Chapter 29: Remgar the Executioner

Balder clicked his tongue like I had inconvenienced him by noticing his treason.

The man stood several dozen paces away with blue-white electricity crawling over his fingers, his robes already stained with dirt from the battle. His bald head reflected just enough sunlight to make him annoyingly easy to identify.

Useful trait for a traitor.

Terrible trait for hide-and-seek.

His lips twisted.

“I was certain this plan would succeed.”

Lightning hissed around his hand.

“And when it does, everyone will finally understand that I am superior to that arrogant child they insist on calling the Great Sage.”

I stared at him.

For a moment, I genuinely wondered whether betrayal made people stupid or whether stupidity was simply part of the application process.

“So your master plan for proving you’re smarter than Zeria is betraying your own kingdom?”

Balder’s expression hardened.

“Betray?”

He almost sounded offended.

“I cannot betray something that will soon belong to me.”

Ah.

There it was.

The crazy.

I had been wondering where he kept it.

Balder spread his arms as though presenting the battlefield itself.

“Once Inizio falls, its throne will require someone capable of rebuilding it properly.”

He raised his chin.

“I will become its king.”

Nemris looked at him like she had just discovered mold speaking.

“You’ve lost your mind.”

Balder’s jaw clenched.

“No. I am one of the few who has retained mine.”

His eyes burned toward the distant mountains, as if somewhere beyond them King Viar could feel himself being insulted by telepathy.

“A brute with more muscle than intellect has no right sitting on that throne.”

I slowly turned toward Nemris.

“Remind me why he’s on the council?”

Nemris did not look away from Gia.

“Lineage.”

I nodded.

“Ah.”

That explained so much.

Nothing kept incompetence alive quite like an impressive family tree.

Behind us, the remaining Agranian soldiers were losing what little momentum they still had.

Treez’s force had been shattered.

Some Tigerkin remained conscious and stubborn enough to keep resisting, but many were already injured, disarmed, or surrounded.

The Inizio knights were recovering their formation.

Steel flashed.

Commands rang through the air.

One Agranian swung at a knight and had his weapon knocked away.

Another tried to rise and was immediately forced back down at swordpoint.

Tiger mounts paced nervously without riders.

Weapons were collected.

Hands bound.

The battlefield was slowly changing from chaos into containment.

Good.

That left the premium subscription murderers.

Remgar rolled one enormous shoulder and began walking toward us.

Every step sank slightly into the damaged earth.

His black armor was scarred from Nemris’s earlier attacks, but he still carried both greatswords as though they weighed about as much as enthusiastic chopsticks.

Gia stood opposite Nemris.

The assassin’s knees were slightly bent.

One dagger forward.

One held near her hip.

Her striped tail moved behind her in tiny controlled motions.

I looked at Nemris.

“I’ll handle the walking fortress.”

Her eyes briefly shifted toward me.

“You’re certain?”

“Absolutely.”

I tilted my head toward Gia.

“You deal with Stabby McDisappear.”

Nemris glanced toward Balder.

“And Lord Balder?”

I looked around theatrically.

“Who?”

For the first time since the ambush began, Nemris’s mouth curved.

Tiny.

Barely there.

But definitely a smirk.

Beautiful.

She understood.

Balder apparently did not deserve enemy status.

He had been demoted to environmental irritation.

Nemris nodded once.

“Fine.”

Then she turned toward Gia.

The assassin vanished.

Nemris moved at the exact same instant.

Their weapons collided somewhere between one heartbeat and the next.

I faced Remgar.

The giant Tigerkin stopped several paces away.

Up close, he was even larger.

Wonderful.

His armor was made from overlapping dark plates thick enough that a normal sword probably needed written permission before scratching them.

His arms were huge beneath the metal.

One old scar crossed the bridge of his nose.

Another disappeared beneath his jaw.

His eyes, however, were calm.

Not stupid.

Not wild.

Experienced.

That made him far more dangerous.

Remgar rested one greatsword against his shoulder.

“The queen gave us strict orders concerning you.”

I raised my golden blade.

“Oh?”

“You are to be captured alive.”

“Very considerate.”

“Our queen does not murder diplomats simply because she despises the kingdom they represent.”

