It was approximately two o'clock in the afternoon.
The afternoon sky was as gloomy as if it were about to collapse, and fine snow was fluttering down in scattered drifts.
Inside the northern courtyard of Deepwood Motte, fifteen hundred soldiers had already assembled amidst the light snowfall.
Their warm breath mingled and spiraled with the falling flakes.
Despite the biting cold, every unit remained in perfect formation, and not a single soul was late. This included the levies from the four mountain clans.
Clearly, Galon's talk a few days prior had been effective.
Currently, Galon stood at the front of the fifteen-hundred-man host clad in boiled leather armor.
He scanned his army, his voice as steady and firm as frozen earth, carrying clearly to the ears of every soldier.
"The Ironborn are here!"
"They have trampled our coastline and murdered our brothers who stood watch at the outposts!"
"They believe the Northern army has marched south and that Deepwood Motte is left defenseless!"
Galon's eyes flashed like torches as he raised his voice further, shouting coldly, "Today, we shall turn the Wolfswood into a graveyard for these krakens. Kill them all!"
Across the training ground, over a thousand soldiers instantly erupted in a roar: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Galon waited a moment before raising his hand to signal for silence.
"Ron!"
He began to issue orders according to their previous council.
"You will lead five hundred men to Sea Dragon Point to greet the Ironborn. Lead them toward Sentinel Stand—that place shall become their grave!"
"Understood!" Ron replied without hesitation, nodding firmly.
Galon then looked toward Jon. "Jon, take five hundred cavalry and immediately bypass the Wolfswood from the left to reach the forest exit.
Act upon the sound of the horn and cut off the Ironborn's retreat!"
Jon replied in a low voice, "By your command!"
He turned to muster his men and led the five hundred riders away, quickly vanishing into the swirling veil of snow.
A short while later, Galon personally led five hundred infantry and five hundred archers out through the North Gate, plunging into the wind-swept Wolfswood.
Light was dim among the trees, and the wind and snow made the march difficult. However, the Northern warriors were fearless in the face of the cold.
Galon rode at the very front, his mind as clear as a mirror despite the storm, constantly calculating time and routes.
To prevent Asha from reaching the Wolfswood first, he urged his soldiers to quicken their pace.
Halfway through the journey, Galon encountered scouts from the previous outposts.
They brought him a crucial piece of intelligence: "My Lord, we observed the Ironborn landing in the pine barrens. There are roughly one to two thousand of them.
But they have taken a wrong turn and are currently bypassing the marshes!"
Galon felt a slight wave of relief in his heart.
He let the scouts lead the way, and finally, around four o'clock in the afternoon, they reached Sentinel Stand.
In the snow, Sentinel Stand appeared even more steep and treacherous, with a massive drop between the east and west sides. The slope was wide and offered no cover.
"Ron, take your five hundred men and follow the scouts. Be careful!"
Ron nodded solemnly, showing no concern for the fact that he was acting as bait.
He glanced at his ten-man squad leaders and said quietly, "Move out!"
The five hundred men soon disappeared into the snow. Galon surveyed Sentinel Stand and began deploying the archers for the ambush.
"Mihawk, take the first and second companies and hide in the rock zone on the left flank."
"Third company, the trees on the right.
Fourth and fifth companies, follow me to the center and hide behind the ridgeline."
"Everyone remember: without my command, you are not to make a sound or move, even if you are dying!"
Mihawk and the others responded solemnly, "Understood!"
The orders were executed swiftly in the wind.
The soldiers quickly used the rocks and snow to perfectly conceal themselves, blending into the white summit of the slope.
Galon lay prone behind a tree, his eyes piercing through the snowy veil like a hawk, locking onto the path below the slope.
The entire world seemed to consist of nothing but the sound of wind and his cold, burning intent for battle.
On the other side, Asha was leading her thousand-plus Ironborn in a difficult trek through the marshes.
Since clearing the outposts the previous night, she had plunged straight into the swamps due to her unfamiliarity with the environment of Sea Dragon Point, making progress slow.
Despite this, her heart remained filled with an aggressive excitement.
'Even though we were spotted, a portion of the elite forces from Deepwood Motte has marched south.
Those remaining are nothing but watchdog dogs. Taking Deepwood Motte will be easy!'
She looked toward the hilly terrain that was drawing closer and couldn't help but urge, "Quicken the pace! We shall spend the night in Deepwood Motte!"
