Chapter 55

Wild Hunt Epilogue

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1 week later

Evening

Norsca Islands

A few kilometers at sea from Volsung City

When sensitive matters were being discussed and the utmost secrecy was required, the higher ups of the Volsung Clan would board the largest longboat in their clan and set out for the open seas.

It has been a few days since Theo left the island for his next destination, but the Volsung Clans couldn’t help but feel that being close to his machinery might allow him to hear what they had to say.

As such, they went into the sea for extra measure.

This time around, they were joined by Korlo Nosferatu. Hence the reason why they set out at night.

Normally, these meetings were accompanied with good food and good mead as the rowdy men of the Volsung discuss the fate of their clan

However, such was not the case this time around.

A sense of dread hanged over the council consisting of Ulkov, the 14 other druids, Jarl Gwydurd, other prominent warlords of Volsung and Nosferatu

After clearing his throat, Gwydurd stood up and spoke.

“This council has gathered at the request of Ulkov and the druids. I assume this is about the prophecy during the Judgement of the Ancestors ritual. Ulkov, please speak the wisdom of the ancients” said Gwydurd

Ulkov stood silently at the center of the boat for everyone to see.

He took a nervous looked at his fellow druids, who responded with an equally nervous nod of reassurance.

Clearly, they were not happy with the words they were about to speak. This much was clear to everyone in the boat

Ulkov took a deep breath.

“Fellow brothers of Volsung. Know that what I am about to tell you gives me and the other druids no pleasure at all. The visions imparted to us by the ancestors were both glorious and terrifying in every sense of the word. As such, I shall warn you that the message imparted from us will definitely anger many of you.” Said Ulkov

“CUT THE SHIT AND GET TO THE POINT!” roared one of newest and youngest warlords.

Normally, no one in their right mind would disrespect the Harbinger. That would often lead to decapitation, dismemberment, torture or all of the above.

However, Ulkov didn’t have the composure to get angry at the young whelp.

Right now, Ulkov and the druids were to unnerved by the vision the ancients have provided them to care about small breaches in protocol.

FYI: Ulkov had every intention of showing the whelp the business end of his axe. But that will be for later.

Ulkov steeled himself.

“The ancestors have shown us two visions concerning the future of not only the Volsung Clan, but also the entirety of Norsca as well. The first vision was of the near future. In this vision we saw the total annihilation of Norsca. Every last man, woman and child of Norscan blood will be slaughtered.” Said Ulkov, much to the horror of everyone present.

“Ulkov.... are you certain of this?” asked Gwydurd

“Yes Gwydurd. I and the druids have debated on this for the last few days, but the vision only meant one thing. The Ancestors clearly stated that the destruction of Norsca is inevitable.”

The Volsung Clan leaders paled at Ulkov’s words.

While Norscan prophecies were inaccurate, Ulkov was a unique case. His visions have never been wrong. EVER.

This is the main reason why he carries the title of Harbinger in the first place.

He wasn’t just a person of value in the Volsung Clan, he had superstar status among all Norsca.

A lot of the other clan leaders often consult him on various matters.

As such, when Ulkov says that Norsca is doomed, the people of Norsca will believe it.

“Do we know who the threat is?” asked one of the warlords

“Yes. The end will come in the hands of the Machine God. His steel treads will crush the bones of our people. His cannons will decimate our ships. His army will hunt us down like dogs. He will completely and utterly annihilate Norsca from the memory of the world” said Ulkov.

“That Machine God of yours, it’s that brat ‘The Boss’ Nosferatu brought with him. Am I right?” asked the youngest warlord

“That is correct.”

“THEN WHY DIDN’T WE KILL HIM?! He was in Volsung a few days ago! We could have rushed in and tore him apart with ease!”

“You stupid whelp. You already saw what he did with Antyr. He has a lot of tricks to keep himself alive. And besides, do you seriously think that you have a hint of survival against Nosferatu?” asked Ulkov

The young warlord shrank back a bit, but quickly recovered.

“Who would you side with. The Volsung Clan who have been your friends for generations, or a brat that you just met a few days ago?” the young warlord directed this to Nosferatu.

“Isnt it obvious? I would have protected the young Boss. He possesses an ability that I value so much more than the entirety of Norsca. I do not want to end my friendship with the Volsung Clans, but I will not allow any harm to befall upon him while under my wing.” Said Nosferatu

“WHAT?! Are Vampires that incapable of loyalty?! Where is your honor?!” roared the young warlord.

“Do not push your values on me young lad. I do not put any faith on your ancestors, thus any words from your druids are worthless to me. From my point of view, you are suggesting to kill a person that I am trying very hard to recruit. If that is so, then I will show you how powerful a Progenitor can truly be” replied Nosferatu in a calm manner.

