Chapter 131 - The Battle of Haigh Castle (V)
🕑 Added 2025-02-26 11:22:15 +0000 UTC“Do you dare to kill when the need arises? That separates you from death on the battlefield.” - Visenya II Targaryen, looking out over the battlefield.
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Before Oberyn left, he heard Aenar's words:
“Don't kill so many enemy soldiers. Let them bend the knee.”
Oberyn was surprised to hear the king's words, but nodded nonetheless. Aenar watched his back, closed his eyes and looked at the possible timelines.
Aenar felt that something was incredibly wrong. He didn't know where the feeling came from, but it was there, and it made him feel uncomfortable. However, he soon opened his eyes and understood the source of this discomfort.
“A pair of eyes stares at me from the sky.” Aenar murmured, knowing who it was... or rather, what it was.
A god.
More precisely, the God of the Seven Faces.
In all honesty, there was no animosity between Aenar and the God of the Seven Faces, at least not yet. In the future, this god of countless kinds would become his mortal enemy. The reason for this was simple: Aenar would destroy the Faith of the Seven and eradicate this religion that had existed for six thousand years.
The Order of the Maesters was certainly an odious group, but the Faith of the Seven was even more annoying, odious and extremely uncomfortable. Much of House Targaryen's heritage had disappeared because of it.
Looking up, Aenar couldn't help but snort. Being stared at by a god was not comfortable, especially when that god didn't seem to want to stop peeping any time soon.
“But since you want to watch, I'll let you see your believers begging for help while my soldiers slaughter them.”
Aenar muttered with a touch of coldness. Although he knew this wouldn't affect a god, after all, a being thousands of years old couldn't be shaken simply by the death of his believers.
For the gods, if humans die, let them die. They only have to wait a few lousy years for four or five to be born in the place of one who has died. How could they care about a race whose birth rate was so high?
Looking at Leda, who also had a tense and watchful expression, Aenar couldn't help but smile and bring out his loyal sword:
“How do you feel about being stared at by a god?”
He whispered to her, not intending Tyrion to overhear the conversation.
Leda's lips twitched as she heard the king's provocation, but her eyes narrowed as she grasped the real meaning of his words.
God...
That was a term she never thought she would ever seriously consider. But after living with Aenar for so long, she knew secrets that few humans would even imagine discovering.
Especially the truth about the Long Night.
From this, she felt no respect or fear towards the gods, unlike most humans. This feeling extended even to the good gods, those who helped humanity survive.
This was because, in Leda's eyes, the relationship between humans and gods boiled down to one thing: humanity was cattle used by the gods as they pleased. Even the good gods only saved humanity so that they wouldn't be forgotten.
Otherwise, beings thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years old would never have cared about the existence of the human race.
In her eyes, there was only one deity that humanity should truly serve.
Aenar Targaryen, the God-Emperor of Mankind.
“Who is it, Your Grace?” Leda asked in a low tone, looking at Aenar with a calm gaze, even though she already had an idea of who the god the king was referring to was.
“The God of the Seven Faces.”
Aenar replied with an amused smile. Seeing Leda's dislike really pleased him.
Leda nodded when she heard the god's name. She wasn't surprised. The Old Gods, according to the king, had been asleep for thousands of years and might never awaken. Apart from the Old Gods, there was only the God of the Seven Faces with influence in Westeros.
While Aenar and Leda were chatting casually among the dead inside the tent, screams began to ring out outside. Oberyn had started the massacre.
However, the soldiers standing next to him were the Red Legion. The Sardaukar were still standing around the main tent, protecting the entire perimeter. This situation didn't last long, however, as Aenar soon ordered the Sardaukar to attack.
When Oberyn began his attack inside the camp, the Red Legion outside moved in. Visenya, holding a sword and shield, was in the front line. She and the whole army advanced against the enemy soldiers, who were still confused about what was going on.
But this was exactly what Visenya had hoped for with Oberyn's plan, and she knew how to take advantage of this moment of chaos. Without the lords to control their own armies, the soldiers barely had time to react before the Legion arrived.
Eddard and the northerners stared wordlessly at the scene. For the first time, there seemed to be other people more eager than them to fight...
“It doesn't look like we're needed in this battle. So, are we going to take part?” Maege asked with an uncertain tone.
The enemy army was small and, watching the red wave devastating the camp, she really didn't see the point in attacking a battle that had already been won.
Eddard shook his head and said: “No, we'll just watch. We'll fight when we get to Twins.”
Looking at the ferocity of the Red Legion, he felt it was pointless to fight in such a small battle, so he decided to just wait until it was over.
Faced with the soldier in front of him, Visenya didn't hesitate. With a single blow, he plunged his sword into his throat, killing him instantly. Without wasting any time, he raised his shield to defend himself from an arrow fired by a nearby archer and advanced quickly, without giving the enemy a chance to shoot again.
With one swift movement, Visenya struck the archer in the face with his shield, knocking him to the ground. He then pointed his sword downwards and finished off the unlucky man. His eyes scanned the battlefield in a quick, calculating glance.
As he imagined, there was no resistance from the enemy soldiers. Not only had they been taken by surprise, with no generals to command them, but the army had become a bunch of disorganized men, dominated by fear and panic.
Which was no surprise. With no morale to fight, many had already thrown down their weapons and surrendered.
Shaking her head, Visenya continued to fight, eliminating the enemies before her with her impeccable skill with the sword.
Inside the camp, the scene was a veritable inferno.
The Sardaukar, with their long spears, had become killing machines. Even the most experienced soldiers were nothing more than meat to be pierced by that relentless battle formation.
Bodies were piled up in small heaps, and the ground no longer looked like earth, but a sea of coagulated blood. Fear and horror were on the faces of the enemy soldiers.
Many of those inside the camp, those with private tents, were of noble origin or veteran soldiers. Even so, they were slaughtered without mercy.
Even though he had seen the Sardaukar's skills before, Oberyn couldn't help but feel envious of that army.
Even Dorne's elite soldiers didn't have that much power. Having thirty thousand of those men was the equivalent of sixty thousand ordinary soldiers.
What ruler wouldn't want such an army?
But he knew that it would be impossible for Dorne to have warriors like the Sardaukar. He himself had seen how much gold was spent on the king's private army. Dorne might be able to hold out for a year or two, but after a while, the coffers of the Old Palace would be empty.
Leaving the main tent, Aenar looked around and couldn't help but show satisfaction.
The Sardaukar were worthy of every coin and effort invested in them. Many of those men had been emasculated by the brutal training of an Immaculate.
“What do you think, Leda?” He asked, curious.
“Very strong. If they go through the Blood Ritual, they'll be the greatest weapon against the Others.” Leda answered sincerely.
Aenar nodded. His eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the blood scattered on the floor, a satisfied gleam in his eye.
Honestly, the prototype of the Blood Ritual for ordinary soldiers was already ready. He would use the blood of ordinary people to baptize them, creating his own super soldiers.
“Let's go.” Aenar commented, stepping forward.
Comments
Banana19
Are you real Victor Weismann or a fake Victor Weismann?
Victor Weismann
Thanks for the chapter.
