North of the Wall, the Land of Always Winter.
This was a forbidden zone for life, where even time seemed frozen.
In the depths of a forgotten valley, at the entrance of a cave guarded by ancient magic, a tall figure stood silent as an ice sculpture.
The Night King.
His eyes, burning with eerie blue flames, stared unblinkingly into the depths of the cave.
He had been guarding here for a long time.
He could feel that the ancient and powerful consciousness within the cave was weakening day by day.
Like an oil lamp about to burn out, it could extinguish at any moment.
The Night King was waiting.
He would stand guard here, preventing the Three-Eyed Raven from going out to find a new physical vessel.
Just waiting for the moment that lamp completely went out.
When that time came, he would flatten this place, turning that old monster who had entrenched himself for a thousand years, along with his final sanctuary and those annoying Children of the Forest, into cold dust!
However, at this very moment.
The expression on the Night King's face, which seemed cast from ice, suddenly changed.
He jerked his head up, and for the first time, an emotion akin to "confusion" appeared in his ghostly blue eyes.
That consciousness...
It vanished.
Not weakened, not extinguished.
But vanished into thin air.
As if a sun that had burned for a thousand years was wiped from the sky in an instant without warning.
That ancient will... just disappeared abruptly and completely from his perception without a trace.
The Night King turned slowly.
For the first time, his gaze moved away from the cave entrance he had guarded for countless days and nights, casting toward the distant south.
Across the endless ice plains, across the Haunted Forest.
Finally, it landed on that massive white wall spanning heaven and earth.
He felt it.
A new, yet familiarly powerful force was quietly awakening there.
He mounted an undead warhorse and galloped toward the Wall.
...
The Wall, Castle Black.
The shrill sound of horns pierced the morning silence, once, and then again.
"Lord Lynn has returned!"
The Night's Watch on the wall fell into chaos.
Lynn ignored the commotion on the wall.
He looked up at the magnificent wall covered in ice and snow for eight thousand years.
He could feel a pair of eyes watching him from the other side of the Wall.
Not through the eyes of the Night's Watch.
But a more direct, more ancient way of prying.
Just then.
A crow took flight from the highest watchtower of Castle Black.
That was no ordinary crow.
Its feathers were shiny black, and it was a size larger than ordinary crows.
Most eerie were its eyes.
They were not the eyes a bird should have.
In those pitch-black pupils, there was none of the ignorance belonging to fowls, only a wisdom deep as the universe, and a... near-mad ecstasy.
It circled, let out a hoarse caw, and then, like a black arrow, dove straight toward Lynn!
Its target was not Lynn, nor Myranda.
But the... Winter Wight following behind Lynn, wearing the tender face of Robert Arryn!
"My Lord, look out!"
Myranda cried out, instinctively reaching for her bow to shoot the crow down.
Lynn just raised his hand, signaling her not to be nervous.
The crow was extremely fast, rushing in front of "Robert Arryn" in the blink of an eye.
It didn't use its claws, nor its beak.
Just as it was about to hit the Winter Wight, its pitch-black body turned into a twisted cloud of black smoke out of thin air, trying to drill into the seven orifices of the Winter Wight!
A consciousness filled with the vicissitudes of time descended with a boom!
That consciousness carried an unquestionable will, a domineering intent to rule!
It wanted to seize this body!
It wanted to turn this perfect and vibrant shell into its new vessel!
However.
The instant that black mist was about to touch the Winter Wight's body.
Lynn extended a hand.
He simply placed his palm horizontally between the crow and the Winter Wight.
HUM—!
Ice magic activated.
A barrier invisible to the naked eye appeared out of nowhere.
The black mist formed by consciousness slammed hard into the barrier, letting out a silent wail, and was instantly bounced back, re-condensing into the form of a crow in mid-air.
The crow flapped clumsily in the air a few times before barely stabilizing itself.
In those eyes full of wisdom, the ecstasy had faded, replaced by an offended anger and confusion.
It didn't understand.
How dare this young man... how could he stop it?!
"Mr. Old Crow."
Lynn's voice rang out, carrying a decisive tone that brooked no negotiation.
"Don't be in such a hurry."
"You seem to have forgotten half of our agreement."
The crow tilted its head, staring dead at Lynn.
It made no sound, but a thought filled with questioning intent sounded directly in Lynn's mind.
[Young man, what is the meaning of this?]
