The royal courtiers, representing the king's authority, arrived, led by three generals: the Red Monk Thoros; the Royal Enforcer Ilyn Payne; and the Hound Sandor Clegane. Behind them stood thirty imposing men in golden robes.
Behind the thirty men in golden robes were over a thousand Riverrunners and the Duke's personal guards. The group also included Riverlands nobles and their attendants. The remaining twenty thousand soldiers had already returned to their territories following Duke Horst's orders.
To avoid a violent conflict between the Riverlands nobles and city garrison soldiers and the Mountain's soldiers, Duke Horst ordered that the Riverrun garrison and the Duke's personal guard be allowed to return to the city only after the Mountain and his brothers had left.
Taking advantage of the king's arrival, the more than a thousand garrison troops of Riverrun and the nobles of the Riverlands all came up together.
With the king's decree to punish them, the garrison and nobles no longer feared the Demon Mountain!
Edmure stood next to the Mountain.
Edmure said, "Mountain, you take your brothers and go ahead. Take the waterway directly to the west bank of the Red Fork River, avoiding the king's general and the Riverrun garrison. I bet they think you're trying to blackmail me. If I go with you, they'll definitely cross the river to chase after me. With the king's general backing me up, they won't have any worries. I'll cross the river to the south bank from here and explain things to them."
"No!" said the Mountain, "I'll go with you!"
Edmure stared at the Mountain: "Mountain, are you sure? You've taken a thousand warhorses and thirteen thousand golden dragons from Riverrun. The soldiers all resent you. With the king's generals here, a conflict could easily break out!"
"I'll go with you!" Moshan said calmly. "If the red-robed monk Soros is trustworthy, I will entrust him with your letter of apology and the notification of the gift of a thousand warhorses to deliver to the king."
Edmure's face flushed red!
The Mountain, along with his brothers and Sir Edmure, boarded the ship and headed towards the other side.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the Mountain could not flee to the west bank of the Red Fork River because of the general sent by the king; it would be an insult to his bravery. In the hearts of his brothers, he was invincible. A man can be defeated, but he cannot run away out of fear, much less surrender because he is outnumbered!
The Demon Mountain is fearless!
The Demon Mountain is unmatched!
The Demon Mountain will never surrender!
This is something that cannot be tainted in the glory of the Magic Mountain.
Edmure didn't understand the Mountain's insistence, but the Mountain himself knew it all too well.
He was the spiritual leader of the Clegane cavalry, the spiritual king of the Lannister Port Blade mercenaries, and the core spiritual force of the Westerling Rock army.
The Mountain stood at the bow of the ship, next to Edmure, but the burly Edmure seemed to have very little presence in comparison to him, like a child.
The Red Monk Thoros was renowned throughout the Seven Kingdoms for his bravery. Nine years prior, during the rebellion that led to the conquest of the Iron Islands, he was the first to charge the formidable walls of Pyke, slaying countless Ironborn warriors and carving the first crucial breach in the royal army's assault. He became famous overnight. His ferocity was as renowned as his flaming sword.
This royal squad was led by Soros, with Ilyn Payne, the Royal Enforcer, and Sandor Clegane, the Hound, as his deputies.
Before the ship even reached the shore, when it was only about two zhang away, Mo Shan leaped ashore. He landed with a loud thud, like a boulder crashing down, and the ground slightly sank. The thousand-plus soldiers were all terrified.
The Mountain's face darkened. He gripped the hilt of his greatsword behind his shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Soros, have you come to take me to the king for punishment, or to investigate the truth and handle this matter impartially?"
The Mountain's grip on the greatsword hilt and his aggressive questioning were extremely threatening!
Soros was furious and roared, "The Mountain, your infamy is known throughout the Seven Kingdoms! You have committed countless evils and show no remorse! This time you used trickery to breach the city and coerced Duke Horst and Earl Edmure by force! I am here on King Robert's orders to bring you to justice!"
choke!
The Demon Mountain drew his greatsword and roared, "You accused me of a crime without investigation! You have dishonored the king's honor and the justice of the law! Since you are nothing but a bastard, then draw your sword!"
Whoosh!
Soros draws his sword!
"Giddy up!" he shouted, squeezed his legs together, and charged towards Demon Mountain.
"Watch out!" the hound shouted, immediately spurring his warhorse to attack Demon Mountain from the left flank.
Having lost his tongue, the Royal Enforcer Ilyn Payne had already drawn his greatsword, kicked the spurs, and launched a fierce attack on the Mountain from the right.
In an instant, three warhorses galloped forward, swords raised high, almost indistinguishable in number, charging wildly towards the Demon Mountain, which was backed by the Red Fork River.
"Ho! Ho ho ho!" Behind them, over a thousand warriors and dozens of knights shouted loudly, cheering for the three royal generals.
They all hoped that the three fierce generals would strike hard and defeat the demon mountain in one fell swoop.
In the Red Fork River, the boatmen were too frightened to approach the shore.
On the ship, Edmure and the Mountain's brothers shouted together, "Stop!"
The surging Red Fork River and the shouts of over a thousand warriors and knights shattered the cries from the ship.
No one cared what the people on the ship were shouting.
Edmure was in the middle of the Clegane bandits, and he was being held hostage. No one believed that Edmure had shouted "Stop!" or if he had, it was because he was forced to!
The Mountain was surrounded by enemies on three sides, all of whom were skilled swordsmen. The weakest of the three was Ilyn Payne on the right, but his strength and greatsword were the greatest among them.
Furthermore, it's hard to say what his motivation was for wanting to kill the Mountain. The Mountain was a fellow Westerlander and a loyal subject of Lord Tywin Lannister, but he just really wanted to cut off the Mountain's head.
Ilyn Payne was a skilled rider, and his warhorse was well-trained. Suddenly, he had charged ahead, wielding a two-handed greatsword. Using the momentum of his horse, he gripped the sword with both hands and slashed fiercely at the Mountain's head.
The Mountain's greatsword was longer than Ilyn Payne's, but the speed of Ilyn Payne's charging horse made up for the difference in the greatsword's length.
The speed was too fast; even though the sword was a bit short, it was in front of him in the blink of an eye.
The walls of Benliu City were instantly filled with the people of the entire city, who, together with the more than a thousand warriors on the opposite bank of the river, shouted: Kill the Demon Mountain!
The Mountain moved, not using his greatsword to parry Ilyn Payne's fierce attack. The combined force of the horse's charge and Ilyn Payne's furious slashing could have blocked and severely wounded the Mountain, but Soros in the middle also raised his sword. He was only a horse's head behind Ilyn Payne, a distance that would be covered in the blink of an eye.
The two were almost neck and neck.
Bang!
Soros's longsword burst into flames, the fire burning fiercely and the light dazzlingly bright. The longsword drew a circle, like a shining sun, radiating intense heat.
The flaming sword slashed fiercely at Demon Mountain's chest, while the warhorse rammed into Demon Mountain's massive body.
The hound on the left was carrying a longsword when it charged, but when it got to the Mountain, it had somehow switched to a spear, which was probably hanging on the side of its horse.
During their last duel, the Mountain told the Hound to thrust his spear straight at him, saying that with the Hound's strength, he could break through the Mountain's two layers of armor.
This time, the hound indeed used a lance, which was hung on the right side of the horse and concealed by the horse's body, making it very difficult for the Mountain to see.
The hound's lance trembled straight as it thrust forward, aiming to pierce the Mountain's armor and severely wound him!