The tall Mountain easily cut the two knights who charged first in half at the waist. The rest were intimidated by his powerful Aura, and for a moment, no one dared to launch an attack.
A large number of knights were inside this narrow inn, surrounding the two with swords in hand.
"Hey, Lady Stark, I think there must be some misunderstanding here!"
Seeing the situation become incredibly tense, The Imp quickly explained loudly:
"As everyone knows, I, Tyrion, have always been a kind-hearted person. Moreover, I have no grudge against your son, so why would I send someone to assassinate him?"
"When I passed through Winterfell last time, I even had a very friendly exchange with Bran."
Looking at The Imp's plausible and seemingly genuine expression, the crowd, unwilling to shed blood in vain, cast doubtful glances at Catelyn.
"Liar!"
"Bran was still in a coma when I left Winterfell. How could you have possibly met him?"
Seeing the knights and the tall Mountain at a stalemate, Catelyn immediately pulled an exquisitely crafted Dragonbone Hilt Dagger from her bosom and held it high. It reflected a cold, eerie light under the sun.
"This is the weapon used to assassinate my son—a Valyrian Steel Dagger!"
"I have already had Lord Varys in King's Landing examine it. This dagger belongs to you, Tyrion Lannister!"
His pupils shrinking slightly, The Imp looked at the dagger in Catelyn's hand in disbelief. He recognized it at a glance as the one he had won from Littlefinger and then presented to the King as a gift.
However, in front of everyone, it was impossible to shift the blame to the royal Family.
And even if he told the truth, no one would likely believe that the great King of the Seven Kingdoms would send someone to assassinate a ten-year-old boy.
His mind raced frantically, but in such an urgent situation, he could only flatly deny it and try to explain again:
"That is not mine, Lady Stark."
"And even if it were mine, giving my own weapon to a common thief is something not even the most foolish imbecile would do!"
"Don't believe him!"
Suddenly, a roar came from the crowd. Everyone turned to see a knight with a flock of black ravens embroidered on his chest holding his longsword high, showing he came from the ancient Blackwood Family.
A firm light flickered in his eyes, as if he felt he was the Dominator of justice:
"Dwarves are a bunch of shameless vermin; they are capable of anything."
"Would the great Lady Stark suspect an innocent fellow for no reason?"
"As a knight of the Riverlands, I, Roland Chelsea, will use the sword in my hand to defend the dignity of House Tully with all my might!"
With that, he took his longsword and charged at The Mountain with a fearless Aura.
In just an instant, he was sent flying back even faster, crashing to the ground. He coughed up blood, twitched twice, and then lay still.
However, his brave performance stirred the fighting spirit of the other knights. These men, with various sigils embroidered on their chests, picked up their weapons and charged at The Mountain with wild shouts.
Two fists are no match for four hands. Even with The Mountain's martial prowess, facing the siege of so many knights was inevitably overwhelming for a time.
Before long, his legs and body were covered in hideous sword wounds, and blood flowed steadily downward.
However, his powerful willpower allowed him to hold on without falling, doing his best to shield The Imp tightly behind him.
But human strength has its limits. As the wounds on his body increased, the weakness brought by excessive blood loss made his vision more and more blurred.
After the cost of seven lives, The Mountain's massive body finally fell heavily to the ground under the siege, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
"fuck!"
Watching the knights slowly approach, The Imp, who had never experienced such a dangerous scene, felt his legs go weak. He crawled on the ground, struggling to pick up The Mountain's greatsword, but his weak body didn't even have the strength to lift the hilt.
Wisely, he simply sat down on The Mountain's broad back and, as if resigned to his fate, held his hands together high above his head and gave up resistance.
"This dwarf's man killed my brother. I'm going to kill him!"
Just as the crowd gradually closed in and was about to capture The Imp alive, a young knight with red eyes rushed out of the crowd, raised his longsword, and swung it at him.
Others had no time to stop him and could only watch as the boy's blade slashed toward The Imp's head.
Just when everyone thought The Imp was certain to die, the moment the blade touched his Panel, a cold Qi erupted from his Half-man tall, slender body.
The boy was instantly sent flying by this massive force. The sharp longsword tumbled through the air several times and landed silently in front of Catelyn, vibrating continuously.
Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, The Imp opened his eyes. An incredibly brilliant, eerie blue light danced in his eyes. At the same time, a blue phantom filled with an evil Aura slowly condensed behind him.
