Game of Thrones: I loaded the witcher system.

Chapter 328 The Battle of Kaho City
The fight was in full swing in the South.

The northern border, this land shrouded in ice and snow, is also shrouded in the shadow of war at this time.

The letters from Castle Black and Eastwatch were like a pair of heavy hands, pressing down on Winterfell, leaving everyone who knew something breathless.

Although the details of the two letters are different, the focus is inconsistent, and there are even conflicts in some places, this does not affect the readers who understand that something terrible has crossed the Great Wall.

For the first time, Bran Stark, who had never been interested in political affairs before, suddenly began to actively participate in political affairs.

Moreover, it is inexplicably very insightful.

As the Lord of Winterfell, he forced all the castles on the east coast of the North to strengthen their defenses.

Moreover, it is strengthened with the highest priority.

Once you encounter any situation, send a raven to Winterfell as soon as possible to report the news.

No one understood why Bran Stark suddenly had such a big reaction.

But in this hierarchical status society, in most cases, the nobles, especially the heads of families, have a very strong voice, and others in the avenue have no room to refute.

Bran Stark is the Lord of Winterfell and the current head of the Stark family.

That is to say, before Clay Manderly had no intention of abolishing the identity of the Stark family and the rulers of the North.

Bran Stark is one and the same, just like the Stark family patriarch's status in the North in the past thousands of years.

The order went down to all the castles on the east side of the northern border, except White Harbor, which had a special status.

In the end, Hearth City, Cahor City, Dreadfort, Horwood City, Widow's Hope, and Langmen Castle all responded positively to Winterfell's request.

Although they don't know what the so-called crisis is.

If you observe carefully, you will find that there are always strange crows with abnormal behavior hovering near their home fort.

Those...are the eyes of the Three-Eyed Raven.

He was now staring very nervously at the entire east coast of the North.

The Heart Tree on Skagos Island has been determined to be completely destroyed.

Then, he felt that his connection with that land was completely severed.

It's not the worst.

Because, he could vaguely feel that on that island, the number and accumulated power of the Cold God's servants whom he had never seen before were constantly getting stronger.

It was definitely not to do anything on that island with nothing.

The Three-Eyed Crow knew very well that the purpose of these guys' actions must be to ultimately come to him, the scheduler of the magic power of the Old God of the North.

Since he is now a Stark, he is still a Stark with great power.

Then, He had to find a way to use this identity to let mortals who didn't know the situation help him as much as possible to resist the cold malice from the north.

Now, His control over the entire Seal Bay and the west coast of the Narrow Sea has greatly diminished.

His magic power cannot stare at the cold magic that has gradually eroded, and then enter the sea for reconnaissance.

In that case, these eyes of mine will be used up quickly.

Therefore, He could only order all the families along the coast to cheer up.

Because he didn't know where the Cold God's servants would land in the north.

He knows everything about the past, but He cannot predict the future.

……

Caho City

Castle of House Karstark
This is a solid fortress built on two cliffs and connected by a stone bridge in the middle.

But no matter how strong a fortress is, it still needs enough people to guard it.

At present, most of the main force of the family led by Rickard Karstark has been sent to the Battle of Harrenhal, and the remaining reserve force has been almost completely drained by the previous crisis in the north.

Therefore, at this time, Kaho City, like other eastern fortresses, was in an extremely empty state.

The troops sent by Clay Manderly to support are still in Winterfell.

The Three-Eyed Crow could not command this army.

After all, on the surface, he is just a Stark who has just taken power.

The prestige of His Majesty Clay Mandler is still far behind.

The person currently guarding Rickard Karstark's house is Harion Karstark, the old earl's eldest son.

He had just returned to Cahor City. He had been in Harrenhal and was imprisoned by Tywin Lannister.

After the Clay led the army to complete the siege of Harrenhal, Harion Karstark and his father swore fealty to the new king Clay Manderly.

Later, at the Twins, Rickard Karstark asked Clay to allow his heir to return to Karhor to stabilize the family.

