Game of Thrones: The Road to Pirate King

Chapter 398 Pirates—Kill Them All!

The whale oil lamp hissed, its flame flickering erratically.

When Hawkeye Coz staggered back into the gloomy hall of the Brotherhood of Bones, all eyes were fixed on his empty hands and pale face.

He pushed through the silent crowd to the leader, "Bones" Colin, his chapped lips trembling as he repeated Euron Greyjoy's unequivocal answer word for word. With each condition that was categorically rejected, the air in the hall seemed to freeze a little more.

As the final words, "Kneel down to welcome them, raise your swords high," fell, someone in the corner crushed the ceramic cup in their hand.

Colin, nicknamed "Old Bones," had deep-set eyes that appeared even more profound in the flickering firelight. His withered fingers slowly caressed the yellowed human jawbone embedded in the armrest of his chair, and he remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he let out a sigh that seemed to come from the depths of a grave, a sigh filled with a heavy sense of resignation.

"It seems—" He raised his cloudy eyes, scanning each face filled with fear and madness, and said, "There's nothing left to talk about except for a bloody battle."

Fly Island is the most insignificant rotten tooth in the Lizard Islands.

It is about 15 li long from north to south and only 8 li wide from east to west. The whole thing is shaped like a gourd—wider in the north and narrower in the south, like a snail shell that has been flattened.

-

Two-thirds of the island is covered by dark green swamps, shallow in water and deep in mud, overgrown with waist-high poisonous reeds and decaying mangroves.

Strange fish with festering sores swam in the swamp, and bubbles floated on the surface. If you got close, you could hear the popping sound of bubbles bursting under the skin—that was marsh gas produced by the decomposition of corpses.

The southern tip of the island is a narrow strip of hard ground, no more than half a mile wide, which the Brotherhood calls the "Line of Life and Death".

This area is covered with dense, impenetrable thorny bushes, beneath which lie thousands of poisoned, pointed stakes, forming the Brotherhood's first line of defense.

At the very center of the gourd-shaped island rises a tortoise-shell-shaped hill, composed of volcanic rock as hard as iron. Steep cliffs surround the hill, with only three gentle slopes—east, west, and north—that allow climbing. This is the core area of ​​the Brotherhood, where the castle was built.

The Brotherhood of Bones' castle, named Bone Fortress, is built on a hilltop resembling a tortoise shell, perfectly blending defense and daily life by utilizing the terrain and materials. Not a single brick or tile of the entire castle came from outside; it was constructed entirely from decaying wood, volcanic rock, and the bones of pirates found on the island.

The outermost layer of the castle is a semi-circular outer wall, built with a foundation of volcanic rock and covered with rotten wood and bone fragments. The walls are twelve feet high, and every three steps at the top, a sharpened whale bone is inserted, with poisoned vines wrapped between the bones.

Bonewalled City has three gates.

The East Gate is called the Shattered Bone Gate: it is hidden behind the mangrove forest and is usually covered by poisonous thorny bushes. In wartime, the vines can be cut to open it.

The West Gate is called the Poisonous Saliva Gate, facing the Poisonous Saliva Tide. The gate is woven from rotten mangrove roots and soaked in the poisonous sap of the swamp; touching it will burn the skin.

The north gate is called the Gate of Life and Death, connecting the line between life and death. Behind the gate is a narrow stone path with bottomless swamps on both sides, allowing only two people to walk side by side.

The war arrived as punctually as the tides had been predicted.

Euron personally led six thousand Ironborn, like a blade slowly drawn from its sheath, steadily advancing towards Bonewalled City, the heart of the Bone Brotherhood.

Their route eerily avoided all the carefully laid traps: the iron spikes hidden in the shallows, the tripwires disguised as reefs, and even the arrows coated with deadly poison were either easily evaded or silently dismantled.

The entire army seemed to possess an invisible map, having a thorough understanding of this so-called "death zone."

Fly Island lives up to its name, with swarms of flies blotting out the sky and emitting an annoying buzzing sound. But even more deadly are the poisonous insects lurking in the shadows—colorful centipedes, scorpions with gleaming stingers, and swarms of bloodthirsty gnats.

This is precisely the defense that "Poison Bait" Lila is most proud of.

