The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 520: The Great Sparrow Falls

(A bonus chapter for the Alliance Leader '金小衙内' for their generous reward. Thank you for your support! A handshake! 5000-word chapter)

*

Shhh!

A voice sounded in his ear.

This Holy Sword Knight, once a rigorously trained noble knight, immediately became alert, rolled over, and stood up. A sharp, cutting pain came from his neck, filling him with dread. His well-honed instincts made him retract his neck and body, avoiding the fatal cut. Before him was a stranger's face, still bearing a hint of childishness, but with eyes like a wild beast. His neck throbbed with pain, and blood spurted out.

The knight instinctively reached out to cover the wound. Half a foot away from his neck was a small, black, round shield he had never seen before. The edge of the shield was as sharp as a knife, emitting a cold light.

He had been startled by the shushing sound in his ear and stood up abruptly, bringing his neck to the small round shield. The razor-sharp edge of the shield cut a wound on his neck. If he hadn't retracted quickly, he would have sliced his own neck open.

"Who are you?" the knight asked hoarsely. The fear of death gripped him uncontrollably.

This was within the Sept of Baelor, in the middle of the Great Sept. How did this mysterious shield-bearer get in? The Holy Sword Knight, with his noble background and extensive knowledge, had never seen a small, round shield with such a razor-sharp edge, made of pure iron.

Suddenly, his abdomen felt cold, and a sharp, stinging pain came. A sharp dagger was pressed against the knight's abdomen.

"I heard that you Holy Sword Knights are fearless, but I see the fear of death in you."

Pfft!

The dagger plunged into the knight's abdomen.

The knight's face twisted in a scream.

However, a dark shadow fell, targeting his neck, cutting off his scream in his throat.

The small round shield fell, hitting the knight's throat squarely!

Komm Warner, the young chieftain of Claw Isle, the head of House Warner, had killed the second Holy Sword Knight stationed in the Sept of Baelor.

Within the Sept of Baelor, there were a total of fourteen of the High Sparrow's little sparrows stationed, mainly responsible for adding oil to the lampstands of the torches and guarding the Sept of Baelor.

Twelve Starry Septons and two Holy Sword Knights were all killed in their sleep.

The assault death squads trained by the Mountain, besides the death squads in the guard, all came from Claw Isle. These tribal leaders and warriors were extremely mentally strong. They were already ruthless killers, unfazed by blood, with hands as steady as rocks, breathing calmly, cold eyes, unflappable, and composed.

Five hundred death squad members emerged from the storage room in a steady stream, like white ghosts. All the death squad members were dressed in white monk robes.

Wearing monk robes in the monk's temple was the best disguise.

The white monk robes were also different from the gray monk robes of the High Sparrow's Starry Septons.

Within the temple, there were hundreds of monks wearing white robes, something the little sparrows were long accustomed to.

This had a certain deceptive effect.

The Sept of Baelor was located in the center of the Great Sept of Baelor, with seven gates leading out, each leading to one of the seven High Septon's towers. The seven towers were built around the Sept, symbolizing the Seven Gods, and named after them.

*

Captain Erin, leading a hundred-man team, mainly composed of the Mountain's personal guards, including twenty original guard members of Eddard Stark from the North, loyal and brave death squad members selected from the refugees, and rogue death squad members from the Westerlands, headed straight for the Father Tower, where the High Sparrow resided.

The High Sparrow was the chief culprit!

Young Chieftain Komm Warner led fifty warriors from House Warner, heading straight for the backyard, where there were small stone houses on the ground, imprisoning Queen Margaery Tyrell. The Blacksmith Septon and his monks had secretly opened the gates and small doors long ago, and ambushed near the courtyard walls, about a hundred of them, to cooperate with Komm Warner's actions.

Landon Gar—the Mountain's adopted son—led a hundred warriors from the Gar tribe, exiting through the Widow's Gate, heading straight for the Crone's Tower. Queen Mother Cersei resided in the Crone's Tower. The Warrior Septon, with a hundred monks, had long prepared to be internal support. They ambushed in the small woods behind the Crone's Tower, with a hodgepodge of weapons in their hands, wooden sticks and pot shovels, the only advantage being that everyone was too excited, huddled together and trembling.

Young Chieftain Jois Foka led fifty warriors from the Foka tribe, Sence Leo led fifty warriors from the Leo tribe, Swamp Leader Sander Curtis led fifty warriors from the swamp… everyone divided into two groups, one group of one hundred people to attack the Warrior's Tower where the Holy Sword Knights lived, and one group of two hundred people to attack the low monk houses where the Starry Septons lived.

