Ragnar fought for his life, he was injured but these injuries were minor despite having three people passed out on the ground.

Ragnar was tired but the aura around him made even these seasoned warriors think thrice before approaching him.

The fact that Ragnar could defeat them without killing them said a lot about his strength.

It was a lot harder to defeat them without killing them, begging the question as to why Ragnar was taking this approach.

?lla knew at that moment that Ragnar was more valuable alive to them than dead.

He clapped his hand and the translator emerged from his hiding place.

King ?lla knew that the Generals stood no chance as they were breathing and panting heavily.

Their injuries were a lot more severe than Ragnar but it wasn't life threatening.

"Enough King Ragnar! If you surrender! We will spare your children!" King ?lla said and this message was conveyed through the translator.

Ragnar looked at him and knew this might be the only way out of this.

He did not kill these people because he knew if he did, negotiation would be thrown out the window and they would seek his death without mercy but not doing so gave him a chance.

But Ragnar also knew he couldn't show weakness, he had to leverage his upper hand properly.

"We cannot give your land, King Ragnar but we can let you return to your Kingdom with your children if you drop down your weapon.." ?lla reiterated, wanting Ragnar to see sense in his negotiation.

King ?lla thought he could take Ragnar but there was something about him that made him question just what kind of warriors such a King would command.

He wasn't about to risk his life to find out because he knew that he might not need to.

If Ecgberht could be gotten rid of in this conflict then he would have his brother back on his side.

Ecgberht might have usurped him but their divided strength no doubt weakened the kingdom.

They were not as strong as they could be and Ecgberht was the factor that would correct this imbalance.

Ragnar still had fight in him as this could be a ploy to get him to lower his guard.

Ragnar, however, knew that it was not Tyr's time to die or the seer would have foreseen this.

There was no way his sons would die here and Ragnar was more concerned about losing more men than he needed to because if they were to take Northumbria, they needed as many men as they could to hold it..

This was the only way to have a negotiating hand or they would not be taken seriously.

The only reason he could take Vestfold was because of that strange seer that had said something about him, that was what got the people behind and even with that, some still opposed.

Ragnar returned his gaze to the men and screamed at the top of his lungs suddenly.

"BOOOO!" Ragnar screamed and he watched men of such calibre clench up in fear with their swords raised towards him.

Ragnar could not help but laugh at the absurdity, he could not believe he could strike such fear in their hearts in such little time but he dropped his sword the moment he did that.

"I agree to your terms and I wish to be executed in the morning with my sword held by your most formidable warrior," King Ragnar said to which ?lla agreed.

The warriors around were visibly relieved as they moved to restrain Ragnar.

King ?lla might be a ferocious man but he was no fool.

He understood the kind of influence Ragnar would have on his warriors.

All they needed to do was make it known that the life of their King depended on their surrender.

King ?lla walked towards him after he had been restrained and wondered how such a monster could even exist.

He brought out a knife yet Ragnar did not flinch.

"Does he not fear death?" King ?lla thought; he moved the knife swiftly, aiming to impale Ragnar's forehead, only stopping when he was mere inches from his skin yet, Ragnar did not flinch.

King ?lla felt his heart thumping and part of him wished that Ragnar was a warrior of his own.

He brought the knife to his chin and cut off his beard, this was proof to show the Vikings that they indeed had Ragnar within their possession.

"Take him to the cell but do not harm. I wish to discuss with him after we kill these heathens," King ?lla commanded and Ragnar was taken away.

Weadhere got, he was wobbly and King ?lla looked at him with disdain, he could not believe how incompetent Ragnar made them look.

He now understood how he was a King, it was due to his strength and with that logic, it was safe to say that Ragnar was the strongest of these warriors.

"Weadhere.." King ?lla called out and the humongous man tried to stand upright to show his king respect.

"Yes King ?lla," Weadhere responded without hesitation.

"Find his children.." King ?lla said; he knew Ragnar's kids due to the information that they had gotten.

They knew about Tyr and Bjorn as well but they did not consider them to be much of a threat even after capturing the slavers and having that information divulged to them.

"Yes Your Majesty," Weadhere responded, walking with a leap.

"One more thing.." King ?lla said, prompting the man to stop in his tracks. historical

"Bring me their heads," King ?lla said and Weadhere felt sick to his stomach that he was following a King that could not even honour his words.

Ragnar could have killed them but he did not yet King ?lla was going back on the one thing that made Ragnar surrender without bloodshed.

Then again, this was a good quality to have as a King, Ragnar would be deemed naive in the history books if he did die here.

"Yes your Majesty," Weadhere responded without missing a heartbeat, he had every intention of following through with his King's request even if he did not agree with it personally.

Weadhere walked out of the room, injured but with a goal.

-

Grj?tgard, Bjorn, Salgard, and Hagen were on their way, they were scaling the walls with the tools that Hagen had crafted, there was no way that those men would have been able to do so.

This showed that Hagen had a sense of what was going to happen to the men that he brought but it was not in his palace to speak about it.

Everyone sought Valhalla and if they chose to die for Grj?tgard, it showed how much his warriors believed in him.

They should be respected and not pitied for this was the highest honor when it came to death.

The lower half of the wall was smooth, it was a bit difficult to climb at first and this was what made it impossible for normal climbers to scale over it.

It would also explain their lack of caution regarding protecting points that were not the entrance.

Hagen's tool relied heavily on what mountain climbers use today even though the design was far more archaic and riddled with flaws for this was a prototype.

"Hagen, you are amazing.." Bjorn praised the man he had come to see as family.

Hagen knew there was still work to be done with this invention but it was getting the job done for now.

Grj?tgard did not speak much but the look he gave Hagen non-verbally told the much older man that he respected him.

Salgard was indifferent, wearing that smiling face he had grown to be known for so it was hard for Hagen to discern what it was this man was feeling.

They managed to get to the top undetected, all of them crouching to avoid being detected.

They could tell that there were warriors around them and it would be difficult to get through unnoticed.

"What next?" Bjorn asked because he was out of ideas, not like he has had that many since this incursion began.

"We need to sacrifice another piece.." Grj?tgard said sternly, this was the only way to do so.

Bjorn disagreed with this, everyone here was essential as they all held varying titles.

"What do you mean sacrifice? We cannot afford to lose any more manpower.." Bjorn said, expecting Grj?tgard to stop him but the giant did not.

He wanted to hear what Bjorn had to say.

"I think we should use the tools that Hagen has crafted to go around, if we walk on the walls, we will be seen by those guarding it but if we take them by surprise, we have the element of surprise," Bjorn's plan was a tad bit extreme because they did not even know if the tools that Hagen crafted would hold.

They looked at Grj?tgard for approval seeing as he was the one that they had decided to allow to have the final say due to his experience.

"And if we fail?" Grj?tgard asked, a strange question to say the least and without missing a beat, Bjorn said.

"Then we die and feast with Odin but if we succeed.. We become gods. The four men that took down a kingdom.. History will remember us," Bjorn said and Salgard's smile disappeared the moment he heard his older brother chuckle.

"Bjorn Ragnarsson, you're truly the son of your father," Grj?tgard said, giving his approval to the plan that Bjorn had suggested even though he had a few things to add of his own.