"What was that?"
A thunderous roar suddenly echoed across the clear morning sky, causing everyone who heard it to instinctively look upward.
The heavens remained cloudless, painted with brilliant blue skies and scattered white clouds beneath the rising sun.
"What was that just now? Thunder?"
As the battle intensified, that question spread through the minds of nearly everyone on the battlefield—except for those too consumed by combat to notice.
Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, and his heir, Willas Tyrell, who were directing the battle from the rear, looked toward the sky in confusion.
Even Lady Olenna Redwyne, observing the battle from Highgarden Castle across the Mander River, heard the strange roar reverberating through the air.
Before anyone could understand what they had heard, an even louder roar echoed overhead.
This time, nearly everyone heard it.
And this time, they could pinpoint its source.
Countless eyes turned toward the northwestern sky.
Something glittered in the distance.
Bathed in the golden light of the rising sun, a massive shape rapidly grew larger as it soared toward them.
"What is that?"
Mace Tyrell frowned as he stared into the distance.
Beside him, Willas Tyrell's expression changed dramatically.
His brows tightened before slowly relaxing into disbelief.
"...A dragon?"
"...Coming from the direction of Casterly Rock?"
Although the spring air of the Reach remained warm, Willas suddenly felt as though he had been plunged into the icy cold of the North.
The instant he recognized the creature, every trace of confidence vanished.
His throat felt dry.
His body trembled.
He wanted to act...
Yet realized there was nothing he could do.
Then the creature drew directly overhead.
A third mighty roar shook the heavens.
Even the soldiers locked in desperate combat stopped fighting.
Across a battlefield of nearly fifty thousand men, together with countless civilians watching from afar, every pair of eyes turned upward.
A creature that had existed only in stories had descended into reality.
Then...
The dragon opened its jaws.
Golden-white dragonfire poured from its mouth.
Hell descended upon the battlefield.
The torrent of flames swept across the green banners of the Reach as effortlessly as a gardener watering flowers.
Except this watering can poured death instead of life.
Everything touched by the flames disappeared.
"A dragon..."
"A golden dragon..."
"Is that Robert?!"
Jon, who had been directing the battle, only heard the dragon's roar moments before the attack.
When he instinctively looked up, he barely managed to glimpse its golden scales before dragonfire engulfed the enemy lines.
Grass.
Earth.
Men.
Horses.
Steel armor.
Weapons.
Everything vanished beneath the inferno.
Nothing survived.
It was as though destruction itself had become an unbreakable law.
"Retreat!"
"Retreat immediately!"
"Separate our forces!"
"The dragon belongs to King Karl!"
"It's fighting for us!"
Jon had never imagined such a miracle.
For a brief moment, he stood frozen.
But as hundreds of Reach knights were reduced to blackened corpses before his eyes, he quickly regained his composure.
Life had become more fragile than dry wheat beneath a scythe.
Although the sudden arrival of the dragon had thrown the battlefield into chaos, Jon understood exactly what needed to be done.
Unfortunately...
No one was listening.
Every soldier stood transfixed by the divine destruction unfolding before them.
Only after shouting several times without receiving a response did Jon realize what had happened.
He wheeled his horse around, galloped toward the horn blowers responsible for relaying battlefield commands, grabbed them by the collars, and practically slapped them back to their senses.
Only then did the retreat signal sound across the battlefield.
Its mournful cry rose alongside the desperate screams of burning men.
The soldiers of King Karl's army finally snapped out of their shock.
Recognizing the retreat signal, they immediately broke away from the enemy.
From high above, the battlefield rapidly divided.
The black banners pulled back.
The green banners remained exposed.
A clear line formed between the two armies.
Meanwhile, Robert completed one devastating pass across the battlefield before circling through the sky.
From above, the dragon instantly noticed the separation below.
Before the lingering heat from the first attack had even faded...
Another deafening roar echoed through the heavens.
A second wave of dragonfire descended.
Fresh screams filled the air.
Many soldiers died so quickly they couldn't even finish crying out.
When the flames passed, nothing remained except scorched earth.
The air shimmered with unbearable heat.
Blackened corpses stood frozen where they had died before collapsing into piles of ash beneath the wind.
Jon led his entire army back to their original position before ordering a halt.
The infantry instinctively gathered together, seeking comfort in numbers.
The cavalry struggled to calm their terrified horses.
Even Randyll Tarly had no energy left to reorganize the army.
Every eye remained fixed upon the battlefield.
The pleasant spring breeze had become an unbearable wave of heat.
The entire battlefield shimmered like the mouth of a furnace.
Above it all...
The golden dragon continued circling.
Again.
And again.
Each pass unleashed another torrent of fire.
It was no battle.
It was slaughter.
Absolute slaughter.
At first, the Reach soldiers had simply been confused.
Then they realized...
The dragon was hunting only them.
Panic finally consumed the army.
Thousands fled in every direction.
From Jon's position, the entire battlefield looked like a sea of burning green banners scattering in terror.
The once-beautiful fields had become crisscrossed with black scars left by dragonfire.
Yet even as the enemy fled...
The dragon showed no mercy.
