did vikings practice human sacrifice

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate." I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief. Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him. In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans. However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance. He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was. The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control. Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it. I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me. However, fate gave me another chance. In this life, I would not make the same mistake. When the High King once again asked me to choose a partner for the marriage alliance, I chose Damon—the one no one ever noticed—without even blinking.

Jessica and Theodore had been in a relationship for many years, and she believed he loved her until she saw his gentle attentions towards another woman. They even quietly registered their marriage, turning Jessica from the official girlfriend into the mistress, which shattered her heart. Later, Theodore did everything for her, but Jessica remained indifferent. It was because on the night he abandoned her, she had been hit by a car, paying with her life to gain a chance at resurrection.

Abigail married Jonathan three years ago, but his family believed she did so for their money. The in-law's dislike and a looming homewrecker pushed Abigail to a breaking point, with Jonathan's indifference being the last straw. Seeing Abigail beyond disheartened and ready to leave, it was to Jonathan's surprise to learn the things Abigail endured these three years. Even more to Jonathan's surprise, Abigail is revealed to be... As the truth unveiled and misunderstandings lifted, will the two rekindle their love in the end?

Ryan Scott, the iron-blooded shipping magnate who rules the seas around Habor City, decides to retire and marry the young and beautiful Yvonne Stafford, gifting her an eighty-million-dollar company as a wedding present. Little does he know, Yvonne has been conspiring with her childhood sweetheart Simon Baller—they drug Ryan and plot to seize his fortune. But Ryan catches on and lays an elaborate trap. At the wedding, he uses glue to humiliate them publicly. Afterward, he engineers a scheme that leaves Yvonne buried in massive debt, turning her family and friends against her. Yvonne, her brother, and Simon turn on each other in a vicious dog-eat-dog battle, and they all meet miserable ends. Having witnessed the depths of human treachery, Ryan abandons his retirement plans and reclaims his identity as the iron-blooded shipping king, continuing to dominate the underworld.

Five years ago, on a full moon night, cursed Alpha Caden Warwick met his fated mate, Ella Bell. They shared a passionate night, but Ella fled the next day and gave birth to their child alone. Now, five years later, Ella's four-year-old son, Finn Bell, suffers a sudden health crisis, and the costly medical bills put Ella in a desperate situation. To raise money, Ella takes a job at the Warwick Estate, where she crosses paths with Caden again. When an accident threatens her son, Caden appears just in time to save them both and brings them back to the estate. Haunted by his past, Caden initially rejects Ella, a human, but as they spend time together, his hidden tenderness awakens. The bond between the three grows stronger…

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate." I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief. Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him. In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans. However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance. He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was. The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control. Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it. I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me. However, fate gave me another chance. In this life, I would not make the same mistake. When the High King once again asked me to choose a partner for the marriage alliance, I chose Damon—the one no one ever noticed—without even blinking.

Everyone in the Lake clan writes off young Tyler Lake as a cultivationless dead weight, until the day he coolly dissects a monster's weakness in an instant, saving his sister Tania Lake mid-trial. As the family tears itself apart fighting over their late father's sacred Mythic Relic, the rival Baker family seizes the chaos to ally with demon forces and launch an invasion.Cornered, Tyler reveals what he truly is—the reincarnation of the Ghost King aka Andrew West, one of the most fearsome beings the ancient world ever produced. He rallies the human Ghost-Tamers, forges an alliance with the Twin Reapers, and dismantles a conspiracy centuries in the making. When the dust settles, he ascends to the Hell  Realm. But even as he destroys the villains before him, something darker stirs just beyond the edge of sight.

Overnight, every human being on earth shrinks to the size of a thumbnail. Civilization doesn't so much collapse as become irrelevant. The familiar world is now a jungle of furniture legs and household insects, and survival is a matter of minutes. College student Mason Reid barely makes it through the first day before something inside him unlocks—a system that lets him evolve by consuming living matter, growing stronger with every creature he defeats, and absorbing the abilities of fallen awakeners.He finds an unlikely partner in Evelyn Yates, composed on the surface, fierce underneath. Together, they navigate a miniaturized world full of mutated beasts, corrupted survivors, and a cult that has decided the catastrophe is the birth of something holy. The deeper they push, the clearer it becomes: scattered across this shrunken world are alien crystal cores, and they may be the only way to reverse everything.

Everyone in the Lake clan writes off young Tyler Lake as a cultivationless dead weight, until the day he coolly dissects a monster's weakness in an instant, saving his sister Tania Lake mid-trial. As the family tears itself apart fighting over their late father's sacred Mythic Relic, the rival Baker family seizes the chaos to ally with demon forces and launch an invasion.Cornered, Tyler reveals what he truly is—the reincarnation of the Ghost King aka Andrew West, one of the most fearsome beings the ancient world ever produced. He rallies the human Ghost-Tamers, forges an alliance with the Twin Reapers, and dismantles a conspiracy centuries in the making. When the dust settles, he ascends to the Hell  Realm. But even as he destroys the villains before him, something darker stirs just beyond the edge of sight.