The Maiden Septa, the Crone Septa, and the Stranger Septa, with three hundred monks, prepared to help the death squad members beat the dogs in the water. Once the Starry Septons and the Holy Sword Knights collapsed, they would rush out and chase after the little sparrows with sticks, knives, hoes, shovels, and other weapons.

The main force of the Starry Septons and Holy Sword Knights was distributed in two places: one was the Sept's gates: seven gates, guarded by three hundred and fifty people; the other was the Warrior's Tower and the low monk houses.

*

In the night, which could only be illuminated by candles and torches, the night outside the tower was very dark. The only brightly lit place was inside the Sept of Baelor.

The rest of the place was in complete darkness. Only a few torches were burning outside a few towers.

But this little light was not enough to illuminate the deep night.

*

Outside the Crone's Tower, there was a twelve-man Holy Sword Knight patrol. Not far away, a tent was set up, inside which was a hundred-man team of Starry Septons.

Saying it was a patrol was actually just standing outside the gate and below the windows of the Crone's Tower, closely monitoring Cersei, not giving her any chance to escape privately.

Considering that Cersei had six good swords by her side, the High Sparrow arranged for the best of the twelve Holy Sword Knights to protect Cersei's safety.

On both sides of the gate of the Crone's Tower, there were four Holy Sword Knights, two resting and two on duty. Four windows, each window had two Holy Sword Knights arranged below, one on duty and one resting.

In the night, the Starry Septons in the tent not far away were already asleep.

When the Holy Sword Knight on duty was at his sleepiest, footsteps came.

Footsteps from all directions.

The six Holy Sword Knights on duty were all puzzled, alert, and drew their swords. The enemies appeared from the night like ghosts, their long swords suddenly attacking. The clanging sound shattered the silence of the night. The enemy's shield blocked the long sword's slash and thrust. The shield pushed diagonally, closing in, and the short sword stabbed fiercely, pfft pfft pfft! The sound of the short sword stabbing into the body was cruel and cold-blooded...

The enemies who suddenly appeared were not one, but many. They all had shields and short swords, surrounding them on all sides. In the blink of an eye, each Holy Sword Knight faced at least three short swords.

Two knights were just startled awake in their sleep when their throats were cut...

The warriors of the Gar tribe from Claw Isle quickly strangled all twelve Holy Sword Knights, without anyone being injured.

Surprise attacks have this advantage: catching the enemy off guard, surrounding them while they are greatly surprised, using shields for defense, stabbing with short swords at close range, using numbers to overwhelm the few, achieving a clean and neat victory without any knightly spirit.

When Landon Gar knocked on the gate of the Crone's Tower, the battle to encircle the Starry Septons in the big tent outside was at the height of slaughter...

The Starry Septons in the big tent were awakened in their sleep by a mixture of hissing sounds, clanging sounds, and screams!

The hissing sound was someone cutting the tent's canvas with a sharp short sword or the edge of a small round shield...

The clanging sound was the sound of the battle surrounding the Holy Sword Knights...

The screams were the expression of the Holy Sword Knights' unwillingness or fear of this world before they were killed...

For the Starry Septons in the big tent, the tactic was also encirclement on all sides, and this encirclement naturally emphasized the word 'encirclement'.

Only fifty death squad members encircled the Starry Septons.

The other fifty went to encircle and kill the twelve Holy Sword Knights.

The Gar tribe's warriors looked down on the Starry Septons who only knew how to knock people with wooden sticks.

They felt it was a disgrace to their honor to deal with enemies of such a low level of skill and tactics. Although their warrior's honor was not noble.

The Gar tribe's warriors never cared about the Starry Septons' fearlessness.

At the Mountain's pre-war mobilization meeting, they stated that they only feared Starry Septons who could not be killed, and would not fear Starry Septons who were not afraid of death.

Not being afraid of death and not being able to die are two completely different concepts.

The battle to encircle the Holy Sword Knights had ended, while the battle to encircle the hundred-man team of Starry Septons was much slower.

The reason was that after everyone cut the tent, they stood on all sides, waiting with anticipation for the other party to grab a short knife or wooden stick to fight.

The Gar death squad members who entered from the tent entrance did not rush to chop people either. The leading Gar warrior swaggered to the bedside of the first unlucky guy, patted his face with a short sword, and suddenly shouted, "Get up, the Mountain is coming!"

The battle then truly began.