She controlled the island's swarms of insects with blood magic; only those who applied her special potion were immune to her attacks. She watched with unwavering confidence as the enemy army entered this death trap, anticipating their agonizing screams.

But she underestimated Euron, and she underestimated the Iron Islands. In Euron's party, the Red Priestess Gwendolyn and the Shadowbinder Evelyn accompanied him silently.

As the swarm of insects pressed in like dark clouds drawn by the scent of blood, Gwendolyn chanted an ancient prayer to the Lord of Light, her fingertips flickering with faint crimson flames that ignited the Ironborn's torches, keeping the poisonous insects at bay. Evelynn, meanwhile, whispered the secret incantation of the Shadowlands, and the surrounding shadows seemed to come alive, coiling around her and spreading outwards, causing insects and mosquitoes to automatically retreat wherever they touched.

Two invisible forces intertwined to form a barrier. The surging swarm of insects seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, instantly losing their ferocity and becoming restless, circling in place, not daring to cross the line.

The witch, far away in the castle, suffered a backlash from the magic, and her eyes bled.

The blood magic defenses that "Poison Bait" Lila relied on evaporated instantly like dew in the sunlight before a more profound and ancient power.

As the group ventured deeper into the swamp, the silt began to churn, and murky bubbles burst continuously.

With a sickening hiss, over two hundred serpent lizards slowly rose from the viscous mud, their massive, scaly bodies rising to their feet. These monsters, nourished by blood magic, gleamed with a malevolent red light in their eyes, and venom dripped from their fangs, sizzling and corroding the surrounding mud.

Just as they were about to pounce on the Iron Islands army, Euron took a step forward.

He didn't draw his weapon, but simply raised his heterochromatic pupils, his gaze pressing down on the twisted jungle with an almost tangible intensity.

Conqueror's Haki - Activated!

"roll."

One word.

There was no roar, yet the sound exploded in the hearts of all living beings like thunder. The massive bodies of the two hundred serpent lizards froze simultaneously, their scarlet pupils suddenly contracting as the fear from the depths of their bloodlines instantly overwhelmed the control of the blood magic.

The lead serpent lizard let out a mournful cry, its massive head burying itself deep in the mud. Immediately afterward, the entire monster army retreated like a tide, dragging its heavy bodies back into the depths of the swamp, leaving only a trail of terrified bubbles on the trembling surface.

Two Brotherhood spies, ordered to lie in wait and eagerly anticipating seeing the Ironborn stumble into the trap, were now staring dumbfounded at the army that moved in as if it were nothing. Before they could even relay their shock, the Ironborn had silently crept up behind them and pinned them to the ground.

King Baron didn't even bother with interrogation. He waved his thick arm as if brushing dust off a deck. A flash of light, and two heads rolled onto the sand, frozen in astonishment.

The army finally stopped at the foot of the walls of Bonefort, which were made of all kinds of bones.

Under the horrified gaze of countless defenders, Baron's confidant raised his spear and hurled the bloodied heads of the two scouts over the city wall.

The head traced two scarlet arcs, carrying the cold declaration of the Iron Islands, before crashing heavily onto the blood-soaked, sand-covered land within Bone Fortress.

There was no attempt to persuade them to surrender, no pre-battle declarations, and they launched a direct attack from both the East and West Gates, just like the straightforward nature of the Iron People.

Before the defenders could react, dozens of stone jars ripped through the sky and fell precisely inside and outside the city gates like a rain of death.

That was wildfire contained in a specially made stone jar by an alchemist.

The moment the stone jar shattered, dark green wildfire burst forth. Immediately afterward, a series of ignited rockets roared in.

"boom-!

'

The wildfire turns reddish-gold after it is lit, and the edges of the flames have a bluish tinge as it burns.

Flames suddenly erupted, like a fire dragon awakening, instantly engulfing the two city gates. The poison carefully smeared on the gates and walls, and the poisonous vines entwined among the obstacles, hissed and wailed in the raging flames, turning into acrid smoke and ashes.

As the defenders were thrown into disarray by the sudden inferno, a heavy impact resounded like thunder.

"Thump! Thump!"

