With a strained expression, he remained silent for a long while before finally rasping, "Do you think Winterfell will ultimately fall?"
"What do you think?" Daenerys tossed the question back to him.
"If all the soldiers fight with their lives, if you and your dragons are there, if there are more Unsullied in Valyrian steel armor, if—"
Daenerys raised a hand to cut him off and sneered. "What you should say is, if the walls of Winterfell were as tall as the Wall."
Pure daydreaming.
Jon frowned. He had realized it. The Dragon Queen was willing to support Winterfell, but she was unwilling to commit too much of her strength there.
In other words, she was unwilling to risk everything for what he saw as the center of the world, Winterfell.
"If the Night King could be killed beneath Winterfell, wouldn't the Long Night end right there?" he urged tactfully.
"A nice idea. Stannis and I planned the same thing. To attack a castle like Hearth Home, ordinary White Walkers are enough, but Winterfell…"
A sharp gleam flashed through Daenerys's eyes. "Come to think of it, I have never seen the true face of that Night King. I hope to meet it beneath Winterfell and fight it once."
"Fight it once? You plan to challenge the Night King?" Jon was overjoyed. "Kill the Night King, and even if the other White Walkers do not die, they will collapse and flee back beyond the Wall. The crisis in the North will be resolved, the Long Night will end. That would be killing two birds with one stone."
"Not me. I will only provide support for the savior," the Dragon Queen said with a teasing curl of her lips. "After all, the Asshai prophecy 'stipulated' six thousand years ago that the Night King can only be defeated by the Child of Prophecy. I am not that child."
"Me? I can't," Jon's expression changed as he waved his hands repeatedly.
"You? You're thinking too highly of yourself. You do not even have the right weapon. Hm?" Daenerys lowered her gaze to Jon's waist. She had been about to say that he did not even have a weapon to deal with White Walkers, when she suddenly noticed a familiar-looking lady's sword hanging at his side.
When Jon was still in the Night's Watch, Old Bear had given him his family's ancestral Valyrian steel sword, Longclaw.
But after breaking his Night's Watch vows, Jon felt it inappropriate to continue keeping Longclaw. Before leaving the Wall, he had given the sword to the 999th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Alliser Thorne.
Daenerys had seen Alliser wield Longclaw at Castle Black, so she had assumed Jon was left with nothing more than an ordinary weapon. She had not expected otherwise.
Pointing at the slender sword with a blood-red gemstone set in its guard, Daenerys asked, "Where did you get this sword?"
The sword was not actually slender. Compared with Daenerys's slightly long fingers, it was about two fingers wide. It only appeared slim when compared with the Dragon Queen's massive greatswords that were often four fingers wide, or even as wide as a palm.
"What's wrong?" Jon's gaze darted away, but he still drew the sword.
With a clear clang, under the torchlight on the armory wall, the smoke-black blade reflected a thin, pale red, chilling gleam.
The doubt in Daenerys's eyes turned into certainty. "It really is it. Dark Sister. Who gave it to you?"
"Dark Sister?" Jon's dog-butt face showed shock and uncertainty. "You mean this is the Targaryen family sword once used by Queen Visenya? How did it end up with me?"
Daenerys's lips twitched as she fixed her gaze on Jon.
Seeing not the slightest hint of deception on his dark, dog-butt face, she grew puzzled as well.
"The sword is hanging at your waist, yet you are asking me where it came from?"
"No, no, Your Grace, you misunderstand. This sword…" Jon struggled for quite some time before lowering his voice. "Your Grace, to be honest, my brother Bran has become this generation's Three-Eyed Raven. You know the Three-Eyed Raven, right? He had an eagle deliver the sword."
When he mentioned that Bran was the Three-Eyed Raven, there was a clear trace of pride on Jon's dog-butt face.
It was like a grandmother telling the neighbors, "My Da Zhuang got into Tsinghua University!"
"Why did Bran give Dark Sister to you?" the Dragon Queen asked, though she already knew the answer.
Her face was full of confusion, along with just a hint of well-measured indignation.
"I don't know. He only said that I would need it. Maybe Bran wanted me to use it against the White Walkers."
After hesitating for a moment, Jon unfastened his sword belt and, with obvious reluctance, held the sword out to Daenerys. "I did not know before that it was a Targaryen family sword. I will return it to you now."
Daenerys glanced at Dark Sister with open disdain, did not take it, and shook her head. "It is too thin, too short, and too light. I am not used to it. You keep using it. Return it to me after the Long Night ends."
"Thank you. I really do need a Valyrian steel sword." A relaxed smile spread across Jon's dog-butt face.
Then he added, still looking doubtful, "The savior you mentioned is Stannis? If it were you, I would think the Asshai prophecy had some chance of coming true. But him? Can he really do it?"
"He has Lightbringer."
"Even if he wields a red sword that once slew a Night King, he still has to get the chance to bring it down on this one's neck.
I watched the battle beneath the Wall that day. The White Walkers' speed and strength surpass those of mortals. I am afraid…"
"Stannis is, after all, the 'number one God of War in the Seven Kingdoms.' He has fought wars for decades. His martial skill will not be a problem."
"The number one God of War in the Seven Kingdoms?" Jon's dog-butt face looked like he was constipated.
"From the War of the Usurper, to the Greyjoy Rebellion, to the War of the Five Kings, and finally the War of the Three Kings, only one king persisted from beginning to end.
He is not only alive and well now, but even seems poised for a comeback, and may even become the savior of the world."
Seeing Jon's unconvinced expression, she continued, "Think about your own House Stark. Your grandfather, your father, your brother, and your brother-in-law have all fallen. On what grounds do you look down on Stannis?"
