At this moment, Oldtown was alive with chaos, every sound merging into a single roaring torrent.
Gold and blood-red clashed as the Dragon and the Kraken loomed over the battlefield.
Battle cries, screams, wails, the clash of steel, the thud of fists and feet, the blare of horns, and the roar of the waves.
But nothing was more unforgettable than the dragons' roars, half real and half illusion, shaking the open wilds with their might.
As the stone beast and the two green sphinxes plunged into the water, the Dragonhorn fell silent, and the Ironborn longships closed in on the armies of the Iron Throne.
The bloody war, the magical war, grew utterly fierce, like oil thrown onto a blazing fire.
Above the battlefield, there were other spectators as well, people watching from the High Tower and the towers of the Citadel.
The rest of Oldtown's citizens had either died in the war and flooding, or fled to the outskirts and escaped the city altogether. None of them had any heart to watch the battle.
"The War of Oldtown may not be the largest war in Westeros. It cannot match the scale of the earlier Battle of the Blackwater, but it is surely the war with the greatest amount of magic," Alleras thought as she stood atop a tower of the Citadel, watching every shift in the battle with rapt attention.
Though Crow's Eye Euron Greyjoy's Dragonhorn had failed to come into play, he had once again summoned raging winds and numerous Kraken.
The forces of the Iron Throne were not to be outdone. After the stones were hurled into the sea, the winds weakened, and the Dragons danced wildly.
Pate the Woodcock stretched out his hand, feeling the air flow past his fingers. "The west wind has risen, but it's dying down again."
"It must have something to do with those stones," Alleras said.
"The stones from Storm's End?" Pate asked.
"Yes. The Storm King took the daughter of the Storm God and the Sea God as his wife. The Storm God drove storms to ravage the Stormlands, yet only Storm's End, built for the seventh time, stood firm on the shore." Alleras nodded.
"No wonder the King of the Iron Throne dared come here for a decisive battle."
"In a war like this, even my father probably couldn't turn the tide," Alleras thought.
Although the Red Viper knew some dark magic, he had never possessed Crow's Eye Euron Greyjoy's power to summon wind and rain, nor did he have as much equipment as Crow's Eye.
If the Red Viper were here, he would probably be knocked down in the first round, because this was not a war fought on the same level.
"Then who provided the magic? They even stopped the changing wind, and the Dragonhorn has lost its effect. That wasn't what my intelligence said." "Pate" was likewise deep in thought.
Pate had originally believed Crow's Eye to be the most terrifying threat. He had not expected "Storm" Gendry to be so unfathomable as well.
"Dracarys."
Balerion let out a piercing roar. The sound filled the entire battlefield, and a furnace-hot wind swept across it.
Balerion's eyes were like molten lava as he watched the direction where the Kraken was rampaging.
Ordinary Kraken feared a Dragon's flames. Only the Bleeding Sea Kraken was the fiercest.
"Boom!"
Black-red Dragonfire bombarded the Bleeding Sea Kraken's enormous tentacle. The Bleeding Sea Kraken's skin was extremely tough, with an oily sheen to it.
But the Dragonfire was fiercer still. This was no ordinary Dragonfire. Gendry had further strengthened the Dragon with several strange runes: Bronze Shield, Chain, Hardened Stone, and Morning Light.
The flames spread across the tentacle. In pain, the Bleeding Sea Kraken immediately withdrew its tentacles and head beneath the waves.
A moment later, however, with a great splash, several enormous tentacles rose with the surging waves and lashed once more at the Dragons in the sky.
The dragons climbed higher again, avoiding the Bleeding Sea Kraken's attack. Its tentacles could do nothing to them.
Instead, Balerion dove again with the other two magical Dragons. Three colors of Dragonfire danced wildly together toward the portion of the Kraken's tentacle still lingering above the water.
The Kraken cried out in pain again. Its twisted tentacles churned beneath the sea, stirring the water and sending waves rolling.
Whether they belonged to the Ironborn or the Iron Throne's longships, every ship close to the Kraken was attacked without exception.
"Arrows!" Nute the Barber roared. "Arrows!"
The Iron Fleet's signal flags snapped in the wind.
Long iron arrows of various colors tried to shoot down the magical Dragons attacking the Kraken from high above, but they did little good. Instead, they only provoked the Dragons' fury.
The Dragons were not crude imitations like Oldtown's stone beast and sphinxes. They possessed great intelligence.
"Roar!"
The dragon flock let out sharp, furious roars, as if venting their rage at being unable to hunt down the Kraken.
