Inside the house, everyone sat around the fire pit. Kraste's wives, as the mistresses of the house, also sat in a corner. The fire pit was small and couldn't accommodate everyone, so more Rangers stood on the periphery. The wight Kraste was bound by ropes and placed outside, with seventeen Rangers watching him.
"What should we do next?" With legendary creatures appearing before their eyes, not only Benjen was at a complete loss, but even Mance Rayder's mind was blank at this moment. They could only seek guidance from Lynd.
"Commander Mormont always felt that there weren't enough men, and the Seven Kingdoms didn't support the Night's Watch much, didn't he?" Lynd poked the logs in the fire pit with a branch to make the flames burn more fiercely: "You can take this wight to King's Landing, show it to the King and the great lords, let them see what's Beyond the Wall, and make them feel the danger. They will naturally pay attention to the security of the Wall. At that time, the Night's Watch will have all the men and money it needs, and it won't be difficult to restore its former Glory."
Hearing Lynd's words, the eyes of all the Rangers lit up simultaneously. Undoubtedly, the answer Lynd gave was the best answer, at least for the Rangers. However, a hint of worry flashed across the faces of Mance Rayder and his companions inside the house.
"However, when you transport it, be careful not to let it be exposed to the sun for too long, and don't let it touch fire," Lynd reminded. "It's best to put it in a cage."
Benjen nodded after hearing this and said, "I know what to do."
Lynd turned to look at Kraste's wives. Most of them showed relief in their eyes, but one or two had hatred in theirs.
Lynd calmly said, "Kraste is dead, and the Ancient Other has been killed by me. The protective covenant he and the Ancient Other obtained through sacrifice no longer exists. It will be very dangerous for you to stay here; you will either be killed by Ancient Others or wights, or you will die from attacks by Savage Tribes raiders. It's best for you to go with the Rangers and live south of the Wall; it will be much safer."
Many of the women showed signs of being moved, but the oldest old woman shook her head vigorously and said, "No, this is our home, we live here, and we're not going anywhere."
After the old woman finished speaking, the other women around her all looked dejected.
Lynd stared at the old woman and said in a deep voice, "Madam, you seem to have misunderstood my meaning. I am not asking for your opinion; I am telling you my decision, understand?"
Under Lynd's gaze, the old woman's face showed panic. She lowered her head and replied in a low voice, "Yes, Lord."
Lynd turned to Benjen and said, "You all leave immediately at dawn tomorrow. Don't stop on the way, and take the people and the wight back to Black Castle as quickly as possible."
"Yes, Lord Linde," Benjen nodded quickly.
"I'll go with you tomorrow too, for company on the road," Mance Rayder suddenly interjected.
Before Benjen could answer, Lynd said in a deep voice, "No need. You and I will continue north together. We are going to the Fist of the First Men."
A gloomy expression flashed across Mance Rayder's face. He and his companions exchanged glances, then asked Lynd, "Lord, what are you going to the Fist of the First Men for?"
Lynd seemed to have seen through Mance Rayder's thoughts and said, "I told you, to find the legendary winter horn."
The night quickly passed. As soon as the sky brightened, before the sun appeared in the east, Benjen eagerly led his Rangers, Kraste's wight, and Kraste's wives, galloping towards the Wall.
Last night, they had already built cages for the wight using the materials they had. Because they weren't particularly sturdy and they were worried they might fall apart on the way, they built three, and covered the cages with deerskin blankets and curtains to block the sunlight. Although the wight Kraste had no hands or feet, he was still bound by ropes, and his head was particularly covered with an animal hide.
In addition, Lynd also had Benjen take the sacrifice stone tablet back and give it to Maester Aemon, so he could examine its mysteries.
After Benjen left with the Rangers of Black Castle, Lynd and Mance Rayder and the others continued north. After traveling a certain distance further north, they happened to pass by the sacrificial ground. Upon seeing the ground covered with corpses, they were all speechless for a moment.
After passing through the sacrificial ground, the Ranger guide led the team towards the northwest. Because everyone was still immersed in the previous scene, no one spoke.
After a long while, a young Ranger finally spoke, "It seems that the legendary Ancient Others are not very strong. Even Lord Linde can easily deal with several."
