Max took a step toward Freya, his claw spreading before her, making her heart freeze in terror. The first thought she had was that this was it. He was going to kill her. She closed her eyes, prepared to accept her ending.

A black vortex opened from his palm.

But instead of taking her life, the treasures all around the chamber flew into the spiral, vanishing as if swallowed by a massive mouth. Gold, gems, and frozen coins ripped free from the ground, rushing past her in glittering streams before disappearing into the darkness.

When she opened her eyes again, she was confused. But then she noticed that even the mist around her was gone. Only the empty white walls remained. Not a single coin of gold was spared.

"Follow me."

Max turned around without even looking at her. He simply walked toward the exit, and her body moved against her control, as if the ancestral pressure in his voice had become a law carved into her blood. She tried to resist, her fingers twitching and her jaw tightening, but it was useless.

Once they reached the edge of the spiraling lightning stairs, Max spread his wings.

He flapped them once, swaying side to side in the air, still unused to flying. One wing caught too much air, tilting his body sharply before he forced himself steady. But the experience was so thrilling that he almost forgot what he had even come here to do. He tried a few more times, each heavy flap sending cold wind rolling through the empty chamber, before he somewhat got it.

He looked down the spiraling lightning stairs. It was high enough to kill him on impact if he fell. His lips curled into a challenging smirk as he released his body and fell toward the ground.

The drop swallowed him instantly.

He could feel the air wrap around his body like a glove, rushing past his scales, horns, and wings. It felt unreal.

With a powerful flap of his wings, he sent waves of wind crashing against the ground before he could fall to his death.

He was flying. It made his heart beat violently.

A human.

Flying.

It was something many could only dream about, but never experience unless they used tricks and machines from his world. But this was different. Nobody could fake the true feeling of your own wings splitting the air with each powerful flap.

The people gathered outside had not yet recovered from the sudden events when something shot out from the citadel’s entrance.

A figure of pure white tore through the air, with wings wider than any of them could ever possess. Frost scattered behind him, and the ancestor pressure rolling from his body made every dragon’s blood tremble.

Rosalia lifted her eyes, locking onto the dragon hybrid in the air. Something about that figure was painfully familiar.

"Max!?" she shouted loudly, making every single dragon who heard it shiver.

Max grinned, crashing to the ground with powerful force and sending dust, rocks, and shards of frost flying in every direction. He stood up straight, his snow-white wings spreading behind him as his purple dragon eyes swept over everyone gathered around him.

Freya flew out from behind him in defeat, her body following despite the hatred and fear burning in her eyes. Her arms hung low by her sides, and her expression had lost its earlier confidence. She did not know how to fight him now. It was useless. Even if Thor arrived, she had no confidence that her husband could face him.

Nobody dared to move.

This entire situation was too ridiculous to accept.

"How?" Rosalia walked forward, stopping right before him. Her eyes scanned his horns, wings, scales, and the familiar features beneath them, unable to fully accept what she was seeing. "Max, what is this? What—" She found herself short of words.

"I will explain everything to you later, and to the other Ice Dragons in private."

Max extended his claw, pulling her into his embrace. He no longer cared if she was still mad. Despite her struggles, he did not let her go.

"I’m so happy..." he muttered in a voice only she could hear. "I will forever protect the two of you."

His words crashed against Rosalia’s soul. She had suspected that she was pregnant, but how... how did he know?

"Stay here for me, okay?"

He leaned in to kiss her forehead, patting her shoulders gently before stepping forward.

"I’m not going to explain too much about how I gained the dragon clan powers, but you need to understand that I’m now part of your bloodline, whether you accept me or not. I don’t care. I will lead the four dragon clans to greatness, forging a new empire. And all of you here today shall be witnesses of that."

Purple flames burst from his hands, freezing the air around them. The cold spread like a command, making the dragons lower their eyes beneath the weight of his ancestral bloodline.

"Let’s move back to the Voidstar Kingdom."

His voice carried throughout the entire land, stretching for hundreds of kilometers and reaching all the people he had forcibly subdued. Their bodies shivered under the pressure of the Ice Dragon Ancestor. Even those who hated him could not lift their heads. Their fingers twitched, their jaws tightened, but their bodies refused to disobey.

One by one, they lowered their heads and prepared themselves to follow his orders.

Their blood did not allow them to rebel.

The Ice Dragons felt their blood churn after they understood it was Max. They did not know how he had done it, but now, more than ever, he felt like a true leader to them.

It was far easier to follow him now than when he had been only a human who was not part of them and would die after a short life. If Max had somehow acquired their bloodline, and not just any bloodline, but an ancestor-grade one, that meant he could stand above them for thousands of years.

And that alone gave them hope. Hope strong enough to bury the fact that this entire situation was far too suspicious.