It turned out that the wildlings' flesh and blood were no match for electricity; before Roman even increased the voltage, they spilled all their intelligence.
The strategy was the same: use small squads to flank and raid the Black Castle, while the main army attacked the Wall from the front.
Eddard and Jeor looked at the map in confusion.
"Why are the wildlings in such a rush to attack the Wall? Mance Rayder was once a member of the Nights Watch; he knows the strength of the Nights Watch and the Seven Kingdoms well. He shouldn't be making such a reckless move."
Roman pointed out the crux of the issue: "Unless they've encountered something even worse, forcing them to storm the Wall."
"For example... the White Walkers."
Eddard said in surprise: "White Walkers? Don't joke. Even the children in the North don't believe they exist now. They haven't appeared for thousands of years, so how could..."
The Warden of the North didn't finish his sentence before seeing Roman tap his horns with his fingers.
"Lord Eddard, if a cursed one like me can appear, is it really impossible for the White Walkers to return?"
"Besides, even if it's not the White Walkers, it could be some other terrifying event, like the bitter cold. The Long Summer has lasted long enough; the maesters say the next winter will likely last for a very long time."
This explanation won the agreement of Eddard and the Old Bear. As Northerners, they were most concerned about this; if extreme cold were coming, it would be understandable why the wildlings were so eager to cross the Wall.
Just then, Fili rushed in.
"Lord Roman! I found something wrong with an owl!"
Seeing the ice crystals on the girl's hair and eyebrows, Roman handed her a hot towel to wipe her face.
"Don't rush, take your time and explain clearly."
"Mmm~ Thank you, Lord Roman. No, that's not it! This is really urgent. An owl has been observing our camp for the past few days. It's circling right now and is about to leave!"
Roman followed Fili outside and immediately activated White Flame Vision to scan the surroundings. Sure enough, there was an owl with faint sparks burning inside its body.
"A Warg!"
Roman locked onto the target, drew his heavy bow to its limit, and loosed an arrow at the owl.
The arrow flew toward the owl in an almost straight trajectory, cutting through the wailing wind and snow with a sharp whistling sound.
The target had clearly noticed Roman's attack and tried to evade, but it was too late. The arrow cleanly pierced the owl's body.
Fili had already ridden out the moment Roman drew his bow, and she arrived just as the owl fell.
While the owl was still alive, Fili pressed her forehead against the bird's head.
In that instant, Orell, the wildling warg, had his connection to the owl severed. His vision went black, and a pair of giant eyes stared back at him.
"Agh!"
Orell screamed and slipped, falling into the mud.
Fili saw him!
"Lord Roman, there's a wildling hiding in the woods! He's the one controlling the owl!"
"Fili, lead the way. We're going to catch him!"
At the same time, Roman notified the patrol near the target to set up a perimeter.
Realizing he was exposed, Orell immediately signaled his wildling squad to flee, but without horses, they were doomed to be outrun by cavalry. They were caught.
This group of wildlings was a small detachment ambushing south of the Wall. By the time they were brought to the Black Castle, only a few were still alive.
Orell looked at Fili; it was this woman who had caused his plan to fail. He said hatefully: "Bitch, I'm going to throw you Beyond the Wall and let the wolves have their way with you!"
The next second, Roman's fist slammed into him. Orell's left cheek turned purple instantly, and half of his teeth were knocked out by the blow.
Roman burned away the blood with White Flame and said to the remaining wildlings: "Either hand over the intelligence, or I'll pull your bones out one by one. Choose."
The Black Castle obtained the wildlings' troop deployment and attack plans without any hindrance. Roman had accomplished what the Nights Watch couldn't do in years.
This made Eddard realize even more the current weakness of the Nights Watch, and he couldn't help but doubt whether these brothers in black could fulfill their duties.
Roman had some thoughts on the wildlings' upcoming siege plan: "Perhaps we can talk to Mance. We need to know what he saw that made him act so crazily."
"Talk? Hahaha! Don't be ridiculous, kneeler." A wildling whose hair was standing on end from Roman's electricity sneered from the side. "Mance will never kneel again. He has hundreds of thousands of wildlings. And you? You will just be torn to shreds!"
