Sacred Land (3)
The empire noble we'd captured this time was worked over by the Huscarls and Hakon. Thanks to that, we got all sorts of good intel. Based on it, we threw ourselves into battle after battle.
"Drenggr!! Your orders!!"
"Turn 'em all into ground beef!!"
"""Argh!!"""
No matter how many empire troops they had, the sudden charge of fifty elite Berserkrs was a catastrophe in itself. And when I took out their commander right away, they couldn't keep up morale.
BOOOOM!!
"C-Commander!!"
"No more takers?! Come on!!"
"Monsters!!"
The Fighting Spirit surging out with Mjolnir's lightning struck terror into the enemy all by itself. In the end, every fight ended in flawless victory, powered by Marine grit and raw Fighting Spirit.
Clang!! Clang!! Crackle!!
"Mjolnir!! You wanna keep fighting too?!"
"After sleeping so long, these endless battles must be a thrill, huh."
Honestly, I was a bit worried since it was an ego weapon. But Mjolnir had no pointless pride—and our personalities meshed perfectly.
After that, Mjolnir and I rampaged across the battlefield with the warriors, racking up insane feats. We even prepped stacks of empire helmets for chopping.
"Welcome to voluntary enlistment!!"
"W-We get that honor—?!"
"Thank you so much!!"
We sent every survivor from the minor factions raided by the empire straight to Bear Claw Tribe territory. They all craved bloody revenge anyway. They'd be a huge help come the final showdown.
A week passed like that, hunting empire stragglers. Maybe from the group Fighting Spirit sessions, but the Huscarls were starting to channel it too. And we saw something wild.
Whoooosh!!
"Fighting Spirit wraps around weapons like mana?"
"This is a groundbreaking discovery, Drenggr!!"
"W-We had no idea this was possible."
Huscarls fight by wrapping mana around their weapons. But now we'd confirmed Fighting Spirit could layer on top. One obvious next step, right?
"Like this…."
"Gotta fine-tune it more."
"Ugh… too tricky after all."
The fifty warriors respected the Huscarls as mentors, soaking up lessons in downtime. Seeing ancient-era and modern warriors mesh so perfectly? Straight-up moving!!
"But don't you need to wrap Fighting Spirit too, Ulfrik?"
"Check this out."
Ruuuumble!! KRAKA-BOOM!!!
"Y-You already know how?!"
"More like I'm just blasting it out."
"Drenggr's Fighting Spirit is so overwhelming, uncontrolled bursts suit you better than our fine control."
In this war, we grew stronger every damn minute!
As the Berserkrs got the hang of wrapping Fighting Spirit, we spotted another tribe clashing with empire troops—as usual.
"Can't just pass this by! Huscarls, ready up!!"
On command, ten Huscarls hefted massive clubs, dropping into batter stances like baseball pros. We warriors lined up in front. All set—so time to unveil the new tactic.
"Swing away!!"
"""Argh!!"""
Huscarls swung their mana-and-Fighting Spirit-wrapped clubs with everything. We jumped into the swings for propulsion—!
CRAAAAACK!!
"How ya gonna stop us flying at 200 kph like home-run balls?! Siuuuuuuu!!"
"HOOO!!"
"YEEEEAAAAH!!"
Call it Viking Baseball!! A bond technique only possible with camaraderie between old-era and new-era warriors! As an upgrade to Viking Missile, we hit farther, harder—crashing into empire lines like meteors.
BOOM!! KABOOOM!!
"Wh-What the hell?!?"
"Grraaagh!"
"Gyaaaah!!"
Fountains of blood and red carpets sprouted across the field. Total crew: sixty! Minus ten batters, we could pull this off four more times!!!
After five carpet bombings, the empire troops were in total chaos.
'Now's our chance to seize momentum.'
I poured Fighting Spirit into Mjolnir for mega-lightning, then slammed it down. Blue bolts whipped around, popping empire bodies like balloons.
A few more reps, and they'd rout. I was gearing up for whack-a-mole fun when something powerful rocketed my way.
A named boss in these empire ranks?! Pumped, I swung Mjolnir at the mystery foe.
A freezing giant ice axe clashed with my thunder-spewing rune hammer. We traded dozens of blows in a blink, wrestling weapons—lightning and blizzards raged around us.
