Chapter 66 The First Battle Begins!

Erik and Sven's unit started their march towards King Asmund's camp despite being outnumbered more than 10 to 1, it was odds that were nowhere near their favor but they had to do this to prevent King Asmund's time to figure out their ploy.

They needed to engage them even if they knew this might be the last time that they fought as death looked to be in their near future.

"Sir Oskar! The camp is empty," A scout reported and Sven noticed that they were on a field that looked to be tampered with, prompting him to signal for his advancing unit to stop.

Erik, on the other hand, kept advancing. Sven was surprised that he was unmoved by such an injury despite receiving it that day.

An injury on that scale usually is enough to put people out of commission but it was like a scratch to Erik, and now he had an army that believed that they were led by a god.

A delusion he knew about but decided to go along with because of the effect it had, even Erik didn't believe himself to be a god.

Sven looked around, studying the terrain, he noticed that the field was cleared out but the surrounding forest acted as a cage or arena of some sort. They could be hiding anywhere and his gut feeling was telling them they were being watched.

He knew Erik was walking right into a trap but better him than them, they had roughly over 300 men in total together, 150-155 respectively.

He watched one of Erik's men fall right into a pit and was impaled by multiple spikes in the same pit, this was the first casualty of war.

"THAT LUCKY BASTARD GETS TO SEE VALHALLA BEFORE US!" Erik shouted, he did not show any remorse or sympathy for his fallen warrior but instead used his death as fuel for those that still lived, Sven now understood why Erik was a commander.

Sven noticed the ground was damp but there had been no rain for a bit, but the damped ground was only where Erik and his men stood.

Erik noticed it in time but he did not care if it was wet or not but there was no enemy for them to charge at, Sven knew Erik was the perfect bait due to his personality and to give him the extra motivation he might need.

"Erik, King Asmund is here…" Sven let loose the information that kept Erik contained, and Erik's eyes lit up like a child that just saw his favorite snack.

"He is here!? Where!?" Erik asked and Sven pointed at the surrounding forest, and without second thought Erik charged there but that was when Vestfold made their move.

A torch was dropped to the damped ground from the forest and the flames spread like an inferno, ready to consume anyone in its path but this only confirmed Sven's theory that they were hidden in the forest and thought that they had used oil to damp the ground was a smart move but he noticed it did not extend to the forest.

Erik saw the flames chase him and consume a few of his men but he was out of harm's way the moment he entered the forest.

Sven noticed his path was blocked, there was no way for them to advance except into the forest but he noticed that the flames originated from a position and instructed his own men into the opposite side of the forest Erik ran into, the flames split them up and it worked.

Sven was not concerned if Erik lived or died but he knew he needed Erik to cause enough chaos because of the possibility of fighting King Asmund right beneath his nose.

He knew there was no way Erik would fall until he reached him.

Sven ventured into the forest and was welcomed by a volley of arrows that took down a few of his men before they could reach for their shield to form a wall.

King Asmind greatly outnumbered them yet deployed a tactic that would minimize casualty on his side because he knew this was one of many battles and needed all the firepower he could muster.

"Hold the formation!" Sven commanded as despite the raised shield, he saw his men barely survive the volley of arrows. They had taken multiple casualties without even seeing the enemies that were attacking them.

But then a minute later, Sven noticed noises from around them, and before long, the enemies finally came into sight to engage them.

Sven noticed the shields were ruined already by the volley of arrows, they had holes and arrows sticking in them.

Sven smiled the moment he noticed this, the volley of arrows was not to narrow down their numbers but to render the only means of them defending themselves ineffective.

King Asmund lived up to his name.

Sven engaged them in their overwhelming numbers as the real battle had just begun, the war against Vestfold was officially underway.

-

Erik's unit had far more luck as they were used to fighting in harsher conditions than this. Erik was ripping through people and shields with a swing of his ax and sword.

This struck fear in the hearts of his enemies but it was Tyr that was the MVP as he was leaping between tree branches like a creature that lived in the forest. It was a big disadvantage for King Asmund's forces, the forest that was meant to be to their advantage was now at their disadvantage.

Tyr saw that Erik could not be killed and bought into the delusion that he was a god. This meant his doctrines and thoughts were absolute.

This was the one push that Tyr needed, the one push to corrupt the morals and principles that his father and mother had shaped.

He was drenched in blood and the Vestfold warriors were wondering how a kid got so bloodthirsty because this was not strength, in terms of strength they were sure that he was no match for them but there was something he had.

It was like he was plunging towards death with each swing of his dual-wielding axes and the laughter and joy in his eyes showed that this was no longer a child, no.

This was the making of a monster.