The Mountain of Ice and Fire

A patrol warship sailed head-on.

The warship's hull was painted with patterns of dragons, griffins, scorpions, shadow lynxes, unicorns, and more.

The Judge Knight standing on the bow wore a griffin mask.

A small boat was lowered from the Mountain's flagship, with two Unsullied soldiers protecting Quaithe in the boat, and two oarsmen rowing.

On the flagship, the Mountain signaled with his eyes, and Asha waved her hand. A covering tent cloth on a cannon on the deck was lifted, revealing the dark muzzle.

Several soldiers skillfully loaded the cannonballs, the squad leader adjusted the gun barrel, and the muzzle firmly locked onto the opposing warship.

The soldiers who knew how to operate the cannons all came from the Mountain's Royal Navy warriors in King's Landing. They were the artillery soldiers who survived the Battle of Qarth alongside Count Hoster Redwyne. Count Hoster's warships and the Qingting Island frigates all had cannons, and the soldiers operating the cannons all came from the King's Landing Royal Navy. This was a group of royal artillerymen specially trained under Master Tobho Mott, Gendry Clegane, and the Great Sage. An artillery team was equipped with a reserve team equally proficient in shelling to replace injured or dead comrades in battle.

The patrol warship blocking the way came from the Ashai naval fleet.

A total of two patrol warships, one came for 'diplomatic contact,' and one provided support in the rear.

But these two Ashai patrol warships, compared to the Mountain's fleet, were like two unarmed children facing a fully armed thousand-man legion.

Quaithe's small boat arrived below the patrol warship, and a rope ladder was lowered from the warship. Quaithe and two Unsullied soldiers climbed up.

Quaithe still wore a wooden lacquer mask on her face.

In Ashai, there were many kinds of beliefs and wizards, and unexpected accidents could happen at any time. Even someone as influential as the Red God Pagoda, and as feared and avoided as Quaithe, did not want people to know her appearance.

In Ashai, Quaithe, who practiced shadow magic, wore a mask in the morning and evening. Wooden lacquer mask during the day, and chip mask at night.

Quaithe, like Melisandre, was very old, but her skin was as smooth as a newborn baby, and her features were delicate and perfect, very beautiful. Melisandre was as sexy as fire, while Quaithe was as delicate as a daffodil. As long as she wore a mask, people would be full of awe for Quaithe. And once she took off the mask, people's awe of Quaithe would turn into love and admiration. This was not what Quaithe wanted, she needed to maintain her mystery and maintain others' awe of her.

Ashai almost harbored all kinds of obscure, dark, and bizarre magicians in the world. Some fearful and strange dark magicians were also quietly hiding in this city. Ashai city was too big, and in comparison, the residents seemed too few. More than two-thirds of the city's houses and towers were vacant and uninhabited. Dark magicians were very capable of surviving in other cities, and it was also difficult to do their own magic experiments in other cities without being interfered with, but in Ashai, it was completely free.

Even in the daytime, some blood witches could do some very terrifying magic experiments without being noticed or interfered with. He (she) only needed to go to an uninhabited secret corner, or act inside a castle, as long as the blood witch hung his (her) own sign on the gate of the castle, indicating that the castle already belonged to him (her).

Quaithe arrived on the patrol warship and faced a Judge Knight.

"I am Quaithe of the Red God Pagoda." The Red God Pagoda was a very authoritative existence in Ashai city, and Quaithe was also a fearsome Red God priest among wizards. However, in the city of Ashai, there were many wizards who were fearsome.

The Judge Knight's gaze stared at Quaithe through the two small holes in the griffin mask, and that gaze was like two nails.

"Quaithe, have you brought foreigners to trade? Or to conquer Ashai?"

Quaithe stared at the knight and said coldly: "Knight, Ashai has a vast land, but all the places where food and vegetables can be grown are occupied by ghost grass." Quaithe pointed to the direction of the ghost grass sea, where the sky had been illuminated red by the fire, "Only dragon flames can burn the ghost grass, so that it can never grow again, and then we can have the fertile land north of the city."

"Quaithe, Ashai is good, and Ashai does not need fertile land. We also do not have farmers who can farm the land. This is a city of magic. Ordinary people do not belong to Ashai. Burning the ghost grass with dragon flames is not an excuse for foreigners to conquer Ashai. Ashai's power and destiny, past, present, and future, are all in the hands of the city's elders."

"Oh. Knight, what is the opinion of the elders? Refuse to burn the ghost grass? Refuse to obtain large areas of fertile land?"

"Ashai will always be like this Ashai, no one will welcome the king from Qarth. I don't like it, and none of the soldiers behind me will like it. Ashai people are not slaves."

