To them, Asgard's glory mattered more than their lives. They had come to Earth to slay the enemy at their queen's command. How could they retreat? The soldiers fought with ever-growing ferocity.
Time ticked by, and the number of Flame Giants in the streets visibly dwindled. Nearly half had been pinned to the ground and killed. The soul flames in their eyes slowly went out, and their bodies crumbled into ashes that scattered on the wind.
The Asgardian soldiers had suffered heavy casualties as well. Thousands of lives had been lost here, leaving only eight hundred or so survivors. Even they had barely survived thanks to the vigorous support of the Avengers and the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj.
When a Flame Giant knew death was near, it would detonate itself, unleashing an enormous explosion of fiery power. The soldiers
within the blast radius would all die.
The soldiers lucky enough to survive said nothing. Their faces were resolute, their gazes fierce. Retreat had never even crossed their minds.
In their hearts, there were only two choices: fight or die. Retreat was not an option.
"No!" Thor threw his head back and roared. These were Asgard's elite warriors, the backbone of its army. He could not bear to watch them die before his eyes and wanted to rush to their aid, but the Dark Army had surrounded him, leaving him no way to break free.
At this rate, even sacrificing all eight hundred remaining Asgardians might not be enough to wipe out the Flame Giants.
It was not that the Avengers and Kamar-Taj's sorcerers were too weak. The battle had come without warning, forcing them to respond in haste. They had no idea where their enemies' weaknesses lay.
These Flame Giants represented the Fire Realm's entire fighting force. To buy himself more