Theon did not think he was just chatting with him. After a moment of thought, he answered, "Many of our civil officials are still in Tyrosh. Even if we can't defeat the wights, we can retreat east, where there is endless land!"
"You can retreat, but we can't." Willas's expression darkened. Theon only needed to survive, but Willas needed a victory. If they left the Riverlands for the East, the Tyrell family's Warden position would be impossible to keep.
Theon had matured significantly after marrying and having children, and managing his lands made him more steady and composed. He knew what to say and what not to say: "I believe in Lord Wright."
"Wright, yes. We knew each other when we were kids. He was the one who healed my broken leg," Willas said, looking up at the southern sky. "I hope he can defeat that monster!"
Having received no useful information from Theon, Willas was about to ride off and ask someone else when the sound of a horn came from ahead, followed by another. The sound of horns began to blow continuously, echoing in the air.
"Why would it be an attack order?"
"What happened up ahead?"
Without the towering Odahviing, King Renly and his dragons didn't know where they had flown off to. Losing the dragons as a moral support, boosting the troops' morale in this defeated army was difficult.
The retreating army halted its advance, confused by the continuous sounds of attack horns coming from the front. Panic set in almost immediately.
"Are those noble lords trying to send us to our deaths while they secure the rear?"
Theon quickly secured his helmet straps, jumped off the wagon, and ran to Willas, whose rank was higher: "Willas! Should we form up?"
"I'm not sure. Let's wait and see!" Willas, looking at the chaotic crowd, couldn't make a decision. His warhorse was also anxious, pacing back and forth.
There were relentless wights chasing from behind. Was the order to form up an offensive formation? Humans had already failed to defend and were retreating—where was the strength to form up? Should they continue retreating? But the horns certainly sounded like an attack order.
"Willas! Listen!" Theon suddenly became excited.
Another horn sounded. Willas perked up his ears. The rhythm and pitch of the sound were completely different from the usual horns, deep and long.
"Theon! Theon?" Willas turned to ask, but saw that Theon was already directing his men to form up.
Soon, the soldiers from Westerlands had already formed several neat attack formations.
Willas rode over to Theon: "Is it true that reinforcements have arrived?"
"Roar!"
"Victory! Victory!"
The soldiers on the battlefield cheered, quickly drowning out Theon's shout at Willas. Willas couldn't hear what he was shouting. Looking in the direction of the cheering soldiers, he saw four dragons flying toward them from the distance.
Willas recognized the colors of the dragons, dismounted, and leaned in close to Theon's ear: "It's the King, the Prince, Sauron and Baemon?"
Theon was already highly excited, his longsword in hand and ready for battle: "Not just them! It's the horns of Volantis and Lys! We've sailed with them often, we can't be mistaken!"
"Volantis and Lys?" Hearing those two familiar yet unfamiliar terms, Willas's heartbeat quickened. It seemed that the armies from another continent had set foot on Westeros for the third time.
The wight army appeared in the distance, and the four dragons soared into the sky, preparing. The reinforcements had arrived.
The exotic armor and weapons from the Volantis troops alone were equivalent to the military strength of a duchy. They had even brought war elephants.
Metal spiked-tusks, bound to the elephants' long tusks, gleamed coldly. Chainmail protected the heads and chests of the war elephants, and in the wooden baskets on their backs, four archers were organizing obsidian arrows. On the back of the commander's war elephant, four long horns made of ivory continuously sounded deep, rumbling roars.
Even though the Volantis forces wore thin clothing and couldn't fight in the cold northern season, their arrival at the outskirts of Harrenhal was enough to win the humans a victory. The soldiers present believed it would be enough!
The order had shifted from defense to attack. The army was reorganizing and preparing for battle. The war elephants led the charge, and the four dragons circled high above. The human army, reinvigorated, charged forward, ready for a final showdown with the wight army.
One Thousand Meters.
Many soldiers were seeing war elephants for the first time, and also hearing their roars for the first time. These fully armored behemoths filled them with confidence.
Nine Hundred Meters.
The knights had already encircled the infantry and were advancing slowly. At a signal, they would raise their lances and charge.
Eight Hundred Meters.
The foreign horns blended with the booming sound of war drums, and the long spears stood tall as they moved. The obsidian tips gleamed in the dark, and the soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, gripping their shields tighter.
Seven Hundred Meters.
The four giant dragons in the sky folded their wings and began diving toward the ground.
"Prepare at seven hundred meters!" The command from the officers didn't reach far, as it was drowned out by a roar that came from the sky.
"Night~~ King~~!" Sauron Baratheon's roar, mixed with magic, echoed through the sky, louder than the footsteps of both the wights and humans, even causing the war elephants to pause.
The black dragon, Shulvokun, also known as the Shadow of the Sun, was already the fastest dragon in flight. Its dive toward the ground was incredibly fast, with Sauron disregarding his uncle Renly's advice, pushing the dragon to its limits, leaving the other three dragons far behind.
"Night~~ King~~!" Sauron had spotted the Night King among the wight army. The black dragon quickly leveled out before crashing to the ground.
"What is that?"
Theon, who was often in the presence of Sauron and the black dragon, was still stunned, his mouth agape, watching the sky.
The black dragon's head, neck, body, and tail were covered in large chunks of pitch-black metal, making its once slender form appear incredibly strong.
Sauron, who should have been riding on the dragon's back, was now standing on its head, fully encased in vicious black armor. Quaithe, clinging to Sauron, turned into black mist and spiraled around the armor.
The black dragon charged directly toward the Night King, leaving a long trail of black smoke in the air as it flew above the human army.
Sparks began to drift from the dragon and Sauron's body.
"Die~~!" Sauron roared.
The sparks grew more numerous, their bright glow standing out in the thick black smoke that the black dragon exhaled. As Sauron injected more magical energy, the sparks disappeared. A small portion of the armor began to glow red, followed by molten lava-like liquid that began flowing down the surface of both Sauron and the black dragon's bodies.
When Renly saw the change in Sauron from behind, he immediately recognized the aura emanating from him. This aura was identical to the one he had felt in Oblivion, when he and Wright had unknowingly entered the realm of another demon god.
Sauron and the black dragon's magic hadn't increased much, but instead, they had tapped into external forces to reach this state. While the attack power was not drastically increased, the hot molten lava would counteract the Night King's cold, icy magic, perfectly countering each other.
Renly had no time to consider what consequences Sauron's actions might bring to the world. The immediate priority was dealing with the Night King. He began commanding his son and Baemon to speed up, preparing to assist Sauron.
Countless icy spears shot from the hands of the wights toward the black dragon. But the black dragon completely ignored these attacks, letting them strike its body as it shattered and melted upon contact.