The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Clang!

Sparks flew as Lancel's longsword deflected Jaime's attack, and he turned to run, cursing vehemently.

Outside, a chorus of animal roars suddenly erupted: the sounds of direwolves, snow bears, wild dogs, shadow lynxes… Jaime and the soldiers exchanged bewildered glances… How could there be so many wild beasts all of a sudden?

Had the wight beasts formed an army?

Did the Night King only release his beast wights after the city had fallen to the undead?

Jaime desperately wanted to rush outside and see what was happening, but he held his ground.

As if in an instant, the sounds of chaotic fighting erupted from every corner of the city, a cacophony of disorder.

A horn sounded, a mournful wail that seemed to come from directly above Jaime and his men – a hornblower had retreated to the main keep and was sounding the horn from its highest point.

The Stark family's main keep was the tallest structure aside from the Broken Tower, and also the most fortified.

Built of massive stones, the keep was connected to other buildings by enclosed corridors.

The location of the hornblower signified the location of the army's commander-in-chief.

The horn's sound indicated that the allied forces' commander had retreated to the main keep.

The supreme commander of the allied forces was the Mountain, but with the Mountain absent, Robb Stark, King in the North, had taken his place.

Jaime's expression tightened; this was the horn call ordering the soldiers to abandon the fight and seek shelter underground, and the military order commanding the soldiers guarding the underground entrance of the main keep to seal the entrance.

The main keep's underground chambers housed the city's population, mainly women and children.

Queen Mother Catelyn Tully and Queen Roslin Frey were both in the keep's depths.

Jaime stepped back, sheathing his longsword and issuing the order to seal the entrance.

Jaime's face was grim, knowing that the keep had only one entrance, and once sealed, the soldiers on the ground would be unable to enter.

Clunk!

The first iron gate of the main keep slammed shut, and an iron chain, as thick as a child's arm, was threaded through the bars, secured with a large iron lock.

Boom! Boom!

Behind the iron gate, a heavy iron door slammed shut and was locked.

Bang! Bang! Crash!

Pre-prepared mud sacks were piled against the iron door, one after another, completely blocking the door and the first section of the tunnel.

When the last mud sack sealed the long passage, though small, specially designed honeycomb-like air holes remained, the air in the tunnel still became stagnant, making the soldiers' breathing heavy.

Clunk!

From the deepest part of the tunnel, the echo of iron chains being threaded through iron gates faintly reverberated, the sound emanating from the entrance to each cellar.

The underground entrance of the main keep branched into many smaller passages in the downward tunnel, some leading to dead ends, others to genuinely massive underground shelters.

Each cellar entrance had a very narrow section, where an iron gate was built at the narrowing, followed by an iron door, and then mud sacks blocking the entire narrow passage into the cellar.

The prepared mud sacks would be piled all the way to the cellar door.

Despite the small air holes, once the passage was blocked, the air in the massive cellar immediately became stale, making it difficult for people to breathe.

Each cellar stored enough food and water.

However, there were also a great many people.

To prepare for the long winter, the Northmen were most adept at storing food and water underground.

Every year during the long summer, the Northmen would store food underground, planning for their winter lives from the first day of the summer's harvest.

It was tradition, everyone did it, and the Starks were no exception.

The people who had come to Winterfell from all over the North to seek shelter for the winter had brought their own food.

The Mountain had made preparations in advance, and the entire underground of Winterfell had been hollowed out, as if there was another Winterfell underground.

All the food that the Stark family of the North and other nobles had prepared for the winter was stored underground.

Every Northman was skilled at digging cellars.

In winter, they were accustomed to living underground.

*

The horn call to abandon the fight and seek shelter underground sounded from the top of the main keep, echoing throughout the city!

The allied soldiers fighting desperately in the city all entered the underground.

The generals of the Clegane forces fought at the entrance to the underground tunnels, having made early preparations, and they were the first to enter the underground when the order was issued.

The Others were victorious at every turn, and they quickly occupied all the city walls and four gates, then stormed into the Glass Gardens, the Godswood, the Broken Tower, the Maester's Tower, the blacksmith street, and the training grounds.

The sounds of battle still raged intensely in various places.

Standing on the walls of Winterfell, the Night King tilted his head back, satisfied to see the teeming mass of wights throughout the city…

Two nights and three days, Winterfell fell, and the Night King finally achieved a great victory.

