Creak, creak!
After the last soldier of the Northern Coalition Army entered Winterfell, the East City Gate near the Winter Market immediately slammed shut.
To prevent the fearless White Walkers from charging, besides four or five bolts, the East City Gate was also propped shut from behind with thick logs the size of thighs.
Although the Northern Coalition Army's entry into the city was delayed for a long time, before the flame wall was extinguished, the White Walkers just stood silently in place.
Seeing that the White Walker Army made no unusual movements, Duke Kregen's expression on The Wall relaxed slightly.
He had previously followed Jacaerys to capture Children of the Forest and learned many secrets from the King.
Coupled with the Sea Hammer magic formed by the waters of the End River that he saw at the Last Hearth.
He had faintly guessed that some extraordinary individuals were hidden within this White Walkers, which was like an ocean.
But there are no rivers around Winterfell, so they cannot use that water magic to break the city.
If they could, the Northern Coalition Army would not have returned to Winterfell unharmed at this moment.
The flame wall burned for about another half an hour before finally gradually extinguishing due to running out of fuel.
The long-waiting White Walkers immediately surged towards Winterfell.
"Order the throwing units to be ready, act on my command!"
Duke Kregen, who was personally commanding the battle, raised his hand high and had the messengers relay his command.
The Others charging at full speed were similar to humans, but they did not need to breathe and did not know fatigue.
The distance the Northern Coalition Army took a lot of time to retreat, they covered in just two or three minutes.
Even though the White Walker Army was about to reach The Wall, Duke Kregen still showed no intention of launching an attack.
The White Walker Army quickly arrived below Winterfell's East City Wall and began building stairs out of bones.
At this time, nearly one-third of the White Walkers had entered the Winter Market.
"Now! Throw the fireflies!"
Not until the Northern Earls on The Wall had cold sweat dripping from their faces did Duke Kregen suddenly wave his hand and give the attack order.
Messengers relayed his command, and twenty catapults were lined up along the inner side of the East City wall.
Stark Family soldiers who heard the command carefully loaded a special wooden barrel onto the catapults beside them.
Before the catapults fired, they quickly broke a fruit pattern embedded on the surface of the barrel.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
These twenty special wooden barrels, with a whistling sound, easily crossed the Winterfell wall, arcing in a perfect parabola towards the sky above the Winter Market outside the city.
However, they were not used to attack the White Walkers!
Bang, bang, bang!
The Exploding Fruits embedded on the surface of the barrels suddenly exploded in the air, bursting the barrels and simultaneously igniting the oil inside.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The sky outside the East City wall immediately appeared with countless flames like fireflies, very conspicuous and beautiful even in broad daylight.
These beautiful and deadly fireflies fell like raindrops among the White Walkers, instantly igniting thousands of Ghouls.
To be honest, if it were just for this amount of killing power, it would be better to directly throw Exploding Fruits at the most densely packed areas of the White Walkers.
As mentioned before, these fireflies were not for attacking the White Walkers.
Many fireflies were seen landing on the rooftops of the houses in the Winter Market.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
These houses, which had been prepared beforehand, immediately burst into flames.
In a short while, the entire Winter Market became a huge furnace.
All Ghouls caught in this furnace were burned to cinders in the raging flames.
Duke Kregen looked at the Winter Market, which had turned into a sea of fire, and nodded in satisfaction.
Due to the limited number of Exploding Fruits, he didn't dare to truly experiment before this battle, only using wooden barrels to test the attack range of these twenty catapults.
Now it seems the effect completely exceeded Duke Kregen's imagination.
Just by its name, one knows the Winter Market is a town specially built by the common people of Winterfell to avoid the harsh winter.
Inside, large amounts of wood picked up and cut from the Wolfswood were piled up.
If the previous flame wall was just a small spark, then the entire Winter Market is now a huge bonfire.
The raging fire grew fiercer and fiercer, so much so that the Northern Coalition Army on the East City wall could feel the high temperature.
Fire, fire!
When Duke Kregen arranged the defensive works, he utilized this Others' bane to its fullest extent.
"It's on fire again?
These timid humans really are endless!"
