The secret passage was dark and damp, the thick darkness seemingly wanting to envelop the torch's flame.
The Soldiers could barely move forward by placing a hand on the shoulder of the Soldier in front of them.
And the one leading the way was just a little boy no more than ten years old.
Beside the little boy was a Direwolf, entirely white, as tall as his shoulder. The little boy felt he could even feel the Direwolf's wet nose and warm breath on the back of his neck.
Harrion, who was in charge of the team, suddenly spoke in a low voice: "New and old Gods, I feel like I'm crawling inside a viper's belly."
"Indeed, a large group of vipers lurks beneath the Red Keep," Jon, dressed as an ordinary Soldier, replied.
Suddenly, everyone felt the torches in their hands brighten sharply, the flames on the torches seeming to shoot up a great deal. While before the Soldiers could only see each other's outlines, now they could almost clearly see each other's facial features.
Jon suddenly remembered the Sheep Stealer's skeleton he encountered on Canghuo Peak that day.
The closer the torch got to a dragon's remains, the more fiercely it burned! It seemed they were near a place where dragon bones were stored.
However, the Soldiers didn't know what was happening, their eyes wide with surprise. Fortunately, they all had wooden sticks in their mouths, only emitting gasps from their throats. Even Harrion was startled.
"Quiet!" Jon said to Harrion: "The torches burn brighter when they are near dragon bones. We should be directly below the Red Keep."
"Does that mean we'll be able to enter the Red Keep soon?" Harrion leaned his large head close to Jon, asking in a suppressed voice.
"That's right. Next, we should be heading upwards. Send a few more men to carry the battering ram, and be careful not to slip!"
"Alright!" Harrion responded, then turned back to relay the order to the Soldiers behind him, who then passed the command down the line.
"Hold the battering ram steady, prepare to attack!"
"Hold the battering ram steady, prepare to attack!"
"Hold the battering ram steady, prepare to attack—"
The order echoed among the Soldiers. Harrion bit his cheeks excitedly at the thought of personally slaying the false king soon.
He had heard that the current king was the bastard of the queen and the Kingsguard commander, Tywin's son.
Jaime killed his two brothers on the battlefield, so he would get rid of his son! To avenge his brothers!
Thinking of this, Harrion looked at Jon again. He was very confident in this victory because, under Jon's leadership, they had never failed.
It was always from one victory to another.
Harrion thought excitedly when suddenly the marching column stopped.
The little boy leading the way came to him and said: "My lord, the exit is just ahead. You will emerge in the stables, and Maegor's Holdfast is to the southwest of the stables."
Harrion gave a look to his attendant, and the guard placed a large hand on the little boy's shoulder, leading him aside.
Soon, Jon came to the front and poked his head out into the stables. Not far away, horses' snorts could be faintly heard from the stables, and to the west, there was a house, but this 'house' had wheels; it was actually Cersei's royal carriage.
Seeing Jon retract his body back into the secret passage, Harrion asked, "Jon, what do we do next?"
Jon had already roughly ascertained the Red Keep's garrison situation through Gods Perspective.
Most of the Soldiers were guarding the outer walls and arrow towers.
Although Jon couldn't determine the exact number due to the obstruction of the walls and fortresses, it was roughly consistent with Varys's estimate of around six hundred people.
"Ignore other areas, just surround Maegor's Holdfast directly! Use the battering ram to smash open the main gate! Drag out Cersei and Joffrey, and victory is ours!"
"Hmm!"
A coup d'état, like a decapitation strike, emphasizes speed like thunder, and one must not covet any other objective besides eliminating the enemy leader.
On the other side, the black banner with a white wolf on the castle wall had merged with the darkness of the night; only the white Direwolf on the banner still seemed to leap in the air.
"What time is it now?" Dondarrion asked, holding a telescope.
"It's the Hour of the Owl," Thoros replied, glancing at the sky.
The Hour of the Owl was how Westeros divided the night.
There were the Hour of the Eel, the Hour of the Nightingale, the Hour of the Bat, and the Hour of the Owl.
The Hour of the Bat was the darkest part of the night, while the Hour of the Owl was when most people were asleep.
"When Tywin, that old man, starts moving, Thoros, you go make sure our traps can be detonated in time. I'll hold them off here first."
"Alright, then you must..."
As a priest, Thoros himself was not good at fighting.
Instead, he was more familiar with the temperament of wildfire.
And their wildfire traps were also a crucial part of the plan.
Dondarrion's defense was merely to attract more Lannister forces to attack the city.
