Chapter 66:
The North, eastern end of the Wall, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.
The situation here was even more brutal than the letter had described.
Freezing wind mixed with ice shards battered the crumbling seaside fortress mercilessly.
The Night's Watch defensive line had already collapsed.
Hundreds of crystallized Others climbed the frozen walls like pale spiders, using the sharp ice claws on their hands and feet to ignore gravity entirely.
They needed no siege ladders — they themselves were the battering rams.
"Hold the line! Use the fire oil!"
Eastwatch commander Cotter Pyke, covered in blood, swung his longsword and severed the neck of a monster that had just climbed over the parapet.
Clang!
The steel sword struck the creature's neck and actually chipped. That semi-transparent ice-crystal skin was as hard as stone.
Although the monster fell, more were swarming up.
Ordinary arrows bounced off their bodies. Even boiling pitch poured down only slowed them slightly.
"It's over…"
Cotter Pyke looked at the dense white tide and closed his eyes in despair.
"The Wall is about to break."
…
At that exact moment—
Vroooom——————!!!
A deep, rumbling roar never before heard on this ancient frozen soil suddenly cut through the howl of the blizzard.
The sound was not short like thunder — it was continuous, oppressive, like a pack of enraged steel beasts approaching.
Both the men of the Night's Watch on the walls and the Others climbing them froze and looked south.
On the horizon,
Fifty glaring headlights pierced the darkness of the blizzard like swords.
Black smoke billowed. Waves of snow churned.
The [Pompey Steel Knights Order] had arrived.
Leading the charge was a heavily modified command half-track motorcycle.
The Hound, Sandor Clegane, wore full black Valyrian steel plate armor. The red lenses on his helmet gleamed fiercely through the snow.
He wasn't holding a gun.
On his back was his signature greatsword, while his right hand gripped a three-meter-long heavy lance forged from fine steel.
"What… what are those things?" Cotter Pyke stared in shock. "Iron horses without legs?"
…
On the snowfield, in assault formation.
Victor sat in the command vehicle, issuing orders via radio.
"All units, attention."
"Do not open fire. Bullets lack sufficient penetration against these crystalline shells, and they don't have enough power."
"Since we are a knights order, we will deal with them in a knightly manner."
"All units — draw lances!"
Clack!
The fifty Steel Knights moved in unison.
The front twenty knights lowered their heavy lances. The tips were not ordinary steel but armor-piercing cones embedded with obsidian (dragonglass).
The rear thirty knights drew heavy chainsaw swords from the sides of their motorcycles (driven by small steam engines — clumsy but with excellent cutting power).
"For the North!"
"For the throttle!"
The Hound twisted the throttle to its limit.
VROOOOM!!!
The diesel engine let out a heart-tearing roar. The rear tracks bit furiously into the ground, propelling the several-hundred-kilogram machine to extreme speed.
The speedometer shot up: 40… 60… 80 km/h!
This speed was something no warhorse could match.
At this velocity, the motorcycle itself was a several-hundred-kilogram cannonball!
The crystallized Others at the base of the wall felt the earth tremble. They turned, opened their mouths, and roared, trying to block the oncoming steel beasts.
"Smash them!!!"
The Hound roared.
Bang! Pfft!
The first impact occurred.
It was pure, brutal kinetic force.
Borrowing the 80 km/h speed, the heavy lances tipped with dragonglass pierced straight through the first row of Others' hard chests without resistance.
The massive inertia not only impaled them — it shattered their bodies!
It was like a speeding truck slamming into glass figures.
Crystal shards exploded everywhere. Black bodily fluid froze mid-air.
"Fuck yes!!!"
One knight shouted in excitement. His lance had skewered two Others, but he didn't need to stop.
The motorcycle's massive torque pushed him forward, flinging the corpses away like garbage.
Close-quarters melee after the charge.
At this moment, the violent beauty of cold weapons was pushed to the extreme.
The Hound discarded his broken lance and drew the Valyrian steel greatsword from his back.
He slammed on the brakes, executing a stylish powerslide. Using the motorcycle's body like a shield, he smashed aside an Other trying to flank him.