Blazing Dragonfire erupted at the same time, pouring down from the sky toward the Iron Fleet's battle line. The rolling flames could half-melt steel, let alone wood and flesh.
Black smoke billowed over the sea. Neither the longships nor the Iron Fleet's warships could withstand the Dragons' repeated bombardments of Dragonfire.
The Dragons also realized that the longships posed little threat. Longships were nimble and suited for landing, but the Iron Fleet was far more dangerous.
The dragon flock circled high in the sky, gathering over the broad channel of the Honeywine River, fixing their sights on the Kraken and the Iron Fleet.
Under the Dragons' constant bombardment, the Iron Fleet was thrown into chaos. It could not fully seize the entire channel, much less freely support the longships fighting along both banks.
The Iron Fleet's usual mode of battle relied mainly on boarding actions and close-quarters fighting.
Now, constrained by the waterway, the Dragons, and the Kraken, they could not overwhelm the Iron Throne army's longships.
"Field of Fire!"
"Field of Fire!"
The Iron Throne's soldiers shouted the Storm clan words, their morale soaring.
The cruelest boarding battles erupted along both banks of the Honeywine River, and no one paid attention anymore to the feud between the Dragons and the Kraken.
"Crash!"
"Crash!"
The waves surged, and the decks pitched violently.
Longship slammed into longship as men fought for their respective kings.
The square before the Sept of the Stars had been flooded by seawater and was now a shallow expanse, making it the bloodiest place in the war.
Ships collided. Men staggered, then leapt onto enemy vessels and began swinging their weapons.
All the ships crashed together into a single mass of chaos. Some men even jumped into chest-deep water and began fighting beneath the surface.
"Surrender, or die!" Gendry roared, leading the most elite vanguard like a right fist hurled into battle.
The Kingsguards followed behind him. This small squad was like a demon of war, the Kingsguards swinging the fine swords bestowed on them by the king.
"Kill the little king!"
"Protect the king!"
Gendry swung Kraken Howl. Boarding battles were no place for mounted knights. Everyone fought on foot.
The axe carved a deadly arc, its ruthless black-and-red ripples dancing wildly. The two Ironborn before Gendry fell where they stood.
Steel clashed. Entrails, blood, and bodies littered the deck, leaving the hold and planks slick with gore.
No steel in the world was sharper than Valyrian steel, and no man was more ferocious than the Blood of the Storm.
Everyone was locked in slaughter. Gendry's small squad cut through the battle like a blade, the Kingsguards, and Gendry's squires, Lothor and Harrold.
"Robert's bastard, your opponent is me!" a towering Ironborn shouted.
"Who are you?" Gendry looked at the Ironborn who had appeared before him.
"Andrik! Andrik the Unsmiling!"
The giant's arms were as thick as tree trunks.
Gendry studied the man. He looked like he belonged in the same mold as The Mountain, probably more than seven feet tall and powerfully built.
"Good." Gendry laughed loudly. "They say you're the greatest warrior of the Iron Islands?"
"This is no joke. Today, I become the Stag-Slayer." According to the singers, Andrik was the fiercest and most savage of all living Ironborn warriors.
"Is that Valyrian steel axe all you have? Only cowards rely on an advantage like that," Andrik cursed, brandishing the battleaxe in his hands.
"You said it."
Gendry tossed the battleaxe Kraken Howl to Lothor, then drew Just Maid from his back. The blue glass-like blade was breathtakingly beautiful.
Andrik roared and charged, his battleaxe whirling into a blood-red Storm.
Gendry's helmet had its visor removed. A man's head was the most dangerous place to leave exposed.
Gendry's longsword began to move as well, the weapons ringing fiercely through the air as they struck.
Just Maid let out a sharp sword-whistle. Gendry's longsword deflected every one of Andrik's attacks, then came Gendry's counterattack.
Gendry's figure suddenly spun across the deck, and the keen blade swept straight across Andrik's cheek.
"How is this possible?" Andrik could hardly believe it. Men that big were not supposed to be so quick.
Andrik barely dodged, but the edge of Just Maid still sliced across his face from ear to lip.
"Die!" Andrik roared. He swung his battleaxe with both hands, aiming a diagonal chop at Gendry's neck.
"I am the Storm." Gendry met Andrik's battleaxe head-on. The haft of Andrik's axe was cut clean through and dropped onto the deck.
Then the sword slashed across Andrik's waist. The blade carved through armor, skin, and entrails in a bloody arc.
Andrik's intestines spilled onto the deck like eels.
The longsword flashed again, and Gendry followed with a backhand thrust straight through his heart.
Andrik's body collapsed onto the deck.