Clay agreed.

So, the heir to Kahuo City went all the way north, bringing two hundred family remnants with him back to their homeland where they set out.

Kaho City is located in the main castle in the southeast direction.

Harion Karstark looked out the window at the silvery but mottled land, silent.

After returning home and taking charge, he realized that the knights in the entire Kaho City were in very bad shape.

In the previous war, the Karstark family came out in full force.

However, in the battle north of Harrenhal, most of these elites died on the battlefield.

Then, the remaining remnants were continuously consumed in the meat grinder at Harrenhal.

During the expedition, Kaho City gathered more than 2000 people.

But now, in addition to the 300 people around my father, I have brought back these 200 people.

These more than 200 people are the treasures in Harion Karstark's heart.

The reason is simple, because they have been on the battlefield and know that a stab with a sword will really kill someone.

The remaining so-called soldiers who were temporarily recruited are likely to lose control if they go to the battlefield without training.

Fortunately, His Majesty Clay Manderly was so kind that before he left, he gave him [-] sets of fine armor obtained from Lannister on the battlefield of Harrenhal.

With these things, Harion Karstark is more confident in defending the city.

However, what happened next made Harion Karstark realize that what he had prepared was actually not enough at all.

Still so suddenly.

The originally calm sky was covered by a surging snowstorm almost instantly.

It was already very cold in the north, but when this blizzard rushed in front of him, Harion, wrapped in a thick cloak, couldn't help but shiver.

It was too cold.

Everyone in Kahuo City was stunned by this sudden change.

Suddenly, there were screams everywhere.

Anyone who is not a fool will realize that this is definitely not a normal weather condition.

So, Harion Karstark stood on the castle and immediately shouted to the defenders below the city, asking them to board the city urgently and return to their fighting positions.

The dull bells rang throughout the city.

The bachelor has arrived at the raven's cage. As long as the master of the house sorts out the situation here, he will immediately send a warning to Winterfell.

Now it seems that Winterfell must have known something for a long time, otherwise, it would not have been possible to issue such a no-brainer and no-reason order before.

Fortunately, the Karstark family still chooses to believe in the Stark family.

They have also made relevant preparations.

Now, they were going to take a look at what was in this snowstorm.

...In the wind and snow, an army that had just landed ashore and was quickly heading north along the river seemed to be turning a blind eye to the surrounding blizzard.

This in itself is difficult for ordinary people to understand, but if they are the ones who caused this blizzard, then it is not surprising.

The hound, which has a strong body and fast movements, moves quickly ahead on the snow.

And among them, a group of soldiers, wrapped in pitch-black ferocious armor and wearing skull masks, were carrying their sharp and cold weapons and heading towards their goal quickly.

A deep, hoarse voice came from under the visor in the wind:
"The target this time is this place called Kaho City. The node there is outside the city. There should be no indigenous troops stationed here."

Another voice replied:
"Well, let's attack the village first, create chaos, and draw their attention aside."

"Then, we pull out this node as quickly as possible, so that Karahir can open the portal into the city wall."

The voice that spoke first agreed:
"Yes, a great warrior cannot be wasted in such a battle. This is unwise."

"It's so naive of them to think they can stop us with just a wall."

The voices died away.

Because they had reached the village outside Kaho City and attached to the castle.

The vast majority of the population in the territory of the Karstark family is gathered here.

The family is also here and has built some guard towers for defense.

In normal times, wars between nobles would generally not attack such affiliated villages unless they wanted to completely eradicate each other's foundation.

After all, you will have to ask for war reparations and the like. You destroyed these villages and lost the population.

Your opponent may not be able to repay the ransom you ask for.

Therefore, everyone always understands this point tacitly.

However, these do not exist at all for the Wild Hunt warriors.

The whole world is an enemy, and only killing, more killing, will scare these natives.

They travel from world to world, and this is an iron rule for them.

The success of Skagos Island let them know that the node that blocked their portal was actually very easy to pull out.

