Rayder's answer was ambiguous; he neither explicitly stated that he had summoned the Others, nor did he deny that their appearance was related to him. This vague statement was clearly a prevarication.
Daemon, riding on his dragon, was immediately enraged. He drew the sword from his waist, raised it high, pointed its tip at Rayder, and roared,
"Even if the Others' appearance is unrelated to you, your act of destroying The Great Wall is a capital offense in itself!"
Faced with Daemon's angry reprimand, Rayder remained remarkably calm. He first feigned extreme terror, then said with a mocking tone,
"Oh my, how scary! Should I immediately kneel and beg for mercy?"
However, there was no trace of fear on his face; instead, a defiant expression appeared, as if saying, "What can you do to me?"
Rhaenys, seeing the unfavorable situation, quickly ordered Red Queen Meleys to step forward two paces, positioning her between Daemon and Rayder, to prevent Daemon from acting impulsively.
Rhaenys interjected, "Rayder, why exactly did you destroy The Great Wall? Give me a reasonable explanation!"
Rayder was completely unconcerned by Rhaenys's questioning. He merely shrugged nonchalantly and replied with an indifferent expression,
"No particular reason, really. I just found that wall an eyesore, wanted to make a hole in it, and so I did."
His words were clearly nonsense, not revealing the true reason at all.
After all, Rayder would not easily reveal his true intentions to them.
Both Rhaenys and Daemon were incredibly angry and found such a childish answer unacceptable.
However, despite the raging inferno in their hearts, they dared not easily vent it.
For no other reason than that they currently possessed only two dragons, while Rayder had three.
More crucially, one of Rayder's dragons was completely different in appearance from theirs, and its size was much larger than their two dragons combined.
Recalling that they failed to win a five-on-three battle before, a two-on-three now would be like hitting a rock with an egg, with no chance of victory.
Therefore, even though their hatred for Rayder had reached its peak at this moment, wishing they could immediately draw their swords and dismember him, they could only suppress their anger and dared not make the slightest move.
Rayder was clearly unconcerned by the reactions of Daemon and Rhaenys; he even bothered to ignore them.
Turning his head, he saw the Army of Ghouls in the sky, like rolling black clouds, sweeping in, and getting closer and closer.
Rayder's heart tightened, and he quickly shouted to the Night's Watch,
"What are you waiting for! Go quickly and tell the craftsmen to repair the wall! Can't you see the Army of Ghouls is about to attack?"
However, the Night's Watch looked at Rayder with resentment and dissatisfaction.
They muttered to themselves, "You knew the Army of Ghouls was coming, yet you severely damaged the wall. Now you remember to repair it? How can it be done in time?"
Just as everyone was in a bit of a panic, Tar suddenly calmed down.
He knew that this was not the time for anger and complaints; the most urgent task was how to withstand the fierce assault of the Army of Ghouls.
Tar was anxious. He knew that although the collapsed gap was still over ten meters high, if it wasn't reinforced in time, the ghouls could easily climb up.
So, he unhesitatingly ordered the craftsmen to act quickly and build simple defensive fortifications at the gap.
The craftsmen worked against time, using stones, wood, and other available materials to build a temporary defense line as quickly as possible.
Although this fortification did not look sturdy, in such an emergency, it could still provide some defensive function.
At the same time, the distant sky was gradually covered by the black mass of ghouls.
The sheer number of these ghouls was astonishing.
They surged forward like a tide, densely filling the entire view.
By The Great Wall, both the Night's Watch and the dragonriders Daemon and Rhaenys were stunned by the sight before them.
They had never seen so many ghouls; this scene far exceeded their imagination.
Many members of the Night's Watch were so frightened that their faces turned pale, and they could barely hold their swords steady.
The sky and ground ahead were occupied by ghouls; their numbers seemed endless, while the Night's Watch on The Great Wall numbered only a few tens of thousands.
The vast disparity in numbers between the two sides was despair-inducing.
However, as the chief of the rangers, Tar was not overcome by fear.
He took a deep breath, stood out resolutely, and shouted loudly, boosting morale.
"Brothers! Don't be afraid! We are the Night's Watch, and our duty is to protect this land!"
Tar's voice echoed on The Great Wall, "The head of the Stark Family has already brought reinforcements; we will surely defeat these ghouls!"
Hearing the news that reinforcements were coming, a glimmer of hope ignited in the hearts of the Night's Watch.
Their fighting spirit was re-ignited, and they gripped their swords tighter.
The Gryphon King, like a flash of lightning, streaked across the sky, bringing the Cold God to The Great Wall first.
Daemon and Rhaenys's eyes widened; they had never seen a creature other than a giant dragon that could soar freely in the sky—a griffin.
Moreover, this Gryphon King was even larger than many adolescent giant dragons, and its mighty aura was awe-inspiring.
The Cold God ignored the Night's Watch on The Great Wall. She sat steadily on the back of the Gryphon King, controlling this giant beast, and charged directly towards Rayder like a meteor.
Rayder stared nervously at the Cold God, watching her ride the Gryphon King effortlessly over the towering walls of The Great Wall, without any obstruction.
Rayder's heart immediately sank. He realized that his previous guess was correct: The Great Wall's magic had failed, and it could no longer prevent the invasion of the Others.
Now, this once impregnable defense line only had its Tar walls left to provide some physical interception.
Rayder's heart pounded rapidly, and various escape plans flashed through his mind.
Just as he was about to make a run for it, Daemon's gaze happened to fall on him.
Daemon immediately noticed Rayder's intention, and a mocking smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he said unceremoniously,
"Hey, you coward, you're not trying to run away, are you?"
Faced with Daemon's taunt, Rayder shamelessly admitted, "Haha, you're absolutely right, that's exactly what I'm planning."
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