Chapter 329: Strike South, Attack North

"Jaime!"

Once again, it was Addam Marbrand's loud shout. The dazed Jaime gradually regained his senses, his vision becoming clearer as he realized he was standing in waist-high wild grass.

Wild grass in yellow and green? Jaime reached out and plucked a seed pod from a dried yellow stalk. With a gentle squeeze, the pod shattered, and Jaime watched as the seeds inside were blown away by the wind.

"Jaime! Stop dawdling!" Another loud shout.

Jaime looked up and found himself standing in a spacious valley, surrounded by wild grass, with a small stream running on his left.

"Kill these monsters~~"

"Hah~~~"

The sound of coordinated shouting came from ahead, mixed with the growls of monsters. Addam was leading the Westerlands knights, engaging in battle with the vampires. In the center of the battlefield, the knights fought on horseback with lances against the enemy, while other knights, having disengaged, were quickly regrouping to form a triangular charge formation for a second assault.

Buzz~~~

Suddenly, Jaime's vision went black. The people, horses, grass, and rocks around him disappeared, replaced by a massive bolt of lightning that struck down into the canyon. The deafening crash of the lightning drowned out all battle cries, and its blinding light made everyone squint, their eyes going dark for a moment.

As the lightning vanished and the light returned, a massive red-and-white dragon flapped its wings, flying out of the canyon. A figure, flashing with red, blue, and white light, leapt from the dragon's head. Fireballs shot from the figure's hands, exploding in the enemy's ranks, with the sound of continuous blasts and the scattering of severed limbs and weapons.

This was the battlefield! All the Westerlands knights were fighting ahead, and Wright and the dragon were also battling alongside them, but Jaime stood alone at the rear.

Jaime looked down at his raised hands, where the red scars wrapped around his wrists were shockingly visible, almost writhing, as if trying to jump out. His hands trembled uncontrollably, and as he gripped the hilt of his sword stuck in the ground, no matter how hard he pulled, it wouldn't budge.

"I've really become useless!" Jaime muttered, staring blankly.

For the past few days, Wright had been relentlessly searching for vampires. Whenever he found one, it was either a blast of dragon flame or magical bombardment, forcing the fleeing vampires and their human servants into this canyon where the Westerlands knights had been waiting for some time.

Roar~~ Two skeleton giants, each over three meters tall and made of dozens of human bones, emerged from the portal. The blue soul fire in their eyes lit up. They raised bone shields and pulled out two-meter-long bone clubs from their backs, swinging wildly as they charged toward the vampires.

The low-level vampire magic had no effect on the giants, and when stronger magic came their way, the giants raised their shields to block. The two giants rampaged through the battlefield, crushing human servants into pulp, their organs flying everywhere. The vampires could only dodge, quickly carving two small paths through the enemy ranks.

Standing not far away, Qyburn released all his magical energy to summon the two skeleton giants—this was his limit. Now, he didn't dare move, focusing entirely on controlling the movements of the giants.

"Willen! Watch out for the magic!"

Willen Lannister had just helped injure a vampire with a silvered spear when a red magic blast struck him from the side.

"Ah~~" Willen screamed in agony as blood began to seep from his pores. Within two seconds, he was completely covered in red blood, his blood being drained by a nearby vampire.

"Brother!" Willen's twin brother, Martyn, cried out in panic.

"Quick, attack that vampire!" Harry Bracken, covered in blood, remained calm. If they didn't use magic to resist, they had to attack the caster to interrupt their spellcasting.

Martyn followed the bloodstained path in the air, spotting the vampire caster. He lifted his spear and hurled it with all his strength. However, there was still some distance between them, and the vampire, faster than humans, knew not to engage directly with their silvered weapons. In the chaos of the battlefield, the vampire lightly jumped, dodging the spear.

Jumping three meters high, the vampire turned mid-air to look at Martyn and Harry, its magic intensifying as it bared its fangs, seemingly mocking their efforts.

"No!" Martyn drew his sword, pulling on the reins as he prepared to charge the vampire.

A crescent-shaped blood-red sword aura flew from the vampire's abdomen. The vampire, laughing in mid-air, lowered its head, only to see its body below the chest fly uncontrollably in the air, catching fire as it burned.

The dismembered vampire could no longer control the magic within its body, ceasing its spellcasting. Soon after, it saw a red light shoot from its face, flying far away. Its vision blurred, with one eye staring at the sky and the other at the ground.

"Willen, are you still alive?" Martyn shouted.

