บท 131: Chapter 131 - King slayer
Chapter 131 - King slayer
Jamie sat on the ground, watching as his men were cut down like swine in a slaughterhouse. The men in crimson armor effortlessly cleaved through his soldiers, barely hindered by the thicket and armor.
They advanced swiftly through the ranks of his men, never pausing for a moment. With each sword swing, they claimed lives. It didn't last long. In just a couple of minutes, from the initial 3-5 thousand, only a handful remained, most of them missing limbs...
Jamie observed as the men in crimson armor walked towards him with light steps. Seeing this, Jamie sighed and said, "Well, it seems our time has come..."
As Jamie saw the enemy soldiers raising their swords for the strike, he prepared to close his eyes but heard a slightly distorted voice, "Five minutes for cleanup!"
The soldiers instantly lowered their weapons and stood still, staring at Jamie's group. Jamie didn't understand what was happening and why the people who had just approached him with obvious intent to kill suddenly stopped.
He whispered to Bronn, who sat beside him, "Do you understand what's happening? Why did these monsters freeze like that?"
"How would I know? Maybe they saw your golden hand and don't know how to divide it?"
"I doubt that people who can cut my soldiers in half need my gilded hand."
Bronn said nothing and turned to look at these soldiers, trying to understand how each of these people was stronger than Klingan, why their strikes could effortlessly cleave a person in two.
Minutes passed, and there was no movement, neither Jamie nor Bronn could understand what the hell was happening.
Until suddenly all the soldiers in crimson armor stood at attention and saluted.
Jamie tried to see whom they were greeting and looked around, to the right, to the left, backward, but saw no one until Bronn tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the sky.
Raising his gaze, Jamie saw a figure outlined by the sun.
The man descended from the sky smoothly.
At first, the Lannister men thought it was a god who had come to save them, but then they saw that the man was dressed in armor similar in style, and he was not flying by the will of the world, flames streaming from his hands and feet holding him in the air.
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Asmodeus landed smoothly on the ground, thanks to the magic of air, his landings now much softer and not harming the environment.
Asmodeus looked over his soldiers and said, "At ease! Well done. I've been watching your actions. William!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"You've shown that you can maintain discipline among the soldiers even when facing the weakest enemies, which sometimes means even more than focus in battle against a strong opponent. From now on, your rank as squad captain will be firmly established. You will receive a bonus, and your monthly salary will be increased accordingly. Do you have any additional desires?"
"Thank you, my lord, but you have already made me a wizard, I cannot ask for anything more from you. It would be disgraceful."
"I've already told you all, you've become wizards and have already paid for it with loyalty to me, but everyone needs rewards! You are not slaves, and not mercenaries. You are my people, those who will stand by me in future battles. Therefore, choose a reward within reason, you have time to think until tomorrow. If you can't come up with anything, I'll gift you a house in the center of Astra."
"I will think, my lord!"
"As for everyone else. You've all worked very well! Each of you will receive a bonus of a thousand gold pieces, as well as the opportunity to take an additional training course with one of the high wizards. Of course, you can also go to the druids or healers if you wish."
Upon hearing this, the soldiers were very pleased.
"Lord Morningstar! Please enroll me in the group that will train with you!!!"
"Me too, Lord Morningstar!!!"
"My lord, please send me to study with Lord Flamel, I want to delve deeper into alchemy!!"
"Quiet, quiet, even with my memory, I won't be able to remember the requests of all two thousand. Write your names and the course you want to take on a piece of paper and hand them to William within a month."
"Got it!!!"
"Alright, burn the bodies and clear the battlefield, oh by the way, you dug a trench, bury it back, let's not spoil the Tyrells' view from their window."
The troops nodded and, without even glancing at the 20-30 Lannister soldiers, went to clear the battlefield. Asmodeus nodded satisfactorily as he saw the Order of the Flame departing, then turned around.
"To be honest, I doubted whether you would survive this battle. Although I helped you a little in the end."
