After a long and heated discussion, Mance Rayder, who had once sworn an oath to Aedric, agreed that the wildling warriors would shoulder half of the suicidal frontline duty. The other half would be borne jointly by the Seven Kingdoms. Across the whole of the North, more than a hundred of these doomed defensive lines were established.
No one complained. For the survival of humankind, partial sacrifice was inevitable.
Two months slipped by in the blink of an eye. Then, when the third blast of the Horn of Winter echoed through the frozen sky, the Wall—ancient and mighty after thousands of years—collapsed with a thunderous roar before everyone's despairing eyes.
The White Walkers had come.
There would be no talks, no negotiation. Between life and death, between two races fighting for existence, there was no room left for retreat.
The undead army surged forward endlessly, tireless and fearless, crashing like waves against the human defenses. The living fought back according to plan, layer by layer. Whenever a line was about to fall, they unleashed fire, burning everything to ash.
Even Winterfell did not escape that fate—Eddard Stark himself set it ablaze.
At first, this brutal strategy worked well. Deprived of new corpses, the White Walkers couldn't replenish their ranks.
But when the Night King himself entered the field, leading his elite Walkers and charging at the front lines, everything changed.
Ordinary flames couldn't harm him. The icy aura radiating from his body even extinguished the fires themselves.
The battle lines broke. The fallen soldiers rose again as wights under the Night King's command. Within three months, most of the North was overrun, and the undead army had swollen to nearly a hundred and fifty thousand strong. Humanity's defeat seemed inevitable.
At last, the lords of the Seven Kingdoms understood: without Aedric and the dragons, the war was lost.
And so, after an emergency council, the seven rulers boarded ships and crossed the Narrow Sea to the three great city-states. There, they knelt before Daenerys Targaryen and pledged their allegiance.
King Tommen himself removed his crown and placed it in Daenerys's hands, proclaiming her the rightful ruler of all the Seven Kingdoms.
Thus, the Targaryen dynasty was reborn.
There was no time for ceremony. Everyone knew the situation was critical beyond words.
Soon after her formal coronation, Queen Daenerys led an army of tens of thousands—and her three dragons—back across the sea aboard a vast fleet. Aedric was, of course, by her side.
After more than a month of travel, they arrived to find the entire North fallen.
Some 150,000 wights stood across from an equally desperate human force, locked in a dead standoff at the Twins.
As for the Freys, the once-arrogant rulers of that keep—well, perhaps it was simply their fate to perish. Anyone charging into the undead ranks might still recognize a few familiar Frey faces among the corpses.
Aedric wasted no time. He had simulated this battle countless times over the past months, and upon arrival, he immediately took command and began issuing orders.
The strategy consisted of three parts:
First, the main human host—composed of wildlings, the armies of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Unsullied—would form a massive wall-like defensive line. The Dothraki riders would cover the left flank, the northern cavalry the right, and the heavy horse of Casterly Rock would serve as the reserve. If the lines began to falter, the reserves would charge to break the enemy's momentum.
Overhead, Daenerys and her two co-riders—Pyat Pree and Missandei—would control the three dragons, raining dragonfire upon the densest concentrations of wights and targeting elite White Walkers from above.
Second, a special elite knight squad would be formed, each member armed with Valyrian steel weapons. Their mission: intercept any elite White Walker that broke through the lines. Ordinary soldiers couldn't face such foes—only these champions could.
After much deliberation, eleven warriors were chosen for this "ten-man" squad:
Arya Stark, the "Little Wolf," armed with the dragonglass dagger and an unnamed Valyrian steel dagger.
Eddard Stark, the "Wolf Father," wielding Ice.
Jaime Lannister, the "Kingslayer," wielding Lion's Roar (a sword gifted by Aedric).
Randyll Tarly, the "Judge of Men," wielding Heartsbane.
Brienne of Tarth, the "Beauty," wielding an unnamed Valyrian steel hand-and-a-half sword (a gift from Aedric).
Gregor Clegane, the "Mountain," wielding an unnamed two-handed Valyrian greatsword (gifted).
Sandor Clegane, the "Hound," wielding another Valyrian greatsword (gifted).
Mance Rayder, the "King Beyond the Wall," with an unnamed Valyrian hand-and-a-half sword (gifted).
Tormund Giantsbane, the "Giant Killer," wielding a Valyrian steel axe (gifted).
Oberyn Martell, the "Red Viper," wielding a Valyrian steel spear (gifted).
Jorah Mormont, the "Bear," wielding Longclaw.
…Yeah, the last one was technically extra, but he insisted on joining, and Aedric couldn't say no. Ten-man squads having eleven members—somehow that just felt right.
Third, and most crucially—the key to victory: Aedric himself, the Storm Sword Saint, would personally locate the Night King and face him one-on-one.
In previous battles, humanity had occasionally gained the upper hand—only for the Night King's sheer power to overturn it completely. The only way to win was to occupy him directly, keeping him too busy to interfere elsewhere.
And among all living men, only Aedric could do it.
Finding the Night King's exact location amid hundreds of thousands of undead would be the duty of Bran Stark, now the "Three-Eyed Raven"—the greatest scout humanity had ever known.
Looking around at the gathering of heroes—many of whom, in another timeline, had perished in petty civil wars—Aedric felt a rare surge of pride. As a man of China, he believed unity above all else was the true kingly way.
His voice rang out across the command tent:
"This battle will be under the overall command of Lord Tywin of Casterly Rock. All armies will follow his orders!"
"The final battle begins at sunrise tomorrow. Let us pray this won't be the last dawn humanity ever sees."
"Everyone—prepare yourselves!"
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