Chapter 172: The Sword of the Chosen King

Azor Ahai was a legendary hero.

According to the legends of Asshai and the followers of R'hllor, he possessed a burning sword—the Lightbringer.

In fact, the figure of a hero who ended the Long Night was depicted in various cultures, but the name of this hero varied.

In this world, the planet revolves completely differently from Earth, and summers and winters often last for years.

After the arrival of winter, the Seven Kingdoms must face the invasion of dark creatures called Others also known as White Walkers from the north.

The Others are tall and withered, pale-skinned, with eyes as blue as ice.

Their reflective armor changes color as they move, and their weapons are longswords made of extremely cold ice crystals, capable of instantly freezing and shattering anything they touch.

They hate the living, cruelly killing any living thing they encounter, and can turn the dead into wights, animated corpses.

Legend has it that 8,000 years ago, during a long winter lasting for a generation known as the Long Night, the Others first descended upon the world, causing great chaos and war on the continent of Westeros.

They almost wiped out all the population of Westeros.

Finally, led by Azor Ahai wielding the Lightbringer, the First Men and the Children of the Forest joined forces to defeat the Others and drive them back to the Lands of Always Winter in the Battle for the Dawn.

And Brandon the Builder built the Wall to prevent them from invading again. The Night's Watch, responsible for guarding the Wall, was established at that time.

After that, there were prophecies in the ancient books of Asshai: after the Long Summer, when the stars bleed, Azor Ahai will be reborn in the smoking sea and awaken the dragon within the stone.

Now, the legend is unfolding before people's eyes.

Since then, knights, nobles, and adventurers have come here continuously, believing themselves to be the reincarnation of Azor Ahai, wanting to try to draw out this sword to gain power and status, but no one has succeeded, and all attempts have ended in tragedy.

However, the allure of power is irresistible, and more and more people come here to attempt to draw the sword, including prominent nobles or leaders of mercenary groups, who sometimes come into conflict with each other, causing chaos near the sword.

Soon, the Lady of Pentos, Lady Daenerys, responded. She sent cavalry to surround the area, not allowing anyone trying to draw the sword to enter, only permitting scholars to come and visit.

But unexpectedly, she did not claim the sword for herself—although she had every right to do so, as the sword appeared in the outskirts of Pentos.

Instead, she announced that a sword-drawing ceremony would be held in a month, inviting all knights and nobles who believed they were qualified to draw the sword to participate, and attempting to draw the sword in front of everyone's witnesses.

She even declared that the appearance of this sword was a sign from the Dragon God, and anyone who could draw the sword was recognized by the Dragon God as the savior, and she would give up all her positions to assist this savior in fulfilling the mission bestowed upon him by the Dragon God.

This declaration was seen as a marriage proposal by all ambitious individuals.

In their eyes, Daenerys, this young girl who survived the attack of the dragons only by chance at the wedding of Drogo, was mistakenly regarded as the representative of some Dragon God by the ignorant Dothraki, then fortunately gained Pentos, which was also attacked by dragons.

But a young girl after all, simply did not have the ability to govern a region, so she had to find a husband she could trust and entrust all her hopes for restoration to that person.

After all, a young girl always relies on a man.

But indeed, this was a good opportunity, a chance for wealth and power, an opportunity to rise in one step.

If anyone could draw this sword by chance, he would not only have the name of Azor Ahai reincarnation, but also immediately gain control of a city, a Dothraki army, and the legal authority over the Seven Kingdoms.

In this case, ambitious individuals from the entire Free Cities responded to Daenerys's call, gathering in Pentos to prepare for the ceremony a month later.

In fact, there were quite a few who came upon hearing the news, with several mercenary groups alone, including the Second Sons led by Mero, the Windblown led by the Prince of Pentos.

And the Stormcrows led by three captains Prendahl na Ghezn, Sallor the Bald and Daario Naharis and the Golden Company led by Harry Strickland, and so on, as well as some Magisters and nobles from Westeros.

In the month before the sword-drawing ceremony, Pentos experienced unprecedented prosperity, with a large influx of people bringing in considerable consumption, and Pentos's new products: glassware and porcelain, began their formal promotion during this time.

These ambitious individuals from all corners of the world were mostly well-traveled and had broad social connections, but they had never seen such exquisite and beautiful luxury items as glass and porcelain.

So Pentos's merchants made a fortune, but more importantly, glass and porcelain were promoted through the arrival of these mercenaries and nobles.

When they left Pentos, the new luxury items from Pentos would sweep through the entire Free Cities with them.

In addition to the individuals who tried to draw the Lightbringer and inherit the name of Azor Ahai, as well as the scholars who hoped to study the history of 8000 years ago through this sword and stone.

The Lightbringer also attracted another group of people—the priests of various factions.

"Azor Ahai."

As a legendary hero, prophecies about him exist widely in various factions of this world, but the most revered are the prophecies in the books of Asshai.

Now that the Lightbringer has appeared, how could they not be attracted to come?

At the very least, they would come here to confirm the authenticity of the Lightbringer.

And the R'hllor priest who came here this time was a woman named Melisandre.

Melisandre was a beauty, with a heart-shaped face, red eyes, copper-red hair, and a body radiating heat.

Melisandre did not need to eat like ordinary people; she could satisfy her energy needs solely by the Lord of Light.

She claimed to have spent "countless" years to enhance her abilities, so she was likely much older than she appeared.

In the original book, after the death of King Robert in the Seven Kingdoms, Melisandre convinced his brother Stannis Baratheon to burn down all the statues of the Seven Gods in his territory and Dragonstone.

Then she claimed that Stannis was the reincarnation of Azor Ahai, let him draw a sword from the fire, and claimed that the sword was the legendary Lightbringer.

In fact, Alaric was playing the same trick as her .

But Alaric was much more clever than her. Melisandre's ability could only create a glowing sword, but this sword could not produce any flames.

However, Alaric was different.

The sword he created truly had golden flames, which were dazzling and could burn everything, even the legendary Lightbringer could not be stronger than it.

What's more clever is that Alaric didn't need to stage a sword-drawing drama himself.

With his extremely high level of magic, he could let everyone willing to draw the sword participate, only in this way could the designated sword-drawer gain the greatest reputation and be recognized by everyone.

Of course, Alaric had another purpose, that was the entire faith of R'hllor.

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