Pentos, Beach Palace. The sounds of the dothraki and Viserys's men clashing were so loud that they had long since awakened the Pentos City Watch.
The Pentos City Watch trembled like quails, nervously watching the knights' bloody battle in the palace district outside the city. A few gold coins a month weren't worth their lives.
Warhorses whinnied, swords clanged, and the wind carried the salty scent of death, blood, and sweat.
The Pentos guards had never seen such a scene; they merely watched, fearing that the victors would vent their anger on Pentos.
Illyrio and some other Magisters had also rushed to the city wall, watching the slaughter in the firelight of the night, two groups of cavalry clashing.
The dothraki horsemen charged head-on into the heavy cavalry, which was like an iron mountain, as if they had no brains.
Then, like seawater crashing against a rock, they slowly shattered.
"It's over, all over." Illyrio's face turned pale then green. How could the invited guests have clashed in the night?
Regardless of who won or lost, it would bring a series of troubles, and Pentos, as the host, would offend one side.
"The Khal is dead!" Viserys's thunderous shout rang out, followed by the full response of his knights.
"Khal Gilo is dead!"
"Long live King Viserys!"
The shouts from outside the city echoed through the countryside.
"That idiot Gilo." Illyrio heard the shouts and knew that Khal Gilo had no chance of survival, having needlessly provoked Viserys Targaryen, that bringer of ill fortune.
Khal Gilo was blinded by greed to launch a sneak attack and was precisely counterattacked by Viserys.
"Viserys understands Horse People. He already knew of the horsemen's insults at the banquet." Illyrio deduced this, realizing Viserys already harbored malice to eliminate the Khal.
From his bravery, cunning, and ruthlessness, this young man seemed like a big fish plunging into the power struggles of Essos, stirring up countless storms.
"He's only fifteen years old..." Illyrio mused bitterly, the situation seemed to be getting more and more out of hand.
Viserys was not a lamb, but the nightmare of the slave masters of the slave cities and the dothraki, a descendant of Aegon the Conqueror, and certainly not as docile and simple as he and Varys had imagined.
"Khal Gilo still had over a thousand Dothraki Screamers near the palace, and he even launched a surprise attack first, yet still lost." Magister Odoro on the city wall was also astonished.
In the eyes of the Pentos people, except for the Unsullied, mercenaries were no match for the Horse People; it was better to offer money than to hire mercenaries.
Yet Viserys's soldiers, fewer than the Khal's elite, still killed the Khal and won outright.
It seemed the King of Andalusia's strength was far more terrifying than they had imagined.
"Magister, they are charging towards Gilo's dothraki tribal stronghold again," a Pentos guard said to Illyrio.
Illyrio picked up his Myr lens and indeed saw the military situation was urgent, Viserys's cavalry roaring as they charged towards Gilo's main camp.
Two battles in one night, incredibly fierce.
Khal Gilo's head and the heads of two Bloodriders were tied to Viserys's saddle, and the rich smell of blood permeated the air. The battlefield had turned into a one-sided slaughter.
The bodies of the Dothraki Screamers lay scattered across the battlefield; besides the unlucky ones trampled to death, there were those killed by arrows, by thrown short spears, and those who died in cavalry clashes.
andal knights and rhoynar knights surrounded Viserys, a thoroughly satisfying victory.
The humiliations suffered in the past could only be washed away by blood and fire.
And now, they were the victors.
"The Khal is dead! Those who surrender shall be spared!"
"Khal Gilo is dead! Those who surrender, kneel!" Viserys shouted on the battlefield. The Khal's Dothraki Screamers had already become a weak stream before the armored heavy cavalry.
Mainly, the tactics were wrong, abandoning their home-field advantage.
Moreover, Viserys's ranks included formidable warriors like Viserys and Argos.
No one cared about the heavily wounded, dying Dothraki Screamers. For the Horse People, such warriors dying was just normal attrition.
Viserys scanned the battlefield. He didn't bother with the half-dead; the living ones would have to charge for him.
Viserys gathered several hundred terrified dothraki remnants in this wave. If they were added, Viserys would also have a numerical advantage against Gilo's Kous.
"Those who can still wield weapons, will you kneel to me or challenge me?" Viserys reined in his horse, scanning the battlefield, asking the surrounded Horse People warriors.
