Whoosh, whoosh!
Womax's enormous dragon body flew over High Tide, the ancestral castle of House Velaryon on Driftmark.
Jacaerys looked down at the majestic castle, memories of his transmigration flashing through his mind.
Eight years had passed, and everything had changed!
Seeing the ink-colored dragon flying from the direction of King's Landing, the soldiers of House Velaryon immediately sprang into action.
Two or three soldiers immediately entered the castle to report, while the remaining soldiers quickly cleared out the onlookers, clearing a landing spot for Womax outside the castle.
As it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, Jacaerys hadn't notified anyone this time, coming alone with only his dragon.
Jacaerys, who didn't show his emotions, walked past the many House Velaryon soldiers kneeling in salute, striding towards the interior of High Tide.
And these kneeling soldiers, let alone stopping him, didn't even dare to stand up without the King's permission.
Several captains among them exchanged glances, their faces showing anxious expressions.
Jacaerys had long since noticed these small movements, but he had no intention of leaving High Tide for the time being.
Instead, he thoughtfully placed his hand on the hilt of Blackfyre and walked into High Tide.
Jacaerys knew something was happening with House Velaryon yet still strode in, this wasn't carelessness, but confidence.
He was confident that with his current strength, he was almost unbeatable within the Seven Kingdoms.
Even if there was an opponent, Womax, who was guarding outside the city, could provide him with enough confidence.
Creak!
Just as he reached the entrance of the Nine Voyages Hall, Womax happened to meet Rhaenyra and others who were opening the large door.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Seeing Jacaerys, Rhaenyra curtsied calmly.
As for the large group of people following her, some knelt and some curtsied.
Those who knelt were commoners such as soldiers and servants, while those who curtsied were naturally collateral members of House Velaryon who held titles.
But Jacaerys wasn't interested in them, his gaze was fixed on a middle-aged knight wearing silver-plated armor.
There was no family crest on the other party's armor, this middle-aged knight was either a free knight (mercenary), or was deliberately hiding symbols that could identify him.
"No need for formalities, Rhaenyra.
Hmm, this knight's face is quite unfamiliar, I wonder which family he serves, could you introduce yourself?"
Hearing Jacaerys's question, the middle-aged knight, who had been bowing his head, immediately looked up and replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, my name is William, and I am a free knight.
I came to High Tide this time at the request of Ser Tyland to deliver some Crab Isle specialties to Princess Rhaenyra."
Crab Isle is a few hours' sail from Dragonstone and is the territory of House Celtigar.
Although House Celtigar is not famous in the TV series of the previous life, it is actually an ancient family originating from the Valyrian Freehold.
Their relationship with House Velaryon is also quite close, after all, the former relied on the latter to establish a relatively powerful fleet and accumulated a lot of wealth through long-distance trade.
"Tsk tsk, Rhaenyra, you have quite the influence.
Ser Tyland didn't even send me Crab Isle specialties when I got married!"
Jacaerys's words made Rhaenyra frown slightly, but she still replied in a very calm tone, "Your Majesty, Crab Isle has only recently had a harvest due to changes in ocean currents.
Ser Tyland didn't know if you liked these specialties, so he asked me to pass them on to my sister.
So it's not that I have great influence, but that you do!"
Although Rhaenyra is Baela's younger sister, she has been calm since childhood, and has been following the 'Uncrowned Queen' Rhaenys.
And having experienced many changes in House Velaryon, she is now much more astute than her sister.
But precisely because of this, Jacaerys knew that she wouldn't influence Baela and Lucerys for no reason.
"Is that so? Then I'll wait for Ser Tyland to send the Crab Isle specialties.
Alright, Rhaenyra, I want to talk to you alone."
Jacaerys didn't seem to suspect anything, he said to Rhaenyra and then entered the Nine Voyages Hall alone.
Seeing this, Rhaenyra quickly waved to William and the other collateral members, motioning for them to leave, then turned and followed him in.
Sitting down in a chair by the fireplace, Jacaerys didn't waste words and directly asked, "Rhaenyra, have you been sending letters to Baela and Lucerys very frequently recently?"
"Frequently? Your Majesty, I don't understand what you mean.
It should be very normal for me to be in frequent contact with my sister and fiancé, right!"
Hearing this, Rhaenyra replied with an innocent look.
"I know, you've always been unhappy with my decision to expel Daemon and Rhaenys.
But you should listen to their instructions before they left, live well on Driftmark, and don't do anything foolish.
Those little tricks in your previous letters, besides bringing you closer and closer to death, had no effect whatsoever.
Or rather, do you think I would be concerned about Baela and Lucerys and not dare to kill you?"
Seeing that Rhaenyra was still pretending to be foolish, Jacaerys simply laid his cards on the table.
And his words immediately made Rhaenyra's face change drastically.
For no other reason, the words Daemon and Rhaenys said to her before leaving Westeros were only heard by the guards Rhaenys left behind and her confidantes.
In other words, among those she believed she could trust, there were already spies for Jacaerys.
Rhaenyra wasn't stupid, she immediately realized that Jacaerys was giving her a chance to confess.
