Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 244: Take heart
"Kevan Lannister is unwilling to surrender unconditionally?"

"Yes, sire. Perhaps he believes Casterly Rock to be an impregnable fortress."

Viserys said strangely, "I have read some 'unofficial history' in the Citadel. It is said that when Visenya Targaryen saw Casterly Rock, she could not help but thank the gods for letting King Loren lead his army to fight against her brother Aegon in the Battle of 'Raging Fire'. If the enemy retreated in the city, even the dragon flames would be helpless. He would not believe this, would he?"

"It is said that before our army arrived, Tywin had already dismissed a large number of Lannister family women and descendants, letting them flee into the mountains in the west. Perhaps only Kevan and some family warriors were left in Casterly Rock. He undoubtedly wanted to do something for the Lannister family. Casterly Rock is on top of a huge rock. It is a ring fortress with high towers, nearly two leagues long from east to west, with tunnels, dungeons, and cellars. There are hundreds of mines at the bottom of the city, and there is also a port in the city. There is a tunnel in the sea cave under the huge rock that leads directly to the cave dock in the belly of the mountain. If the enemy holds on, it may be a short time..."

"It's okay. I was thinking that maybe I'm too kind and the pressure I put on them is not enough. Maybe I should burn down a castle that is said to never fall, so that the lords of Westeros know that I am willing to give them a chance out of kindness, not because they have any ability to threaten me." Viserys waved his hand, then looked at Oberyn, frowning slightly. "I heard that you want to plate Tywin's head with gold, inlay it with gems, and make it into a wine cup for me?"

"Your Majesty, you gave Tywin's body to the Martell family. But you yourself said that being peaceful and kind alone will not make the princes grateful."

"." Viserys fell silent. War was undoubtedly brutal, and they had already wiped out the Lannisters. Viserys also knew that even if he did nothing, even if he asked the Lannisters to collect Tywin's body, the descendants of the Lannisters who escaped would still be ready to rebel in secret.

But to be honest, Viserys originally wanted to capture Tywin alive and hold a great trial to demonstrate the majesty of the law.

But now that things have come to this, perhaps doing things to the extreme is a move that is more in line with the interests of the ruling class.

Viserys stopped struggling and acquiesced, then added, "By the way, I have previously found a theater troupe to turn the evil deeds of Tywin, Kevan and other Lannisters against ordinary villagers into a play. They have already performed it on Dragonstone, and the effect seems to be quite good. This requires a special person to promote the drama to various cities, towns and even villages in our jurisdiction. Including here in the Westerly Territory, during the control period, someone will list the crimes committed by Tywin in various places, make them public, and carve them into stone with the law, and put them in front of the bank in Lannisport. Also, we have to change the name of this city, but there is no rush to change the name, we can wait for two years before we talk about it."

Viserys has thought clearly that this is the only way to deal with the enemy. Not only must he destroy his body, but he must also control his mouthpiece and destroy his spirit. Viserys has just occupied the Westerly, and this is a necessary measure. After a few decades, when the Westerly is settled, there will be someone to reverse the verdict on Tywin, and there will be no need to care.

And, to be honest, Tywin has done enough shady things that it would be easy to list a lot of crimes without slandering him.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Oberyn was relieved to see that the king was no longer entangled in the reputation of the Westerlands. He was afraid that the king would be merciful to the Westerlands because he was afraid that the Westerlands would be ruled by the Lannisters for so long. It would take at least two generations to change their mindset. Sometimes leaving a bad reputation is inevitable.

Having made up his mind, Viserys no longer hesitated. With a cold light flashing in his eyes, he said coldly: "Send someone to shoot my message to Casterly Rock: At sunset, Casterly Rock will no longer exist."

How could thick walls and tall towers possibly stop a giant dragon?
Perhaps Tywin knew this, so he chose to fight to the death in Lannisport, or perhaps he had other thoughts in mind and left his brother Kevan the possibility of conditional surrender?
But Viserys was only willing to give one chance for unconditional surrender, and Kevan was unwilling to do so.

Then the result can only be this, and Kevan may still hope for the kind measures that Viserys has always shown.

But when King Viserys's message was hurled into the castle on a siege ballista, all hope was lost.

At sunset, Viserys took off from outside Lannisport. The dragon circled twice over the city and then flew north to Casterly Rock.