Asha's distant kin erupted in laughter and turned to shout at their subordinates to move faster.
Another half hour passed before they finally emerged from the marsh.
As they crested the highest point of the hills, they immediately saw the Wolfswood a few kilometers ahead, along with several hundred Deepwood Motte soldiers on the move.
'Deepwood Motte heard of our attack and actually dared to leave the castle?' Asha looked confused and asked her cousin, Dagon.
Unfortunately, Dagon was a brute and couldn't explain it.
He scratched his head and said, "They say Northmen aren't afraid of death. They probably know they'll lose, so they want to die with a bit of glory?"
Asha shook her head speechlessly, knowing she had asked the wrong person.
However, she didn't bother thinking further; it was only five hundred men, after all. "Send men to crush them. Capture a few alive to find out why."
Dagon nodded and immediately led more than eight hundred subordinates charging down from the hills.
When Ron saw more than a thousand Ironborn appearing on the hills, his heart skipped a beat. He did not flee in a panic.
Instead, he quickly deployed into an arc formation and began a slow retreat.
Witnessing the formation Ron organized, Asha felt even more strange. 'A formation? What are they trying to do with that?' An uneasy feeling began to stir in her heart.
Sure enough.
As soon as Dagon's lead elements made contact, they were split by Ron's formation. In an instant, thirty or forty men were killed.
'Damn it, Deepwood Motte really does have some skill!'
Seeing Dagon suffer a setback, Asha could no longer hold back. She led the rest of her forces and pounced toward Ron and his men.
'The timing is right!' Ron realized that if he didn't retreat now, they truly wouldn't be able to leave. He feigned panic and immediately shouted for a retreat.
The Deepwood Motte soldiers quickly disengaged and ran toward the Wolfswood.
"Chase them! After them!"
Dagon was furious. He could not tolerate the fact that he had nearly been defeated by Ron.
More than eight hundred men broke into a loose, disorganized pursuit.
Asha followed closely behind with the rest of the host.
She intended to have the horn sounded to stop Dagon, but Ron kept luring Dagon into the chase.
Whenever Dagon showed signs of giving up, Ron would turn and launch a timely counterattack.
Back and forth it went until the impulsive Dagon completely lost his reason, refusing to let go of Ron's trail.
As a price, Deepwood Motte suffered over fifty casualties.
By now, Dagon had followed Ron into the Wolfswood and disappeared from sight. Worried about her kinsman, Asha had no choice but to lead the entire army into the forest.
In an instant, the deep Wolfswood felt like a giant beast that swallowed all the Ironborn led by Asha.
Upon entering the forest, Asha felt her vision restricted. Fine grains of snow fell through the gaps in the trees.
Ignoring the snow, she frowned as she searched for Dagon.
Hearing his enraged voice still ahead of her, a bad premonition flooded her mind. 'We must find Dagon as soon as possible! We cannot keep charging blindly. The Wolfswood is Glover territory!'
Asha took a deep breath and continued the frantic pursuit, finally catching up to Dagon at the base of a slope.
At that moment, Ron was leading his men in a climb up the incline.
Because of the fresh snow, some men were slipping and falling on the slope.
Dagon ordered his men to throw hand-axes. Several unlucky souls couldn't dodge in time and were struck, falling into the blood-stained snow.
Watching their disheveled appearance, Asha couldn't help but shake her head, thinking to herself, 'Is it just me, or am I overthinking it? How could this group have an ambush?'
She glanced left and right.
Aside from trees and rocks, there were no signs of any hidden enemies.
Asha's heart relaxed as she waved her hand and shouted, "Charge up! Crush them!"
Dagon took the lead, wielding his flail as he rushed up.
Soon, the nearly thousand-man army was surging up the slope. Some Ironborn also slipped on the snow, making the scene on the hillside extremely chaotic.
Asha stood at the bottom and curled her lip helplessly.
She looked to the left and right again, intending to shout for them to split up and flank the enemy.
But before she could, hundreds of archers suddenly appeared on both sides of her, their bows drawn and arrows aimed directly at her soldiers on the slope.
She instinctively looked upward and saw a tall figure looking down at her coldly.
It was Galon!
A few heartbeats later, Galon drew the greatsword at his waist and swung it down violently!
A wave of intense terror surged into Asha's heart.
"Retreat!"
"It's an ambush!"
Asha's shrill scream was drowned out by the sound of the arrows that symbolized death.
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