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Facing that heavily armored warrior whose name echoed across all Seven Kingdoms, Robb naturally focused every bit of attention he could muster.
The instant the Mountain moved to bring the blow down, Robb had already shifted his body to the right, twisting aside to evade the gigantic sword.
The two-handed blade in the Mountain's right hand crashed heavily into the stone paving of the street, opening a small hole in the ground and sending chips of stone flying in all directions.
Having avoided the strike, and still leaning sideways, Robb used the motion to slip in along the Mountain's left side and brought his own sword down in a heavy slash, striking the armor on his left leg with a metallic clang.
That blow failed to cut through the armor, but with the strength Robb now possessed, the impact alone was enough to buckle the Mountain's left leg, making his knee bend visibly, nearly sending him sprawling.
The Mountain's combat experience was extraordinary. At the exact moment his leg was struck, he hurled his left arm outward with force.
The heavy oak shield slammed directly into Robb's chest, and the brutal impact sent him flying.
Crash!
Robb was thrown into a stall covered by an awning at the edge of the street. His weight, together with the force of the blow, made the whole structure collapse at once, scattering leather goods in every direction.
Though he had nearly been forced to the ground by the strike to the leg, the Mountain, with his monstrously durable body, did not let the chance slip away. Ignoring the pain in his left foot, he charged forward again, pursuing Robb beneath the wreckage of the stall.
Lifting the two-handed sword, he brought down another savage blow onto the remains of the structure.
The stall, already ruined by Robb's impact, was cut cleanly in two.
But beneath the two halves, there was no sign of Robb.
A fur cloak was suddenly flung out from the left side of the split stall, blocking the Mountain's view.
Riiip!
The Mountain's sword, still in motion after destroying the stall, swept violently upward. The cloak was sliced in two in midair.
But using that instant of distraction, Robb, blood running from the corner of his mouth, charged in again, stepped into the Mountain's reach, and struck once more at his left leg.
Another sharp metallic clang rang out. The sword could not pierce the armor, but the force of Robb's blow was enough to buckle the leg a second time.
This time, the Mountain's knee crashed against the ground, leaving him kneeling on one leg.
Having learned from the last exchange, Robb barely finished the strike before rolling forward toward the crossroads, escaping the oak shield the Mountain tried to smash down on top of him.
"AAAH!!!"
Kneeling on one leg, the Mountain seemed enraged by that position. Suddenly, he threw back his head and let out a roar.
In the next instant, as though exploding with rage, he surged back to his feet and launched himself at Robb in a chaotic series of heavy blows, every one of them packed with brutal force.
Robb rolled and dodged along the ground in a thoroughly ungraceful scramble, but seeing that the Mountain really was as easy to provoke as he had imagined, he felt far more satisfaction than fear.
Because he had deliberately adjusted their position during the fight, Robb was at that moment facing the Mountain with his back to the Lannister soldiers at the crossroads.
The two of them battled in pursuit through the street, the Mountain hacking stalls and awnings apart with every swing of his sword. An ordinary man would scarcely have been able to swing such a blade a few times before his arms gave out, yet the Mountain showed not the slightest sign of fatigue.
Under Robb's deliberate guidance, the fight had already reached the crossroads. The Lannister soldiers nearby, afraid of being cut in half by one of the Mountain's wild swings, began retreating to either side.
After unleashing a string of savage blows, and already breathing heavily, the Mountain suddenly cut the leather straps fastening the shield to his left arm.
Then he hurled the oak shield at Robb and, in the same motion, rushed forward in great strides.
Robb barely dodged the shield, letting it crash into the ground behind him.
Without the shield, the Mountain's speed increased noticeably, and in the next instant he was already directly in front of Robb again.
His right arm, thick as a tree trunk, raised the two-handed sword and brought it straight down at Robb's head.
This time there was no dodging it. Robb could only raise his own sword with both hands to block.
The two blades met with a sharp clang.
Ever since his strength had grown so much, Robb had become used to crushing others through brute force.
That was the first time in a long while he had truly felt what it meant to be at a physical disadvantage.
The impact left both his arms numb and aching. He nearly lost his grip on the sword.
Under the crushing weight of the Mountain's strength, Robb's own blade was driven lower and lower toward his head, until in the end he had to drop to his left knee just to keep the blow from crushing down on him.
Each of them had now been forced to kneel once. The Mountain clearly felt he had reclaimed his honor in that instant.
But though the two-handed sword had been held back, the Mountain's free left hand came next, clenched into a fist, throwing a straight punch at Robb's head.
From the corner of his eye, Robb saw the attack coming. Exhausting the last of his strength, he shoved the sword upward and, at the same time, threw his own body forward.
The Mountain's sword sank into the ground. The punch also passed overhead, because the Mountain's enormous frame gave him just enough room to roll clear along the ground.
The Mountain's sword was six feet long. Its reach was immense, but at that moment, recovering it quickly enough to strike again was far from simple.
Robb tumbled forward in front of the Mountain, rolled across the ground, and rose into a half-crouch. In the same instant, he twisted his body and drove a straight thrust into the back of the Mountain's left knee.
Unlike the previous blows, this was a piercing strike. And the protection behind the knee, made of hardened leather, was far inferior to the rest of the armor.
The sword still met resistance and did not sink in deeply, but in the end, it made that monster called the Mountain bleed.
The left leg, already battered by two crushing impacts and now punctured as well, could no longer support the Mountain's gigantic body.
The two-handed sword slipped from his right hand, and he ended up on both knees, with his hands braced on the ground before him.
"KILL HIM!"
At that moment, the Mountain no longer cared in the slightest about what he had said before. Kneeling there, he started swinging his fists at Robb and roared the command.
A Lannister soldier stood on either side of the crossroads. Hearing the order, they immediately charged at Robb with their swords raised.
Robb yanked the sword free from the back of the Mountain's knee and rose to his feet.
He had barely stepped back once to evade the fists still coming toward him when the soldier on the right closed the distance.
Robb used the sword in his right hand to block the man's thrust and, in the same motion, twisted his body and drove a punch with his left hand straight into the man's unprotected face.
Rip!
The Lannister soldier dropped to the ground, his face drenched in blood.
But the man on the left seized the opening and slashed Robb across the back, opening a long line of blood.
At that moment, with his arms still numb and nearly all the strength in his body spent, Robb simply had no way to deal with both men at the same time.
He raised the sword in his right hand and drove it violently into the head of the soldier on the right, who was still on the ground.
Blood began to seep out beneath the body, and with it, a small wisp of red mist rose and entered Robb's body.
With that tiny amount of mist, a little energy returned to him.
His condition improved slightly, and the soldier on the left no longer had the slightest chance against him.
Robb turned and killed him in only two sword strokes.
Because he had been steering the fight toward the entrance to the Street of Steel the whole time, there were no longer any Lannister soldiers immediately behind him at that moment.
The others were still coming at him with swords drawn.
Naturally, Robb did not stand there waiting like a fool. Nor did he have time to try to break open the Mountain's monstrous armor.
He turned at once and ran straight ahead, toward the Street of Steel.
"GET HIM! IF YOU DON'T CATCH HIM, EVERY ONE OF YOU DIES!"
Watching Robb escape right before his eyes, the Mountain roared in fury at the Lannister soldiers rushing after him.
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