After ending her communion with Little Red's dragon spirit, Dany refocused her attention on Winterfell, on Stannis's Lightbringer.
Blazing heat and white radiance burst outward without restraint. The abundant divine power made the air ripple like water.
This was probably the most powerful weapon Dany had seen in this world.
She lowered her head to glance at the sullied imitation red sword at her waist (ps). Her brows knit together, and an intense disgust suddenly rose within her.
After only a moment's hesitation, she unfastened her sword belt, stepped forward a few paces, and, as if discarding trash, handed it to the demon hunter, whose face was pale, eyes filled with terror, body trembling.
The Lord of Light had revealed a miracle. Everyone else was cheering in jubilation. Only he was the exception.
In truth, bathed in the sun's radiance, Ser Richard not only failed to feel warmth and light, he was nearly frightened out of his wits.
"It's yours. Keep up the good work and achieve even greater results."
"Give it to me? Why?" Richard grasped the scabbard blankly. He looked up at the blazing sun in the sky and immediately shuddered again.
In a situation like this, at a moment like this, why are you handing me the murder weapon?
Is this passing the blame?
The demon hunter was on the verge of tears.
Like a summer sun descending upon Winterfell, the Night King and the wight warhorse beneath him began to steam with rolling white vapor. The anti-fire domain was completely shattered.
Watching the Seven Kingdoms' God of War stride toward him step by step, the Night King leapt down from his wight horse. Just as when they had both been alive, he patted the horse's rump. The wight trotted away from the sunlit area and disappeared back into the darkness.
Clang!
The Night King and Stannis collided. Two swords met: a milky-white ice blade glowing blue and a blazing white-hot red sword crashing against each other.
Stannis knew the Other was faster and stronger than an ordinary man. When he swung down, he slightly lowered the hilt, avoiding a direct contest of strength.
Sizzle—
They crossed, and the edges of their blades scraped past one another.
"God of War! God of War! The Seven Kingdoms' greatest God of War!"
It had only been a single exchange, but the Night King's reputation was too fearsome. The fact that Stannis had not been instantly slain and could even trade blows was enough to send the onlookers into a frenzy.
Dany's gaze sharpened. Though the clash of blades had been brief, the consumption of divine power from Lightbringer was terrifying.
Of course, R'hllor's power was not wasted. It was a mutual attrition. As Lightbringer struck the Night King's ice sword, vast quantities of frigid power were also being expended.
But the question now was whether the God of War, the God of Magic, and the God King could outlast the Night King, who held the advantage of fighting on his own ground.
This was the Long Night.
It was not the Others who created the Long Night. Rather, the Long Night allowed the Others to thrive, and their activity in turn deepened the darkness and cold.
"God of War! God of War! The Seven Kingdoms' greatest God of War!"
The Dragon Queen suddenly became Stannis's most ardent supporter.
She shouted louder than anyone, as if seized by inexplicable fervor. Waving both arms, she slipped past the shield wall and, unnoticed, advanced step by step toward the battlefield, shouting all the while.
Clang, clang, clang—
The ice sword and the fire sword struck each other in rapid succession, releasing shrieks sharp enough to pierce the soul.
Stannis did not seem to be wielding a sword at all, but rather a blazing miniature sun. Each strike shattered cold wind and snow, sending waves of light and heat rippling outward.
The Night King's umbrella-hilted sword shimmered with blue light, bearing a resemblance to the lightsabers of Star Wars. Waves of icy mist and shards scattered from the blade, as though it were the very source of the Long Night's frozen darkness.
The two of them were evenly matched.
More than a dozen exchanges passed, and Stannis still stood firm.
Dr. Perestan had been correct.
The Night King had once been human. His swordsmanship and style differed little from Benjen Stark's.
The only changes were his physical attributes and magical power.
Faster, stronger, more agile. Rings of white frost radiated outward, yet the freezing mist melted swiftly beneath the sunlight.
When the blades collided, the explosive sound seemed to tear through the soul. The surrounding onlookers grimaced in agony and instinctively retreated step by step.
The red-nosed old man, weakest in strength and will, even began to bleed from his eyes and ears.
Yet Stannis seemed possessed by a war god. He ignored the assault on his soul, his movements still nimble, his swordsmanship still superb.
Melisandre's red eyes shone like lightbulbs. The ruby at her throat grew so hot it began to scorch her skin.
Crack.
A nearly imperceptible sound came from the gemstone.
No one heard it except the red priestess herself, but Dany and Jon both glanced over almost at once.
They could not see the fracture spreading across the ruby, but the fluctuations in Melisandre's divine soul were far too obvious.
To aid Stannis, the red woman had paid a tremendous price.
Fortunately, Stannis held an advantage as well. His swordsmanship clearly surpassed the Night King's.
Despite being inferior in physical attributes across the board, he suppressed his enemy in momentum.
More plainly put, Stannis had likely reached the third stage of "lifting lightness as heaviness," comparable to Old Barristan and Jaime.
The Night King, on the other hand, was similar to the Great Bear. His realm and fighting style resembled the first stage, "like an arm obeying the hand," relying on strength and sheer vitality to overwhelm his foe.
Sizzle—
Lightbringer carved a gash in the Night King's left arm as wide as a child's mouth, producing a sound like pork hitting a searing pan.
The pale blue blood evaporated before it could even flow.
At the same time, a patch of frost as large as a human face spread across Stannis's left waist.
An exchange of wounds.
Stannis let out a muffled grunt, steadied his footing, and with flashing sword light pressed forward in a swift assault.
"God of War! The Seven Kingdoms' greatest God of War!"
Seeing the Night King wounded, the onlookers seemed bathed in the first light of victory. Enduring the torment of soul-piercing blade clashes, they shouted in fevered exultation.
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09