<Magnus POV>

"Magnus! Those damn missionaries from the Heroes Church have beheaded our Father!" Hilda exclaimed as she rushed into my Mead Hall, where I was drinking mead, ale and beer with the warriors of my age. My Sister Hilda served as a Shieldmaiden for my Father's guard.

"But our King is of Diamond Rank! They have no warrior who could rival him," Rolo pointed out.

Rolo is my right hand and nephew of my Father. We both grew up like brothers and had a crush on my Sister, but because we were blood-related, she rejected him.

"Our Father ordered the entire Heroes Church to leave our lands during the meeting with their high priests. He told them how upset we were with their conversions, how our people are becoming divided along religious lines, and how the new converts see their own families as demons that have to be killed. The two-faced priests had secretly converted King Olaf's bodyguards. They poisoned his meal before the meeting, weakening him enough to stab him in the back." Hilda explained with rage in her voice.

"Everyone of his guards were converted?" I ask.

"Most were surprised by the traitors and tried to save our Father, but the Priests used some spell to lock their bodies up like statues, and once our Father was dead, they were offered a chance to convert or join him. Those bastards chose to convert!" Hilda explained.

"The Priests let you go to inform us?" Rolo asked.

"They gave me over to the bastards who betrayed our Father to take their time with me before ending my life, but I cut their weiners and balls to make my escape. I ran to the Dungeon under Mount Niflheim to hide from my pursuers. Inside, I found a small hill of butchered bodies on the first level of the Dungeon. They were all the priests and servants of our Uppsala. I think they were dragged in there and executed by the Heroes Church last night. I hid among the bodies when the pursuers followed me inside. They were ambushed by Elemental Beasts feeding on the corpses. Because of that, I managed to escape them both and return here in one piece," Hilda informed.

"Magnus! We must take revenge for your Father immediately!" Rolo said, and the other warriors in the hall yelled their approval.

"You think I don't want revenge? But I am of sound mind and know what is impossible. The traitors were all Silver and Gold Ranks. Which one of us here has reached the Bronze Rank? Isn't that why my Father left us to guard the Kingdom until he returned from the meeting?" I reminded everyone of our limitations.

"The people must know what has happened and hunt down all the converts in our settlements!" Rolo suggested.

I pointed out, "What if there are secret converts among the population? Do you expect mothers and fathers to kill their children over a religious choice? It will cause a civil war, which must be what the Heroes Church desires." I point out.

"Then we do nothing?" Rolo asked in anger.

"For now, we go to the Dungeon and give the dead a proper funeral and a royal one for the King. Then, I will take the crown, order our people to convert to the Heroes Church and abandon the Gods from Midgard. The Deities of Artrea grant blessings only to those who believe in them. At the same time, our Gods went silent when our ancestors arrived on its shores a hundred years ago. So there is no point in fighting for gods who have abandoned us." I inform everyone in the hall.

When I was young, my Father spent many nights teaching me about the land of Midgard. It was the original home of our ancestors, who had set out in a massive fleet to colonize the fabled Vinland hidden across a great ocean. A hurricane hit the fleet, and many ships were sunk. What remained was saved by a Valkyrie, who guided the survivors to Vinland.

But after our ancestors landed in Vinland, they noticed that the stars, the moon, and the land differed from Midgard. The Valkyrie disappeared, and they realized too late that Loki had tricked them into sailing to a different world filled with Jotuns and Dragons.

Luckily, the ancestors gained powers from the Class Ranks, which helped them defeat the Jotun Hordes on the Western Coast of New Vinland. The battles were so bloody that the Dragons who ruled the continent granted my ancestors the ruins of a Fortress city in the center region in exchange for peace as long as we didn't expand our territory beyond the center.

There was peace for over five hundred years, but then Humans arrived on ships from a different continent called Arya. They carved out a territory in the same place our ancestors landed, which sparked a new war with the Jotuns. Luckily for them, the Dragons have gone into a deep sleep and didn't interfere in the war. Which allowed the invaders to set up a kingdom of their own, but instead of a King, they were governed by Priests who served the Deities of this world.

Those who worshiped these deities were granted extraordinary abilities to restore their bodies and revive them within altars of their Churches. As long as a Deity favored a Human, they wouldn't die of old age or grow old. They would even reach the Rank of Platinum or Mythril, which was beyond the ability of our people because of our limited lifespan.

But their Gods were jealous of my people's love for the Gods of Midgard. The only way to gain their blessings is to renounce our old beliefs and accept the Deities of Artrea as our new Gods so that we can become their chosen heroes.

I never understood why my Father and the rest of our people refused to convert. But I can use this opportunity to make them all accept the new reality and give up the old ways.