Among the White Walkers, Mint first cursed in a low voice, then turned to ask Black Crow beside her,
"Great Black Crow Green Seer, this fire will probably not stop for at least half a day.
What should we do now?"
"Retreat first, and continue the attack after this fire is extinguished.
Also... please invite Green Prophet Qingmiao over."
Hearing Black Crow's words, Mint was slightly startled, and she spoke with some hesitation, "Green Prophet Qingmiao has just woken up.
She might not even be used to that human body yet.
Do we really have to ask her to come?"
"Yes, there are no rivers around Winterfell.
And the Stark Family kid is extremely skilled at using fire.
I'm afraid there will be even more fire waiting for those Ghouls later.
So inviting Green Prophet Qingmiao is the most reliable approach."
Black Crow did not directly order Mint about everything but patiently guided her.
Black Crow now holds both the identities of Green Seer and Night King.
With a single thought from him, tens of thousands of Ghouls immediately turned around and left.
Such a large movement was naturally seen by the Northern Alliance and soldiers on the Winterfell wall.
"Hurray, those damned corpses are retreating."
"Woohoo, we won!"
"Right, evil cannot defeat good.
It is we living people who have won the final victory."
Cheers and discussions rose one after another on the East City wall.
The previously extremely tense atmosphere suddenly became cheerful and joyful.
Desmond Earl, who had just been trembling with fear, immediately sneered upon hearing this, "Haha, these dead people just ran away so shamefully?
The Army of the Dead from the North's legends is nothing more than this!
Hmph, our Northern Coalition Army will be like the Night's Watch stationed on The Wall, blocking these dead people here and not letting them advance south a single step!"
Duke Kregen, who was looking out at the White Walkers, immediately spoke up to remind Desmond Earl upon hearing this.
"Desmond Earl, although we burned many corpses, this is not the final victory.
Think about it, how many corpses have been buried in the North over thousands of years?
Perhaps this White Walkers will make a round trip and make up for today's losses, and its scale might even become larger.
So please remember, this is a desperate battle of life and death.
We must treat it with utmost vigilance and never relax our guard!"
"Uh, we are a bit too relaxed right now.
Duke is right, from now on, we will remain in a state of alert."
Desmond Earl immediately replied to Duke Kregen with a respectful expression upon hearing this.
"Very good.
I heard that the White Walkers does not get tired, but we living people do.
Now not everyone needs to stay here.
Rest in batches according to the previously planned method, Desmond Earl, you arrange this matter."
"As you command!"
Duke Kregen's methods were skillful.
After using Desmond Earl as an example to lecture the other Northern Alliance who were also clearly somewhat relaxed.
He immediately used this method to compensate Desmond Earl, who had been reprimanded in public.
Duke Kregen had no intention of going back to rest and immediately began inspecting the defensive works on the East City wall.
Desmond Earl, who had wanted to rest early, saw this and immediately used the pre-planned family rotation model to allow soldiers from other Northern Alliance families to return to the spacious temporary camps inside Winterfell to rest.
And his Manderly Family soldiers would stand the first watch.
Some smart Northern Alliance immediately understood what was happening, but Duke Kregen had already spoken and told Desmond Earl to arrange this.
They could only obediently listen and obey.
After Desmond Earl finished arranging the watch duties, he immediately followed Duke Kregen to improve their relationship.
Even with the White Walker Army at the city gates, humans still could not give up intrigue, power, and deception.
The raging flames of the Winter Market burned until dusk, and the once prosperous town had been burned down to nothing but a pile of charred ruins.
But it doesn't matter, the town is destroyed, but as long as the people are still here, it can be rebuilt.
If humans lose to the Others, then even the most prosperous city is meaningless.
Strangely enough, although the White Walker Army had left, the thick cloud cover in the sky still remained over Winterfell.
With the continuous heavy snow falling, the entire area near Winterfell was completely transformed into a world covered in silver.
Duke Kregen and Desmond Earl's dinner was on the defensive wall, eating the same food as the soldiers on watch.
This action by the two Lords immediately won the recognition and praise of these soldiers on watch.
After this battle, their reputation for wisdom might spread from the mouths of these soldiers.
Time flew by, and it was soon deep into the night.
