Sunlight spilled into the courtyard of Dragonstone as Gendry tested the long-handled battle-axe in his hands. It truly was no ordinary weapon.
The haft of the Valyrian steel battle-axe was decorated with a red-gold crab, and the shaft was covered in wave patterns. The double-edged axe blade was rippled in black and red.
With enough strength behind it, an axe could smash through anything. In a melee, or in battle aboard a ship, an axe was an excellent tool.
"Bring me a suit of armor."
"As you command."
A suit of black true steel armor was set up in the courtyard on a straw dummy, dark as smoke.
Gendry swung the huge battle-axe and brought it down.
The black armor was split cleanly in two, without the slightest resistance.
In terms of striking surface, a battle-axe had a larger impact area than a sword, which increased its killing power against both men and armor.
But axes were heavy. Every swing required great strength, and using one consumed too much energy.
A long axe had great power, but also left great openings.
"For me, it's just right," Gendry thought. First, he was a physical monster unlike any other in the Known world, a dual Dragon King of storm strength and pyromancy.
Second, Valyrian steel was indestructible in quality and light in weight. Otherwise, Randyll Tarly would have exhausted himself to death carrying a greatsword on his back every day.
"This axe is good. I'll take it and kill a few more Ironborn."
Gendry set the axe down, and Brienne of Tarth took it for him.
The conflict between Gendry and the Ironborn was already irreconcilable. First, the Ironborn had invaded Gendry's lands in The North and The Reach. Second, Gendry now controlled the Stepstones island chain, which was the same as reducing the Ironborn's room to operate.
If one also counted the deep hatred between their ancestors, House Hoare had taken the Riverlands from House Durrandon, while Aegon the Conqueror had burned Harren the Black to death in fire. The two sides were enemies to the death.
Besides, one Westeros having two kings who knew magic was one too many.
"Westeros doesn't need a king as powerful as Crow's Eye."
Crow's Eye was someone Gendry had to kill. Besides, he was said to carry many treasures, and Gendry very much wanted to burst Crow's Eye open for loot, especially that legendary suit of Valyrian steel armor.
"A true divine weapon," Ser Barristan Selmy praised again and again. Staying at Gendry's side had truly broadened his horizons. He had seen many divine weapons now. Before this, the most beautiful weapons he had seen were Dawn, Heartsbane, and Ice.
But in Gendry's hands, even Valyrian steel was almost no longer rare. He even had a magic sword like Just Maid.
"This is my first time seeing a Valyrian steel battle-axe," Daenerys said.
"Your Grace means the Valyrian steel longswords in the hands of the Ironborn?" Lord Adrian Celtigar asked. He had roughly guessed that Gendry meant to exchange one item for another, which was still reasonable enough. At least he had not simply seized it by force.
"Yes. I hear Crow's Eye has made a fortune abroad, and the Ironborn already have two Valyrian steel swords, Nightfall and Red Rain."
The Ironborn were not actually as poor as people in the Seven Kingdoms imagined. The Ironborn also had many years of accumulated wealth.
Among the lords thriving in Westeros now, the greater houses opened their mouths and spoke of thousands of years: Stark, Dayne, Hightower, Baratheon, counting Durrandon, Martell, counting Queen Nymeria, Lannister, and so on. These might be among the oldest, but the great lords of the Ironborn also had long histories.
They made their living from the sea. Though they did not dare openly plunder the Seven Kingdoms, they had raided the Stepstones and Slaver's Bay in the past and made money from it.
Steel for steel, sword for axe. Gendry naturally had many divine weapons in his hands, but he had another route in mind.
Buying was not as good as taking. Kill the Ironborn, and their weapons would all become his spoils.
"That is quite the idea, Your Grace. You pay not a coin, only take the spoils of Fire and Blood..." Lord Adrian burst into laughter. "As expected of the Demon of the Whispering Wood, the Devil of the Battlefield."
"One longsword may not be quite enough. Would Your Grace also give me two Valyrian steel daggers?" Lord Adrian bargained.
Given the rarity of this Valyrian steel great axe and the amount of material it used, Lord Adrian was being an honest man in front of Gendry.
After all, a greatsword like Ice could be melted down into two longswords.
"That won't be a problem," Gendry promised. "One Valyrian steel longsword and two daggers."
Gendry unfastened his sword belt and first gave Lord Adrian his Valyrian steel dagger with the Dragonbone hilt, the one once used to try to assassinate Bran Stark, which later fell into Petyr Baelish's hands before coming to Gendry.
"Now I still owe Lord Adrian one sword and one dagger. My remaining dagger is not Valyrian steel. It was a treasured gift from Great Lord Jon Arryn to my father, King Robert."