Watching Thoros leave, Dondarrion looked towards the Red Keep.
Regarding the secret passage, although he trusted Jon, he still felt a bit uneasy.
Although he didn't know much about Varys, he didn't have a good impression of him either.
He still couldn't understand why he would cooperate with Jon.
Without his secret passage, the Red Keep's food supplies should have been sufficient, at least enough to last several months without issue.
Although he didn't know the situation at the Red Keep, Dondarrion knew that Jon was likely already close to entering it.
He could only pray in his heart that Jon would successfully take Joffrey's head.
"My lord, the Tyrell have launched an attack," an attendant reported.
"I know," Dondarrion said with a solemn expression.
Jon had told him that the Tyrell's army was only a feint to attract attention; the real main attack direction was Tywin's side.
The city wall couldn't be lost too early, as that would make Tywin suspicious.
It was best to hold out for as long as possible.
Dondarrion looked at the Soldiers from the North, the Riverlands, and the clan tribes around him.
He knew that many people would sacrifice their lives tonight to lure Tywin into the trap.
He himself was prepared for sacrifice.
Everything was for that one goal—to bring the chaotic country back on track!
"Tonight is the end of your bastard brother."
Sansa looked at the face she had been infatuated with not long ago, feeling only fear and nauseating disgust.
Joffrey, holding a crossbow, walked around Sansa, excitedly talking about how he would execute Jon.
"How about I stick his head next to your father's?
Or should I string them both up? Hahaha~"
Joffrey laughed triumphantly, his shadow cast on the ceiling above, like a monster baring its fangs and claws.
If it were before, Sansa would probably have been very scared, but now she felt a surge of courage in her chest.
She looked at Joffrey with her somewhat sunken blue eyes and retorted, "My brothers are invincible!"
"What did you say!"
Seeing Sansa dare to talk back, Joffrey immediately aimed the crossbow in his hand at her.
His action startled Cersei, who was standing nearby.
Cersei abruptly stood up and quickly warned, "Joffrey! Your younger siblings are still in the hands of her bastard brother!"
"She dared to defy me!" Joffrey turned to look at Cersei, but the crossbow in his hand remained pointed at Sansa.
"You are the King, Your Majesty. Punishing a little girl does not demonstrate your majesty," a soft voice chimed in. It was Varys.
He nodded slightly to Cersei, then approached Joffrey, gently coaxing him.
"Do you remember the former king? As king, he would not stoop to getting angry at such a young girl.
You possess the blood of both the lion and the stag in your body; what is such a small offense?"
Smoothed over by Varys, Joffrey finally put down the crossbow in his hand.
He saw Cersei also sigh in relief.
Having resolved the conflict, Varys returned to the window.
What Cersei and her son didn't know was that even the news of Tywin preparing to attack the city was intentionally leaked to them by Jon through Varys.
Even if they couldn't escape, if they hid everywhere, it would be troublesome to find them. Only this way could they be made to stay obediently in the castle.
Thinking of Jon's instructions, Varys couldn't help but ponder about this young man who had only recently come of age.
Suddenly, a somewhat absurd thought crossed his mind: would Jon personally attack the Red Keep?
Judging by Jon's desperate attitude revealed earlier, he probably would.
After all, what he revealed was that if the revenge succeeded, he would return to the Wall.
If the revenge failed, then he would simply die.
This kind of stubbornness made Varys feel a bit helpless for a moment.
But the strategies he had shown before indicated that he was not a simple person.
His ability to seize King's Landing first showed that he had seen early on that the House Tyrell and Lannister might unite.
And Varys had also seen Soldiers from Dreadfort among the army Jon brought.
As far as he knew, Roose Bolton was the commander-in-chief of the Northern Eastern Army.
And Jon had taken his direct lineage Soldiers, so what happened was not difficult to guess.
Varys did not want Jon to come to the Red Keep.
If he really came, it would mean that his eyes were only on revenge.
If he wanted to secure his position in Stannis's new dynasty through him, he might have to pay a greater price.
If he didn't come, it would mean that Jon's earlier statement about returning to the Wall after successful revenge was just a cover, and he still wanted titles and lands.
In that case, he would be a long-term partner.
As Varys was thinking, he saw lights flickering outside the window.
It was the stable master, who was also his informant.
This signal meant that Jon had entered the Red Keep.
Varys silently watched the scene before him, found an excuse, and quietly left. He had to guard against Jon killing him to silence him.
Just as he had done when Tywin attacked the Red Keep back then, he would wait until the situation stabilized before reappearing.
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