Seeing everyone turn their expectant gazes toward him, Erlu sighed regretfully and shook his head. "The Others are far smarter than we imagined.
They split into dozens of small teams, scattered in all directions, and then disappeared into the snowy forests and mountains.
I did not dare let the wyverns fly lower, and very soon I lost track of every single group of Others.
After that, I wondered whether, since the Others had entered the North through Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, there might be traces of their main force there. Unfortunately, I found nothing at all."
"Why is that?" Perestan asked in confusion. "The Others have already crossed the Wall, the sun has gone dark, so why are they still being so cautious?"
"I believe the wight army that besieged Castle Black was only a secondary force." Erlu's expression grew extremely grave. "Once they crossed the Wall, the Night's Watch ceased to be their primary concern."
The senior leaders of the Night's Watch all looked grim, yet no one refuted him, because his words were impossible to refute.
"Where do you think the main force of the Others has gone?" Dany asked.
Erlu said in a low voice, "Those dead did not disperse their forces out of caution, but because they have their own strategic plan.
The target of the Others' army is the castles of the Northern lords, where the population is densest.
Kill the living and turn them into an army of the dead.
There are many castles, so attacking on multiple fronts is naturally the most efficient approach. In other words, they do not actually have a main force.
If I were the Night King, I would choose this tactic."
Dany gave a bitter smile. This was also the scenario she feared most.
"I saw many villagers inside Castle Black. Are they all people who escaped from villages attacked by the Others?" she asked.
"They are villagers, merchants, and prostitutes from Mole's Town. After the Wall collapsed and we received the raven from Eastwatch, we strengthened our defenses and also sent people to warn Mole's Town.
Some came, some did not. Those who did not are now part of the wight army," Commander Aliser said.
Dany fell silent.
Erlu fell silent.
The hall was filled with silence, broken only by the crackling of burning coals in the fireplace.
After a long while, Dr. Perestan rubbed his face and said wearily, "Your Majesties, may I ask what plans you have for the current situation?"
"It's very difficult," Dany sighed.
"What is the situation in Slaver's Bay now? Is the war over?" Erlu glanced at her and asked softly.
"The allied armies are completely history now," Dany said, her eyes curving into crescent moons with a smile.
"Wow." The lords below, along with Erlu's knights, all exclaimed in unison, their gazes toward the Dragon Queen filled with shock and admiration.
Erlu's expression was complicated as he asked again, "How much force do you intend to commit to Westeros?"
"Ser Barristan has formed a volunteer army in Slaver's Bay. The first batch of four hundred elite Unsullied, equipped with Valyrian steel armor and Valyrian steel weapons, are being airlifted by wyverns to Dragonstone over the next few days."
"Gods above. Four hundred sets of Valyrian steel armor and weapons. All of Westeros has only three hundred Valyrian steel swords."
Another wave of gasps rippled through the room. When they looked at Dany, it was as if endless golden light radiated from her, the glow of mountains of gold.
"Valyrian steel armor…" Erlu lowered his head and glanced at the old black plate armor on his body. Hesitating, he said, "Aegon, I have a set of Valyrian steel armor and the Blackfyre sword with me. Do you still want them?
Sansa asked me for them last time, and I did not give them to her. Blackfyre is the ancestral sword of House Targaryen."
"I don't care about armor or swords. Do as you please," Dany said, her gaze sharpening. "But I remember what you did to Aegon. Once the Others are destroyed, I will settle that account with you."
Erlu pressed his lips together thinly and replied calmly, "Let us hope we both live to see that day."
"Ahem." The smith Donal cleared his throat, breaking the awkward tension. "Your Grace, four hundred Valyrian steel Unsullied are a formidable force. Wouldn't it be a waste to keep them at Dragonstone?"
"That is precisely the problem," Dany said in a low voice. "With the Others marching south, as long as the lords of the Seven Kingdoms are not fools, they know it is time to go all out.
But with the Wall fallen, where should their strength be deployed?"
One-armed Donal opened his mouth, then shook his head with a bitter smile. "Indeed, the Wall, our first line of defense, is gone."
"We should establish a second, a third, even a fourth line of defense," Perestan said thoughtfully.
"Where would the second line be built? Winterfell?" a knight asked with a frown.
"Winterfell has no natural defenses, and the castle is too small," Perestan clenched his teeth. "I propose abandoning the North and committing all our strength to the Vale, turning the Bloody Gate into a second Wall."
"Gods above!" Bowen Marsh cried out.
"Dr. Perestan, have the Others eaten your brain, that you would say something so treasonous and foolish?" a Northern lord shouted angrily.
"There are hundreds of thousands of people in the North. How can it be abandoned?" others echoed in protest.
"Caw, caw, caw!" The red-eyed great raven by the window flapped its wings and cried loudly as well.
"Everyone, everyone, please calm down and listen to me," Perestan said, his nose red as a lamp as he pressed both hands downward repeatedly. "When I say abandon the North, I do not mean abandoning the people of the North.
I do not know the cause of this world-shaking calamity.
But it is obvious that between us and the Others, between the living and the dead, only one side can survive. Whoever lasts to the end wins.
So we are not fighting the Others for territory. We are competing to see who can endure longer."
The crowd stopped shouting and cursing, each person falling into thoughtful silence.
Daenerys smiled and said, "If you keep the land but lose the people, both land and people are lost. If you keep the people but lose the land, both people and land endure. Dr. Perestan, you have seen through the essence of this war."
"Your Majesty flatters me," Perestan said with a wry smile, shaking his head. "This is nothing more than the most helpless choice.
