The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The garrison of the Iron Bank consisted of two parts: the Unsullied, and the descendants of those who founded the Iron Bank and owned it. Over the millennia, children begat children, grandchildren begat grandchildren, and their progeny branched out, forming a vast family.

The military fortress in front of the Iron Bank was, in reality, a castle where the younger generations of that family resided.

Their roots were here. When dragons wantonly attacked the Iron Bank's fortress and stone arch bridge defenses, not a single one of them chose to leave. Many family members were, in fact, garrison soldiers.

And the Unsullied were the most loyal soldiers in the world. Unless their commander ordered them to disband, unless their master ordered them to leave, they would never leave.

The Unsullied soldiers guarding the stone arch bridge scattered and fled because their commander had ordered them to flee freely.

No one could withstand dragonfire, not even the Unsullied.

A moment later, in front of the Iron Bank's military fortress, the Unsullied legions formed neat ranks. They were uniformly clad in bronze armor, spiked helmets, shields, and spears, their expressions grim, resigned to death.

The other group consisted of the Iron Bank family members.

Among them were several elders, several children, several women, and the rest were young and middle-aged soldiers.

The vast majority of the Iron Bank family's non-combat personnel lived inside the Iron Bank's fortress. They were all cremated by the Mountain's sheep-stealing dragonfire.

The Mountain, riding his dragon, hovered in the low sky, the black dragon Drogon flying alongside on the right.

Two people, two dragons, supremely arrogant.

The Iron Bank, which had been glorious for four hundred years, had reached the end of its history.

"Is everyone here?" the Mountain roared.

His voice was powerful and domineering, perfectly matching his massive physique and the shock and fear the dragons brought to the people.

The soldiers and non-combat personnel here were all seeing real dragons for the first time.

A capable and handsome young man stepped out of the ranks: "Lord, everyone garrisoned at the Iron Bank is here."

"Non-combat personnel, all of them must come out."

"They are all here too."

"Young man, can I believe what you say?"

"All men must die. In the name of the God of Death and the Many-Faced God, all the soldiers and non-combat personnel are here."

"Young man, what is your name?"

"My name is Bazel Augus."

"Are you not afraid of me?"

"All men must die."

The sound of warhorse hooves thundered in the distance. The Mountain and Daenerys turned back and saw the Ian Legion approaching.

"Daenerys, kill them," the Mountain ordered from the dragon's back.

"All of them?" Daenerys asked.

She should have known the Mountain's intentions, but she still asked the question.

"All of them!"

"We could try to recruit them."

"We cannot leave behind the seeds of hatred," the Mountain said blandly.

"We have already sown the seeds of hatred."

"Then kill them all."

"The Unsullied are the most loyal soldiers."

"I cannot ensure that every Unsullied is truly Unsullied."

"We have Arya Stark. She can help us find the Iron Bank's hidden assassins."

"Very well, you make sense."

"You accept it?"

"I accept!" The Mountain patted the sheep-stealing dragon's ferocious head. "Sheep Thief, dragonfire."

A golden-red fireball condensed at the Sheep Thief's neck, emitting a sun-like glow. The golden-red light shone through the dragon's neck. The dragon's terrifying maw opened, and with a thunderous roar, a fireball with a long trail of flame slammed into the ranks of non-combat personnel. The fireball was enormous, like a water skin, except this water skin was filled with liquid flame. The flames scattered, erupting in brilliant light, flowing in all directions, engulfing all the non-combat personnel in the flowing flames.

Another fireball landed on the center of the first fireball, exploding and shooting up several meters of flames like a giant flower of fire. At its most brilliant moment, it scattered, the flames flowing in all directions, wrapping the people who were howling in the flames in another layer of dragonfire.

Boom, boom, boom!

Three fireballs landed in the Unsullied legion.

Three enormous, sun-like, blazing fireballs fell in a triangle, exploding before they touched the ground, like a giant flower suddenly blooming. Then the flower turned into liquid fire, scattering and enveloping the Unsullied soldiers.

The Unsullied soldiers scattered and fled, many of them carrying the light of the flames.

The burning dragonfire exceeded the Unsullied's devotion to orders. Escape was an instinct, and had nothing to do with discipline.

A circular pillar of fire descended from the sky, drawing a large circle on the ground, trapping all the fleeing Unsullied inside.

It was a massacre of fire.

