"Sea God! God of Storms! Or rather, I should call you the master of the ocean, the Aed People, am I right?"
Before the voice could finish speaking, Marko interrupted. He then loudly announced the entity's title, his body radiating crimson energy.
The Aed People loved to do this, transforming into various gods to gain more faith. They created the roles of demon kings and saviors, allowing believers to better immerse themselves and dedicate themselves.
Through his magic control skills, Marko quickly discerned this guy's identity. Although the Hall family was considered disrespectful to the gods in the eyes of the Ironborn, this didn't stop the Sea God from using his soul to absorb disasters and curses. This kind of soul was a favorite of the Aed gods.
"Foolish mortal, you don't know what you're up against... Uh... Argh!"
Before the Sea God could finish, Marko's manifested "Flame Dragon's Tongue" pierced his body. The terrifying attraction pulled the transparent body directly onto the sword. The system, utilizing the "Flame Dragon's Tongue," completely absorbed the Sea God's energy body.
"Ding! Congratulations, host, on a glorious victory. You have gained experience..."
"Ding! The hero has leveled up. Level 16. Please select the corresponding abilities: ---
1. Basic Logistics: Increases the hero unit's endurance and speed by 10%.
2. Basic Defense: Increases the hero unit's melee defense by 10%.
3. Basic Destruction Magic: Allows the hero to learn 3rd-tier destruction magic and increases its power.
4. Basic Summoning Magic: Allows the hero to learn 3rd-tier light magic and increases its power.
After seeing the information above, Marko decisively chose "Basic Summoning Magic." Although "Destruction Magic" was powerful, its controllability was too poor, especially the ultimate spell, "Doomsday Judgment," which was similar to a human bomb, hurting both the enemy and the user.
Water-attribute "Deep Freeze" and earth-attribute "Inward Explosion" didn't have much effect on the Aed gods, as the Sea God possessed water attribute, and the Holy Light God possessed fire and light attributes.
After much thought, Marko realized that only the attribute-less "Summoning Magic" could harm these guys. The memories brought by Mu greatly helped Marko and also made him abandon most of his upgrade plans.
At first, Marko only wanted to have light magic, and he would choose skills to improve the abilities of system soldiers. However, as time went on, Marko gradually realized that the beings he would have to deal with in the future would become stronger and stronger, and skills to enhance soldier abilities were no longer practical.
After the upgrade was complete, Marko looked at the completely vanished transparent energy body and silently pondered. He felt like he had found the key to leveling up.
"Boom... Bang..."
With a loud explosion, the two giant door panels of Harrenhal's main gate crashed to the ground. Then, five fully armed Giants, wielding spiked clubs, charged into the stunned ranks of the Allied Forces soldiers.
The Giants formed a steel meat grinder, mercilessly harvesting the lives of the Allied Forces soldiers. One swing of their clubs and basically no one survived. It could be said that they died on contact, injured on touch.
This horrific scene also calmed the fanatic Seven Gods monks and made some knowledgeable officers abandon their attack. They could see the weaknesses of their own soldiers.
So, the Allied Forces soldiers and monks formed a circle, protecting a man wearing a lion-shaped helmet. It seemed that he should be Jaime Lannister, as mentioned in the intelligence reports.
After hearing the reports from his subordinates, Ramsay Snow of the "Crimson Crusaders" ordered the Giants to stop their attack. Then, he led his troops to the front of the Allied Forces' troops, accompanied by his ten "Crimson Crusaders" guards.
Gradually, the soldiers of the Valyrian Imperial Army began to suppress the Iron Throne Allied Forces defending the city. The assault troops on the city walls and the soldiers who rushed in through the city gates began to pour into the five giant towers, clearing out the remaining Allied Forces soldiers inside.
"Charge..."
Just as Ramsay was about to order the men in front of him to surrender, a troop of cavalry suddenly charged out from the Godswood on the west side of the castle. There were about 500 riders, and their target was Ramsay's vanguard.
Following that, a large number of allied soldiers also rushed out from some hidden passages inside the castle. They were led by the Rainbow Knights and Seven Star Warriors, their eyes filled with fanaticism. Even the hastily recruited civilian laborers no longer showed the timidity they had at first.
"Defend, gather, let the Druids guide the elemental creatures to attack, kill..."
After issuing the order, Ramsay cast the spell "Furious Strength", raising his power to the maximum. At the same time, he dragged the two-handed sword behind him, preparing to use the "Downward Slash" sword style against the charging cavalry.
