Chapter 230: The Battle of the Stormlands, Cersei the Conqueror

Above the majestic Storm's End, the holy fire, caressed by the gale of Shipbreaker Bay, licked at the night sky.

Under the illumination of the holy fire, the large red garnet on Melisandre's snow-white neck sipped the moonlight.

Melisandre stared at the wildfire, her skin slick with fragrant sweat beneath her tight red robes.

The red priestess was observing the visions sent by the Lord of Light, R'hllor, through the holy fire.

Many followers of the Lord of Light prayed alongside Melisandre, gazing into the holy fire together. Many also claimed they could see visions in the flames; even the Onion Knight, a believer in the Seven, could not help but try.

Davos only saw yellow, orange, and red flames; the blaze and thick smoke made his eyes ache.

Stannis wore a grey wool robe, appearing exceptionally plain amidst a group of gorgeously dressed nobles, the burning sword Lightbringer hanging at his waist, his jaw set tight.

"What do you see?"

The Onion Knight Davos, beside Stannis, heard the urgency in Stannis's words; in these recent days, King Stannis desperately needed good news to boost morale.

Melisandre revealed a warm smile.

"Your Grace, I see flames and the ocean enveloping King's Landing; I fear the rule of the Lannister and the necromancer in King's Landing will soon meet its doom."

Stannis was not convinced.

"Flames and the ocean enveloping King's Landing? Woman, what exactly do you mean? As far as I know, water and fire are incompatible."

Melisandre's eyes flickered as if they were burning red candles.

"Flames are the mortal enemy of the undead; the flames that destroy the undead might be the magic dragon in the hands of the Wolf King Eddard, or perhaps Daenerys's magic dragon, or of course, it could be Your Grace's fire demon."

Stannis raised one eyebrow.

"And where does the ocean enveloping King's Landing come from?"

Melisandre said: "Power from the sea will assist the flames in destroying the undead in King's Landing."

Stannis gave a light snort.

"Your interpretation is not necessarily accurate. King's Landing today is shrouded in death and terror; the frost dragons and Death Knights in the hands of the necromancer are increasing in number. Even Tywin and the Kingslayer have tucked their tails and fled to King's Landing, begging for the protection of Cersei and the undead. The power of the necromancer is at its zenith."

"Eddard seized the Westerlands but failed to root out Tywin, the Kingslayer, and the others. Now, the Lannisters are reunited in King's Landing; this is not a good omen."

Melisandre said: "Your Grace, the Lannisters are not of one mind. I saw it in the visions of the holy fire; the Lannisters will soon turn on each other."

This was at least a good omen, and Stannis was in need of good omens.

In recent days, Stannis's army had been repeatedly contesting castles in the Stormlands such as Rainwood, Haystack Hall, and Copper Gate against the undead army led by Robert the Death Storm.

The Death Storm fought with fierce intensity and was adept at rapid raids, exactly like Robert in his lifetime.

The addition of the fire demon had greatly increased the strength of Stannis's army; this creature, leaping with flames all over its body, could not only summon fireballs to attack giant bats, frost dragons, and the undead, but could also resurrect corpses into fire thralls to battle the undead.

With the help of the fire thralls and the fire demon, Stannis's army had been able to launch local counterattacks and recover some lost territory. However, the land struck by the frost exhaled by the frost dragons would turn into dark grey cursed earth; today, most of the region north of Storm's End had fallen into cursed land.

Even as powerful as the fire demon was, it could not purify the cursed earth.

The Onion Knight Seaworth felt somewhat fortunate that his fief was at Cape Wrath, south of Storm's End, and his wife Maria and two young sons were still living safely in their territory to this day.

However, the south was not absolutely safe either. A few days ago, a large number of giant bats and the frost dragon Blue Queen attempted to attack the territory of Harvest Hall, which was the fief of the Selmy House and the largest grain-producing area in the Stormlands. The famous Kingsguard "the Bold" Barristan Selmy hailed from Harvest Hall.

