Winterfell's clamor, which had lasted for several days, gradually subsided as the vassals departed.
The North's war machine had begun to slowly turn.
In just seven days, it would crush the South with thunderous momentum!
In the main keep's courtyard, Arya was meticulously practicing stabbing movements, clutching her "needle."
Snowflakes landed on her hair and shoulders, but she paid them no mind.
Only her gray eyes involuntarily drifted toward the courtyard entrance.
"Stop looking. If he wants to leave, you can't stop him."
Myrcella's voice came from behind her.
She wore a thick white fox fur cloak and held a steaming cup of milk, which she handed to Arya.
Arya didn't take it; she just retracted her sword irritably.
"I wasn't trying to stop him."
"Your eyes tell a different story."
Myrcella gently blew on the hot milk.
"He needs to prepare his army. This is important business."
Arya knew this was important business, of course.
It was just... she had only just become Lynn's wife, and before she could properly savor the moment, he was leaving again.
Just then, a tall figure appeared at the courtyard entrance.
It was Lynn.
Arya's eyes immediately lit up.
But she stubbornly turned her head away, pretending to look at the snow piled on the distant wall.
Lynn walked up to her, looked at her small expression that clearly said, "I'm not mad, but you better hurry up and placate me," and couldn't help but smile.
He didn't speak, but simply reached out and gently stroked her hair.
"I need to go back to the Gift for a trip," Lynn said.
"Mhm."
Arya uttered a single syllable through her nose.
"To bring my army."
"Mhm."
"Do you want to come see?"
Arya spun her head around suddenly, her eyes shining with disbelief.
"Can... can I go?"
"You are the mistress there now."
Lynn playfully tapped her nose.
"Of course you can."
Arya's heart skipped a beat.
Mistress.
The word made her cheeks flush, yet it made her whole heart feel as if it were steeped in honey.
Half an hour later.
An earth-shattering dragon roar echoed over Winterfell.
A massive shadow enveloped the entire castle.
Winter's massive body soared into the sky, and the gale generated by its wings sent the snow on the castle walls swirling everywhere.
Arya tightly hugged Lynn's waist, her face pressed against his broad, solid back.
Winter flew much faster than she had imagined; the wind cut at her face like knives, but Lynn's body shielded her from most of the cold current.
She secretly opened her eyes and looked down.
Winterfell rapidly shrank in her vision, becoming a gray stone block, followed by continuous snowfields and dark green forests.
The entire North unfolded before her in a magnificent display she had never seen before.
This feeling was a hundred times more exhilarating than riding a horse at full gallop!
Arya couldn't help but let out an excited cheer and tightened her embrace.
She felt like she wasn't just flying, but embracing the entire world.
In just over two hours, the outline of the Gift appeared on the horizon.
Arya had expected to see a chaotic wildling camp, filled with dirty tents and scattered bonfires.
But as Winter descended, the sight before her completely stunned her.
It wasn't a camp at all.
It was a towering fortress of steel!
Centered around Castle Black, countless black tents and simple wooden barracks were spread out uniformly like pieces on a chessboard.
They formed a clearly structured military town.
Wide roads ran through it, constantly traversed by patrolling wildling squads.
Lynn's three-headed black dragon banner flew atop the towering watchtowers.
And on the outermost edge of the military town, a temporary wall constructed of massive logs and ice blocks was rapidly taking shape.
Countless wildlings were stacking huge ice bricks to the sound of work chants.
Were these really savage wildlings?
This was clearly a disciplined, well-trained, proper army!
Winter slowly descended in front of the largest fortress.
Lynn had named that fortress "Dragon's Landing."
Winter's landing caused a commotion throughout the military town.
When they saw that the person on the dragon's back was Lynn, the commotion instantly turned into deafening cheers.
"Lynn!"
"The king-beyond-the-wall has returned!"
Countless wildlings dropped their work and knelt toward Winter, their eyes filled with the most fanatical reverence.
Winter landed steadily, and Lynn dismounted, holding Arya.
A fiery woman, dressed in red leather armor and carrying a longbow, hurried toward them.
