Compared to the jousting, the group melee was the ultimate test of a knight's overall combat prowess, as they had to fight continuously in a chaotic brawl to maintain their victory.
They might have to defeat not just one opponent, but sometimes three or four.
As the drums beat rapidly, the contestants entered.
Compared to the first event, the second had more than half the number of participants.
Thoros of Myr was the first to appear, clad in a wide red robe that snapped in the wind.
He charged into the arena wielding a flaming sword, looking quite imposing.
The crowd gasped, their eyes fixed on him.
While the flaming sword was famous, it was rarely seen in real life.
The flaming sword was not just for show; its power was extraordinary.
In the very first exchange, it ignited a mercenary knight's cloak, forcing him to jump out of the tournament arena and roll in the mud to extinguish the flames.
The Knight of Flowers, Loras Tyrell, the center of attention, fought two opponents at once.
His sword attacks were swift and precise; he struck only when necessary, and each strike incapacitated his enemy.
First, he sliced off the bracer on Andar Royce's arm, then he knocked off Horsten Frey's helmet.
Both were defeated by him.
In truth, Loras Tyrell had wanted to spar with Robar Royce of the Royce family, but Robar Royce had been eliminated by the mysterious knight, rhllor, during the jousting.
Just then, Joffrey Baratheon defeated several people with overwhelming force.
Judging by the twin towers pattern, they appeared to be from House Frey.
After catching his breath for a moment, Joffrey stood tall again.
Wearing his stag-antlered helmet and the crowned stag armor of House Baratheon, he charged straight toward the Knight of Flowers, Loras Tyrell, who was still standing at the edge of the arena, deep in thought.
His footsteps were steady and powerful, and he swung his warhammer continuously.
The knights in his path scrambled to avoid him, clearing a way.
Who had ever seen such a spectacle?
If struck by that warhammer, who knew if they would vomit blood and die on the spot?
Seeing this, King Robert's sleepy eyes suddenly brightened.
He gripped his goblet tightly, watching his invincible son on the field without blinking.
On the surface, he remained calm, but inside, he was shouting excitedly: "Joffrey, my son. Go, let those who have forgotten why they serve recall the peerless might of House Baratheon!"
The Knight of Flowers, Loras Tyrell, had defeated two men in succession and was clearly running low on stamina.
Now, seeing his opponent charging straight at him like a fierce, raging bull, he was a bit bewildered.
He thought: "Wait, who are you, brother? What grudge or grievance do we have?"
For a moment, he even thought "The Mountain" had come back to ambush him.
Seeing his opponent charging, Loras Tyrell realized he had nowhere to hide and hurriedly raised his sword to defend, but he severely underestimated the opponent's immense strength and his own dwindling stamina.
He realized this the moment they clashed, but it was too late.
The menacing warhammer swung down heavily onto the sword he had raised in haste to block.
With a loud, dull thud, Loras Tyrell's sword was knocked from his hand and flew out of the arena.
The beautiful, elegant thorn-rose and vine patterns on his breastplate were smashed to pieces, scattering messily everywhere...
At this moment, many of the old knights who had lived through the Usurper's War stood up involuntarily, feeling as if a thunderclap had struck their hearts.
Distant memories surged in their minds; they suddenly recalled the figure on the Ruby Ford, wielding a warhammer, looking down upon the world.
Loras Tyrell felt as if he were flying; he watched helplessly as his body was smashed out of the arena.
A few seconds later, he landed heavily on the ground, kicking up dust everywhere.
He felt as if his body had fallen apart in pain, and the thousand words in his heart converged into one: "Damn!"
Joffrey, however, remained calm and indifferent on the surface, as if he had just done something trivial.
But inside, he was dancing with joy and shouting: "Awesome!"
After all, as the saying goes: "Strike while the iron is hot."
So you're the kid who's been hitting on my Sansa, huh!
Ah! This wave, this wave is the aggrieved party predicting the move and smashing the homewrecker.
Robert Baratheon, sitting in the main seat, was so excited he stood up and waved his arms, shouting: "Well done!"
The sound was so loud that The Queen of Thorns turned to look at him, and Robert exchanged a glance with her.
Afterward, Robert held his head high, tilted his chin, and sat down proudly.
Seeing this scene, which looked like a god descending to earth, the audience gasped.
Although it was a bit of a sneak attack, it was just too fierce.
By the Seven, had he beaten the soul right out of him?
Although the original work mentioned that the Knight of Flowers, Loras Tyrell, was a "sleeve-cutter" and had a knack for "sword swallowing," Joffrey was afraid that if this guy was bisexual like The Red Viper, Oberyn Martell, what then?
He had to take precautions and wake up his sleeping soul, giving him a lesson to remember.
Moreover, Joffrey's victory relied mainly on the surprise of the attack; in normal circumstances, he didn't think he could steadily defeat Loras Tyrell in a fair one-on-one fight.
Seeing this, Thoros in his red robe stopped his actions.
Because there were so many people, he hadn't noticed earlier that this mysterious knight's body actually contained the rich energy of the Lord of Light.
Involving rhllor, Thoros's eyes lit up immediately.
He remembered that this mysterious knight had registered under the name rhllor when the jousting began, so he hurriedly said to the mysterious knight: "The night is dark."
Seeing no response, Thoros blinked in confusion.
Seeming unwilling to give up, he shouted again: "The night is dark!"
But the other party remained unmoved.
The knights on the field were inexplicably annoyed by Thoros's constant probing; Ser Jason Mallister even felt like running him through with a sword.