"Magnus! How could you even suggest abandoning Odin, Thor, Freya and the others? They will curse you, and you will never enter Valhalla. Our people will forever remember you as a traitor!" Rolo pointed out.

"That is my will as your new King, or will you challenge me for the throne, cousin?" I asked Rolo. We are both Steel Rank, but he is a Warrior while I am a Smith. I mentally prayed to the new Deities that his loyalty to me would prevail over his blood lust.

"You know I love you like a brother, but my Uncle would not want his people to worship the Gods of Heroes Church no matter the benefits or peace it gives us. So, I will do what I must to prevent that," Rolo declared.

Several hours later.

Rolo dragged my bloody body by my long blonde hair through the mud that was wet from the rain pouring down. My Sister was by Rolo's side and wouldn't look at me, no matter how much I pleaded for her help. The other Warriors who once swore fealty to me had switched allegiance to Rolo after our duel, where he spared my life.

"Where are you... taking me?" I ask with a hoarse voice.

"To the Dungeon! You will be fed to the beasts who feed on the Priests and servants of Uppsala." Rolo announced.

"I... I don't want to die!" I pleaded before coughing out blood.

"What a coward! No, you must be a secret convert to the Heroes Church. That is why you were willing to disown our Gods and forgo revenge. Don't worry! I am not afraid of a civil war. Under my rule, Vinland will be free of the Heroes Church and banish the converts to the sea." Rolo informs.

"Maybe we should keep him alive so he can see that day?" Hilda suggests.

"Hmm... I do not wish to spare guards to keep him alive in the Dungeon. We will need everyone to Rank Up for the war with the Heroes Church," Rolo replies.

"I have a Cryomancy spell scroll that will freeze and preserve his body until the caster cancels the spell or 500 Years pass," Hilda reveals.

"How did you get that?" Rolo asked.

"The King found it in one of the ruins in Vinland. It is very ancient, and he didn't understand its writing. I studied the ancient texts from the wandering Mages and managed to decipher their function. All it needs is 50 Mana Crystals to activate." Hilda explains.

"Spare your Brother's worthless life for 50 Mana Crystals? You should become my Queen for me even to consider it." Rolo countered. He wanted to solidify his position as King by marrying into the King's direct bloodline, or maybe he still had a crush on a cousin.

Hilda looked at me, and pity came before she kicked my face.

"I accept!" Hilda answered as I lost consciousness.

Time passes.

I woke inside a dark cavern with a metal sphere glowing in the center. Half my body was covered in a shell of Ice slowly melting into water. I guessed Hilda must have used the Spell Scroll on me after she knocked me out. I looked around and did not find her anywhere. Did she cancel the spell from afar, or had 500 years passed?

I shivered from considering the latter.

Even though my arms are free, they are shivering from the cold they were subjected to for so long, and I couldn't move them.

"Is anyone there? I need help!" I yell out, hoping Hilda or someone inside the Dungeon will help me.

Suddenly, the metal sphere glowed bright and started speaking in a foreign language that was slightly familiar.

Suddenly, a large Earth elemental Cave Bear rushed into the cavern and placed itself in front of the Sphere before roaring at me. The cavern amplified its roar to attract two more beasts, one Shadow elemental Black Panther and one Holy elemental White Wolf. Their Elemental Cores shined on their foreheads. The three beasts surrounded me, and saliva dripped from their jaws.

"Don't eat me!" I yell.

I wondered why they were working together to protect the Sphere. Then, I looked at the metal sphere and realized that this must be a new Dungeon Core mentioned in my Father's stories.

I immediately willed my numb hands to clasp together and prayed to the Deities to save my soul because the stories mention the Dungeon Lords would capture the souls of their victims and turn them into their minions.

The Holy elemental White Wolf transformed into a Beastman to speak in my tongue.

"How are you able to speak in Old Norse?" The Beastman asked, but when it did, the Sphere behind it glowed in sync.

From the tales, I know that the Dungeon core is the heart and is connected to the idea that we are Dungeon Lords. Maybe this wolf is the boss.

"Are you the Dungeon Lord?" I ask.

"Huh? Yes, I am the Dungeon Lord! Now tell me who you are and why you speak Old Norse," The Holy Wolf Beastman asked me sinisterly.

I didn't want to get eaten right after being freed from my Ice prison, so I explained my background, the language of my ancestors from Midgard and how I ended up in the Dungeon.

"Oh? Are all Humans from Earth?" The Dungeon Lord asked.

"Earth? Do you mean Midgard? I think so, though the Humans in the Heroes Church say their ancestors came to Artrea long before mine." I explain.