Once the fertile fields and manors of Harvest Hall were destroyed by the undead, the provisions for Stannis's army would be difficult to maintain. Fortunately, the fire demon went out in person and, in the valley north of Harvest Hall, killed the giant bats and drove away the frost dragon Blue Queen.

The Onion Knight Davos stroked the pouch on his chest, which contained his finger bones; this had always been his lucky charm.

"Your Grace, the Crow's Eye has become the King of the Iron Islands. If the news from the Iron Islands is true, the Crow's Eye can summon sea monsters and Nagas; this is truly terrifying. Even the Royal Fleet would find it difficult to contend with sea monsters."

Lord Celtigar leaned in; his buttons were shaped like crabs and made entirely of red garnets.

"The horn the Crow's Eye uses to summon sea monsters must be the one stolen from my castle. It is an heirloom of our Celtigar House. When I was young, my grandfather told me that the horn could summon sea monsters from the depths of the ocean."

"When Your Grace defeats the Crow's Eye in the future, I hope Your Grace can return the horn to its rightful owner, our Celtigar House."

Stannis began to grind his teeth, in a manner that suggested he wanted to strangle Lord Celtigar.

"Lord Celtigar, that sea monster horn should have been handed over to me from the very beginning for me to keep. Now, look, the sea monster horn has fallen into the hands of the Crow's Eye. With what shall I defeat the Crow's Eye, and with what shall I launch an expedition to the Iron Islands?"

Melisandre said: "Sea monsters are indeed terrifying, but compared to Nagas, their strength is far inferior. In legends, sea monsters and sea beasts are all food for Nagas."

The Onion Knight said: "Can the fire demon beat a Naga?"

Melisandre shrugged, "In the ocean, the Naga will win; on land, the fire demon can easily defeat a Naga. Onion Knight, it depends on where the battle takes place."

The Hand of the King, Lord Alester Florent, was all smiles; this man was Sam's maternal grandfather and the father-in-law of Randyll Tarly.

"Your Grace, the Iron Islands are worth winning over. We should take the initiative to send envoys to form an alliance with the Crow's Eye."

"Just imagine, if we form an alliance with the Crow's Eye, the fire demon and the Nagas, with sea monsters joining forces, plus the Iron Islands fleet and the Royal Fleet, we would be invincible at sea."

"I have heard that Littlefinger Petyr Baelish is serving under the Crow's Eye. Littlefinger and the Crow's Eye are both clever men; they surely know the benefits of an alliance with us."

"Once we have the support of the Crow's Eye and the Iron Islands fleet, we can easily conquer The Reach."

Lord Alester Florent's castle and fief at Brightwater Keep in The Reach had already been seized and occupied by Lord Mace of Highgarden. It seems that even with the undead raging and darkness descending, Lord Alester Florent still could not stop thinking about his home and his lands.

Stannis's gaze was cold and hard.

"I will not compromise with the Crow's Eye. The Crow's Eye sits on the Seastone Chair and wears the Driftwood Crown; like his eldest brother Balon, he usurps the title of king and attempts to divide the kingdom. How could I possibly compromise with such a person?"

Stannis gazed at the night fire and said slowly: "The Wolf King Eddard has written to agree to march on King's Landing together. Melisandre, since the visions you saw in the flames are favorable to us, marching is the only choice."

Melisandre said: "The fire demon will lead an army of fire thralls to wipe out the enemies in the Kingswood. By then, once the Wolf King Eddard's army reaches the gates of King's Landing, our army can set out to threaten King's Landing from the south."

The crowd dispersed one after another, leaving only the Onion Knight and Stannis before the holy fire.

The Onion Knight lowered his voice.

"Your Grace, in my view, fire thralls are just like wights, exuding the stench of death from their bodies. They were resurrected by the fire demon, just as the necromancer resurrects wights."

"Many fire thralls were your men; they deserve to rest in peace after death, not to be fire thralls, walking corpses."