Upon hearing the Ranger's words, the others around him looked at their companion as if he were a fool.
"You said it yourself, that's Lord Linde, not us," a Ranger said impatiently.
Lynd looked at the young Ranger and said, "Ancient Others are very strong, even for me, they are still very strong."
The people around him looked unimpressed, thinking that Lynd was just being humble, but they didn't know that Lynd was telling the truth.
Although Lynd appeared to easily deal with the three human Ancient Others, it was only because Lynd's strength and speed far surpassed the three human Ancient Others, and he also possessed Valyrian steel, which completely countered Ancient Others.
But this does not mean that Lynd truly has complete suppression over Ancient Others. Once the difference in strength and speed between the two is negligible, then Ancient Others would also be very dangerous to him.
Because just as Valyrian steel is fatal to them, the Ancient Others' weapons are equally fatal to Lynd. If their weapons hit him, even if he wears steel armor, he will be injured. Therefore, obtaining that set of Valyrian steel fallen knight armor is an urgent matter for him.
Furthermore, during the night, as he reviewed the combat process and analyzed the key points of the battle with the Ancient Others, he discovered three things he hadn't noticed before, and these three things were both good and bad for him.
The first thing was that he found that the Ancient Other's sensory abilities were not much worse than his. When Lynd caught him off guard and punched him in the head, although he couldn't dodge, he reacted in time, moving his head along with Lynd's fist to reduce the force of the punch. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just half of his skull that was shattered.
Such quick reaction ability, coupled with super self-healing power, undoubtedly made him a very strong opponent for Lynd. More importantly, if the Ancient Others are a species, then an existence like the Ancient Other would definitely not be the strongest among them, only a vanguard. Lynd could not predict how powerful stronger Ancient Others could become, perhaps truly reaching a level comparable to those ancient Old Gods.
The second thing was that Valyrian steel was not as absolutely fatal to Ancient Others as he had thought.
When he killed the three human Ancient Others, one of them blocked the Lost Knight's Greatsword with his arm. Although the human Ancient Other's arm shattered into ice crystals under the Greatsword's slash, only the severed arm shattered. The human Ancient Other's body did not shatter until he split the human Ancient Other's body in half.
That is to say, Valyrian steel is only fatal to Ancient Others when they suffer a fatal injury, and currently, this only seems to apply to human Ancient Others. Whether the Ancient Other is also like this is still unclear for now.
If Valyrian steel is like this, then the effect of dragonglass is probably similar.
This makes it very difficult for ordinary people to kill Ancient Others. The strength and agility of human Ancient Others alone already far surpass ordinary human warriors. Once the two clash, even if human warriors possess Valyrian steel weapons or dragonglass weapons, it would probably be difficult to inflict a fatal wound and kill them.
As for the third thing, it was slightly better. After he killed the three human Ancient Others, three invisible magical powers emerged from their evaporating bodies and injected into the Dragon Rune. Not only the Dragon Rune in the Lost Knight's Greatsword, but even the Dragon Rune in his heart absorbed some of the Ancient Other's magic.
This phenomenon also existed in the Lost Country Knight's memories. Only a Lost Country Knight who had completed the Dragon Feast Ritual would possess this ability, called Dragon Feast, which is specifically for dragons. After killing a dragon, it would absorb some of the dragon's power, feeling somewhat like a Dragonborn from another plane world.
However, just like consuming a dragon's heart directly for the Dragon Feast Ritual, killing a dragon and obtaining the original magic power released by the dragon at its death through Dragon Feast would also affect the Lost Country Knight's mind, though the effect would be slightly weaker.
But what made Lynd curious now was that he had clearly killed Ancient Others, so why did the power of Dragon Feast take effect? After much thought, the only answer he could come up with was that the power of these Ancient Others might be related to dragons.
This made him think of a legend of the First Men Beyond the Wall and a story about a constellation called Ice Dragon that he had read in the books at Black Castle.
In the legend, there is a type of Ice Dragon that inhabits the Shivering Sea and the White Wasteland. They are the prototypes of the Ice Dragon constellation in the sky. These Ice Dragons are entirely composed of ice crystals, with blue eyes and transparent ice crystal wings. The whole creature is extremely similar to an Ancient Other, or could be called a Dragon Ancient Other.