Daenerys's small mouth opened, then finally closed, and she said nothing more.

She had thought that the Mountain might still be able to recruit an Unsullied legion, and that many of the non-combat personnel were actually innocent. If the Mountain was worried about Iron Bank assassins, Arya Stark would surely have a way to find them. Iron Bank assassins and the Faceless Men were of the same lineage, and the Faceless Men should be able to find their hidden brethren.

In Daenerys's heart, danger could not be completely eliminated. Once you started killing, no matter what, you would leave behind the seeds of hatred.

Of course, the Mountain's kill-them-all strategy was indeed the safest way.

By the time the Ian Legion arrived, everyone garrisoned at the Iron Bank's military fortress had perished in the raging fire of dragonfire.

They had all laid down their weapons, but the Mountain still killed them all.

"Ian, enter the military fortress and turn over every corner, making sure no one is hiding," the Mountain ordered.

"As you command, Your Majesty."

Ian led a thousand soldiers into the military fortress, searching forward in a carpet-like manner. His other two thousand soldiers remained on the island's stone arch bridge defense line and the docks next to the stone arch bridge that landed on the island, preventing the Braavosi mercenaries from entering the Iron Bank island from the bridge and the water.

After taking the Iron Bank island, the soldiers' main task was to defend against enemy counterattacks.

In the sky, the Mountain, riding his dragon, and Daenerys slowly circled.

Behind the military fortress was the entrance to the famous Iron Bank. A small, ordinary-looking door, an iron door.

On the walls of the military fortress were dozens of ballistae.

These ballistae were loaded with stone bullets and wildfire bullets, and some were also loaded with crossbow bolts.

But for some reason, the military commander in charge of the garrison did not order a resistance.

They surrendered and were mercilessly swallowed by the Mountain's dragonfire.

Half an hour later, three thousand soldiers turned the military fortress upside down, dragging out more than twenty people hiding in various corners.

Perhaps the military fortress had secret tunnels.

The dragons flew into the military fortress and landed on the high towers.

The Mountain and Daenerys dismounted and took over the hall of the military fortress.

Under Ian's personal interrogation, the underground passage of the military fortress was also found. This underground passage was connected to the Iron Bank's fortress in front and had an exit leading to the sea.

Ian sent his most battle-hardened brothers to form two death squads to enter the tunnel, one searching for the tunnel leading to the sea, and the other searching for the tunnel leading to the fortress.

And the Mountain no longer cared about the underground search. He led Daenerys and Ian to the small door of the Iron Bank.

Behind this door, carved with flame patterns and the suffering of miners, was the Iron Bank, rumored to have hollowed out half the mountain and stored the most gold in the world.

"Open the door," the Mountain said.

A man with blood flowing from his head and half his face bloody took out the key and opened the door.

What entered the Mountain's eyes was a narrow and deep passage. The passage was dark, and one could not see the end at a glance.

With the Mountain's size, it was not suitable to enter such a passage.

If he was ambushed inside, the Mountain could easily be surrounded by smaller people.

"Lead the way!" the Mountain shouted.

The key master walked into the passage.

Ian led ten brothers in front, the Mountain and Daenerys in the middle, and ten more brothers behind.

The rest of the soldiers stayed outside.

The black dragon Drogon stood on the walls of the military fortress, and the dragon Sheep Thief was on the ground at the entrance of the Iron Bank.

Leaving two dragons to defend the outside was a small detail arrangement that the Mountain and Daenerys had privately discussed.

In case Ian's legion suddenly changed their minds in the face of the enormous wealth, the two dragons could ensure that they could only have crooked thoughts in their hearts, and would not dare to really do anything.

If the Mountain's own personal guard camp was here, or Chiswyck the Big Head, Raff the Sweetling, Dunsen the Hangman, Polliver the Artist, etc., the Mountain would not be so wary.

The soldiers of the Ian Legion mainly came from the Eastern Free Cities, with different nationalities and complex identities, and had surrendered to the Mountain for less than a day.

Although they knelt and surrendered in front of the Sea Lord's Palace, in the name of the gods, the Mountain did not dare to completely trust them.

Three thousand people, three thousand hearts.

The wealth of the Iron Bank, however, could buy the entire world.

There was never a shortage of people who would take risks, but in the face of two dragons, one up and one down, one big and one small, with high and low positions echoing each other, anyone could only think about it in their hearts.

