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The giant wolf ran toward the Red Keep with Arya on his back. Along this stretch of road, they encountered a few scattered Gold Cloaks, but when those men saw the blood-soaked beast, none of them had the courage to block his path.
A short while later, they reached the Red Keep's main gate.
The great front gate, tall and thick, was firmly shut. The Gold Cloaks standing guard atop the wall also saw the direwolf and immediately burst into commotion.
Looking at the height of the main gate and the walls, Bloodwind realized that even without the heavy wolf-forged armor, he still would not be able to leap up there.
While he and Arya were still trying to figure out how to enter the Red Keep, a loud trumpet sounded from the right side of the castle.
When Robb had communicated with his wolf at the smithy, he had already left a clear instruction. If Bloodwind received no direct orders from him, he was to follow the sound of the trumpet.
Without hesitation, the wolf shot forward with Arya on his back, heading toward the sound coming from the right of the main gate.
Atop the wall of the South Gate, Crey, who had just blown the trumpet, saw Lord Robb's giant wolf running in that direction. He immediately shouted to his house guard below.
"He's here! Open the gate, quickly!"
The Red Keep's southern and northern secondary gates were smaller, less than ten feet tall, made of wood reinforced with iron plates, and could be opened by a single person. Their height was enough for the wolf to pass through.
Climbing the stone stairs near the South Gate, Bloodwind quickly crossed through the small passage they had opened.
"That creature of Lord Robb's isn't a giant wolf. It's practically a dragon running across the ground."
Seeing Bloodwind's terrifying presence up close, Crey and the house guard could not help murmuring in awe. After that, they returned their focus to their own task, keeping that gate under control.
The giant wolf followed the wall from the South Gate and soon reached the Red Keep's second defensive line, the inner wall.
At that moment, there were no guards on the lower inner wall. They had probably all been dragged into the fight against Robb and the criminals.
The wolf accelerated as he approached the inner wall, leapt, planted his paws against the stone, and then launched himself into the Red Keep's inner courtyard.
At that exact moment, Robb was fighting in the open space between the inner gate and the prison entrance.
A small portion of the criminals, either more cowardly or simply more opportunistic, had hidden at the back of the group. Seeing that the battle there remained deadlocked, they whispered among themselves and then slipped away toward the throne room and Maegor's Holdfast.
When they reached the main entrance of the throne room, those criminals, armed with all sorts of weapons picked up from the ground, charged forward in excitement.
To them, that door was the entrance to a treasure vault. Endless wealth and beautiful women, all within arm's reach.
Rip!
The two criminals who rushed ahead were turned into "half-men" the instant they reached the throne room entrance. The difference was that, unlike Tyrion, they were very much dead.
Thud, thud.
A massive figure limped out from the great dark entrance.
It was the Mountain.
Cersei had left him in Maegor's Holdfast to recover from his injuries and, at the same time, protect Myrcella and Tommen.
Although he was still injured in his left leg, the Mountain advanced while leaning on a thick wooden cane with his left hand and holding his giant sword in his right.
It was true that the injury to his leg affected his ability to fight. But that only mattered against combatants on Robb or Jaime's level.
Against these low-level criminals, he was still a true meat grinder. Each swing meant another death.
At the same time, two lines of Gold Cloaks appeared from the sides and began fighting the criminals.
What was happening before the throne room could barely be called a battle. It was a one-sided massacre.
These criminals, who lacked the courage to face a real frontal fight, simply could not offer any resistance against the Gold Cloaks.
Even so, their screams drew Robb's attention.
Damn it. The Mountain is still in the Red Keep!
If the fighting here does not end soon, we'll be crushed from both sides!
Just as the pressure on Robb was increasing, a gigantic and familiar figure suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bloodwind arrived as reinforcements, appearing behind the Gold Cloaks' formation.
Charging with all his might and crashing from side to side at full force, he completely shattered the Gold Cloaks' formation, which had already been fighting Robb for quite some time, in less than half a minute.
As soon as the line broke, the survivors, seeing that monster crush and tear apart their companions, completely lost their courage and fled in panic in every direction.
The criminals, who had been suppressed for a long time and were already choking with frustration, roared and began chasing them.
"Bloodwind, where's Arya?"