Since the Ancient Other's magic activated the Dragon Feast, it undoubtedly proved that the Ancient Others are closely related to the legendary Ice Dragon. Perhaps the Ancient Others are a race created by Ice Dragons.
"Lord Linde." While Lynd was deep in thought, Mance Rayder approached him and whispered.
Lynd pulled himself out of his thoughts, looked at Mance Rayder, and asked, "Brother Mance, is something wrong?"
Mance Rayder was silent for a moment, then said, "I looked at Kraste's wound yesterday. His fatal wound was on his neck; he died from a beast biting through his throat."
Lynd said, "You mean Kraste was killed by me and then turned into a wight."
Mance Rayder looked at Lynd and said, "Guest right is an extremely ancient and sacred oath."
"I can tell you for sure, it was indeed I who had Glory kill Kraste, and I did not violate guest right," Lynd said with a smile. "Brother Mance, don't forget, I didn't eat the bread and salt provided by Kraste's family."
Upon hearing Lynd's words, Mance Rayder was stunned. He quickly remembered that it was indeed as Lynd said; he had not eaten Kraste's bread and salt. At the time, he thought Lynd simply disliked the bread and had ignored it, but now, thinking back, Lynd might have already planned to kill Kraste.
However, what puzzled Mance Rayder was why Linde Terra, a great noble from the South who had never been Beyond the Wall, would want to kill a Beyond the Wall Wildling?
Although Mance Rayder was filled with doubts, he did not continue to ask, but instead continued to inquire about what he hadn't finished asking last night, saying, "Lord Linde, regarding the Beyond the Wall Wildlings last night, I still have some questions I haven't figured out and would like to know your opinion?"
"Does my opinion matter?" Lynd didn't wait for Mance Rayder to state his question, but directly asked back.
Mance Rayder hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer.
Lynd then directly shattered Mance Rayder's expectations, saying, "You actually made a mistake. The reason I accepted the Savage Tribes is because the Savage Tribes were willing to change their lives according to my requirements, integrate into the center of my territory, and serve me. That's why I accepted them. As for those Savage Tribes who were unwilling to serve me, either I directly eliminated them, or I threw them into the mines to mine for me for generations forever."
Mance Rayder's face turned pale upon hearing this.
"Even the way I handle the Savage Tribes is already good enough in your eyes, so you can imagine the attitude of other nobles in the Seven Kingdoms towards the Savage Tribes." Lynd reached out and scratched Glory's outstretched head, then motioned for it to go play nearby, and continued, "The reason you asked me this question is actually to know if the Seven Kingdoms will accept the Beyond the Wall Wildlings, right? I can tell you very clearly that, given the current situation, absolutely not."
Lynd's voice was not loud, but it was clear. Even with the sound of wind and snow blocking it, everyone around could hear. Not only did Mance Rayder's face show disappointment, but even his Night's Watch brothers' faces turned very grim.
Lynd then said something shocking, "Brother Mance, what made you feel sympathy for the Beyond the Wall Wildlings and lead your Ranger brothers to betray your oath?"
Upon hearing Lynd's words, all the surrounding Rangers showed panic, and their hands instinctively reached for the weapons on their bodies. However, once they touched their weapons, they all released them, realizing that they were facing Lynd, a Godsworn who had easily dealt with thousands of wights and the legendary Ancient Others.
"You knew from the beginning that I had betrayed my oath, didn't you?" Mance Rayder looked at Lynd and asked, "Can you tell me where I slipped up?"
Lynd smiled without speaking.
Mance Rayder didn't press further. He just gave a self-deprecating laugh and said, "You might be mistaken. I didn't betray my oath out of sympathy for the Wildlings. I just don't like black cloaks. Jeor Mormont shouldn't have forced me to exchange my red cloak for a black one." He then looked at Lynd and asked, "What are you going to do with us now? Are you going to execute us on the spot, or arrest us and take us back to the Wall?"
Lynd looked at Mance Rayder, then at the surrounding Rangers, shrugged, and said, "I'm not Night's Watch; your internal affairs are none of my business."
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"