The marching steps died at once before the thundering army. A tall young man felt his entire body shiver, as if something ancient and disastrous had just been unleashed upon the world. The reaction spread through the ranks in the same instant.

Every soldier stiffened, their green armor gleaming across the endless fields like a sea of sharpened scales spread beneath the heavens. The young man slowly turned his head toward the distant horizon, his green draconic eyes narrowing into thin slits.

"The fire progenitor..." he muttered, and the wind around him suddenly surged.

A violent aura erupted from his body, rolling outward in invisible waves and tearing apart the suppressing pressure trying to settle over him. Dust spiraled at his feet. Cloaks snapped in the wind. Even the nearest soldiers lowered their heads instinctively, not daring to meet his gaze for longer than a breath.

The aura swept across the vast army, lifting the trembling weakness from their legs and making their bodies straighten like drawn bowstrings.

No one dared ask what he had sensed. The young man himself felt even more terrifying than whatever loomed in the far distance, where they had been preparing to march.

"Emperor, shall we head first toward the Ice Clan?" a middle-aged man asked respectfully. His tail was green like jade, thick and powerful, reflecting every warrior and the emperor he addressed. Every single one of them was a dragon, their forms fully hybrid, without a single part missing, displaying their might and the purity of their bloodline.

The young emperor remained silent for a moment, his eyes fixed on the distant horizon as if trying to pierce through mountains, smoke, and sky alike. Then a cold smile slowly formed on his face.

"Let the Thunder insects march first. We will strike from behind once their numbers begin to thin, and then..." His eyes flashed with killing intent. "We will kill the human who dared to believe himself superior to our race..."

------

In the far distance, raging thunder mixed heaven and earth into one violent whole, every single beat crashing across the world like a war drum struck by the hands of the heavens themselves. Brilliant lightning tore through the sky without rest, splitting the darkness apart again and again as it struck the tall, jagged towers of the castle. Each bolt bit into the stone like a venomous serpent, wild and merciless, as if the storm itself wanted to tear the palace down and devour everything hidden within it.

And yet, for all its fury, the lightning was not destroying the palace. No... It was feeding it.

With every strike, the black walls shone from within, veins of brilliant blue light spreading through the stone as though the entire structure were alive.

The glow came from countless gem-like crystals embedded deep into the walls, each one pulsing with raw thunder energy, swallowing the power of the storm and passing it onward through the palace like blood running through veins. The deeper the light traveled, the brighter the fortress became, until it all led toward the great hall at its center.

That hall was vast enough to make a man feel insignificant the moment he stepped inside. Towering pillars rose on both sides like the ribs of some ancient beast, their surfaces carved with draconic patterns that gleamed beneath the storm-fed light. At the far end stood a white marble throne, elevated above the rest of the chamber like the seat of a god. It did not stand alone.

Spiraling web-like lines of glowing blue crystal connected it to the surrounding walls, stretching outward in every direction like a divine network built to channel the wrath of the sky itself. Each pulse of lightning from above surged through those glowing veins and poured into the throne, making it shine with an oppressive majesty that no ordinary ruler could ever hope to command.

Thor sat upon that throne, his expression dark and unreadable.

Every pulse of electricity surged into his body through the throne, crawled across his skin, and sank into his flesh like thousands of tiny fangs. His face contorted each time the current struck deeper, his muscles tensing beneath the pressure, yet he refused to move even an inch. He sat there like a king carved from iron, allowing the storm to pour into him again and again, as if pain itself was beneath his notice.

Lightning wrapped around his body in violent arcs, slithering over his shoulders, his chest, his arms, before vanishing into him completely. Beneath that flesh, inside the very depths of his being, his mana soul stirred.

It looked like an electric serpent coiled in darkness, vast and feral, opening its jaws wide to devour every trace of thunder being fed into it. With each new surge, the serpent grew brighter, more restless, as though it too could feel the world beginning to move toward war.

Then soft steps echoed through the hall.

They were almost insignificant compared to the roar of the storm outside, yet in that vast chamber, they carried clearly enough to draw attention. A pair of delicate arms pressed against the tall, heavy doors at the entrance, slowly pushing them open. The thick wood let out a long, groaning creak, and the sound stretched across the hall like the warning cry of something about to disturb an emperor in the middle of feeding on heaven’s wrath.

"My emperor..." the woman spoke respectfully. She looked young, no older than forty, yet carried herself with a noble aura. Her beauty outshone the lightning pulsing across the room. "The fire progenitor’s aura has been detected in the Fire Region. It appears they had been hiding it until now." She lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.

"I know... I can feel it. It seems that human marched upon Agnia’s kingdom and won. That foolish girl doomed both herself and him, but I doubt that kid would die so easily..." His laugh came out dark and low.

"Should we cancel the plans?" the woman asked carefully, as if every single word could decide her fate.

"No, we shall march in seven more days. I need more power to face that monster..." His expression darkened even further. "Inform the Wind Empire that the Fire Kingdom has fallen and that the human has unlawfully seized it." Thor could already see the outcome without needing to confirm it himself.

When the woman left, a wild glint rose in his eyes.

"We will meet again soon... This time, I will watch you beg for mercy, Max..."