Game of Thrones: The Black Dragon King

Ripples spread across the leftover wine on the table, dust settled on the tent roof, dogs in the camp barked wildly at the distant grasslands, and the earth trembled.

Only cavalry, a large number of cavalry, could create such a commotion on the vast plains!

Beside the fully loaded freight wagons, Oilles, a wealthy merchant from Pentos, gazed into the distance with a solemn expression.

Accompanied by the thunderous sound of hooves and the iconic roar, Dothraki Roaring Warriors, with long braids adorned with bells, wearing painted leather vests and horsehair leggings, and wielding weapons such as Arak scimitars, bows and arrows, and whips, appeared on the horizon and charged toward the camp like a tidal wave.

"Didn't you just give gifts to their Khao? Why are you turning your back on him so quickly?" asked Reid Seris, the protagonist, a transmigrator, and the leader of the Black Dragon Mercenary Group.

The Dothraki had no concept of trade, but they accepted the exchange of gifts.

"They're not the Karasas of Karakao! These barbarians are fighting and stealing from each other! I suspect we're being targeted by Karakao's enemies!"

"The enemy's friend is the enemy!" Reed shrugged and joked.

"I paid a hefty price to hire your Black Dragon Creed. And can you stop chatting? By the Lord of Light, get down to business!"

"Yes, sir," Reed said with a smile, then his expression turned serious, and he shouted, "Prepare for battle! Defensive formation!"

As Reed continued to issue loud commands, the team of over 600 people sprang into action.

More than 200 halberdiers clad in half-plate armor quickly filled the gaps between the freight wagons, forming the "outer wall" of the encampment. 200 crossbowmen in leather armor and butterfly helmets, along with archers in ordinary tunics, occupied the rooftops. In front of them stood 100 heavily armored swordsmen equipped with full plate armor, shields, and greatswords. Thirty heavy cavalrymen and fifty horse archers formed the central mobile force, while twenty engineers crawled into tents to begin assembling machinery.

The team as a whole gave the impression of being well-equipped and highly trained, which is why O'Ilis paid a high price to hire them.

"My horses!" O'Ellis cried out in anguish as he watched the herd of horses being kept out of the defensive perimeter. Compared to the goods on the wagons, the more than 1000 tall and strong Dothraki warhorses were the main attraction of this trade. Reid strongly suspected that this was also the reason why they had been targeted by the Dothraki.

"Trust me, my friend, putting untrained wild horses in our defensive perimeter is definitely not a wise choice. A frightened horse will rout us, and we'll all be dead!" Reed patted O'Ellis on the shoulder to comfort him.

Compared to O'Neill's heartache, Reid's was truly bleeding from the heart.

His system was a compensation for a higher-dimensional existence, modeled after a medieval game. It was purely manual with no intelligence, and incredibly rigid. All units had to be produced in barracks buildings, and could only be converted using peasants, matching weapons and armor, and gold. And the units he brought with him to complete the mercenary mission were all system-generated... The chance to get free cavalry just slipped away!

O'Neill's lips trembled as he fell silent, his actions a tacit acceptance of Reid's decision.

"We'll be alright, right?" O'Ellis asked, trembling. As a merchant on the Red Wasteland, the Dothraki's fearsome reputation was legendary.

"Don't worry, even if things get to the point where it's hopeless, we still have the ability to break through. But you also need to understand that when faced with such uncontrollable factors," Reed pointed to the roaring Dothraki cavalry outside and tried to reassure his client, "your goods will most likely be lost."

To the merchants, guards, and slaves fleeing the wasteland, the pursuing Dothraki were like demons. Those who dared to resist were quickly scattered, then cut down, shot, or dragged along by long whips amidst their screams. Those who surrendered were bound hand and foot and enslaved.

Climbing onto the roof of a high carriage, Reed observed the Dothraki's movements.

It appears chaotic, yet it possesses an inexplicable sense of smooth rhythm.

Scouts ventured out to watch for any movement around Karasa; roaring warriors spread out on both flanks, engulfing and swallowing up everything they wanted to attack and plunder; then came the "Jakarangs" wielding giant axes, collecting the heads of the dead and the dying; women and the elderly scavenged supplies, valuables, livestock and horses, guarded prisoners, and treated the wounded; and many children carried woven baskets to collect arrows.

Red even saw a young Dothraki girl, not strong enough, using her foot to stomp on the face of a corpse to pull out an arrow.

Each member of the Karasa performs their duties, like a locust swarm sweeping across the land, chaotic yet orderly, harvesting life with extreme efficiency and scraping away all usable resources from the ground.

Some of the fleeing people saw the well-defended vehicle formation on Reid's side and ran towards it.

Looking at the Dothraki Roaring Warriors following behind these guys, Reed thought for a moment, then calmly ordered, "Fire the arrows."

Small merchants, chased and humiliated by cavalry, are unlikely to have much wealth and will only disrupt their own formation, giving the Dothraki cavalry, who are eyeing them covetously, an opportunity to take advantage.