Stannis said helplessly: "Of course I know that the fire demon resurrecting corpses is an evil and depraved act. However, if the fire demon does not resurrect the corpses, those bodies will be resurrected by the necromancer into wights."

"War is inherently cruel, and this is the Great War of Fire and Ice, of light and darkness; there is no other way."

The Onion Knight subconsciously looked around.

"Your Grace, we all know that Cersei has already become a puppet of the necromancer Ogbeta, yet she herself is completely unaware."

"The fire thralls were all resurrected by the fire demon. The fire demon's strength is so great that he has helped Your Grace win many battles, but what if, what if one day the fire demon begins to defy Your Grace's orders?"

Stannis pondered for a long moment.

"This is indeed a potential threat; I will be careful and stay on guard."

In the Throne Room at King's Landing, Jaime watched the skull brought by a bat, his hand opening and closing on his sword hilt.

Today, the necromancer Ogbeta was to resurrect three legendary Kingsguard in the Throne Room: "Sword of the Morning" Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, and the White Bull Gerold Hightower.

They were all Jaime's sworn brothers from back then, who had died in battle at the Tower of Joy, falling to the swords of Eddard and his companions.

When Jaime first donned the white cloak of the Kingsguard, he was only fifteen; the Kingsguard of that time were all legendary Knights, men of the highest caliber—Sword of the Morning Arthur Dayne, the White Bull Gerold Hightower, and Oswell Whent had taught Jaime many things.

The Kingsguard of today—this was a group of Kingsguard protecting a Corpse Queen, either Cersei's lackeys like Meryn Trant, the strongman Rustu, and Black Kong Tabit, or useless fools like Boros Blount.

Jaime was actually the Captain of this Kingsguard! With Sword of the Morning Arthur Dayne and the White Bull Gerold Hightower about to be reborn, Jaime truly wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

During the time he followed Sword of the Morning Arthur Dayne, the thing Jaime was most proud of was helping to pacify the Kingswood Brotherhood alongside Arthur Dayne, Barristan, and others.

Now, the Kingswood Brotherhood's Simon Toyne, Wenda the White Fawn, Big Belly Ben, the Smiling Knight, Oswyn Longneck, Dick Straw, and others had been resurrected and were battling Stannis in the Stormlands.

This was the most depraved royal house in King's Landing's history, and the most depraved Kingsguard.

Standing at the stairs of the Iron Throne, the more Jaime thought, the more uneasy he felt; he said to Cersei beside him, "It would be best not to resurrect Sword of the Morning, the White Bull, and Oswell Whent; you are not short on Death Knights."

Cersei looked at Jaime with an evil gaze.

"What? Jaime, haven't you always worshipped the Sword of the Morning? Don't you want them to be reborn?"

"I remember now, back then your sworn brothers left you in King's Landing to protect the Mad King Aerys, yet you killed the Mad King Aerys with a single sword stroke, right here in the Throne Room. When these three Kingsguard learned you had become the Kingslayer, they were in Dorne; surely, before they died, they were constantly muttering about the Kingslayer's treachery!"

The necromancer Ogbeta walked over, his entire body radiating an evil aura.

"Ser Jaime, these sworn brothers of yours are already prepared to dedicate themselves to Queen Cersei and to the great Great Other."

"Don't forget, Stannis's red priestess resurrected the legendary Kingsguard Prince Duncan at Summerhall; if we do not resurrect them, Stannis will eventually resurrect them himself."

Jaime suppressed his anger, "Sword of the Morning, the White Bull, and Oswell Whent were all good men; turning them into Death Knights will only tarnish their honor!"

On the Iron Throne, Joffrey's scalp was oozing pus from a horrific wound.

"Kingslayer, you are the only Kingsguard who slaughtered the King he swore to protect; what do you know of honor?"

"I need Death Knights to fight for me; my father Robert, reborn after death as a Death Storm, still makes his enemies tremble with fear. If I relied on you and Grandfather Tywin, House Lannister would have been wiped out long ago."

