Salgard stood before the man and he realized that this battle wouldn't be the same as the ones he had fought since stepping foot on this land.

The man's weapon of choice was a spear and this told Salgard that he was a long-range fighter.

"I need to be careful, this man looks dangerous," Salgard thought to himself.

He recognized the danger but he also knew that he needed to cut him down.

The man unmounted his horse, losing the advantage he would have had if he stayed on top.

The men around him began to pray for the man who was about to enter battle.

The chanting and prayers made Salgard uneasy, it sounded like an incantation of some sort.

"Is this magic?" Salgard thought to himself but before he could probe further as to what was happening.

The spear of the Bishop was thrust forward, trying to impale his chest but Salgard easily sidestepped it but it was redirected with the wood almost slamming into Saldard,

However, Salgard could even react to this surprise attack, ducking down.

"He is good but the spear would limit what he can do at close range. Does he have a melee weapon on him? Is he trying to draw me in so he can catch me off guard?" Salgard was analyzing the man before him as he should.

He wanted to explore these options and used the opportunity to close the distance before he could retract the spear. The man, however, anticipated this happening.

A seasoned fighter would take into account all the weaknesses his fighting style possessed but overcoming them was what made them seasoned fighters.

The man showed impressive sleight of hand to switch his weapon to the other hand.

Salgard hadn't had a decent fight in ages and was about to show why he was able to encounter the Berserker clan and live.

"Impressive," Salgard thought but his perception and agility were on par with the threat of this attack.

The wood came towards him and Salgard, who hadn't even unsheathed his sword yet, grabbed the hilt with his bare hand before yanking the spear away from him.

The warriors around him seemed surprised by this but Salgard was using this opportunity to warm up for the battle that would decide everything.

"A loose grip?" Salgard thought to himself as he tossed the spear to the side.

He knew that this was strange, the grip shouldn't be that loose.

"It was intentional.." Salgard concluded as he watched the man unsheathe a blade with an immaculate design.

Salgard knew the battle that was about to occur was the real deal and judging from the look of that sword, this man was skilled at melee combat or his spear would have had that same unique design.

Salgard rushed towards him, he wanted to study him even more, this was the kind of fighter that Salgard was.

He analyzed his opponent for the sole purpose of breaking them, it was like a puzzle he wanted to take apart.

Salgard swung his sword down, gripping it with both hands but the man easily parried it with one.

Salgard's body momentum was against him due to the sudden shift and in came the Bishop's blade attempting to cut Salgard into two.

Salgard only managed to get out of the way by burning his sword into the ground to get a platform to change his body trajectory, launching himself up.

This allowed the sword to narrowly miss him and Salgard managed to land a spinning kick right in the jaw that sent the Bishop stumbling back.

"This can't be his full strength," Salgard thought, refusing to accept it.

They had to be more to him than this even though he showed impressive dexterity in handling his weapon.

However, the prayers of the warriors around them stopped and that was when Salgard felt it.

The killing intent of a Christian warrior.

"Good.. Very good," Salgard muttered to himself but all it took was one blink, the man was out of his sight.

"He is fast.." Salgard muttered, looking to his left and right briefly only to realize that the Bishop had ducked and out of his sight.

The Bishop attempted a vertical slash, attempting to split him from the torso up.

Salgard managed to parry it but the sting that came with it made his entire arm vibrate.

"This is getting fun," Salgard said as a genuine smile replaced the fake one.historical

-

Alf and Thorgard managed to keep Ecgberht alive, they were doing an excellent job protecting him. Every piece was important in this little puzzle that was brewing.

"Damn it! Where the fuck are we going?" Ecgberht muttered.

He was complaining and who could blame him? He wasn't used to this sort of condition as he was anything but a warrior.

"Thorgard, what should we do? We don't know if anyone survived," Alf said, ignoring Ecgberht's dilemma.

"Hahaha! Fear not, there is no way that Tyr could die after marrying my niece or she would reach for him in Valhalla and yank his back to the real world," Thorgard responded.

Thorgard knew that they weren't dead but with them scattered, their chain of command was all over the place. And with their chain of command scattered, there was no way to win this war.

Thorgard looked at Ecgberht and had to figure out what it was that was going on.

Of course, he had Alf to help him translate whatever it was that he wanted.

"Ecgberht, why does your uncle want you dead?" Thorgard asked, he wanted to hear the words directly from his mouth.

"My father.. He had his throne taken away from him by my uncle.." Ecgberht said.

"Then it is simple, we help your father take it back," Thorgard said bluntly.

"Hold up, that is a great fucking idea!" Ecgberht responded with a wide smile.

How could something so obvious skip his mind? This could solve all of Ecgberht's problems but at what cost?