"Well, well, well... If that is not the great Thor, the renowned son of Ragnarok..."

Before the thundering army stood an even larger Wind Dragon army, their numbers stretching far and wide like a living wall across the sky. Pale green banners snapped violently in the wind behind them, each one marked with the coiling sigil of the Wind Dragon Clan. Their warriors hovered in layered formations, wings spread, spears lowered, and eyes shining with the hunger of conquest.

"Fancy seeing you here. Are you... done with that threat you called Max? Wasn’t that his name?" the young Wind Dragon Emperor sneered, his eyes shining with mockery. "I don’t see his corpse. What happened?"

Behind Thor, the Thunder Dragon warriors stirred uneasily. Some gripped their weapons tighter. Others looked toward the distant direction of their capital, as if only now realizing that something had gone terribly wrong.

Thor narrowed his eyes, scanning the massive army before him as his expression sank.

"Son of Baldric, Oswald... The last time I saw you, you were still sucking on your mother’s breast. What makes you think you can breach our agreement and bring more troops than promised?"

Thunder rolled from his tongue with every word, rumbling through the clouds and shaking the Wind Dragon army. Several younger warriors flinched, their formations trembling for a brief moment before the older soldiers barked at them to hold steady.

"This?" Oswald pointed behind him, his smile widening as the winds around his army screamed louder. "Just a small gift for you, for being so great and powerful. And yet... I expected your troops to be fewer than they are now. Was that human Max all talk?"

"Save your bullshit. We have no time to fight here." Thor signaled for his troops to move once more, but Oswald blocked him again.

The Wind Dragon army shifted as one. Thousands of wings beat against the storm, and the air itself seemed to twist beneath their pressure. Spears tilted forward, bows were raised, and wind gathered around their soldiers like invisible blades waiting to be released.

Then the young Wind Dragon Emperor drew a tall spear from his back.

Green spectral light crawled along its shaft, and the moment his fingers closed around it, powerful winds exploded outward, whipping through the sky like invisible blades.

"Who said you’ll be leaving here alive?" Oswald’s eyes burned with ambition.

Behind him, the Wind Dragon warriors roared, their voices rising like a storm across the sky. The Thunder Dragon army answered with their own thunderous roar, but even that sound carried a trace of unease. They were not afraid of the Wind Dragons. Not truly. But every passing moment here meant their capital was left at Max’s mercy.

Oswald had planned this ever since he received the news that all of the Thunder Dragon warriors would be gathered in one place. For this moment, he had even recruited elderly warriors and children to swell his army’s numbers, all for the sake of swallowing this entire region and placing it beneath his rule once and for all.

"Foolish!" Thor barked. "While we stay here, that human brat is causing havoc in our lands. If we don’t go now, we might have nothing left by the time we return!"

He roared, and the trident in his arms sparked with violent blue lightning.

Oswald’s spear answered with a shriek of green wind.

For a moment, the two armies froze beneath the stormy sky, thunder and wind pressing against each other until the clouds themselves began to churn.

Oswald laughed loudly, his booming laughter carried by the strong winds until it rolled across the entirety of both armies.

"You’re telling me that a single human would make a difference even if he entered our lands? Are you taking me for a fool?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Wind surged around him. With one powerful flap of his wings, two spear-like waves of green wind tore through the sky and shot toward Thor.

Thor barely snorted.

Blue lightning burst from his wings and crashed into the attack. The moment thunder and wind collided, the sky between them exploded. Violent waves of power rushed in every direction, forcing both armies to retreat as their formations trembled beneath the pressure. Warriors raised their arms, wings, and weapons to shield themselves from the storm, while only the two emperors remained at the front, facing each other through the raging magic.

"Foolish child. You’re not only stupid, but your ignorance will cost you everything!" Thor roared, his muscles expanding slightly as blue lightning crawled over his body. He planned to end this in one clean swoop.

But Oswald was no pushover. His muscles tightened, veins rising along his arms as the wind gathered around him like a storm that wanted to devour the sky.

"I will kill you first, old man, and then I will kill that human. After that, I shall be the only emperor of the dragon clans!" the young emperor roared.

He signaled his army.

At once, every warrior from the Wind Dragon Empire rushed toward the Thunder Dragons. Green winds howled. Blue lightning answered. Spears, claws, wings, and magic collided above the clouds as thousands of warriors crashed into each other. The heavens shook. The earth below trembled. For a moment, it truly seemed as if the world had chosen this day to end.

Thor’s face darkened.

He did not understand where this ignorance came from. If it had been Baldric, he knew the old emperor would have listened to him. But this young child was too drunk on power and ambition. It was a poison Thor had once tasted as well, and that only made him hate the sight even more.

"I fought him. That human would easily kill you given the chance. If we don’t work together, we will be the ones suffering..." Thor growled.

His wings flapped once.

In a flash of blue light, Thor appeared behind Oswald. The tip of his trident roared with lightning, forming the head of a spectral dragon as it lunged toward the young emperor’s back.

Oswald’s face sank.

For the first time, the arrogance in his eyes cracked, replaced by something darker.

"I would never lose to a puny human. Not in a million years, you senile old fool!"

Winds exploded from him in violent waves of green, but something was different about them this time. They did not simply cut, twist, or push. They pressed against Thor with a savage, ancient force he could not understand, crushing the spectral dragon head in an instant.

Thor’s eyes widened.

A tinge of crimson spread through the green wind.

His core shook.

"Crimson winds? That’s the progenitor’s..." Thor froze as a certain memory flashed through his mind.