The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The red smoke beast of Demon Mountain was the symbol of the King of Claw Peninsula. A group of a hundred people advanced slowly on the Foca Valley plain.

A team of cavalry galloped from ahead, twelve riders in all, leaving a tail of dust in their wake.

The cavalry came like a whirlwind, their horsemanship superb. The purebred warhorses were generally taller and stronger than the warhorses outside. Before the scout team members got close, the warhorses smelled the scent of the red smoke beast and slowed down, eventually retreating no matter how their masters scolded and whipped them, refusing to move forward.

Warhorses feared the red smoke beast, and their masters needed to give them a slow adaptation process.

The scouts were helpless and also shocked by the ferocity of the red smoke beast. Led by their captain, they all dismounted and reluctantly led their horses forward to greet Demon Mountain.

When they got close, the warhorses refused to take another step forward. One scout, impatient by nature, pulled too hard, and the warhorse suddenly reared up, broke free of its reins, and ran off in fright.

The soldier did not chase after the warhorse, but knelt on one knee with his comrades to pay homage to Demon Mountain.

The leader said loudly in the Common Tongue: "The Eadis squad of Foca tribe scouts greets the King of Claw Peninsula—Duke Gregor!"

Demon Mountain looked at the team of scouts from atop the red smoke beast, raising his right hand slightly to signal them to rise.

The Eadis squad warriors stood up together, their eyes filled with fanaticism as they looked at Demon Mountain.

They were new soldiers trained by Ser Jacque Loncry, seeing the Peninsula King recognized by the red smoke divine beast for the first time. The new soldiers had not seen Demon Mountain before, but they all recognized the red smoke beast. The person in the saddle of the red smoke beast was naturally the King of Claw Peninsula.

The twelve cavalrymen who saw Demon Mountain were all awestruck by him, seeing Demon Mountain's thick arms like tree trunks, his giant-like, burly body, his awe-inspiring aura, the hilt of the greatsword extending diagonally from his left shoulder, the red smoke beast like a flame, the red smoke beast's eyes redder than rubies… every detail shocked and excited the new soldiers…

The cavalrymen had heard many stories about Demon Mountain leading the Claw Peninsula tribal leaders to be invincible outside, and they were all familiar with them, able to recount every one of Demon Mountain's battle stories…

Some people become legends while they are still alive. —In the hearts of the Claw Peninsula's people and warriors, Demon Mountain became an unparalleled legend from the moment the red smoke beast recognized him as its master…

The scouts led the way, and Demon Mountain and his party headed into the valley plain.

"Who is the captain?" Demon Mountain asked.

"Duke, it's me. My name is Eadis Foca."

Demon Mountain saw that Eadis' weapon was a scimitar, a huge arc shape, different from the Dothraki arakh, which was a scimitar in the front and a straight sword in the back. This kind of scimitar was suitable for dragging and slashing during a warhorse charge, and if there was no armor, the wound would be the longest. If it broke through armor, it would also leave a long knife mark on the armor due to the dragging of the knife.

This kind of scimitar also had the advantage that the rebound force of the slash would be weakened to the maximum. If it was a straight sword, all the force of the slash would rebound back to one's own arm.

"How many cavalry troops does General Jacque Loncry have?"

"Duke, General Jacque is recruiting peninsula warriors in the valley plain. Currently, there are eight hundred new cavalrymen, two hundred reserve new cavalrymen, eight hundred infantry warriors, and one thousand new soldiers."

A mixed cavalry and infantry force, two hundred short of three thousand men, another absolutely powerful legion.

Little Devil was slightly shocked. Before the war, the Sharlot family, the most powerful noble family in the West, had a family legion of only three thousand men. The Lannister family's private legion was also only three thousand men.

The Claw Peninsula's tribal warriors were individually very strong, far surpassing the fighting strength of the noble soldiers outside. Their weakness was in discipline and battle formations. When it came to fighting, everyone competed to see who could run the fastest and who could rush into the enemy's ranks to slash and kill first, without queues, discipline, or formation changes.

Demon Mountain wanted Ser Jacque to come here to recruit and train soldiers, without needing to train the warriors' basic fighting skills, nor did he need to train the warriors' courageous qualities. These warriors had already transcended the level of courage; their fighting could only be described as cruel and ruthless. —Jacque came here only to train the peninsula warriors to obey military orders, line up in queues, deploy formations, and change formations in actual combat.

Little Devil felt strange. He really couldn't see where the so-called new recruits were 'new.' They were clearly a seasoned cavalry team tempered by blood and fire, but they were Demon Mountain's new cavalry.

No matter how powerful the Claw Peninsula warriors were before, no matter how famous they were in their tribes, as long as they joined Demon Mountain's legion, they were all new soldiers.

In terms of combat effectiveness, blood and fire tempering, combat skills, and various fighting experiences, most of the peninsula new soldiers were a little stronger than the war-hardened veterans outside. This was not because of their skills and experience, but because of their cruelty. Cruelty was not reflected in combat, but mainly in psychology.

To put it bluntly, the peninsula warriors were not afraid of death in battle, and they did not cherish their lives. They were very ruthless to the enemy, and they were also ruthless to themselves.

*

Half an hour later, a faint muffled thunder came from ahead. Demon Mountain was tall and could see far. He saw a cloud of dust rolling in the distance. As the dust approached, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves came crashing in.

Demon Mountain reined in the red smoke beast, and the team stopped.

On the valley plain road ahead, three flags came fluttering in the wind, one was Demon Mountain's red smoke beast ice sword flag, one was the Foca tribe's scimitar flag, and the other was the Loncry family's scorpion tail beast flag.

General Jacque Loncry, Lady Daolti Quintyne, and Steward Thomasman led hundreds of peninsula cavalrymen like mad lions and wild wolves, roaring to a halt.

Although the hundreds of cavalrymen ran with the momentum of thousands of troops, not a single warhorse dared to approach. The red smoke beast's fierce aura was like the warhorses' natural enemy, and its pair of murderous red eyes were as red as blood.

Jacque Loncry's warhorse had been replaced with a peninsula's divine steed, which was much taller and stronger than his previous warhorse. Its speed, strength, attack power, endurance, and combat effectiveness were all top-notch. But no matter how divine the warhorse was, it immediately transformed into a frightened little rabbit in front of the red smoke beast.

Jacque Loncry had to stop at a relatively long distance, and the entire cavalry team stopped together. Even Lady Daolti's blood witch warhorse refused to take another step forward.

Demon Mountain and the red smoke beast were majestic and imposing, like a giant god riding a divine beast descending from the sky.

Demon Mountain was a mountain among men, and the red smoke beast was a famous magical creature among beasts of burden. It not only helped its master to stab enemies to death, but it also had a very sensitive self-preservation instinct.

After exchanging greetings, Demon Mountain accepted the eight hundred cavalrymen's unanimous shouts: Peninsula King! Peninsula King! Peninsula King!

Lady Daolti walked up: "Duke, we have received your raven letter. Do you need me to dig out the Prime Minister's eyes for you?"

"Yes, Madam!"