Be careful now, Fenrir growled inside his mind. You wouldn’t want to slip at such an opportune moment.

  Shut up, Karl thought, raising his Hököga bow.

  He didn’t have long to aim. Viktor’s men were storming through the forest, their heartbeats pounding wildly—something Karl could sense with his werewolf perception. His mouth watered at the scent of blood, but he forced himself to focus.

  He pulled the bowstring back, ignoring the golden ichor dripping from it and the minty scent of his arrow.

  “This can’t be that hard,” he muttered. “I’m just shooting up.”

  Karl fired.

  And of course, he missed. The arrow came plummeting back down, its tip frosty with ice.

  “Archery roulette!” Ratatoskr said, giddy as it landed a few meters from them in the snow. “I haven’t played this in a while.”

  Karl fired another one with a grunt. Missed again.

  “Come on,” he growled under his breath. Viktor’s men were getting closer. Time was running out.

  Before the next arrow hit the ground, Karl steadied his breath and fired again.

  This time, the arrow stuck.

  They vanished in a flash of light as the Elf Leap triggered.

  Elf Leap (+lvl 21): Instantly teleport up to 210 meters after successfully hitting your target with artillery. Line of sight required. Cooldown: 20 seconds. Hit beyond 220 meters to reduce cooldown by 2 seconds.)

  Glory (+20): 1,990

  Level: 35 (130/360)

  Karl’s heart leapt. It would only take 20 seconds to teleport now—he was getting faster.

  But the excitement vanished when gravity caught them. The two horses, Karl, and his companions began to plummet.

  “Björn!” Karl shouted.

  Another Bifrost bridge materialized beneath them. They slammed onto it with a bone-jarring thud.

  “Too close,” Ratatoskr muttered, his fur standing on end.

  “Try not to look down,” Karl said, realizing how far up they were now.

  Viktor and his dozen Thor-blessed had already gained too much ground—they were at least a league ahead.

  “We must move fast,” Björn said.

  “Let’s keep our cool,” Karl said to Kara.

  She nodded. “Together.”

  Karl activated his Rune of Overpressure Leap Mk II.

  Glory (-190): 1,800

  Karl held on to his horse for dear life as Björn clung to him with all his strength. Karl’s feet ignited, ejecting a melting trail of fire beneath them.

  At first, they shot far too high—like a rocket bursting into the stars—but Karl knew that if he didn’t angle the flight, they would fall straight down and splatter against the rainbow road, killing the horses and crippling them all. He grunted as his traps burned under the strain of holding so much weight, but they held. He angled their ascent diagonally to lessen the fall and spare the horses’ legs.

  The animals screamed the entire way, and Karl was fairly certain the Trickster did too—though his sounded more like a scream of manic joy.

  They blasted past Viktor and his men, who looked up in shock as they flew overhead.

  “Suck on this!” Ratatoskr shouted, raising his rear and releasing an explosive fart. The flames from Karl’s feet caught the blast, igniting it behind them in a foul explosion that made Viktor’s group gag and nearly vomit.

  “Seriously, what do you eat?” Kara asked, exasperated.

  “You should know,” Ratatoskr said, smacking Karl’s back. “It’s all from your lover’s cooking.”

  The moment the Rune of Overpressure Leap Mk II gave out, they began to fall—but thanks to Karl’s angle, the drop was only a meter. The horses slammed onto the Bifrost, their legs miraculously unbroken. They rose, snorting and trembling, clearly shaken by the experience.

  Then a lightning bolt crashed down directly before them, striking the horse Karl and Kara rode. Its face exploded in a burst of gore, splattering across Karl’s Dwarven-forged armor.

  Björn’s horse panicked but stayed upright as he fought to control it. Karl and Kara tumbled to their feet amid the shredded remains of the dead horse.

  Behind them, Björn managed to calm his mount, rearing it back and raising his battleax. He prepared to charge Viktor’s men.

  Karl turned toward Viktor, expecting to see him holding his left and only hand aloft in triumph. But Viktor looked just as stunned as Karl.

  Viktor hadn’t summoned the lightning. Instead, he was looking with fear past Karl. With a snap of his head, Karl glanced at the figure hovering before them.

