The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Hound feared fire, a secret he kept deeply hidden.

The left side of the Hound's face had been burned when he was seven years old, when the Mountain had shoved his face into a brazier: his left ear was completely burned off, leaving only a hole; the muscles on his left scalp and jaw were completely burned away; his left eye survived, but the newly grown flesh around it was a mass of twisted scars, the scarred skin forming a hard, black crust; to this day, the muscles on the left side of his jawbone could not fully grow back, and bone was faintly visible beneath the twisted, raw flesh.

From the time he was burned, the Hound feared fire, terrified of flames.

To cover up the Mountain's brutality, the Hound and the Mountain's father, Ser Gregor Clegane, claimed that the Hound had accidentally set his bed on fire.

The hatred between the two brothers was thus deeply sown!

Born in Clegane Keep in the year 271 of Aegon's Conquest, the Hound was twenty-seven years old this year, in the prime of his life. When the Hound was not drunk, he was recognized as one of the most dangerous warriors in the Seven Kingdoms.

No one would have thought that the Hound, the Queen Cersei's strongest guard, would end up being burned to death by his own brother, the Mountain.

The Hound feared flames the most, so the Mountain decided to use flames against him.

The Mountain's cruelty was appalling.

Many people present had heard of the Mountain's cruel reputation, but few had witnessed it firsthand.

Today, the Mountain would give them a personal demonstration of what the 'most heinous villain in the Seven Kingdoms' was.

Upon hearing that the Mountain was going to burn him with fire, the Hound was greatly alarmed. No one knew of his fear of fire; it was a secret between the two brothers, and a 'family scandal' that the former Ser Gregor Clegane was ashamed to mention.

The Mountain's intention to burn the Hound to death also shocked everyone, it was unbelievable!

Extremes meet!

The Hound, lying on the ground, suddenly burst out with astonishing strength. He violently pushed away the shield above his neck, trembling all over, his eyes filled with terror, and fled into the arena.

The Mountain stared at the Hound's back with pity, holding the shield. He suddenly strode forward and struck the Hound's back with the shield. With a loud thud, the Hound fell forward, slamming hard into the ground. The Mountain brought the shield down vertically, pinning the Hound's sword.

The blade was poisoned. If the Hound regained his strength and swung it wildly, he might injure the Mountain's most vulnerable lower leg.

Bernie came into the arena holding a torch and handed it to the Mountain.

The Mountain knelt on one knee, pinning the Hound's back, completely immobilizing him.

The Mountain asked Bernie for a small knife and cut the 'cloth strip that bound the Hound's hand to the sword hilt'. He threw away the shield, picked up the Hound's longsword, and lightly pierced the skin of the Hound's arm with it.

The venom on the blade quickly spread throughout the Hound's body with the flow of blood.

The Mountain rose, flicked his wrist, twirling the sword skillfully, then suddenly roared, throwing the longsword from his hand. It transformed into a streak of silver light, flew over the heads of the crowd, and with a whoosh, like an arrow, shot into the depths of the Trident River.

Splash!

The sound of water echoed faintly in the night wind.

"Oil!" the Mountain roared!

His cavalry brothers immediately went to move the barrels of oil that were on site, used to add to torches, braziers, and bonfires to aid combustion!

Eddard Stark said in a deep voice, "No one is allowed to touch the oil!" As soon as he spoke, the guards of the North stepped forward, and with a clang, clang, clang of swords being drawn, several of the Mountain's cavalrymen who were going to move the oil had several longswords pointed at their vitals.

The other brothers were furious, abruptly stood up, and drew their swords. However, more Northern guards surrounded them, also drawing their swords, ready to fight.

There were more Northerners, almost twice the number of the Mountain's cavalry.

The Mountain's cavalry brothers were surrounded by the Northern guards!

The drawing of swords by both sides made the atmosphere tense. If they weren't careful, someone would pay with their life.

Eddard Stark said calmly, "Ser Gregor, you won the duel. You have two choices: either release the Hound out of brotherly blood ties, and the grievances between the two sides will be written off; or, you behead the Hound according to the rules, and we will have nothing to say."