She immediately replied, "Your Majesty, I did write some inappropriate things to my sister and Lucerys because of Ser Tyland's reminder.
But we of House Velaryon have always been loyal to you.
My sister is your queen, and I am about to marry your brother.
It is absolutely impossible, and absolutely unnecessary, to take such a great risk to do something foolish!"
"Hmm, I believe you.
Because Rhaenyra, you are a smart person, and you are definitely telling the truth now.
But people who think they are smart are often the easiest to be used!
I hope you don't make the same mistake a second time, if I have to ride a dragon to Driftmark again, it won't be as simple as it is now."
As soon as Jacaerys finished speaking, he stood up and left the Nine Voyages Hall.
Rhaenyra stared blankly at Jacaerys's retreating figure, thinking about his last words.
Being used? By whom? Ser Tyland?
No, I seem to have made a fatal mistake.
Crab Isle is not far from Driftmark, why didn't Ser Tyland come to see me himself?
Instead, he let this free knight named William be responsible for contacting me?
Whoosh, whoosh!
Womax carried Jacaerys high into the sky, then circled the sea near High Tide at extreme speed.
Since very few ships left High Tide, he easily found the old cargo ship of House Celtigar that had not yet left the area.
This House Celtigar cargo ship did indeed initially sail northeast.
But after passing Dragonstone, it circled around the north side of Dragonstone and turned towards the Blackwater Bay.
Moreover, during this voyage, the old hull of the entire cargo ship was quickly dismantled by the sailors, and the House Celtigar crab flag was replaced with a large seven-pointed star flag.
Just like that, it transformed into a transport ship belonging to the Church of the Seven.
Jacaerys on Womax's dragon saddle had been observing this cargo ship with a special telescope.
Seeing the familiar seven-pointed star flag, a mocking smile, full of sarcasm, appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Just as he had expected, the mastermind attempting to influence Baela and Lucerys through Rhaenyra was the Church of the Seven.
Although this conspiracy of the Church of the Seven is still in its initial stage and no major problems are apparent.
But their ultimate goal can only be one, which is to indirectly influence Jacaerys through this series of methods.
Jacaerys, who is now on the Iron Throne, is different from before, he doesn't need to wait until the conspiracy breaks out to start thinking of ways to deal with it, but instead directly nip it in the bud.
Jacaerys was already planning to move against the Church of the Seven, and they have now conveniently delivered the excuse right to his doorstep.
Bang!
Half a day later, this transport ship of the Church of the Seven docked at the Blackwater River, and William, who had changed his attire, immediately got off the ship.
And on the shore, an archbishop of the Church of the Seven named Tovanni was waiting to receive him.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Suddenly, Womax descended from the sky!
The enormous dragon claws grabbed the Church of the Seven's transport ship as if it were a toy and directly lifted it onto the bank of the Blackwater River.
Rudy, who had been waiting, rushed out from the River Gate with a large number of Gold Cloaks and Unsullied, surrounding them tightly.
After Jacaerys arrested William and Archbishop Tovanni, the charge he set was theft of House Celtigar property.
There were a large number of items engraved with the House Celtigar's crest on the transport ship, making them completely unable to defend themselves now.
Subsequently, Jacaerys's plan began to be carried out in an orderly manner.
The news that king Jacaerys would personally execute the criminals of the Church of the Seven spread like wildfire, quickly reaching many people.
Many commoners in King's Landing, upon hearing the news, flocked to Aegon's Square.
No matter which world, there will always be plenty of people who love to watch a good show.
In less than two hours, the entire Aegon's Square was filled with commoners watching the spectacle.
Because Aegon's Square was not like before where a large area was specifically set aside for lords, today's gathering of commoners was even larger than during the previous coronation and the king's wedding.
William, Archbishop Tovanni, and dozens of followers of the Church of the Seven knelt in a line on the giant bluestone platform.
Jacaerys stood silently, leaning on Blackfyre, waiting for the main characters of this grand play to appear.
Tap, tap, tap!
Accompanied by a series of footsteps, the onlookers were parted by a group of followers of the Church of the Seven.
The high septon of the Church of the Seven, dressed in a silver silk robe and wearing a tall crystal crown on his head, hurried over.
Behind him were twelve archbishops of lower rank.
This new high septon was named Eustace, a mendicant who had been stationed at the Red Keep since the time of Viserys I.
During the previous bloody coronation, he was not invited by the former high septon due to his lower rank, and as a result, he luckily escaped the disaster.
Originally, based on his seniority and achievements, he was not qualified to succeed as high septon.
However, the archbishops had already heard of Jacaerys's disbelief in gods and his reputation for wanton slaughter, so they nominated Eustace as high septon.
"king Jacaerys, as soon as I heard that Archbishop Tovanni was to be executed by your majesty on charges, I immediately rushed here.
I can swear by the seven gods in heaven, this is absolutely a misunderstanding, he could not possibly have stolen House Celtigar property!"
"Swear by the seven gods in heaven?
Heh heh, do you think swearing by these ethereal things can save their lives?"
Jacaerys let out a sneer upon hearing this, then directly and loudly replied.
