"Y-you said your name was Major Barak?" Silverbell stammered, gripping the spear in his hand tightly. "The 'Thunder Commander of the East Coast', they call you. So you've caught up to us to finish the Cloudian 4th army off for yourself, is that it?"
"That, and I'm looking for the bastard that has been putting a dent in my troops so easily," the major responded, before squinting his eyes at the diminutive man. "Would that be you, by any chance? I know some gnomes are quite versed in the magic arts."
"Heh, I hate to disappoint you, but I'm just the unlucky corporal who ended up leading what your soldiers couldn't manage to kill," Silverbell grinned, throwing his shield down so that he could put both hands to his spear. "As for our recently-acquired asset, you'd be dead by now if he was here. It just so happens that he's out foraging with our chief medic, however."
"Then bring him here, or else I'll start killing your men the longer I wait," the yellow-clad man threatened, brushing a sparking hand over his spiky hair. "My patience has already run out, so make it snappy."
"I'd hate to keep you waiting, so allow me to provide you with a fight in the meantime!" the gnome yelled, his small body lurching forward as he thrust his spear at the nearby intruder.
Grinning at Silverbell's sudden, albeit reckless bravery, Barak easily dodged the spear and leapt back to swiftly kick up one of his heavy boots. The end of his boot caught the spear's iron tip, flinging it up and out of the gnome's hands. Shocked, the corporal dove down to retrieve his weapon, only to just barely avoid the major's fist as it came sailing past his head. Stumbling back on his short legs, Silverbell regained his balanced and instead picked up his shield. Taking a deep breath, he yelled as he charged at the electric mage with the metal chunk in his hands, trying to ram his full weight in hopes of knocking the major off balance.
"Well, at least you actually tried to protect your troops, I can respect that," Barak stated as he crouched down while he readied himself to leap directly at the gnome bounding towards him. "Olm Missile!"
His powerful legs propelling himself forward, Barak reared his fist back and launched it at the gnome's tin shield. Immediately denting the metal, a burst of electricity erupted form his knuckles that sent thousands of volts surging through Silverbell's body, throwing him backwards from the force of the hit and gravely injuring him. Spitting blood, the gnome crashed into the ground, before tumbling over several times and crashing into a tree.
Standing triumphant over his fallen foe, Barak again yelled at the now-terrified Cloudian soldiers to bring him the opponent that he sought, lest he begin to kill them all one by one. The soldiers were still prepared to fight, although uncertain if they stood a chance even with the several dozen men that remained. As luck would have it, the major's real target arrived shortly after.
"Wow, looks like I missed some action," Razaranje remarked, stepping out of the foliage with a terrified Oakina at his side.
"I sense immense power in you," Barak stated, his eyes widening upon spotting the tall, shirtless man that had emerged from the woods. "You must be the one who keeps saving these wretched Cloudians. What are you, one of their generals?"
"T-this guy is a powerful electric mage, be careful," Silverbell coughed from nearby, before his head fell against his shoulder.
"Corporal Silverbell!" Oakina screamed in terror, before instinctively ducking behind the god. "Lord Razaranje, please help us once more."
"Sure, I mean like I said, I've been waiting for something to do," Raz replied, before stepping towards the major. "I guess you're supposed to be some kind of leader for the Grove people? A military commander, perhaps? It took me a while to feel it at first, but I suppose you have a sliver more power and ability than the other mortals."
"A sliver? Well allow me to demonstrate just how powerful this 'sliver' is!" Barak exclaimed, before adapting the same stance and launching himself at the god. "Olm Missile!"
Gently moving Oakina out of the way, Razaranje turned and faced the charging Grovan, refusing to dodge as the electrified fist sailed towards his chest.
The spectating Cloudian soldiers were awed as an explosion of electricity again tore through the woods, the wayward shocks zapping at nearby trees and causing many leaves and branches to fall down. Leaping back after delivering the hit, Barak shook off his hand as his eyes widened upon finding his opponent unmoved and apparently unharmed.