The Mountain turned his head and glared at Eddard Stark, who was fearless!

The bones of the Northerners have always been very hard, and Eddard Stark's bones are especially hard!

He could not be subdued by force!

King Robert stood up and said in a deep voice, "Mountain, did you hear what the Prime Minister said? If you behead the Hound according to the rules, we will have nothing to say, but if you burn the Hound to death with oil in front of me, the Prime Minister, and so many royal courtiers, I will not agree. It's too cruel! Ser Barristan!"

"Here, Your Majesty!"

"If the Mountain dares to burn the Hound to death with oil, behead him!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After all, if the king didn't stand up and say a word about such a cruel thing, the king's image and the honor of the entire royal family would be damaged!

Clang!

Four Kingsguard knights, one Master-at-Arms, five longswords were drawn, pointing at the Mountain from afar.

A duel was about to turn into a melee in which the king and the prime minister joined forces to deal with the Mountain and his party.

The red cloaks and gold cloaks watching the duel all put their hands on their sword hilts, ready to draw their swords and fight.

The Mountain was fierce, violent, and unmatched, but if the king gave the order, there was no doubt that the hundreds of gold cloaks and red cloaks would gang up on the Mountain and his thirty cavalrymen.

The Mountain roared, "Damn it!" He angrily threw the torch in front of the Hound's face, picked up the shield, and left in anger.

Maester Lucius hurried to the arena, hoping that the Mountain would behead the Hound.

His heart was filled with regret: the Mountain was overwhelmed by anger and left too quickly, he didn't have time to persuade the Mountain to choose beheading!

After a knight duel has a victor, either kill the opponent in the duel on the spot, or order the opponent to get up, kneel, and then stand behind the opponent's side to behead!

Although the power of life and death of the defeated party has been handed over to another person, the rules are all beheading, and there is no precedent for burning to death with oil.

Of course, the Mountain, such a super scum, created countless cruel precedents!

But today the situation was different. Here was the Kingdom's King and Duke Eddard, who was known for his integrity and uprightness. Eddard was the Kingdom's new Prime Minister, and he couldn't allow the Mountain to be violent without saying a word to stop him!

The Mountain's 'excessive' behavior was also a kind of humiliation to the Prime Minister's honor and a contempt for the King's majesty!

The only one who might be unhappy in the arena was Prince Joffrey. The light of excitement that was hard to hide in his blue eyes gradually turned into disappointment as the Mountain left in anger.

If the Mountain burned the Hound, it would indeed be more interesting than beheading!

Clang, clang, clang!

The swords of the Northern guards who were forcing the Mountain's brothers back into their sheaths.

Clang, clang, clang!

The swords of the Kingsguard and the Master-at-Arms also returned to their sheaths.

The Hound's brothers had no choice but to sheath their swords as well. They glared angrily, their evil faces were terrifying, and they left one after another, closely following their lord, the Mountain.

Maester Lucius stood in the arena. He saw the Hound convulsing all over, unable to stand up, and his eyes were filled with fear as he stared at the torch, as if a helpless child had seen something terrible, which made Maester Lucius feel a burst of pleasure in his heart.

Maester Lucius spoke, his voice clear and high-pitched, as if singing: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, courtiers, sirs, knights, Ser Gregor won the victory in the duel, and he therefore obtained the power to kill or spare the Hound, but the Seven Gods did not give him the cruel act of burning the Hound to death. The Mountain automatically walked out of the duel circle, which shows that he gave up the power to behead the Hound to the Seven Gods. I declare that the duel between the Mountain and the Hound is over, and the grievances between the two sides will be written off from now on!"

*

ps: It's a niche book, and there are very few people who support it. I didn't get a good recommendation, and the collection is only five thousand. I work hard to update and carefully conceive the plot, just asking for a full subscription from you big bosses who are destined to read it! Thank you!

Thank you: Manstein. White Mane's reward support, thank you, handshake!