Jaime Lannister, leading the cavalry, rode his warhorse and raised his lance, charging towards the nearest Giant. Although these behemoths were terrifying, Jaime saw their lack of agility. He was preparing to attack the connection between their necks, piercing that gap to try and kill the enemy with a single blow.
The cavalry, whistling past, scattered Ramsay's hastily organized troops. However, the follow-up troops quickly surged forward. After rescuing some of the wounded soldiers, they quickly filled the gaps in the attacking formation.
"Long live..."
Five Giants warriors were under heavy attack, riddled with various lances. The Giant "Wangwang" and the Giant leader "Strong Mag" were directly stabbed to death by lances. "Wangwang" was the Giant that Jaime had focused on.
Seeing the terrifying Giants killed, the Iron Throne Allied Forces soldiers erupted in thunderous cheers. They were truly on the verge of collapse at this moment, and the Giants' casualties undoubtedly gave them a shot in the arm, making many feel that they still had a chance to defeat the enemy.
But soon, they couldn't laugh anymore. They saw a flash of golden light on the two dead Giants, and then, their already stiffening corpses began to move, looking very strange.
After getting up from the ground, "Wangwang" and "Strong Mag" also pulled out the lances stuck in their bodies. Then, the wounds on their bodies were rapidly recovering. Both of them clenched their fists in disbelief, feeling somewhat incredible.
The other three Giants also lit up with a translucent yellow light, and then, their bodies recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye. Seeing the Giant warriors recover, the Iron Throne Allied Forces soldiers felt a deep sense of helplessness.
Just then, a cry of an eagle and the sound of a heavy object landing came over. Then everyone saw a larger, dark blue Giant and a deep blue giant eagle appear on the battlefield.
Jaime felt a wave of helplessness in his heart as he watched this magical scene, but the Lannister family's pride did not allow him to be discouraged. So, the heir of the Lannister family drew his dragonsteel sword "Lionheart" from his waist, ready to lead the soldiers to continue attacking the enemy at the city gate.
At this moment, Jaime suddenly felt a terrifying killing intent, so he instinctively raised his shield to block. Then he felt a terrifying force erupt in front of him, and that terrifying force directly knocked him away.
Jaime was sent flying backward, crashing into three soldiers before finally stopping. He couldn't withstand the pain and immediately fainted.
At this moment, Ramsay, seeing this scene, sheathed his greatsword and said without looking back,
"Harlan Hunt, what if your arrow had just killed the Kingslayer? Don't you know the Lannisters always pay their debts?"
Harlan Hunt, standing behind Ramsay, helplessly retracted his weirwood longbow and said unhappily,
"Don't you know my skills? Besides, they're just a bunch of vengeful lions. What's there to be afraid of? They are nothing before the True Dragons, and even the gods must yield before Emperor Markol."
"Boom..."
As their conversation began, thunder and flames began to explode among the Iron Throne Allied Forces soldiers, scattering limbs and charred corpses everywhere. The soldiers of the Valyrian Imperial Army seized the opportunity to surround them.
After such a long investment, Marko's magic troops were finally able to display their skills on the battlefield. They had always been Marko's "precious darlings," and he was reluctant to use them, only bringing them out at this moment.
The shield walls of the Maintainers advanced inch by inch, leaving the Allied Forces soldiers with no means to resist. Coupled with the spells raining down from behind the shield walls, the Allied Forces soldiers were completely overwhelmed.
These Allied Forces soldiers were either killed or surrendered. Slowly, the entire area behind the walls of Harrenhal was occupied. The auxiliary troops from the North and the Vale came forward to receive the prisoners.
After occupying these areas, the Valyrian Imperial Army soldiers began to gradually clear out the remaining Allied Forces soldiers in the five high towers. These five towers in Harrenhal, due to years of disrepair, were unusable in many places.
However, a large number of defeated soldiers were still hiding inside. These guys, led by nobles and Rainbow Knights, were still stubbornly resisting Emperor Markol's Valyrian Imperial Army. It seemed they were prepared to fight to the end.
However, Markol no longer needed to concern himself with all of this. Ramsay had already arranged the tower assault troops. This kind of "blocking the hole and catching the rabbit" trick was Ramsay's specialty. As an experienced and skilled hunter, Ramsay always knew how to force the "rabbits" out of their burrows.
Meanwhile, Markol led Moonshadow and the others into the Hall of a Hundred Hearths. The Hall of a Hundred Hearths was the main hall of Harrenhal, located below the Burning King Tower. It had 40 huge fireplaces, capable of accommodating roughly 10,000 troops.
