The Vale, Seagull Town, House Graffson's castle
"You... how did you know? I... I mean, that's not right..."
"Littlefinger" Petyr Baelish stammered, looking at Marco as if he were a terrifying beast. He was so frightened that he kept backing away.
From the beginning, "Littlefinger" had thought that Marco's claim of being "Omniscient" was just boasting. He believed in magic and dragons, but Omniscience was a bit too much.
"Few can hide their secrets from me. You've committed too many crimes. I'll let the victims handle you!"
After saying this, Marco looked at Brynden. Brynden then ordered the many subdued Vale nobles to sit on either side. Afterward, Aegon invited Sansa to come before the throne.
Sansa Stark trembled as she looked at Marco. She had too many secrets in her heart; some things, if known, would be punishable by death under the current laws.
"Miss Sansa, you don't need to be afraid. I know everything you've experienced. Many things are not your fault; the victim is innocent."
Marco looked at the frightened Sansa and quickly comforted her. He didn't want to scare the young girl into a complete breakdown.
Marco needed to use Littlefinger's life to establish his "Omniscient" image in front of the Vale's nobles, and also to give a warning to those who were blind to the truth.
"Since there are two people from House Stark here, let's talk about Littlefinger's persecution of House Stark. Aegon Targaryen, you will read the charges against him."
When Marco spoke Aegon's name, the many nobles of the Vale were in an uproar. Some of the sharper-eared ones had already sensed something was amiss when they overheard Lyanna and Sansa's conversation.
Then, Aegon, surrounded by flames, stepped forward and announced the charges against Littlefinger, from his agreement to help Ned Stark, to his betrayal, and then to his incitement of Joffrey Baratheon to behead Ned.
Of course, Aegon also revealed Littlefinger's instigation of Lysa Arryn to poison Jon Arryn and his recent act of pushing Lysa off the Bloody Gate.
These incidents, one after another, were as if Aegon had personally experienced them, scaring Littlefinger into retreat, completely losing his composure and calmness.
And Lyanna Stark was also radiating a terrifying coldness, while the Vale nobles around them were filled with righteous indignation as they watched this scene.
However, Littlefinger, who had regained his senses, was filled with a desperate desire to survive. He straightened his clothes, steadied himself, and said with a slight tremor:
"I... I don't admit it. I didn't do these things. I am a noble, I..."
"Hahaha, good, good. Isn't this chaotic situation exactly what you wanted? You started a war at all costs just to elevate yourself, so why aren't you willing to accept the consequences now?"
Before Littlefinger could finish, Marco interrupted him. Marco's powerful aura, mixed with blood magic, frightened Littlefinger, causing him to take a step back.
Then, at Marco's signal, Sansa walked forward, her face looking grim. Although she had vaguely guessed some things during their time together, when she truly knew that Littlefinger was the one who had murdered her father, she felt as if she had been played.
"I saw with my own eyes you push my aunt, Lady Lysa, from the Bloody Gate. If you don't admit to the other things, then you can't deny this, with me present!"
Sansa yelled at Littlefinger, her accumulated resentment finally erupting today.
"Sansa, you must know, I was..."
"Shut up. I always considered you my knight, but you're just like those people in King's Landing, treating me like a commodity. After you got news that Winterfell was occupied, you ran into my room and tried to… tried to force yourself on me. If it weren't for my period, I… Waaaah… Aaaah…
Why do you all do this to me? What did I do wrong? I don't want my father to die, and I don't want my mother and brother to die either, you damned bastard! I'm going to kill you, ah…"
Sansa grew increasingly agitated, directly intending to rush forward and kill Littlefinger, but was stopped by Aegon, who pulled her back. After such a dramatic emotional upheaval, Sansa fainted.
Marco shook his head and had Jello Graffson call for three maids to help Sansa away. He then turned to "Littlefinger," who had completely given up resisting in the hall.
"Therefore, by the name of the Emperor of the Valyrian Empire, I sentence you to be beheaded. Your head will repay the debt you owe House Targaryen. Aegon, you will carry out this task."
"Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty. I will personally take his head."
Aegon knelt on one knee in a solemn manner to accept Marco's command, a fiery killing intent flashing in his eyes. Ghost, nearby, let out a deadly howl.