Jamie understood that Asmodeus was addressing him and asked, "My lord, forgive me for my rudeness. May I inquire who you are?"
"Let's just say I'm a good acquaintance of your brother."
"Tyrion!?"
"Do you have another brother?"
"Um, no...."
"Then Tyrion."
"What will happen to us now? Are you going to execute us?"
"Why would I do that? Since you've survived, I'll send you to Dragonstone. To your brother, where he and her Majesty Daenerys will decide your fate."
"Was that her dragon?"
"Athena? No, of course not. That's my girl, I've raised her for a long time."
"So, your queen has three more dragons?"
"Well, firstly, she's not my queen, we're allies. Secondly, along with the dragons provided by my country, she has access to 9 dragons."
"....."
Upon hearing the number 9, Jamie realized that the war was lost. Although they didn't get to test Qyburn's scorpion in this battle because it was destroyed by the first volley, even if they had many, he didn't think they could hit nine dragons if they attacked together....
Moreover, seeing the power of the dragons, Jamie understood how Aegon conquered Westeros without an army....
Realizing all this, Jamie asked, "What will you do with Cersei when you capture the royal harbor?"
"First, she needs to live until we capture the royal harbor. At the moment, capturing the royal harbor is not a priority at all."
"???"
"Ask your brother when you see him."
"That won't be anytime soon... it takes a couple of days to sail to Dragonstone."
"Who said you need to sail on a ship?"
Asmodeus waved his hand, and gates opened to their left. On the other side appeared Tyrion, Daenerys, Varys, and three wizard guards who were currently in the planning room. Tyrion sat slightly to the side, reading something, while Varys conversed with the queen. However, all three stopped their activities when the gates appeared.
"Your Majesty Morningstar! Good day, we thought you would call us when you were finished, but honestly, your personal presence is more pleasant. How did the battle at Highgarden go?"
At first, Asmodeus said nothing and stepped aside slightly to show Jaime, Bronn, the surviving soldiers, and the aftermath of the battle behind them, which now looked like one of the levels of hell. Thousands of corpses piled up were gradually being burned by wizards, the grass had turned red, and there was not even a scratch on Highgarden.
"I would say quite well, Your Majesty."
"I'm glad to hear that. Although, knowing your abilities, I never doubted. By the way, we received a notification from Lady Rowena, she told us that the enemy fleet has all but sunk."
"Yes, that's correct. Additionally, Euron Greyjoy's head should be arriving at the royal harbor shortly."
"That's good. Your Majesty, who are these beside you? Prisoners left after the battle?"
Upon hearing Daenerys's words, Tyrion and Varys finally noticed Jaime. Although they hadn't started speaking before they heard Asmodeus's words.
"These are not prisoners, but the only survivors from the enemy side after the battle, although... Perhaps, given their situation, they could still be called prisoners. Behind me is Jaime Lannister, your right hand's brother, as well as one of your right hand's good friends - Bronn of the Blackwater."
"Jaime Lannister... Is he the one who killed my father?"
At the end of the sentence, Daenerys's voice became slightly stern.
"Yes. That's him. I'm handing him and his men over to you; it's inconvenient for us to carry prisoners, they'd better stay on Dragonstone. My people, however, are heading to Casterly Rock. Tomorrow, I'll contact you to unite our forces."
Saying this, Asmodeus waved his hand, and all the soldiers felt a gust of wind pushing them towards the portal.
"Deal with them yourselves. I have to coordinate further actions with the Tyrells and prepare for the attack on Casterly Rock."
With that, Asmodeus bid farewell and closed the portal.
When Asmodeus left, the room fell silent. Both Daenerys and Tyrion stared at Jaime, while Varys observed with interest.
Seeing Daenerys's gaze on him, Jaime decided not to beat around the bush and start the conversation first.
"Um, good day, Your Majesty Daenerys, hello Tyrion, good day, Lord Varys...."
Standing up, Daenerys said, "Why are you standing here before me? The one who treacherously killed my father?!"
"..."
Tyrion, seeing that the situation was not going well for Jaime, decided to try to help his brother.