Two massive iron-clad battering rams, illuminated by the firelight, resembled the horns of a giant beast as they slammed into the two burning city gates simultaneously.

Splinters and sparks flew in, accompanied by a deafening tearing sound. The east and west gates shattered simultaneously, completely breaching the strongest defenses of Bonewall. Through the collapsed gates, the defenders saw in horror the forest of swords outside the city, and Euron Greyjoy's heterochromatic eyes, unusually calm in the firelight.

The roar of the collapsing city gates had not yet subsided when the battle cries of the Ironborn poured into Bonefort like a tsunami. The hastily assembled defenses, like sandcastles in a storm, were torn to shreds in the very first encounter.

Euron led the charge, his dark cloak fluttering in the bloody wind. Every swing of the seemingly simple longsword in his hand carried the precision of death; the pirates charging towards him often only saw a flash of cold light before their heads were separated from their bodies.

Without parrying or engaging in close combat, no one could stop him from advancing wherever his blade pointed.

"Iron Islands bastard!" "Bloodaxe" Thor roared as he charged from the flank, his twin axes whistling through the air as he cleaved down in succession. Euron shifted slightly, and before everyone could see, Thor's charge abruptly halted. A line of blood slid from his shoulder down to his abdomen, and his upper body slowly slid down, his internal organs spilling onto the ground.

"Butcher" Booker seized the opportunity to slash fiercely, while Euron casually raised his sword to parry. In the instant the two swords crossed, Booker felt a chill in his throat, and in a dizzying moment, he saw his own headless body still standing.

In the chaos, Hawkeye Coz turned to flee. A flying axe whistled past Euron from behind, striking him precisely in the back and pinning him to the weathered city wall, his limbs still twitching slightly.

The group fought their way through the streets and alleys, rushing straight into the hall of the Brotherhood of Bones.

The leader, "Old Bones" Colin, still trying to put up a last stand with his bone staff, was met by the roar of Goobler, the Lord of Warhammerhorn. His giant axe came crashing down with immense force, cleaving the pirate captain who had ruled Fly Island for years in two, staff and all.

At this moment, "Poison Bait" Lila completed the final ritual.

Amidst the surge of blood, two monsters with human bodies and snake-like heads appeared, hissing as they materialized. Their scales shimmered with an ominous sheen, moving so fast that they were merely afterimages in the eyes of ordinary soldiers.

Euron frowned for the first time—not because of the threat, but purely out of disgust for such a vile creation.

Just as the monster's claws were about to touch his clothes, he sidestepped, swung his sword, and kicked—his movements as fluid as a dance. A flash of light, and one monster was cleaved in two at the waist; the other, just kicked into the air, was also sliced ​​open mid-air by the pursuing blade's energy. The two severed bodies continued to writhe and scream as they hit the ground, emitting acrid black smoke.

"Poisoned Bait" Lila knelt in terror, screaming, "Don't kill me! I know about the Blood Demon—"

Before she could finish speaking, Euron's blade had already grazed her slender neck. As her beautiful head rolled to the ground, her red lips were still slightly parted.

Euron flicked the blood from his blade, surveyed the hall now a bloodbath, and calmly ordered, "Clean it up. Kill every single member of the Bone Brotherhood!"

With the successive deaths of its five leaders, the remaining will of the Bone Brotherhood completely collapsed.

These pirate henchmen, who were utterly devoid of loyalty to begin with, were now only thinking about how to save their own lives. They scattered like frightened mice, scrambling to squeeze into the secret passages hidden throughout the fortress—passages that had once been used to hide loot and evade capture, now their only hope.

But when they emerged, covered in dust and filled with a sense of hope, from the various hidden exits, they were met with the cold faces of Iron Islands soldiers and drawn swords. Euron had already laid a trap, and every known exit was firmly sealed off.

Even those who managed to slip through the encirclement and plunge into the dense forest outside the city could not escape. The crows of the Lonely Lantern Island Sisters circled silently among the treetops, their sharp eyes scrutinizing every swaying leaf and every hurried footprint. These black messengers sometimes let out piercing cries, sometimes swooped down and circled, precisely guiding the ground troops.