"It's like punching a damn boulder," the major thought to himself, his knuckles stinging. "Whatever, I knew this guy wasn't going to go down so easily. I'll just have to put my back into it."
Using some fancy footwork, Barak leaped from side to side, flanking the motionless Razaranje and repeatedly jumping at him to deliver more high-voltage blows to the god. Striking from different angles and moving almost as fast as lightening itself, the powerful mage relentless struck at every exposed part of his opponent's body, from his bare chest, back, to even his upper thighs beneath his armored kilt. Raz meanwhile put his hands on his hips and adopted a smirk, watching keenly as the mortal struck him in every which direction, his "powerful" strikes feeling like nothing more than a gentle breeze to his solid, godly body.
"Thunder Hammer!" Barak yelled, leaping high into the air and bringing his fist down upon Razaranje's head of long, grey hair.
A gargantuan explosion thundered through the campsite, illuminating a huge area as the determined major put his full force into the attack, sending every ounce of his powerful electric magic surging into the god's skull. Leaping back, panting heavily as the use of his power had begun to take its toll, Barak looked in astonishment as his foe again appeared unharmed, and worse yet, completely unfazed at the display of magic.
"W-who did you say you were?" the major coughed.
"I am the mighty Razaranje, the god of destruction!" Raz replied, widening his stance as he stood proudly. "I have no need for your name, boy. You are nothing but a feeble ant next to me."
"A god? No way, I don't believe you," Barak scoffed, cracking his neck as he stood back up. "Every statue of Razaranje I've seen looks like an older man. You look like a pretty boy in a skirt."
"Insolent fool," the god grinned. "I'm going to destroy you now."
"What am I going to do? He's using some incredible defensive magic," the major thought to himself. "But I have to hurt him somehow."
Thinking quickly, Barak remembered the young beauty who his opponent had moved to safety earlier. She obviously had some sort of tie to him, and he wondered if he could exploit that. Regaining his stance, the mage acted as though he was going to strike at Razaranje again, his fist rearing back in preparation to attack. Ready to effortlessly take another blow from his far-weaker foe, Raz prepared to finish the fight, only to watch as Barak instead jumped away from him to the side. Turning his head, his eyes widened as the major sailed towards Oakina, who was stunned at the powerful Grovan suddenly targeting her instead.
"Olm Missile!" Barak yelled, preparing to take out the healing mage in a desperate attempt to throw his opponent off his game.
Within a tiny fraction of a second, Razaranje almost seemed to teleport as he suddenly vanished from where he was standing and appeared between Oakina and Barak, his back to the priestess while he extended his hand and opened his palm. The major's own expression turned to one of shock, where it was too late to stop himself from colliding with the god's hand.
"Gone Touch," Raz said coolly, his palm pressing against Barak's chest as he careened into him. Almost instantly, the proud major vanished into thin air, every piece of his being, clothes and all, disappearing immediately.
"Lord Razaranje!" Oakina cried, hugging the god from behind. "That was so scary, I thought I was going to die!"
"W-where did he go?" a Cloudian soldier asked as some of the others cautiously looked around.
"I destroyed every particle of him," Raz replied casually, fighting blushing as he again felt the priestess's body press into his. "He made the mistake of being a coward and trying to harm someone who wasn't involved in our fight. I was his opponent, he should have just focused on me."
"But Lord, surely you could have killed immediately anyway, right?" Oakina asked in earnest.
"Sure, but where's the fun in that?" Raz chuckled.
With the battle over, the Cloudians gathered themselves and tended to those who were injured. Miraculously, nobody died, although some such as Silverbell himself, were in critical condition. Despite others insisting that she rest, Oakina stayed up all night working on and tending to anyone who Barak had wounded. Her healing magic helped repair the damage done by the electric magic, although it would take time for the full extent of the damage to heal up completely. Despite how renowned and powerful Major Barak of the Grovan 12th Legion was, there was evidently a massive power gap between his caliber and that of Razaranje, which greatly comforted the 4th army and left them feeling invincible going forward.