  It was Thor.

  The god had lightning encircling his entire body like an aura. His eyes glowed blue, crackling with energy. His fiery red hair was as wild as Egil’s, and his chest—larger even than Thorstein’s—was bare, covered in curls of red hair that matched his beard. Dozens of blue tattoos ran down his arms, and he wore bronze-plated trousers that bore intricate, swirling markings similar to Damascus Steel.

  As impressive as Thor was, they would surely die now. Thor looked at Björn and raised Mjölnir.

  “Your father took my hammer,” he said, his voice impossible to read—neither accusing nor kind.

  Björn bowed instantly. “My lord⁠—”

  Thor’s laughter cut him off, louder than thunder and echoing across the northern lights. “It’s all right. I had the Dwarves forge me another one,” he said, smacking the weapon—Mjölnir 2.0—against his palm. “I’m glad to see your father put the first to good use.”

  An explosion erupted behind Karl. He turned to see Viktor, this time the true source of the lightning bolt. He had thrown it at Thor, who easily deflected it with Mjölnir 2.0 like a seasoned tennis pro facing a child’s toss.

  Viktor stepped forward, raising his warhammer, crackling with lightning.

  “Are you done playing with your fans?” he said, leaving his men behind. “I’m tired of waiting for your power. Give it to me now.”

  Thor frowned, his thick red brows lowering.

  “That almost made me nervous,” he said, smirking. “Almost.”

  “I sense so much fear in you,” Thor added as he descended onto the Rainbow Road, landing between Viktor and Karl’s group.

  Viktor stopped, lowering his warhammer. The two glared at each other.

  “Ah, there it is,” Thor said with a chuckle, his eyes twinkling with divine insight. “I thought it would’ve been an abusive father—that’s what usually makes people like you. But it seems I had the wrong gender in mind. You’re still a mama’s boy, aren’t you?”

  Viktor snarled and swung his hammer, slamming it into Thor—who knocked it aside with ease.

  Viktor followed up with a headbutt, but it only made Thor grin. Thor returned it, smashing his forehead into Viktor’s skull helmet and cracking the bone plate. Even the lightning surging from Viktor’s body did nothing to harm the god.

  “You think you can destroy me—a god?” Thor laughed, driving Mjölnir 2.0 into Viktor’s chest and shattering his armor, exposing Viktor’s surprisingly buff and hairy chest. “I could destroy you with the back of my hand. Just like your mother did when you disappointed her, which was so often it seems.”

  A primal scream tore from Viktor as he staggered, trying to strike back, but Thor caught his left hand easily, ready to crush it. And it wasn’t like Viktor could follow up with his right hand, the stump of which was wrapped in metal.

  “So this whole divine quest was for nothing,” Viktor said, blood dripping from his teeth. “You deceived me.”

  “Nonsense,” Thor replied. “I’ll honor my word. You can’t beat me in combat, but there is a game I’d like to challenge you to.”

  Thor raised his hand to the sky, summoning a lightning bolt that struck the Bifrost. When the light cleared, a table appeared before them, with two drinking mugs resting on top.

  “A drinking competition,” Thor said, motioning to the mugs. “Each is filled with a bottomless brew. Whoever can go the longest without puking wins.”

  Karl glanced at Kara and Björn, confused. This was the strangest quest he’d ever seen.

  “Fine,” Viktor said, sitting down at the table as Thor joined him.

  “So… are we going to stand here and fight, or—” Ratatoskr began, but what could Karl do? Ask Thor to stop? Thor wasn’t on their side, and they couldn’t kill him—not after how easily he’d smacked Viktor around.

  Then Karl noticed the ale horns they’d be drinking from. Thinking fast, he froze time and rushed forward. He dumped the dark green venom of Níðfang into Viktor’s horn before darting back to his spot a second later.

  No one noticed as time resumed.

  But when Karl looked down, he saw a thin trail of frost stretching from his boots to the table. Kara hummed in approval as he shared his thoughts with her through the Pack Link.

  I wouldn’t be so smug, Fenrir growled, drawing Karl’s attention back to Viktor.

  Viktor was glaring at him—and then his eyes dropped to the ice before the table.