Eddard also disagreed with Roman's idea: "If you don't win on the battlefield, the enemy won't come to the negotiating table. Let's focus on the defense first."
The Old Bear agreed with Eddard's suggestion, so the three began to formulate a defense plan.
However, since the Black Castle hadn't been breached, the Nights Watch only needed to defend the Wall, while the wildlings had to force their way through.
"Soldier, how is the patrol work behind the Black Castle?" "Everything is normal, Lord Roman." "How is the defense of the gaps on the east and west sides?" "Enough men have been stationed there, Lord Roman." "How much oil, arrows, and ballista bolts are left in reserve?" "My Lord, enough for the whole army to fight for two months!"
Everything was ready. When night fell, the forest Beyond the Wall caught fire. It was the same signal, but this time, the timing and the people were different.
The wildlings emerged from the woods. There weren't many of them; it was definitely a feint.
Eddard ordered men to climb the Wall and fire arrows, but the men on the Wall couldn't see clearly below due to the darkness, and the wildlings couldn't hit the top due to the height of the Wall.
Seeing this, Roman ordered the Harrenhal soldiers to bring up barrels of oil and throw them using the newly installed catapults.
The oil barrels, imbued with White Flame, smashed onto the pitch-black ground, and the blinding fire instantly illuminated the tracks of the wildlings.
The next moment, the arrows and ballista bolts from the Harrenhal soldiers rained down, and the leading wildlings were instantly decimated.
Mance observed the battle from the woods and noticed something was wrong. The firepower was significantly higher than what the Nights Watch usually possessed; clearly, some nobles were supporting them.
"Call up the giants. Have them bring their shields and pick up their bows to fight back. We need to end this quickly."
Roman was still pondering how the wildlings would attack when he saw the giants emerging from the woods.
But their equipment was completely different: wooden shields, wooden armor, and battering rams. And there were multiple giants.
"Hmm? This isn't right?! Ballista operators, attack those giants! Don't let them get close to the wall." "Save the oil!"
The ballistae on the Wall fired frantically below, but the gear the giants used was too thick to penetrate, while the giant arrows from the giant archers caused real, devastating damage to the soldiers.
Several ballistae in the distance were blown apart by arrows. Some soldiers were even hit while loading oil, causing explosions on the Wall.
Roman and Eddard were nervously putting out fires when suddenly, an arrow shot toward the watchtower directly above the gate.
Roman reacted quickly, striking the giant arrow away with his warhammer, but even so, the arrow still shattered the wooden shed overhead.
Looking at the chaos on the Wall, Roman was flustered. He had misjudged the strength of the wildlings. "I was too arrogant."
Roman pounded the ice wall in self-reproach. He had been complacent due to his previous victories, and now he was paying the price.
"Ser Roman, you don't have to..." Eddard tried to console him, but just then, a Northern soldier ran over in a panic. "Lord Eddard, the passage between the Black Castle and the Wall has been destroyed by the oil!"
Misfortunes never come singly; the Wall couldn't receive supplies, and the giants had already rushed to the gate, starting to use mammoths to pull at it.
The situation on the Wall was worse than in the original story, but Eddard was completely unfazed: "Ser Roman, even if the gate is destroyed, we still have the Black Castle. Our main army is here; even if they break in, we can drive them out." "Wildlings have climbed the Wall before, but we Northerners have always dealt with them. It will be the same this time. You don't need to worry too much."
Eddard was right. The Black Castle was essentially a fortified enclosure; the wildlings couldn't all rush in at once and would only be gradually whittled down. As long as the defense was set up, it was just a matter of spending more time.
But Roman looked at the soldiers being carried away. Their wounds were horrific—burns, puncture wounds; some had even been torn in two. These soldiers had been laughing and joking with him just days ago, and now they were just piles of mangled flesh.
A wave of fury filled Roman's heart. If the wildlings were allowed to enter the Black Castle for a defensive battle, it would cause even more casualties. Since he had the ability to hold the pass, why should he let the soldiers sacrifice themselves?
