The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Boom!

With a loud crash, Ian's heavy axe smashed open the Sea King's palace gates.

With that one strike, the reputation of Ian's mercenary company was utterly destroyed.

But Ian no longer needed to maintain any reputation as a mercenary.

His kneeling before the Mountain had already ended his mercenary career.

Ian's thousand-strong company surged into the Sea King's palace like a tide.

They were a band of true brigands, the same kind of rabble as the Mountain's former soldiers.

These people were not good-natured.

The first layer of defense in the Sea King's palace came from the Unsullied, wearing bronze-spiked helmets.

Less than a hundred Unsullied were besieged by a chaotic assortment of weapons—iron hammers, spears, maces, heavy axes, longswords, iron rulers—and were quickly felled in pools of blood.

Ian's thousand-strong company advanced with unstoppable momentum.

The Sea King's few remaining narrow-sword swordsmen were forced to appear and meet the attack.

But they were merely small waves caught in a vortex of blades, instantly surrounded and cut down.

The Sea King's scholars, courtiers, naval admirals, and captains fought their own battles, swept aside by Ian's thousand-strong company, cut down like vegetables, advancing relentlessly, unstoppable.

Ian led from the front, exchanging his long-handled heavy axe for a mace and dagger; the former was useful for mounted combat, the latter for foot combat and close-quarters fighting.

Ian held a dagger in his left hand, specifically for stabbing at close range, and a mace in his right hand, a weapon designed to crush skulls, advancing like a demon from hell, stabbing and smashing all he encountered, his entire body stained red with blood—all of it belonging to others.

With the Mountain standing guard outside the gates, Ian's momentum was unstoppable.

The Mountain did nothing, simply standing outside the gates, giving Ian's thousand-strong company unprecedented morale and confidence.

It also gave them the audacity to betray their employer with righteous justification.

If the Mountain were not a king, Ian's mercenary company would not have betrayed so cleanly and thoroughly.

A mercenary company's reputation was their life; once their reputation was damaged, it would be difficult to get good jobs, and their livelihood would become a serious problem.

This was something every mercenary company feared.

However, Ian's mercenary company no longer needed to fear damage to their reputation.

They were no longer mercenaries.

They were now the regular army of King Mountain. Ian was no longer a mercenary captain, but the king's great general.

The Mountain stood on the Sea King's palace outer plaza, a longsword on his back, clad in plate armor, a figure like a giant.

Inside the Sea King's palace, the sounds of fighting and screams echoed endlessly.

The Mountain appeared calm and composed, but in reality, he dared not relax his vigilance even for a moment.

He was observing the situation on Sea King's Street.

This was Braavos, not King's Landing.

It was entirely possible that a mob of people could emerge from somewhere and attack him.

The Sea King's power in Braavos was supreme; it would take time for the navy to mobilize and reach this place. But if the people of Braavos were to riot, they could quickly organize and attack the Mountain.

However, it would be difficult to get the common people to spontaneously organize and attack the Mountain, as it required a leader to ignite their fighting spirit.

The best leader, of course, would be the Faceless Men from the House of Black and White, who were the most powerful in Braavos.

And the highest leader of the Faceless Men in the House of Black and White, the Elder of Fate, was Arya Stark, who would absolutely not come out and lead everyone to attack the Mountain.

The Mountain had come here precisely to stand up for Arya Stark.

The Mountain vigilantly watched Sea King's Street, and fortunately, it remained quiet and still, with no disturbances.

Meanwhile, the sounds of fighting inside the Sea King's palace grew fainter, indicating that the battle was rapidly approaching its end.

After a while, the fighting diminished further, until finally, the sounds of clashing steel, shouts, and screams ceased altogether.

Ian, covered in blood, led his thousand-strong company out of the Sea King's palace like a flowing stream.

However, the Mountain did not see the Sea King's plump figure.

A dozen women, twenty-odd scholars, and dozens of courtiers and military officers were brought before the Mountain by Ian.

"Where is the Sea King?" The Mountain had no interest in the others.

"He's gone," Ian said.

"Did you search?"

"We searched the entire palace."

"No one knows where the Sea King is hiding?"

"They won't say; we'll have to torture them."

These people refused to reveal the Sea King's location; many of them were innocent, but they were protecting the Sea King, and the Sea King wanted to kill the Mountain... Leave these people? When some of them are definitely innocent! The Sea King's secret hiding place would not be known to ordinary people.