Countless people looked towards the tall and majestic rock castle in the north. The castle had stood there, overlooking Lannisport as far as all the people of Lannisport could remember. Even their ancestors thousands of years ago were born and died under the watchful eyes of that rock fortress.

Now, in the glow of dusk, the rock fortress looks like it is covered with a layer of gold paint, standing there quietly.

The terrifying three-headed dragon flapped its wings, flew high into the sky, and landed high above the fortress.

Targaryen lords and soldiers, the surrendered nobles and soldiers of the Westerlands who were placed in the prisoner-of-war camp outside the city, the Westerlands people in the city, and the tenants of the Lannister family who lived on the fertile land outside Lannisport. At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on the rock fortress.

A roaring, rolling dark cloud rose high in the sky, with a huge golden thunderstorm rising from the cloud and thick golden lightning accumulating.

And above the rolling dark clouds, a three-headed monster as huge as a floating mountain was hovering.

People will never forget what they saw today.

After a brief build-up of energy, a huge fireball suddenly lit up in the sky, as if a huge sun had appeared in the sky in an instant. The fireball fell slowly but with the force of thunder on the rock fortress. The fireball was so huge that the tower of the fortress on the top of the mountain was like a candle wick, and the towering rock mountain was a candle.

The fireball poured down on the mountain, and the upper part of the "candle" was completely covered by the burning flames. For a moment, the whole mountain seemed like a candle lit by the gods.

The mortal could not imagine the terrifying power before seeing it with his own eyes, but at this moment it had a strange sense of beauty.

Waves of white smoke rose into the sky, warning everyone who witnessed it that some terrifying force was destroying the strongest fortress in the West.

Then, countless snow-white ice cones fell from the dark clouds. Those ice cones made sharp whistles. Even from a long distance away, the shrill sounds could still be heard in the city, making people feel terrified.

Dozens or even hundreds of terrifying huge ice cones landed precisely on the rocky mountain that had just been ignited, causing a cloud of mist to rise up and cover the entire mountaintop.

The ice cones exploded, melted into water vapor, and became mist.

Streams of water vapor flowed slowly down the rocky mountain from the top of the mountain like melted wax from a candle.

Everyone held their breath and watched the scene that seemed like a miracle.

A golden thunderstorm broke out.

The golden lightning flashed like branches of trees, falling from the rolling dark clouds toward the rocky mountain.

It's like the wrath of God, divine punishment coming to the world.

The steam was shattered by the lightning, and so were the towers on the top of the rocky mountain, the rubble and the once-revered castle.

As the fog gradually dissipated, people saw that in the golden sunlight of dusk, the rocky mountain that originally looked like it was cast in gold had become hideous and terrifying. The stones on the top of the mountain were cracked and charred, the towers collapsed and crumbled, and the whole mountain looked devastated and dilapidated.

The terrifying lightning surrounded the mist and entangled on the top of the mountain, making them look like a cursed and terrifying ghost town.

Until the sun completely sets.

People finally woke up from this horrific scene.

The giant dragon in the sky finally fell from the sky and landed on the top of the rocky mountain.

And even more terrifying flames began to pour down from the top of the mountain.

-

When the dragon finishes its attack.

The rocky mountain where Casterly Rock is located is like an active volcano that has just erupted. The terrible dark red lava is flowing in the mountain like molten wax, emitting terrible black smoke.

Even though Oberon was mentally prepared, he was still so shocked that he was speechless.

He thought he had an understanding of the dragon's power, but he was still shocked by the god-like power.

Oberyn originally thought that the King would at most burn Casterly Rock to the same level as Harrenhal, but he never expected that what happened to Casterly Rock was even more terrible than Harrenhal. Even the rocky mountain where Casterly Rock was located was destroyed beyond recognition by the power of the three-headed dragon.

Oberyn thought he would have to send out men to search for any Lannister assassins hiding in the mines at the bottom of Casterly Rock.

But now it seems that the molten magma from the three-headed dragon on the top of the mountain may flood the entire mountain like a torrent.

Even if there are some places that can avoid the lava, you will probably be suffocated or burned to death by the heat of the molten rocks.

When dark red lava flowed out of the cave at the foot of the rocky mountain, which originally seemed impossible to attack - the famous Lion's Mouth, Oberon, who was controlling the troops at the foot of the mountain and preparing to go in to receive the attack, felt a dry mouth.

Until the dragon finally ended its attack, flew off the top of the rock, and flew overhead.

