The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Ser Hamsen Crakehall's arms and neck bulged with veins.

A man famed for his strength, he looked like a child foolishly trying to move a mountain, the iron bolt as if rooted in the stone wall.

The Mountain's voice boomed, "Lords and ladies, who can withstand such a great crossbow? One shot can pierce a warhorse, felling it. And we have more than twenty of these."

The crowd was both shocked and delighted! Shocked with astonishment, delighted with great joy.

The Westerland nobles were stunned that the Mountain had secretly been producing such terrifying super crossbows, crossbows as large as a small bed, and in such quantities. Seeing the intricate gears and chains on either side of the crossbow, they were reminded of the wheel mechanisms that used chains and pulleys to open heavy city gates.

When did the Mountain think to design such a terrifying weapon?

Did the Mountain design it, or did Master Tobho?

In the past, with weapon master Tobho Mott in his service, the creation of such a powerful crossbow would undoubtedly have been attributed entirely to Master Tobho. But since the Mountain had invented the military whistle, noodles, snow salt, chopsticks, and Lady Jeyne had discovered the fatal milk sterilization method, the thermometer, and the U-bend in the toilets… and the Mountain had built unprecedented aerial aqueducts, water towers, private toilets, and public toilets in Castamere… and redesigned the roads and farmland—people no longer dared to underestimate the Mountain.

It was highly likely that the Mountain had designed such a powerful crossbow, and Master Tobho had built it.

"Duke, did you design the crossbow, or did Master Tobho?" Lady Saratt asked respectfully, her distrust and deep-seated wariness of the Mountain weakening day by day, while feelings of admiration and respect began to arise from the bottom of her heart, little by little, like seeds that had survived the winter, sprouting in the warmth of spring.

"My lady, in truth, the mechanics of the noodle machine and the design of the great crossbow were both conceived by Lord Mountain. Lord Mountain feared that people would be wary of his favor from the Seven Gods, so he borrowed my name, saying that I had invented these mechanical designs. But that is not the case. I do not know if Lord Mountain is a child of the Seven Gods, but I do know that these machines were all conceived by him alone," Master Tobho Mott said with admiration.

"I helped the Duke draw some blueprints, but the entire design and concept were conceived by the Duke alone. I am ashamed to admit my inferiority," Lady Jeyne said.

The Westerland nobles were all astonished!

In the past, the Mountain was afraid to speak out, fearing Tywin's jealousy; now that Tywin was dead, the Mountain no longer needed to be wary. The Shadow Lion Kevan conspired with Euron Crow's Eye to kill the Mountain, which had touched the Mountain's inverse scale, and in the Mountain's heart, Kevan was doomed. Once the Mountain had dealt with Crow's Eye, he would lead his troops into King's Landing and personally kill Kevan.

Might makes right.

Kevan should not have provoked the Mountain! He had not learned from Duke Tywin's mistakes!

The Westerland nobles were as shocked by the truth revealed by Master Tobho and Lady Jeyne as if an iron bolt had been shot into a stone wall.

The Mountain possessed not only courage but also extraordinary wisdom.

Was he a 'Chosen One' and 'Prophet' like Bloodraven? Bloodraven, an ordinary warrior, a bastard, had received the favor of the Seven Gods and become the Seven Kingdoms' unique 'Thousand and One Eyes' skinchanger, able to inhabit any bird or beast. Later, Bloodraven used his abilities to establish himself, becoming a renowned and respected figure, serving as Hand to two kings.

The Mountain, a vicious man, had undoubtedly received the favor of the Seven Gods for some reason.

People always held reverence for divine will and possessed absolute blind obedience.

The Mountain knew that it was time to act in the name of the gods!

The Westerlands were a peach, and when the peach was ripe, it was time to pick it!

*

After Euron Crow's Eye seized Lannisport with overwhelming force, the Westerland nobles had already lost the will to fight. But suddenly, the Mountain produced a powerful great crossbow that pierced an iron-reinforced carriage and then embedded itself in a hard stone wall. Who could withstand that with flesh and blood?!

The Westerland nobles' dimming fighting spirit was ignited, like oil-soaked cloth being set alight.

"Lord, Crow's Eye has no cavalry. On the Iron Islands, only the island of Harlaw breeds small horses. These small horses are good at traveling in mountainous and rocky terrain, mostly carrying goods, not riding people. The small horses have not undergone special training and are only suitable for transportation, not for combat. Crow's Eye mainly uses infantry and will not attack Clegane's Keep so quickly. We should prepare for battle in advance," Lady Farman said.

Lord Farman led the soldiers of Fair Isle to besiege Riverrun in the Riverlands, and Lady Farman was in charge of the Fair Isle territory.