Those strong Horse People warriors who surrendered or were wounded but still able to move, knelt around Viserys, then cut off their braids and piled them into a small mound.
They were truly convinced, after all, their strongest Khal and Bloodriders were dead.
"true dragon Khal!" a dothraki Screamer respectfully called out Viserys's name.
"true dragon Khal!"
"Silver Khal!" Then the Dothraki Screamers shouted Viserys's name, signifying their heartfelt submission.
This name was indeed quite fitting, as Viserys wore a set of Mithril armor, with a silver helmet, silver armor, a silver spear, and silver-white hair.
Of course, even more conspicuous was the lifelike red fire-breathing dragon on his surcoat, which had also had its fill of blood tonight.
The dothraki sought power and revered strength.
And Khal Gilo had been defeated; he was no longer worthy of being their Khal.
"What is your name?" Viserys asked the quick-witted one who surrendered first, a strong dothraki Screamer with a scar on his face.
"Ringo, Khal!" the young scarred warrior replied.
"Good, I want you to manage these men," Viserys instructed.
"I am willing to become the Khal's guard, to live and die by his blood," Ringo said, cutting his finger and smearing blood on his face.
"I want you to mount up with me and crush Gilo's remnants. Will you, or not? You may also wait for me at the pillar," Viserys said, raising his whip and pointing at the surrendered Dothraki Screamers.
The Dothraki Screamers respectfully looked at Viserys, then picked up their weapons one by one.
"Follow the true dragon Khal, kill!"
The Dothraki Screamers raised their long knives; they had already switched allegiance to the true dragon tribe.
Just kill, that's all. These dothraki have a habit of loyalty, but not much.
The dothraki only loved blood and fire. Once a Khal became too old to ride or was killed in a challenge,
except for his Bloodriders, everyone else would unhesitatingly switch allegiance immediately.
So, beast tribes also have beastly minds; they still adhere to rules to some extent.
"Now, charge Gilo's great camp." Viserys reined his horse forward, and the cavalry followed him closely.
Viserys looked at these dothraki. Only the surviving warriors were worthy of becoming his auxiliary knights, so now, offer your loyalty.
After all, the dothraki wore no armor, and many of them would die in the next charge tonight.
All the cavalry swept like a whirlwind from the palace towards Khal Gilo's tribal stronghold.
Unexpectedly, this time they happened to encounter Gilo's Kou Tanggo halfway, and the decisive battle thus abruptly began.
The dothraki shrieked in terror as they saw the Khal's head and the Bloodriders' heads.
Viserys saw Tanggo, the drunken dothraki Screamer leader, whose silver belt at his waist confirmed his identity.
Not just him, but many other drunkards.
dothraki fermented mare's milk had a low alcohol content, but Pentos's strong liquor had left these warriors drowsy and intoxicated.
"You killed the Khal?" Gilo's Kou Tanggo cursed, horrified to see the Dothraki Screamers beside him, knowing they would only switch allegiance if the Khal died.
Logically, Tanggo could have separated from the Khal to become a new Khal, but not by facing another bloody battle.
But it was too late; the scales of victory would not pity this drunkard.
The two groups of cavalry were drawn together again like magnets, leading to a new slaughter.
And this time, there was also dothraki warriors slaughtering dothraki warriors.
Viserys and Argos formed an arrowhead formation, charging directly towards the opposing commander like an iron fist.
It was just dawning, and that silver belt was too easy to spot. Moreover, to show courage, dothraki leaders also charged at the forefront.
Clang after clang of metal, like a raging storm, too fast for others to discern the moves.
Tanggo, as a Kou, was certainly skilled.
However, he was no match for Viserys, especially while drunk and riding, his movements full of flaws.
Viserys's silver long spear violently struck Tanggo. Viserys seemed to impale a large shrimp; the spear's resilience, flexibility, and hardness were unmatched in the world.
Viserys then flung the dothraki warrior off his horse. Hooves rapidly trampled over him, and Tanggo became another corpse on the ground.
"true dragon Khal!" The Dothraki Screamers let out roars of victory. This new Khal was truly powerful, and their morale surged even more fiercely.
"true dragon Khal! Long live!" Ringo skillfully dismounted and cut off Tanggo's head.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
This victory was even more splendid, not only because the enemy's strength was inferior to Khal Gilo's forces, but also because they had drunk too much and were bleary-eyed, which was a significant factor.