Harry jumped off his horse and ran to where Willen had fallen. He flipped him over and found that he was still conscious, though his body was covered in his own blood. Harry began searching through his small pouch. "Where's your healing potion?"

Willen struggled to raise his arm and patted his chestplate.

"Why did you put it there? Hurry up and drink it!" Harry pulled out a pocket watch and healing potion from a small leather strap on the back of his chestplate, uncorked the bottle, and placed it in Willen's mouth.

"How are you?" Martyn also came over.

"Everything hurts, but it feels good," Willen replied, quickly able to speak. He wiped the blood from his face, his skin now turning blue.

"Good, you're okay!" Martyn grabbed his brother's hand and helped him up. The vampires and human minions in front were starting to scatter, the battle shifting from an assault to a chase as Wright, having landed, started slaying vampires from behind.

Harry and Martyn, one on each side, supported the weakened Willen, all three staring towards the battlefield.

Any vampire that dared to rise was instantly met with a red sword aura that cleaved it in half. The sharp sword energy didn't dissipate after cutting through one vampire, continuing to fly toward the distant cliffside, cutting a two-meter long, palm-deep groove into the hard rock.

The only one capable of jumping that high was Wright. With a mighty leap, he searched for his next target. Boom! A massive explosion erupted with flames, and a hum—electricity crackled above the heads of the Western knights, tearing through the air with a deafening sound.

"Ha!"

Wright slammed his hand on the ground, and a loud shout rang out. Both sides in the battle noticed a flash of white light beneath their feet, which quickly expanded in a circular pattern centered on Wright.

In the brief moment of distraction, massive ice flowers erupted on the rock faces at both ends and sides of the canyon. Boom, boom, boom! Ice spikes, crystal-clear and as hard as steel, surrounded the battlefield, forming a spiked cage. Some fleeing vampires impaled themselves on the spikes, slowly turning to dust.

The vampires clashing with the Western knights had already been killed, and the remaining scattered ones could be dealt with by Qyburn. The remaining human minions were easily handled by the Western knights. Wright now only used the smallest spells and his great sword to fight, refraining from large-scale magic to avoid injuring his allies.

"I now understand why merchants from Braavos, when they mention Wright, can hardly speak without stumbling," Willen said as he regained some strength and released the support from Martyn and Harry.

"But we don't have magical talent, do we?" Martyn said with deep envy.

Willen pointed to the center of the battlefield where Wright, wielding his great sword, had turned into a bloodied figure, cutting down enemies. He patted his brother's arm. "Wright isn't even using magic right now. Didn't you notice? The swordsmanship he's using now, he taught us before."

"Yeah, when I watch him cut down people, I feel like the movements are so familiar," Harry rubbed his eyes, wiping the blood from his eyelashes.

"Let's go, charge in. We're Wright's attendants, this is the best live teaching." Willen picked up the long sword from the ground, mounted his horse, and with Martyn and Harry, rejoined the battle.

With Wright and Qyburn systematically eliminating vampires, these creatures were quickly wiped out. The well-equipped Western knights soon finished the battle.

Odahviing landed on a mountaintop on the side of the canyon, lowering its head to watch the tiny figures at the bottom of the canyon move.

Wright held the last vampire in his hand, interrogating it alongside Qyburn. On the battlefield covered with corpses, the remaining vampires and human minions, having discarded their weapons, lay on the ground, their hands bound, kneeling together.

Many knights were searching through the wild grass for lost supplies. The silver stags they had taken were melted down and used to coat the weapons. There was nothing left, and the next resupply wasn't known, so every spear, sword, and arrow had to be recovered. Even the vampire ash was valuable.

After some time, with no more information extracted from the vampire, Wright let it turn to dust.

Twenty-some human captives were kneeling together, and as Wright and Qyburn walked over, Addam was discussing with his subordinates how to handle these people.

"Lord Wright, do these humans need to be interrogated?" Addam took off his helmet, which was covered in blood, making it hard to see.

Wright tilted his head towards Qyburn. "Do you want these people?"

Qyburn walked up to the captives, lifting one person's lip to inspect their teeth.

The knights, having finished cleaning the battlefield, slowly gathered around.

After inspecting a few more, Qyburn returned to Wright and shook his head. "In this wilderness, I don't have the tools to study them, and I'd have to feed and keep them alive. I don't want them."

This battle was well-prepared, with Wright and Qyburn, along with weapons specifically designed to deal with vampires. However, a few Westlands knights still died due to bad luck, not having time to take their healing potions before their deaths.

