Chapter 182 Skol, The Warhammer!
Tyr arrived in their camp shortly after, and he was surprised by what he saw, they were a lot more than Tyr thought, numbering up to thirty men and women.
He could hear their grunts and growls like animals, but Tyr did not buckle, he was confident that he would get out of this alive because he still had his trump card under his belt.
"Where are you taking me?" Tyr asked but all he got in response was a growl and he sighed.
But they soon reached a stop and Tyr saw a house in the middle of nowhere.
"He will see you now," One of the savages said right before opening the door and out of it stepped a gigantic shirtless man.
Tyr immediately knew who he was, he was stunned that he could even function in such weather without a shirt, but this was the least of his problems right now.
"You…!" Tyr exclaimed, reaching for the weapons on his back but there was nothing there.
They had disarmed him without his knowledge, showing just how proficient they were when it came to certain things.
Tyr was impressed as he was forced to both his knees, looking up, he saw the shirtless man standing right in front of him with a sledgehammer.
The choice of weapon bore an eerie similarity with Herfjötur and Tyr remembered briefly how he killed her. He had buried his ax into her back and neck, and the look of shock on her face remained with him but not because he felt remorse but because he realized that commanders were just people in the end, they could be killed by anyone. He once revered them but the war had shown him that they were just human, humans anyone could kill.
Even with her fatal injuries and Herfjötur barely hanging to consciousness, she was still able to inflict injuries on the smaller and faster Tyr in that state but that could be because he had no weapons, seeing as they were buried in her.
"I know you…" The man said, pointing his sledgehammer at Tyr, he burned Tyr's image into his head because of his strange skin complexion as none of them had ever seen something like that before. All but the man, telling Tyr he was not born a savage but rather, he was someone that conquered them. Sjkol had beaten him to a stupor years ago but Tyr jumped off a cliff that was meant to kill him but something miraculously broke his fall.
"I never formally introduced myself, I am Tyr Ragnarsson," Tyr said and he could tell by the brief surprise on the man's face that he had heard about Ragnar, confirming his suspicion.
"... Ragnarsson? Are you by chance related to Ragnar Lothbrok?" The man questioned and Tyr nodded to answer his question.
The man immediately swung his hammer down, forcing Tyr to roll out of the way, barely making it in time.
"I never knew the gods would bless me with a son of that man!" The man was glad and when the savages wanted to jump into butcher Tyr. Honor was a concept that was lost on them.
But a loud growl echoed and they all scurried away like scared animals, they were all slouched abnormally and acted more like wolves than they did people.
Tyr looked forward at the man that growled, it was their leader and it looked like he wanted to fight him alone.
"I want to fight you alone. You are a Viking, a remnant of what I once believed in. I go by the name Skol and I will have your head as my revenge on Ragnar," Skol threatened and this was all Tyr needed to hear.
One thing Tyr never took lightly was any threat directed at his family and Skol had unknowingly crossed that line.
A weapon was tossed in his direction, it was a jagged sword and Tyr knew he had to fight Skol seriously because he was in no way weak.
Tyr began to take off his clothes, he understood that he was not supposed to wear a layer of clothes as it affects his movement and if Skol could survive under such cruel conditions, there is no reason why he should not be able to do the same.
Tyr made the first move, he rushed towards Skol and his gigantic sledgehammer, he was anticipating where the swing would come from but he realized it never came.
Skol had no intentions of swinging and Tyr was so focused on it that he almost missed the blow aimed at his chest, Skol had used his bare fist and despite Tyr blocking his blow, he could feel his hands trembling from the recoil.
"H-He is strong!" Tyr thought; he was nothing like the men he had fought until now but Skol noticed he was missing a finger.
He could not believe that Tyr not only managed to block him but counter-attack in the little time frame he was given to react. Skol knew he only lost one finger thanks to the jagged edges of the sword not having the necessary cutting power to sever his fingers.
"You are good," Skol commended Tyr, but this only made him get serious as it was clear he was fighting a different boy from three years ago.
There it was, their trump card, the irregular movement that they used. No matter how close you pay attention to them, one's eyes can't follow them.
Even Skol, despite his size, could do it effortlessly but Tyr had learned to fight without relying entirely on his sight. If he could not follow his movement then all he needed to do was sense his blows in time to react to them.
"There!" Tyr though, ducking down and simultaneously thrusting his blade backward, Skol's body momentum from his attack made it impossible to react to this blow.
Tyr drew blood once again with their second exchange but he had missed his vital organs intentionally.
"Y-You! How did you get so strong?" Skol asked as he stumbled backward, tripping over himself as he hit the ground.
"That is easy, it is because I am a son of Ragnar," Tyr responded as his eyes became lifeless.
"I will beat you to death now," Tyr followed up, tossing his blade aside.
Skol had dropped his weapon during his tumble and tried to pick it back up but Tyr's hands got there first.
"You fool! You cannot pick it up! Only I have the strength to wield it," Skol bragged.
"Are you certain?" Tyr asked, lifting it off the ground with little to no difficulty. Skol spoke as his weapon belonged to Thor but it was just a sledgehammer in the end.
"I-Impossible!" Skol said, and the savage's reactions told Tyr that this was something that should not be possible.
"I concede!" Skol quickly said and the savages soon started to growl at Skol, himself.
"Concede?" Tyr asked rhetorically with a raised eyebrow.
Tyr brought down the sledgehammer multiple times, crushing all his limbs, they looked like a flattened toothpaste tube the moment he was done with them and Tyr had a sickening smile on his face all through, cackling uncontrollably because of this feeling…
This feeling felt euphoric.