed from Kabe's last reserves of stamina, flew past the side of her face as if he had simply missed.
Seeing that, Irene let out a breath of relief. At the same time, she could not help opening her massive dragon jaws in smug ridicule.
"So weakened that you cannot even land your final strike anymore?
It seems Ishgar's so-called War God is nothing special after all."
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Kabe panted heavily like a broken bellows, every breath ragged and strained.
That display only made Irene even more certain of her judgment.
"Ai..."
His mind growing dim, feeling as though he might fall unconscious the very next second, Kabe softly called Irene's name.
Curious about what this defeated loser still wanted to say, Irene lowered her dragon head closer to him.
"Idiot... when it comes to tail fighting, we Saiyans are the real experts."