The Norse thunder god stood there in his golden armor and the bear-skin cloak of his totema. His magic belt and gauntlet gleamed, and he held Mjolnir firmly in his hand.

  “T–Thor!? But Father Esus should have killed him… or our brother Taranis should have!” Belenus shouted in fear.

  “No, well… I doubt he’ll do much now that we’ve already sent his head to Lel,” Thor said while cracking the bones in his neck.

  “Impossible! That’s blasphemy!” Toutatis screamed as he rushed toward the battlefield.

  “Don’t believe me? Don’t worry—you’ll soon see for yourselves when I send both of you to Hel,” Thor said, still cracking his neck.

  “Is that true? Did you defeat Esus?” Loki shouted to Thor.

  “Of course! And now I’m here to bury these weaklings and drag you back to prison,” Thor replied, giving a thumbs-up.

  “Wait, Thor!” Loki said, struggling to stand. “I have information about Father Odin!”

  “Information?” Thor asked as he picked his nose.

  “Yes—he’s alive. Everything I’ve done has been to help him regain his strength. I don’t want a fight with Asgard. I would never betray you together with this scum,” the dark god said.

  Thor kept scratching his nose.

  “That girl over there is Athena,” Loki added as he moved closer to Thor. “She will help us find Father.”

  Athena remained with her eyes closed, touching the handle of the labrys with her right hand. A magic circle slowly formed beneath her feet.

  “I don’t think this is the time for that discussion, Loki. I’ll believe you for now. But first, we need to deal with these idiots who dared to attack Asgard,” Thor said, still digging into his nose.

  Three minutes had passed.

  “Fine,” Loki answered.

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  “Defeat us? Don’t make me laugh. I’m one of the most powerful Celtic katteres—my power is unmatched!” Belenus roared as he charged toward Thor with both hands covered in white energy.

  “And what can a dying god do?” Toutatis shouted as he generated spinning aerial disks of energy aimed at Loki.

  Thor dodged Belenus’s attack and punched him straight in the face. The Celtic god was sent flying, crashing into a mountain.

  “Without Belenus, you’re nothing,” Loki said as he hid among his illusions.

  Toutatis panicked and began firing in every direction. Loki shot his ice lance, but Toutatis’s barrier blocked it. Then Loki appeared beneath him and trapped him inside a massive block of ice.

  Belenus burst out of the rubble, furious, and fired orbs of light at Thor, who dodged them with ease.

  Thor pointed to the sky and said, “Bregda upp Thunraz (Thunder strike)!”

  A lightning bolt struck Belenus. When the flash faded, the light god was on his knees, eyes rolled back.

  “And what the hell is that girl doing?” Thor asked.

  “She needs five minutes to finish her spell—we’re at three… no, four minutes now,” Loki answered.

  At that moment, Toutatis shattered the ice and Belenus regained consciousness.

  “So you won’t fall so easily, huh?” Thor said.

  Four minutes had passed.

  “Loki, you too, Thor,” Athena’s voice echoed inside both their minds.

  “Athena!” Loki responded.

  “Listen,” she continued. “The teleportation spell is almost complete. Bring everyone to me—quickly! We don’t have much time!”

  Toutatis and Belenus launched a combined attack, but Thor deflected it with Mjolnir. Loki used his teleportation to bring Rodrigo, Ana, Tania, and Epona to Athena’s feet.

  “Now you two!” the Greek goddess urged.

  “Sorry, but I’m staying,” Thor said.

  “These fools have defiled the land of our humans. We will defeat them right here. Don’t worry—we won’t let them reach you,” Thor declared as he blocked another attack.

  “Athena, I’ll stay and fight with Thor. I promise we’ll meet again in Vinland. And we’re grateful for what you did here,” Loki said.

  “Now we return the favor!” Thor and Loki shouted together as they pushed back the Celtic gods.

  “Survive. Don’t die—not until we’ve overthrown Lel. Understood?” Athena spoke into their minds as the battle raged.

  “It’s a promise!” both Norse gods roared as they broke through the enemy’s defenses.

  The circle of light beneath Athena blazed brightly, and she, along with Rodrigo, Ana, Tania, and Epona, became a ray of light—and vanished without a trace.

  “And we’ll keep it!” the two gods shouted as they fought the Celtic deities in unison.