Although the North has not yet fully entered the long winter, even with many bonfires lit on The Wall, they still could not block the biting cold wind of the night.
Getting old, Desmond Earl, who really couldn't bear it, found an excuse, went down from The Wall, and returned to his comfortable room to rest.
Perhaps because of the thick cloud cover from the falling snow, the night today was extremely deep.
The soldiers on watch on the East City Gate wall could only see the areas illuminated by the bonfires; everywhere else was pitch black.
Rustle, rustle!
In the darkness, countless black figures seemed to be darting about, constantly approaching Winterfell's East City Wall.
Hmm?
Duke Kregen, who was dozing wrapped in a thick fur blanket, opened his eyes, listening carefully to something.
The sound in his ears grew louder and louder, which immediately made him realize something was wrong.
"Something is approaching, archers, use fire arrows for illumination!"
Duke Kregen's loud shout immediately startled the drowsy archers on the East City wall.
They were not fully awake even after hearing the command, performing actions like lighting, drawing, and shooting based entirely on muscle memory.
Swish, swish, swish!
Hundreds of specially made fire arrows suddenly cut through the pitch-black night, illuminating a small area below the East City wall.
Rows upon rows of frighteningly dense Others were seen standing silently below The Wall, as if waiting for some kind of command.
No, the sound wasn't coming from them!
Looking at the White Walkers that had somehow crept up below The Wall, Duke Kregen had no sleepiness left at this moment and immediately became fully alert.
But he scanned around and found something was wrong.
The sound in his ears was getting louder and louder, but the White Walkers outside the city showed no movement at all.
"Snakes, snakes, so many snakes!"
Suddenly, Duke Kregen heard a soldier behind him cry out in alarm.
Then the sound of arrow shots and weapons swinging and chopping came from behind.
Snake-like black figures spreading from the direction inside Winterfell were immediately chopped into countless pieces.
But even so, those broken snake-like black figures could still move forward, wrapping around the hands and feet of the soldiers on watch.
Not until this moment, using the bonfires on The Wall, did Duke Kregen see clearly.
These snake-like black figures were not snakes at all, but sections of vines and branches about the same thickness as snakes.
They seemed to be alive, wrapping around the soldiers on watch, either dragging them into the city or throwing them directly outside the city.
"Use fire! Whether it's a plant or a snake, it's afraid of fire!"
Following Duke Kregen's shout, the soldiers on watch, who were panicking because of the unknown creatures, gradually calmed down.
They began waving torches and throwing leftover kindling from the braziers to ignite these vines and branches.
Duke Kregen had already drawn the Stark Family's ancestral Valyrian Steel greatsword, Ice.
Swish, swish, swish!
Ice was swung by Duke Kregen like a large windmill.
Any vines or branches that dared to approach him were cut into several pieces by the sharp Ice.
Moreover, the vines and branches cut by Ice stopped moving and returned to a normal state.
Creak, creak!
Duke Kregen, who was displaying great power, suddenly heard a teeth-grinding creaking sound coming from below The Wall.
Below him was the city gate.
Without any hesitation, he immediately swung Ice and took his personal guards towards The Wall stairs.
Bang, bang, bang!
Continuous dull thuds came, as if many heavy objects were falling to the ground.
When Duke Kregen walked down The Wall stairs to the ground, he happened to see a scene that filled him with terror.
The soldiers on watch at the East City Gate were seen tightly bound by vines and branches.
The logs propping up the East City Gate had already been pulled to the ground by the vines and branches.
And now, they were even pushing up the bolts behind the city gate.
"No!!!"
Looking at the bolts pushed to the ground by the vines and branches, Duke Kregen, who was completely too late, could only let out a desperate roar.
Bang!
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
The East City Gate was directly pushed open by the Ghouls crowded outside the gate.
The White Walkers, like a tide, immediately surged into Winterfell.
To be honest, before this battle, Duke Kregen had imagined countless scenarios for how Winterfell could be breached.
But he had never imagined this one.
The entire Northern Coalition Army's combat strength was preserved very well, but the city gate was broken.
Although somewhat ironic, that was the reality.
In less than a day, Winterfell was breached by the White Walker Army!