Guided by the crows, the Ironborn, as if conducting a leisurely hunt, dragged out one by one the fugitives hiding in tree hollows, lying in the mud, or trying to conceal themselves with vines. Desperate cries rose and fell in the forest, then abruptly ceased.

As for those who escaped into the sea, well, they're even more unfortunate—sea creatures really love snacks!

Under this inescapable net woven from steel and wings, no pirate could escape.

The once fearsome Brotherhood of Bones is being systematically and completely wiped out.

Deep inside the dungeon, the foul air was almost solidified, a mixture of blood, mold, and despair.

-

Hundreds of slaves huddled in dark cells, most of them barely clothed, their exposed skin covered with whip marks and grime.

More than half of them, with the dark skin and slender frames characteristic of the Nas people, were now huddled together, comforting each other in the whispers of their homeland.

The rest were sailors from Braavos, merchants from the Summer Islands, and a few barbarians with oriental features; all of them were vacant-eyed, tormented by hunger and fear.

In a corner of the crowd, two men hung their heads, deliberately smearing mud on their faces to mimic the numb expressions of the slaves around them. They secretly planned that once the Iron Islands people came to take inventory, they would be released by blending in with the slaves—undoubtedly the safest way to escape at the moment.

Heavy footsteps suddenly echoed at the dungeon entrance, and the light of torches dispelled the darkness.

Leading the way, the warrior queen Alicia's gaze swept over the carnage, her knuckles gripping the hilt of her sword turning white. Behind her followed clerks carrying rosters and Ironborn soldiers carrying food and fresh water.

Just as the soldiers opened the cell doors and began registering the prisoners, Alicia suddenly stopped, her sword tip pointing precisely at the two imposters: "Hold them down."

Her voice was as cold as iron, "A true slave has a docile, lifeless look in his eyes, not a wild dog like you that's always ready to pounce."

There is no room for leniency towards such vicious pirates.

Seeing their disguise exposed, one of them revealed a fierce glint in his eyes, suddenly drew a concealed dagger, and lunged at Alicia with a roar. But before his blade could fall, Alicia's spear, like a venomous snake, struck first, its tip precisely piercing his throat, forever silencing his unfinished roar.

Seeing that things were not going well, the other man slipped into a corner like an eel, grabbed a thin Nas woman, and pressed the rusty blade against her slender neck.

"Back off! All of you, back off!" he roared hysterically, his arm muscles bulging from the force, the blade already leaving a bloody gash on the woman's neck. "Let me go! Or I'll make this bitch Nas pay with her life!"

The woman from Nanas closed her eyes tightly, her thin lips trembling slightly, as if she were making a final prayer to the god of harmony.

The dungeon fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the pirates' heavy breathing and the crackling of the torches.

Alicia slowly lowered her spear, but her eyes were as cold as frozen ice.

The air in the dungeon seemed to have solidified.

Alicia's gaze was fixed on the rusty knife bar held to the neck of the Nas woman, as she weighed the risks of releasing the hostage and then attacking again against the consequences of a direct assault.

A series of unhurried footsteps sounded from behind.

Euron appeared at the entrance to the fire-lit passage. He didn't even glance at the stalemate, but walked straight to Alicia's side and gently patted her shoulder.

He turned to the desperate pirate, not angry, but shouting in a chilling voice that seemed to pierce to the bone: "Let go."

The impact of those two words is substantial, not because of their volume, but because of the unquestionable absolute will they embody.

Conqueror's Haki!

The invisible pressure, like a sea monster eyeing its prey, is enough to shatter the soul of anyone with a weak mind.

The pirate made contact with him, his muscular body shuddering violently, as if struck on the head by an invisible hammer. His eyes rolled back, revealing large patches of white, and his consciousness briefly detached in extreme terror. His hand gripping the dagger loosened, and the rusty blade clattered to the ground.

Before the Nanas woman could break free, Alicia pounced like a cheetah. Her short sword flashed from its sheath and pierced the pirate's heart with deadly precision. The force sent him flying backward, finally pinning him to the damp, cold stone wall.

Euron didn't even glance at the still convulsing corpse. His gaze swept across the terrified slaves in the dungeon, and he said calmly to Alicia, "Cleanup complete. Now it's time to get down to business. You'll be in charge of their subsequent arrangements."

Alicia nodded emphatically.