Oberon was awakened from his shock. He paused, swallowed, raised his spear and shouted loudly: "Long live the king! Long live Guliok!"

The princes responded promptly, and the soldiers followed suit and shouted: "Long live the king! Long live Guliok!"

The deafening roar vented shock and admiration, dispelling panic and fear.

The roar lasted for a full quarter of an hour before it stopped, and many people even shouted until their throats were hoarse.

In order to wait for the magma to cool down and the heat to dissipate, the army waited until the next morning before finally entering the destroyed rock mountain to search for possible survivors - of course, mainly to look for gold.

The gold of Casterly Rock is world-famous. Legend has it that the walls and decorations of the castle's Golden Corridor are all gilded, making it magnificent.

After being burned by the dragon, it was impossible to see the golden corridor again, but the gold and silver treasures in the castle were still worth looting and presenting to His Majesty. Moreover, according to the generosity of the king in distributing the spoils, this would also increase their own profits.

To Viserys, gold, silver and treasure were the least valuable spoils of war.

Viserys didn't expect that Tywin and Kevan actually left him a big gift in Casterly Rock.

Edmure Tully.

Viserys met the Lord of Riverrun and Lord of the Trident atop the cooling crimson lava of the Lion's Mouth.

Edmure looks quite young, with the typical reddish-brown hair of the Tully family and a medium build. Although he is under house arrest in Casterly Rock, he seems to be living a decent life. He has a beard and looks quite healthy.

But when he was brought before Viserys, he seemed frightened, his face was pale and his expression was reserved.

"Edmure Tully, I've heard of your name." The Lion's Mouth is a huge natural cave, which was conveniently built into the main entrance of Casterly Rock by skilled craftsmen. It is a hundred feet high and has been continuously widened and repaired over the centuries. It has now become a huge mountain base with wide steps that can accommodate twenty people on horseback abreast, a hall that can accommodate hundreds of people, as well as stairs, stables, barracks, restaurants, and tunnels.

Viserys sat on a stone platform in the center of the hall at the Lion's Mouth.

There was no way around it. The interior of the Lion's Mouth was now full of potholes and filled with cooled lava, and there was a strange smell of barbecue in the air.

But the good news is that the smell comes from the horses in the stables, and of course there are also the bodies of the Lannister soldiers on guard, but these are the first to be dealt with. The soldiers who entered the door first knew that the king was coming, and had already dug out the bodies with shovels. And they did a simple cleaning in the hall before running up the mountain to search for gold and silver.

There were some Lannister soldiers who managed to survive, but most of them were pale and severely burned, and were almost crazy when they were found.

Edmure looked at the rugged cooled lava in the hall, as if it came from hell. He swallowed secretly and glanced at the young king, who looked calm but whom Edmure dared not look at closely: "Your Majesty." He was speechless.

"I heard that when the war first broke out, the Western Territory sent troops to harass Hejian and massacre civilians. It was you who led the troops to rescue civilians, protect villages and towns, and bring justice to them. This is very good."

Edmure heard that the king was speaking kindly, and he quickly knelt on one knee: "Your Majesty, I am honored that you have heard my name."

Viserys said calmly, as if he was chatting: "Wake up and talk. Tell me, I'm curious about how you survived yesterday."

"Your Majesty," Edmure stood up and lowered his head, speaking carefully, "Yesterday, the Lannister guards took me out of the prison and escorted me to the dock at the harbor. When your majesty used your might and the lava flowed to the dock, they transferred me to the ship in the dock. I was lucky enough to escape the disaster on the ship."

"So someone else survived besides you. Kevan Lannister?"

Edmure said quickly, "No, no, no, I didn't see Kevan, Your Majesty. The guards later took me to a small boat. There were only me and two guards."

At this time, Sir Redwyne, who entered the city by water, came over and said, "There are still many people in the dock. They have all surrendered, Your Majesty. I didn't see Kevan Lannister."

The harbor of Casterly Rock is actually a large cave carved out by the sea on the western wall of the rocky mountain. There are nine natural openings, and the draft and width are sufficient for long ships to enter and exit freely and unload cargo. The Redwyne fleet stayed there for a long time yesterday, and rushed in as soon as they received the order the next day.

The magma created by Viserys was ultimately unable to kill everyone in the caves in the mountains of Casterly Rock.