"Heh!" The Ashai soldiers behind the Judge Knight burst into shouts.

"Knight, the King of Qarth is here to negotiate."

"Please ask him to go back, Ashai has no negotiations."

"Oh! Is this the meaning of all the elders? Or just the meaning of the Judge Elder?" Quaithe's voice was as cold as ice.

There were dozens of soldiers on the warship, but no one dared to be rude to Quaithe. Ashai's wizards were not to be provoked. Of course, for Ashai people, if you don't take the initiative to provoke the wizards, the wizards rarely attack Ashai people. Many wizards who do terrible magic experiments buy slaves from merchant ships to do experiments.

"Quaithe, I think I have made it very clear. Please let the King from Qarth go back. Ashai welcomes Qarth to trade in Ashai, but what you brought this time is not a merchant ship, but a warship. Countless, endless warships."

"The King of Qarth is taking dragons and warships to conquer Yiti, the Isle of Leng, Moraq, Crocodile Bay, the Saffron Straits, and Ulthos."

The Griffin Knight sneered: "So, you came to Ashai this time not to conquer, but just to pass by? Quaithe, don't forget that you are also an Ashai person."

"Knight, I think I need to remind you that you must understand, don't forget that the walls of Ashai's previous cities were not black, the water in the Ash River was drinkable, the place of the ghost grass sea was a beautiful prairie, and the Ashai people had countless cultivated land, melons, fruits, wheat, and countless livestock, cattle and sheep, but now, Ashai people have nothing but gold and jade."

"That is already a distant past, Quaithe!"

"Knight, the giant city of Ashai can accommodate tens of millions of people, but now there are only less than 30,000 people in the city, and more than two-thirds of the city's houses and towers are vacant. This city was not built by the gods, but by the ancestors of Ashai. Gold and jade will eventually be mined out one day, and if Ashai wants not to become an empty city with no one, it needs to have drinkable river water, grasslands for grazing, and fertile fields for cultivation."

The knight turned his head and looked at the sky illuminated by the fire on the right side behind him: "Quaithe, dragon flames cannot burn the ghost grass, the ghost grass will grow again, and no magical power can make the ghost grass really disappear."

"The dragon flames of the magic dragon can completely burn the ghost grass, just burn it three times in a row. Six dragons can fly all over the ghost grass sea in half an hour. In one day, six dragons can burn the entire grassland three times."

"Quaithe, no matter what, no one can conquer Ashai. Ashai's city cannot accommodate invaders, this is the ancient way."

"I know the history of Ashai, and I also know that the power of Ashai's city will kill invaders. At the same time, I also know the secrets of Ashai's city that you don't know. Knight, go back and tell the elders of Ashai, don't fight, the King of Qarth is here to change Ashai, Ashai needs the hero of Azor Ahai reborn to save it."

The Griffin Knight stared at Quaithe: "Quaithe, no matter who it is, Ashai people will never give in."

"Ashai people are not surrendering, it is that the people who know the secrets of Ashai's city went to the distance and invited the godson who killed the Night King and defeated the Others - King Gregor Clegane. He is Azor Ahai reborn, he is the son of the Red God. Under the leadership of the ancient Ashai king, the Ashai people were addicted to dark, bizarre, evil, and bloody magic practice. Every Ashai person was addicted to the powerful power brought by magic. In order to win over their opponents, the ancient Ashai people began to do many terrifying magic experiments, which ultimately triggered the curse of the gods. The walls of Ashai were not black before, that black was dyed black by the blood of people abducted from other places by the Ashai people. The ancient books in the Red God Pagoda record that when the Night King is killed and the Others are wiped out, Ashai also needs the power of Azor Ahai to be changed. The first change is that dragon flames burn the ghost grass sea."

"Quaithe, I have never heard of these words you said. Your Red God Pagoda has always wanted to control Ashai City. You can't defeat the elders with your own power, so you invited the King of Qarth, is that right?"

Quaithe looked at the Griffin Knight: "Knight, are the words you said spoken by the Judge Elder? Or is it your own speculation?"

The Griffin Knight stared at Quaithe, and slowly said word by word: "Quaithe, every invader you bring into the city will die, Ashai City never accepts any invaders."

Quaithe stopped talking, turned around and got off the boat. Two Unsullied soldiers protected her and returned to the small boat. The small boat left the warship and rowed back to the Mountain's flagship.

At the same time, the horn was blown on the patrol warship.

The second patrol warship supporting it in the rear also blew the horn, sending a warning to the Ashai fleet in the port. In the sound of the horn, the soldiers on the Ashai patrol warship began to take off their clothes and pants, one by one naked, holding sharp knives in their mouths, and plunged into the sea with a plop.