Rodrik stood at the rear of the longship and saw everything clearly. The strongest man in the Iron Islands had died with such effortless ease.
The Storm's ferocity was beyond anything he had imagined.
"Andrik is dead!"
"Andrik is dead!" the soldiers shouted, cheering wildly.
Crow's Eye and his band of misshapen bastards, mongrels, and mutes also entered the battlefield. They were a strange company.
Silent and bloody.
Crow's Eye's longsword swept through the head of a Golden Robe Crackclaw Man, an old veteran.
"Who are you?"
But the moment the veteran looked into Crow's Eye's eyes, his vision blurred. What he saw was not a man, but a great Kraken with ten tentacles and a single blood-red eye.
"I am your nightmare."
Crow's Eye took the old soldier's head with one stroke.
"Hahahahaha!"
Crow's Eye threw back his head and laughed. Blood upon blood. He still had one final move, his eye, and he was certain he would not fail.
"Look at me, Gendry the Breaker!" Crow's Eye roared. "Come and duel me!"
Crow's Eye's bastard troops went mad. They had spotted Gendry's longship.
The crew of the Silence swept across the deck. With the wind howling around them, the two ships drew alongside each other. Andrik's death had bought Crow's Eye the time he needed.
Euron, clad in black Valyrian steel armor, stood out at once.
All the mute bastards aboard the Silence brandished their weapons as if they had no fear of death.
The Ironborn longships did everything they could to buy them time.
King against king. Storm against Storm.
Gendry and Crow's Eye had finally come face to face.
"Why?" Crow's Eye swung the purple-veined longsword in his hand, another Valyrian steel weapon.
Crow's Eye could obtain even more costly steel armor, so naturally he had a longsword as well.
"Because I am the Storm," Gendry said, looking at Crow's Eye.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
The howl of an arrow cut through the air. The Fletcher appeared on a nearby longship, the shot flying straight for Crow's Eye's eye. It was the most precise arrow of the Fletcher's life.
"Hahahahaha!"
Crow's Eye suddenly burst into wild laughter. A mute bastard threw himself down in front of him and took the arrow in Crow's Eye's place.
"A master archer indeed."
Before Crow's Eye had even finished speaking, a bastard in the corner pulled a longbow from hiding.
The arrow split the sky as smoothly as a blade through silk, aimed directly at the Fletcher.
"No."
The Fletcher was startled. He felt as if he had been muddled only a moment ago, and now the arrow seemed impossible to avoid.
It was the full-strength strike of a genius Skinchanger, while the Fletcher was old and weakened. Even with the protection of runes, he could not escape.
Blood bloomed as the arrow struck him squarely in the chest.
The Fletcher fell onto the deck.
Westeros' finest bowmaker and archer died beneath an arrow.
"You killed him!" Gendry roared, Just Maid dancing with unmatched savagery.
A faint blue light shone around Just Maid's blade, making it look like blue glass. Yet that clear glow did not mean cold. Like the sea, it carried a deep, surging vitality.
"I didn't just kill him. I'm going to kill you too."
Crow's Eye swung his sword, and his eyepatch fell to the ground.
"Blood. More blood."
Crow's Eye's bastards seemed to receive some revelation, some command.
Every bastard drove a dagger straight into his own heart, then collapsed to the deck.
The reek of blood filled the air. Crow's Eye's purple-veined Valyrian steel sword whistled fiercely as it moved. In sheer strength, he was not the slightest bit weaker than Andrik had been.
"What a fine body. Dragon blood, Blood of the Storm. Able to control dragons, filled with boundless strength, and younger, fresher besides."
Crow's Eye stared greedily at Gendry, his blood-red eye suddenly blazing with power.
What kind of eye was that? Blood-red, steeped in evil and mystery.
A ghostly glow flared from Crow's Eye's blood-red eye. Mind crashed against mind as he tried to force his way into Gendry's head.
"You're nothing but a mere Skinchanger, and you dare call yourself the Storm?"
Gendry raised Just Maid, and every flame around him began to whirl, gathering upon his body.
Black-and-red fire covered Gendry like a giant forged from flames, a suit of black-and-red runic armor.
A bronze shield, pale gray stone, blue Morning Light, golden chains. Those patterns flowed endlessly through the fire, like the tremor of living runes.
Bronze Yohn saw it clearly. "Could this be the true rune armor?"
"Aaaaaah! This makes no sense!"
Crow's Eye screamed as blood suddenly burst from his left eye.
Blood streamed from the eye, running down his face like crimson tears.
It had been a failed attempt to peer inside, and instead it had burned his own mind.
"Why? Why? Storm. You are Storm too."
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