"So the fancy buildings near the Dungeon must belong to the Heroes Church. Did you manage to capture anyone there, Wakanda?" The Dungeon Lord asked the Black Panther, who transformed into a Beastmen and answered in another language. But I could tell it said yes.

"The Heroes Church is still here? And outside the Dungeon? Then that means they won the war against my people," I reasoned. Then, I suddenly realized that I did indeed wake up after 500 Years since my Sister might have perished in the war.

A small part of me mourned her death because I felt she did what she did to spare me a cruel end. But another part of me is glad that Rolo lost and my people were able to integrate with the new religion.

Then Wakanda said something before melting into shadow.

"Wakanda captured our first Human who was a gardener at the Church. We can interrogate him to discover what happened since you were imprisoned in my Dungeon. After that, I will harvest his soul to make him a Beastman minion," The Dungeon Lord explained.

I suddenly shivered again because I felt that would also be my fate once his curiosity about me was done.

Wakanda dragged in an old man who was covered in blood and bruises. His right leg and left hand are missing. I assumed they had been ripped out of him by Wakanda. I noticed the mana has foreign features similar to those from Arya. He is placed in front of the Dungeon Lord for interrogation.

"Do you understand this language?" The Dungeon Lord spoke in Norse, and the man shook his head.

"Since five hundred years have passed, the language might have changed." I point out, and the Dungeon Lord nods before asking a question to the Dungeon Core in a different language.

"There are many spirits trapped in the Dungeon. I am absorbing them to learn their languages and see if one of them works on this one." The Dungeon Lord informs.

His power to learn language from souls reminds me of the ability of Soulmancers, the main class for our Priests in Upssala. The Dungeon Lord then asks questions in several languages and gets a reaction from the last one.

"This one speaks the Falaran Language." The Dungeon Lord points out.

"I think that is a language from the continent of Arya. I know I have no right to ask, but can you find out what happened to my people?" I requested, and the Dungeon Lord shrugged his shoulders before relaying the question. The man looks at me with a confused expression, and then the Dungeon lord points at me and uses the forefinger claw to write 500 on the ground.

"He says the natives were exterminated for defying the Deities of the Heroes Church. Even those who converted at the point of the sword were later executed because their faith wasn't genuine. The continent was renamed Churchland and colonized by the Humans of the other continents for centuries," The Dungeon Lord explained, and something shattered in my mind.

What kind of joke is this? I could understand why they had to take out my Father, to force my people to change. But why didn't they convert us and be done with it? Why go so far as to wipe us all out?

They were jealous and evil gods! Why did I think their Deities would be benevolent? I want to destroy the Heroes Church for what they have done to me, my Father and my people.

The Dungeon Lord looked at me with the same pity that my Sister had for me. He got an idea and came over to tell me.

"I can guess what is going through your head. Though I feel sorry for you, I need you to submit to me and convince other Humans to do the same. Bring them to the Dungeon so I can turn them into my minions through a blood ritual," The Dungeon Lord instructs.

"Blood Ritual? Do you need me to submit for your ritual to work?" I ask with clenched teeth. If people had to agree to become a minion, how did the Dungeon Lords in the tales manage to build vast armies?

"I require Human souls to create new Beastmen. The easiest way to get human souls is for them to die inside my Dungeon. I could keep ordering Wakanda to kidnap weak humans like the gardener to harvest his soul. However, that comes with a high risk of the Church spotting Wakanda and sending some Holy Knight or Hero to destroy my Dungeon Core. Since you are a pure Human, you can enter their settlements to lure or recruit Humans to become my minions without attracting the attention of the Church." The Dungeon Lord reasons.

"Are you saying you won't turn me into a Beastman as long as I get more Humans for you?" I ask.

I wonder why he doesn't think I would use the chance to run away.

"You want revenge against the Heroes Church. What do religious organizations hate the most? Rival religious organizations who steal their flock. What if you become my priest and create a religion that worships me? I get Human Souls that can be used against the Heroes Church when I have enough to wage war." The Dungeon Lord explains.

"You will go to war against the Heroes Church?" I ask.

"I plan on conquering all of Churchland and maybe all of Artrea one day. So, the Heroes Church will be in my way since that guy told me the Church outside was built to nip me in the bud. Though they don't bother to check the Dungeon since it is a dumping place for corpses of sinners to be eaten by the Elemental Beasts that live in the first level of the Dungeon," The Dungeon Lord explains.

So, I remain a human and create a counter-religion to destroy the Heroes Church?

"I submit to the Beast Dungeon Lord! I will be your priest!" I declare and fall on my knees before placing my forehead at his Half-Wolf Half-Human feet.

"Haha! We are going to have a lot of fun." The Dungeon Lord replies with a Maniacal laugh.