Thor's hammer was carelessly tossed aside, his armor stripped off, sweat constantly streaming down his face...
Beside him stood Sif, looking equally exhausted.
"What happened to you? You look like hell."
Thor was a sorry sight, looking as if he had been ganged up on for days.
"The sea god Njord himself took action! To cover the army's retreat, Thor faced Njord alone!"
Thor remained silent; Sif answered Rogge.
"Njord? What exactly did you do to provoke Njord to personally confront you?!"
The sea god Njord's position in the Vanir gods was roughly equivalent to that of Odin, the Allfather, in the Aesir.
Although his strength wasn't as great as Odin's, he was undoubtedly the strongest in Vanaheim.
Under normal circumstances, Njord would never attack Thor and the others.
Because if he did, it would mean that the Vanir gods had broken the ultimate agreement that kings don't participate in wars, escalating the war to the level of a full-scale conflict.
In this case, the battle between the Aesir and Vanir would no longer be minor local skirmishes, but a full-scale war between the two races.
To put it in more easily understood terms, Njord and Odin were the Vanir and Aesir's nuclear weapons.
Because both sides possessed nuclear weapons, even if some unpleasant local wars occurred, both sides could maintain basic rationality.
But if someone disregarded the agreement and used nuclear weapons, they would face the same nuclear strike in return.
"Do you remember the Storm Brothers you killed?"
Thor glanced at Rogge somewhat helplessly, then spoke.
"Of course, I remember!"
If it weren't for the Storm Brothers, he wouldn't have started training in Sage Mode ahead of time.
So, to some extent, he should thank the Storm Brothers.
If it weren't for their selfless dedication, he wouldn't have had such ample motivation to train.
"They were Njord's descendants, and among the more outstanding ones!"
Thor continued to explain, but Rogge didn't understand what this had to do with Njord personally taking action.
The Storm Brothers had been dead for ages; if Njord wanted revenge, he would have acted long ago.
"On the battlefield, everyone relies on their own skills; even if you lose, you shouldn't blame fate!"
"But someone used this as an excuse, spreading the word within the Vanir that Njord's descendants were inferior to even Earthlings, unable to defeat even one."
"Adding to the Vanir's constant defeats, Njord's prestige among the common people has been declining."
"To restore his reputation, Njord organized an army of thirty thousand and personally led the campaign!"
This reason sounded plausible, but Rogge still felt it was a bit far-fetched.
Would Njord, an old monster who had lived for who knows how many years, really be so impatient?
He couldn't possibly be unaware of what his personal action meant, yet he still chose to do it.
To restore his reputation, he didn't hesitate to provoke Odin; this didn't seem like something a king would do.
Especially when his own strength was inferior to Odin's.
"Don't you think this is a bit strange?" Rogge retorted.
"We also feel that something is very wrong, but the current information is all we have, and Njord really did take action!"
Thor had naturally noticed this as well, but Njord's attack left them no time to think about other things.
The most important issue now was how to stop Njord.
If they couldn't stop Njord, then everything they had done before would be meaningless.
Just then, the Warriors Three suddenly entered the tent and said to Thor: "Njord is coming with his army; he will appear before the camp in at most an hour."
All of the Aesir's camps in Vanaheim had been recovered; if it weren't for Njord's appearance, they could have already considered returning to Asgard.
"Notify the entire army; we continue to retreat!"
Thor sighed helplessly and issued the order to continue the retreat.
This wasn't a good order for the martial-minded Aesir.
But under the current circumstances, this was already their best option.
Without top-tier combatants to restrain Njord, the number of ordinary warriors was meaningless.
"Which direction is Njord's army in now?"
Rogge didn't look at Thor, turning to Hogan and asking.
"Due north!"
"I'll go buy you some time!"
After speaking, Rogge left the tent directly, then looked towards the north.
The sea god Njord, the strongest of the Vanir!
This title alone made people eager to try!
"Don't be impulsive! I've already had someone notify Father; we don't need to deal with Njord ourselves!"
Thor followed Rogge out of the tent, saying earnestly.
Just by looking at Rogge's current expression, he could tell what Rogge was planning.
As the only person present who had fought Njord, he knew exactly how strong Njord was.
"Don't worry, I won't joke with my own life!"
"I might not be able to beat Njord, but if I want to leave, he definitely can't stop me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Rogge's figure disappeared before Thor's eyes.
Having just mastered Sage Mode, such a perfect opponent appeared.
Rogge would despise himself if he didn't seize this opportunity.
And as he said, even if he couldn't beat Njord, he had absolute confidence in escaping the battlefield.
A ninja who has mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique is that confident!
After running madly due north for a while, he saw a vast army of Vanir and Njord riding a mount whose name he didn't recognize.
The moment he saw Njord, Njord, who was at the front of the army, also saw him.
Although it was the first time seeing the real person, Njord recognized at a glance that the person wearing red armor was Rogge, who had killed the Storm Brothers.
Njord slightly raised the trident in his right hand, and the Vanir army behind him immediately stopped advancing, the entire force quietly staying in place.
Then, Njord rode his leopard-like mount slowly towards Rogge.
As Njord approached him, Rogge also summoned the Kusanagi Sword and the Thunderclap Fan, then wore these two weapons.
After arriving in front of Rogge, Njord looked down at him condescendingly, then pointed the trident in his hand at him.
"You are that Earthling, Rogge?"
Njord deliberately asked in a very oppressive tone.
"No! I am Sage Rogge!"
Rogge put his hands together, and a red arc-shaped eye shadow suddenly appeared in his eyes, and a red circular pattern also appeared on his forehead.