The giants from the cold mountain range of Thenn had all died in battle, becoming the Night King's most effective giant wights.

The warriors of the North fought to the death to protect the young king who had retreated to the main keep, holding the stairwell on the second floor, refusing to yield.

The leading figures of the Stark family always charged forward in battle and retreated last.

Robb Stark, King in the North, as commander-in-chief of the entire army, did not retreat underground in advance.

Instead, the underground tunnel entrance beneath him had been sealed by Jaime.

Jaime was responsible for the defense of the underground tunnels of the main keep, which primarily housed the city's population.

The horn sounded mournfully, urging the soldiers in all locations to cease fighting and retreat underground to seek shelter.

There were specialized military tunnels for the soldiers to enter the underground to hide, entrances that were hidden but scattered throughout the city.

Robb Stark appeared on the roof of the main keep, wanting to personally ensure that the Night King and his wight army had all entered the city.

He needed to have a complete overview of the situation, and he couldn't know the situation on the ground in real time if he hid underground in advance.

The valiant Kingsguard fought fiercely, relying on the strength of the main keep, and their shouts attracted the attention of the Other army, making it easier for other soldiers to enter the underground.

The banner of the King in the North fluttered in the wind on the top floor of the main keep.

Beside Robb, the horn sounded continuously, penetrating the entire city, allowing the soldiers in every corner to hear it.

Among the brave men beside Robb, many were from House Frey of the Riverlands.

Several brothers of Queen Roslin Frey were Robb's personal guards, standing beside Robb at this moment.

Their faces were resolute, becoming the glory beside the king.

They included Olivar Frey, Petyr Frey, Aenys Frey, and other direct descendants of the Frey family who were sworn to Robb, as well as seventeen Frey family knights.

These twenty-two Freys were warriors who had once followed Robb to conquer the Westerlands.

Three years ago, during the Red Wedding, they had been imprisoned in the family's black cells by Lord Walder Frey for resolutely opposing the betrayal of Robb, and were later rescued by Robb Stark.

Half of Robb's guard came from the family of Queen Roslin Frey.

Robb looked at the wights filling the city, listening to their hissing sounds.

His gaze shifted from far to near, and he saw the giants wielding huge clubs, and he saw the broken banner of the Northern Earl Glover still flying on a rooftop – although there were many underground entrances, it would take a long time for the allied forces to enter the underground in time, which was why there was still fighting throughout the city…

Long live Stark!

Long live Winterfell!

Shouts rang out from all over the city!

The Northern army upheld the style of the young King Robb Stark, staying until the very end!

The Northmen allowed the Vale army, the Southern army, the Clegane army, the Night's Watch, and the Free Folk warriors to enter the underground first… Under the leadership of Eddard Stark and others, they stayed behind to cover the retreat…

The horn call to abandon the fight and enter the underground sounded even more urgently…

*

In the sky, the Mountain and Arianne Martell were flying in the clouds on a dragon, flying very high.

The sounds of the battle below floated up, making Arianne's face eager to try.

Arianne looked at the Mountain's face, but the Mountain had no intention of going down to fight.

"We have returned to the North, but we have missed the greatest battle.

This is the most remarkable battle that will be written into the history books, and the names of the generals who died in battle and the generals who survived will be written into the history books, compiled into poems, and sung by wandering singers for generations to come," Arianne said.

"Although we are in the sky, this is also a battle," the Mountain said in a steady, mountainous voice.

"But I already feel bored.

Why can't we fly down and kill for a while?

We have a dragon, and we can fly into the sky at any time.

Who can do anything to us?" Arianne said coldly.

Fighting against the Others, a battle for the survival of the human race, was a battle opportunity that was hard to come by for warriors.

"Arianne, killing the Night King is the real end of the battle," the Mountain said indifferently.

He was calm and composed, unaffected by Arianne in the slightest.

*

On the city wall, the Night King's spear pointed to the main keep where Robb Stark was located, emitting strange syllables.

Several giant wights rushed towards the main keep with a booming sound, and all soldiers, whether wight or human, were sent flying by the giants' large wooden clubs along the way.

Behind the giants, several direwolves and shadow lynxes, and dozens of wild dogs followed closely.

Robb stood on the roof, watching the wight giants and wight beasts arrive, his expression unchanged, but his direwolf Grey Wind let out a howl!

The giants crashed into the main keep's hall with a bang, and the giant clubs swept the wights in the first-floor hall into fragments, clearing a path to the second floor.