“I’ve heard similar things about her.”

Remgar’s eyes narrowed.

“But.”

There was always a but.

“But if you insist on fighting me as a warrior, you abandon the protection afforded to you as a diplomat.”

He lowered both swords.

Their black points hovered above the grass.

“When that happens, your death becomes your own choice.”

I considered him.

“Very formal.”

“This is your final warning.”

I smiled.

“How about we skip the legal paperwork and jump directly to you attempting to cut me into decorative pieces?”

Remgar stared.

Then laughed.

A deep booming sound.

“Good.”

He widened his stance.

“I don’t know what trick you used to defeat Treez.”

His grip tightened.

“But tricks will not work on me.”

Then he moved.

For a man built like a castle annex, he accelerated offensively fast.

The ground burst beneath his first step.

His body crossed the distance between us in seconds.

The right greatsword came around horizontally.

I pushed off the ground.

White magical wings flashed behind me.

I shot upward.

The blade passed beneath my boots.

Its pressure alone tore a long path through the grass.

Remgar immediately swung the second sword upward.

Fast.

I twisted midair.

The black edge missed my side by less than a foot.

“That was rude.”

I climbed higher.

Golden light gathered across my weapon.

Nemris’s sword technique flowed naturally through my body.

The blade brightened.

First gold.

Then nearly white.

Light crawled along its edges in liquid streams.

Remgar looked up.

I raised the sword over my shoulder.

“Holy Slash.”

I swung downward.

The light exploded from the blade.

A massive crescent descended toward him.

It carved through the air with enough force to flatten the grass beneath its path before even touching the ground.

Remgar crossed both greatswords overhead.

The Holy Slash struck.

BOOOOOOM.

Light swallowed him.

The impact drove Remgar downward.

The earth beneath his boots collapsed into a crater.

Cracks raced outward.

Chunks of soil jumped into the air.

His knees bent.

His arms shook.

But he held.

I descended behind the attack, both hands pressing against my sword as the glowing blade ground against his crossed weapons.

Remgar bared his teeth.

I smiled.

“Strong.”

His eyes narrowed.

“So are you.”

I pressed harder.

The crater deepened another inch.

Then lightning hit me.

CRACK.

Blue-white energy slammed into my side.

My muscles locked for half a second.

I was thrown away from Remgar.

I twisted through the air, wings catching me before I struck the ground.

Smoke curled from my shirt.

I looked toward the source.

Balder.

Of course.

He stood at a safe distance with one hand extended.

Smug little smile.

I stared.

“Annoying.”

Remgar charged again.

I lifted one finger toward him.

“One second.”

Then I vanished toward Balder.

The traitor’s smug expression disappeared.

His eyes widened when he realized how quickly I had crossed the field.

“What?”

I appeared directly in front of him.

He tried to raise both hands.

Too late.

My palm settled against his chest.

“You have been a very naughty bald child.”

Balder’s mouth opened.

I smiled.

“Nap time.”

Wind detonated from my hand.

“Tempest Burst.”

WHOOM.

Balder launched backward like somebody had fired him from a siege weapon.

His robes snapped around him.

He flew across the grass.

Past one fallen Tigerkin.

Through a bush.

Then vanished into the forest.

Branches cracked somewhere inside.

A flock of birds exploded from the canopy in protest.

I lowered my hand.

“That should do.”

No dramatic explosion.

No corpse.

Just enough to remove Bald Lightning from active participation.

I felt pressure behind me.

Remgar.

I blinked.

His first greatsword carved through where my torso had been.

I appeared several paces sideways.

Second slash.

Blink.

Gone.

Third attack came diagonally.

I leaned backward instead.

The sword passed inches from my face.

Wind dragged at my hair.

Remgar followed with his other blade.

I turned.

Metal screamed as my golden greatsword caught his.

CLANG.

The impact forced me backward.

He attacked again.

And again.

His fighting style was brutally efficient.

No wasted movements.

No unnecessary flourishes.

Two enormous swords moved in overlapping patterns, one attack closing the escape route created by the previous one.

I blocked high.

Duck.

Step left.

Sword came horizontally.

I flew upward half a meter.

Another blade stabbed toward my stomach.

Blink.

