The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Regret Guest undoubtedly underestimated the abilities of those around the Mountain.

Of course, the Undying Ones had warned them before Regret Guest set out.

The Undying Ones told Elder Regret Guest that the Mountain had blood witches, Red God priests, skinchangers, Varys, the founder of the Little Birds, and Bernie Clegane, the new master of whisperers with unparalleled ventriloquism, by his side.

Scorpion venom had almost no effect on blood witches and Red God priests, and both blood witches and Red God priests were protecting the Mountain.

Blood witches were the foremost poison healers, and their teeth were black because of long-term experimentation with various venoms, just like the blue lips of the Undying Ones, which were caused by long-term consumption of 'Nightshade'. Nightshade was blue.

While Red God priests were not good at detoxification and were better at seeing prophecies in the flames, Melisandre was at least several hundred years old and had seen almost every poison. Even if the extremely terrifying poison 'The Strangler' provided by the Lyseni wizards was given to the Red God priestess Melisandre to drink an entire bottle, she would not have any reaction, just like drinking plain water.

It was precisely because the Mountain had figures like Melisandre and Jeyne around him that Regret Guest's scorpion attack would hardly be able to kill the Mountain with one blow, and would instead startle the snake.

Therefore, in order to create panic, Regret Guest decided to attack the courtiers and generals around the Mountain first, and the first person to bear the brunt was Bernie, the master of whisperers who lived on the outer edge of the palace.

According to the plan, after poisoning Bernie and his wife Zerilda, the scorpion would continue to advance and assassinate dukes and ladies of the empire such as Littlefinger, Eddard Stark, Raynald Westerling, Sansa Stark, Edmure Tully, as well as the Tattered Prince, several experienced generals, and members of the Kingsguard.

The scorpion was extremely fast and only needed one sting to kill a person.

In the Night King's palace, a scorpion could enter and exit unimpeded, killing people invisibly.

This was a good plan.

But unfortunately, the plan failed from the very beginning with Bernie Clegane. Bernie's unparalleled ventriloquism and his unparalleled hearing complemented each other. Everyone knew that Bernie could imitate any sound and create illusions, but no one knew that Bernie's hearing identification ability was also unique and rare in the world.

Bernie was the master of whisperers, how shrewd and powerful. After stabbing the scorpion to death with one knife, he did not immediately go to see His Majesty the King, but first went to see Lady Melisandre.

As soon as Lady Melisandre saw the strange insect, she knew it was a scorpion from the Regret Guests of Qarth. Regret Guests were a secret assassin organization in Qarth. Although they were not as shockingly famous as the Faceless Men of Braavos, they were also the number one assassination organization in the East, and scorpions were their trump card.

Melisandre immediately made thorough arrangements for the palace and immediately notified all the courtiers and generals in the palace, telling them that the Regret Guests were coming tonight. After arranging everything, Melisandre and Bernie went to find His Majesty the Mountain and told him that the counterattack from Qarth had come - the Regret Guests were here!

Therefore, Regret Guest, who had encountered all kinds of opponents, encountered for the first time a counterattack from the people sent by the Mountain: the skinchanger Varamyr. The Regret Guests, who were feared and dreaded in the East, were forced into the palace by Varamyr, who drove a raven, an eagle, and a mastiff leading all the stray dogs in the city, without even seeing their opponent.

Regret Guest stood in the hall of the palace and saw the Mountain, who was sitting above like a giant.

The Mountain's body was as strong as a mountain, his shoulders were as wide as walls, and his arms were like large tree trunks. Regret Guest saw for the first time that someone could be as strong as a giant.

Eddard Stark, Littlefinger Petyr, Spider Varys, Sixskins Varamyr, Lady Melisandre and Queen Jeyne who came after hearing the news, Lady Dorna Swyft, Arianne Martell, Edmure Tully, Sansa Stark, Raynald Westerling, the Tattered Prince, the magistrate of Pentos...

The king and queen were standing in front of four Kingsguard in white robes. Behind them stood the Mountain's three cavalry captains and the queen's two close female generals: Zella and Brienne.

The Mountain looked down at the Regret Guest.

This was an ordinary face, without any characteristics.

Milky white skin, which was the symbol of the Qartheen. Every Qartheen had milky white skin, regardless of gender. Yellow hair, which looked a little dry; light blue eyes, with no gleam in them, gentle and calm, without any waves.

