Those eyes, burning with ghostly blue flame, were like two cold stars from the seven hells, carrying a scrutiny that could freeze the very soul.
Time and space solidified completely in this moment.
Jon Snow's body trembled in fear.
But the Stark blood flowing in his veins forced him to suppress the instinct to flee.
He drew his dragonglass longsword.
The steel blade let out a low moan, as if shrinking back from the extreme cold.
"For the living!"
Jon let out a suppressed roar, ready to charge at that nightmarish figure.
"Don't move!"
A hand moved as fast as lightning, clamping tightly onto Jon's wrist holding the sword. The force was unimaginable, making Jon feel as though his wrist bone was about to be crushed.
He looked back in astonishment, only to see Lynn's utterly calm profile.
"He isn't here to fight."
"If he wanted to fight, we'd be dead already."
"I'll go check. Wait for me here."
Lynn released his grip.
Then, alone, he walked toward the Night King standing on the summit.
Step by step.
Every step sank deep into the snow, making a faint crunching sound.
The biting chill was no longer simple low temperature, but a magical force imbued with will.
It tried to invade his marrow, to freeze his thoughts!
Lynn's mental strength was dozens of times stronger than the others, and even then, he barely kept that chill at bay.
Ygritte had collapsed completely to the ground.
She watched Lynn's back, her mind blank.
"Lynn..."
She muttered to herself.
The Night King had no expression. On that face like an ice sculpture, there was no emotion belonging to a living creature.
He simply raised his hand.
With his movement, the snow on the entire summit began to swirl violently, forming a massive vortex.
Then, from the center of that vortex, shimmering fragments slowly rose.
They were shards of a horn, each emitting an ancient aura of desolation.
The Horn of Winter!
It was broken!
The Night King made a grasping motion with his right hand.
As if summoned by an invisible force, all the fragments gathered rapidly!
Streaks of ghostly blue ice crystals, like living threads, shuttled, wove, and stitched between those fragments!
Blinding blue light erupted in the Night King's palm!
When the light dissipated, a brand-new horn floated before Lynn.
It was a horn made from the horn of some colossal beast, pitch-black throughout, yet its surface was covered in a layer of diamond-bright ice crystals.
Upon the crystals flowed countless ancient and mysterious blue runes, seemingly containing the primal power of ice between heaven and earth.
The Night King extended his hand, offering this reborn horn to Lynn.
Lynn's heart skipped a beat.
What did this mean?
A trap? A test? Or some kind of pact?
Lynn hesitated for a moment, but finally reached out and took the horn.
It was bone-chillingly cold to the touch. A majestic power surged up his arm and into his body, as if threatening to freeze his blood.
[Ding! You have obtained the Legendary Item: Horn of Winter (Repaired)!]
[Horn of Winter: Blow it, and the Wall shall crumble. Can also summon an absolutely obedient Frost Giant.]
This thing... was even more terrifying than the legends!
Just as Lynn's mind reeled in shock, the Night King raised his other hand.
That pale, icy finger pointed distantly at the center of Lynn's forehead.
No contact.
But Lynn felt a condensed beam of extremely cold energy, like an invisible spike, instantly pierce his mind!
Hum—!
Lynn's mind went blank instantly!
A flood of information, vast beyond imagination, rushed into the depths of his memory!
It was the most primal knowledge of ice!
How to condense moisture in the air into indestructible blades.
How to manipulate absolute zero, freezing an enemy's blood with a thought.
How to draw power from the eternal winter to summon blizzards!
[Ding! You are receiving the legacy of Ancient Ice Magic...]
[Legacy Analysis Successful! Massive experience gained in Ice Magic. Current Level: Expert]
Lynn's body took half a step back uncontrollably.
He felt as if his brain were about to burst from the massive influx of information.
When he finally recovered, the Night King had lowered his hand.
Those eyes burning with ghostly blue flame gave him one last look.
The gaze was still empty, yet seemed to carry an expectation Lynn couldn't understand?
The Night King turned and walked to the edge of the cliff.
A warhorse made of skeletal remains, with blue flames burning in its eye sockets, appeared silently there.
The Night King mounted, didn't look back, and rode straight north, toward the lands eternally covered in ice and snow.
His figure soon vanished into the sky-filling blizzard, as if he had never appeared.
Only when he completely disappeared did the terrifying pressure shrouding the summit, capable of freezing souls, quietly dissipate.
"Hah... hah..."
Everyone was gasping for air.
Jon and the three rangers slumped on the ground, their faces filled with the terror of survivors.
"Lynn!"
Jon struggled to stand up and rushed to Lynn.
"What was that? What... what did he give you?!"
Ygritte also crawled up.
Looking at the horn in Lynn's hand, she asked with a trembling voice.
"You... what are you, exactly?"
"Did you make a deal with that devil?"
"Why didn't he hurt us?"
Lynn didn't answer.
He looked down at the horn emitting an ominous aura in his hand, then looked up in the direction the Night King had vanished, his mind a chaotic mess.
He couldn't figure it out either.
The Night King, who was supposed to be the ultimate villain BOSS.
Why would he give a weapon capable of destroying the Wall to Lynn?
Why would he pass on his power to Lynn?
This script wasn't right!
Did he want Lynn to be his second-in-command?
To overthrow the tyranny of humanity together?
What was this?
"He shouldn't have any malicious intent."
After a long while, Lynn spoke slowly.
His voice carried a confusion even he didn't notice.
"At least I got some benefits."
Lynn put the horn away, keeping it close to his body.
He had thought his power was sufficient, enough to even challenge the Night King.
But seeing the Night King in person, he was far more formidable than shown in the TV series.
Lynn realized clearly that his current strength was far from enough.
Whether facing the coming Long Night or the vipers lurking in the power vortex of King's Landing, he needed greater strength.
And regarding the Night King, regarding the deepest secrets of this world, he feared even the so-called "King-Beyond-the-Wall," Mance Rayder, knew nothing.
He needed to find someone who knew the answers.
"Our plan needs to change."
Lynn's gaze swept over the confused faces of the group.
"Mance Rayder can wait."
"We need to find someone else."
"Who?" Jon asked reflexively.
Lynn's gaze turned to the northwest, toward the continuous mountain range covered in snow, known as the "Frostfangs."
"A crow with three eyes."
"The Greenseer is there."
Lynn's voice drifted in the cold wind, yet it made everyone present feel a chill more biting than the northern wind itself.
The Greenseer.
That was something that existed only in the oldest legends.
He was actually going to find a legend?
Jon looked at Lynn's determined face.
Suddenly, he felt as if he had never truly known this man.
And Ygritte, the moment she heard the name "Three-Eyed Raven," turned paler than the snow.
In her grey eyes surfaced a fear that stemmed from the depths of her bloodline.
"You... you can't go there!" she cried out, losing her composure.
"That is forbidden ground!"
"It is a place no Free Folk dare tread!"
"Legends say the last Children of the Forest live there, and... and the Old Gods who can see everything!"
Lynn turned his head.
Looking at her face twisted with fear, he asked calmly.
"You know of it?"
"I... I've only heard the elders in the tribe speak of it!"
Ygritte's voice trembled.
"They say anyone who approaches the Frostfangs will have their soul stolen by the Old Gods and become a living corpse wandering the mountains forever!"
"Good."
Instead of fear, a smile appeared on Lynn's face.
"It seems we're looking in the right place."
He patted Jon on the shoulder and turned to lead the way down the mountain.
"Keep up. We have no time to waste."