As long as those few red-leaf trees with special magic marks are destroyed, the barrier will automatically dissipate.

The Wild Hunt army, which can use its own power at will, never knows what it means to be afraid when facing an army with the same equipment level as them.

The pervasive ice magic and the white frost and snow will help them defeat any opponent who dares to oppose them.

They believe that this world is no exception.

……

As soon as the blizzard appeared, the Three-Eyed Crow in Winterfell discovered the situation through his scattered eyes.

But now, He can't do anything.

First, he could not mobilize the troops that Clay sent to garrison Winterfell.

His request was sent to Twin River City, and they received a reply saying that His Majesty is currently busy with the war in the valley and has not returned to Twin River City for a long time, and they could not contact His Majesty.

This is no way.

Moreover, the Three-Eyed Raven could not directly send the direct guards of Winterfell to rescue before Cahor City sent news.

Because, as far as predicting the future is concerned, He has no way of explaining it.

The identity of Bran Stark is quite easy to use. He must manage it well and cannot let his secret be revealed so easily.

Therefore, He is now wearing Bran Stark's baby face, but he is restless in Winterfell.

Catelyn Tully certainly knew that something was wrong with her son, but when asked, he said nothing.

She is becoming more and more unfamiliar with her son.

She even had a hunch that she might have completely lost her son at some point.

……

"Lord Harion, there is a monster in the snow... there is a monster in the snow!"

Standing in the hall of the castle, the heir of Kahor City frowned as he listened to the people who had fled back, shivering and shouting at him in fear.

monster?

Although the North was a land that never lacked legends, Harion Karstark did not believe that there were monsters here.

Anyway, now I can be sure that my village has been attacked.

You can be sure that the enemy is coming for you.

"Sir Pans, please be sure to strengthen the defense of the city wall. I will take the cavalry out to take a look. If it is a human, I will blow the horn once. If...if not, then I will blow the horn twice."

"No matter what, Kaho City cannot be lost, you understand."

After giving an explanation to the family's guard captain, this young nobleman with a warrior background, regardless of anyone's dissuasion, led the Karstark family's remaining cavalry troops and rushed out of the southeast gate of Kaho City.

There were only 100 of them, but when they rushed into the blizzard, they still showed the momentum of thousands of troops.

Captain Pence stood at the top of the city like a javelin, with a pair of gray iron-colored eyes staring at the faint village in the snowstorm.

The violent wind and snow, like the mouth of an abyss, swallowed up all 100 people in one go.

1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, two 10 minutes.

Captain Pence didn't know why time moved so slowly.

Finally, he heard the familiar horn.

Heavy, mute, and melodious.

And, to his relief, there was only one sound.

It's people!

His tense cheeks had just relaxed, but another life-threatening horn sound came out of the blizzard unmistakably and reached the ears of every defender on the city.

This is...two sounds!
not human!
Captain Pence wished he had heard wrong.

However, he knew he didn't.

Soon, the neighing of war horses suddenly came from the village that had been silent for a long time.

More than twenty people on war horses, with more or less injuries, escaped from the wind and snow in a desperate manner.

The knights on them were all pale-faced and abandoned their armor.

The city gates were opened and these knights were allowed to return to the city.

Captain Pans searched inside, searching three times, but he did not see the face of Harion Karstark.

"Where is the young master!"

With his fingers trembling, he grabbed a pale guy and asked.

"Dead...dead...all dead!"

Unexpectedly, this guy with dull eyes suddenly collapsed.

Squatting on the ground, crying and shivering.

Captain Pence then remembered what the two horn blasts just now meant.

His tone unconsciously trembled as he asked:
"You guys...what did you encounter outside?"

All the survivors were silent. They couldn't describe the figure wrapped in ice and wearing ferocious armor, and the thing that looked like a ball of ice spikes with a big blood-red mouth.

monster……

That's the only way to describe it.

Just when Captain Pence was at his wits end, a panicked voice sounded again:
"Sir! Outside the city! They are heading towards the godswood!"

(End of this chapter)