Standing up slowly, his short body actually began to float in the air, gradually rising higher than everyone else!
"I said it before: I did not send anyone to assassinate your son!"
Cold words spilled from his mouth, and the tall illusory figure behind him moved its lips in sync with his actions. The sound that reached everyone's ears suddenly became like the whispers of an ancient Ghost-god.
Slowly raising his right hand, eerie blue energy danced at his fingertips. Feeling the boundless mighty power within his body, The Imp felt that he was now strong enough to kill anyone!
Bronn, who had been standing in the corner watching the battle, looked at this scene in astonishment. He touched the Gold Dragon in his bosom and, without time for further thought, slipped straight out the door.
"The Seven above, that's a de... demon!"
With looks of utter shock, staring blankly at The Imp floating in mid-air like a Ghost-god, these knights who prided themselves on being fearless now found their legs trembling uncontrollably. An emotion called fear began to spread among them.
"Run!"
Finally, in the eerie atmosphere, someone shouted. Only then did the crowd react from their shock and fear, scrambling and crowding to flee out the door.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Extending his palm, boundless Necromancy energy accurately struck those trying to escape. Every time a bolt of energy touched one of them, they were instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.
But the panicked crowd did not stop because of this; instead, their pace of escape quickened even more.
Catelyn just stood there blankly, letting the people surge past her like a tide. The Imp's body, glowing with eerie blue light, was reflected in her sapphire-like eyes.
She couldn't understand. This was clearly the Riverlands, the domain of her father, Hoster Tully. With the combined weight of the Tully and Stark Family names, she had instantly gained the help of dozens of Riverlands knights.
But... why? Why did things turn out like this!
"The Imp... a demon!"
Seemingly finally understanding the origin of The Imp's nickname, she murmured. Whether it was fear or some other emotion occupying her mind, her body began to tremble along with her words:
"I will never let you hurt my Family, demon!"
As if having made some sort of decision, Catelyn angrily pulled out the longsword stuck in the ground before her and roared, the sharp tip of the blade thrusting straight toward The Imp.
The longsword was thrust out slowly. Time seemed to stand still at this moment; Catelyn could seemingly hear her own breathing and heartbeat.
However, just as her blade was about to pierce The Imp's body, she found that The Imp, who had been focusing his attention on the others, suddenly turned his head. His incredibly brilliant eyes stared straight at her.
As if locking eyes with an unspeakable thing, Catelyn's sapphire-like eyes suddenly burst with a "bang," and blood sprayed all over the ground.
"Ah!"
Having lost her eyes, she instantly fell to the ground, howling from the unbearable intense pain.
"I said it before: I did not send anyone to assassinate your son!"
The Imp's Ghost-god-like figure slowly descended, walking step by step to Catelyn's side, repeating the words he had just used to defend himself.
Ever since the energy inside him erupted, he had gradually lost his reason. Only the madness of slaughter remained in his mind.
Seeing her miserable state, this usually kind dwarf not only felt no sympathy but was instead filled with a sense of vengeful pleasure.
"Why didn't you listen to my explanation? Why didn't any of you listen to my explanation!"
He was like a madman. The warped psychology brought about by the discrimination from his father and sister since childhood seemed to be magnified to the limit at this moment. The energy in his hands kept gushing out, wantonly reaping the lives of the knights:
"Father, why won't you let me inherit Casterly Rock? I am your son too!"
"Father, why did you humiliate Tysha like that? She was just an innocent woman!"
"Father, you deserve to die!"
With one last roar, boundless energy erupted instantly, freezing the entire inn into a massive ice sculpture in an instant!
Everyone... no survivors!
And The Imp, after using the last bit of energy in his body, collapsed from exhaustion, lying quietly on The Mountain's thick body... After an unknown amount of time, The Imp slowly opened his eyes, sat up in a daze, and looked around at everything.
After remembering for a long time, he stared blankly at his open hands, looking at his palms in disbelief, and fell into silence.
A while later, having accepted reality, The Imp stood up shakily and staggered out of the small inn, running with all his might along the Kings Road.
Panting, he didn't know how long he had been running until he used up the last bit of strength in his body and fell into the dirt with a thud. Foul-smelling mud filled his mouth.
Before losing consciousness, he seemed to see a black figure slowly walking toward him...
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