They all thought: "You old fool, instead of properly competing, you're here preaching! Can you show us some respect? This is the place of the Seven! If it weren't for the progress of the times, in the past, we would have tied you up and burned you as a heretic."
Perhaps annoyed, Joffrey finally replied casually in the midst of his busy schedule: "And full of terrors."
Thoros suddenly laughed maniacally, raising his flaming sword high and shouting continuously: "The night is dark, and full of terrors. the red god is born, light returns! Hahaha!"
Amidst the confused gazes of the crowd, he swung his red robe and danced his way off the tournament stage.
Eddard Stark left his seat before the melee was over.
In his view, Joffrey possessed the same innate divine strength as Robert and had already won.
Those who had not witnessed this divine strength would never understand.
Now he needed to go to the place Old Jon had visited to investigate and see if there were any key clues.
Eddard Stark followed Jory Cassel, and the two set off together to check the brothel that Old Jon and Stannis often visited.
Eddard Stark always felt it was strange that Old Jon and Stannis came here; there must be something he hadn't discovered.
On the way, Eddard Stark was stopped by a thin child who waved at him, signaling him to follow.
Eddard Stark hesitated for a moment but followed the child's footsteps.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Eddard entered a dark, narrow room.
There was only a burning candle on the table in the room, emitting a faint light.
Sitting in a chair behind the table was a bald man in a wide robe, with his back to them.
The candlelight shone on his smooth, bald head and reflected throughout the room.
Eddard Stark, who had just entered the door, felt as if he had seen the radiance of the sun at this moment...
"Lord Varys, I wonder what the matter is that you specially led me here?"
Eddard Stark recognized him at a glance; this was the Master of Whisperers, Varys.
"Lord Stark, I have come to form an alliance with you."
Varys slowly turned his head, looking at Eddard Stark with a faint smile.
Eddard Stark was shocked by Varys's next sentence before he could react.
"It is fortunate that His Majesty the King did not participate in the group melee; the Lannisters were preparing to kill him in a way that would appear to be an accident."
"Since you knew about this, why didn't you notify the King earlier?"
"Lord Stark, please forgive me, for the life of a spider is fragile; it can be easily killed with a light step."
Varys's disk-like face looked somewhat sinister in the candlelight as he said: "Lord Stark, according to my observations, you are the only true friend of His Majesty the King. Only you are the one who truly cares for him."
Eddard Stark looked at Varys, suddenly remembering what Pycelle had told him that day: "Do not trust the spider."
But Eddard had not yet discovered the cause of death of the old Hand of the King, Jon Arryn.
He would not give up; even if there was only a sliver of possibility, he had to investigate to the end.
"Varys, do you know how the old Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, died?"
Eddard Stark asked after thinking about it, not knowing if he would get an answer.
"I was wondering when you would ask me that."
Varys straightened his posture and trimmed the candle wick, making the flame look brighter.
"Could it be that you..."
Eddard Stark's appetite was successfully whetted; he stared intently at Varys's eyes, hoping for an answer.
"Everyone thinks the old Hand of the King died of a sudden illness, but few can see: he died of a poison from across the Narrow Sea, known as Tears of Lys."
"Tears of Lys?"
"Yes, Tears of Lys is a very rare and expensive poison. It is colorless, odorless, acts quickly, and has symptoms similar to acute gastroenteritis. Even the best Grand Maester in Westeros would find it hard to detect; only experienced alchemists from across the Narrow Sea could notice it."
Listening to Varys's very certain words, Eddard Stark was silent for a long time.
He believed it, even though Grand Maester Pycelle had warned him not to trust Varys.
Because Varys spoke in such detail, without any flaws.
If Varys were deceiving him, with his scheming nature, it was unlikely he would fabricate such a detailed and verifiable lie.
"Lord Stark, I strongly suspect that the old Hand of the King's former squire, Hugh, colluded with House Lannister to poison him."
Eddard Stark nodded; he felt that what Varys said made a lot of sense.
Because just recently, that Hugh had been killed by The Mountain, Gregor Clegane, at the tournament, which undoubtedly made the Lannisters' suspicion even greater.
Eddard Stark felt it was very likely that House Lannister was killing to silence him.
Varys watched Eddard Stark, who was lost in thought, and did not speak.
Only when Eddard Stark came to his senses and looked at him did Varys speak at the appropriate moment.
"Lord Stark, enough said. If you wish to cooperate with me, come walk around this area again, and someone will contact you. I truly hope you can survive this political vortex; take care of yourself."
With that, Varys put on his hood and left with a flick of his sleeves.
"Varys, whose man are you, and whose side are you really on?"
Just as Varys reached the door, he was stopped by Eddard Stark.
Varys slowly turned his head; his purple eyes seemed to carry a hint of imperceptible compassion.
"Lord Stark, there is a kind of person: they spend their whole lives in the darkness of the bottom, yet their hearts are filled with light. They labor diligently their whole lives, yet they cannot obtain half of the fruits of their labor. They prop up the luxury of the upper class, yet they struggle to even feed themselves."
"Lord Stark, this kind of person is called the people. If you truly want an answer, I can tell you: I am a man of the people, and I will always stand on the side of the vast majority of the people. Peace is my hope, and stability is my expectation."
"Lord Stark, do not forget the Dance of the Dragons in the history of the Targaryen dynasty. Even the weakest of people, when they unite, can possess the mighty power to slay dragons..."