Sansa Stark walked quietly through the godswood of Winterfell. She felt extremely tired, and the Weirwood seemed to be gradually moving away from her.
She didn't know why she was here. It seemed like just moments ago she was in Seagull Town, but her consciousness quickly began to fade.
When she passed through the mist again and truly stood before the tree, she realized it wasn't the Weirwood tree from her home.
Before her stood what seemed to be a super-giant oak. But upon closer inspection, Sansa realized it wasn't an oak at all. Various animals were gathered in the shade of the tree.
It was then that Sansa realized she wasn't at Winterfell. This tree was growing in the middle of a lake. Then, a wolf's howl drew her attention.
Her pupils instantly constricted when she saw the creature. She saw a strange being with the front half of a wolf and the back half of a sea monster.
Then, Sansa saw all sorts of creatures under the tree's shade. Direwolves, snow bears, and swift hawks made up the majority. Even more astonishing, Sansa saw a giant dragon that could swim.
"Roar..."
At that moment, Sansa suddenly heard a dragon's roar that seemed to tear through the sky. Then, she saw six huge figures descend from above the tree.
All the creatures around also prostrated themselves on the ground at that moment. They roared and lowered their heads. After the six dragons landed, many creatures also looked at Sansa in unison.
Then, Sansa felt a terrifying heat covering her. Soon, she felt like she had turned into a wolf.
Looking at her terrifying appearance, Sansa was startled and then screamed. Subsequently, she also roared in reality, getting up from the velvet bed.
"My Lady, are you alright? Should I call for a Maester?"
A maid who was guarding the bed asked worriedly, her tone revealing a hint of trembling and concern.
"Thank you, I'm fine. Could you let me collect myself for a moment? Could you all go out for a bit?"
Recovering her senses, Sansa sorted out her confused thoughts and said to the maid beside her.
"Yes, My Lady. We'll be right outside the door. If you need anything, please say so, and we'll be guarding the door."
After the slightly older maid finished speaking, she left with the other two.
Sansa, after waiting for them to leave, tightened the quilt covering her and carefully recalled her dream. Finally, in a voice only she could hear, she said:
"I won't just be a wolf. I will also become a dragon. I will become the supreme dragon that all beings submit to!"
The Vale, the valley road, the Bloody Gate.
At this time, it had been more than three months since the nobles of the Vale had submitted. After dispersing the raider soldiers for garrisoning, Marco's raider soldiers, which he had painstakingly accumulated, were basically scattered throughout the entire Vale.
However, as time went on, Marco's raider soldiers gradually became a rather useless troop. Besides increasing Marco's gold resources, they were of no great use.
Subsequently, after gathering a portion of the Vale soldiers, Marco waved his hand and directly converted 5,000 crossbowmen. He then used the Winter Wolf Riders in cooperation with the Vale knights to form a cavalry force of about 3,000 men.
Using the remaining system infantry and these miscellaneous Vale troops, he formed an infantry force of nearly 7,000 men. After using up these resources, Marco would gradually increase the number of Protector soldiers to around 10,000.
After Marco unified the descendants of the Andals in the Vale, he turned his attention to the Mountain Clans in the Mountains of the Moon. Compared to the "old hands" of the Vale's nobility, Marco preferred to interact with the descendants of the First Men.
These "primitives," who were always looked down upon by the "civilized people" of Westeros, were, in Marco's view, the easiest to rule. If you treated them well, they would naturally treat you well.
Moreover, and most importantly, they also worshipped the Old Gods, making them easy to talk to. Also, Marco had already subdued two Mountain Clans tribes.
At this moment, Marco was sitting at a large long table, watching the various clan chiefs across from him, who were feasting. After organizing the army, Marco had turned his attention to these clans, who often looted along the way.
Dagon, the leader of the Painted Dog Tribe, and "Nine-Fingers" Kabo of the Burning Man Tribe, were standing before Marco, looking somewhat helpless at the clan members in front of them. After a few days of good living, these two had also picked up many of the eccentricities of the Vale's nobles.
They now used knives and forks to eat, and wore silk clothes. At this moment, the two of them were wearing military dress uniforms. Ever since Marco often wore military dress uniforms to various banquets, this new style of men's military dress uniforms had become popular throughout the Valyrian Empire, or rather, throughout Westeros.