Subsequently, the necromancer Ogbeta's skull scepter emitted a blood-red halo, striking the skulls of Sword of the Morning, Oswell Whent, and the White Bull Gerold Hightower.

After a burst of black smoke, Sword of the Morning Arthur Dayne, Gerold Hightower, and Oswell Whent stood in the Throne Room, clad in snow-white Kingsguard enameled scale armor.

Jaime felt a wave of dizziness, as if he had become a fifteen-year-old boy once again.

The three Kingsguard knelt before the Iron Throne, swearing their allegiance to Cersei and Joffrey.

"We swear to fight for the Great Other, to fight for the Lannisters!"

Whether it was Oswell Whent, Sword of the Morning Arthur Dayne, or the White Bull Gerold Hightower, none of them spared Jaime a second glance.

Jaime realized then that, like Prince Rhaegar and Robert the Death Storm, they were all puppets of the Great Other, having lost their sense of self; Jaime secretly felt relieved, otherwise he truly could not have faced his former sworn brothers.

Cersei smiled, "Sword of the Morning Arthur Dayne, you are the greatest swordsman; the likes of the Knight of Flowers under the Wolf King Eddard, Brienne, The Hound, and Barristan are no match for you."

Arthur Dayne said, "I shall kill every enemy of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager."

Jaime noticed that the longsword in Arthur Dayne's hand, with a blade pale as milky glass, was the legendary treasure of House Dayne: Dawn.

"Arthur Dayne is reborn, and he is actually carrying the sword Dawn? This sword should be at Starfall; why would it follow Arthur Dayne in his rebirth?"

The necromancer Ogbeta chuckled, "This is, of course, a false Dawn, not the true sword Dawn. Ser Arthur Dayne's skull possesses the memories of his life, and the sword Dawn had long since become one with him; this is actually a skeleton sword."

Cersei asked curiously, "Where is the true sword Dawn? I heard that the Lord of Starfall is a child named Edric; he is the squire of the Lightning Lord and also the foster son of the Wolf King Eddard, currently at Harrenhal."

Jaime explained, "The Sword of the Morning is not passed to the head of House Dayne, but to the best swordsman in the family. Every Knight of House Dayne who possesses Dawn is nicknamed the Sword of the Morning. Currently, the sword Dawn is still at Starfall, waiting for the next Sword of the Morning."

Joffrey complained.

"Since the sword Dawn is so magical, why not send bats to steal it from Starfall?"

The necromancer Ogbeta said apologetically, "Your Grace Joffrey, I did indeed send bats, but not a single one of my bats returned alive."

"Starfall possesses magical power; House Dayne is, after all, very ancient. Like House Hightower of Oldtown, their history can be traced back to the Dawn Age."

Gillian laughed, "Once the undead army merges with Dorne, the sword Dawn will sooner or later return to Arthur Dayne's hands."

Jaime knew that Gillian and his witch wife Grace had never been trusted by Cersei, and even the necromancer was wary of the sea witch Grace.

A few days ago, the Mountain's men—Raff the Sweetling, Rust, and Old Chiswyck—had made lewd jokes at Grace, and as a result, Raff the Sweetling, Rust, and Old Chiswyck contracted a strange illness the next day; their bodies grew scales like fish, and they died screaming.

Now, the Mountain and the men of the Goat Vargo Hoat stayed far away whenever they saw the sea witch Grace.

Tywin and Kevan, however, relied even more on the witch Grace; after all, Grace was their sister-in-law.

Although Cersei appointed Tywin as Hand of the King, Kevan as Master of Coin, and Gillian as Master of Ships, these Lannisters had no real power and no troops in their hands.

Tywin hoped to use the witch Grace to stage a comeback in King's Landing.

However, Jaime was always wary of those who manipulated witchcraft.