Actually, it couldn't be called a battle. Faced with Starry Septons who had never been trained in professional combat skills, the death squad members of the Gar tribe did not think it was a real battle at all... it was just a one-sided massacre...

So, all one hundred fearless Starry Septons died.

With such a disparity in strength, they didn't even have a chance to fight!

*

The Father Tower housed the High Septon, the Great Sparrow.

No one knew the High Sparrow's real name.

Monks had a tradition that on the day they became monks, they would no longer have any connection with anything in the mortal world. His body, mind, life, and soul were all given to the Seven Gods. Since everything was given to the Seven Gods, and there was no longer any connection with anything in the mortal world, according to the dogma, his surname and name were also returned to his parents' family. He had no surname, and he had no name. They were the sons of the Seven Gods, they were monks.

However, for the convenience of daily appellation, ordinary monks still retained their mortal names.

But once they became bishops or high bishops, their mortal names could no longer be mentioned.

The bishops and high bishops of all past dynasties were without definite names in the books of monastic records and royal books. People could not know the parents' family background of the bishops and high bishops from the books, they could not find anything.

If this person was a fat man before becoming a bishop or high bishop, then in the books recording his deeds, he was the fat monk, and the fat man was his surname and name.

If he was a blacksmith or fisherman before becoming a bishop, then when he became a bishop or high bishop, his deeds would be written into the books, and the person writing the book would call him the Blacksmith Bishop or the Fisherman Bishop.

The High Sparrow's name came from this.

He called himself the Great Sparrow, believing that human life was as small, helpless, and fragile as a sparrow. He called himself the Great Sparrow and collectively referred to those who followed him as the Little Sparrows.

The High Sparrow was the surname and name of the current High Bishop.

The High Sparrow had two residences, one was the High Bishop's palace-like hall, and the other was the Father Tower of the Father Bishop.

The High Sparrow did not like fine clothes and delicacies, did not like luxury and wealth. He never lived in the luxurious room like a 'palace' where the High Bishop lived at night, but lived in the Father Bishop's tower.

The Father Bishop was imprisoned in the underground black prison by the High Sparrow for questioning the correctness of the High Sparrow's establishment of the monastic armed forces.

The High Sparrow slept on the first floor, which was convenient for going in and out, without wasting time going up and down the stairs.

The High Sparrow slept on the marble floor, with only a straw mat on the ground.

On the ground floor, twelve little sparrows and two Holy Sword Knights slept.

Two Holy Sword Knights stood guard at the gate of the tower all night.

*

Father Tower.

A Holy Sword Knight outside the gate suddenly saw a team of white-robed monks running out of the night, very close to him, small black round shields, shiny short swords, faces hidden in white hoods.

"Who, stop!" The Holy Sword Knight's voice changed, traveling far in the night.

Clang!

The knight's long sword was drawn, and a white-robed monk had already arrived in front of him, so fast.

A flash of cold light, the long sword slashed down!

Clang!

A crisp loud sound, sparks flying, the long sword hit the round shield, making a clear sound of metal clashing, a short sword like a poisonous snake stabbed into the Holy Sword Knight's abdomen below the shield.

The short sword broke through the armor!

What a sharp blade, what a powerful arm strength.

The Holy Sword Knight fell down, his eyes wide, the torchlight next to the gate reflected in his falling pupils, also reflecting the corpses of his comrades.

Two Holy Sword Knights, one on duty, one sitting on the steps, leaning against the gate asleep. In the instant he was awakened by his comrade's shout, a small black round shield cut across his throat, almost severing his entire neck.

The tall monk who killed the Holy Sword Knight was Erin, the Mountain's guard captain, and the warrior who killed the knight who was sitting on the steps leaning against the gate asleep was Marwyn, the son of Hullen, the head of Eddard Stark's stables.

Boom!

A loud noise!

The gate was kicked open by a warrior.

The warrior who kicked open the gate was Norris, a death squad member from the refugee camp. He was first a member of the two thousand spearmen, and later made meritorious service in the Mountain's night attack on King's Landing, loyal and staunch, and became the Mountain's personal death squad member.

On the ground, twelve Starry Septons and two Holy Sword Knights jumped up from the ground like compressed springs, already grabbing their weapons.

Norris was the first to jump in. A Holy Sword Knight's longsword thrust straight at him. With a crisp clang, Norris's shield blocked the thrust. He shifted his body to the side, causing the longsword to slide off the shield and be deflected outwards. Norris was already close, and his short sword stabbed fiercely, three times in quick succession, leaving three holes in the knight's body.