I appeared behind him.

Perfect.

I swung for his back.

Remgar moved.

Fast.

Much faster than his size suggested.

He spun on one heel.

His greatsword swept toward my head.

I blinked again.

Reappeared at his blind side.

My golden blade came around low.

This time, he was a fraction too slow.

SLASH.

The sword tore through the armor around his hip.

Metal split.

Blood sprayed across the grass.

Remgar roared.

He spun violently, both greatswords sweeping around him.

I jumped backward.

The blades passed in front of me.

One struck the ground.

A chunk of earth the size of a table launched into the air.

I landed several meters away.

Remgar straightened.

For several seconds, neither of us moved.

Wind passed through the battlefield.

Smoke drifted from scorched grass.

Distant metal rang as Nemris and Gia continued fighting.

Remgar lowered one sword.

He touched the cut in his armor.

His fingers came away red.

He stared at the blood.

Then looked at me.

And smiled.

Not angry.

Excited.

Oh.

Wonderful.

Another combat enthusiast.

“Now.”

His grin widened.

“This is becoming enjoyable.”

His eyes began glowing red.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Of course they do.”

Black energy erupted from his body.

Not smoke.

Not shadow.

Something heavier.

An aura thick enough to make the air around him distort.

The grass at his feet bent flat.

Loose stones trembled.

Dark energy crawled over both greatswords.

Remgar rolled his shoulders.

“Do not disappoint me.”

Then he growled one word.

“Rampage.”

The ground exploded.

Remgar disappeared from where he stood.

I barely moved in time.

His greatsword crashed into the place my chest had been.

The impact created a crater.

I jumped backward.

He followed instantly.

Too fast.

One sword came down.

I blocked.

BOOM.

My boots sank into the earth.

Cracks spread beneath me.

Second blade struck from the side.

I twisted my sword to catch it.

CLANG.

The force launched me sideways.

My wings flared.

I stabilized.

Remgar was already there.

“Okay.”

I ducked beneath one swing.

“Significant improvement.”

His knee came toward my ribs.

I blinked.

Appeared behind him.

He turned immediately.

Greatsword.

I blocked.

The collision shook my arms.

Another sword followed.

Block.

Downward slash.

Dodge.

Horizontal.

Jump.

Reverse cut.

Blink.

He was relentless.

Rampage did more than strengthen him.

It accelerated everything.

Movement.

Reactions.

Power.

Momentum.

Every step he took damaged the ground.

Every missed strike carved trenches through the plain.

One sword sliced through a boulder near us without slowing.

Another struck the earth and sent fragments of stone flying like shrapnel.

His attacks came in combinations that would have turned most warriors into historically significant stains.

I kept moving.

At first, barely.

He forced me backward.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Then something changed.

Not Remgar.

Me.

The rhythm became visible.

Not with my eyes exactly.

With understanding.

His shoulders tightened before one particular diagonal strike.

His left foot rotated before switching swords.

When his right blade came high, the second attack usually followed low from the opposite side.

Rampage made him faster.

It did not make him unpredictable.

Attack.

Attack.

Turn.

Cross.

Follow-through.

Reset.

I slipped between the next two swings.

Remgar’s eyes narrowed.

Another combination.

I moved through it.

No block.

Just dodge.

He increased speed.

I leaned aside.

Blade missed.

Duck.

Second missed.

Step inward.

Third passed behind me.

Remgar’s expression changed.

Confusion.

There you are.

He roared.

His black aura surged.

The next sequence came even faster.

I smiled.

“You know the problem with fighting someone long enough?”

Remgar swung.

I tilted my head.

The blade passed beside my ear.

“I start learning.”

His eyes widened.

I stepped around the second sword.

“You become less terrifying.”

Third strike.

I ducked.

“And more like choreography.”

Remgar snarled.

He changed tactics.

Good.

Smart.

His next attacks stopped aiming primarily at me.

They aimed at my weapon.

First strike hit the flat of my golden greatsword.

CLANG.

I adjusted.

Second hit from below.

Third came downward.

I blocked.

He rotated his wrist.

One black blade hooked against mine.

The other struck the opposite side.

My grip shifted.

Oh.

He wasn't trying to cut me.