Overnight, every human being on earth shrinks to the size of a thumbnail. Civilization doesn't so much collapse as become irrelevant. The familiar world is now a jungle of furniture legs and household insects, and survival is a matter of minutes. College student Mason Reid barely makes it through the first day before something inside him unlocks—a system that lets him evolve by consuming living matter, growing stronger with every creature he defeats, and absorbing the abilities of fallen awakeners.He finds an unlikely partner in Evelyn Yates, composed on the surface, fierce underneath. Together, they navigate a miniaturized world full of mutated beasts, corrupted survivors, and a cult that has decided the catastrophe is the birth of something holy. The deeper they push, the clearer it becomes: scattered across this shrunken world are alien crystal cores, and they may be the only way to reverse everything.

In a desperate attempt to fulfill his comatose grandmother's greatest wish, Claude impulsively brought over a pregnant woman at the hospital and told his grandmother that the woman was carrying his child. Miraculously, his grandmother pulled through. However, that very night, Claude dreamed about the pregnant woman... Chloe initially thought running into her baby's biological father at the hospital was a mere coincidence—but little did she know, this man would keep reappearing in her life from that day on...

In order to save her terminally ill sister, she was forced to take the place of her selfish cousin and be sacrificed to the rumored cannibalistic and brutal dragon duke. However, she unexpectedly discovered that the "terrifying beast" was actually a peerless beauty. Not only did he dote on her after marriage, but he also allowed her to make a stunning comeback. She married another seemingly good man who treated her cousin poorly, and after learning about the heroine's life, the cousin went insane with jealousy.

Cast out by his own family as useless, Justin Lowe opens a supermarket in the apocalypse and staffs it entirely with S-rank anomalies. His monsters clock in, follow orders, and keep the shelves stocked while human survivors trade hexcoins for goods that shouldn't exist: prehistoric snacks, high-tech weapons, supplies from no known supply chain. Each transaction upgrades the store. Each upgrade unlocks something stranger. The anomalies are terrifying everywhere except inside Justin's shop, where they are, inexplicably, perfectly obedient. Dragged repeatedly into the power struggles and crises of the survivor world, he navigates each one with wit and nerve rather than force. In the end, it isn't a weapon or an army that defeats the cosmic evil bearing down on what's left of humanity. It's a commercial contract, and the man who signs it becomes the world's last savior.

After the divorce, Ella Blaine's ex-husband, John Jones, asked, "We were married for a year. Did you ever love me?""No!" Ella replied, walking away without a hint of hesitation.Later, a manipulative friend revealed a pregnancy involving John's child. Ella responded by exposing his infertility secret.Years later, when questioned about Ella's decision to marry the seemingly perfect Zac Smith, Ella, with unwavering confidence, declares, "If I can't be his bride, I'll be his new mother. Will he dare not to marry?"

Sierra Lowe, a genius from the future research institute, dies unexpectedly and wakes up 100 years in the past as the fiancée of Commander Ethan Nacht. Her plan is simple: lay low, earn money, and avoid trouble. And when the ninth wife finally rises to power, she’ll happily step aside. But on their wedding day, Commander Ethan hears her inner thoughts loud and clear: “So this is Ethan Nacht, the guy who secretly slept with the ninth wife?”Ethan was baffled: "Father only had eight wives. Where did the ninth come from?"

As the most powerful man in Rivton City, Barlow Sapir hated the most when women threw themselves at him. However, the first time he met Elvira Ann, the latter solemnly declared, "I'm not interested in you, Barlow Sapir." The second time, she swore to God, "I won't sleep with you." Then there was the third time… the fourth time… But little did Elvira know, Barlow Sapir desired nothing more than her love. The more she tried to get rid of him, the more he yearned for her. What could she do?

Three years ago, Ryan, America's most promising astronaut trainee, gave up a historic promotion to live in anonymity as a devoted husband to Vanessa. Unbeknownst to him, Vanessa, blinded by materialism, secretly pined for her wealthy childhood friend, Jackson. Heartbroken, Ryan reclaimed his identity to join a perilous national space mission. Knowing he might not return, he anonymously donated a kidney to save Vanessa. Only after his disappearance did she realize her loss.Their final encounter was at a nationally televised awards ceremony... where Ryan stood honored, with an elegant and beautiful woman by his side……

Louise Trent's life is a complete mess. In college, she sells adult products to make ends meet, deals with a wicked stepmother and sister, and now she's stuck fighting with her cold fiancé. Oh, and let's not forget about his handsome uncle—who seems to be taking more than an interest in her. Tensions rise as her fiancé seethes over her growing closeness to his uncle, while the uncle, possessive and unapologetic, refuses to back down. Caught between the two, Louise can't help but wonder—when did her life become such a chaotic mess?