บท 29: Chapter Twenty-Nine.

~~~Royal Forest, Xandar~~~

~~~July, 1942~~~

Endoxes landed abruptly, shaking the earth and sending gusts of wind in all directions, forcing Thor and company to cover their eyes with the help of their forearms to avoid the dust. With Azrael's arrival on the field, the whole place fell into an uncomfortable silence, in which the tension of the atmosphere was palpable.

The purple glow of Endoxes' neck, mouth, and horns provided enough light to glimpse both sides, while both sides remained in silence and prolonged tension.

Thor, who led the Asgardian group, was expectant before everything that had happened, especially before Endoxes, who kept looking at the dragon with a bubbling smile on his face and with his hand tightly gripped to his hammer, thinking about how glorious the battle between him and the huge creature that had arrived could be.

Odin, his father, and Father of All, had given him the task of reaching Midgard with a battalion of Asgard's finest soldiers to capture Amora, who had escaped to Earth, and also to bring back the bodies of the Berserker, who had failed in their task. And certainly not to start a conflict. But Thor, being Thor, forgot this last part.

"You are in the presence of the mighty Thor, Prince of Asgard, and you will show the proper mortal respect," Thor, as proud as he had always been, spoke haughtily while holding his hammer tightly.

And if he expected a condescending response from Azrael, he was in the wrong character, he, as King-Emperor of Xandar, and someone who never had to prostrate himself before anyone, would not accept such a lack of respect as Thor was showing, "Mighty one? Prince? All I see is an alien intruder, one who has entered my realm uninvited, who is only looking for trouble, and who wishes to end up as your friends" Azrael replied, pointing to the side, where the almost unrecognizable and mutilated bodies of the Berserker Birger's group.

This was enough to arouse the anger of Thor, who did not take kindly to the death of his compatriots, which caused Thor, in his fury, not to disappoint, and when he began to get angry, he took his hammer and began to swing it.

However, an Asgardian standing next to him, of Asian appearance, quickly said something in his ear, calming Thor down a bit. Who stopped swinging his hammer, but still had a lot of anger on him, "My name is Hogun, member of the three warriors, we are here by orders of the Father of All, in search of Amora, the witch hiding in your realm, hand her over to us and we will leave as quickly as we arrived."

"Hahaha, do you think you can, you aliens with delusions of grandeur, enter my kingdom, attack my people, invade my nation, and leave as you please? I don't think so" Azrael was now the one who got angry, furious as hell because of the cynicism shown by the Asgardians, Azrael could be a murderer, a man ambitious for power, and with the pride proper of a king.

But the most important thing to him, besides his two wives, was his people, the people he liberated, welcomed, and protected. His people came first, and the fact that the Berserkers had arrived hours earlier and slaughtered several Xandarians in their quest for Amora. It drove Azrael mad, especially now that Hogun was saying they would just leave without further ado.

"Asgard does not wish to start a war with Midgard and destroy the long years of peace that Bor Burison created millennia ago, but do not think that because Asgard does not want a war, it is not ready for one" a man, of thick build and large red hair, spoke, as he swung a large double-bladed axe as if to make his point clear.

"Ȳdra daor Ilībōños iā ēdrure zaldrīzes" Azrael began, as he smiled coldly; "don't tickle a sleeping dragon, let alone if you don't know if it can fly and spit fire, for you might die."

"Are you threatening us mortal?" Thor asked, as his anger became more and more evident. At what Thor said, Azrael only smiled, fueling Thor's anger, "What if I am?" Azrael asked, still smiling, "being what?" Thor asked with the momentum of a battle to a thousand, "threatening you" That word was the straw that checked the glass, and Thor couldn't take it anymore; "You will die!" Thor shouted, and without a second thought, he threw his hammer towards Azrael.

The Mjolnir broke the sound barrier several times, as it was directed towards Azrael, who was still sitting on Endoxes' back, and when the Mjolnir had crossed half the distance between the two, the two Withers made their presence known, screaming with terrifying wails and unprecedented fury. Both Withers levitated in front of Endoxes, and in a synchronized motion, hurled two blue skulls into the path of the Mjolnir.

The two blue skull-shaped projectiles were launched with enormous force and power, leaving behind a trail of blue-green color, while on the Wither's bodies, rune-like symbols on their chests lit up.

With the hammer only thirty meters away from Azrael, the two projectiles hit the Mjolnir squarely, creating a circular glow in front of it, eight meters in diameter. At that precise moment, the most shocking thing happened for the Asgardians who had ever fought alongside Thor, the Mjolnir, a potent weapon, which once thrown only stopped when it hit its target, was stopped for the first time.

The hammer, vibrating and whirring as if it were exerting a great force, was suspended in the air, stopped by the energy field that had been produced by the two skulls thrown by the two Withers.

