Ragnar and Lagertha were walking casually down the street, it was deserted but neither worried about their safety because they were confident in their strength.
Ragnar was a King and Lagetha was one of the strongest female shield maidens.
Ragnar did not even raise a finger, Lagertha disposed of anyone that attempted to touch either her or her husband.
Ragnar's guard was down, he was not worried about anyone touching him because he trusted his wife wholeheartedly.
"My love, is this not a bit too tedious?" Ragnar asked Lagertha, who was unarmed yet able to knock out the enemies with relative ease despite the difference in size.
"You have grown old Ragnar, I have killed men stronger than these men…" Lagetha bragged.
"You turn me on when you speak like this…" Ragnar blurted out and Lagetha giggled because she knew her husband was a pervert.
"Do you want to fuck me now, Ragnar?" Lagetha asked, grabbing his crotch.
She could feel her husband get hard within her hand but out came a man with a friend and a sword.
"King Ragnar and Lady Lagertha, how convenient…" The person was revealed to be King Gryting.
Lagertha stepped in front of her husband like she was the one going to fight him but Ragnar knew that the man before them could hurt his wife.
"Lagertha, stand down. It is my turn to get my hands dirty," Ragnar said and the tone he used told Lagetha that this was serious.
She stepped back and Ragnar picked a sword from one of the unconscious bodies.
It has been quite some time since he has fought a proper battle but the thing about this particular one was he had no idea who King Gryting was.
Lagetha watched her husband, it has been ages since she has seen Ragnar fight, not since he nearly beat Erik to death with his bare hands.
Lagetha was curious about what fate awaited this man but she noticed the enemy had on armour, this was becoming increasingly popular in the Viking world even though most did not utilize this.
"I am honoured to be facing the legendary Viking. I have no qualms with you but it seems like you might be a problem when I take your son's head," Gryting threatened but Ragnar flashed Lagetha a confused look before returning his gaze to Gryting.
"You want to kill my son? I am afraid that I cannot let you do that," Ragnar said but he was confused as to why he felt the need to tell him his plan.
All King Gryting did was give Ragnar a reason to take this fight seriously.
Ragnar walked towards him, he was within striking distance yet none attacked, they just stared blankly at each other like they were processing their respective enemy's strengths and weaknesses.
With a single twitch of the muscle, both men clashed their blades with equal force.
Ragnar smiled as he broke the statement with a headbutt that sent Gryting reeling back.
"A Viking's power is not in his sword alone," Ragnar said as he charged towards Gryting but Gryting attempted to cut him in half, swinging his blade from the ground up but all Ragnar did was take a step back and the problem with such a wild attack meant that Gryting was vulnerable to a counterattack.
Ragnar swung his sword to impale him in the shoulder but a piercing scream soon reverberated.
"RAGNAR! WATCH OUT!" Lagertha screamed at the top of her lungs and it was because of this warning that Ragnar was not struck down as he narrowly avoided an arrow that flew right past Gryting's head prompting Ragnar to halt his attack.
"Did you really think I would fight you alone, Ragnar? I am not that arrogant," Gryting said as multiple men approached but these men looked different from the fodders that Lagetha had been fighting.
Ragnar knew he could not rush his cattle with Gryting because this man clearly took precautionary measures.
The archers' presence also limited the actions that Ragnar, himself, could take.
He did not worry about Lagertha because she was more than capable of handling herself, she had experience most warriors could only dream about.
More arrows rained down and Ragnar had to roll out of the way but Gryting used this opening to his advantage because the moment Ragnar came to a halt, he was met with Gryting's incoming blade.
Ragnar was already on his knees so there was not much he could do, the only option was to block his enemy's blade, which he did.
Gryting began applying pressure on his sword, pushing Ragnar's weapon back on him but Ragnar saw an arrow from the corner of his eye flying right at him.
If he dodged it suddenly, he was sure to get cut by Gryting's blade but there was an option Ragnar saw that most would not.
Ragnar tilted his head back and caught the arrow right at the center in his mouth before jerking his head forward and cutting Gryting's arm, this broke Gryting's hold on his weapon allowing Ragnar to gain the upper hand and slash him across the chest but the metal plate there protected Getting.
Gryting kicked Ragnar in the head before taking a couple of steps back.
"You are true to your name, King Ragnar…"
-
Thorgard and Vegard knew they could not hide forever and they could hear the enemies close in.
Thorgard knew he had to distract them or they might be found out.
"Vegard, I want you to stay here and count to a thousand quietly…" Thorgard said, getting ready to leave but he felt Vegard's hand grab his clothes.
"Please don't go…" Vegard begged but Thorgard had no choice because if these people found them then Vegard would most certainly die.
"Do not make a sound," Thorgard said right before leaving. He snuck through the back and once he was far enough from Thorgard, he intentionally caught one of their attention because he knew the rest would flock in his direction and he was right.
"HE IS OVER THERE!" A man shouted and they all chased but Thorgard was not the fastest on his feet and it did not take long for him to be cornered but Thorgard knew this would.
Thorgard knew he would die attempting this but he did it in a heartbeat because it meant that Vegard might live.
He was without a weapon and lacked the experience to get himself out of this situation as these men were seasoned warriors.
"Bring it on!" Thorgard screamed. He had no intention of dying with fear in his head.
"That is very good Thorgard," A voice behind him said as a brown-eyed man came into sight but he was not alone.
He had a battalion behind him and they were all armed to the teeth.
"Y-You are Salgard!" The man came to that realization right before losing his head.
Rugalf wanted to avoid bloodshed but Salgard knew that violence must be met with violence, telling people not to kill those that try to kill them is an unfair handicap and Salgard had no interest in this.
"Kill them all," Salgard instructed and the massacre began, they killed every single person there within five minutes.
"Where is Vegard?" Salgard asked, his duty was to retrieve them. He was not here out of the love he had for them but rather because their King commanded it.
This was why Rugalf was reluctant in sending Salgard because he knew he was a merciless butcher when it came to such a thing despite his actions being justified.
Salgard had no idea why they thought it was appropriate to rampage in his Kingdom but he was not interested in finding out even though he wondered why it was Gryting's men he encountered here.
Salgard could sense killing intent and there was no doubt that these warriors wanted to kill Thorgard.
Thorgard ran in the direction that Vegard was because he knew that was not the safest place he could be.
Salgard followed behind but his unit spread out to kill and eliminate any threat to Rogaland.
This was why Salgard respected Grjötgard more than he did Rugalf because there was no way Grjötgard would treat this with such little urgency.
-
A giant was covered from head to toe with blood, but it was not his blood.
Every single person that opposed him had their head smashed in, Grjötgard slaughtered them all but he looked angry.
Rugalf did not have the whole story, there was something much bigger going on.
If Ludvig killed Tor, why were Gryting's men here to try and kill him?
They were not looking for King Ragnar either, they wanted his head but that was an impossibility.
The only reason he did not kill Sander is because he did not truly feel any killing intent directed at him but anyone that dared do otherwise was guaranteed this fate.
"General Grjötgard!" A voice said, walking into the room where the blood had soaked every inch of the ground, the scene was gruesome but this was a sight most of them were used to.
The man worried that Grjötgard was injured but the moment the General turned, he saw that he had not a single scratch on him.
"I fear things are a bit more complicated than we thought…" Grjötgard blurted out.