"My lady, you are right. Clegane's Keep has no high walls and no natural defenses. Once Crow's Eye leads tens of thousands of troops to attack, they will surround Clegane's Keep. Before our great battle with Crow's Eye, for the sake of final victory, we need blood to consecrate the banners!" The Mountain looked at Lord Udd.

Lord Udd steeled himself and shouted, "Bring out the spies sent by Euron Crow's Eye."

The Lannisport garrison, plus the militia temporarily conscripted from the territory, totaled two thousand men, plus two thousand naval warriors, a force of four thousand men, not to be underestimated.

The guards of Lannisport escorted out three people: two Ironborn messengers, plus Martin Lannister, the acting castellan of Casterly Rock.

Seeing Martin Lannister being escorted out again, the hearts of some of the nobles in the Westerlands who were loyal to the Lannister family sank.

Currently, the most powerful person in the Westerlands was the Mountain, followed by Lord Udd. If these two wanted Martin dead, no one could stop them.

If Udd and the Mountain were to use Martin as a sacrifice to the banners, that would be showing no face to the Hand.

Lord Udd signaled to Maester Bancroft to bring out two letters. These two letters were indeed sent by Crow's Eye to contact Lord Udd and Ser Martin, but Lord Udd had Bancroft modify them so that both letters appeared to be written to Martin Lannister.

"Lady Saratt, Lady Farman, please read these two letters to everyone," Lord Udd said coldly.

The joy brought by the great crossbow had disappeared from Lord Udd's face, replaced by frost.

The atmosphere was oppressive, and people became silent and quiet again. The two Ironborn messengers had been beaten beyond recognition, and fear gripped their hearts. They only sought a quick death, and anything else was acceptable.

Lady Farman read one of the letters first, and then Lady Saratt read the second letter. All the Westerland nobles present heard the letters that Crow's Eye had written to Martin. After the two letters were read, the Mountain ordered them to be passed around.

Thus, the letters passed from one person to another.

The Mountain did not care how much the nobles believed in the authenticity of the letters. This was a ritual that had to be performed. Killing Martin was actually a ritual of power, a ritual that would tell those loyal to the Lannisters that it was time to change to a new master.

The influence of rituals on people was invisible!

Finally, the two letters returned to Maester Bancroft's hands.

Bancroft already knew the truth: Hand Kevan wanted to kill the Mountain, and he had Euron do it. Lord Udd was Hand Kevan's assistant, but he had been seen through by the Mountain—if the Mountain had truly received the favor of the Seven Gods, then it would not be difficult for the Mountain to see through Lord Udd. If the Mountain really had abilities similar to Bloodraven, it was possible to see fragments of Kevan's conspiracy.

On the surface, this was Crow's Eye invading the Westerlands, but in reality, it was a battle launched by Lord Kevan against the Mountain. The Mountain had counterattacked, and he wanted Lord Udd to kill Kevan's youngest son, Martin. This move was very dangerous. In the future, no matter how Lord Udd and Hand Kevan put aside their differences, a nail would always be driven into their hearts, impossible to remove.

The Mountain said, "Captain Erren, bring the royal banner and the Clegane banner."

The royal banner and the Clegane banner were brought over and handed to the Mountain.

In full view of everyone, Lord Udd drew his sword. With the first sword, he chopped off the head of an Crow's Eye messenger, and blood splattered on the royal banner and the Clegane banner.

Then, with the second sword, he killed another Ironborn, known as a tough man, and stuck his head on a spear tip.

Martin was so frightened that he could not stand. Two Lannisport executioners held Martin Lannister's arms on either side, preventing him from collapsing.

The nobles loyal to the Lannisters began to waver.

It was Martin's turn to be sacrificed to the banners!

Lord Udd first asked the Mountain to announce Martin's crimes. Several guards forcibly pressed Martin's head onto the execution block—the previous two Ironborn were not qualified to enjoy a real execution block.

Magician Dalt, Lady Jeyne, and several maesters sang prayers for Martin. Martin could no longer hear what they were singing. Fear made Martin's body tremble non-stop, and many nobles turned their heads away. But they were afraid that the Mountain would be displeased, so many people actively adjusted their minds and turned their eyes to the execution block again.

Lord Udd knelt on one knee and made a low confession to the ancestors of the Lannister family. When he stood up, his psychological construction was successful—expressionless, with eyes like ice, and a murderous aura that seemed tangible.

The bright longsword was raised high, Lord Udd shouted loudly, and suddenly slashed down with his sword… With a muffled sound, Martin's head rolled off, blood splattering out, and the air was filled with the smell of blood. The head rolled and finally stopped, its face turning over, and a pair of large eyes stared fixedly at Lord Udd.

Ser Hamsen Crakehall and the acting knight of Cornfield walked out together. They knelt on one knee and asked the Mountain to allow them to cremate Martin Lannister. The Mountain agreed.

