Warlord

Author's Note: No sex in this chapter.



The beast crashed through the wall of Jeram’s house, bellowing as it struck at everything around it.



“Sure,” Jeram shot the monster through its head. “Come on in.”



Jeram fired again at a more human-looking monster still standing in the gaping hole in his wall. The creature cursed as the hole appeared in its torso, and Jeram fired again to finish him off.



“I used to have a lot of these,” Jeram loaded his last five gravity rounds into his rifle, then walked outside.



“Those were two of my sons.”



Nekajo floated in the air, his silken robes swirling around him. His yellow eyes were narrowed on the elf on the ground.



“Are you sure?” Jeram smirked. “They didn’t look much like you.”



The godling snarled, forming a black ball of crackling energy in his hands. Jeram shot at him, shattering an invisible shield.



“CRAP!” Jeram bolted as the Annihilate spell launched at him, catching the hammering shockwave instead of the deadly direct blast. As he tumbled to the ground, Jeram fired into his enemy.



“AARGH!” The bullet ripped into the godling’s chest. He summoned glowing armor from nothingness. “You will pay for that!”



“Start a tab,” Jeram fired at Nekajo’s head, crushing the magic armor but not damaging the man inside. The next round knocked the godling from the sky, bringing him tumbling to the dirt. Jeram fired again, but missed.



Nekajo struggled to his feet, wounds starting to regenerate even as blood ran from his mouth. He re-created his armor.



Jeram threw his empty rifle to the side and summoned his own suit of armor. He drew his runesword.



With a gesture, Nekajo drew a massive rune claymore from a dimensional pocket in the air.



“Pretty cool,” Jeram said. “I just carry mine in my belt.”



The elf took to the air, his armor’s massive wings surprisingly agile.



The swords crashed with noise like thunder.



“You have a wife, don’t you?” Nekajo’s claymore struck Jeram’s armor. The godling’s eyes widened at how little damage it did.



“She’s on a sightseeing tour of Lazlo,” Jeram replied, striking Nekajo’s arm and watching the magic armor buckle. “You wouldn’t like her anyhow. Face like a gargoyle.”



Swinging with both hands, Nekajo hammered Jeram as hard as he could. The blade cut into the dragon armor, leaving a long gash in the chest. Jeram struck back, destroying the armor spell a second time.



The godling tried to retreat, not wanting to take a direct cut from the soul-drinking weapon. Jeram stayed on him, slashing the larger man and creating a new bleeding gash on his arm.



Nekajo grabbed Jeram’s arm and concentrated. The elf vanished, sent forward in time. Briefly, the godling thought about fleeing. He was injured badly, and weary from using magic. He’d managed to send his opponent five minutes forward in time, but there were no ley lines nearby to draw from to replenish himself.







Jeram swung at empty air. He turned, seeing Nekajo floating with arms folded.



“Teleporting now?” Jeram started to fly at his opponent, then stopped short. That was an illusion.



Magic lightning ripped through Jeram’s body, burning his armor as it passed through.



“YYEEOW!!” Jeram yelped. His opponent had found his armor’s weakness completely by accident. It was still too weak to be lethal, but Jeram preferred enemies without electrical attacks.



Lightning struck twice and Jeram slammed into a tree, blinded by pain.



Jeram moved into the trees, moving quickly as he tried to detect his unseen enemy. Lightning crashed through him again.



“Got you!” Jeram slashed at empty air, slashing Nekajo through his magical camouflage. The godling howled and grabbed Jeram, grappling strength to strength.



The ploy seemed to work. The godling was more powerful than the elf, even aided by his supernatural armor. Then the wings started slashing, tearing at Nekajo. Jeram tried to hold him in place, tearing his opponent open before Nekajo finally broke free.



“Enough!” Nekajo dropped his Chameleon spell. He looked like a man who’d been through a war, panting and bleeding from numerous wounds.



Jeram’s nearly invincible armor was slashed and scorched, knitting itself back together just like Nekajo’s body.



“As I see it, I’ve got the upper hand right now,” Jeram said.



“True,” Nekajo panted. “But you could not kill me, even if you tried. I can escape at any time. Instead, you should bargain.”



Jeram lowered his sword. “Cool,” he said. “You could’ve opened with that and then I wouldn’t have killed your kids or turned your giant into a drooling idiot.”



“Where is he?” Nekajo asked, glaring.



“Why would I tell you?” Under his armor, Jeram was grinning.



Nekajo growled. “I could still kill you.”



“Says you,” Jeram taunted. “You lost a couple of sons and a couple of troop commanders to me already. Seems like you’re losing more than me.”



“You have no idea,” Nekajo growled. “My temporal magic raises me an army of my children. Hundreds of demigods, elf.”



“Yeah, great.” Jeram started tapping his sword on his leg. “I’ve got one son and he already left home to be a megaversal hero. Your kids look like retarded mutants.”



The godling snarled again. “I’ll find your family,” he growled. “I’ll make your wife and daughter my sex slaves, you worthless mortal!”



“Getting kind of worked up about a worthless mortal, aren’t you?” Jeram chuckled. “Is it because I already made your daughter my sex slave?”



Nekajo roared, slashing at Jeram. The elf was waiting, lancing his opponent through the lungs. The runesword tried to drink the godling’s soul.



Howling, Nekajo vanished, teleporting away in a burst of light.



“Don’t come back,” Jeram sheathed his sword. He took one last look at the smashed rubble which used to be his house, then set off to meet his family in Lazlo.