I observed my surroundings and could see volcanic plumes everywhere and lava flowed through every part of my surroundings.
I heard loud screeching sounds and looked over to the direction of the noise to see a bunch of lava monsters running at me.
The majority of the monsters were normal human-sized, maybe a foot or two taller, essentially basic fire soldiers, but the other ones were true fire giants at least based on their size alone.
These fire giants were over 20 meters tall standing at 65 feet at least
[Image here with human size comparison for reference]
"Let's even the odds. Come out" I said as my shadow soldiers appeared for the first time on Muspelheim.
My army of 800 shadows all came out and were standing all around me, Artorias at the forefront ready to fight to protect me, not that I really needed it.
Seeing the fire soldiers and fire giants' reactions to my shadow army made me realize that they weren't mindless beasts like I originally thought. I realized this because as soon as my army was released from my shadow, they not only flinched, but the fire soldiers even backed away in fear.
The fire giants remained stoic aside from their earlier flinching.
I charged forward, my army following me, not needing my commands.
I had noticed that the longer my shadows existed and the more battles they participated in, they got not only stronger, but also more Intelligent.
This would be the first fight I would have with my whole army but they had been watching me fight from inside my shadow and had apparently learned.
My shadow Kronans used their size and power to combat the fire giants, their armor helping to keep them alive longer than they normally would.
The shadow Kree that I had killed from my battle with the Accusers were using their advanced weaponry against the fire giants and soldiers alike, helping the Kronans keep the fire giants at bay until the fire soldiers were dealt with.
I had noticed that their energy weapons shot out bolts of Black fire similar to what I could create which means that my fire was replacing their earlier energy from their weapons.
That actually made more sense to me as I had wondered why their advanced weaponry would become shadows with them, but if they are using my Blackfire to simulate their energy weapons, it's not that surprising and even though the enemies were creatures of fire, my Blackfire isn't solely fire so it was still doing damage to them.
The shadow Marauders who were clad in knight armor became an organized infantry marching toward the fire soldiers.
The reason I was having my shadows fight was that they get stronger the more they fight but I wanted to settle things quicker so I figured I'd take care of the fire giants and leave the fire soldiers to my shadows.
I floated in the air and took out my scythe making it larger than the fire giants and swung it at the giants cutting their heads off.
Out of the group of 150 fire monsters attacking, the giants numbered only 50 and I just killed them all with one attack.
Now came my favorite part of fighting.
I looked around at the fallen giants and smiled.
"Arise" I said as the giant's shadows ripped themselves from their former bodies and stood in front of me before kneeling right after.
[Image of shadow fire giants here]
"Join my army in the fight." I said to which they nodded and quickly ran to attack the remaining fire monsters.
After another half hour, the entire army of shadows had grown by 150, 50 of which were the fire giants. I continued my way further into Surtur's domain hoping to grow my army for all my future fights.
The new additions to my shadow army all seemed to be at the elite rank which I suppose is the starting point except for particularly powerful beings.
One such being was a larger Fire giant most likely the commander of the fire monsters I killed, I named him Infernus officially my second Knight rank shadow soldier, the other being Artorias.
I came across another 50 fire monsters 25 normal soldiers and 25 fire giants, my army now totalling 1,000.
Before continuing, I summoned out my entire army simply to admire the huge army I'd amassed 1000 shadows appeared in front of me, 75 of them bigger than the rest.
'This is so awesome, I can't wait for the day I have an army rivaling Thanos' I thought to myself excitedly before having my army enter my shadow once again.
As I was walking deeper and deeper into Surter's lair I heard a roar in the distance and the sound of something big that was getting closer rapidly.
"Finally! I've been waiting for you" I said happily.
Right after my words, I saw it. A large fire dragon, the very creature I'd hoped to meet and my future mount.
The Dragon wasted no time and immediately attacked sending a wave of fire from its mouth. I quickly dodged still unsure if I wanted to truly test the strength of its fire.
The beast was finally in front of me, having landed across the field of volcanic ash and flaming rocks that made up the floor around it.
What I can say about the Dragon is that it was a lot different than I expected. For one, it didn't exactly look like it did in the movie. It was bigger and had a longer neck looking more like a classic western dragon but still keeping a relatively thinner frame.
I decided I'd attack this monster myself. I flew around the dragon making calculated strikes at its limbs with my scythe noticing that I was doing mostly shallow cuts as it wasn't a dragon for no reason.
Its scales were so hard it'd be like trying to cut a boulder with a butter knife. Realizing this, it was surprising I even managed to cut through it at all. I attributed it to the dwarven-made weapon.
Even Mjolnir was able to do some damage to it, but Mjolnir is ultimately a blunt weapon, and against a dragon, I'd be surprised if Thor had been able to crush the dragon with physical strength alone.
Unlike Eastern dragons, Western dragons were known for their immense physical strength, so it'd take more than just my weapon to beat them, thankfully I still have my magic.
My enlarged scythe became covered in black flames so hot that the ground itself actually seemed to be affected.
The dragon was surprised that it felt threatened by the flames as it was very attuned to fire being a fire dragon itself not to mention a fire dragon from the realm of fire Muspelheim.
As I was dodging flames and claw strikes I had to quickly slide under the swipe of the dragon's tail during which, I slashed at its legs with my scythe.
I was able to slash cleanly through one of its legs and was aiming for another one when the dragon quickly backed off nursing its wounded limb.
I then saw something that really shocked me. I saw the dragon burn its stump where the leg was, effectively cauterizing the wound.
'Okay this dragon is intelligent, I didn't expect that.'
Suddenly I heard a voice not exactly in my head, but seemingly transported through the air itself as if vibrating it to create sound waves.
"You are strong human, but my master requires your death so I cannot let you leave here. We dragons live for fighting and hope to die a noble death on the field of battle." The dragon said.
"I didn't know you could "talk" sort of." I said emphasizing the word talk as I knew he wasn't strictly speaking as much as controlling sound itself.
"Yes, I can. Although through a process unfamiliar to normal humans. I am Kaelvaith you'd honor me by giving your name as well." The dragon said.
I paused, this whole situation was very novel to me.
"Very well. I am Erebos Odinson crown prince of Asgard on a mission to grow stronger." I explained having changed my scythe to its normal state and was leaning on it.
"Thank you for revealing your name, you have gained my respect as a warrior and we will fight to the death and die with honor on the battlefield." Kaelvaith said before preparing for battle once again.
"Very well, I shall meet you in battle as an equal." I said as we began our battle once again.
(30 minutes later)
I stood over the dead body of Kaelvaith numerous slashes over his entire body, wings cut through and only two legs remaining, arms already cut off.
His severed head lay to the side removed by my blade in the last seconds of the battle.
"You fought well but your battles aren't over. You can continue to fight with honor on the battlefield with me." I said as I prepared for a spectacle.
I stepped back to prepare.
"Arise."
I watched as a giant shadowy limb escaped from the corpse and soon a shadow dragon was standing in front of me with its head bowed in reverence. I could already feel that this dragon was stronger than all my other soldiers including Artorias, probably already an elite knight.
[Pic of shadow dragon here]
"Finally, I have my own shadow dragon. I will let you keep a part of your name with respect to your strength. You will be called Kael." I said as the now-named Kael roared into the sky.
My army is now 1,001 which now includes my first Elite Knight-ranked shadow.
'If things continue like this and my shadows continue to grow, I'll have the strongest and largest army in the universe.'