The anunnaki’s arm reattached itself to his body as the god clenched his teeth in fury. He then calmed down and smiled.

  “Very well. If you intend to die, I’ll grant you that,” he said.

  Esus pulled from his robe a medallion depicting a man seated on a throne, and suddenly a light engulfed his body. The wicker giants turned to their lord in that instant, as did the deer-headed malakim still fighting, and all of them kneeled.

  Gigantic mistletoe trees burst from Asgard’s soil, spiraling around the majestic god as if in perfect synchronization. The skies opened and beams of light covered the powerful anunnaki.

  Esus didn’t look drastically different—he had simply added a sun-shaped crown, elaborate earrings, and golden bracers and greaves. Rays of light radiated from his head like a blazing star. In his right hand he held an axe with a red gem set into the blade, its handle made from intertwined mistletoe branches.

  “That’s much better,” Tyr said, charging at him again.

  But Esus merely flicked a finger, sending mistletoe leaves flying like bullets, cruelly piercing the Norse god of war. Tyr collapsed, incapacitated.

  “I am a Earth-type god,” Esus said calmly. “I control plants, trees, nature—and right now, this entire land bends to my fingers.”

  He flicked another finger. Branches surged from the ground in front of Freyr, forming into a spear that impaled him.

  A horizontal gesture sent mistletoe leaves swirling around Freyja, releasing a toxic gas that made the goddess choke and lose consciousness.

  Then, with a downward motion of his finger, a massive wooden column materialized above Thor, attempting to crush him. The thunder god strained beneath it, barely holding it back.

  “Is this… all you’ve… got, filthy anunnaki?” Thor barked through gritted teeth as he kept the column from killing him.

  “Controlling trees—is that the great power of the Celtic anunnaki? My father would’ve chopped your head off in seconds,” the thunder god added, mocking him.

  Esus did not respond. He simply slid a finger across the air, and blades of mistletoe formed beside Thor, slashing him mercilessly. Yet Thor continued to hold up the colossal column.

  “You’ll need more than that to defeat us!” Thor shouted with manic laughter.

  Then the son of Odin unleashed more power, lightning erupting around his body and turning the entire sky into a raging storm.

  “We ?sir always surpass our limits!” Thor roared.

  At that moment, Thor managed to hold the column up with only one hand. With his right hand he seized Mjolnir and smashed the column, blowing it apart in a storm of lightning.

  The thunder god rose to his feet and pointed his mighty hammer at the Celtic deity.

  “Now it’s your turn, Esus!” Thor thundered, hurling Mjolnir like a spinning discus.

  Esus tried to defend with rapid-growing mistletoe branches summoned by a flick of his finger, but Mjolnir shredded them without effort. When the hammer struck the anunnaki, a massive electrical explosion lit the sky for seconds.

  Mjolnir returned to Thor’s hand as Esus staggered, his face twisted and blood dripping from his mouth.

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  The anunnaki grew furious. This time he swung his axe. The mistletoe trees sprouted grotesque heads, and from their mouths emerged solar energy spheres which flew upward, combining into a massive sun-like orb above the improvised forest.

  “Boillsgeachd na grèine (Sunlight),” Esus chanted, sending the massive sphere hurtling toward Thor at impossible speed. The thunder god couldn’t evade it. A colossal explosion left him unconscious.

  “So, is it my turn again? ?” said Freyr, rising back into the battle—healed thanks to his icor reserves.

  The Norse god of light began glowing like a sun and shouted:

  “Gullinbursti framganga (Gullinbursti's Onslaught)!”

  Freyr launched himself like a comet at the anunnaki. The strike was so fast Esus couldn’t block it; the sound of breaking ribs and spine echoed through the battlefield. Freyr drove his antelope-horn-like sword into Esus.

  Enraged, the anunnaki summoned several mistletoe branches that whipped Freyr violently, sending him crashing into a mountain and obliterating it.

  “That brother of meow is an embarrassmeownt,” Freyja meowed irritably as she rose, having torn open her own throat earlier to stop the poisonous gas from entering her lungs.

  Once healed, the goddess charged at Esus, moving with feline speed. The anunnaki tried to trap her with mistletoe spears, but she dodged them effortlessly.

  “A cat never loses her purrey,” she taunted as Esus grew desperate.

  Finally, she drove her spear into the god’s chest.

  Esus swung his axe to strike her, but she pulled her spear free and dodged again with elegant ease.

  “Hurry up and die, Freyja—I want another turn,” Tyr called out, already recovering.

  “And then it’s my turn,” Thor shouted, also getting back up.

  Esus was stunned. These gods, despite being wounded and outmatched, were still enjoying the fight—and the worst part was they seemed to be winning.

  The Celtic god could take no more.

  “Latha na grèine (Sunny day)!” he roared.

  A colossal solar shockwave pulsed from the mistletoe trees, blasting Freyja and the others far into the distance. The attack destroyed nearly all of Asgard, killing even Esus’ own wicker men who were still assaulting the surviving valkyries. It was the anunnaki’s strongest technique.

  “It’s over,” Esus declared, laughing—until his laughter abruptly stopped.

  From the rubble, he heard Thor complaining that they’d have to rebuild all of Asgard again and he hated manual labor. Freyja reminded him Asgard wasn’t even where she lived. Tyr pointed out he only had one hand and therefore was “medically exempt.”

  The four Norse gods emerged from the wreckage, barely standing, their ichor nearly depleted—but still smiling as if they were having the time of their lives.

  “Well then, the finishing blow is mine,” Tyr said.

  “No way, it’s mine,” Thor shot back.

  “What a shame… I purrobably won’t get to fight again,” Freyja sighed.

  “But you did wonderfully, dear little sister ?,” Freyr replied.

  Tyr pointed his sword at Esus and slashed the air, sending a blood-red scythe across the battlefield that cut through the anunnaki’s body.

  “The more blood spilled on the battlefield, the stronger my sword Tyrfing becomes,” the war god explained.

  Esus watched in horror as his ichor stopped regenerating.

  “You damn pests—I’ll kill you all!” he screamed, unleashing his ultimate technique once more:

  “Latha na grèine (Sunny day)!”

  The gods braced themselves, but were blasted away again regardless.

  Asgard lay in ruins. Esus scanned the area in panic searching for survivors.

  Then Thor suddenly appeared before him—horribly wounded, missing his left arm, bleeding everywhere—but grinning. He held Mjolnir tightly.

  “I told you someone as weak as you would never defeat us,” Thor growled.

  Esus tried to form a mistletoe shield, but Thor shouted:

  “Bregda upp Thunraz (Thunder Strike)!”

  A massive bolt of lightning struck Esus as Thor slammed him with Mjolnir. The blinding explosion lit all of Asgard.

  When the light faded, Esus lay unconscious in a massive crater at the center of the realm.

  Thor had delivered the final blow, preventing Lel from ruling Asgard like a puppet.

  Then the thunder god face-planted into the ground and passed out.