  “Let’s begin,” Viktor said, grabbing Thor’s ale horn instead of his own.

  Karl’s stomach sank. Thor only shrugged and lifted the other mug.

  “I once drank the ocean, you know,” Thor said with a grin. “I hope you like throwing up.”

  Get ready, Karl thought to Kara grimly as the two began chugging.

  He discreetly reached for his bow. Viktor seemed fine, his Adam’s apple bobbing steadily as he downed the endless mead. But Thor was starting to pale. The god’s grip tightened on the table as he kept drinking, refusing to yield. His motions grew erratic, muffled sounds rumbling from the horn.

  Then, like a volcano, Thor erupted. Vomit and ale mixed with lightning spewed from his mouth in a blinding, disgusting fountain.

  Viktor threw his arms up in triumph.

  System Message: “Trial of Thor complete. Viktor has ascended to Level 10. Title Unlocked: Demigod.”

  Karl was already moving.

  He activated Dual Shot, Glacial Arrow, and his Beta’s Mark rune, increasing his damage by 50% and slowing Viktor’s movements. He fired point-blank into Viktor’s exposed chest. The arrows pierced deep, and ice exploded outward from the wounds.

  Glory (-225): 1,575

  Björn didn’t hesitate. He roared and charged with his Bifrost battleax to finish the job.

  But Viktor’s twelve Thor-blessed leapt forward, summoning lightning and hurling it at Björn. The bolts struck him, blasting him off the Bifrost.

  “Björn!” Karl shouted—only for more lightning to hit him and Kara. In an instant, they were all thrown from the Rainbow Road, plummeting toward Midgard.

  “Don’t worry about me!” Ratatoskr yelled as they fell through the clouds. “I can survive any fall, remember?”

  Karl barely heard him. He checked his Rune of Overpressure Leap Mk II—its three-minute cooldown had reset. Glory was draining fast, but he had no choice. Kara was falling meters ahead, and Björn was seconds from death.

  Karl’s Moonlight Meter surged toward its limit. He nearly transformed, but forced it back—shifting now would cost him focus and his friends’ lives.

  He triggered the rune. Fire burst from his feet.

  Glory (-190): 1,385

  He rocketed forward, catching Kara in his arms and hurtling toward Björn.

  “Come on!” Karl shouted, reaching out.

  By a hair, his hand snagged Björn’s beard.

  “Damn you!” Björn roared as Karl yanked him upward, propelling them horizontally over the forest.

  “I’m sorry!” Karl shouted, his muscles screaming from the strain.

  The rune gave out at the 80-meter limit, and they dropped—crashing through the air and landing hard in a bank of snow.

  Kara coughed, pushing herself upright. Björn groaned as he stood. “Never touch my beard again,” he muttered.

  The Trickster landed beside them, somehow unharmed. “I think we’ve got bigger problems,” he said, scrambling up Karl’s shoulder.

  Karl followed his gaze.

  Above them, Viktor and his Thor-blessed descended in a storm of lightning.

  It was time to run.

  Karl triggered Elf Leap after firing an arrow, teleporting them 210 meters toward Visby. The moment they reappeared, they sprinted with everything they had.

  Karl tried not to think about how badly he’d just ruined the Thor quest—or that he’d made the god of thunder puke. He could only hope Thor wasn’t that upset.

  “Visby can still hold,” Björn groaned as they ran through the snow, each downing a jar of blood pudding.

  Item: Járnblood Pudding (Epic) — Restores +70 HP and +40 Stamina. Buffs: +30% Physical Resistance, +25% Bleed & Poison Resistance, +20% Stamina Regeneration, +15% Health Regeneration. Immune to Exhaustion and Fatigue Effects.

  As the puddings took effect, their speed doubled. The burns from lightning vanished as their Health surged. Karl slowed slightly—his divine blessings made him faster than the rest.

  Ahead, beneath the northern lights, Visby loomed on the horizon. But above it, the first dark storm clouds were already forming from Viktor’s summoning.

  Everything was about to come to an end.

  41

  FRANKLIN

  The hundred or so Vikings surrounding Visby hardly noticed Karl, Kara, Björn, and the Trickster as they came dashing in from the forest. They were too focused on the storm erupting overhead.