"Lord Eddard! Leave the wall to you; I'm going to guard the inner gate!" "Ser Roman, what are you doing? How are you going to get down now?"
In Eddard's shocked gaze, Roman leaped from the Wall. White Flame ignited on his right fingertips, and he gripped the solid ice of the Wall to slow his descent, beginning a rapid descent down the Wall.
"Look! What is that?" The soldiers of the Black Castle watched a ball of light descend rapidly, then slam heavily onto the ground. Roman was down!
"Lord Roman! What are you...?" "Open the inner gate. I'm going to hold it."
The Harrenhal soldiers knew the battle was going poorly when they heard this and picked up their weapons. "We'll go with you!" "No! You'll hinder my movements. Everyone stay here and repair the long ladders; the supplies on the Wall depend on you."
The soldiers wanted to plead, but Roman released White Flame to force them back. "Don't worry, I wouldn't go if I wasn't sure of myself."
Everyone knew they couldn't stop Roman's decision, so they quickly opened the inner gate and formed a shield wall, following far behind Roman into the inner gate. If anything went wrong, they would rush up to save their lord.
Roman began to run through the empty tunnel. He had already seen the giants lift the gate and place huge logs to support it, and the wildlings were swarming in.
The dragon-kin looked back; the soldiers were far enough away, so he didn't need to worry about collateral damage.
White Flame and thunder were released simultaneously, adhering to Roman's body like armor, and then he began his charge.
The soldiers who entered the inner gate later recalled that this was the first time they had witnessed Roman's true power, a scene they would never forget.
Roman smashed his hammer into the head of the wildling in the front; before the blood and brains could splatter, they were cooked. The erupting flames engulfed the wildlings behind, and the energy-filled white lightning caused the wildlings' bodies to explode instantly.
In the narrow tunnel, Roman swung his warhammer crazily; with every attack, a group of wildlings was reduced to fragments. The surging crowd was forcibly held back by Roman, who then pushed toward the outer gate.
The wildlings behind surged into the tunnel excitedly, only to see sparks and lightning ahead, along with the fragmented corpses of their own kind flying about.
The wildlings in the front tried to counterattack Roman, but before they could get close, they were severely injured by the high heat and lightning. If they were lucky enough to survive, they would immediately be smashed to pieces by a hammer blow.
Soon, the wildlings began to fear. They started to rout, but this caused them to collide with the wildlings behind, causing severe congestion in the tunnel.
"Run! There's a horned monster in front!" "Don't stop me! Let me go back!" "Get out of the way, or we'll all die!"
At this moment, the tunnel had become a slaughterhouse, and Roman was picking them off one by one with his warhammer.
Standing outside the Wall, the giant leader Mag the Mighty noticed the anomaly. He saw other wildlings running back from the tunnel like madmen. Mag picked up his wooden club and called another giant to enter the tunnel with him.
As soon as the two giants entered, they saw Roman walking toward them, surrounded by the charred corpses of wildlings. Mag roared and charged directly at Roman with his companion.
Roman approached unhurriedly. When the giants got close, he blinded them with fire and shocked their hearts with thunder, pinning them to the spot instantly. Then, with two hammer blows, he broke their shins, and the giants collapsed on cue.
In agonizing pain, Mag swung his club unwillingly, but Roman smashed it aside with his hammer. Then Roman kicked Mag in the head; the giant leader's head slammed into the ice wall, and he passed out.
The other giant was also kicked unconscious. Then, Roman ignited the two logs supporting the gate and smashed them with his warhammer, allowing the gate to close.
On the Wall, Eddard had already extinguished the flames and gathered the remaining oil to throw down, driving the wildlings back once again.
Mance watched the firelight beneath the Wall. He had collected enough intelligence, and there was no need to waste the wildlings' lives anymore. "Sound the horn. We retreat."
As the melodious sound came, the wildlings' siege ended. Roman leaned against the cold gate, looking at the tunnel stained black with corpses, and let out a long sigh of relief.
more chapter available in p@tréøñ(Atoki_29)