Thor, perhaps being the most surprised of all, could only call back his weapon, which upon returning to his hand he could see how it had cracks and signs of burns on the top.

"This is not possible," said Thor in surprise, unable to comprehend what he had just seen, seeing the pitiful state of his hammer. Azrael, still several meters away from Thor, managed to hear him; "child, you don't know what is possible!" He said, only to have a frown show on his face. The Unsullied, armed with enchanted spears and shining armor, arrayed their spears to the front, as they took up a defensive position.

"War is what you want, the war you shall have," Azrael began, saying.

"No, no, no, no, we don't want that..." began Hogun, only to be unable to finish when Azrael interrupted him with the word; "Dracarys".

Immediately, Endoxes' breath was not long in coming and a great beam of purple energy in its maximum splendor came out of its maw, the Asgardian group had to move out of the way of the attack quickly, but several were not fast enough, falling under Endoxes' breath and being turned to ashes immediately.

If that was not enough, Azrael gave free rein to the two Withers, who rose again to the sky and began to mow down the poor devils who could not react in time and evade their shots.

For their part, the three warriors, experienced fighters, raised their shields just in time, time that saved them from receiving deadly shots from the Withers, and thus covered themselves from the skulls that sent anyone who received one flying.

Thor, seeing his friends being killed, did not stand idly by, and raised the Mjolnir and began to summon lightning and thunder.

Once he felt that the blow was enough, he pointed the Mjolnir at one of the Withers, who received several thunderbolts and lightning bolts from the sky, causing him to roar and stop attacking for a moment.

Azrael, upon seeing this, frowned, he, due to the innate connection he shared with everything he summoned and that had a type of superior intelligence, felt that Thor's attack managed to wound the Wither greatly, and although he would recover, it would take him a few minutes. So he communicated with Endoxes, and Endoxes soon had his body glowing a bright purple color, gathering a much larger punch this time. Releasing it unceremoniously towards Thor.

Thor was fighting two witches, using the Mjolnir to fire lightning bolts at each and keeping some distance from both, as he had already been touched by the whip of one of them and left a burn mark on his skin. But just at that, both witches jumped several meters away from him, leaving him a bit confused.

Until his vision was engulfed in a purple glow, and without thinking, he interposed his hammer in front of Endoxes' breath.

"BOOM!"

Thor, while managing to largely avoid the blow of Endoxes' breath, was not unharmed, being thrown several feet away, with the Mjolnir being pulled away from him. At that moment, an orange portal opened to Azrael's right.

Ancestral stepped out of the portal, dressed in yellow robes and a serious countenance. "New look, your old hair was beautiful" commented Azrael, seeing how Ancestral now brought no hair on her head.

"This is no time for frivolous conversations" Ancestral, with a calm and serene tone, addressed Azrael, and then gave way and allowed a dozen sorcerers to emerge from the portal, "Kamar Taj lent his support," Ancestral said, as the sorcerers looked tense at the sight, and the battle presented several meters away.

"I am blind as of today, so I hope I better be making the right decision, and I hope I'm not wrong, Azrael because the universe depends on it," Ancestral commented, as she nodded her head and the wizards joined the battlefield.

Azrael furrowed his brow, wondering what he was referring to, but only managed to let out a small chuckle, as he watched the battle in front of him. "There is no turning back now," he said, watching as one of the so-called three warriors died at the hands of Kamar Taj's sorcerers.

"Is there any way to stop the passage of the Bifrost to Earth?" Azrael asked, wanting to isolate the Earth from bridges that would connect it to certain parts of the universe, a type of camouflage, that would help keep the Earth protected long enough for Earth's heroes to form.

"The Bifrost is a very powerful and dangerous Asgardian artifact, Mr. Jaesyrian, but there must be a way, to realize the dream of an Earth free from foreign hands, it is necessary to find a way to make the Bifrost unusable, for while it serves to send troops, it also functioned as a world-destroying weapon," and this Azrael knew, remembering how Loki nearly destroyed Jotunheim, the home of the Frost Giants.

"Kamar Taj has a barrier against interdimensional invasions, if I embark on learning from the books in the library, I can get it set up after several spells so that the Bifrost cannot enter Earth."

"Sounds perfect to me, because considering Odin's response, these spells may be the only way to keep the planet from being destroyed." Commented Azrael, handing a glowing book to Ancestral, "it is a book of enchantment, it has the power and scriptures to give an infallible defensive and protective power to everything, it may serve you well for the task."

At the same time, the Bifrost came again, and once he retreated to the stars, he showed in all his greatness Odin, the Father of All, who was riding an eight-legged horse, and with gungnir in his right hand. A legendary spear.

The heavyweight of Asgard had come to Earth. And the outcome of this would mean war or not between Midgard and Asgard.