Bab 785: Chapter 785: Disaster Strikes
"This is the only way," Benjen remarked, his expression tinged with sorrow as he nodded.
Although he did not wish to become humanity's enemy, he equally did not wish to die. Otherwise, he would not have hesitated at the last moment when attempting to assassinate the Night King.
Lyanna felt the same. She did not want to oppose humanity, but she was also unwilling to lose her life for it.
At some point, a subtle shift had occurred in Benjen and Lyanna's mindsets.
They seemed to no longer consider themselves human in their hearts, instead beginning to ponder issues from the perspective of the dead.
However, the two had indeed long been listed among the dead in the human world. Benjen had ventured beyond the Wall, never to return. Initially, his elder brother had firmly believed that Benjen was not dead and would return one day.
Yet, as days turned into years, four years had passed in the blink of an eye, and the horns signaling the return of rangers had never sounded atop the Wall. Even Eddard, once the most steadfast, had gradually begun to waver.
He, too, had started to believe that Benjen had truly perished beyond the Wall.
He believed Benjen had died in his stead because, at that time, it was Eddard who had wanted to venture beyond the Wall alone to search for Lyanna. However, Benjen had stopped him, insisting on going in Eddard's place.
Thus, for a long time, Eddard had been mired in regret and guilt, unable to extricate himself.
On the other hand, Lyanna and Benjen, who had remained in the vast wilderness of the far north, were equally unaware.
They did not know the suffering and torment the human world was currently enduring.
The two did not even know that the Long Night had descended.
Because their current location was at the very apex of the world, an extremely unique place.
As such, Benjen was unsure if it was his imagination, but he always felt that the sun rose from the east one day, then from the north the next, occasionally even from the west or south.
Benjen did not know if it was his illusion or if his sense of direction was mistaken, but everything here was chaotic. There were dozens of consecutive days of daylight and equally dozens of consecutive nights of darkness.
However, limited by his shallow knowledge, Benjen could only attribute everything to the fact that they were in the White Walkers' "homeland," a land of mystery and magic.
Meanwhile, the human world remained blissfully unaware. For them, the precious sun still rose and set as usual in the far north.
Benjen and Lyanna continued marching southward with the vast army of the dead. They had expected to eventually see the Wall, but before they could lay eyes on it, they first encountered some human villages.
The people here wore thick animal furs. They were not tall, with broad noses and straight black hair. They shouted in an incomprehensible language, wielding bows, harpoons, axes, and other weapons as they fiercely resisted the White Walkers' assault.
"Who are these people?" Benjen and Lyanna were both baffled upon seeing these unknown tribes. "After being away from home for years, have these people already occupied the lands north of the Wall?"
The language these people spoke was one they had never heard before. Moreover, they differed from the prevalent peoples of Westeros—the remnants of the First Men, the Andals, and the Rhoynar.
These people seemed to bear some resemblance to the Ibbenese.
They were adept at using harpoons, axes, and other weapons, suggesting they were skilled at fishing on the ice of the far north and could hunt large, fierce beasts like snow bears, musk oxen, and reindeer.
In appearance, these people also shared similarities with the Ibbenese, with square teeth, broad shoulders, and chests. To stay warm, their bodies were also quite hairy.
During his time in the Night's Watch, Benjen had executed some smugglers caught supplying armor and weapons to the wildlings, including a few Ibbenese. Benjen still had some memory of them.
"Could we have reached Ib?" Benjen wondered as he watched these primitive tribespeople struggle in vain. Despite their brave and fierce warriors, they were still no match for the surging army of the dead. In a mere moment, the once bustling village had completely fallen.
These people, who closely resembled the Ibbenese, had also joined the ranks of the dead, becoming wights.
The Night King was not present, but the army of the dead still had a single voice.
Perhaps the Night King had delegated command to another. Benjen recognized him as "The Hungry Wolf," Theon Stark, a King in the North and head of House Stark from thousands of years ago.
He had led the northern armies to defeat the Andal invader Argos "The Sevenstars," conquered the Three Sisters, and attacked the Fingers.
Benjen had seen his statue in the crypts of Winterfell, but Theon did not recognize him as a descendant.
"The Hungry Wolf" Theon now served as the commander of the entire army of the dead. He could convey orders to all the White Walkers and wights without needing to speak.
The army of the dead then razed the village and, without any respite, continued marching south.
Only then did Benjen and Lyanna realize a grave issue.
"This can't possibly be Ib!" Benjen exclaimed, his voice tinged with bitterness. Because even with his limited education, he had still received a noble's tutelage. He knew Ib was an island, not a continent connected to the great wilderness.
"It also can't be beyond the Wall," Benjen added, his voice slightly bitter. Because in his time beyond the Wall, he had never seen villages or tribes like these.
The houses here were extremely peculiar, with stone, wood, and even ice dwellings. Half of the structures were sunken into the ground, with very low doorways.
Moreover, the environment here differed from the lands beyond the Wall that Benjen was familiar with. It was even colder here, although Benjen could no longer feel the cold. However, it was evident from the people's attire.
Icebergs floated on the sea's surface. In the distance, with the aid of the sun's radiance, one could see large floating islands—in reality, massive icebergs—atop which more tribal people gazed in their direction.
The sunlight shining upon these drifting giant ice blocks reflected a dazzling brilliance.
"We took a wrong turn," Benjen said, his voice filled with confusion. "This is the other end of the great wilderness."
"An unknown world, an unrecorded civilization."
"Where have we ended up?"
Benjen's bitter voice carried a sense of bewilderment. This was even more despairing than attacking the Wall. Yet, the yearning for the unknown that had been brewing in his chest continued to surge.
On the other side of the world, news of Ib's fall had already taken flight, reaching every corner of the globe.
Qohor, Norvos, Braavos, Pentos, King's Landing—everyone was once again plunged into panic, especially those across the Narrow Sea.
Because they had initially watched with the mentality of spectators, wanting to see the clash between the empire and the White Walkers. They had hoped the empire's might would stop the White Walkers, ideally with both sides suffering heavy losses. The White Walkers would be repelled, humanity would regain the light, and the great empire would disintegrate amidst the disaster. Future generations would commemorate it with beautiful poetry.
However, no one had anticipated that, this time, the White Walkers would not directly confront the currently most powerful Valyrian Empire. Instead, they had chosen a flanking maneuver, with disaster suddenly descending upon their own heads.
Now, it was the turn of the peoples of Essos—various races and city-states—to unite and weather the calamity together.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Read_and_Chill
Read_and_Chill starting to get back into the swing of things on webnovel.
contemplating adding advance chapters on patreon for this book.
currently my schedule for patreon is:
M -F 3 chapters of Stormwind Mage God
M - 5 chapters of Warhammer 40k I don't want to be a tin can
F- 10 chapters of One Piece As an Immortal, I'll Max out Conqueror's Haki First
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I am still thinking if i want to add this book or maybe an orginal book or another naruto fanfic
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