From top to bottom, this person's temperament did not have any sharpness.

"Are you the Regret Guest?" the Mountain said in the Common Tongue.

"I am, Your Majesty."

"I will eradicate the entire Regret Guest organization," the Mountain said lightly. He had one more sentence that he did not say. Only one assassination organization was allowed in this world: the Faceless Men.

"Your Majesty, you cannot eradicate all the Regret Guests."

"Of course I can. It's just that you won't understand my methods until you die. Whether it's the Regret Guests or the Undying Ones, anyone who provokes me must die!" The Mountain's eyes turned cold and ruthless.

Regret Guest knew his time was up.

"Respected Your Majesty, can I know who forced me into the palace?"

The Mountain glanced at Varamyr, who stood up from the last seat: "Araham, it was me."

Varamyr also knew that Regret Guest's alias was Araham.

He had seen and heard Regret Guest's situation in the women's quarters through the eyes and ears of Little Cat.

"Amazing skinchanger, can I know your name before I die?"

"Varamyr."

"Varamyr? Good name. I am convinced that I lost to you."

The Mountain snorted coldly: "Regret Guest, there is another person's name that you may also need to know."

"Oh? I don't think it's necessary. The scorpion entered the palace to assassinate Your Majesty's courtiers and generals, and I think Varamyr discovered it in advance. He can control so many stray dogs at the same time to besiege me, hundreds of dogs, it's really amazing."

"Araham, you are wrong. I don't control more than a hundred stray dogs. I only control a raven, an eagle, and a mastiff. Those hundreds of stray dogs listen to the mastiff."

"Oh?!" Araham shrugged, "I took it for granted! Controlling the king of dogs to control the pack of dogs, good method."

Of course, Varamyr's ability was not to control only three different birds and beasts at a time. When he was in the North, he could already control six beasts at the same time: three direwolves, a snow bear, a shadowcat, and a golden eagle. After following the Mountain for a year, his skinchanging ability became even stronger, and it was easy for him to control more than ten birds and beasts at the same time.

Varamyr had already touched the threshold of Little Prophet.

But it was not he who discovered the Regret Guest's attack.

"Araham, it wasn't me who discovered your attack tonight, but our master of whisperers, Bernie Clegane."

Regret Guest looked at Bernie Clegane, who was the first person he launched the assassination against, so of course he knew Bernie.

Regret Guest looked at Bernie calmly, he didn't want to believe this.

The scorpion sneaked into Bernie's house at night, it was silent, unless Bernie was also a wizard with some kind of power.

"I heard the hissing sound of the scorpion coming in, very slight, imperceptible, but fortunately my hearing is different from others. Sounds that ordinary people can't hear are very loud and clear to me. I can clearly make all kinds of sounds, and the sharpness of my hearing helps me a lot. Without sharp hearing, it is impossible to restore the imitation of sounds to the most realistic."

Regret Guest's calm and composed face froze slightly.

He would not frown even when facing swords, but Bernie's talent was something he had never heard of. The Undying Ones had not warned him about this.

The Mountain said lightly: "Araham, I know that there is a House of the Undying in Qarth, where there is a group of Undying Ones, and a wizard king named Pyat Pree, who has the same ability as the Green Seers, who can see the past, present and future, but if that is really the case, why didn't he foresee your failure tonight in advance?"

"The Undying Ones warned us that we might fail," Araham responded lightly.

"Araham, even the gods cannot know everything, let alone an Undying One with a body of flesh and blood. If Pyat Pree dares to be unfavorable to me, I will definitely burn down the House of the Undying. Araham, do you think Pyat Pree can see his House of the Undying turn into a pile of black liquid in dragonflame?"

For a moment, Araham was speechless.

"Even if the wizard Pyat Pree knows everything about me, all of the future, it doesn't matter, as long as I have the strength to kill him with one punch, I will always be the victor. The truth of the future that he can foresee needs to be reversed with strength. Does the Undying One Pyat Pree have the strength to fight against my dragonflame? He can't, so the future he can foresee is just seeing the destruction of the House of the Undying and the moment he turns to ashes. The seer cannot change the past, nor can he control the future, unless he has the strength to match the seer." After the Mountain finished speaking, he waved his hand.