*

Lannisport, Lord Udd's main castle hall.

Euron Crow's Eye sat high on his seat, and the hall was filled with his generals. The Ironborn nobles stood on the left, and Crow's Eye's pirate leaders stood on the right.

In the hall, there were three warrior generals from the island of Harlaw.

The first was Ser Harras Harlaw. He was a cousin of Lord Rodrik Harlaw and Rodrik's designated heir.

On the island of Harlaw, there was a famous 'Ten Towers' building, and the Harlaw family's castle was named Ten Towers City because of it.

Harras Harlaw was the head of Grey Garden Tower, nicknamed "The Knight". His banner was quartered, depicting the Harlaw family's scythe and the peacock of his mother's family.

The second was Hotho Harlaw, also a cousin of Lord Rodrik, head of the Tower of Glimmering. He was an ambitious man, nicknamed "Hunchback" Hotho. His banner was a circle with the Harlaw family's scythe inside.

The third general was named Boremund Harlaw, also a cousin of Rodrik. The owner of Harlaw Hill. Nicknamed "Blue Skin". His banner was a blue background depicting the Harlaw family's scythe.

Lord Rodrik Harlaw did not follow Crow's Eye to fight. He lived on the island of Harlaw with his sister—Asha and Theon's mother—Rodrik had no children.

Crow's Eye decided to let the people of the Harlaw family die first.

He began to deploy his troops.

"Ser Harras Harlaw, Ser Hotho Harlaw, Ser Boremund Harlaw, how many men do you three have in your main force?"

Harras Harlaw stood up respectfully: "Your Majesty, the three of us have a total of six hundred soldiers."

"Six hundred soldiers?"

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Very good, you three sers will be the vanguard and attack Clegane's Keep early tomorrow morning."

Harras and the others exchanged glances.

"Your Grace, are we six hundred men going to attack Clegane's Keep?"

"It's not six hundred men attacking Clegane's Keep, it's fifty thousand men attacking Clegane's Keep. You have small horses, which are our army's only cavalry, and only you can charge in the middle," Crow's Eye said with a smile.

The island of Harlaw was the most populous and fertile place in the Iron Islands, and it could also produce a certain amount of food. It was also the only place in the Iron Islands where small horses were bred. The other islands of the Iron Islands bought small horses from the Harlaw family to use as mounts or to transport goods.

The small horses of the Iron Islands were different from the small ponies of the Mountains of the Moon. These horses had never been trained for combat, and their capabilities were far inferior to those of warhorses.

As soon as Harras Harlaw saw Crow's Eye's smile, he knew that it was useless to say more. Originally, the people of the island of Harlaw were only willing to follow Victarion to attack the Shield Islands, but Crow's Eye sent his pirate fleet into Victarion's fleet, transferring a large part of Victarion's familiar fleet to his own large fleet. This was how the Harlaw family was transferred away from Victarion's Iron Fleet.

On the Iron Islands, the island of Harlaw had the largest population and the most warriors, but 'Book Reader' Lord Rodrik was only willing to provide six hundred warriors, which made Crow's Eye very unhappy. He had long planned to let the heir of the Harlaw family and his two most capable generals die.

Crow's Eye acted decisively and quickly arranged the vanguard, left wing, right wing, central army, and reserve support army, a total of fifty thousand troops, who would leave Lannisport early tomorrow morning to sweep away Clegane's Keep.

After the army was arranged, Crow's Eye shouted: "Tomorrow's great battle will take Clegane's Keep. Today, I will kill people to consecrate the banners. Bring Lord Baylor Blacktyde of Blacktyde."

Baylor Blacktyde, a loyal man who was only willing to be loyal to Asha. Baylor Blacktyde's father died in Balon Greyjoy's rebellion. After the war, he was sent to Oldtown and held hostage for eight years. When he returned to the Iron Islands, he had become a believer in the Seven Gods.

The Ironborn had a saying: King Balon the Great Brother is crazy, the youngest brother, the Drowned God priest Aeron is also crazy, and Euron is even crazier than the two of them combined.

Baelor Blacktyde visited Rodrik Harlaw in Ten Towers before the Kingsmoot. At the Kingsmoot, he shouted Asha's name. When Euron Crow's Eye prevailed at the Kingsmoot, Baelor Blacktyde refused to pledge fealty to Euron Greyjoy. He attempted to flee but was captured by Victarion's fleet and brought before Euron, who kept Baelor by his side in an iron cage.

Soon, Baelor was brought into the hall by Crow's Eye's mute crewmen and half-blood pirates. Crow's Eye, all smiles, ordered his executioner to cut Baelor into seven pieces as an offering to the Seven Gods he worshipped.