Loki was ridiculed by them, and his face immediately turned red. Fortunately, everything here looked red, so his complexion wasn't too noticeable.
His lips were tightly pressed together, and he turned his head to the side.
"You will all realize in the future that I am right. When some enemy cuts off your head, remember what Loki said."
But his words only provoked more laughter from the Three Warriors, who thought Loki's plot had been exposed and he was now enraged.
Vostag patted his belly, the fat rippling like the ocean: "There's no one who can kill us yet. When Thor achieves great deeds, you can just shovel goat dung, haha."
Thor's goat seemed to glance at Loki proudly, wagging its tail, and even managed to squeeze out some goat pellets while galloping.
Loki's expression kept changing but finally settled on a smile, as if he treated everything as fleeting and stopped speaking.
This strengthened the Three Warriors' belief that Loki's tricks were petty and far inferior to Thor's.
Little did they know, the former heir of Asgard, Frigga's own son, the wise and brave Balder, was actually tricked to death by Loki...
Even his soul was sent to the Netherworld to become fertilizer.
The journey passed with everyone taking turns to mock Loki.
Thor raised Mjolnir, signaling the army to stop. After an unknown duration of marching, they finally reached Surtur's throne.
It was an entirely black volcano continuously spewing lava and black smoke, incredibly tall and majestic, reaching as if straight into the sky.
There was an entrance at the foot of the mountain, and inside was Surtur's grand hall.
However, the Flame Giants seemed to have prepared in advance. From the volcano's crevices and lava rivers, strange creatures resembling giant war dogs emerged continuously.
They were entirely engulfed in flames, seemingly made of magma, even their throats a fiery red like furnaces when they roared.
"Enemies are blocking our way, Thor, what do we do?" Hogan drew his weapon, asking Thor.
"Crush them! Warriors of the Immortal Palace! Follow your Prince's lead! For Asgard!"
Tactics, formations, strategy, all these were beyond Thor's consideration.
Aren't they just some lava creatures, their numbers likely not even a hundred thousand? Just charge through and smash each with the hammer.
He leaped from his goat, and with Mjolnir in his hand, he hovered mid-air, unleashing the hammer's power, and lightning instantly struck down from the sky.
The world was enveloped in bright white light.
This electric light made Thor appear majestic and powerful, everyone looking at him with eyes full of admiration.
"Ha!"
He exhaled and shouted, pointing the hammer at the volcano, lightning sweeping through the monstrous heap like a plow.
The monsters attempted to attack him by spewing flames, but he dispersed them with the hammer, returning fire with lightning.
Thor sneered disdainfully, these molten dogs trying to stop Asgard's army was a futile effort; the Immortal Palace is unbeatable.
He flew in the sky, choosing the spot with the densest concentration of monsters, raised the hammer, and dived down, engaging the monsters at close range.
When the hammer danced, thunder crashed mightily, and lightning as thick as barrels was thrown around recklessly.
The Immortal Palace Warriors knew to avoid their prince during the battle, or they had to accept their bad luck if struck by lightning.
The battle-frenzied Thor only used his power without considering what his target was.
At this time, only the Three Warriors, Loki, and Sif dared get close to Thor.
However, the others were indeed wielding weapons fighting bravely alongside Thor, while Loki seemed to be cunning and slippery, holding only a small dagger to finish off the wounded creatures.
Vandar shot an arrow at a molten dog; it fell to the ground, its legs twitching, struggling to get up.
A wisp of green smoke floated over, and Loki appeared beside the beast, stepping on it and stabbing down with his dagger.
"Pfft."
The hot blood splattered on Loki's boots. He wiped the dagger on the creature, smiling at Vandar.
Vandar turned his head away angrily, looking for another target, ignoring him entirely.
Stealing others' injured targets was neither honorable nor reputable, one might even say despicable.
But after all, he was the prince, so they had to endure.
Loki's perspective differed from theirs; wasn't finishing off wounded enemies the right thing to do? Being a team on the battlefield means working as a whole, why distinguish between yours and mine?
Talking about honor to molten dogs... where is your brain?
Did they expect Surtur to provide a little boat for heroic dead dogs, with some gear and treasure, a few jars of fine wine, a horse, a female dog, then push the boat to sea and ignite it with arrows?
Get real, honor doesn't keep anyone alive on the battlefield.
Loki thought they were mindless; they thought Loki was despicable. They were never on the same page from the start.
...
Regardless of tactics, these creatures couldn't withstand Thunder God Thor. Very soon, led by him, Asgard's army pierced through the enemy's frontlines.