With his mocking skill maxed out, this single sentence directly ignited Eustace and the other archbishops.
"Damn it! Even if you are the king, you cannot publicly slander the seven gods like this!"
"Blasphemy, this is absolutely blasphemy!"
"He is already a heretic who neither believes in the seven gods nor the Old Gods.
Divine right of kings, he who does not believe in gods is not fit to be the king of the Seven Kingdoms!"
"He has killed nearly a million people in Essos and Westeros combined, he is absolutely a dragon that escaped from the seven hells!"
The words of the archbishops on the giant bluestone platform, speaking over each other, seemed to have started something, and the followers of the seven gods gathered near the bluestone platform began to accuse Jacaerys one after another.
As Jacaerys's words were spread by the commoners below, more and more followers of the seven gods began to curse and attack.
Not only that, some even attempted to break through the obstruction of the Gold Cloaks and The Unsullied Legion and rush onto the bluestone platform.
Roar!!!
Seeing the situation about to get out of control, a dragon roar that echoed throughout King's Landing came from the sky.
Four dragons led by Womax flew over Aegon's Square at extremely low altitude, directly frightening most of the commoners into crouching on the ground with their heads in their hands.
Seeing that the scene was under control, Jacaerys pointed Blackfyre in his hand at Eustace and the twelve archbishops behind him and shouted loudly: "What a divine right of kings!
I agree, but my power is not granted by your seven gods who do not exist at all!
Instead, it is granted to myself by myself and my dragons!
Therefore, you ignorant people, wake up and abandon the ethereal seven gods to worship me!"
Seeing Jacaerys's words becoming more and more arrogant, the faces of Eustace and the archbishops completely darkened.
Before, they said the seven gods were ethereal, and now they directly said they didn't exist.
If they couldn't defeat him, they would have rushed up and fought Jacaerys to the death right now.
"Seven gods in heaven! I am willing to exchange my life for your descent into the world to punish this blasphemous dragon!"
An archbishop suddenly slammed his head against the ground with great emotion and shouted with a very tragic tone.
The eyes of the followers of the seven gods in Aegon's Square, who had been frightened by the dragons, turned red upon seeing this, and there were signs of them starting to curse loudly again as before.
Jacaerys didn't want to listen to them babbling anymore, so he directly spoke loudly to the archbishops: "It's very simple to prove whether your seven gods exist or whether I am not a god.
Just use your lives! Someone!"
Following Jacaerys's call, Rudy came onto the stage with Archmaester Mukun and two Unsullied carrying red cloth trays.
"Your majesty, this is the very precious Strangler!
This poison can take a person's life in dozens of breaths, and the death will be extremely gruesome!"
As soon as Archmaester Mukun came onto the stage, he took out a glass bottle filled with purple liquid from under his robe and loudly explained what the liquid inside was.
At the same time, Rudy ordered the two Unsullied to open the red cloths covering the trays, which contained a bottle of wine and fourteen wine glasses.
Subsequently, Archmaester Mukun, under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes in Aegon's Square, filled the fourteen wine glasses with wine and dripped a drop of the Strangler poison into each cup.
"The rules are simple, we will drink this poisoned wine together.
Whoever doesn't die in the end proves that their god is truly real!
To prevent you from saying I cheated, I can let you choose first."
Jacaerys's action instantly silenced the archbishops who had been so agitated before.
They all looked at Eustace, who had been nominated as high septon.
But before Eustace could speak, Jacaerys spoke again: "Don't get it wrong, when I say 'we', I mean me and you thirteen.
Don't want to drink?
You wouldn't be so naive as to think that after slandering and insulting me just now, you can just walk off the stage safely, would you?"
Upon seeing this, Eustace walked forward, picked up one of the poisoned cups, and drank it down.
The other twelve archbishops, upon seeing this, first loudly praised Eustace, then turned to look at Jacaerys.
Jacaerys understood their meaning, a disdainful sneer appeared on his lips, then he walked forward, chose a cup of poisoned wine, and drank it down in one gulp.
Finally, he also showed the wine glass to the twelve archbishops and the onlookers below the stage.
There was no other way, the twelve archbishops, seeing this, could only reluctantly pick up the poisoned wine and slowly drink it.
But they still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts, after all, Jacaerys wouldn't really poison himself, right!
Ugh!!!
Suddenly, Eustace, who had drunk the poisoned wine first, clutched his neck, and his face gradually turned purple like a pig's liver.
In less than twenty breaths, he foamed at the mouth and died on the bluestone platform.
The other twelve archbishops, seeing this, were so frightened that they scrambled and fled in all directions.
But it was completely useless, they died from the poison as they ran into the crowd of commoners below the stage.
In the end, only Jacaerys remained, standing on the giant bluestone platform like a god in the world.
For thousands of years, the faith of the seven gods has always been ethereal, relying solely on words to deceive.
And Jacaerys, from his descent from the sky at the very beginning to his laughing and drinking poisoned wine now, has already shown that he is extraordinary.
At this moment, the faith of many followers of the seven gods in Aegon's Square collapsed, and they began to believe in this god in the world instead!