Her red hair was like a burning flame, and her eyes shone astonishingly bright when she saw Lynn.
It was Ygritte.
Behind her followed a burly man, built like a bear, with a large, bushy red beard.
"Lynn! You finally came back!"
Tormund immediately gave Lynn a bear hug, tight enough to break bones.
"I thought those southern women had charmed you so much you forgot which way was North!"
Ygritte's gaze fell upon Arya, who stood beside Lynn.
She sized up the petite girl—who carried a thin sword and had the eyes of a little wolf cub—and a playful smile curved her lips.
"Oh, got a new wife?"
Ygritte spoke bluntly.
"Looks less sturdy than the deer I killed with one arrow."
Arya's eyebrows instantly shot up, and her hand was already resting on the hilt of her sword.
"Ygritte!" Lynn glared at her.
Ygritte shrugged but said nothing more.
She simply walked up to Arya, leaned in close, and scrutinized her eyes.
Arya met her gaze without fear.
Ygritte nodded.
Then, she ignored Arya and turned to Lynn to report on military affairs.
Arya stood frozen, unsure how to respond for a moment.
The red-haired woman's words were crude and direct.
"Don't mind her. She just has a nasty mouth, asking for trouble."
Tormund leaned in, lowering his voice, a strong smell of alcohol wafting onto Arya's face.
Clearly, he was still bothered by Ygritte saying he liked hairy women.
"Lynn, are you back this time to lead us on a big raid?"
"Gather the army, Tormund."
Lynn got straight to the point.
"I want an inspection."
"Aye!"
Tormund excitedly slapped his thigh and turned to relay the order.
Piercing horn calls echoed throughout the military town.
The wildling soldiers, who had been busy everywhere, began to assemble with astonishing speed.
Arya stood beside Lynn, watching everything unfold, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
First to assemble were the infantry squares.
Five full thousand-man squares lined up on the snow outside the fortress.
They were no longer the ragged rabble of the past, carrying bone spears and stone axes.
Every wildling wore a set of gleaming, standardized plate armor, with fur worn underneath for warmth.
Although it wasn't the finely crafted full plate worn by knights, breastplates, pauldrons, vambraces, and greaves were all present.
Critical areas were also covered with chainmail.
They wore closed iron helms, revealing only pairs of eyes that remained sharp in the cold wind.
Their weapons were equally uniform.
The first three rows of wildlings carried massive spears, over five meters long, their tips forming a daunting forest of steel beneath the gray sky.
The wildlings behind them wore longswords at their hips and carried kite shields.
Arya's mouth was slightly agape, completely stunned by this torrent of steel.
She had seen her father inspect the North's army in Winterfell.
But even the most elite Stark guard had never given her such intense pressure.
Were these truly the famously scattered and free wildlings?
Of course, the plate armor production time was too short, so most of the wildling soldiers still wore leather armor.
However, the remaining wildlings were all equipped with bows and arrows.
Those without plate armor served as ranged forces, ensuring no manpower was wasted.
Moreover, this was only the beginning.
In the future, Lynn would fully arm this entire group of wildlings.
"Roar—!"
Accompanied by muffled roars, the ground began to shake violently.
Arya subconsciously grabbed Lynn's arm.
She saw, behind the infantry squares, a line of unimaginably huge figures approaching with heavy steps.
Giants!
There were easily over a hundred Giants!
Counting carefully, there were about three hundred of them.
Leading the way were twenty Giant archers.
What they called "bows" were monstrous weapons made from entire massive trees, with bowstrings thicker than a man's arm.
And the "arrows" stuck in their quivers were each like siege spears, tipped with sharp arrowheads.
Arya had no doubt that a single shot from one of those arrows was enough to pin a fully armored knight and his horse to the ground!
Following the archers were thirty fully armored Giants!
The armor they wore was ultra-heavy plate armor, custom-made for them by Karhold's craftsmen using the House Lannister's massive supply of iron.
Every plate was outrageously thick, covered in rough rivets and striking horns.
They looked like animated steel golems, wielding giant war hammers and morning stars that ordinary men would need several people to lift.