Two members of the Kingsguard stepped forward, one on each side, with their hands on their sword hilts, glaring at Regret Guest Araham. Araham did not resist, he had no weapons, no scorpions, wearing a single garment, barefoot, he could not resist, unless with his teeth.

Araham walked out under the escort of the Kingsguard, and soon his head was brought in on a tray. The Mountain waved his hand, and Araham's head was taken out by the guards.

"I have decided to go to Qarth and end the battle with dragonflame," the Mountain announced.

"I will go with you, you need Viserys," Arianne Martell stood up immediately.

"I object!" Queen Jeyne's voice was not loud, calm and peaceful, but it contained a very firm will.

The Mountain and everyone looked at Jeyne together.

Jeyne said: "The House of the Undying needs to be dealt with carefully. Even if dragonflame has the upper hand, the army and navy need to occupy it afterwards. The army enters the city, and the navy controls the waterway and the port. Now, rashly relying on two dragons to..."

"Queen, Daenerys is also in Qarth, and she has a black dragon," Arianne interrupted Jeyne.

Jeyne was elegant and dignified, unhurried and unhurried: "What about our Lord Redwyne's navy? What is the situation? Was it completely annihilated by the enemy or did some escape with their lives? We need to formulate a military plan to control the sea passage, and we cannot let the King of Qarth and the Thirteen those people escape further east through the waterway. Your Majesty the King, you need the cooperation of the navy in combat. This takes a little time, not immediately."

"I think we must fly to Qarth immediately," the Mountain said slowly.

"And then? Dragonflame attack?"

"Yes!"

"Maybe that's not appropriate, Your Majesty," Melisandre said. She was the king's military priestess, equivalent to a military advisor and responsible for the soldiers' pre-war prayers.

"Oh? Why, Lady Melisandre!"

"Perhaps the dragons will encounter dragon-killing crossbow attacks."

"Dragon-killing crossbow?" The Mountain's heart shook slightly.

"Your Majesty, the dragon-killing crossbow was invented by you. If the Undying One Pyat Pree foresaw the conquest of Qarth long ago and he was unwilling to submit, I believe that Pyat Pree must have secretly manufactured dragon-killing crossbows."

"Then we must attack Qarth more swiftly, before they can react," the Mountain said.

"I am worried that the wizard Pyat Pree has already seen everything and made corresponding arrangements, Your Majesty."

"Then can you see the situation of our battle in the flames?"

"I may see it, or I may not, it all depends on the will of the Red God."

Varys stood up and said, "Lady Melisandre, if that's what you say, then before tonight, you actually didn't foresee anything about the battle in Qarth in advance, did you?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, is it because the distance is too far?"

"No, it's all the will of the Red God."

"Don't say any more, I have decided, I will set off early tomorrow morning to Qarth. First burn down the House of the Undying. Then burn down a gate in Qarth's triple walls to open up a smooth path for attack."

"It is better to maintain a little patience and discuss the matter than to attack rashly. At least, we have to wait for the information from Daenerys, Lord Redwyne, and Vice Commander Asha's first raven," Jeyne insisted.

"Your Majesty, I agree with the Queen's suggestion," Eddard Stark said in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, we can send out ravens and summon the navy in Slaver's Bay and Volantis to gather in the waters of Qarth within a limited time."

"The Slaver's Bay navy and the Volantis navy are no match for the Qartheen unless we use the Royal Navy's artillery warships. But the Royal Navy's artillery warship formation will take two months to reach the waters of Qarth from King's Landing. I can't wait any longer. Prince Arianne, we will set off early tomorrow morning."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

Jeyne smiled helplessly: "Okay, Your Majesty, I support your departure, since you have made up your mind. I will personally take good care of Prince Rodrik Clegane. He is too young, and I don't feel relieved to leave him with the maids. Prince Gavan Clegane is very strong, he can walk, crawl, and jump, and I will hand him over to the maids."

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Queen," Arianne Martell thanked her quickly.

Jeyne and Arianne had no grudges against each other from the first time they met. Jeyne did not mind the relationship between the Mountain and Arianne. Out of political relations for the complete rule of Westeros, she accepted Arianne at the first time. This kind and friendly attitude was completely different from when she faced Daenerys.

Early the next morning, the Mountain and Arianne rode the dragons into the sky and headed for Qarth.