The Viking warriors immediately lined up in neat rows, their eyes fixed sharply on the city of Nidaros.
News of Eric's atrocities had already reached the middle ranks of the Viking warriors.
They had already made a plan: first, to defeat Olaf together with Erik, then to break away and unite with other Viking warriors to betray Erik.
In their words, "Neither of these two leaders can be trusted, so we have no choice but to establish ourselves as kings."
Eric, accompanied by several city lords, swaggered to the walls of Nidaros, feeling quite confident.
After all, his rebellion not only gathered nearly a third of the Viking warriors, but also had the support of several city lords.
Olaf, despite having his main force and mages on his side, was ultimately powerless against such a massive army.
Moreover, he also possessed a highly secretive army, an army unknown to anyone.
When the crucial moment arrives, Olaf will surely be surprised.
Thinking of this, Eric couldn't help but smirk.
He stood at the city gate and shouted at the top of the city wall, "Get out here, Olaf!"
"You coward, you coward who abandoned the King of the North's corpse and fled for your own life."
"Are you really planning to hide in the palace like a coward forever?"
“You have truly failed the god Odin, and even more so the King of the North who sacrificed himself on the battlefield.”
“A coward like you is not fit to lead brave Viking warriors, much less to become the new king of Norway.”
Eric rattled off a long speech, all of which were prepared in advance.
However, after he talked for a long time, there was no movement at all on the city wall, as if there was no one there at all.
Instead, it was the residents of Nidaros who cautiously peeked out and peered out.
When Eric looked at them, they quickly hid back inside the house.
Eric frowned and said to one of the men standing on the street, "Tell me, where the damn Olaf is?"
But the ordinary civilian simply shook his head and hid behind a nearby shelf.
An unrest broke out among the Viking warriors.
"What happened? Where did Olaf go?"
"Could it be... Olaf has run away again?"
“Oh, what a shameful fellow. He is not only unworthy to be the new king, but he is not even worthy of being called a brave Viking warrior.”
These Viking warriors all looked indignant. One of the most important and world-renowned qualities of the Viking warriors was their bravery and fearlessness.
Even in defeat, even in the face of death, they will never back down.
But now, Olaf has actually run away twice in a row, which is tantamount to betraying the Viking warriors!
"Quiet!" Eric's face also darkened.
He had expected to at least have a big fight with Olaf, but he ended up coming up empty-handed.
Although he was arrogant and confident, he had not lost his rationality.
Olaf is Norway's top fighting force, after all. Is he really going to run away because he's afraid of fighting?
His expression shifted between anger and uncertainty. He turned and pointed to a few Viking warriors: "You few, climb up the city wall and go check the situation."
As soon as the words were spoken, the Viking warriors who had been chosen widened their eyes and said with obvious reluctance, "Let us go?"
Eric's tone was icy: "Don't forget, you are fighting for the future of Norway, for the glory of the Viking warriors."
"Go forth, and after the war is won, I will reward you greatly. It is not impossible for you to even become berserkers of Olaf's caliber."
Only then did the Viking warriors begin to move.
They brought over the prepared siege ladders and secured the hooks at the top of the city wall.
Afterwards, they shook the siege ladder to make sure it was stable before they began to climb it.
The front-line warriors held up shields to protect themselves from arrows or rolling stones, while behind them were warriors carrying battle axes.
Meanwhile, the Viking warriors below the city walls were ready. They drew arrows from their quivers and gently placed their hands on the bowstrings.
If Olaf dared to peek out from above the city walls, they would not hesitate to shoot arrows, turning him into a hole.
The Viking warriors lined up and slowly climbed up the city wall.
The shield bearers were the first to leap over the top of the siege ladder and onto the city wall, followed closely by the soldiers.
"kill!"
"kill!"
"kill!"
They shouted loudly and swung their axes wildly around, but encountered no resistance, and the expected scene of blood and flesh flying did not occur.
"What's going on? There's nobody here?" A Viking warrior looked around incredulously.
There wasn't a single person on the city walls guarding Nidaros.
Not to mention Olaf and the other Viking warriors they expected, there weren't even the guards who were usually responsible for monitoring the surrounding area and protecting Nidaros.
They shouted down, "Chief Eric, there's no one up here! Not a single person!"
Eric's face turned ashen upon hearing this: "You all come down first."
He then launched into a tirade: "That Olaf is a disgrace to the Vikings, a coward, a disgrace to his ancestors."
After the Viking warriors who had been mounted on the wall came down, Eric waved his hand and said, "Let's go straight into Nidaros City and let that hidden Olaf watch us become the new kings here!"
Several city lords shook their heads, saying, "We never expected that Olaf would emerge from among the Viking warriors."
"Lacking both courage and strategy, possessing only brute strength, how can such a person become our new king?"
Eric led his army in single file, and no one came out to stop them along the way.
Apart from ordinary civilians, there was no one else to be seen in the city of Nidaros.
Olaf is not here, the magician is not here, the Viking warrior is not here.
Even when the Viking warriors went out, the army guarding the city-state was not there.
Eric thus arrived at Nidaros's palace without incident.
Just as he was about to step into the palace gates, he suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahaha, hahaha, this is the will of the gods, Odin, have you seen me?"
"I am the only true new king of Norway, and I will lead the Viking warriors to glory and conquer the world!"
Having said that, he strode into the palace.
As soon as he crossed the threshold, he saw several chests of gold displayed in the palace hall.
The lid of the box was ajar, and glimmers of light occasionally shone through it.
These boxes were like those that the Viking warriors had just looted and casually placed in the palace, only to forget to take with them when Olaf and the others fled.
"They're all mine! They're all mine!" The Viking warriors watched helplessly as Eric suddenly transformed, frantically lunging at the chests.
Suddenly, a dark figure stood up from behind the box.
"Chief Eric!"
"careful!"
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