The Mountain entered the narrow passage, not only to guard against people and mechanisms in the passage, but also to guard against the mutiny of the garrisoned legion outside.

If the garrisoned legion outside mutinied and blocked the exit, the Mountain, Daenerys, General Ian, and others would all be in danger.

After the Mountain's great victory in attacking the Iron Bank Island, he still did not relax, nor did he become happy and complacent and lose himself. He was outwardly rough and mighty, but in reality, he was meticulous.

*

Arya Stark led twenty-two Faceless Men to the docks under the stone arch bridge of Iron Bank Island.

They came by boat.

Except for three women, the remaining twenty Faceless Men were all men.

They all wore narrow swords at their waists!

At the docks, a thousand-man team left behind by Ian to garrison the area guarded the docks leading to the island. They defended the stone arch bridge on the land route, and also defended the landing docks on the water route.

As soon as Arya's boat arrived, although there were only twenty-three people, the centurions did not dare to take it lightly.

In Braavos, they feared those who wore narrow swords, because that guy was likely to be a Faceless Man. And on this boat, there were more than twenty narrow sword swordsmen. Perhaps these were the more than twenty feared Faceless Men.

Although the Mountain had assured them that the Faceless Men of the House of Black and White would not be their enemies, it was always right to be careful.

"General, I am Arya Stark, the personal guard of His Majesty the King. Please allow us to land on the island. I want to see His Majesty the King."

"I'm sorry, you cannot land on the island," a centurion said, standing behind a row of dense spears.

"Then quickly report it, go tell the Mountain that Arya Stark has arrived."

"Yes, but you must stay away from the docks and keep your distance," another centurion shouted.

"We will not forcibly land, but we will not leave either," Arya said lightly.

The Faceless Men would have no chance of winning against a thousand-man regiment.

Dense spears, behind the spears were melee fighters holding various weapons, and archers on the left and right wings, a perfect defensive formation.

Arya was a friend, not an enemy, and she would not launch a surprise attack.

A scout rode away on horseback.

*

Several large ships came from afar, and the scout blew the horn of enemy attack.

Arya Stark turned back and saw several warships.

On the warships, the Sea Lord's flag was flying.

"The Sea Lord is here, be careful and be prepared to fight," Arya Stark said in a low voice.

The Faceless Men lined up with their swords drawn, ready for battle.

At the docks, the scout's horn sounded, causing the distant horns on the island to respond.

This was the relay station arranged by General Ian for mid-way communication.

Soon, the scouts on the military fortress also blew their horns.

The horn of enemy attack sounded in the sky above Iron Bank Island.

*

The Sea Lord stood at the bow of the ship. The warship slowed down, and a small boat was lowered from the warship. This was a scout boat.

Soon, the small boat rowed over, and the Sea Lord's several warships slowly stopped on the sea.

The warship maintained a considerable distance from the docks.

The Sea Lord was here to make peace, not to start a war.

He no longer wanted to get into any trouble.

The scout boat rowed over, and the Sea Lord's chief scholar and his naval commander stood on the bow.

"Elder Arya Stark," the scholar said, surprised and delighted.

"Scholar," Arya said coldly.

"Braavos is in trouble. I knew that the elders of the House of Black and White would not stand idly by," Naval Commander Vincent said excitedly.

"Commander Vincent, it's a pity that the Sea Lord doesn't take the advice of the elders of the House of Black and White to heart," the long-faced senior sister said indifferently.

"All men must die," Commander Vincent first said the proverb. "Heavenly Mandate Elder, the Sea Lord has realized his mistakes. Please give him a chance to correct his mistakes."

"Oh, you are not here to rescue Iron Bank Island?"

"No, Elder, the Sea Lord brought us here to make peace. He has realized his mistakes," Commander Vincent said for the second time that the Sea Lord had realized his mistakes.

Arya said coldly, "Commander Vincent, the Sea Lord will not realize his mistakes. The reason he changed his mind is not because he understood the principles I told him, but because he truly understands that the power of dragons is irresistible to mortals. He can't kill the Mountain, and he doesn't want to be killed by the Mountain, so he thought of coming to make peace. He is not worthy to be the Sea Lord."

Arya said the last sentence with chilling coldness!

She hit the nail on the head, ruthlessly exposing the Sea Lord's hypocrisy in seeking peace!