He didn't stay out of the fight completely however, watching as a hawk as men fought each other to the death. He saw arms being lobbed off, chests being crushed and throats be slit. It was a massacre. The iron born men fought bravely but were overwhelmed with sheer numbers. The attack had been going on for an hour without much progress being made(the castle of Pyke was better defended than he thought) and Max could feel his power returning to him. The seawater, which was spraying from the cliff sides, seemed to invigorate him. Whatever that egg had done, it was showing its usefulness. He jumped up, startling the soldiers left behind to guard him, "these iron cunts think their fortress is impenetrable, that they still have a chance… they are wrong, so very wrong! Come with me, men and let these bastards feel our fury, make them regret challenging the Baratheon dynasty! They have no idea what they have just done! For battle! For glory! For the crown!"
"yeah!" The soldiers were invigorated by his enthusiasm and his personal attack team stormed the castle. He created a man sized hole in the wall -not wanting to stress himself so soon after recovering his strength- and climbed in. He swung his sword and the surprised iron men weren't fast enough to counter him. They died without meaning. No one would remember their names and no stories would be told of them.
"We were breached! Get Lord Euron!"
Euron Greyjoy… Max would revel in his death. He didn't like the cunt, not one bit.
When he arrived, Max was surprised to see an eyepatch over one of his azure eyes. This wasn't Show Euron but Book Euron… no matter, he would die the same, "the fuck? I expected to see the Greenland king… who are you? His concubine? Ha ha ha! Come here, pretty boy, I will- argh!"
Max had touched the wall and a spike of the dark stone penetrated Euron's hand, causing him to drop his sword, "the fuck?! How did you do that?"
"That is irrelevant. A dying man doesn't have the right to answers"
"Dying? Pretty boy, I have killed men twice your size with nothing but my bare hands! You don't stand a- argh!" Another spike penetrated his gut. Warm blood flew down it, forming a puddle of blood below him.
"Any last words, crow's eye?"
"What is dead may never die" even in the face of overwhelming power, the crow's eye held no ounce of fear. He had to admit, Euron was brave… but bravery didn't save you when an apex predator was stalking you.
Max's cat like, golden eyes pierced him as his sword pierced his throat. With one clean motion, the man was beheaded. He put the still bleeding head in his backpack and moved through the castle, killing men without discrimination. Through the hole he had made, many more soldiers came through, even the king used this entrance. One breach, that was all that was needed for the keep to fall but Max was only after one person's head, Balon. The king of salt and rock couldn't be allowed to live. Let Theon be groomed to inherit the lordship back in Winterfell but the adult Greyjoy had to fall. He wouldn't change, it wasn't in his nature.
So, he found Balon on the seastone chair and he could feel the magic radiating off the inky black stone carved to look like a kraken.
"It is over, great king! Your reign lasted no longer than a child with greyscale and you will end with it"
"I can see that my reign has come to an end… I will swear fealty to the iron throne, take me to the king" he sighed.
"Oh, there won't be a second chance for you… the world is better without you in it. Your eldest sons are dead but worry not, you line won't end with you. Theon will become a lord better, kinder, more just than you. Your line will not end… but you will"
"You think you can defeat me all by yourself? I will just kill you and wait for someone who will take prisoners"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!", he laughed, sheathing his sword, "it is precisely because we are alone that your death warrant has been sealed. I can kill you with a touch. Now normally, I would've needed to kill you the old fashioned way, no one can know that I can do this, people would fear me even more… but! There are no witnesses. Ha ha ha!"
Balon couldn't even draw his sword before Max disintegrated his body, leaving only his head. Satisfied, he sat down on the seastone chair, waiting for the king, covered from head to toe with blood. As soon as he sat down on the chair, he could feel sea magic flow through his body. It was the kind that he had felt before when swallowing the egg, unruly as the sea but it didn't stay in his body for too long, instead, it channeled into the eggs. Taking them out of his backpack, he could see them glowing in a low, blue light. Something was growing within them, a serpentine form.
It grew faster than should be possible. One centimeter, three centimetres, five… soon the eggs burst open and within his hands lay two serpentine beasts, small, with blue scales and discoloured wings but no legs or arms. He knew what they were, sea dragons of the myths. They chirped and he could feel some sort of connection forming between them and him. He could feel that they were hungry, so very hungry, so he fed them some fish. After having eaten, they curled up around his neck, sleepy.
When the other soldiers found him, with Balon's severed head on his lap, they knew the war was over, the Greyjoys had fallen and with their fall, a new magic had awoken, magic given serpentine shape.