Chapter 92: Hundred-count

Recalling the thirteen people he once killed for the thrill of overpowering them, Fox knows the royal soldiers are savoring this slaughter, and terror roots him in place. He watches Badger lose a hand and screams his real name, unable to move, until Snake rushes in and beheads the Jomsviking about to finish him. Snake orders Fox to drag Badger back and call the retreat. As the relieved farmers flee, Ketil rages that he gave no such order, and one man he grabs snaps back that debts mean nothing now and that Ketil at last tastes the helplessness of the poor before the powerful, since strength alone is justice.

Behind the lines, Wulf reports that a man resembling Ketil appears to have been slain, which displeases Canute, who wanted him captured alive. The king lets Wulf go confirm it and sends Floki to halt the Jomsvikings cutting down fleeing farmers against orders. With the officers away, Thorgil strikes from the shore, sword drawn for the king's head, only for Canute to barely parry the blow. Thorgil beheads two guards and drives Canute back as the king's blade shatters and his left arm goes numb. Just as Thorgil moves for the kill, a sword thrown by Wulf lodges in his forearm. Wulf tackles him and throttles him, but Thorgil gouges through Wulf's right eye and pushes free. Seeing the soldiers swarming back to shield the king, Thorgil curses his lost chance and flees into the water, and Canute waves off pursuit, conceding his careless enemy is a fine warrior.

Awake at last, Arnheid recognizes the sounds of war she once knew from burning villages. Einar assures her the fight is not theirs and that they have all left slavery behind, then asks where they are headed. Leif offers his cold but pleasant homeland, yet when Arnheid presses, he admits it holds slaves and has seen war and likely will again. She quietly declines, saying she will go somewhere far off instead, to her own house where Gardar and her children await her, and she thanks Thorfinn and Einar for their kindness. Einar begs her to hold on now that she is finally free, while Thorfinn senses death approaching and searches for any words that might keep her among the living.

Snake saves Badger and orders a full retreat, and the farmers flee against Ketil's wishes. A defeated farmer tells Ketil he now knows the powerlessness of the poor. Thorgil ambushes Canute and nearly kills him before Wulf halts him, losing an eye to Thorgil's fingers as Thorgil escapes into the water. The waking Arnheid rejects Leif's homeland because it still holds slavery and war, choosing instead to return to her dead family, thanking Thorfinn and Einar as death nears.

The chapter runs in Volume 13 and adapts to Episode 44 of the anime. Its Japanese title, Hyaku Kazoeru ma, translates as the span of counting to one hundred, tied to Thorgil's window of opportunity. The featured quote comes from an unnamed farmer who confronts Ketil with the truth that the world always bows to the stronger man.