Chapter 274: Tide of Wights
Beyond the Wall, Farwinter!
Above the Wall, that vast expanse of faint white mist could also be seen. Wherever the white mist passed, the temperature began to gradually drop, reaching an unbearable level.
"Fight to the death, never retreat!" "Fight to the death, never retreat!" The wildlings blew their horns, letting out loud sounds. They saw the terrifying presences within the white mist. Only when the white mist drew closer could they see the lives emerging from it—a tide of wights.
The Night's Watch also dispatched a portion of their troops to provide support. This time, the most terrifying location of the wight tide was probably Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, where the wights were horrifyingly numerous. One hundred brothers in black stood ready; this was their destiny, their choice!
The wights retained their appearance from life; some looked similar to living creatures, while others were heavily decayed. One could see that some wights could not cover their bodies, only slowly moving forward—although the process of decay stops when a corpse is resurrected as a wight. All wights have glowing blue eyes, making them easy to identify.
"Fire!" "Fire!" Mance Rayder sat on a sled pulled by northern wild dogs, shouting loudly at the wildlings.
The wildlings shot arrows, igniting the oil in the trenches. The wights that entered were now doomed; they were quickly engulfed by the flames and turned into nothingness.
"The old, weak, women, and children are all in Mole's Town now! This is our time to fight to the death!" the King-Beyond-the-Wall roared. The wildlings—the dog-sledding wildlings and the heavily tattooed wildlings—all roared in response.
"Boom!" The giants lifted a trebuchet-like ballista, upon which sat burning fireballs. The giants immediately pressed down with logs, launching the fireballs out of Farwinter and toward the wights.
In the cold winds of the North, the wights swept in, covering heaven and earth. Even on the ice wall, this long tide of corpses could be seen, appearing like an ocean of wights.
These included the forms of dead bears, dead horses, wildlings, and even deceased brothers in black. They surged forward like a tide, endlessly. This was the premature arrival of the long winter that the North had awaited for so many years! All wights have glowing blue eyes, making them easy to identify. Wights feel no pain and their efficiency is not affected by injury. Although they can be neutralized by being completely shattered, their separated remnants can still move; when a wight is utterly destroyed, the blue glow in its eyes vanishes.
The oil in the trenches was burning fiercely, but what wasn't anticipated was the sheer number of wights. Another reason was that the white mist seemed to carry coldness and an aura of stillness; the oil fires within the white mist also began to slowly dim! Dead bears, dead horses, and dead wildlings rushed to leap into the trenches, seemingly tireless. After an unknown amount of wight ash piled up, the remaining wights began preparing to leap onto the top of the Wall.
"Yaaah!" The giants roared. The other halves of their logs were now smeared with oil, and fierce flames began to dance with the giants, knocking down and igniting all the wights on the city wall.
"Woo-woo-woo!" A grating sound suddenly echoed between heaven and earth, causing even the wildlings' movements to slow down, yet the wights continued to cross the high wall and attack, seemingly unaffected.
As the wights crossed the high wall, the bloodiest part of the battle began. The giants wielded logs and started attacking the wights frantically. Due to the earlier slowing effect, some wildlings had already been bitten by wights and were entering a moment of impending transformation.
"Fire!" "Fire!" the King-Beyond-the-Wall roared. This was no time for mercy. He ordered the giants to retreat, aiming to protect as many others as possible, otherwise, the destructive power of the giants would be particularly astonishing.
Fire arrows were shot out, sweeping across a large area. The flames on the arrows illuminated the white mist across the land, but the wights were endless, charging forward madly.
Oil was also placed near the Wall, which was instantly ignited with a roar, increasing the power significantly. The wildlings were prepared to sacrifice everything.
The white mist now began to slowly dissipate, and the wights also retreated. But what about the second day, or the third? The wildlings couldn't say for sure.
They could only quickly clean up the battlefield. The dead were very rapidly set alight to prevent further complications. As for the trenches outside the Wall, they could no longer hold oil and could only wait for rescue.
"Dragons!"
"We still have the dragons!" the King-Beyond-the-Wall said confidently. This was their greatest and most urgent hope.
On the second day, the white mist reappeared.
Amidst the deep chill caused by the white mist, the wildlings had no time to recover from yesterday's sorrow and were forced to take up their weapons again for the weary, day-after-day battle!
"Dragons! The dragons are here!" The wildlings cheered. The dragons had truly arrived!
"Dracarys!" Rhaegar commanded the dragons to attack. When the white mist appeared, he sensed that something major was wrong—it might be the pace of the Others' invasion accelerating. Sure enough, even rushing as fast as possible, he only arrived on the second day. Rhaegar arrived first, followed by the army from Harrenhal. The well-trained human forces were coming by ship from the sea, certainly not as fast as the dragons.
The figures of the dragons appeared in the sky. The dragon group swept across the heavens, and fire followed—beautiful gold and silver flames, purple copper-foil flames, and black and red flames surged across the land, kicking up smoke and dust.
The Silver Emperor arched its neck, followed by a huge mouthful of fire. The dragon group began their bombardment. In the white mist, the dragons excitedly swooped down from the air. Flames erupted, and the battlefield began to collapse—it was a one-sided annihilation! Wights are merely the lowest-ranking servants of the god of cold; as soon as they are touched by fire, they quickly ignite and turn to ash.
Heat and radiance began to emanate from the scales of the Silver Emperor, Balerion, and Balerion. The dragon group was now glowing and radiating heat because of the battle.
The strange sound rang out again. The white mist began to thicken, and Rhaegar even felt that if the mist hit his body, he would turn into a statue.
In the distance, behind the wights, Rhaegar saw quite a few Others. Those terrifying creatures had truly appeared.
The Others were riding the corpses of animals, including bears, ice wolves, mammoths, and horses. They had appeared, and their numbers this time were vast. Rhaegar saw them: their cold blue eyes, like blue stars. The Others were tall and gaunt, with skin as pale as milk. They also wore armor that could change color.
"The Others are not dead men; they are strange and beautiful," Rhaegar thought, but for now, they needed to fight.
The dragons breathed fire, prioritizing the clearance of the wights near Farwinter first!
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