Chapter 680

I waited for my companions to arrive, with Ragnar’s body lying at my feet.

Originally, the plan was for me to either lure Ragnar far away from the royal palace or decapitate him and signal by breaking a wall for the others to charge in…

I glanced around. The palace was in ruins, with not a single intact structure in sight. Walls, pillars, even the roof—everything was gone. All I could see were piles of rubble on the shattered foundation.

…I didn’t mean to destroy it *this* much.

Well, to be fair, this level of destruction was more Ragnar’s fault than mine. Unlike warriors who cleanly take lives, mages are like walking bombs, causing massive collateral damage every time they fight.

Anyway, with the palace completely obliterated, all I could do was wait for Knut and the others to figure things out and come find me without a signal.

The mana in this area had been completely drained, so Rune Magic couldn’t be activated here. But the moment we left, Ragnar would undoubtedly start using Rune Magic again and go berserk.

Sure, a guy with his limbs cut off couldn’t do much, but still, better safe than sorry. Waiting here was the smarter move.

“Kuh…kuuuuh…”

I didn’t have to wait long.

Seeing Ragnar trembling and pale, it didn’t seem like he had much life left in him. A single tap might finish him off.

He seemed to realize this too, as he refused to answer any of my questions about the other Apostles.

“Tell me what you know about the identities of the other Apostles. From the Third to the Seventh.”

“Kuh…why…so curious…? The Third Apostle’s identity is…!”

“Who is it?”

“Well…maybe your mom…?”

Most of his answers were like this.

When we first met, he spoke with the dignified tone of a royal, but now, on the brink of death, he had dropped all pretense and sounded like a back-alley thug.

“Do you have the Holy Grail of the Heavenly Barrier? Where is it hidden?”

“In your mom’s…stomach…”

Hersela would’ve had a fit if she heard that. Lucky for him, she was asleep after overusing her Life Force Technique.

“The smell was so bad…the Holy Grail rotted away…”

Such smooth trash talk. I almost wondered if he was a Korean reincarnator like me.

But when I asked him in Korean, he didn’t understand, so he was probably just foul-mouthed.

“…Why do you want to destroy the Heavenly Barrier?”

“To find your mom…and make you a little sibling…”

“……”

In the end, I gave up interrogating the Eighth Apostle.

Even when I asked about Bølberg’s true nature, he just rambled about Ai-mel-ra’s new husband. It was clear I wasn’t getting any proper answers.

Using the “Ha-shal-leur interrogation method” was out of the question too. Even a simple torture would’ve killed him instantly, making it pointless.

—

About ten minutes later, Knut and the others arrived at the ruins of the palace. They had stayed back to avoid the aftermath of the battle, so they were a bit late.

From my perspective, it wasn’t really late. If Ragnar had died, it would’ve been a problem, but thankfully, he was still hanging on.

“Gurgle…”

His eyes were rolled back, and he was foaming at the mouth, but as long as he was alive, it was fine.

I tossed my cigarette to the ground and called the approaching group over, though for some reason, only two of them came.

“Where’s Hrapun?”

“He went to clean up this mess. He said he’d deploy Intelligence Department agents to control the spread of news from Edricksa.”

Frigg answered with a respectful bow. The sight of the destroyed palace and the nearly dead Ragnar seemed to have instilled infinite manners in her.

“Isn’t that dangerous? Who knows what tricks he might pull. He could just run away.”

“After seeing that fight, I doubt he’d have the courage.”

“Well, if you say so.”

“So, what happened? What about Prince Haral…?”

“I’ll explain later. Let’s deal with the urgent matter first.”

I deferred the explanation and pointed to the soon-to-be corpse at my feet. I planned to explain everything, but first, we had to finish off Ragnar. He was on the verge of death anyway.

“Ragnar Lokan…do you plan to keep him as a prisoner?”

“No, I’m going to kill him.”

I shook my head.

“This guy’s too dangerous to keep as a prisoner. You saw how he fought me, so you know.”

“I see. Then why did you keep him alive until now…?”

“Because Knut has to be the one to kill him.”

“…Me?”

Knut looked puzzled, clearly not understanding why he had to be the executioner.

“Yes. You have to kill him. The only way to resolve this situation is for you to take Ragnar’s head.”

“I don’t understand your reasoning. But I won’t refuse.”

Knut still looked confused, but instead of arguing, he drew his axe and raised it high, like an executioner about to behead a criminal.

“I’ve wanted to chop this guy’s head off too.”

His axe swung down in a clean arc.

—

“Bølberg…”

After beheading Ragnar, Knut closed his eyes and offered a prayer to Bølberg, thanking him for guiding him to this moment. A dull gray divine light enveloped him, shimmering like a heat haze.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched.

It was a scene that could be called solemn…but knowing what I now suspected about Bølberg’s true nature, I felt only wariness.

Bølberg wasn’t a fragment of the Main Deity protecting humanity—he was the opposite.

A servant of the Ancient Gods, or perhaps another name for them. If my guess was correct, Bølberg and his followers were all my enemies.

Knut, too, might one day turn against me, even though we were on the same side now.

So I had to convert him somehow…but I wasn’t sure if telling him the truth about Bølberg would work.

Given that he had been granted three divine powers at a young age, Knut’s faith in Bølberg was likely as strong as Lacey’s in her deity.

Would he even believe me if I told him Bølberg was essentially an evil god? He’d probably just get angry.

…I’d better keep quiet for now.

The moment Bølberg’s connection to the Ancient Gods was revealed, the Bølberg Church Order would be declared heretical, just like the Grimnir Church Order. They’d become enemies of both the Holy Kingdom and the Empire.

The problem was, most of Dane’s population were Bølberg believers.

The reason the Bølberg Church Order hadn’t been labeled a heresy earlier was likely due to fear of Dane’s backlash.

The Grimnir Church Order had few followers, so there was little resistance when they were declared heretical…but declaring Bølberg a heresy would likely cause an uproar across Dane.

So, I decided to keep Bølberg’s true nature a secret for now. I’d have to reveal it eventually, but for now, stopping Or-han’s army was the top priority.

—

After killing Ragnar, Knut received a massive amount of holy power and a new divine ability from Bølberg.

**”Snowfield Bear’s Hide”**

Despite the simple name, it was quite useful.

A blessing that temporarily boosted physical abilities, numbed pain, and reduced damage from projectiles.

It was similar in nature to Seilon’s “Judgment Day.”

Of course, even with this ability, Knut wouldn’t reach Ragnar’s level.

Since he hadn’t defeated Ragnar on his own, Knut couldn’t surpass Ragnar’s achievements, even with the rewards.

Perhaps it was also due to the lingering effects of his injuries from our battle.

Having lost much of his life force and cursed by the Ice Blade, he still couldn’t move properly without the Power of Runes.

—

“So, what happened to Prince Haral?”

After Knut’s prayer, I explained to the two of them that our plan had completely fallen apart.

All the royals gathered in the throne hall had been killed by Ragnar, and their bodies had been torn apart during the fierce battle.

Naturally, their expressions darkened. Whether it was the shock of the royal bloodline being completely wiped out or the frustration of our plans being ruined, I couldn’t tell.

“This is bad.”

“…This is troublesome. With the royals gone, there’s no way to command the Dane army.”

Maybe it was both.

“I have an idea…”

Of course, I had a plan. It was hastily put together, so I wasn’t sure if it would work…but with no other options, we had to push forward.

“If there’s no king, we just make one, right?”

I looked at Knut, whose face had darkened, and spoke.