Then, borrowing the centrifugal force of the turn, he gripped the sword with both hands and delivered a horizontal sweep!
Whooo— Clang!
The Valyrian steel blade, combined with waist rotation and mechanical power.
The Other's head and half its shoulder were sliced clean off.
Behind him, the other knights activated their chainsaw swords.
Zzzzzzzzz—!!!
The piercing sound of spinning teeth echoed across the snowfield.
One knight circled a massive Other leader on his bike, then drove the chainsaw sword into the creature's waist at full speed.
Sparks flew! Ice shards scattered!
The hard crystalline skin lasted less than two seconds against the high-speed teeth before being sawed completely open.
There was no roar of gunfire.
Only the bellow of engines, the clash of metal, the whine of chainsaws, and the brittle sound of Others shattering.
This was cavalry charge in the age of steel.
It required no horsemanship — only courage and fuel.
…
Ten minutes later.
The battle ended faster than expected.
The hundreds of mutated Others that had driven the Night's Watch to despair now lay as nothing but broken ice shards on the snow.
Black diesel smoke drifted across the battlefield, mixing with the unique stench of the Others' corpses.
On the wall, the men of the Night's Watch stood with mouths agape, even forgetting to cheer.
They stared at the knights riding "smoking iron beasts" in heavy armor as if gods had descended.
The Hound, Sandor Clegane, removed his helmet, revealing a face covered in sweat and oil.
He exhaled a plume of hot breath and patted the scorching engine between his legs.
"This thing…"
He grinned, the burn scar on his face looking particularly savage.
"…feels way better than hacking people. This is what a man should ride."
Victor's jeep slowly rolled onto the battlefield.
He jumped down and walked to a still-twitching crystallized Other that had been cut in half.
The creature tried to claw at him with its remaining arm.
Crunch.
Victor's powered-exoskeleton boot crushed its head.
He bent down and picked up a fragment.
"This hardness… ordinary steel swords from before really couldn't cut them."
Victor analyzed.
"It seems that in future wars, armor-piercing capability will be the top priority."
He raised his head and looked at the stunned men of the Night's Watch on the wall.
"Cotter Pyke!" Victor shouted.
"Here, my lord!" Cotter Pyke finally snapped out of it and hurried down from the battlements.
"This is my Steel Knights Order."
Victor gestured at the knights behind him, who were refueling their motorcycles and wiping blood from their swords.
"From today onward, the defense of the Wall is under our command."
"Also…"
Victor pointed at the dozens of still-warm steel mounts.
"Give them something good to eat. They earned it in this fight."
…
That night, Eastwatch command post.
The hearth fire burned brightly.
Sansa was organizing the battle report for Victor.
"Fifty-eight men deployed, zero casualties."
"Only three motorcycles had front forks broken from heavy impacts, and two chainsaw swords had jammed teeth."
"This is a complete victory."
Victor nodded, but he didn't look particularly happy.
He stared out the window at the dark expanse of the Wall beyond.
"This was only the vanguard."
Victor said gravely.
"Those crystallized Others… they were organized. During the fight, I noticed they kept trying to attack the fuel tanks and engines of the motorcycles."
"They're learning."
"Whatever is behind them… is smarter than the Night King."
At that moment, the system suddenly issued a red warning.
[Alert! Extremely high-energy reaction detected!]
[Location: North of the Wall, deep in the Haunted Forest.]
[Type: Signs of Ancient Ice Dragon Awakening.]
Victor's pupils contracted.
Ice dragon.
The legendary creatures said to be even larger than Valyrian fire dragons, made entirely of ice crystals.
No wonder the "Wolf King" bloodline in Sansa's belly had awakened — it was to counter this.
"Looks like motorcycles and chainsaw swords won't be enough."
Victor looked at Sansa.
"We need to accelerate."
"Besides petroleum, I also need… aerial power."
He thought of Daenerys back in King's Landing, who had only been pregnant for a short time.
And the three young dragons growing strong.
"Send a telegram to King's Landing."
Victor ordered.
"Tell the Royal Magitech Academy to rush production on the [Dragon Valyrian Steel Armor Set]."
"Since we're going to have knights, how can we lack dragonriders?"
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