During the War of the Five Kings, Tyrion Lannister persuaded the Black Ear Tribe, the Burning Man Tribe, the Moon People Tribe, and the Stone Raven Tribe to participate in the Battle of the Kingsroad. Afterwards, they were all brought back to King's Landing by Tyrion, only to be driven back after Tyrion fled due to the Purple Wedding by Cersei Lannister.
Because they had better weapons and equipment, the four tribes had joined together to annex other tribes in the Mountain Clans. When Marco proposed to negotiate with them, they refused.
These guys all thought that Marco was pretty much the same as that "half-man," just wanting to use them to fight wars and not bring them any good. They promised that as long as the Vale kept "tributing," they would abandon their raids on the mountain passes.
After learning this news, many newly joined Vale nobles were filled with righteous indignation. They all clamored to teach the "Four Tribes Alliance" a lesson. Marco, however, wasn't so hasty and directly summoned Dagon and "Nine-Fingers" Kabo.
They both had quite good abilities and directly recruited a large number of small tribes in the Mountains of the Moon. Most of these people were small tribes left over after being defeated or absorbed by the "Four Tribes Alliance."
Dagon and "Nine-Fingers" Kabo used their own experiences as propaganda and directly recruited more than 20 small tribes. These small tribes, in total, had about 3,000 people, while the "Four Tribes Alliance" now had nearly 10,000 people.
Marco was now discussing this problem with them, but looking at these people who seemed like they had just escaped from starvation, Marco also suspected that they had been hungry for too long, to the point that one guy directly ate a whole chicken, bones and all.
This banquet lasted for about two hours. The chieftains of these small clans all had their bellies bulging. Watching the mess in the warehouse, Dagon and "Nine-Fingers" Kabo felt somewhat ashamed and had someone clean it up.
"Alright, alright, chieftains. This is the Emperor Marco I mentioned. Just as I said, Emperor Marco is not like those kings. He is a god descended from the heavens, possessing the most powerful strength and dragons. His wives are all wondrous and exotic peoples like the Children of the Forest. If you submit to him, you will definitely live a good life."
Dagon said to the many Mountain Clans chieftains present, his tone full of pride. Seeing him dressed in gorgeous clothes, many chieftains showed a hint of envy in their eyes.
"Dagon, I heard that we can get food and weapons just by fighting. Don't talk to me about surrendering or not, it's already the greatest gift that we're not like them."
Just then, a jarring voice cut through the atmosphere. Everyone turned to see a man wearing a skull mask standing up and addressing Dagon.
"You..."
"Roar..."
Just as Dagon was enraged and about to grab his battle axe, a terrifying dragon's roar echoed from above. Then, everyone felt the ground shake as something heavy landed.
The fierce wind scattered the objects on the long table everywhere. The skull-masked man, who had just stood up, was facing Marco.
Therefore, the skull-masked man didn't face the dragon directly. The chieftains on either side of him scrambled backward. Sensing something was wrong, the skull-masked man slowly turned around, and then he saw a gaping maw.
The Crystal Dragon opened its mouth, and a terrifying gust of wind surged out, the powerful force instantly ripping off the skull-masked man's mask and clothes.
The skull-masked man collapsed to the ground with a thud, his head slamming hard against the long table. He immediately passed out, and soon after, lost control of his bowels, releasing a foul stench.
Marco frowned slightly and stood up, addressing them:
"I have already conquered the Vale. Because you are also descendants of the First Men, I allowed Dagon and Kabo to ask for your opinions. Don't think I have no way to deal with you. I have far too many ways to eliminate you."
"Owww..."
No sooner had Marco finished speaking than a howl echoed in everyone's ears. Immediately, over 300 various ferocious beasts appeared before them.
Dire wolves, ice wolves, shadow lynxes, and white tigers. In just over ten minutes, they had surrounded everyone. Gazing at the pairs of terrifying animal eyes, the clan chieftains all instinctively knelt on the ground.
Dagon and Kabo quickly gestured to their old friends in the crowd. Then, these clan chieftains swore their allegiance to Marco.
Marco looked at the surrounding beasts, feeling a bit of emotion. If these animals were the genuine meat-eating animals from the Blue Star, Marco probably wouldn't be able to feed them.
These beast-shaped soldiers, transformed by the system, were influenced by the Vitality Magic Spring during their modification. They barely ate anything and were essentially turned into war machines.