On the small boat, Quaithe stood up, crossed her hands over her head, and sent a signal to start the war.

The Mountain standing on the bow glanced at Asha, and Asha shouted: "Fire!"

The fuse was lit, and with a loud noise, amidst the fire and smoke, a black cannonball roared out, hitting the patrol warship directly.

Crack! The black iron bullet penetrated the deck and smashed into the cabin below.

Boom!

With a loud noise, the iron bullet exploded, and a flame flower like a mushroom blooming opened on the patrol ship. In the fire, the warship was blown to pieces. Wood chips and sparks flew everywhere.

The knight wearing the griffin mask was pushed into the sky by a huge force, and countless wooden and iron fragments hit him, pierced his neck, body, and cut open his face. Before falling into the sea, the Griffin Knight had already died.

The soldiers who jumped into the sea earlier escaped the disaster.

They were stunned by this sudden explosion.

Some Ashai soldiers began to swim to the second warship to escape, but more soldiers dived into the water and swam towards the Mountain's fleet.

The Ashai fleet had only thirty warships and could not confront the Mountain's thousand warships head-on. If they could not win on the sea, they would turn to the seabed. As long as they pierced the bottom of the enemy ship, the sea could help them defeat the enemy.

The Mountain raised his hand, and the horn sounded wailing. All the warships retreated at a uniform speed. It was an impossible miracle to make a thousand warships retreat at the same time without disrupting the formation.

The Mountain and Asha's rigorous training of the Qarth navy showed astonishing results.

On the deck, along the sides of the ship, archers were in place.

Five hundred warriors with excellent swimming skills took off their clothes and pants, only tied red headscarves on their heads to distinguish them from the enemy, and then jumped off the ship with sharp knives in their hands.

An Ashai soldier emerged from the water, his position was where the Mountain's flagship had just stopped. But unfortunately, the Mountain's flagship had retreated.

Whoosh!

An arrow flew and hit the soldier's head directly.

Armor-piercing arrow!

The second and third soldiers emerged from the sea, whoosh whoosh whoosh, a dense rain of arrows arrived, instantly shooting the two soldiers to death.

No matter how good a swimmer is, they must come up from underwater to breathe.

The Mountain's fleet retreated, maintaining a sufficient distance.

The Ashai soldiers surfaced from underwater to breathe, and at the same time checked the position of the enemy ship, and then, they encountered a fierce rain of arrows.

Soon, dozens of corpses floated on the sea, but there were still some who slipped through the net and continued to breathe forward.

This time, the Mountain's fleet no longer retreated.

Waiting for the Ashai soldiers under the ship were five hundred Qarth naval soldiers with equally outstanding diving abilities.

Five hundred people, five hundred-man teams.

And on the ship, the archers were on standby, any soldier who did not have a red headscarf on his head was the enemy. At the same time, the skin of the Qarth people was extremely white, while the skin of the Ashai people was rough and dark.

Soon, there was another one-sided massacre underwater.

A dozen Ashai soldiers were besieged by two hundred-man teams of soldiers, killed one by one, and no one came into contact with the Mountain's fleet.

The battle ended quickly.

This was a battle with extremely disparate strength.

An appetizer.

Quaithe returned to the Mountain's flagship.

So, the fleet continued forward.

Half an hour later, the Ashai fleet in the Ashai port came out in full force. They lowered the small boats in the very distance, and each small boat was full of soldiers. The soldiers were all naked, holding special sharp cones for piercing the ship's planks in their hands.

The tactics of the Ashai fleet were very simple, sending soldiers to dive into the water, swim to the bottom of the enemy warship, and use sharp cones to pierce the bottom of the ship. No matter how many warships the enemy had, piercing the bottom of the ship, the sea could help them win the naval battle.

The tactics are extremely simple!

But it is the best counter-tactics!

The Ashai fleet had no chance of winning in the battle on the sea.

The Mountain's flagship was in the front, which was his consistent combat style.

"Quaithe, how many people are there in the Ashai Navy?"

"One thousand people, Your Majesty."

"How many soldiers can dive?"

"One thousand people, Your Majesty!"

One thousand people were few, but one thousand people who could dive should not be underestimated.

Although a strong attack would still result in a great victory, the Magic Mountain did not want to start losing warships in Asshai.

The cities of Asshai were unimaginably large, but the military strength of Asshai was actually pitifully small. A navy of one thousand men was very weak. The Magic Mountain's naval warriors already numbered over ten thousand.

"Order the left and right flank fleets to each send out one hundred warships to attack from both sides. Order the left and right escort ships to join the attack fleets on the left and right flanks. I want the two cannons to destroy all thirty enemy warships from a long distance."

"Yes, Your Majesty."