Seeing Bloodwind stop in front of him and excitedly stick out his tongue as if he wanted to lick him, Robb asked loudly.
Hearing that, the wolf turned his head to the side.
Following the direction of his gaze, Robb saw Arya hidden near a corner of the inner wall, waving with all her strength.
As it turned out, Bloodwind, smarter than he seemed, had been worried about injuring the little pup riding on his back during the battle. So before entering the fight, he had left Arya in a protected corner of the inner wall.
"Thanks to you..."
Robb reached out and stroked the direwolf's large furry head. He was about to continue speaking, but Bloodwind suddenly seized Ice in his teeth and yanked him sideways with a sharp leap.
At the same instant, the heavy sound of a released cord echoed from above the inner wall's gate.
A gigantic bolt, as thick as a spear, shot through the exact spot where the two of them had been standing a second earlier, piercing the chest of an excitedly shouting criminal and pinning him to the ground.
Pulled to the ground by the wolf, Robb quickly got back up and looked toward the large scorpion mounted atop the inner gate, where several men were already trying to reload it.
He immediately called Eddard Karstark and spoke quickly.
"You and Lord Beric will take Sansa to Arya as soon as you can. Then follow the inner wall toward the South Gate. Our people are there to cover the retreat."
When he saw Eddard nod, Robb turned to Bloodwind and said:
"Hey, boy, let's destroy that scorpion!"
Hearing the order, the wolf immediately lowered himself, stretching out his front paws and lowering his hindquarters, pressing his chest to the ground to make it easier for Robb to mount.
Setting his feet into the stirrups specially forged for the armor, Robb mounted and settled into the hollow that was already covered in blood and slick beneath him.
Awooooo!
Once Robb steadied himself, he lightly struck the armor beside Bloodwind's neck with his hand. The wolf let out a short, excited howl and shot straight toward the inner wall's gate.
Seeing Robb ride away on his giant wolf with such overwhelming presence, Eddard immediately turned to find Beric and Sansa.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Mounted on Bloodwind's back and feeling the speed of the charge, Robb felt much of the frustration that had built up that day dissipate.
"Boy, try not to kill anyone."
Seeing the inner gate approaching, Robb spoke firmly.
In the previous fights, he had deliberately cut off hands and feet instead of killing, leaving other criminals to finish the work, all to avoid absorbing more red mist.
But the giant wolf had entered the fight killing without pause. A great amount of red mist had flowed back into him. Now, Robb was already beginning to feel the urge to kill becoming harder to control.
"Quick! Quick! That monster is coming! Is it reloaded yet?"
Atop the inner wall's gate, the captain of the guard shouted at the Gold Cloaks trying to reload the only scorpion mounted there.
In truth, the craftsmen of King's Landing were extremely skilled. The city's defensive system was vast and complete. There were not only heavy catapults and trebuchets, but also giant scorpions and even incendiary devices.
The problem was that all those larger war machines were installed on the walls of King's Landing's seven great gates.
The Red Keep's outer wall also had several scorpions and other defenses. But the inner wall was low and narrow, allowing for only one such machine.
Moreover, those siege weapons were meant for real war and required trained men to operate them. In ordinary times, they were almost never used. That was precisely why Bloodwind had passed through the Gate of the Gods without being attacked by such weapons.
Moments earlier, seeing his men still fighting directly against the criminals and apparently holding the advantage, the captain of the guard had decided not to order the scorpion used.
But when that monstrous armored wolf appeared and tore the entire formation apart in moments, he panicked and immediately ordered the Gold Cloaks atop the wall to prepare it for firing.
Clack, clack, clack.
The huge cord of the scorpion was slowly being pulled back, and the bolt was still being fitted into place.
Meanwhile, the beast had already climbed the stone stairway beside the inner wall and launched himself onto the top of the gate passage. As soon as his paws landed on the wall, he came face to face with several Gold Cloaks standing guard.
Compared to the other Gold Cloaks that day, these men could be considered lucky.
Following Robb's order, Bloodwind did not use his bite or claws, his deadliest weapons.
Instead, he only struck them with the weight of his own armor, knocking some away with his shoulder or sweeping others down with his heavy tail, like an iron whip.
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