No one wears full plate armor to sleep. The knight, protected only by leather, was stabbed three times in the body by the short sword, each thrust penetrating deeply.

The knight retreated sharply, and Norris followed with his shield, slashing horizontally, leaving a deep gash across the knight's chest.

The knight fell, his eyes wide with shock!

Norris pounced, driving the edge of his shield on his left arm into the knight's throat.

By the time he stood up, the battle was over.

The twelve Little Sparrows had been hacked into several pieces, and another Holy Sword Knight lay in a pool of blood, both arms severed.

The High Sparrow stood in the room, silently watching the group of 'monks' who had suddenly appeared.

Elin said, "High Sparrow, Lord Mountain sends his regards."

"You have angered the Seven Gods. Your souls will be cast into hell after death, to suffer eternal torment," the High Sparrow said calmly.

"You are mistaken, High Sparrow. It is the Seven Gods who have summoned us to cleanse the evil that defiles their holiness. Otherwise, how could we have entered the Great Sept so easily? The eyes of the Seven Gods have been watching your wickedness," Elin said. He walked towards the High Sparrow, his brothers following closely, surrounding him.

Elin raised his sword and struck, piercing the High Sparrow's abdomen. The High Sparrow trembled, his eyes filled with pain. Elin withdrew his short sword. "High Sparrow, this strike is Lord Mountain's respect to you."

Elin stepped back, and Marwyn stepped forward, plunging his sword into the High Sparrow's side. "High Sparrow, this strike is the Queen Mother's gratitude to you."

The short sword was pulled out, and blood gushed forth, staining the hem of the High Sparrow's monk's robe red.

He swayed precariously! His hands could not cover the wound, and blood poured from between his fingers.

Norris stepped forward on the left, plunging his sword into the High Sparrow's right chest. "This strike is for Queen Margaery."

The High Sparrow shuddered, released his hands from his abdomen, tilted his head back, and his eyes flashed with terrifying light. "You, you..."

Several short swords stabbed into him from the front and back. The High Sparrow's body trembled, and the words in his throat could no longer be uttered.

One group of brothers retreated, and another group stepped forward, stabbing their short swords fiercely into the High Sparrow's body.

The High Sparrow could no longer stand. Just as he was about to fall, a group of brothers rushed forward, holding their shields against his body to prevent him from falling, and stabbing their short swords upwards from under the shields.

A hundred deathsworn, each stabbing the High Sparrow's body with at least one sword, only then did everyone withdraw their shields. The High Sparrow's tall body crashed down. Neither the Seven Gods nor the Eight Gods could save him now...

Don't mess with the Mountain!

*

Cersei, protected by four Westerlands knights and two Kingsguard, emerged from the Old Tower, and smelled the strong scent of blood.

This feeling pleased her.

The captain of the hundred-man squad, Landon Gaal, said, "Queen Mother, if you light the torch and wave it twice, the Great Sept's bell will be rung. Lord Mountain will hear the bell and lead the legion in from outside."

"Brave warrior, are you a knight?" Cersei asked Landon Gaal.

"I am not a knight, Queen Mother."

"What is your name?"

"Landon Gaal."

"Centurion Gaal, once the Sept's bell is rung, it will be heard throughout the city, in every corner. Unless it is for the wedding of a royal king, or a major change in the kingdom, the law forbids the ringing of the Holy Bell for any other matter."

The Holy Bell had recently been rung twice, once for the wedding of King Joffrey, and once for the burial of King Joffrey.

"Queen Mother, Lord Mountain believes that tonight's events are worth ringing the Great Sept's bell, to establish the authority of the Queen Mother and King Tommen," Landon Gaal handed the torch to Cersei.

The last sentence moved Cersei. The Mountain knew this sentence would move Cersei.

But in reality, it was to establish the Mountain's authority.

It was the Mountain who launched this raid when the Prime Minister was helpless and the royal courtiers and generals were at a loss...

Cersei took the torch and waved it twice!

The signal was sent!

Dong!

Dong!

Dong!

The Great Sept's bell was activated by dozens of monks pulling the ropes to start the machinery. With the gears turning, the giant bell was slowly rung, its sound loud and high-pitched, echoing throughout the city!

The battle to exterminate the three thousand Starry Knights and Holy Sword Knights, at the Sept, Flea Bottom, and Cobbler's Square—officially began!

Kill!

Thanks to [xiaoyu.wd] [金小衙内] [风的-韵律] [废迪南公爵] for the rewards, thank you, handshake!