"Of the seventeen castles along the Wall, only Castle Black still has its walls intact and remains preserved. All the others have fallen. Only those Night's Watchmen who climbed onto the Wall survived.
"The Night's Watch is already the North's most elite and powerful force. One can imagine the fate of the northern lords who have been drained by years of war."
"The Others have already crossed the Wall. Is there still time? With so many people, where can they even relocate to?" Ser Alliser asked with a frown.
"Commander, have you ever carefully studied the map of the North?" Perestan said with a smug smile. "Ninety percent of northern noble seats are built by rivers or along the coast."
"Is that so?" Alliser asked doubtfully.
"It's true," Steward Bowen Marsh said in pleasant surprise. "I never noticed it before, but thinking about it now, Winterfell of the Starks, White Harbor of the Manderlys, the Dreadfort of House Bolton, and even Sevenstreams, Barrowlands, and Torrhen's Square. Even House Umber, the closest to the Wall, is only a few kilometers from the Last River."
"Send ravens. Have the northern lords immediately sail south, to the Vale, to the Westerlands," Daenerys ordered the red-nosed old scholar.
"The Vale might be fine, but would the Lannisters of the Westerlands really take us northerners in?" a northern lord asked hesitantly.
"And the northern lords might not even listen to us," Ser Alliser sighed. "This has to be made known to the Starks."
"I'll go to Winterfell myself later," Daenerys said, turning to Stannis. "You've been silent all this time. What are your thoughts?"
"Hundreds of thousands in the North cannot all be relocated. With so many people going to the Vale or the Westerlands empty-handed, they would starve to death anyway.
"It would be better to solve the problem at its root.
"Kill the Night King, and the Long Night will end!"
Stannis rested his hand on his sword hilt. He looked at Daenerys with a gaze that held expectation mixed with hesitation. "Perhaps, if we find the Night King, together we can kill it."
"King Stannis has thirty winged dragons, and Her Majesty the Queen has two great dragons. It really might be possible to kill the Night King. Once it's dead, the Long Night will be over!" The crowd grew excited.
A trace of a smile appeared in Daenerys's large eyes. "If we join forces and kill the Night King, then who gets the Iron Throne?"
"Whoever contributes more gets it," Stannis said through clenched teeth.
"Your Grace Daenerys, at a time like this," Perestan said with a bitter smile.
"At a time like this, stop daydreaming," Daenerys said, waving her hand as she swept her gaze across the eager faces in the hall. "Have none of you heard the old nursemaids' tales of the Long Night? The last Long Night lasted an entire generation. This Night King is even stronger. How could it be killed so easily right after crossing the Wall?"
In his heart, Pockmarked Richard scoffed. You barefoot princess, you couldn't even afford food as a child. Where would you have gotten a nursemaid? Aloud, he pointed at the red sword at Stannis's waist and said, "King Stannis has the hero's red sword. The last Long Night lasted a generation because Azor Ahai failed again and again while forging the red sword.
"Now we don't need to waste time forging a blade. As long as we find the Night King, King Stannis can fulfill the ancient prophecy."
Red Pomegranate, Red Nose, and the others nodded repeatedly. "That makes sense. We've all seen the power of the red sword. That strike…" Their voices trailed off, and they all fell silent. After a moment of stunned stillness, their gazes shifted strangely back and forth between the Dragon Queen and the red sword.
It seemed that the red sword could unleash its greatest power only in the Dragon Queen's hands.
"King Stannis, you see, at a time like this," Dr. Perestan muttered, "wouldn't it be better to hand the sword to the most capable person?"
"Yes, yes," Alliser and the others nodded vigorously. "Her Grace Daenerys has experience fighting the Others alone. Let her…"
"Silence!" Richard roared in fury. The pimples on his face seemed to gleam one by one with anger.
"King Stannis is the reborn Azor Ahai, the savior foretold by the Red God. Only he has the destiny to slay the Night King!"
"At a time like this," Perestan muttered softly.
Looking at Stannis's face, so dark it seemed to scrape frost from it, his voice grew lower and lower until it was barely audible.
"If you are so confident that the red sword can end the Long Night, why did you come to me at all?" Daenerys asked curiously.
Stannis's expression shifted several times. After a long hesitation, he finally said hoarsely, "Melisandre told me that a magic dragon is still needed to truly complete the Asshai prophecy.
"I don't want your dragon, and even if I did, you wouldn't give it.
"You cooperate with me and create an opportunity for me to challenge the Night King. I will deal with it myself. If I fail, you can pick up my sword and continue—"
"Your Grace, you are the child of prophecy. You will never fail!" Pockmarked Richard said loudly, his face flushed.
"At a time like this, prepare for the worst," Stannis said, shaking his head.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Daenerys asked, staring steadily at him. "I can tell you plainly that relying on a single red sword gives you a very low chance of success."
"I am Robert's only heir, the lawful king of the Seven Kingdoms. Protecting Westeros is my responsibility, and the mission I have been waiting for all these years," Stannis said firmly.
Daenerys studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "Very well. I agree."
"What?" Stannis could hardly believe it.
"I don't like you, that's a fact. But at a time like this, go back and bring Aegon's armor and Melisandre with you. With them, your odds will increase tenfold."
"Tenfold?" Stannis clenched his teeth. "Did I only have a ten percent chance of defeating the Night King before?"
"No. Put on Valyrian steel armor, and with Melisandre risking her life for you, you might barely have a ten percent chance of surviving. Note that I said surviving, not ending the Night King."
Stannis ground his teeth audibly.
(End of chapter)
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