But this was also expected. Casterly Rock was a fortress built on a rocky mountain, just like the dwarf fortress in the Lord of the Rings. They had made countless preparations for its defense, but they didn't expect that in the end the dragon would burn lava from the top of the mountain and attack the castle like a flood.

Viserys thought with some kind of hellish joke that from now on, "The Rains of Castamere" might have the lyrics changed to create a new version of "The Magma of Castamere".

Viserys nodded to Ser Redwyne and said, "You have done well, Ser Redwyne." Then he turned to Edmure and said, "The guards did not kill you. What did you do to convince them?"

"Your Majesty." Edmure didn't know what to say for a moment.

Viserys said, "All the prisoners will be tried, Edmure, and if their crimes do not deserve death, they will be spared. Are you familiar with the law?"

"Your Majesty, I. I respect the law."

"Did you know that your uncle Brynden and the new Lord of Winterfell, Arya Stark, have expressed their willingness to be friendly with me?"

Edmure became nervous: "Your Majesty, I am willing to swear allegiance to you. If you let me return to Riverrun, I promise that I can bring all the riverlands to swear allegiance to you." He seemed to think that Brynden had replaced him as the Duke of Riverrun, and what he said was like "I can love my country, and I can talk too."

Viserys did not explain to him, but simply replied: "I want to know, if I send you back to the river, what else do you plan to do besides serving me?"

"." Edmure said, "I will also offer you a hundred years of tax revenue from the Riverlands. With me as the leader, the entire Riverlands will always obey your call. Whatever your majesty needs the Tully family to do, I will do it until my death."

Viserys frowned slightly. This Edmure seemed different from what he knew. Was he frightened by the tragic situation in Casterly Rock, or had his mentality changed after being imprisoned for so long? Viserys already had some ideas in mind, but his political skills gradually matured. Viserys had learned not to bring up some things himself, but to let his subordinates do it. So he said, "I will let you go, Edmure. As for the other things, you can talk to my King's Hand when he returns."

Edmure was extremely excited: "Your Majesty! Please let me swear an oath to you."

"Let's talk about it after we return to Lannisport. This is Casterly Rock, not a suitable place." Viserys then ordered someone to send Edmure to Oberyn.

As the number of his subordinates increased, after discussing some plans with Oberyn, Viserys gradually got used to giving guidance in the general direction, letting Oberyn and his ministers handle specific matters, and then giving instructions and guidance after the ministers had formulated matters.

Because Viserys had taken all the power and made all the decisions directly, even though Viserys left room for maneuver, the ministers were busy trying to keep up with the pace and made up for it, and they didn't feel involved. After talking to Oberyn about the issue of Oldtown, Viserys realized that he was already a king who owned nearly half of the land in Westeros, and no longer just the controller of Dragonstone. Many of the small workshop ideas left over from his time as the ruler of Dragonstone, which required him to do everything himself, were no longer suitable for the current situation.

The correct way to govern a big country is to leave appropriate power space for the corresponding ministers to control some matters and issues, while controlling the overall situation as the leader behind the scenes.

In fact, although the kingship of Westeros seems to be not centralized enough, in fact, when the king has enough repressive power, Viserys finds that his power is almost unlimited. Because the Targaryen dynasty actually defeated theocracy in the era of dragons.

Back to the present.

As Casterly Rock was searched like a razor's edge, soldiers found the body of Kevan Lannister in a secret passage in the fortress on the top of the mountain.

He left his body intact.

The only surprise was that Viserys didn't expect Kevan to die in the first wave of attacks.

The knight seemed to think that he could avoid the attack by hiding in the bunker, but he did not expect that the water vapor evaporating from the ice cones, combined with the power of lightning, would turn the entire castle into a huge electric field.

The knight was still wearing armor, but he was washed by the steam and lightning that enveloped the mountain and was electrocuted to death in his hiding place.

In this way, the two iconic figures of the Lannister family, Tywin and Kevan, are both dead. Viserys can relax and deal with the problems in the Westerlies calmly. Although many people from the Lannister family fled into the mountains in the Westerlies before the war, they are destined not to cause much trouble, and their problems will be left to the next Guardian of the Westerlies to deal with.

As for the candidate for the Warden of the West, it is undoubtedly Oberyn Martell.

Although this arrangement means that the Martell family owns Dorne and the Westerlands, Viserys does not have a more suitable candidate to take this position. Of course, although Oberyn is appointed Warden of the Westerlands, Viserys does not intend to let Oberyn step down and rule here directly, because Oberyn is still the best choice for the King's Hand.

