The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Hound, standing high, made no attempt to conceal his arrogance and disdain: "Scared? General! Let's be honest, that tiger deserved to die. Who welcomes people with a tiger? Jeff's little trick couldn't fool anyone. I just don't know why my idiotic brother would reward him with a dragon. I'm very unhappy about it."

Idiotic brother?

Yes! The Hound hadn't realized he'd said the word 'brother'.

If he had, he would have found it unbelievable. He would have denied saying the word 'brother'. The Mountain might share his blood, but he certainly wasn't his brother; he was scum.

The nobles, ladies, generals, knights, and soldiers welcoming the warriors at the city gate were all silent, daring to be angry but not wanting to speak.

The king's brother openly calling his royal brother idiotic was a topic best avoided.

The Hound's gaze swept over the crowd, a faint sense of disappointment rising within him. No one jumped out to oppose him, which he found rather boring. He looked cruel and terrifying, his face gloomy and his features frightening, but he had certain principles in his heart. He wasn't an unreasonable, tyrannical, barbaric, cold-blooded person. Since the others remained silent and didn't argue, he couldn't very well push his luck.

The Hound glanced back at his men. The warriors from the islands of Kasath were wild and untamed, riding in with a variety of weapons, mostly heavy ones. Very few used longswords.

The Hound gently patted the unicorn's neck, and it moved forward. The Hound tilted his neck back slightly, pointing his burned and deformed chin toward the road.

*

In the sky, the Mountain and Arianne Martell didn't guide the dragons to land in the administrative hall's plaza, but flew toward the city's outskirts.

Outside the city, in the southeast corner, right next to the black city walls, was a surprisingly large building: the Red Temple, dedicated to R'hllor.

The Hound entered the city and then saw the dragon and the white dragon fly overhead, the shadow cast by the dragon's wings darkening his vision.

The golden-red dragon and the pure-white dragon landed in the Red Temple plaza outside the city.

The Red Temple plaza was enormous. At the southernmost edge of the plaza were hundreds of steps leading down to the Lorne River.

As the dragons landed, the doors of the Red Temple slowly opened, and High Priest Benerro appeared, surrounded by countless monks in red robes. There were also the Hand of the Sacred Flame guards, carrying swords.

High Priest Benerro commanded an armed organization of a thousand Hands of the Sacred Flame.

The Mountain and Arianne dismounted the dragons, both of them awestruck by the building before them.

The temple's pillars, steps, buttresses, arches, domes, and towers were all incredibly huge, forming a unified whole as if carved from a single rock. It looked somewhat like the Aegonfort standing tall. Red, yellow, gold, and orange colors intertwined, blended, and permeated each other on the temple walls, like clouds at dusk.

The temple's doors were about three times as tall as the doors of the Great Sept of Baelor. People standing beneath the doors felt small and insignificant. The pillars and murals were all astonishingly tall.

The Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing was already magnificent and tall, but compared to this Red Temple, it was simply a pathetic little village.

The Mountain was a giant among giants. Many imposing men lost their aura in his presence, and adults seemed like half-grown children before him. This Red Temple was the same, like the Mountain among temples. The world's largest Red Temple, no one knew who built this remarkable building, nor when it was built. Looking at the majestic and tall doors, it was clear that human strength alone couldn't move them; only the power of mechanical winches could open and close them.

The Red Temple's grandeur and magnificence astonished the Mountain and Arianne.

High Priest Benerro led the monks down the steps, walking toward the Mountain. The Mountain and Arianne quickly stepped forward, respectful and humble, not presuming on their status.

In Volantis, the number of people who believed in the Red God R'hllor was greater than the combined number of R'hllor believers elsewhere. A small number of nobles, most of the soldiers, almost all the free people, and almost all the slaves here believed in the Red God. Triarch Jorah had tried to hire the Golden Company to purge the Red Temple and kill Benerro, but the Golden Company refused. Jorah's Elephant Party and Jeff's Tiger Party both had their own legions, but they didn't dare order their legion's soldiers to assassinate Benerro, because those soldiers were all believers of Benerro. It was precisely because Benerro's influence in Volantis was so great and far-reaching that it aroused the Triarch's desire to kill him.