"Kill them all," the Mountain decided. This was the quickest way to force out the Sea King's whereabouts.

Even if he could find someone who knew the truth through torture and force them to reveal the Sea King's location, the Mountain did not have the patience. Time was also a constraint. Coming to the Sea King's palace alone was a surprise attack, emphasizing the element of surprise and catching the enemy off guard, and it also required speed!

"Yes, Your Majesty," Ian said, raising his mace and smashing it down on the head of a naval captain.

With a sickening thud, the captain's head exploded, and blood spurted everywhere.

The captain fell into his own pool of blood.

"Everyone, attack! Kill them all!" the Mountain roared.

"Hoo!" The thousand-strong company responded in unison, raising their weapons. An old scholar stepped forward and said in a trembling voice, "King Mountain, the Sea King escaped through a secret underground passage."

"An underground passage?" the Mountain frowned.

"Yes."

"Where does the underground passage lead?"

"It leads to a stone arch bridge outside the street. Under the stone arch bridge, there are colorful longships. By this time, the Sea King has already boarded a longship and headed to the naval port."

The Mountain stared at the old scholar. "Scholar, are you willing to submit to me?"

"I will never submit, but please, Your Majesty, spare these maids, servants, courtiers, and scholars; they are innocent."

The scholar did not ask the Mountain to spare the naval admirals and the captains of the naval warships.

There were more than ten naval admirals and more than twenty naval captains here.

The Mountain said, "I came here to kill the Sea King because the Sea King, along with a Green Prophet, wanted to kill me. Since the scholar has already told me the Sea King's whereabouts, I will not kill indiscriminately. You may all leave; the Sea King's palace will no longer exist."

"Your Majesty, you are going to release them all?"

"Yes. Ian, do your brothers only number one thousand?"

"Three thousand in total, Your Majesty."

"Pass down the order; have your other two thousand-strong companies come here quickly, and then plunder all the valuables in the Sea King's palace. Be quick about it."

Ian and his brothers erupted in cheers.

Looting a royal palace was possibly the ultimate dream of their lives.

Suddenly, the Mountain had made this dream come true.

The thing that mercenaries looked forward to most when participating in a war was breaking into the enemy's city and then hearing the commander-in-chief order the city to be looted. According to the rules, whoever grabbed the loot got to keep it, and many mercenaries spent their entire lives hoping for such an opportunity to get rich.

Ian raised his hand, and the four strong men beside him each pulled out a horn, and the horns sounded together.

Soon, the sound of horns also came from outside Sea King's Street.

"Are you not leaving yet?" the Mountain shouted at the Sea King's maids, servants, courtiers, naval admirals, and captains.

Boom!

These people immediately scattered and ran.

When Ian's other two thousand-strong companies appeared on Sea King's Street with a roar, the Mountain's vigilance completely relaxed.

Even if the Sea King could gather land forces from his other hundred-odd islands, the Mountain, with three thousand men, would not fear them at all.

On the Sea King's island, the main force was Ian's mercenary company of three thousand men.

In the Nine Free Cities, the main military force of the city-states came from mercenary legions. Traveling south along the coast from here, the nearest Free City was Pentos, and all of Pentos's military force was 100% mercenary. The governor and prince of Pentos, the soldiers guarding the gates and courtyards, and the wealthiest nobles who liked military security would spend a large sum of money to purchase Unsullied as their personal guards. Apart from that, all soldiers and military forces were mercenaries. And once there was a war, mercenary companies would be hired temporarily.

All of Ian's mercenary company forces had arrived outside the Sea King's palace gates.

The three thousand-strong companies were arrayed before the Mountain.

They had no uniform armor, no uniform weapons, and no orderly ranks.

But these people all had the same thing in their eyes: wildness and killing intent.

The Mountain was very familiar with this kind of gaze.

All the soldiers who followed him, influenced by his violent and terrifying reputation, even some timid and kind-hearted people, were easily infected by a fierce and arrogant aura, turning their eyes into the eyes of beasts, their hearts as hard as steel, eager for battle, and ruthless in their actions.

"Ian, lead your brothers, kneel, and swear allegiance to me," the Mountain shouted.

As a king, the ceremony of having soldiers kneel and swear allegiance was essential.

This was exactly the same as the ceremony of having believers kneel and light candles to the gods.

When a person kneels, it strengthens their belief and sense of loyalty.

Ceremony was an indispensable part of a ruler's toolkit.