Shadow lynxes, direwolves, wild dogs, and other wights darted out from behind the giant Mag and rushed towards the stairs on the second floor.

The warriors of the Kingsguard guarding the stairwell cried out in panic.

Direwolves with incredible bite force pounced into the crowd first, disrupting the formation.

The warriors' screams rang out.

Shadow lynxes and blood-soaked, snarling wild dogs swarmed up behind the direwolves.

The warriors swung their longswords, but they couldn't stop them at all.

The sounds of cracking bones and screams rang out densely, and the defensive formation at the stairwell quickly collapsed…

The giant wights couldn't attack the second floor because they were too tall, but their arrival opened a gap.

As if the wight giants had received an order in the dark, they retreated, and the wights outside the main keep poured in like a tide, surging into the second floor of the main keep along the stairs…

The Kingsguard, under the attack of direwolves, wild dogs, and shadow lynxes, scattered into various parts of the main keep…

Soon, in the Stark family's main keep, fierce battles were erupting in every room and every corridor from the second floor to the top floor… Direwolf Grey Wind guarded the entrance to the top floor, baring its teeth and roaring threateningly.

An Other wearing armor appeared at the stairwell of the top floor, with what looked like two small frost horns on its head, and a pair of azure eyes stared at Grey Wind… Grey Wind roared angrily and suddenly jumped up, pouncing towards the Other… Diagonally, a wolf howled, and a wight direwolf leaped out, biting Grey Wind from the side.

Grey Wind turned its head and bit back, and the two direwolves collided, crashing down.

The Other coldly stepped aside, lifted its leg and went upstairs.

Soon, a second wight direwolf appeared and pounced on Grey Wind… Its bloody mouth opened, biting Grey Wind's back…

On the roof, Robb Stark took the horn from the hornblower and personally blew a long horn sound: Woo——————

This was a very long horn sound, and the horn sound penetrated the heavens and the earth, carrying a strange tremor…

*

In the sky, the Mountain's face became solemn… Clang, he drew the longest, largest, thickest, and heaviest Valyrian steel sword on the continent – Ice!

This Ice was originally the ancestral sword of the Stark family!

Chui!

The dragon Sheepstealer let out a dragon roar that shattered gold and cracked stones.

The dragon roar resounded throughout the heavens and the earth, causing the soldiers of Winterfell, the wights, and the Night King to look up at the sky…

In the blue eyes of the Night King and the wight knights beside him, uneasy light flickered…

The dragon knight had come riding the dragon… Dragons that flew in the sky and fought with lightning speed were feared by the Night King!

"Fight!" The Mountain issued a dragon-riding command.

The dragon Sheepstealer swooped down from the clouds, and Arianne screamed shrilly, holding the Mountain's waist tightly and closing her eyes… It was the first time she had experienced a dragon's head-down dive…

*

Underground, at the entrance of the Maester's Tower, the Grand Maester, with his dozens of pyromancers, began to chant with solemn faces…

In the depths of the Godswood, Melisandre, riding on her red smoke beast, began to chant…

At the underground entrance of the Godswood, in the underground tunnel of the blacksmith shop, more than three hundred pyromancers in various parts of the underground began to chant…

In the cellar, hundreds of monks began to chant…

Lady Dorea Codd also began to chant, closing her eyes tightly, raising her hands high, and emitting a strange whistling sound… Although her shrill voice was different, it was completely consistent with the chanting rhythm of the pyromancers…

In the rapid dive of the dragon, the Mountain also muttered words in his mouth, the syllables strange, and completely the same as the strange chanting of the pyromancers…

Grand Maester had taught Melisandre, the Mountain, and Lady Dorea the secret incantations to activate and extinguish the wildfire substance…

*

The Night King looked up at the sky, his face covered with a layer of translucent ice patterns, making it impossible to see any change in expression… On the top floor of the main keep, Robb Stark was still blowing the horn, a long and uninterrupted horn – Woo——————

His direwolf Grey Wind had died in battle, lying on the stairwell covered in blood.

An Other stepped on the sticky blood and walked towards Robb step by step.

The soldiers beside the king had all died in battle.

Five Freys and seventeen Frey knights, their blood flowed around Robb, and their bodies fell around Robb…

The Other came to Robb, and Robb still looked up and blew the horn.

The Other raised its frost longsword, a cold light flashed, and the horn sound stopped abruptly…