Benerro was the highest priest of the Red Temple. He was tall and thin, with prominent features and skin as white as milk. His cheeks, chin, and bald head were covered in flame tattoos. Flames enveloped his lipless mouth, and his voice was sharp as iron, his high-pitched tones leaving a deep impression.

Benerro stopped, several meters away from the Mountain. He made a fist, then opened his arms: "Welcome, Lightbringer, Son of God who killed the Night King, you are my great king." Before he finished speaking, flames erupted from the tiger eyes and finger gaps of his two fists. Instantly, his two fists turned into two burning balls of fire. His arms drew two circles, and two rings of fire formed where the two balls of fire passed, burning in the void, like two floating fire rings.

The Mountain and Arianne had never seen such a miracle. The Mountain watched intently, while Arianne's face was full of joy.

Benerro's fist flames extinguished, leaving two burning fire rings between him and the Mountain. He extended the fingers of his right hand, and small flames spurted from his fingertips. He swiped his fingers, writing in the void within the fire circle. Each stroke he wrote caused the fire to burn in the void. After writing a character, a floating, burning character appeared in the fire ring. Benerro wrote non-stop, and one burning character after another was arranged in the void, like a miracle.

The Mountain recognized these characters. They were all High Valyrian runes. Because the Mountain had learned to speak the dragon tongue with Melisandre's help, and the dragon tongue was all lost High Valyrian, after becoming familiar with High Valyrian dragon language, the Mountain could recognize those runes formed from High Valyrian. Although he couldn't recognize all of them, he could still recognize a few characters.

By connecting the characters he recognized, the Mountain could understand the meaning of the two sentences Benerro had written within the fire ring: Do not trust the Elephant Party and the Tiger Party.

The Mountain nodded: "I remember, High Priest Benerro, thank you for your reminder."

Benerro looked solemn and clasped his hands together. Those fiery characters slowly disappeared one by one. Finally, the two fire rings gradually faded until they disappeared completely.

"Your Majesty, the Dark Eye in the Land of Always Winter has set its sights on us. The servants of the Long Night want to devour us with the coming of winter. When the comet weeps blood, ancient prophecies record that a hero will save the world from darkness. That hero is Azor Ahai reborn, I originally thought that Lightbringer was Daenerys Targaryen, I sent the temple's priest, Magiro, to serve Queen Daenerys Targaryen, but the facts have proved that my predictions and interpretations of the divine oracle have deviated, Your Majesty is Azor Ahai reborn, you saved all the human race, defeated the darkness, and shattered the conspiracy of the Black Smoke Eye, you are the greatest king, please accept my gratitude." Benerro raised his hand, and a Hand of the Flame stepped forward, kneeling on one knee before the Mountain.

"This is Ogden, a warrior from my Hand of the Flame. I am sending him to Your Majesty as a guard. In times of evil sorcery and danger, he can contribute to protecting Your Majesty. The Sacred Flame is pure and can foresee danger and evil. The burning sword can keep darkness and demons away."

"Thank you, High Priest," the Mountain said, clasping his hands together in thanks.

The Mountain looked at Ogden: "Rise, Hand of the Flame Ogden, you are now my guard."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Ogden rose and stood to the Mountain's side. He wore bright red clothes, and all the exposed skin on his body was covered in flame tattoos, even his eyelids and lips.

"Your Majesty, your coming to the temple before going to the administrative hall will make the Elephant Party's Triarch and the Tiger Party's leader hate me even more. But I have already seen Your Majesty's wonderful way to deal with them in the future. Your Majesty's wisdom and courage are unmatched."

"High Priest, you flatter me."

"Why didn't Melisandre come to Volantis with the army? I really miss her a bit. She also went to Westeros because of the awakening of the Dark Eye in the Land of Always Winter, in order to fight against the dark servants, both she and I were worried that we would not be able to find the hero of Azor Ahai reborn. However, she is better than me, she found you in Westeros, while I found Daenerys Targaryen in Essos."

"Every soldier who fights against the Others is Azor Ahai reborn. We are all the children of the Red God R'hllor, we drew our swords against the Others, unafraid to give our lives, all the warriors who fight against the darkness are sons of God."

"Your Majesty is too modest, there is only one Lightbringer sword, and there is only one hero of Azor Ahai reborn, and that is Your Majesty!"