Traveling through the Mountain and coming to this world, he learned quickly.

Ian made a gesture, and then he took the lead in kneeling on one knee before the Mountain.

Boom!

Three thousand mercenary soldiers knelt on one knee together, their voices resounding.

Ian's influence in the mercenary company was like a god.

He began to sing a second oath of allegiance to the Mountain, leading his brothers to swear allegiance to the Mountain, finishing the oath.

The ceremony was important; the Mountain absolutely needed this oath-swearing ceremony.

"Ian of the East, in the name of the gods..."

Then three thousand people followed in unison: "Of the... in the name of the gods!"

"To the King of the Rhoynar, the Andals, and the First Men..."

Three thousand people followed with a roar: "To the King of the Rhoynar, the Andals, and the First Men!"

"Protector of the Realm of the Seven Kingdoms, Duke of Dragonstone, King of Crabs Claw Peninsula, Emissary of Light of the Red God, Child of God who slayed the Night King..."

The Mountain's titles were as long as the Dragon Mother's titles. The Mountain believed that these titles were nothing more than to strengthen the sense of ceremony, so that the soldiers, when reciting them, would have a subliminal sense of worship, holiness, and incomparable solemnity towards the Mountain.

"...Invincible King Gregor Clegane swears allegiance... From this moment until the end of life, Ian will fight for King Gregor Clegane and never betray him..."

When three thousand soldiers had finished swearing allegiance, the Mountain shouted, "Arise, my most valiant soldiers!"

Boom!

Three thousand soldiers stood up together.

The Mountain's rule required ceremony, and the soldiers' allegiance also required ceremony.

The Mountain stepped aside, pointing his hand at the gates of the Sea King's palace: "My generals, centurions, soldiers, the Sea King's palace is ours! Go in and loot the Sea King's palace!"

Boom!

Cheers rose to the heavens.

The Mountain nodded at Ian, so Ian raised his hand and waved it forward, and three thousand soldiers shouted and surged towards the gates of the Sea King's palace like a tide.

While the three thousand newly recruited soldiers were looting the Sea King's palace, Ian came to the Mountain's side.

"Your Majesty, the Sea King can gather nearly ten thousand land troops on the other hundred-odd islands. Fully mobilizing the navy and reservists, fishermen and fishing boats, would exceed one hundred thousand, with two thousand warships. The Faceless Men of the Isle of Gods must have also received the news; they are the most terrifying assassins. And once the Iron Bank chooses to stand with the Sea King and help him, their gold can hire legions from all over the world."

"Are you afraid?"

"Ian is impressed by the King's bravery and courage and is willing to die for Your Majesty. No matter how many enemies there are, there is no fear."

*

The Mountain stared into Ian's eyes, and he was equally familiar with this kind of death-defying gaze. Basically all of the Mountain's soldiers had this kind of gaze. All the soldiers who followed the Mountain into battle would quickly and unconsciously possess this invincible, death-defying gaze, as if the Mountain himself was a magical catalyst.

The Mountain had a natural leadership ability to turn cowards into warriors and warriors into zealots.

Jaime Lannister also had a similar ability; he could make his subordinates' blood boil and fight for him with just a few simple words. This unique ability was envied by Tyrion Lannister throughout his life, but he could never learn it.

The Mountain's talent in this area was even above Jaime's; his time to turn warriors into warriors and warriors into zealots was unbelievably short, like a miracle. Some fierce bandits and notoriously cruel generals were subdued by him at the first sight of the Mountain, and involuntarily had a strong desire to follow him. Ian, a cruel general of gladiator origins who had experienced hundreds of battles, also belonged to this category; there were no exceptions.

Lions have a lion king, and evil people, cruel people, and bloodthirsty people also have their own king.

*

"Ian, you are very calm and rational," the Mountain said.

"Your Majesty, my calmness and rationality were trained in the arena. In order to survive, one has to face the most cruel environment calmly and rationally. We now need to consider three threats: the Faceless Men, the hundred thousand navy, and the nearly ten thousand army."

"You are right. However, the Faceless Men will not move; I am very certain of this. As for the Sea King's navy and army, I have also made preparations long ago."

The Mountain took out a horn as bright as black crystal from his bosom: the Dragon Horn.

He blew the Horn of the Dragon.

Soon, a high-pitched, sonorous metallic sound that pierced through the heavens and space resounded across the nine skies…

Jiu——