The Stark family had come to King's Landing, and Robert had spent a fortune to welcome them, but now the House Stark had to sneak out, disguised for their journey.
Roman rode at the front of the procession, Fili sent out ravens to scout, while the soldiers of Harrenhal surrounded them on both sides.
Their exit was the Dragon Gate, which happened to be the duty post for the Gold Cloaks who were on their side today.
The group turned left and right, quickly passing through the crowded streets until they reached the city gate.
Roman was not worried about the Gold Cloaks stopping them; there were only a few thousand City Guard in all of King's Landing, and they were the kind who lacked food and clothing.
Their superiors were openly corrupt, so the soldiers below had no desire to work; patrolling occasionally was enough to satisfy the iron throne.
Especially upon seeing Roman, the Gold Cloaks dared not stop the House Stark even more; they didn't think they were stronger than the Mountain or Jaime.
Thus, Roman successfully exited the city gate. The surrounding Gold Cloaks glanced at Roman and hurriedly let him pass, not even waiting to hear his excuse.
Sansa and Arya were in their usual argument, Jeyne and Septa Mordane were trying to persuade them on the side, and the rest of the House Stark Attendants were busy with their own tasks, everyone acting as relaxed as if they were on a spring outing.
But Syrio, Roman, and Fili were on edge, not daring to relax for a moment.
What they feared happened; the Lannister cavalry finally found them.
"Lord Roman, the Queen requests your presence at The Red Keep," the leading knight said.
"But I am currently leading my Attendants out of the city on business, so I am afraid I cannot accept the invitation. Please convey my apologies to the Queen."
Knight: "Does your party of Attendants include Prince Joffrey's fiancée?"
The Lannister knight pointed at the Stark group. Roman made a gesture behind his back, and the soldiers of Harrenhal quickly formed a line to guard the family members, while the Harrenhal cavalry formed three rows facing the Lannister men.
These actions were swift and precise. Seeing the stance, the opponent's face turned dark; Roman was ready to fight to the death.
"Sorry, Ser, Lady Sansa is also interested in our outing. To her, it is just an excursion. I will not let Lady Sansa be harmed, so please let us pass."
"No! This is the Queen's order!"
Seeing that the Lannister men were unmoved, Roman was assessing the risks. At this moment, Fili rode up beside him and whispered:
"Lord Roman! There are Lannister troops coming from behind, they will be at the Dragon Gate soon!"
Now there was no need to think. Roman turned to look at the first sword of Braavos: "Mr. Syrio, please protect Lady Sansa and Lady Arya."
Then Roman took out his warhammer, and the soldiers of Harrenhal also drew their weapons.
"Charge!!"
The cavalry in front drew their lances and charged with Roman, while the cavalry on the flanks pressed forward and harassed with bows and arrows.
The Lannister men did not expect the Harrenhal soldiers to react so quickly and scrambled to prepare for battle.
But Roman had already reached them, and the first to suffer was the knight.
With one swing of his hammer, Roman smashed the man and his horse to the ground. The rest of the cavalry were first shot by horse archers, then stabbed off their horses by the front-line Harrenhal cavalry, and died in the subsequent mopping up by the infantry.
Syrio watched the tacit cooperation of the Harrenhal cavalry and couldn't help but sigh, putting away his sword.
"It seems the cavalry of Westeros is still superior on the front battlefield," Syrio remarked.
During this, Roman swung his great hammer left and right, charging the enemy troops repeatedly, directly breaking the morale of the Lannister cavalry.
Quickly finishing all this, Roman hurried back to count the losses.
"Report, Lord Roman, we only have light injuries that will not hinder subsequent operations, and the rear personnel are well protected!"
Roman nodded and said to Syrio: "Next, I will go back to block the gate. The safety of the Starks is up to you!"
Syrio nodded, telling Roman to go ahead without worry.
"Death cannot come today, rest assured, Lord Roman."
Roman looked again at the Stark group, who were scared out of their wits, and stepped forward to find Sansa.
At this moment, Sansa still looked terrified, watching the blood in front of her, her body trembling constantly. Roman gripped Sansa's shoulders:
"Lady Sansa, this is why I wanted you to leave. The Lannisters want to harm you. You are the eldest member of House Stark here; you must steady everyone so we can leave safely."
But Sansa did not have such composure; she subconsciously wanted to escape, turning her face away, not daring to look at Roman.
Arya, watching from the side, couldn't stand it anymore. She stood directly on the carriage and shouted to the people of Winterfell:
"Lord Roman has cleared the obstacles for us. Now is the time to set off. Do not let down my father and the Hean Family!"
The people of Winterfell were then organized and collectively headed to the Kings Road.
Roman: "Fili, you follow the main force and provide them with intelligence. We will contact via ravens."
The young girl looked at Roman with worry: "My lord, be careful!"
Roman nodded and shouted back: "Cavalry with shields, follow me!"
By the time the Lannister pursuers arrived at the Dragon Gate, Roman and his men had already dismounted and blocked the gate tunnel, setting up a spear formation waiting for them.
The Lannister soldiers looked at the surrounding Gold Cloaks and loudly demanded to know why they weren't arresting Roman instead of just watching.
The Gold Cloaks touched the gold dragons in their pockets and looked at the Lannister soldiers like they were idiots.
When Roman arrived, he gave them two choices.
First, pretend they saw nothing and not interfere with what happened next. Roman paid them one gold dragon first and told them there was another one later.
Second, Roman would beat them up first, and whether they lived or died would depend on their luck.
Anyone would know what to choose, so now the Dragon Gate presented an absurd scene of Lannister vs. Riveran, with civilians and Gold Cloaks watching the show.
Roman didn't bother with nonsense. He ordered the military formation to press forward while shooting arrows at the enemy, while he stood behind the shield wall looking for an opportunity.
This time, the Lannister soldiers were no pushovers; they also quickly formed up and pressed toward the Harrenhal soldiers.
The two armies gradually approached. There was no such thing as a sneak attack in the gate tunnel; they could only fight head-on. But both armies had shield bearers in front, so neither side's spears could break the defense for a while, and they soon became entangled.
At this point, a vacuum formed between the two armies. It could not be locked by spears or crossbows, becoming an excellent position for heavy infantry to perform.
The Lannister soldiers rushed out of the formation, intending to use heavy weapons to clear the way.
Then they saw Roman rush out too.
Roman's great hammer ignited with White Flame and was imbued with thunder, smashing straight toward the Lannister soldiers.
With a loud bang, a mass of flesh and steel emitting a charred stench crashed into the Lannister sword and shield soldiers and flew into the formation.
The Lannister soldiers looked down in horror; it was a charred corpse, with eyeballs bulging and bursting, the body like charcoal, and the armor worn already twisted and broken.
Roman stepped forward, hammering away all enemies along the way, then came to the front of the Lannister shield wall and broke the formation with one hammer blow.
The fire and thunder conducted directly to the rear, blasting a gap. Roman rushed in and slaughtered the Lannister soldiers like chickens and dogs.
The others immediately followed, tearing open the Lannister defense in an instant. Some enemy soldiers in the back saw Roman slaughtering their companions in front of them and were terrified, fleeing directly.
The Lannister soldiers were routed, then divided, surrounded, and annihilated.
"Do not pursue too deeply! Let's mount up and go!"
Roman scolded the Harrenhal soldiers to retreat, then took out another bag containing gold dragons and shouted to the Gold Cloaks:
"Come down and get your money!"
By the time the Gold Cloaks came to their senses, Roman had already left with his troops.
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