Thump thump thump!
Several Winterfell reconnaissance cavalry were galloping south along the relatively flat King's Road.
They had gathered from different directions, but without exception, each of these reconnaissance cavalrymen had a look of terror on their faces.
More than half a month had passed since the destruction of the Night's Watch, and the entire North already knew that an army of the dead, like an ocean, was moving south from the north.
After the temporary stronghold at the collapsed Wall was completely annihilated, the Night's Watch garrisons at Shadow Tower and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, located at both ends of The Wall, successively fell.
And at this time, the commoners from Mole's Town and Crownwatch, which were relatively close to The Wall,
learned the shocking news from the very few members of the Night's Watch and Northern Soldiers who had escaped the temporary stronghold beforehand, and immediately began to flee south.
Even though they headed south nearly ten days late, this army of the dead could travel non-stop for twenty-four hours.
Commoners with means of transportation like horses, donkeys, and mules were better off and successfully distanced themselves from the army of the dead.
However, the vast majority of commoners who brought their families and refused to abandon their belongings were eventually caught by the army of the dead.
The survivors didn't know what happened to those people, nor did they want to know.
They just kept whipping their mounts, making them run a little further before collapsing from exhaustion.
These survivors who fled from the northern towns were fortunate to escape to Last Hearth.
Duke Kregen, who was already prepared, issued a war summons to the entire Northern Alliance after receiving Commander Marqho's letter.
At the same time, he led a thousand Winterfell cavalry, traveling day and night, to arrive at Last Hearth in advance.
Because he had previously learned indirectly about the terror of the army of the dead from Jacaerys, he immediately chose to order non-combat personnel to continue migrating towards Winterfell.
Now, only a thousand Winterfell cavalry, a thousand Umber family soldiers, and two thousand temporarily recruited levies remained in Last Hearth.
Logically speaking, Duke Kregen's best option was to gather all his forces at Winterfell and fight the army of the dead to the death.
But facing the deathly invasion passed down through generations by the Stark Family ancestors, he strongly wanted to test the enemy's strength.
After all, gathering some intelligence now would make the battle for Winterfell much easier later.
Furthermore, Duke Kregen was not truly that reckless; he had already prepared a retreat route in advance.
When the reconnaissance cavalry brought back the news that the army of the dead would arrive in at most an hour, the entire Last Hearth began making final preparations.
Commander Marqho's letter was written in a messy hand, and the information was very simple; Duke Kregen only learned from it that fire was very effective against the army of the dead.
Therefore, almost all the flammable timber in the entire Last Hearth was gathered near the northern wall, and accelerants like oil were even more indispensable.
When a layer of gray clouds from which snowflakes were falling appeared in the sky, everyone knew this signaled the arrival of the army of the dead.
Because around the towns south of The Wall, at least thousands of years' worth of corpses were buried.
The army of the dead, having received reinforcements, had at least two to three times the number it did when it attacked the temporary stronghold at The Wall.
Now it could truly be called an ocean of the dead.
As usual, upon approaching Last Hearth to a certain distance, the army of the dead transitioned from stillness to motion, charging towards the northern wall at the fastest speed.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
At the top of the northern wall of Last Hearth, nearly a thousand archers drew their bows, aimed for a moment, and then shot the fire arrows that had been lit in advance on their bowstrings.
Facing such a large number of White Walkers, why did they still need to aim?
That was because what they were shooting at were all ghouls with rotting flesh.
This was valuable intelligence obtained from the members of the Night's Watch and Northern Soldiers who had escaped the temporary stronghold beforehand.
Thud, thud!
The ghouls with rotting flesh were ignited by the fire arrows, immediately turning into fiercely burning corpses that fell to the ground.
Beside them, one ghoul after another was either tripped by these burning corpses or ignited by the flames on their bodies.
This wave of fire arrows killed at least four to five thousand ghouls.
The effect was indeed good. Compared to the ghouls that were just skeletons,
these ghouls with rotting flesh, after falling, could effectively block the ghouls charging from behind, causing chaos within a certain area.
However, these methods could only cause minor trouble for the White Walkers, which was like an ocean.
Large numbers of ghouls rushed to the base of the northern wall and, following the previous pattern, began piling up bone ladders.
The northern wall of Last Hearth was ten meters high, twice the height of the temporary stronghold at The Wall.
Therefore, it was impossible for the White Walkers to climb to the top of The Wall anytime soon.
Splash splash splash!