  All the Thor-blessed reached toward the heavens, summoning lightning to vault themselves from the forest and over the heavily manned walls. Karl and the others skidded to a stop, hearts racing, waiting to see if the Benjamin Franklin idea would work.

  The storm above Visby began in earnest, thunder crackling so deep that it rattled Karl’s chest. Like an EDM light show, bolts of lightning crashed down on the city.

  The Roman steel-tipped spear caught it.

  The lightning struck the spear tip, sending sparks over Hof Visbýr before coursing down the spear and through the metal chain, which rattled violently as the current surged all the way to the Dwarven-enhanced walls. The runes etched into the stone flared blue, humming with energy, as if someone had just turned on a generator.

  System Message: “Rune Battlements Enhanced — 2-minute Shield of Stone buff active. Grants +20% resistance to siege and elemental attacks. Bonus Buff: Lightning Walls — Shocks raiders within 5 meters of the palisades, dealing 50 lightning damage per second.”

  Karl almost laughed in relief as he saw the System messages appear.

  “Looks like you’re not so dumb after all,” the Trickster said.

  “It won’t last long, though,” Björn said, eyeing the timer beneath the new settlement buff.

  Rune Battlement Charge: 59 seconds remaining.

  Another lightning bolt struck the spear, resetting it to a full minute. As long as lightning kept hitting the spear, the defenses would stay active. Luckily, every Thor-blessed warrior tried to summon lightning to fly over the walls, only for each bolt to redirect to the Roman spear—feeding the fortress a continuous stream of power.

  Björn laughed aloud. “You future ones continue to impress me,” he said.

  Before Karl could reply, the storm suddenly stopped.

  “I don’t think that was his latest ability,” Kara said, glancing back.

  Viktor and his men were flying through the night sky, riding a massive lightning bolt they had summoned from afar. Their trajectory would bring them straight into Visby in seconds.

  It seemed Viktor had saved his latest Thor blessing—Becoming the Living Storm—for this moment. The earlier lightning barrage had only been a test. The real storm was about to begin.

  “He’s going to destroy the spear,” Karl said, dread tightening in his chest.

  They grabbed onto him, and Karl fired an arrow to Elf Leap them into Visby. They rematerialized near the longhouses by Hof Visbýr just as Viktor and his gang crashed through the roof of the great hall.

  “Stop them!” Karl shouted, launching a Glacial Arrow fused with Dual Shot toward Viktor.

  Archers on the palisades turned and began firing into the hall. While they managed to take down a few of the Thor-blessed, Viktor lightning-dashed through the chaos, leaving trails of sparks behind him. Then he activated a Lightning Leap—similar to Kara’s Valkyrie Rune—and hurled himself high into the air toward the spear.

  Karl thought all was lost when Viktor’s lightning-charged warhammer slammed into the spear with a deafening clang. But instead of shattering, the spear was knocked from its mount. The force snapped the metal chain, sending the spear tumbling down the roof.

  “No time to wait,” Björn said, throwing a Bifrost Shield ramp up to Hof Visbýr for them to climb.

  Thorstein and Egil, standing by the gates, began running toward the palisades.

  “We’ll take his army!” Thorstein shouted, sprinting on all fours with Egil beside him. “Just focus on him, Karl!”

  The Trickster, Kara, and Björn raced up the shimmering ramp to the roof, where Viktor and several Thor-blessed waited. Karl loosed two more arrows at Viktor, hoping to interrupt his storm summoning, but Viktor hurled a lightning bolt that split between them—chaining through both arrows and turning them to dust.

  The other Thor-blessed unleashed their own bolts. Kara activated her Valkyrie Leap Rune, vaulting into the sky with her burning Baldr-blessed sword. She struck down with a scream, severing one of them cleanly before tearing through the next, adding a Baldr lightbeam combo to incinerate a Thor-blessed before he had the chance to throw his lightning.

  Björn took a lightning bolt to the chest but didn’t slow down. His Stormbreaker Stew buff fueled him, driving him forward and preventing him from dying upon the impact of the lightning bolt. He roared and slammed his battleax into Viktor’s chest.