Upon hearing this, over a hundred archers quickly drew their bows and nocked arrows, raising them at a 45-degree angle. The sound of arrows whistling through the air was incessant as a rain of arrows rose into the air and fell rapidly, indiscriminately covering the refugees and pursuers.

More than a dozen men hit by arrows immediately fell to the ground, groaning in pain. As the distance drew closer, another sharp twang of a bowstring, distinct from that of a longbow, rang out. A hundred or so shorter, thicker crossbow bolts were propelled by the immense kinetic energy. Compared to the projectile motion of bows and arrows, the low, straight trajectory of crossbow bolts was more accurate and powerful. This time, more than twenty men hit by arrows collapsed to the ground without even uttering a cry of pain.

The remaining small group of cavalry immediately turned their horses around and moved away from the range of the arrows from both sides.

The archer took a long arrow from the quiver behind him, nocked it on the bowstring, and drew the bow with three fingers but did not pull it back, instead waiting quietly for the next order to attack. The crossbowman crouched down and used the winch to wind up his crossbow.

Small groups of refugees were occasionally driven toward the wagon formation, still dispersed by crossbow fire. Compared to the first time, the Dothraki cavalry maintained a significantly greater distance from the refugee column, resulting in fewer casualties.

After several unsuccessful attempts to probe the enemy, the main force of the Dothraki left behind a small group of scouts to keep watch, and began to focus on pursuing the scattered small groups of merchants.

Clearly, once all the scattered merchant groups have finished, it will be Reid's turn.

"Stand by and take turns resting, eat something, and replenish your energy!" The first round is probably over by now, and Reed estimates that the main course won't be served for a while.

With the rustling of armor, the halberdiers in the front row sat down one after another, took out their rations and water bags to replenish their strength, while the archers took turns sitting down to rest, eat and drink. Some even lifted the tarpaulin of the wagon and took out dried meat and cheese to eat and chew. Then the guys in the vicinity followed suit, which even caused soldiers from other defense zones to come over to ask for and rob.

O'Neill looked at him as if he wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent.

Although they are mass-produced system soldiers, they lack the rigidity and inflexibility of typical system characters. Each one has a different appearance and personality, and aside from their fearlessness and unconditional obedience, they are practically seasoned medieval veterans. Despite the imminent battle, there is a great sense of relaxation.

Several archers even unbuckled their belts in public and defecated at the Dothraki. Many crossbowmen joined in the fun, some even dipping their arrowheads in the filth to make dirty arrows on the spot. Reed's mouth twitched as he watched, and he could only comment, "The morale is good!"

Compared to the relaxed atmosphere inside the traffic jam, the situation outside was quite miserable.

The headless corpses of the rebels were scattered everywhere, their underwear stripped off; the captured prisoners were tied together in strings, still carrying their recently acquired possessions; the horses were left to graze hungryly on wild grass, guarded by a few teenage boys; and many more people gathered around the fire to enjoy fermented mare's milk and half-cooked horse meat.

Reed used a mirror lens to observe the Dothraki's movements, estimated the distance between the two armies, and then summoned the leader of the mechanics: "Is the giant crossbow assembled?"

"Ready, sir!" replied a burly old man dressed in a red vest, leather apron, and leather hat, carrying a roll of blueprints wherever he went. "Eight giant crossbows, each equipped with 30 crossbow bolts, ready to fire at any time!"

"About three hundred yards, within reach." Reed pointed to the Dothraki campfire and instructed, "When we relax, the enemy must tense up."

"As you command, sir!" The mechanic leader immediately understood, grinning wickedly to reveal teeth covered in black tartar.

A thick, long pry bar was inserted into the ratchet hole, which was covered in wood and iron. The two mechanics, their faces flushed, struggled to turn the ratchet. "Clang! Clang! Clang!" As the ratchet continued to rotate, the huge crossbow was slowly pulled back a short distance. Then the mechanics pulled out the pry bar and reinserted it into the hole where they could apply force, and continued to turn it. This was repeated seven or eight times before the crossbow was finally cocked.

It takes a lot of time and effort to operate, but it's worth it. This big guy can throw a 12-pound crossbow 400 yards away.

Soon, a crossbow, as thick as a duck egg, two meters long, with a steel arrowhead and bronze fletching, was placed into the quiver.

After taking a good look, the burly old man ordered, "Release!"

The apprentice behind him raised his mallet and struck the trigger of the giant crossbow hard. "Bang!" With a trembling sound, the powerful crossbow bolt was launched out at high speed.

At a distance of two hundred meters, the crossbow arrived almost instantly, piercing through the chest of a Dothraki man who was eating, and then, with a line of blood, it pierced into the shoulder of another man. This time, it did not go all the way through, but only a section of the spear tip was exposed. However, it carried the unfortunate man a distance before pinning him firmly to the ground, his tail feathers standing tall and trembling "buzzing" under the still-burning kinetic energy.

However, this was just an appetizer; eight ballistae lined up and began firing.

The crossbows weren't very accurate, but once hit, there was no escaping it. With unstoppable force, they randomly took away one or two lucky spectators, steadily applying harassment pressure to the Dothraki.