"…," Jon was left utterly speechless.
Dany stood tall and proud, as solemn and formal as when she had proclaimed Brienne an "Uncloaked Kingsguard." "I am willing to call him the greatest God of War in the Seven Kingdoms."
"If it pleases you, then by all means," Jon said with an air of solemn gravitas.
After a brief pause, he added worriedly, "But what if the God of War cannot defeat the Night King?"
"Don't worry. At the God of War's side, there is also a God of Magic," Dany replied calmly, still utterly composed.
"A God of Magic? What is that supposed to be?" Jon's face began to twist again.
"The god of magic, shortened to 'God of Magic.'"
Back in the day on a certain online fiction site, the title "God of Magic" had been everywhere in the fantasy section.
"You mean Melisandre?" Jon asked.
"As the 'world's number one mage,' doesn't she deserve to be called a 'God of Magic'?" Dany countered.
Jon nodded reluctantly and asked again, "Is she willing?"
"She was the one who spread the Asshai prophecy, and she was the one who chose the prophesied son. Now that the Night King has arrived, it is time for her to fulfill her own prophecy," Dany said as if it were only natural.
Empty rhetoric cannot be spoken lightly. Whatever was said in the past must now be backed up.
"If Melisandre and Stannis challenge the Night King together, there really might be a thirty percent chance of success," Jon said, clenching his fist as excitement gradually rose in his eyes.
"Thirty percent? No, no, no." Dany shook her head repeatedly. "The Asshai prophecy was spread by the Red Woman, but she was not the one who made it.
"Now it is time for the 'world's number one God-King' to make a dazzling entrance."
"The world's number one God-King?" Jon's utterly dumbfounded face froze again. "You mean R'hllor is the number one God-King?"
"In this world today, is there any god more active than R'hllor? Is there any church larger than the temples of the Red God?
"The god with the most followers is the great Lord of Light.
"The night is long and full of terrors. Only the Lord of Light can save the world.
"Anyway, as the Pope of the Seven, I am willing to represent the Seven and call R'hllor the 'strongest God-King in the universe.'"
The Dragon Queen's gaze was clear, her expression earnest, as though she were declaring a universally acknowledged truth.
"The greatest God of War in the Seven Kingdoms, plus the world's number one God of Magic, backed by the universe's number one God-King. That kind of lineup is terrifying," Lord Eel said, holding a greasy pig's trotter, his face full of shock.
After leaving the storeroom and returning to the main keep's dining hall, the nobles had barely taken their seats on either side of the long wooden table when the King in the North announced the plan for the "Three Gods' decisive battle beneath Winterfell."
The God of War, the God of Magic, and the God-King were collectively known as the "Three Gods of the Sun."
Jon swept his gaze over the skeptical nobles and knights seated below him and declared loudly, "The Others are not to be feared. As early as six thousand years ago, the Lord of Light R'hllor left behind the world-famous Asshai prophecy in the Far East. The ending of the Night King and the Long Night has already been decided. It will be brought to an end by the reincarnation of Azor Ahai.
"His Majesty Stannis Baratheon is the prophesied son chosen by the Red God. He wields the hero's red sword and has the support of the world's number one God of Magic and God-King. He will surely end the Night King's life.
"So everyone must have confidence in the coming Battle of Winterfell. With the dragonglass weapons provided by the Dragon Queen, we can deal with the wights. With the Dragon Queen and her dragons here, the Others are not a problem either.
"And then, the Night King will be left to the savior, His Majesty Stannis."
He raised his horn cup high and shouted, "Long live the God of War. Victory is within reach!"
"Victory, victory!" The Dragon Queen also raised her goblet and echoed loudly, "Long live the God-King, long live the God of Magic, long live the God of War. The Three Gods of the Sun will surely defeat the Night King!"
Seeing the Dragon Queen praise the prophesied savior so highly, the status of the "Three Gods of the Sun" instantly became real and exalted in everyone's hearts.
"Long live the God-King, long live the God of Magic, long live the God of War of the Seven Kingdoms!" The nobles, seeing hope of victory, raised their cups and shouted excitedly.
After chanting slogans for a while, everyone else grew dizzy and fell into an inexplicable, uncontrollable fervor. Only Lady Barbrey, her hair tied back in a widow's knot, remained clear-eyed, her expression thoughtful.
When the crowd finally calmed down a little, she looked at the Dragon Queen and said, "Is Stannis willing? I have heard that he has secured unlimited loans from the Iron Bank, commands dozens of wyverns, and has even taken the Bloody Gate. Before long, the entire Vale will fall under his control. Does he really need to come to Winterfell and risk his life fighting the Night King?"
At her words, the excited nobles sobered up as well and turned their gazes toward the Dragon Queen.
Dany replied seriously, "I met Stannis at the Wall. The proposal to fight the Night King decisively was his idea.
"He needs dragons to cover him and to create an opportunity for a one-on-one duel with the Night King. I agreed.
"We even agreed that once the main force of the Others is located, we will immediately launch the final battle, to prevent the Seven Kingdoms from suffering further devastation."
"That heretic, what is he trying to do?" Barbrey found it hard to understand.
"It's very simple. He wants to end the Long Night."
"But…" Barbrey hesitated for a moment, then spoke frankly. "Your Grace, please don't blame me for speaking bluntly.
"Stannis controls the Vale and could easily sit back and watch events unfold. In the end, he is still competing with you and the Lannisters for the Iron Throne.
"Why would he be willing to stick his neck out and take such a risk?"
"That's a very strange thing for you to say," Dany replied, her expression turning peculiar.
(End of chapter)
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