[I have seen the body, and I am very satisfied.]
[Are you stopping me because you want to renege?]
The voice was old, majestic, carrying the arrogance of one looking down on all living beings.
As if everything Lynn did for him was a matter of course.
"Renege?"
Lynn smiled.
He looked at the crow hovering in mid-air as if looking at an unreasonable child.
"Of course I won't renege."
"I'm just here to remind you that it's time to fulfill your part of the promise."
[Promise?]
A trace of impatience appeared in the Three-Eyed Raven's thought.
[I have already given you guidance, let you learn Greensight, and let you learn Warging abilities.]
[Is that not enough?]
"Not enough."
Lynn shook his head.
"That was just a little interest you paid in advance for me to help you find a new body."
"What I want is the principal."
Lynn's gaze became sharp.
"Music magic."
"Nature magic."
"Those two ancient magics rooted in the faith of the Old Gods, originating from the Children of the Forest."
"Give them to me."
"Then, this body is yours."
"This is what we agreed on before."
The air seemed to freeze at this moment.
The cold wind stopped, the snowflakes stilled.
The crow hovered in the air, motionless.
Its eyes locked onto Lynn, and a rage massive enough to crack mountains brewed madly in its consciousness.
[You dare... threaten me?!]
[You dare use my future to negotiate with me?!]
[Do you know who I am?!]
"Of course I know."
Lynn's face still wore that calm expression.
"The Three-Eyed Raven."
"An old monster who has lived for a thousand years, hiding behind the scenes, thinking he can manipulate the fate of all Westeros."
"A... poor wretch who doesn't even have a body now and can only parasitize a bird."
Every word from Lynn was like a red-hot knife, stabbing viciously into the Three-Eyed Raven's lofty pride.
[You seek death!!!]
Accompanied by a silent roar, a terrifying mental impact, like an invisible giant wave, slapped hard toward Lynn's mind!
The Three-Eyed Raven was angry.
He wanted to let this young man who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth know that he would absolutely not tolerate provocation from mortals!
However.
Facing this mental impact enough to make dragons tremble, Lynn just stood there, not even blinking an eyelid.
HUM—!
A will equally cold, yet purer and more domineering, exploded from Lynn!
If the Three-Eyed Raven's mental power was a turbulent black ocean.
Then Lynn's will was a ten-thousand-foot iceberg rising from the Land of Always Winter!
Let the stormy waves crash; I remain unmoved!
Two invisible wills collided fiercely in mid-air!
There was no earth-shattering noise, no colorful lights.
But Myranda, standing behind Lynn, suddenly went pale and stumbled back a step.
She felt as if her soul was being torn apart by two invisible giant hands, almost collapsing on the spot!
She looked at Lynn's back in horror.
She realized then that the man she swore allegiance to possessed power far beyond her imagination!
The stalemate lasted less than a second.
PFFT—
The crow let out a miserable wail, falling straight down from mid-air like a kite with a cut string.
It rolled a few times in the snow, struggling to stand up, but didn't even have the strength to flap its wings.
In those eyes once full of wisdom and arrogance, now remained only shock and... fear.
It lost.
It had lived for a thousand years, accumulated spiritual power for a thousand years, yet...
Yet it lost so thoroughly, so cleanly, before a young man in his early twenties!
This guy... what kind of monster was he?!
Lynn slowly walked to the dying crow and squatted down.
"Now, can we have a good talk?"
His voice remained calm, but to the Three-Eyed Raven's ears, it was colder than the winter wind.
[...]
The crow was silent.
Its proud power was vulnerable before the other party.
What right did it have to negotiate now?
"It seems you've figured it out."
Lynn reached out, gently stroking the crow's smooth black feathers.
"Give me the knowledge."
"This is your only chance."
"Otherwise..."
A trace of cold killing intent flashed in Lynn's eyes.
"I don't mind making sure there is no Three-Eyed Raven in this world anymore."
"Then, I will personally go to your lair and dig out all those secrets you've hidden for thousands of years, bit by bit."
"I'll drag those Children of the Forest out one by one, cut off their heads, and mount them on my Dragonstone!"
[...I give.]
After a long time, a thought filled with humiliation and unwillingness finally sounded in Lynn's mind.
[I will give them... all to you.]
The Three-Eyed Raven, the ancient existence who once looked down on all living beings and considered himself the chess player of fate, finally lowered his head that had been held high for a thousand years.