Despite being as peaceful as a calm lake, Nosferatu’s words made everyone in the longboat feel like they were being crushed by an invisible weight.

Nosferatu’s generally likable personality often made people forget that he was the Progenitor of the most powerful bloodline in terms of pure brute force.

The young warlord literally shook under Nosferatu’s gaze.

“Clam down, Nosferatu. Let us forget about that for now.” Said Gwydurd. “There was a second vision, correct? Let’s hear that first.”

At this point, Ulkov and the druids were visibly happy for some reason, much to the confusion of the Volsung Warlords.

“The second vision was that of the very distant future. Not a decade or a century, but a few millennia in the future. A future where the oceans are the stars and the ships are massive behemoths of steel. And in that distant future, we saw you Gwydurd along with what seemed to be the Volsung. We saw you kneel in front of the Machine God and presented a trophy of your latest raid…. The head of Thor.” Said Ulkov

“”WHAT?!””

The warlord of Volsung stared at Ulkov in horror and disbelief.

Thor was the god of storms and power. Both of which were considered as traits that Norscans sought to master.

This made Thor the most commonly worshiped god in Norsca.

“Ulkov? Didn’t you say earlier that Norsca will cease to exist? Then how am I still alive in that far flung future? What does this mean? What are the ancestors trying to say?” asked the confused Gwydurd.

Once again, Ulkov and the druids gazed at each other before nodding in unified agreement.

“As weird as it may sound, the Ancestors are telling us to abandon the old ways to avoid annihilation. For in the service of the Machine God, we transcend the weakness of human flesh and fight in the realm of gods. The end of Norsca is coming, but the glorious tales of the Volsung is just beginning.” replied Ulkov

Warlords sat silently as they mused at Ulkov’s words.

The only one not taking this seriously was Nosferatu.

He find it very perplexing how the Volsung warlords believed Ulkov’s words without question.

They do know that Ulkov and the druids were flying higher than a kite during the prophecy, right?

Nosferatu found this both amusing and perplexing at the same time.

After a minute of silent deliberation, Gwydurd spoke to Nosferatu.

“You have the trust of the young Boss right? How do we get into his good graces?” asked Gwydurd

“Trust? I am sorry to disappoint you but the Boss has very little trust on me” replied Nosferatu

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You know that fighter plane of his? Based on my tech savvy comrades, that contraption was loaded with quite a few nuclear warheads that could easily level Volsung City and half of the island with it. It was set to automatically explode if it didn’t receive a signal from him for an extended period of time. Clearly he was expecting betrayal from both of us and was more than ready to destroy us”

Once again, a sense of dread spread amongst the Warlords.

“*sigh*…. Why does he hate us Norscans so much?” asked Gwydurd to no one in particular.

“Based on a Frog Faced Doctor that I threated with painful dismemberment, the Boss despises people who doesn’t conform to modern sense of morality. While he is flexible enough to work with such individuals if it is for the betterment of the world at large, he would gladly slaughter them if he had his way. Now it’s not hard to imagine how he would feel for an entire civilization that finds honor in senseless killing, pillaging and raping. All of which are considered as criminal acts in modern society.”

The warlords groaned at this realization.

“No wonder the ancestors wanted us to abandon the Norscan traditions….” Said Ulgov as he lifelessly leaned back on his seat.

For the few minutes, the other warlords threw ideas after ideas in desperation.

However, a few moments later, Gwydurd had a eureka moment.

“THAT’S IT! TRADITION!” said Gwydurd as he pointed at Ulkov.

He began pacing around the boat while the others watched in confusion.

“Tell me Ulkov, the Boss was surprisingly compliant with our laws, correct?” asked Gwydurd.

“Well yes… he even removed his helmet during Judgement of the Ancestors ritual. But what of it?” replied Ulkov.

“Thanks to that ritual, the Volsung people have been whispering that the Boss might be a god made flesh. You know this, right?”

“Yes I do. But still, what of it?”

“That means that we don’t need to make a lot of effort to get the people to understand why we’re abandoning the old ways.” Said Gwydurd. “But most importantly, the Boss defeat Antyr, son of a Jarl, in ritual combat!”

Upon realizing what this meant, hope began to fill the desolate eyes of the warlords.

“That’s right! And as per tradition and by right of conquest, the Boss receives everything Antyr owns! Be it rights, riches, weapons, homes, women and slaves!” said Ulkov with excitement.

“And we can tell him that he has no right to refuse! Sure, that is a lie. But who cares!” said Gwydurd.

The warlords threw ideas after ideas into the pot with great excitement.

The plan that resulted in that hodgepodge of ideas was ingeniously simple and hilariously sound.

And because Nosferatu found the plan extremely amusing, he decided to help the Volsung in this hilarious quest.

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