Then I spotted a familiar face.
"Jeha-haha-ha! Didn't expect a young pup like you to block all my strikes!"
"Huh? You…?"
"It's me!! Riman Stormwolfson!!"
One of the Yarls from the Viking council! But neither of us backed off first.
Unstable power kept compressing till—massive explosion! A lightning-shaped ice pillar shot skyward.
KABOOOOM!!!
"Gyaaaah!"
"Th-Those heathens are fighting each other!!!"
"Insane!! What the hell is that?!?"
Shockwave flattened everything nearby. Empire troops freaked and bolted.
Time to mop up stragglers… but this dialect-spouting uncle showed zero signs of letting go.
"Hey, uncle. Don't you remember me?"
"I know ya plenty—don't worry."
We stared down across the lightning-ice pillar. Then Nord warriors in white wolf pelts and our crew rushed up.
"Drenggr!! What just happened?!"
"Big bro!! What's goin' on?!"
"Nothin'—chill!"
"Just a fun scrapper showed up!"
With eyes on us, uncle and I smirked, lowering weapons. Hakon, who'd just arrived, ID'd them.
"Ulfrik, that's the White Wolf Tribe. Warriors who specialize in rune magic."
"What?!"
These hearty uncles were max-romance mage-warriors. Full-on runewarriors!
The tribe we'd bailed out? White Wolf Tribe—one of the Nord's mighty top three.
"Did we help the wrong guys?"
"Thanks to ya, our lads are unscathed—good enough."
"Well, then…."
True to their rep, they looked as fierce as our Berserkrs. They'd handle stragglers fine, so we geared for the next field—but Riman eyed me warmly, like he'd taken a shine.
"Jeha-haha-ha! Now I get why Ragna bragged so hard about his boy!"
"Dad praised me?"
"Made me blush. Anyway, take all these spoils as a gift."
Ooh, cool uncle. But we couldn't haul that much.
"Hmm… so you're on small hit-and-run ops?"
"Ulfrik's crew—fifty Berserkrs, ten Huscarls—wins clean every scrap."
"Big bro, those rumors check out."
"Best to let 'em go, yeah?"
They got our minimal-supply tactics, but Riman looked torn.
"We don't do debts…."
"Else, how 'bout we hunt that empire marquis together, uncle?"
"Wh-What's that mean?"
We'd rallied survivors from countless fields to a super-safe spot.
"Bear Claw's weirdly ignored by the empire right now? That's where the rescues are gathering."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
Riman's eyes—and his tribe's—lit up at the big-setup vibe.
"Damn… you're one slick bastard!!"
"You in?"
"Hell yeah!! Right, lads?!"
"""YEAHHH!!"""
With White Wolf joining, preps to smash the invasion main force were basically done. But Riman suggested roping in other Yarl-led tribes.
"Empire trespassed our lands—gotta pay up, yeah?"
"Gonna wipe 'em thorough, huh."
"Damn straight~ I'll drag those sneaky Black Crow bastards in too—no worries."
"If another top-three tribe joins… Ulfrik, it's time."
Plans flowing too smooth. War's end was closing in.
Paths aligned, so we teamed briefly with White Wolf. Riman sidled up with a cough.
"Ahem! That hammer… it's the one, right?"
"Uncle wanna inspect it?"
"Jeha-haha-ha! Busted!"
Made sense—a runewarrior would geek over my rune hammer Mjolnir. Not for free, though.
"Lemme check your axe too?"
"Feels damn good in hand—you'll like it!"
"Mjolnir rejects everyone but me."
"Heard that from the tales—no sweat."
That massive ice axe looked beastly already. Held its own against Mjolnir and whipped up blizzards? Chance to confirm if it's the rune axe from the first king's lame legend.
But Hakon freaked, blocking me.
"U-Ulfrik!! Hold up!!!"
"What now?"
"That Yarl's ice axe has a demon infused!!"
"For real?"
"De-Demon?! It's a spirit!! Why ya all call our spirits weird shit?!"
Brief flinch, but I scanned Riman's giant ice axe experimentally. A pitiful wail echoed.
[P-Please… separate me from these lunatics!!!]
"Oh."
Hearing the demon's scream suddenly made Riman way more likable.