The Mountain smiled humbly, accepting the High Priest's praise.

"High Priest, I have a brother, Sandor Clegane… I want to know if in the future he will put aside his prejudices against me and treat me as his real brother?"

"Your Majesty, I saw him calling you brother in the flames."

"Calling me to my face?"

"No. I also saw the situation when he would not allow others to slander you. Your Majesty, this younger brother of yours, his person has returned, and his heart has also returned. But he may not be respectful to you in his words and deeds."

"As long as he recognizes me as his brother, I don't care about other formalities."

"You have already got your wish, Your Majesty!"

"Thank you for your guidance, High Priest."

"Priest, can you help me see the child in my womb, is it a boy or a girl, and will it become a dragon rider in the future?" Arianne Martell said with anticipation.

"Princess Arianne, I have not yet looked at the flames for you and His Majesty's child, please forgive me."

"Then please have the High Priest take a look today."

"I will look at the future for you and His Majesty's child at the right time, when I am relaxed. However, the future is mysterious, and I may not see anything in the flames, please don't blame me at that time, Princess Arianne."

"As long as you are willing to look at the child, I will be very grateful." Arianne was overjoyed and quickly saluted.

*

In the administrative hall's plaza, the Elephant Party's Triarch Jorah and the Tiger Party's leader Jeff watched as His Majesty the King and Princess Arianne flew away on dragons. The dragons flew toward the black walls and disappeared into the southeast corner.

"His Majesty the King went to the Red Temple?" Jeff was somewhat unwilling to believe it.

"Dragons belong to fire, and the Red Temple is dedicated to R'hllor, R'hllor, the god of fire and shadows. It seems natural for His Majesty the King to go to the Red Temple to worship R'hllor," the Elephant Party's Triarch Jorah said slowly.

The Elephant Party and the Tiger Party both wanted to eliminate Benerro, whose influence was too great. They couldn't order their soldiers who believed in R'hllor, so they spent a lot of money to hire mercenaries from outside. However, no mercenaries were willing to take on the job. Even the Golden Company, the most powerful of the nine Free Cities, refused the Elephant Party's hire. The eastern dark sorcerers and the Undying, upon hearing that they were being asked to poison High Priest Benerro, directly refused, no matter how much money the Elephant Party offered.

His Majesty the King came and didn't go to their administrative hall first, but instead visited the Red Temple first, which made the Elephant Party and the Tiger Party's nobles collectively uncomfortable.

"Triarch, I want to go to the Red Temple to see His Majesty the King, will you go with me?" Jeff said to Jorah.

Jorah looked at the sky as if he hadn't heard Jeff's words at all: "Jeff, you go to the Red Temple, I'll stay in the administrative hall and wait for you to come back."

His Majesty the King promised Jeff a dragon, and Jeff has obviously changed too much. Was he eager to go to the Red Temple to express his loyalty to His Majesty the King?

Regardless of how many people believed in R'hllor, most of the nobles of the Elephant Party and the Tiger Party did not believe in the Red God, and were even more unwilling to believe in High Priest Benerro. They were hostile to High Priest Benerro, and this hostility was invisibly aggravated when High Priest Benerro called on his believers to support Daenerys.

On the surface, the nobles of the Elephant Party and the Tiger Party were very respectful to High Priest Benerro, and would send many gifts to the Red Temple during ceremonies and festivals. But in secret, the Elephant Party's Triarch and the Tiger Party's leader only wanted to put the High Priest to death.

The Tiger Party's leader, Jeff, had extremely high prestige. In Volantis, he was the supreme commander of the army. His Tiger Cloaks revered him like a god, and the Elephant Party's soldiers were also impressed by his swordsmanship and courage. Once something happened in Volantis, they were willing to follow his orders. In Volantis, there had never been anyone whose swordsmanship and combat ability could surpass Jeff.

A while later, the Tiger Party's leader, Jeff, led his hundred most elite Tiger Cloaks on warhorses, threading through the streets and lanes, speeding toward the east city gate.

And before Jeff, the Hound, Sandor Clegane, led his warriors from the islands of Kasath, had already turned around, exiting the city gate, and following the river road, also heading towards the Red Temple.