Barrels of oil were poured down from the top of The Wall, drenching the ghouls below who were building the bone ladder.
As a fire arrow ignited the oil, a moat of fire immediately formed below the northern wall.
Duke Kregen leaned over to look at the situation below The Wall and nodded in satisfaction.
He saw ghouls rushing into the moat of fire like moths to a flame, constantly adding fuel to it.
But the vigilance in his heart did not relax. If the army of the dead could truly be dealt with so easily,
then the ancestors of the Stark Family would not have passed down those legendary tales for thousands of years.
Indeed!
A few minutes later, the ghouls that were constantly charging towards the moat of fire suddenly stopped.
Then, they turned around and ran back.
Yay!!!
Seeing the White Walkers retreat like this, the thousands of Northern Soldiers on the northern wall immediately began cheering and celebrating loudly.
Only Duke Kregen frowned tightly, not believing that the army of the dead only had this much capability.
"Ah! Look, the Last River is flooding!"
Suddenly, waves of startled cries reached Duke Kregen's ears.
He immediately turned his head to look towards the west side of Last Hearth.
He saw that at the source of the river called the Last River, a massive white wave was breaking free from the riverbed and surging towards them.
Rumble!
A towering wave seven to eight meters high was surging towards Last Hearth with a terrifying momentum that threatened to destroy everything. Stones, trees, animals, and ghouls along the way were all swept into it.
Needless to say, the moat of fire below the northern wall was extinguished by this massive wave immediately.
But it wasn't just that; the massive wave, containing immense power, violently crashed against the outer wall of the northern wall.
Crash, crash!
A section of The Wall with cavities in its foundation immediately sank by more than half, reducing the original ten-meter wall to a height of only six to seven meters.
If Jacaerys were here, he would definitely know that this towering wave breaking free from the riverbed was the Sea Hammer magic used by the Children of the Forest.
But the problem was he wasn't here. Most of the Northern Soldiers, seeing this scene like divine punishment, immediately felt that their side had angered the gods.
Splash splash splash!
After the effect of the Sea Hammer magic subsided, the White Walkers began attacking the city again.
It was clearly felt that the defensive strength this time was far inferior to before.
The White Walkers this time mainly attacked the section of The Wall that had sunk by more than half. The defenders of this section of The Wall immediately felt a sharp increase in pressure.
Before, to build the moat of fire, the oil was almost completely consumed.
Moreover, the area below the northern wall was wet, with standing water everywhere, so even with oil, it was impossible to create the fierce flames seen before.
It was just that due to the sinking foundation of The Wall, the bone ladder built by the White Walkers quickly approached the top of The Wall.
Seeing that the White Walkers was about to climb The Wall, the archers who had been shooting before immediately retreated to make way.
Behind them, soldiers holding flaming spears immediately filled the positions and formed a spear formation.
The corpses of the White Walkers quickly piled up at this sunken section of The Wall.
But human endurance could never compare to the tireless ghouls.
Especially after successive battles, the fatigue of the Northern Soldiers was accumulating exponentially.
Ah!
A northern soldier, suddenly feeling dizzy from fatigue, missed with his flaming spear and failed to stab a ghoul,
and was immediately tackled to the ground by this ghoul that had climbed to the top of The Wall and stabbed to death with chaotic slashes.
More than ten ghouls took the opportunity to climb to the top of The Wall through this gap in the defense line, attacking The Wall soldiers around them.
All the ghouls below The Wall were like sharks smelling blood, swarming towards this sunken section of The Wall.
Just as the defense line of the northern wall was about to collapse centered around this gap, the sound of dragon wings tearing through the air came from the sky.
Whoosh, whoosh!
A light green shadow, moving at extreme speed, quickly swooped down from the southern sky towards this gap in the defense line.
Whoosh!
A slender light green Dracarys illuminated this section of The Wall. The powerful light green Dracarys exploded directly on the bone ladder.
Bang!
The bone ladder was immediately shattered and ignited by the light green Dracarys. Large amounts of bones and rotting corpses were engulfed by the light green Dracarys and burned to charcoal.
Bang bang bang!
Starting from the bone ladder, this stream of light green Dracarys continuously sprayed towards the ocean of ghouls in the north.
The powerful impact of the light green Dracarys instantly blasted countless ghouls covered by the Dracarys into pieces.
Then, accompanied by the scorching Dracarys, a fiery trench with overturned earth and fiercely burning Dracarys was plowed through the dense, ocean-like White Walkers in a very short time.
