Max stood tall atop the ancestral beast, spine straight as a spear. His body was now fully encased in the sleek void armor, the black plates drinking in the light around him until the very air seemed to twist and warp at the edges.
He drew mana from the sky in greedy, invisible torrents, flooding his reserves in case something stronger than Agnia waited below.
Ever since repelling Thor, he had caught himself wondering just how powerful the Wind Emperor truly was, and whether the Fire Kingdom hid any beast of that caliber. Agnia alone posed no threat, but if some hidden monster dared stand in the way of his conquest, he would crush it without hesitation.
The sharp, acrid scent of tar and molten rock filled his nostrils, carried upward by the slow rivers of lava spilling from the volcano peaks. He narrowed his eyes at the desolate landscape. How had they managed to thrive here?