The bloody battle continued until the dawn of Pentos. The Pentos people watched in stunned silence as their invited guests slaughtered each other in the suburbs, leaving corpses strewn everywhere.
In the morning, the black banner with the red dragon fluttered, and the cavalry, having fought through the night, stood arrayed like a dense forest.
The dark, heavy andal cavalry, the agile rhoynar light cavalry; many soldiers' armor bore various dents, but their faces were filled with the joy of victory.
Bloodlust and victory had forged this army, making them look like avenging devils.
The dothraki bodies were simply gathered; if hot oil were poured on them, they would catch fire much faster.
Viserys sat on a campaign folding chair, drinking a cup of unsweetened lemonade.
After fighting all night, he finally had this moment of leisure.
Even with an iron body, this kind of fighting was exhausting.
["Fate Reverser" Viserys Targaryen has completed the Just Judgment of multiple dothraki "villains" in battle, rewarding a single basic attribute increase: Strength increased →, Agility increased →, Endurance →]
Viserys contentedly watched his attributes stack up. These Dothraki Khals and Bloodriders were truly great nourishment, higher in attributes than ordinary horse bandits.
He couldn't even imagine what it would be like to kill Khal Drogo.
After all, they were warriors carefully selected from thousands or tens of thousands, and every Khal or Bloodrider had countless blood debts.
Not far behind him were the severed braids, proof of the Dothraki Screamers' submission. These Dothraki Screamers had been subdued.
The Dothraki Screamers with cut braids followed at the rear of the procession, respectful and quiet, as if they had learned silence for the first time in their lives.
Excluding the dead, the critically wounded, and those Dothraki Screamers who saw the situation was bad and fled across the river, Viserys had also taken in seven or eight hundred surrendered warriors, equivalent to the size of a thousand-man company.
And his casualties were much fewer; it was a thoroughly satisfying victory.
Aside from his courage and strategy, it was also due to the soldiers holding a grudge.
dothraki elites? They were specifically targeting elites.
"Ringo!" Viserys commanded his newly joined dothraki Screamer. "Show these heads to the Pentos people. Tell them there were thieves last night, and I cleared them out for them.
"As you command, true dragon Khal," Ringo humbly replied.
The dothraki Screamer Ringo, with several subordinates, roared to the gates of Pentos, displaying the heads of Khal Gilo and others.
The gates of Pentos soon reopened, and only Magister Illyrio emerged as a mediator.
The other Magisters were too scared to leave, fearing an encounter with Viserys, that bringer of ill fortune.
They had not expected such a handsome young Dragon King to be so ruthless in battle, a bloodthirsty monster.
It could only be said that Khal Gilo had miscalculated.
A rich smell of blood permeated the air. The warriors, like ferocious beasts ready to devour anyone, stared menacingly at Illyrio.
Life and death were so stark. Illyrio had to endure.
"I apologize for this; it was our oversight."
Magister Illyrio quietly gave an order, and four burly slaves immediately carried a bronze-decorated cedarwood chest forward at a brisk pace.
Upon opening it, Viserys found it filled with the finest velvet and brocade produced in the Free Cities—and on top of them lay three enormous eggs.
"These are dragon eggs from the Shadow Lands east of Asshai," Magister Illyrio said. "Fossilized over millions of years, yet still bright and beautiful."
"dragon eggs, my fat friend, you're quite good at hiding things..." Viserys did not rise but asked directly.
For a moment, Illyrio felt as if the stars were turning backward; the anger in those purple eyes seemed to awaken a true dragon.
"I consider you a true dragon, a real dragon. I apologize for my insincerity." Illyrio immediately apologized. Since he was already here, his life was what mattered.
Viserys, that bloodthirsty warrior, was one to chop off heads at the slightest disagreement.
"Those who follow my cause are good people, they are friends." Viserys stood up, looking at the dragon eggs in the chest. "I thank you, Magister Illyrio. Do not disappoint me."
"Yes, yes, yes," Illyrio said, wiping a bead of sweat. "The Magisters have also prepared better gifts for you. That palace is now too small."
Viserys's splendid performance had once again caused his utility value to soar.
The Pentos people's goodwill towards him had risen another level.
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