Baela immediately steered Moondancer towards the left flank after this dive ended. She was preparing to perform another dive attack from the side.
Upon receiving the letter sealed with the Night's Watch Commander's seal, King's Landing immediately forwarded it to Queen Bennella, who held the highest status.
She immediately summoned Stone, Rudy, and others whom Jacaerys had specifically left in King's Landing for discussion.
Stone knew that for Jacaerys, Queen Bennella's safety was paramount.
Therefore, he spoke up to dissuade Queen Bennella, who was preparing to ride her dragon north alone, and suggested that the letter be forwarded to His Majesty the King without delay.
Baela, although displeased at the time, still agreed.
However, in the following days, ravens' letters from the lords of the North kept arriving from the north like snowflakes.
Seeing the various requests, the soft-hearted Baela directly hid it from Stone and others, and rode Moondancer first to Winterfell, and then rushed to Last Hearth.
Better late than never!
Baela, who arrived just as the Northern Soldiers' defense line was about to collapse, immediately rode Moondancer to launch a Dracarys attack on the White Walkers without hesitation.
Speaking of which, after Moondancer changed direction in the air, she directly sprayed Dracarys from the left side of The Wall to attack the White Walkers horizontally.
Bang bang bang!
For the White Walkers, which is only adapted to low-temperature environments, fire is indeed one of the sharpest weapons against them.
Moondancer's Dracarys, which was only slightly more powerful than ordinary fire, caused more losses to the White Walkers in less than two attacks than the Northern Soldiers suffered during their prolonged battle.
If Moondancer, continuously spraying Dracarys, completed this dive attack, a huge fiery 'cross' shape would appear in the ocean of the White Walkers.
However, just as Moondancer's dive attack reached the central intersection of the 'cross', a sudden change occurred!
Hiss hiss hiss!
About a dozen ice crystal javelins, like works of art, were thrown from various points within the White Walkers, shooting towards Moondancer in the air.
Seeing this, Baela, whose vigilance was at its peak, immediately controlled the smaller, Agile Moondancer to evade.
Whoosh!
But as Moondancer was evading, an ice spear with a sharp tearing sound came from the left at extreme speed, arriving later but hitting first, shooting towards its light green dragon body.
Roar!
As if sensing the approaching danger, Moondancer sharply turned her dragon neck and sprayed light green Dracarys towards the incoming ice spear.
The light green Dracarys instantly filled the sky to the left of Moondancer's body. The scorching high temperature seemed to distort the air.
Swish! Thud!
An ice crystal spear, its front half melted, penetrated the blockade of light green Dracarys and violently struck Moondancer's left flank.
Wail!!!
Struck by the ice spear, Moondancer trembled all over and then let out a huge dragon roar filled with pain.
The intense pain caused by the impact immediately made Moondancer's flight erratic, tumbling left and right in the sky as if drunk.
"Moondancer, hold steady!"
Baela, who was being tossed up and down on the dragon saddle, shouted loudly at Moondancer and did her best to control Moondancer to stabilize her posture.
Fortunately, that ice spear did not pierce Moondancer's light green dragon scales, not causing too much damage.
After struggling to stabilize her posture, Moondancer immediately flapped her wings and hurried towards Winterfell as instructed by Baela.
Duke Kregen on the northern wall witnessed the entire battle between the dragon and the others.
At the same time, he also clearly saw through the telescope the Black Crow Green Seer, who had become the Night King.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately issued the order: "Prepare to set fires to block the enemy, abandon the city and head to Winterfell!"
Even the dragon was injured and fled; their defense line, which was about to collapse, was even less likely to hold.
Whoosh!
As the messenger relayed the order, Northern Soldiers hurried towards the south gate of Last Hearth.
And before leaving, they ignited the piles of large timber stacked below the northern wall.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
As these timbers with accelerants ignited, the entire northern wall became a fiercely burning wall of fire.
The members of the Umber family immediately felt heartache upon seeing this, as this was their ancestral castle where their family had lived for thousands of years.
But as long as the people were safe, they could rebuild the burned northern wall later.
With this wall of fire separating humans and others, the more than three thousand Northern Soldiers in Last Hearth successfully escaped.
Duke Kregen, riding on horseback, looked back at Last Hearth, which seemed to be burning the sky red.
He immediately understood in his heart that facing the White Walkers, one dragon alone was not enough and could not play a significant role.
His Majesty King Jaehaerys must lead all the dragons to attack simultaneously!