Chapter 290: Burned Alive!

However, at this moment...

A wildling captive next to Mance Rayder misspoke during questioning, revealing Mance's true identity to the sharp-minded Stannis.

Stannis then confirmed that the seemingly humble man, who had begged for mercy and offered to lead the regular army to exterminate the wildlings, was indeed Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall.

Stannis didn't give Mance any more chances to argue. He led the remaining dozen soldiers, escorting the King-Beyond-the-Wall to Winterfell to meet his elder brother.

...

Stannis's return to Winterfell naturally caused a sensation.

His elder brother Robert personally went out of the city to welcome him, tearfully embracing him. Although the two brothers often quarreled, they were, after all, brothers born of the same parents.

Even Stannis, as hard and unyielding as a stone in a toilet, had slightly reddened eyes.

Everyone in Winterfell had thought Stannis was dead.

Then, Stannis brought out Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, and revealed his identity to everyone.

At first, Eddard Stark and his elder brother Robert couldn't believe that the man before them was the King-Beyond-the-Wall.

However, after repeated confirmations, they finally confirmed his identity.

Mance Rayder was once a wildling orphan raised by the Night's Watch, serving in the Night's Watch for many years.

He then deserted the Night's Watch and returned to the wildlings, eventually uniting all the wildlings, quelling their disputes, and being elected as the King-Beyond-the-Wall.

Therefore, some old soldiers in the Night's Watch could recognize him, such as Maester Aemon, the living fossil of the Night's Watch.

The old maester wasn't killed when the Wall collapsed. His prestige in the Night's Watch was high, so many soldiers desperately protected him.

He was eventually escorted to Winterfell, as was Jeor Mormont, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

When Robert finally confirmed that the man was indeed the legendary King-Beyond-the-Wall, he was overjoyed.

The current chaos in the North was all because of this man. If it weren't for him blowing the Horn of Winter, the Wall wouldn't have collapsed, and the wildlings wouldn't have flooded into the North.

However, at this time, including Robert, Eddard Stark, Stannis, Yohn Royce of the Vale, and other self-proclaimed righteous people all selectively forgot that the wildlings had repeatedly initiated negotiations.

The wildlings had repeatedly lowered their conditions and their stance, begging the king of the Seven Kingdoms to open the gates and let the wildlings come behind the Wall to escape the pursuit of the White Walkers.

However, they were all arrogantly rejected by Robert.

Robert didn't believe that the wildlings had weapons that could destroy the Wall, so he dismissed the words of the wildling envoys as nonsense.

This led to the current situation.

The wildlings, out of desperation, blew the Horn of Winter to collapse the Wall for survival.

Then they fled into the North, causing destruction everywhere. They believed that all of this was the result of the arrogance of the people behind the Wall, so they wanted to retaliate many times over.

And now, the real King-Beyond-the-Wall was brought to Winterfell, bound hand and foot.

Robert was naturally overjoyed to see the captured King-Beyond-the-Wall, and then immediately demanded Mance Rayder to order all the wildlings to surrender, or he would burn him alive.

Robert was now enraged by the wildlings. He had

never been so humiliated in all his years as king, and his character had drastically changed from the young man with black hair he once was.

Eddard Stark wanted to dissuade Robert. He believed that the King-Beyond-the-Wall was, after all, a dignified figure, and no one should be subjected to cruel torture as a form of punishment.

The King-Beyond-the-Wall could be sentenced to death by hanging or beheading, but burning him alive would undoubtedly replicate the actions of the Mad King, Aerys II.

However, at this moment, Mance Rayder, who had been silent since his identity was revealed, suddenly began to mock Robert.

He ridiculed that they would all die at the hands of the White Walkers, and the Iron Throne would eventually be taken by a Targaryen king from across the Narrow Sea.

Mance Rayder, although he had always lived beyond the Wall, surprisingly had a deep understanding of the situation in the Seven Kingdoms.

And Mance Rayder told Robert that he would not order the wildlings to surrender.

Because he had told all the wildlings long ago that he was not any 'King-Beyond-the-Wall,' nor did he want to be a king. He had just united everyone to face the difficulties together.

"They are free folk!"

"No one can make them kneel!"

Mance Rayder even spat in Robert's face, his expression begging for death.

And Robert was indeed enraged by Mance Rayder's attitude, immediately wanting to burn him alive.

Eddard Stark and Stannis both realized that Mance Rayder was trying to provoke Robert to seek a quick death.

So they hurriedly tried to stop the king, but it was impossible.

Enraged, Robert immediately ordered his soldiers to build a pyre, filled with dry hay at the bottom, and then tied Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, to the stake.

Holding a burning torch in his hand, he asked one last time if Mance was willing to surrender.

However, he was still met with Mance Rayder's mockery.

In the end, Robert, in his anger, threw the torch into the hay, and a large fire ignited instantly.

Mance Rayder initially remained calm in the flames, his eyes, as if ready to devour people, glaring at everyone around him. For his people, he was willing to face death calmly.

Because Mance Rayder knew very well that once he fell into the hands of the king of the Seven Kingdoms, they would definitely use him to deceive other free folk into laying down their weapons or to divide and conquer.

He didn't want more free folk to die because of him, so Mance Rayder deliberately tried to provoke Robert to seek a quick death.

His plan worked.

Robert Baratheon was indeed a hot-tempered man. He hated the King-Beyond-the-Wall to the core, and giving him a chance to live was already a great favor.

After being rudely rejected, he immediately ordered him to be burned alive.

However, Mance Rayder underestimated the pain of being burned alive. At first, the wildling man maintained his composure, even glaring angrily.

But when the flames reached his skin, the water in his body evaporated quickly, his skin slowly shriveled and turned yellow, and his flesh was exposed.

His face changed.

Mance Rayder's facial expression gradually twisted, and a painful groan squeezed out from between his teeth.

Eventually, this pain magnified, making him unable to bear it any longer, and he let out a piercing scream.

His entire body was engulfed in flames, his mouth wide open, flames spewing from his eyes and mouth, and his twisted, agonized screams echoed over Winterfell.

The three Stark children stood in the castle's second-floor corridor, watching the raging fire below.

Robb Stark's face was stern and serious, Jon Snow showed a look of distress.

And the red-haired Sansa was outright terrified, bursting into tears. She had never seen such a horrifying sight.

Their father, usually fair and just, stood behind Uncle Robert, watching a man being burned alive without uttering a word.