Jaime began to miss the simple world of the past, where a single sword stroke to the throat ended an enemy, rather than now, where death was far from the end, and even Magic Dragons were summoned back by necromancers at the Dark Altar.

In these last few days, the weather had grown colder and colder, and autumn was nearing its end; the necromancer Ogbeta's magical power grew increasingly formidable, as he successively summoned the frost dragon Meleys the Red Queen, Aegon II's Magic Dragon Sunfyre, and the mount of the Queen of Jaehaerys I Targaryen, Silverwing, among others.

And tonight, after resurrecting the legendary Kingsguard like the Sword of the Morning, there was one more main event: the resurrection of Balerion the Black Dread.

Cersei, Joffrey, the necromancer Ogbeta, Jaime, Tywin, Kevan, Gillian, and the sea witch Grace all arrived before the Dark Altar.

Several frost dragons danced in the sky.

The followers of the Seven in the cages were tied to cages placed in all directions around the altar; among them were Septas, sisters, Silent Sisters, members of the Beggar Brotherhood, bread boys, sailors, tinkers, fishermen, and so on.

The statue of the Great Other on the Dark Altar continuously sucked the life force of the followers of the Seven; the life force transformed into masses of black mist, which enveloped the dragon skeleton of Balerion the Black Dread.

Back then, Aegon the Conqueror had ridden Balerion to conquer Westeros; he was likely the largest dragon in the history of Westeros, and in fact, many Maesters believed that Balerion's dragon skeleton was the largest in existence.

To resurrect Balerion as a frost dragon required more Dark Magic and the deaths of more innocent people.

Jaime had been looking for an opportunity to assassinate the necromancer Ogbeta, but his patience was nearly exhausted.

So many innocent people were being harmed and slaughtered by the undead, yet I can do nothing; what use is this sword to me?

However, on the other hand, Jaime reminded himself deep down that he must remain patient and look for an opportunity, otherwise his assassination would surely fail just like the assassinations by Varys and Tyrion, and he would lose his life in vain.

In that case, Jaime the Kingslayer would become a member of the Death Knights, reuniting with his sworn brothers, the Sword of the Morning, the White Bull, Oswell Whent, and the others.

The necromancer Ogbeta chanted a spell, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet as chilling winds blew.

"Balerion the Black Dread, you are the embodiment of death; Westeros was littered with corpses because of you. Guided by the Great Other, I bid you be reborn! Westeros shall tremble and shudder before you once more!"

Rotting flesh appeared upon the skeleton of Balerion the Black Dread, and soon, it was covered in a layer of ice crystals and frost.

Joffrey Baratheon and Cersei wore expressions of hunger and greed.

Balerion the Black Dread opened his blue eyes; the frost dragon Balerion roared at the sky, flapping his wings and blotting out the heavens.

Many Followers of the Great Other knelt in unison; the members of the Lannister family all stood, but Jaime noticed fear in the eyes of many.

Back then, the last King of the Rock, Loren Lannister, joined forces with the King of the Reach to form an allied army of tens of thousands, attempting to defeat Aegon the Conqueror.

In the end, Aegon the Conqueror rode the magic dragon Balerion, Wisangniya Huanghou rode the magic dragon Vhagar, and Leinisi Huanghou rode the magic dragon Meraxes, bringing about the total extinction of the Gardener House at the Field of Fire.

King Loren escaped death on the battlefield; he chose to kneel and submit, renouncing his crown to become the first Lord of Lannister, allowing the Lannister bloodline to survive.

The frost dragons Silverwing, Sunfyre, the Red Queen, and others were already terrifying in size, but before Balerion the Black Dread, they instantly seemed much smaller.

Balerion the Black Dread landed on the ground, and Cersei, overjoyed, climbed onto him.

The frost dragon carried Cersei into the sky, and Cersei screamed.

"At this moment, I rule the world; I am Aegon the Conqueror in a dress!"

Thanks to He Fei for the monthly ticket! Thank you for the support!

(End of this chapter)