Just standing there, the overwhelming sense of dominance was enough to instantly shatter the morale of any army.
Arya felt her breath catch.
But what appeared next completely overturned her understanding.
"Trumpet—!"
A roar louder than thunder came through the air.
On the flanks of the fully armored Giants, fifty massive beasts slowly emerged.
Mammoths!
The giant beasts rumored only to exist in the Land of Always Winter beyond the Wall!
They were even taller than the Giants.
Long hair hung down from them, and two curved, razor-sharp tusks gleamed with cold, pale light.
These Mammoths were also covered in heavy armor, and massive war platforms were strapped to their backs.
Seated on every platform was a Giant rider wielding a massive flail!
Giant Mammoth Cavalry!
As this cavalry formation of fifty war beasts slowly advanced, Arya felt the ground beneath her feet groan.
She could almost see how this invincible cavalry would sweep away and crush every enemy standing before them on the battlefield.
Infantry like a forest, Giants like mountains, Mammoths like fortresses!
This was Lynn's army!
A terrifying force capable of making all of Westeros tremble!
Arya looked up at the profile of the man beside her.
Lynn's expression was calm, as if this world-destroying army before him were merely toys he had casually created.
In this moment, besides admiration and worship, an unprecedented sense of security blossomed in Arya's heart.
With him here, and with this army here, those damn madmen in The Riverlands, those Lannister in King's Landing, were nothing more than chickens and ducks waiting to be slaughtered!
After the inspection, Lynn tasked Tormund and Ygritte with preparing the army for the immediate march South.
He, meanwhile, led the still-stunned Arya toward a heavily guarded area behind the military town.
It was a cave that extended underground.
The entrance was chillingly cold, as if it led to the seven hells.
"Where are we going?"
Arya asked curiously.
"To show you the trump card that will make us invincible."
Lynn led her into the cave.
The temperature inside the cave was much lower than outside, and thick frost coated the walls.
Deep within the cavern, the space was divided into individual ice chambers.
In every ice chamber, one or several corpses lay quietly.
There were wildlings killed in battle, executed criminals, and even some enemy corpses that Lynn had "recycled."
"What... what are you collecting these for?"
Arya felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the corpses, some peaceful, others grotesque.
Lynn did not answer.
He walked to the center of one chamber, where only one corpse lay—a wildling who had died in a brawl with a comrade.
Lynn extended his hand, palm facing the corpse.
"Arya, watch closely."
His voice became low and filled with a strange, magical power.
The next second, the temperature inside the cave plummeted!
A visible deep blue cold mist surged from his palm, instantly enveloping the corpse!
Frost spread across the corpse's surface with frantic speed, and a grating "crack-crack" sound echoed in the air.
Arya watched in horror as the corpse's skin rapidly turned pale and shriveled, as if all moisture had been instantly drained.
Lynn's face also grew pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Clearly, this process was also extremely taxing for him.
Just as Arya thought the corpse was about to be completely frozen into an ice sculpture, all the cold mist suddenly retracted inward, pouring back into the corpse's body!
Calm returned to the cave.
The corpse lay there quietly, looking no different than before.
"And then?"
Arya whispered, still confused about what Lynn wanted with these bodies.
"Did it fail?"
Lynn shook his head, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Suddenly!
The corpse's eyes snapped open!
They were not the eyes of a living person!
The pupils and whites of the eyes were gone.
In their place was a ball of deep blue flame, fiercely burning in the sockets!
Arya shrieked in fright and instinctively drew needle.
That "corpse," or rather, that monster, slowly sat up from the ground with extremely stiff movements.
It rotated its neck, producing a grating sound of bones rubbing together.
The eyes burning with blue flame finally settled on Lynn.
Lynn showed no fear toward this creature, which outsiders would find terrifying, and simply issued his first command.
"Kneel."
The Other did not hesitate, stiffly bent its knees, and knelt heavily before Lynn, lowering its head.
Obedience. Absolute obedience.
Arya stared blankly at the scene before her, which defied all logic, feeling her worldview utterly shattered.
An Other... Lynn... He had actually... created an Other that obeyed his commands!
Was this right?
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