Chapter 138: The Fallen Star

The red comet that had fallen from the sky last night was not too far from the battlefield of Gormon Dohaeris, nor was it far from the encampment of the Andalos Legion.

As a result, it seemed as if it had crashed right overhead, and the terrifying aftershock of the comet's fall had affected the legion.

Although the impact was not severe, only a few unlucky soldiers were injured, and one was seriously wounded. The vast majority of the soldiers, like Viserys, remained unharmed, but they were left covered in dust and dirt, looking quite disheveled.

Afterward.

It took half a day of travel for the Andalos Legion to cross the fork where the Upper Rhoyne River and the Little Rhoyne River met. They arrived on the plains east of the Upper Rhoyne River, where they could faintly see the rolling mountains in the distance.

That was one of the few massive mountain ranges in the continent of Essos, known as the Norvos Mountains. The city-state of Norvos, one of the Nine Free Cities, was hidden within these vast, seemingly endless mountains. Winding roads traversed through the mountains, leading to the fog-shrouded distance.

Due to its unique terrain, the region was notorious for bandits, outlaws, and various brotherhoods. The surrounding city-states had repeatedly sent armies to suppress them, but without success. Instead, the bandits had banded together, using the terrain to their advantage, and sent the city-states' armies fleeing in disgrace.

And now.

Although still far away, Viserys, surrounded by the legion's soldiers, could already see where the red comet had fallen the night before.

"It's right there..."

Others around him noticed as well, the sight unmissable. Thick smoke billowed into the sky, engulfing the heavens and filling the air with the acrid smell of charred wood.

cough cough

As the legion soldiers approached the area, they couldn't help but cover their mouths and noses, succumbing to violent coughing fits.

After defeating the Dothraki the day before, they had set a massive fire, and although they were not severely affected by the flames, the choking smoke brought tears to their eyes and snot to their noses. They hadn't expected to endure such torment after leaving the battlefield of Gormon Dohaeris and coming here.

Last night.

The red comet transformed into a colossal fireball, piercing through the atmosphere and ultimately crashing into the Norvos Mountains. The impact quickly ignited a raging wildfire.

The mountains were dense with forests and overgrown with weeds, and the strong winds provided the perfect conditions for the flames to spread. The birth of such a calamity was almost impossible to halt with human effort alone. They could only pray for the gods' mercy to bring rain and quench the inferno.

Although they had seen the billowing smoke from a distance, by the time the Andalos Legion arrived at the foot of the Norvos Mountains, it was already dusk.

At dusk, the wind direction changed slightly, blowing toward the northwest, giving the soldiers, who had been suffocating, a brief respite.

They also had the chance to approach closer, witnessing firsthand the terrifying wildfire that swept through the entire mountain. The fire illuminated the sky, making it difficult to distinguish between day and night.

At the same time, the flames continued to spread to nearby mountains, creating an unstoppable situation.

"It's horrifying."

Gazing upon this terrifying scene, everyone felt their throats go dry, swallowing hard.

Such a catastrophe was not something that could be changed by human effort alone. .

"Merciful Mother, I pray for you to send your holy waters to extinguish this wildfire."

In the Andalos army, some soldiers quietly began to make prayer gestures, eventually touching their foreheads with their fingertips, praying in silence.

At the same time, the Rhoynar soldiers were also praying to the spirits of the mountains, rivers, and other natural forces to stop this disaster.

Viserys observed all of this but said nothing, for when he chose to wield religion as a double-edged sword, he knew it would bind him tightly.

However, at the moment, the benefits still outweighed the risks. Viserys' heart was like a clear mirror, fully aware of what he was doing and how to make choices.

But he did not want to sever ties with religion just yet.

Now, the most pressing issue for Andalos was the matter of national unity. How could he, like the Seven Kingdoms, fully integrate the Andals, Rhoynar, and other peoples together?

...

When the Andalos army arrived at the foot of the Norvos mountains, they discovered that a merchant caravan had already arrived before them.

Seeing the endless army approaching from the end of the road, everyone in the caravan seemed very nervous.

The caravan leader's face was pale, and the guards with a strong smell of blood on them tensely drew their swords.

However, the caravan leader quickly scolded them, as confronting a regular army head-on was a suicidal act.

But they traveled this trade route from Pentos to Norvos regularly and wondered which army this could be and why they had suddenly appeared here.

Norvos? Or Pentos' army?

The Norvoshi army consisted of bearded monks wielding battle axes and "marrying" their long-handled axes through religious ceremonies.

This army was clearly not made up of bearded monks.

As for Pentos... their army was only barely enough to maintain the city's defenses, let alone send out such a large force.

"Damn!"

"They must be after R'hllor's gift too!"

The caravan leader was a burly man with a fierce gaze and a long knife at his waist.

As soon as his words fell, the caravan erupted in commotion.

"No way!"

"This is the gift given to us by the Lord of Light!"

"Let's run away!"

"Run?"

"It's too late to run now."

As they argued, two cavalry units had already emerged from the sides of the army ahead, having noticed them and closing in.

There was no escape, unless they fled up the mountain and into the inferno.

Everyone in the caravan was a fanatical follower of the Lord of Light, R'hllor. They had seen the red comet last night and believed it was the "sword that slashes the long night," a gift from the Lord of Light.

Among the followers of R'hllor, there was a prophecy almost everyone knew: the long night would come, and a hero would pull a flaming sword from the fire, the "Lightbringer."

This prophecy had been passed down for an unknown amount of time, but the long night had not yet come, and there were countless "Lightbringers."

Performing the flaming sword trick was not difficult.

However, this time, the caravan leader took it very seriously.