"Your Majesty, you may think that I'm trying to defend the last member of my family who is not indifferent to me, but it's not just my selfishness trying to justify him, it's also my reason."
"What important reason does your reason suggest to me to spare the murderer of my father?! The first man by the throne of the Usurper Queen?!"
"Your Majesty, you can ask him personally. Why Jaime Lannister decided to kill the Mad King...."
Daenerys calmed down slightly. She had long known that her father was not a good man and perhaps he deserved death.... But it was almost impossible for her to forgive Jaime. Nevertheless, she decided to hear what the Kingslayer had to say. She had seen how Asmodeus listened to the advice of his subordinates and friends, how even during basic tasks like building walls, wizards held meetings to achieve the best results. Therefore, she was ready to listen to Jaime at Tyrion's advice.
"Then let's hear the version of events from Jaime Lannister's point of view - the Kingslayer."
"Your Majesty. There are not several points of view here. I can only tell you how it really was..... Have you heard of wildfire?"
"Of course. Your sister demonstrated very well what it can do."
"The Mad King, your father, was obsessed with it. He loved to watch people burn, he enjoyed seeing their skin blacken and blister as it peeled off their bones. He burned lords who displeased him, he burned his hands, he burned anyone who crossed him. In the end, your father turned almost the entire country against him. Aerys saw traitors everywhere.
One day, he ordered his pyromancer to place jars of wildfire all over the city. Under the Sept of Baelor, under Flea Bottom, under the Red Keep, under the main streets and houses of the city's inhabitants. But one day, the day of reckoning came. Robert Baratheon marched on the capital, after his victory at the Trident, but my father was the first to reach him, leading a huge Lannister army. He promised to defend the city from the rebels.
I knew my father too well. He would never bet on the losing side. I spoke to the Mad King, begged him to surrender without a fight, to stop the senseless bloodshed. But the king did not listen to me, nor to Lord Varys, who also warned him."
Upon hearing Varys's name, Daenerys looked at the spider sitting beside her with a questioning expression.
"Is this true, Lord Varys?"
Varys nodded and said,
"That's indeed as Lord Jaime says. We both urged Aerys to surrender...."
"Lord Varys does not say whom the king listened to. He listened to Grand Maester Pycelle, that old vile bastard. He assured the king that the Lannisters had always been loyal to the crown and would not betray him...."
"And my father opened the gates?"
"Yes, he opened the gates, and my father began killing Targaryen soldiers in the city as soon as his army entered. At that time, I came to the king again advising surrender. Do you know what he ordered me?! He ordered me to bring him my father's head. And then he turned to his pyromancer.....
"Burn them all, burn them!" he shouted.
He wanted to burn the whole city with everyone in it, the whole city! There would have been no enemies or allies left, the entire King's Landing would have been covered in green flames!"
Everyone in the room fell silent, even the Lannister soldiers who were lucky enough to survive, listened mesmerized to Jaime's tale.
"First, I killed the pyromancer. The king, seeing this, tried to flee, but I thrust my sword into his back. As Aerys lay dying, he kept screaming - "burn them all, burn them all!!!"
I think he didn't believe he would die; he believed he would be reborn when everyone burned, become a dragon and destroy his enemies....
To ensure that didn't happen, I cut off his head."
Daenerys sat quietly.
She knew her father had done terrible things, but she couldn't believe he could be so insane....
After some time, she regained her composure and said,
"Jaime Lannister, I forgive you for killing Aerys Targaryen, but you are not free. You are still my prisoner because you fought against my allies. You will be housed on Dragonstone and treated with dignity. After the war, you will be allowed to return to Casterly Rock and live there."
With that, Daenerys left.
Seeing this, Tyrion said,
"She's much better than Cersei, don't you think?"
Jaime shook his head and said,
"Most likely.... Lately, Cersei scares me...."
At that moment, the Unsullied approached and, taking the Lannister soldiers by the arms, led them out of the hall to surrender their weapons and bathe.
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