Max dragged himself up the mountain, void energy bursting beneath him like a savage propelling force, throwing his body ten meters upward with every jump. The climb did not last long. Reaching the summit, he looked ahead, and the sight waiting for him forced a cold breath into his lungs.

"Shit... that’s terrifying..." An awkward laugh slipped out of him. What stretched across the sky was not an army. It looked like the end of the world.

A massive tide of dragons was advancing from afar, swallowing the heavens in its shadow. For a moment, even Max could not help it. Fear gripped him. No matter how much faith he had in his own abilities, that many enemies rushing for him alone was enough to freeze anyone’s blood.

But he could not let Rosalia die because of Henry’s incompetence, because of that old man’s arrogant choice to remain here instead of escaping.

Max understood the truth now. Henry had always intended to use him as the shield standing at the very front, trusting his power to hold back the storm while everyone else watched from behind.

He did not know what Henry saw in him. He did not understand what kind of madness made the old man confident enough to gamble the clan’s survival on his shoulders. But for Rosalia, he could not fail.

------

"Father, we have to help Max, he can’t fight that alone!" Rosalia cried, panic hammering through her chest.

"Relax, that beast will not lose, and even if he does, only a handful of Thunder Dragons will remain for us to deal with." Henry smiled, and the look on his face made the villagers and warriors around him silently recoil.

Their displeasure was obvious, even if none of them dared to speak it aloud. To them, Max was no longer an outsider. Somewhere along the way, he had become family. Many of them had already forgotten why they once hated him at all. Losing Stonehollow had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

------

Thor was surveying the landscape when he noticed something tiny leaping up the mountain below. From the height they flew at, Max was little more than a speck.

"Who is that?" Thor narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the insect foolish enough to challenge them.

"It appears to be someone from the Ice Dragon Clan. Their hiding place should be behind that mountain," his trusted aide answered with a snicker.

"That little ant? Who does he think he is, daring to stand in our way?" Laughter thundered across the sky as Thor mocked Max openly.

Then the laughter vanished in an instant.

The mana in the entire surrounding region disappeared without warning. It was as if the world itself had gone empty beneath them. Panic exploded through the army. Several dragons lost balance and fell screaming from the sky, their bodies crashing into the mountainside, unable to rise again.

"What is going on?!"

"We’re being ambushed!"

"But by who? Who has the power to strip the mana away?!"

The army dissolved into chaos until Thor’s roar crushed it into silence.

"Silence! Drop to the ground, conserve your mana, and continue on foot!" He commanded, his expression black with fury.

For dragons to be forced to the ground was humiliation. Yet while the others searched wildly for hidden enemies, Thor’s gaze never left the lone man standing ahead, one hand stretched toward them, a faint smile curving across his face.

Thor understood at once. That man was no ordinary fighter. He was a monster. But how? Why? The Fire Dragon Clan had never mentioned anyone like this, and there was no way the ruined Ice Dragons could have hired such a powerful expert.

"Agnia, you bitch, I’ll kill you for this..." Thor muttered through clenched teeth.

He slammed down beside his army, and the impact shook the entire mountain range. Stones burst into the air in every direction. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Max walked toward them, determination burning in his eyes. The host before him stretched like a sea without end, a wave of bodies too vast to count.

"I’ll give you all one chance to turn back and crawl home," he roared, his voice surging across the battlefield on a violent wave of void energy.

"Who dares stand before the glorious Thunder Dragon Empire and Emperor Thor? Name yourself, and your death shall be rewarded with a gravestone!"

Thor’s trusted aide shouted back, his sky-blue eyes blazing with arrogant pride.

"Name’s Max, and this is my home. If any of you want to take it from me, I’ll have no choice but to kill you." He stood his ground without hesitation. He would not reveal the Ice Dragon Clan. Let them believe he was alone.

"How dare you speak like that—"

"Enough, Sigurd. I’ll handle this personally." Thor cut him off, and every warrior in formation straightened like iron rods.

"We came here to expand our empire and erase the other dragon clans. I can leave your home untouched, but I must go there myself and confirm that no Ice Dragon Clan members are hiding there. Will you allow me that?" Thor called out, addressing Max like one predator speaking to another.

"Sadly, I can’t do that. My home is not a place you’re allowed to step foot in." Max answered while gathering every trace of mana he could into his hands, ready to strike the instant he had to.

"Foolish!" Thor roared. "I have ten thousand men behind me, and you are nothing but a human mage. Do you truly believe you stand a chance against us all just by inconveniencing me?"

"Come and try me, then. I won’t allow even a single one of you to pass through here..." Max’s face went cold.

"Very well." Thor raised his hand, and at once his men tensed like a drawn bowstring. Their golden spears, forged in the shape of jagged lightning, pounded against the earth in a growing storm of sound. "Then I have no choice but to invite myself in, whether you like it or not." His hand dropped.

Like lightning striking the mountain, the thunderous mass of warriors surged from behind him and came crashing toward Max like a tidal wave.

"Please work..." Max’s expression darkened as he unleashed every bit of power he had gathered. The blast from his palms roared louder than thunder itself. A black tsunami of void energy exploded forward, stretching across the battlefield in a wave wide enough to swallow everything in its path.