Oyvind responded with another incomprehensible verse, barely moving his hand, which failed to reach the handle of the axe because of the shattered arm bones.

Dag placed the enemy's body on the ground, grabbed his hand, and put it in place, helping him turn the axe and activate the portal key.

...

After yet another flash of light that lasted only a few moments, he opened his eyes again, and finally, in front of him, he saw again the two torches that lit up the entrance of the stone palace of the village of the Horns Of Heimdallr.

When he was able to distinguish the surrounding sounds, he raised his head towards the terrace.

Freydis was still there, on her knees and with her hands tied, shouting his name and crying tears of joy, in discovering that he had beaten yet another enemy, whose dying body was leaning on his legs.

After looking at Freydis, he turned his gaze towards Gridd and his companions, discovering that they were standing next to Roar, sitting on the ground because of the wound and tied firmly with an iron chain to a half-destroyed wall, with Gridd's s.h.i.+ning blade pointed at his neck and Reidar on the other side, with the Failnaught loaded.

At that very moment, Karl dislodged Freydis, after killing two enemy warriors alone, that having seen Dag disappear, had taken courage and had come out into the open to help their defeated Masters.

"Dag! Brother, behind you!" shouted Gridd.

He immediately turned back, discovering the rest of the enemy warriors were lined up in front of him, with weapons ready to use, but motionless from fear.

Dag grabbed Oyvind's braid again, crawling him to the ground and placing him in front of them, so everyone could see him.

He took the Giantbane and placed its blade on the throat of the dying enemy.

Five enemy warriors took courage and began to run towards him, who barely noticed he was under attack and with a clear gesture, slit Oyvind's throat, dropping him to the ground in a pool of blood.

Enemy warriors tried to hit him chaotically and without any tactics.

As his teammates were busy with Roar, Dag confronted them alone: he parried sword blows and quickly counter-attacked two of them, activating Storm Bolt, repulsing them and hitting them with a beam of electricity that quickly expanded into a shockwave.

Three other men attacked him simultaneously, two ahead and one from behind.

Dag contracted the muscles of his abdomen and then opened his arms outwards: three beams of dark liquid immediately took shape, splas.h.i.+ng outwards and simultaneously impaling enemies and then re-entering his body. 

"When I was in that desert, for a moment I believed that I no longer had full control of my powers... on the contrary, since then, they have grown even more and now it seems that the dark fluid obeys my orders with ease. It is gradually suppressing its own will, recognizing my body not only as a mere container but as a master!" thought Dag, who managed to get rid of 5 enemies in less than a minute. 

As he paused to look at the other warriors left in front of him, Roar, turning to Gridd and Reidar, said: "Oyvind was the strongest of us Masters... and yet, look at him now... lying there on the ground, dead and disfigured, without honor. I had imagined many deaths for him, but never this... killed by an 18-year-old boy. What a waste, what an insolence, arrogance... I think that was your umpteenth affront. Not even one of you will leave Vaeren Island".

"What? Hahah, I'm sure you got a big blow to your goat's head! I don't know if you've noticed, but your forces are now exhausted and the only warriors left are backing down in front of my brother, who won't hesitate for a moment to kill them all!" replied Gridd, chuckling and continuing to watch Dag, ready to fight. Just then, the muddy ground beneath their feet began to vibrate.

The vibration spread to the huts, becoming a faint earthquake. 

Dag paused, focusing on his feet pointed to the ground.

He tried to focus on the cause of those vibrations through his developed senses, but while he was still, other enemies attacked him.

This time they were about ten and they charged all over him, who seemed distracted.

After speaking, Gridd remained silent, not understanding what was going on, while Roar giggled with a verse resembling the bleat of a goat.

She pressed the blade of her sword against his throat, ordering him to remain silent and then turning to Reidar.

"Go, Reidar! Dag needs you! There are too many enemies and I fear that his forces are running out! Run! Leave him to me!" she shouted, referring to Roar, still standing on the ground, with her sword pointed at his neck.

Reidar immediately followed orders.

The wound of the arrow that before had hit him on the shoulder had completely healed, thanks to one of Karl's miraculous concoctions, who at that time was inside the building with Freydis, after freeing her from the terrace. 

Dag began to strike enemies, emitting bursts of electricity, followed by large blows of his dark arms, which after being re-opened from his back, began to move frantically around him, preventing enemies from hitting him simultaneously.

Shortly before arriving from his Captain, Reidar loaded the usual 3 arrows on the Failnaught and shot them at enemies, striking three of them.

Before the others could realize what had happened, he was able to activate the power of the divine bow again: because of the din caused by Dag, who was distracting enemy warriors by showing off his power, no one had yet noticed him.