Looking at the knights who gathered, each covered in blood, with only a dozen or so still clean, Wright clasped his hands behind his back and said loudly, "You few, since you chose to come out, you must participate in the battle. Considering you haven't had much training, I won't expect you to fight head-on, but from now on, you will be in charge of executing prisoners!"

The clean ones were the female knights from the Westlands. With women in the army, the men's chivalry spirit surged, ensuring they were well-protected. But Wright didn't care for that; if you're out here, your hands must get bloody somehow.

"Ah!" "Me!"

"What's all this 'ah' about? Come over here, each of you pick one prisoner, and chop their necks off. Then we'll have dinner." Wright shouted.

"Go on!" "No problem!"

"Ha! I bet she'll need three strikes." "Hmm, I'll bet four!"

The surrounding knights began to make fun of them.

Wright gave his orders and moved on, signaling Addam and the officers to come aside for a meeting. As he passed by the tidy and clean Jaime, Wright shot him a sideways glance but didn't acknowledge him.

During their last meeting with the Westlands troops, Qyburn had already reported Jaime's condition to Wright. Wright suspected that Jaime had been tricked by Joffrey, losing his sword and having his hands chopped off. Since then, Jaime hardly spoke, and there was no word on Joffrey's whereabouts. Wright could only focus on dealing with the vampires.

Choosing a clean rock, Wright had everyone sit down to rest. "Were the weapons effective?"

"They worked really well against the vampires, but the silver plating on these emergency weapons easily peels off after use," Addam said as he drew his sword and placed it on the stone, the silver coating already coming off in large patches.

Wright looked at the worn blade. "It's a temporary solution, but it works. After we get back, we can find a blacksmith. There are ways to properly inlay silver into the blades."

The soldiers had melted down the silver deer into liquid, and due to its hardness, it was mixed with other metals. They simply dipped the spearheads and sword blades into the molten silver, just enough to last a single battle.

Wright then turned to Qyburn. "Have you received any ravens?"

Almost all mages kept ravens, and Qyburn had a large cage that followed the supply wagons. "Yes, we received a distress letter from the Twins yesterday. A number of vampires were encountered near Edmure in the West, and they are retreating to Twins for defense. They need our support, along with the riverlands nobles."

Addam counted on his fingers. "Let's see, by now, the riverlands nobles should already be halfway there. Should we head over to support them?"

Qyburn interrupted him. "Not just here! Vampires have been spotted in King's Landing, near the Red Keep, and in Stormlands as well."

"Everywhere! That's four places in total!" Addam exclaimed. Everyone in the group knew that there were four vampire outbreaks across the continent.

Wright casually picked up a small stone and began drawing on the rock. "This long oval is the continent. We're here in the Riverlands, with vampires suddenly popping up in the Stormlands, Riverlands, and King's Landing."

"Renly can only handle one place, are they trying to lead you south?" Qyburn guessed. The biggest threat posed by the vampires was Wright and Renly, as they were the two strongest mages and could travel quickly with dragons.

Wright tapped the stone, deep in thought. Qyburn suddenly spoke again, "That vampire we interrogated earlier mentioned something about welcoming the 'Son of God, Son of the Sun, the Holy Son', and other variations!"

After Qyburn finished speaking, he turned to look at Jaime who was standing stupidly not far away.

"No, no!" Wright interrupted Qyburn.

Someone like Joffrey, with no magical aptitude, would be bottom-tier even if turned into a vampire.

"With the magical detection towers, items to track undead creatures, and silver weapons being spread, vampires will soon be found in the towns. I'm not worried about that," Wright said.

He pointed to the crude map on the ground. "Look at the map. If Renly and I head south, considering the dragons' speed and rest time, by the time we finish with the southern issues and go to the Wall, it will take at least a month!"

"The Wall?"

"The Wall? The vampires' true goal is the Wall?" Qyburn was shocked. If the magic at the Wall was breached, it would be catastrophic for humanity and the undead.

"I'm not sure. Destroying the vampires is only a matter of time, and with the right weapons, they are like lambs. My only worry is the Wall," Wright thought rapidly.

"Do you plan to go north?" Addam asked.

"Not going?" Wright looked up. "I can't take the risk. I can't afford to bet that their goal is not the Wall."

Wright didn't dare tell them that behind the Others were lurking gods of chaos.

"I'll send a letter to Renly to deal with the vampires in the Stormlands, and then protect the King. The mages in Highgarden's are handling it, and King's Landing has plenty of mages, so there's no need to worry too much. Addam, you and your men should retreat from the Moonlight Mountains and support Twins. Qyburn, stay with them until I send new orders."

"Understood."