Chapter 45: His Last Friend

As the men feast and sing, Thorfinn lashes his shortsword to a stick and rigs his sling so his broken arm can still hold a blade, wincing through practice swings. Inside, Thorkell trades war talk and drinking contests with the chieftains on Canute's coin, winning over gruff old Kothran of Scania and delighting the man's sons. On the dais, the prince asks whether the king can be killed; Askeladd judges Sweyn far too shrewd and watchful for now and urges patience while they court the petty lords, warning that the promised reward may prove an impossible task dressed as an honor.

Ragnar's brother Gunnar arrives with news that a safe hiding place in Normandy has been arranged, but Canute reveals Ragnar is dead and refuses to flee, since he has already declared war on his father. Slipping outside, Askeladd dismisses Gunnar as too timid to trust and then meets Atli, packed to return home with the memory-lost Torgrim. Atli cannot face Askeladd or Bjorn as a former traitor and chooses to leave. Askeladd tells him Bjorn was struck in the gut and will not survive, presses a gold serpent armlet on him, and swears to kill him if he ever again lifts a sword, ordering him instead to raise sheep and children and die in bed.

The next dawn, Thorfinn arrives for his duel despite his ruined arm, and Canute agrees to referee. Askeladd says he has a prior appointment first. The sweating, dying Bjorn drags himself up the hill, draws his sword, and tells Askeladd he respects him even while sensing that Askeladd has always hated him, their fallen comrades, and himself; he asks whether such isolation is not lonely and admits he only ever wished to be his friend. Askeladd runs him through, apologizes for missing the killing point, and hears Bjorn repeat that wish. Naming Bjorn his one and only friend, Askeladd grants his plea to be sent to Valhalla, covers the body with his cloak, and calls Thorfinn forward.

Thorkell wins the chieftains' loyalty through drink and camaraderie while Askeladd counsels patience against the cautious king. Gunnar offers Canute a hiding place, which the prince rejects in favor of open defiance. Askeladd sends Atli and Torgrim home with a gift and a vow to kill Atli if he ever fights again. Bjorn reaches Askeladd for their duel, confesses his wish to be his friend, and dies by Askeladd's blade, acknowledged at the end as his sole true friend.

Rendered in Japanese as Saigo no Tomodachi, this forty-fifth chapter belongs to Volume 7 and was adapted across Episodes 20 and 21. Bjorn's death forms one of the series' key emotional beats, exposing the loneliness beneath Askeladd's cold self-sufficiency and setting the stage for his final chapters. The installment also seeds Gunnar's untrustworthiness, which pays off in later plotting.