He was trying to disarm me.

Remgar struck again.

My greatsword jerked upward.

Then the second blade slammed against it.

The golden weapon ripped from my hands.

It spun through the air.

Sunlight flashed along the blade.

Then it buried itself point-first in the earth several meters away.

Remgar grinned.

He charged before I could retrieve it.

Both greatswords came forward.

I looked at my empty hands.

Then at him.

“That’s the funny thing.”

Remgar closed the distance.

“I don’t really need a weapon.”

Black aura erupted around me.

His black aura.

Rampage.

The same force wrapped around my body.

Remgar’s expression shattered.

“What?”

I smiled.

“Rampage.”

I moved.

The combination was ridiculous.

His Rampage.

My Berserker Aura.

Red energy exploded through the black.

The two powers wrapped around me simultaneously, crimson and darkness twisting together like twin storms.

The ground beneath my feet collapsed.

I launched forward.

Remgar swung.

I slipped beneath it.

Second sword.

I leaned sideways.

The blade tore through nothing.

Third attack.

I stepped inside his reach.

Remgar tried to pull back.

Too late.

Thunder gathered around my fists.

Blue-white arcs crawled over my forearms.

The air filled with sharp cracking sounds.

Thunder Assault.

I planted my first punch against his chest.

BOOM.

Lightning exploded across his armor.

Second punch.

CRACK.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth.

I unleashed a barrage.

Each impact detonated with thunder.

My fists blurred.

Lightning flashed so rapidly that Remgar’s massive body became a dark silhouette inside a storm.

Metal buckled.

Armor cracked.

One plate shattered.

Then another.

Thunder rolled across Dahera Plane again and again.

Remgar tried raising his swords.

I punched through the opening.

His chest plate collapsed inward.

Another strike tore it completely apart.

Fragments of black armor flew across the grass.

My final punch landed in the center of his now-exposed breastplate frame.

BOOOOM.

Remgar flew backward.

He landed on both feet.

Skidded.

Twenty meters.

Then dropped to one knee.

Both swords stabbed into the ground to keep him upright.

Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

His armor was ruined.

Large pieces hung from straps.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

I let the lightning fade from my fists.

Remgar coughed.

Blood splattered onto the grass.

He still looked at me.

Still conscious.

Tough bastard.

I lifted one hand.

Magic circles formed.

Treez’s technique.

The same layered structure she had used against us.

One crimson ring appeared between Remgar and me.

Then a second.

Then a third.

Runes ignited around their circumference.

Heat rolled outward.

The damaged grass beneath the circles began smoking.

Remgar looked at the magic.

Then at me.

He actually laughed once.

Weakly.

“You were ordered not to kill us.”

I tilted my head.

“I remember.”

“If you kill a general of Agran now, any hope of negotiation dies with me.”

The circles grew brighter.

Fire churned at their center.

Remgar’s eyes narrowed.

I smiled.

“You’re right.”

For the first time since Rampage began, concern entered his face.

I raised one finger.

“But I’m pretty sure a little fire won’t kill someone built like you.”

His eyes widened.

“Little?”

I pointed at him.

“Inferno Blast.”

The circles opened.

Fire erupted.

The roar swallowed everything.

A massive torrent of flame blasted across the plain.

Not full strength.

Still enormous.

The heat turned the air white around its center.

Grass vanished.

The ground blackened.

Remgar disappeared completely inside the inferno.

Flames climbed dozens of feet into the air.

The shockwave pushed smoke outward in a rolling circle.

Even from where I stood, heat washed over my face like opening an oven large enough to roast a dragon.

For several seconds, there was nothing but fire.

Then I closed my hand.

The spell ended.

Flames collapsed.

Smoke rolled across the battlefield.

The ground where Remgar had been standing was scorched black.

His twin greatswords lay several paces apart.

The giant Tigerkin remained upright.

Barely.

Most of his remaining armor had been burned dark.

Smoke curled from his body.

One knee shook.

Then the other.

He slowly raised his head.

His red eyes had returned to normal.

He stared at me through the smoke.

“Who…”

He coughed.

His voice became rough.

“Who are you?”

I said nothing.

Remgar swayed once.

Then collapsed onto the ground.