"When it comes to loyalty and affection, you are exactly like the late king," Ser Justin Massey said.
Aside from women, Robert had still valued old bonds in other matters. He had a hundred famous daggers, but only used the one Great Lord Jon had given him when he was a boy.
"House Celtigar is wealthy, but it has never been a house famous for knights. If the great axe gathers dust, better that Your Grace let it shine again," Lord Adrian Celtigar said. "Besides, the axe is too large. A longsword is more practical."
House Celtigar was ancient and wealthy, having built its fortune through shipping and collecting taxes. In history, they had produced several Masters of Coin, but almost no famous warriors.
So this battle-axe had been left gathering dust in the storeroom.
A seafaring house like Celtigar naturally had many grudges with the Ironborn. Every dockside merchant hated and feared them.
"Does this battle-axe have a name?" Gendry asked Lord Celtigar.
"No..." Lord Adrian said awkwardly. "Although it is the most precious trophy in our storeroom, few people use it. A battle-axe represents the bloody battlefield. What if it were lost on the battlefield?"
At that, even Ser Barristan Selmy, Daenerys Breaker, and the others could not keep straight faces.
House Celtigar's strange logic was like buying a fine horse, fearing it might be injured, and then never riding it, only locking it in a stable forever.
Perhaps they simply lacked the confidence to protect the weapon. Someone like Randyll Tarly carried his sword on his back every day, wishing the whole world could see it.
"I ask the Sword of Morning Light, the Storm Dragon King, Your Grace the undefeated, to give this axe a new name," Lord Adrian requested, kneeling.
"When a divine weapon emerges, it must drink blood and fire. This battle-axe shall be called The Wail of the Kraken," Gendry said. A name like Oath would be too simple. The Wail of the Kraken was more direct.
The first battlefield where this battle-axe would appear was Oldtown. It would surely drink the blood of the Kraken.
"A fine name," the Red Crab said with a laugh. "Let this battle-axe take Crow's Eye's head."
Boom.
The Dragons descended from the sky and flew into the courtyard.
The Dragons in the courtyard roared together, their voices shaking heaven and earth.
Aside from their leathery wings, the largest, Balerion, was now bigger than a warhorse, though lighter in weight, so he still could not carry a rider for the time being.
Once he grew a little more, the Dragon would be able to carry Daenerys first.
The other two Dragons, Vhagar and Viserion, were growing slightly slower than the black dragon. But their warhorse-sized bodies already carried a certain intimidation.
Balerion's dragon head was larger than a horse's head, and his neck kept stretching longer, like a huge black python. He had a pair of molten blood-red eyes, making him look like the Black Dread himself.
Thud.
Balerion was also extremely quick on the ground.
The black dragon came before Gendry, and Balerion touched Gendry's breastplate with his snout.
"Good. Good lad."
Gendry stroked Balerion's red horns.
Aside from the runes, he was very curious whether Kraken meat would also help a Dragon grow. If so, perhaps the black dragon could have a feast.
The green dragon Vhagar circled Daenerys, while the white dragon Viserion could only creep over to Gendry's side, circling near the Dragonrider.
"The Black Dread," Lord Adrian blurted out. What drew the eye most was the tall, powerful, ferocious black dragon. He truly felt like one of the same kind.
Gendry and Daenerys looked proudly at the thriving Dragons. The air was filled with the smell of fire and sulfur. These three Dragons truly seemed touched by magic, growing much faster than ordinary Dragons.
Gendry had once looked through books from the time of The Dance of the Dragons. Back then, hatchling dragons generally took several years to grow to roughly the size of a horse.
But these three Dragons needed only a year or two, and that had been without being near Dragonstone.
Now Gendry had brought them to Dragonstone, with all kinds of runes acting as supplements and every sort of buff stacked on top. They were growing even faster than before.
"Ser Barristan, how are the men arranged?"
"The knights are ready, including all the longships we borrowed. We can depart at any time," Ser Barristan said.
"Tell the Small Council that I have decided to march south to war."
When the Dragons rise again, the Kraken shall be buried.
"As you command, Your Grace," Ser Barristan said with fervor. Morale had risen like a tide and reached its peak.
If the Ironborn were allowed to keep rampaging, it would damage the authority of both the Iron Throne and the King.
"Save The Reach, kill the Kraken!"
"Save The Reach, kill the Kraken!"
The knights cheered. They already had the advantage in numbers, and they had three Dragons to aid them.
More than that, they had their undefeated commander: the Breaker, the Breaker of Chains, the Storm, the Sword of Morning Light, the Dragon King Storm.
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