The beasts were surrounded by several Immortal Palace Warriors, then stabbed to death with lances; their foul-smelling blood quickly evaporated on the scorching ground.
Thor shook the blood off his Warhammer; some black gunk was clinging to the hammerhead, no idea what it was from the monster's body.
He took a deep breath and looked around the battlefield. Their situation was excellent.
A glorious victory, and now all that was left to do was to take it a step further and bring Surtur's head back to his father to prove he's much stronger than Loki.
"Surtur is hiding in his underground lair, right?"
He asked the Three Warriors, but Sif approached and answered him, her armor also covered in charred bloodstains.
"Yes, that's Surtur's underground palace, located beneath the volcano and above the lava river."
"Doesn't matter where he lives; I have to figure out how to knock his head off without damaging the crown..." Thor started thinking seriously.
"You kill him, then I'll use the Great Axe to chop his head off." Vostag held up his War Axe, patting the bloodstains on the blade.
Thor nodded, touched by the suggestion; it wasn't a bad plan, and Vostag, eager to help, was willing to do the dishonorable task of beheading the corpse. What loyalty!
"Thank you, my faithful friend."
"No, Thor, it's my honor to serve you," Fatty responded earnestly, with a serious expression.
"Vostag..."
"Thor..."
The two put their arms around each other's shoulders, laughing and patting each other on the back warmly.
Vandar and Hogan joined in the embrace, while Sif looked on with a gratified expression at her comrades; this friendship was truly moving.
Yet Loki stood gloomily in a deserted corner, not moved at all, not even understanding why they were.
His gaze was like looking at fools, coldly watching them.
Surtur hadn't even shown himself yet, an enemy even Bor and Odin couldn't eliminate. Wasn't it a bit early to discuss chopping off his head?
Moreover, Odin's orders were just to get Surtur's crown. It was Thor who went a step further, saying he wanted the head—such foolishness.
But it's fine—Thor was bound to fail, and then Odin would be disappointed in him.
Compared to that, if he completed the task successfully, wouldn't he appear more outstanding?
Loki pinched his chin, raising an eyebrow in thought.
He wanted to save Thor and his silly friends' lives, let them realize their mistakes profoundly, and then he could repay them a thousandfold for any humiliation suffered.
This would definitely be worse for them than death, saved by the scorned Loki and then having to listen to his taunts. What a dramatic scene, haha...
Those moved by camaraderie took out their flasks and started drinking until a Warrior came to notify them that the battlefield had been cleared, and the fallen bodies had been loaded onto the Flying Ship. Once the mission ended, they could be brought back to the Immortal Palace for a funeral.
"Very well, let's see who gets to Surtur first,"
Thor casually nodded to the warriors, indicating that the main army wasn't needed; a smaller group would be more convenient.
He spoke to the Three Warriors and Sif with a smile, as if treating Surtur like a joke, his words filled with courage and fearlessness.
Sif blushed, thinking how dashing this version of Thor was, full of a true warrior's charm.
Thor smirked confidently, leading the charge with his hammer into the large opening beneath the volcano, followed closely by the Three Warriors, Sif, and Loki.
But before they could get far, a giant fireball suddenly appeared ahead, hurtling down the passage toward them.
"Shields up!"
Sif immediately raised her shield, and the strong Vostag, surprisingly nimble despite his size, quickly stepped forward to stand beside her with his shield raised.
The fireball crashed into their Shields; the huge impact caused sparks to fly in the passage, carving four deep grooves into the floor with their feet.
Vandar and Hogan, robust and resilient, quickly braced their backs against them, the four holding off the fireball together.
Meanwhile, Loki just leaned closely against the wall, ready to watch if the four got knocked aside.
Why not just dodge it? The passage wasn't really that narrow; there was plenty of room. Why take it head-on? What were they thinking...
However, the quality of the Immortal Palace's Shields wasn't bad. The combined strength of the four was quite acceptable, and although they were pushed back a significant distance, no one was knocked down.
There was something at the center of the fireball, like the Fire Stone Bullet Midgardians used for siege warfare, launched by a catapult.
When the object landed, Sif and Vostag felt as if their limbs were fracturing in pain, their muscles wailing.
As the flames dissipated, the object inside the fireball was revealed, rolling across the ground.
It was Thor, his face charred black, but due to the unique nature of Surtur's flames, his hair and beard were somehow untouched.
His eyes were wide open at this moment, as if he'd lost his soul.
He had rushed ahead and flown in, facing Surtur, that flame giant as large as mountains.
But before he could speak, Surtur swatted at him like an annoying fly with his fiery hand, sending Thor flying back the way he'd come, directly hitting the four in the passage.