Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 201 The Gilded Throne

Ulf's suggestion coincided with Pascal's own thoughts. After listening to him, Pascal pretended not to know beforehand and thanked his colleague for his help and hospitality.

"It's nothing, well, I treat you like a younger brother, it's nothing."

Unable to withstand the effects of the alcohol, Ulf began to utter illogical statements until the end of the dinner.

After leaving Dover, the fleet sailed along the European coastline toward Denmark. En route, they encountered a storm, and the sails and rudder of the Kirk were damaged. Pascal decided to make a temporary stop at Esbjerg on the west coast of Denmark.

Upon receiving news of Ragnar's death, local residents flocked to the port, requesting to see the coffin in the hold of the Kirk, but Pascal Jr. refused.

To avoid trouble, he arranged for his entourage to take turns standing guard on the deck with crossbows, keeping an eye on the increasingly excited and enthusiastic fans.

"Ragnar is just a mortal king who believes in paganism, is this really necessary?"

Pascal the Younger couldn't understand this sentiment and only found the locals noisy and disruptive. A few days later, after the fleet had rested, on the evening before their departure, thousands of Vikings poured into Esbyo, surrounding a blue banner depicting three crossed arrows.

"Oh no!" Little Pascal immediately realized that this was Niels's personal flag.

Soon, Nils and his men occupied the port and asked without any politeness, "Where is my uncle's coffin?"

The fleet consisted of only three Kirk ships, carrying a total of 140 men. Excluding the shamans and civil officials, there were only a little over 100 combat personnel, half of whom were the royal guards, and the other half were Pascal's personal bodyguards. Faced with the overwhelming numbers of Nils, Pascal did not resist and allowed him to board the deck.

"My uncle is a hero renowned throughout the Viking world, how come he only gets this small spectacle?"

Niels raised his voice to show his dissatisfaction to the onlookers, while Pascal shifted the blame to Aslachi, saying, "The treasury is empty, and the Queen Mother has allocated a symbolic sum, which can only cover the size of three Kirk ships."

Niels ignored the explanation and launched into a tirade against the neglect from the Rondenium, berating everyone from the Queen Mother and the cabinet to the vassals in various regions.

Bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, this good nephew ranted for a full half hour, making young Pascal inwardly wonder if the man had something wrong with his head. Back then, he had acted on his own initiative to attack Denmark, causing the situation in Northern Europe to deteriorate completely, forcing Ragnar to personally lead the expedition, and incurring a huge debt. Now, he was playing the role of a loyal subject—was all this meaningful?
However, Pascal the Younger underestimated this ambitious lord.

That night, Nils and a large group of shamans stayed on the ship, burning herbs and chanting strange prayers, keeping the sailors awake.

"This is so annoying! Will these lunatics ever stop?!"

Insomniac Pascal left the captain's cabin, climbed to the square stern, and gazed blankly around. The sea breeze was damp, cold, and salty. The surrounding terrain was low and flat, like the back of a crouching beast, stretching towards the dark sea. More than twenty traditional Viking fishing boats were moored at the dock, rising and falling gently with the waves, their mooring ropes creaking like the wails of ghosts.

In this stagnant darkness, the sky suddenly tore open.

Without warning, there was only light, a dazzling orange-red lightning bolt suddenly pierced the darkness, stretching wildly across the western horizon, illuminating the edges of the clouds like burning embers.

"Look, Ragnar is answering our call!"

Nils and the shamans were in high spirits, and the entire Viking population of Esbjør was abuzz with excitement. They left their houses; the orange lightning had ceased, and darkness had completely taken over the bay, leaving only the whistling of the sea wind through the thatched huts. To sustain the crowd's enthusiasm, Nils ordered his men to light torches and, with a frenzied expression, delivered a speech, claiming that his uncle had appeared to him in a dream, that he was watching over the Viking people closely, and that he had decided to remain in the mortal world to reverse this chaotic and devastating situation.

"Ragnar!"

"Ragnar!"

With Pascal looking on in terror, Nils ordered his men to carry the coffin to the dock and hold a grand sacrificial ceremony that lasted for three days and three nights.

After the ceremony, Schleswig's riders brought gold, and Nils ordered a carpenter to make a gilded throne, declaring that the spirit of the former king was attached to the throne, and that from now on he would obey his uncle's instructions and develop and expand his cause.

"This is far from over; countless battles and glories await us!"

Having said this, Nils knelt respectfully facing the gilded throne, and everyone else followed suit. Pascal the Younger was terrified and, taking advantage of a moment when no one was looking, ordered the crew to weigh anchor and head back to Dover via the same route.

"What did you do? You actually lost the coffin?"

Upon hearing of Pascal's ordeal in Esbjerg, Ulf was speechless and advised him not to return to Lentinium: "Write a letter back to Lentinium, saying that Nils led his troops to seize the coffin and shot you in the shoulder with an arrow, and pass this mess on to the Queen Mother."

Having messed up the task, Pascal was filled with anxiety and wrote a long, earnest letter, trying his best to deflect responsibility.

When the letter reached Landineum, Aslaci outwardly expressed anger but inwardly had no intention of sending troops. Denmark and Sweden were paying almost no taxes, so even if Niels stirred up trouble in both places, it wouldn't cause her much harm.

With a "live and let live" attitude, she sent out several letters in succession.

First was Nils, whom the Queen Mother ordered to send the coffin to Gothenburg and then come to Lentinium for disposal. This was clearly an empty promise; Aslaci didn't expect him to comply, it was merely a show of the royal family's stance.

Secondly, there were Ivar, Hafdan, Eric the Younger, Vig, and others; their letters had only one objective: to incite them to attack Denmark.

"I hope this group will kill each other and eventually none of them will be left."

Asraci made this decision, but the minor nobles in the directly controlled territories were outraged. These barons and knights requested that the royal guards be dispatched to eliminate the reckless Nils.

Seeing more and more minor nobles gathering outside the palace gates, Asura was forced to agree. She had recently been selling off real estate and had finally saved up a sum of money, but before she could even enjoy it, she was faced with this mess, which made her so angry that her murderous intent surged.

She summoned Oleg privately, saying, "I can send the Imperial Guard, but on two conditions: those nosy minor nobles must also go to war. Secondly, I heard that Uber has fled to northern Denmark. Find an opportunity to kill him, and after that, northern Denmark will be yours."

Surprisingly, Oleg refused outright, swearing allegiance to Ragnar and vowing never to harm any of Ragnar's children.

"What a stubborn fool," Asura cursed under her breath, deciding to target a few mid-level officers. With territory as a lure, she was sure they would be tempted.

(End of this chapter)