At this time, the Valyrian Imperial Army soldiers were collecting the corpses of both sides and gathering the remains of the golems. Upon seeing Markol and his group enter, the soldiers all respectfully saluted Markol.
The two Archangels had gone to the rear to resurrect their own soldiers. The heroes who had come to the hall with Markol this time were Henk Crowl and Magne the Rope. They had also equipped themselves with "Reincarnation" magic scrolls and were now resurrecting the soldiers with intact bodies.
At this moment, the throne in the hall had been cleared. Looking at the Hall family emblem on the throne, Marko couldn't help but feel a sense of the changes of the world. "Blackheart Harren" had spent more than 40 years building Harrenhal, but it was destroyed by "Dragon Ancestor" Aegon I just over a month after its completion.
Looking at the longship emblem on the coat of arms, Marko couldn't help but think of the Ironmen Bays on the Trident River and the Sunset Sea. If "Blackheart Harren" had chosen to spend manpower and resources to build a canal back then, perhaps his rule would have lasted until today. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by his arrogance and greed.
"Since you nobles, who are sucking the marrow out of the bones, can't do this, then I will do it!"
Marko sat on the throne, thinking silently in his heart. He had now occupied Harrenhal, and the remaining task was to use the current advantages to gradually nibble away at the Riverlands and the Crownlands.
The clearing of the remaining troops continued until the evening. A large number of "Rainbow Knights" and "Seven Star Warriors" had turned into corpses, and a large number of monks with "Seven-Pointed Stars" tattooed on their heads were also killed or wounded.
Finally, these corpses were dragged outside the city by Ramsay's men, soaked in oil, and burned to ashes. The terrible corpse fire was burning outside, while inside the Hall of a Hundred Hearths, it was a different scene.
At this moment, more than 20 fireplaces were burning with raging flames, and on the pillars of the hall, many glass candles had been placed, and the bright yellow light illuminated the hall as if it were daytime.
A large number of Iron Throne Allied Forces generals were standing densely in front of Marko's throne, and in the very middle stood the heir of the Lannister family, and also the true father of the current King Tommen Baratheon, Jaime Lannister.
At this moment, although Jaime Lannister was bound, he still looked at Marko with an air of arrogance, his eyes full of disdain. He seemed not to have expected that the famous Emperor of the Valyrian Empire would be a young man of less than thirty.
Jaime Lannister, who had always considered himself a cut above the rest, was naturally dissatisfied. In his opinion, Marko had only gotten magic and dragons through luck. If they fought one-on-one, he wouldn't be a match for him at all.
"So, you are the Dragon King in the rumors? You don't look like much, do you? I thought you were a powerful warrior like 'the Conqueror' Aegon. To be honest, can you even climb onto a dragon's back?"
"How dare you..."
"Insolent..."
As soon as Jaime Lannister said this, he was met with a chorus of curses from Marko's side. Many people even wanted to rush up and teach him a lesson. Many generals from the North started cursing directly, practically greeting all of Jaime's female relatives.
Marko gently raised his hand, and Aegon, who was beside him, understood and told everyone to be quiet. Marko stared at Jaime Lannister, his eyes completely still.
Jaime, on the other hand, met Marko's gaze with mockery, a smile on his face. But slowly, Jaime sensed something was wrong because the scene before his eyes was constantly changing.
When Jaime came to his senses, he found himself back in a familiar scene, a scene he would never forget. The person on the throne had changed, it was now Jaime's nightmare, "Mad King" Aerys II.
"Sir Jaime, as your king, I now command you to kill that traitor Tywin Lannister. I want his head. Go quickly... burn... burn them all..."
The "Mad King's" terrifying command and tone echoed repeatedly in Jaime Lannister's mind, making it impossible for him to respond or think.
Jaime Lannister felt like he was dying. Just moments ago, he was in Harrenhal, being questioned by the Valyrian Imperial Emperor. But in the blink of an eye, he was back in that horrible day. He killed "Mad King" Aerys II again and again, but after a while, that terrible scene would reappear before Jaime's eyes.
Although Jaime knew this was Marko's doing, the scene was so realistic that he couldn't ignore what he was experiencing.
When Jaime regained consciousness again, he had something in his left hand. He instinctively raised his hand, but was terrified and fell to the ground. Because what he was holding in his hand was his father, Tywin Lannister's, head.
"Ah... no... no, I didn't kill..."