High above, Robert immediately adjusted his tactics.
Rather than targeting the largest concentrations of soldiers, he deliberately herded them.
Each burst of dragonfire blocked another escape route.
Slowly...
The fleeing army was forced toward a single destination.
The Mander River.
The largest river in the Reach.
And the longest river in Westeros.
---
"I told them from the beginning..."
"The outcome of this war had already been decided."
"I gave House Tyrell every opportunity."
"But they mistook mercy for weakness."
A calm voice suddenly sounded behind Jon.
He turned.
King Karl had arrived.
Dressed in elegant blue-green brocade robes, he stood quietly watching the battlefield.
"Your Majesty!"
Jon immediately dropped to one knee.
The officers around him quickly followed.
Then the gesture spread throughout the army like ripples across water.
Thousands knelt before their king.
Even mounted knights dismounted before lowering themselves respectfully.
Karl smiled faintly.
"You've done well, Jon."
"You've earned a passing grade."
He gently patted Jon's shoulder.
"The battlefield is yours now."
"As for me..."
"It's time to fulfill yesterday's promise."
Only then did Jon notice Karl's unusually elaborate clothing.
It looked less like battle attire...
And more like clothing prepared for a royal banquet.
Before he could think further—
A deafening dragon roar shook the air.
The sunlight suddenly dimmed.
Instinctively, everyone ducked.
Then they looked up.
Robert slowly descended from the sky.
His enormous golden body radiated intense heat beneath the morning sun.
With powerful wings beating the air, he landed gracefully behind King Karl.
The dragon lowered its head obediently, placing it beside Karl like an oversized house cat greeting its master.
Everyone watching unconsciously swallowed.
Only moments earlier...
That same creature had been the embodiment of death.
Now it behaved with complete obedience before a single man.
The contrast left everyone speechless.
Standing together beneath the rising sun, man and dragon cast one enormous shadow over the kneeling army.
The light behind them made Karl appear almost impossible to look at directly.
Instinctively...
Everyone lowered their heads again.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Jon answered solemnly.
Karl nodded.
With a single effortless step, he climbed onto Robert's lowered wing before mounting the dragon's back.
"Handle the prisoners."
"Protect the civilians."
"We'll remain here a little longer."
"After that..."
"It's time to settle matters with my two uncles."
Robert released a plume of smoke and sparks from his nostrils.
The heat washed over everyone nearby.
Then, with a mighty beat of his wings, the golden dragon lifted into the sky.
Together, they flew toward Highgarden.
---
High above, Karl looked down upon the defeated Reach army retreating toward the Mander.
Among them, he spotted Mace Tyrell and Willas Tyrell, surrounded by elite guards.
They stared helplessly into the sky.
Karl merely smiled faintly.
Then he looked away.
Robert circled Highgarden Castle several times before descending into its magnificent gardens.
There, an elderly woman with silver hair already knelt upon the white marble.
Lady Olenna Redwyne.
Behind her, several attendants knelt in silent terror.
Robert landed atop the castle wall before lowering his massive head.
Heat radiated from every scale.
Karl looked down calmly.
"Lady Olenna Redwyne."
"Good morning."
"I've come to honor the invitation extended yesterday by Lord Mace Tyrell and his heir, Willas."
Hearing his voice, Olenna's shoulders trembled.
She slowly raised her head.
"House Tyrell greets His Majesty King Karl Baratheon the First."
"It is the greatest honor for Highgarden to receive Your Majesty."
"We humbly beg forgiveness for our transgressions."
Silence answered her.
Only the oppressive heat remained.
Sweat soaked everyone's backs.
Yet no one dared move.
As the silence stretched longer...
Even the warmth of the garden felt colder than winter.
Finally...
Karl spoke.
"So..."
"You recognize me as King Karl Baratheon the First?"
"Y-Yes, Your Majesty."
Olenna answered immediately.
"I was under the impression that House Tyrell had reserved that title for Renly Baratheon."
"After all..."
"You declared war against me."
Olenna hurriedly bowed lower.
"Your Majesty, House Tyrell was deceived."
"Renly claimed King Robert had named him heir."
"He said Lord Eddard Stark had forged Robert's will."
"He claimed Lord Stark intended to imprison him."
"With Ser Loras as witness..."
"We believed him."
"By the time we learned the truth..."
"It was already too late."
She continued desperately.
"My granddaughter, Margaery, secretly admired Your Majesty."
"I personally helped her leave Highgarden so she could find you."
"It was our sincere wish to reconcile."
"Please..."
"See House Tyrell's true intentions."
Karl listened without interrupting.
The more Olenna spoke...
The colder his expression became.
When she finally finished...
Silence returned.
Then Karl spoke.
"So you're telling me..."
"House Tyrell was simply deceived?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Margaery herself can testify to everything."
Karl remained silent for another long moment.
Then...
He smiled.
It was not a warm smile.
It was one filled with contempt.
"Lies."
"Shameless lies."
"Despicable lies."
"Lady Olenna..."
"I am not a fool."
"And you should never mistake me for one."
He slowly raised his hand.
"Robert..."
"Dragonfire."
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)