The Westerly is not a key area in the plan for the next two years, so Viserys hopes that Oberyn can find people from his confidants to help him temporarily control the Westerly. If he can survive the war in the future, it will be much easier to conquer a Westerly that has gone through hardships than to take over a Westerly that has just experienced war and has various hidden dangers.

However, the policy still needs to be implemented, and there should not be obvious deviations from the Southern Territory, Storm Land and other places. After all, although the Western Territory is not a key project, what should be done still needs to be done, and the slogans that should be shouted still need to be shouted, but the resources invested can be less and can be delayed.

As for the riverside.

Although Edmure declared his willingness to swear allegiance to Viserys, and Viserys had no doubt that Edmure would have no other thoughts about him after returning from Casterly Rock, to be honest, the Riverlands had been devastated by the war, and it would take at least ten years or even a generation to restore the land to its pre-war state.

Viserys could only think of fortifying the riverlands and concentrating the population in castles, and simply abandoning the plan to rebuild and restore the population in the wilderness villages and towns in the next two years. Viserys did not even expect to be able to provide taxes here within two years.

Therefore, Viserys believed that the best way to deal with the problem was to provide loans and advice, but not to interfere directly, and to allow the Riverlands to carry out their construction work relatively independently, including the wolf girl Arya, who might surrender with the Riverlands in the future. Viserys also intended to adopt the same attitude.

Viserys believed that the other party might be happy with such divided management, because the lords and nobles in the river area and the north, as well as the troops in the valley borrowed by the wolf girl, would not want the powerful Targaryen to directly handle their jurisdiction.

If they want relative independence, then let them be relatively independent, respect, support and bless them.

Viserys was very happy to have such lords who took the initiative to become military buffer zones.

After all, Westeros is too large, and a quick victory or defeat will leave behind a lot of historical problems and security risks. Two years is too short.

By the way, at this time, Viserys would occasionally think of Daenerys in another inexplicable timeline, and the story about the conqueror in the world where his soul came from.

To be honest, sometimes Viserys felt that his current situation was a bit like Fu Jian of the Former Qin Dynasty. Fu Jian of the Former Qin Dynasty was a very remarkable emperor during the Jin Dynasty. After he ascended the throne, he set about eliminating tyranny, appointing talented people, and unified the north. He had a large number of troops and a strong military force. However, after unifying the north, he was too hasty and too fierce. He relied on his millions of strong soldiers and his wealth to destroy the Eastern Jin Dynasty and realize his ambition of unifying the world.

However, from the throwing of a whip to stop the flow of water to the panic-stricken people everywhere, it was just the Battle of Feishui.

Viserys has dragons, so he doesn't have to worry about being involved in the Battle of Feishui, but the reason for the defeat in the war is not just on the battlefield.

After the Former Qin unified the north, its military force was composed of a large number of surrendered soldiers. Moreover, the north had just been unified and there were still a lot of hidden dangers waiting to be dealt with. Fu Jian was too impatient and fought for the false title of unifying the world, which led to a defeat in the war. The north was split into small countries again overnight.

In just half a year, the Targaryens recovered the Stormlands and the South, and now have reached the West.

Viserys was afraid that the hidden dangers in the area under his jurisdiction were comparable to those of Fu Jian of the Former Qin Dynasty. Two years later, there would be a war concerning the survival of mankind. Viserys dared not leave these hidden dangers behind and go to the front line to fight with the false title of guardian of the entire Seven Kingdoms.

Even in the worst-case scenario that Viserys considered, the South and Dorne would undoubtedly be the rear areas away from the war zone.

Viserys knew very well that in this world where news spread slowly, people in the rear would never be able to imagine the difficulties at the front. As the war dragged on and they found their lives becoming more and more difficult in suffering, they would no longer have enthusiasm and expectations for the front, and finally even turn their backs on the king they once supported.

Viserys had to consider this possibility. He couldn't just consider the fighting on the front lines, he also had to ensure the logistics in the rear and the enthusiasm of his subjects.

Only two years.

Viserys knew very well that he must lead by example, let the lords of the jurisdiction see what he is doing, and unite the jurisdiction as much as possible, so that he can exert due strength in the future war against darkness which is destined to last a long time.

Viserys was secretly alert and told himself that he would not be Fu Jian in the world of ice and fire, and he could not be Fu Jian.

(End of this chapter)