Spellcasting Gods

Just as he was about to reinforce the fire protection barrier and go inside to check on the dragon egg, the previously sluggish mysterious energy in the air suddenly became active and surged towards the direction where the dragon egg was.

At the same time, a faint red star appeared in the sky.

Although the brightness was extremely weak, it was still visible to the naked eye.

Having read the original work, Zhang Cheng immediately realized that this was the comet that foreshadowed the changing seasons and the revival of dragons and magic. He exclaimed in disbelief, "So that's it! So that's it! This is the key point I've been searching for but overlooked!"

Clearly, the planet where A Song of Ice and Fire is set did not originally possess any magical energy; everything originated from this crimson comet.

In other words, whenever a red comet approaches, it releases the energy it carries, just as Halley's Comet brings a large amount of water vapor when it passes by Earth.

These energies will remain in the planet's atmosphere for a long time, and will be utilized by those who find the trick. When all the energy is exhausted, dragons, magic, and other things that depend on energy will naturally disappear as well.

Filled with immense excitement, Zhang Cheng raised his right hand, attempting to absorb some of the activated energy and feel the magical power and attributes it contained.

But before he could take any action, a piercing scream came from the fire.

"Awooo!!!!!"

From where the dragon eggs had just been placed, a young dragon, its entire body radiating a violet light, rose into the air and began to circle the flames.

Without a doubt, the dragon egg had decayed...

"Come here!" Upon regaining his senses, Zhang Cheng immediately issued the command to the young dragon through the power of the contract.

The latter hesitated only for a moment before flapping its wings and landing on its master's shoulder, making squeaking noises, though it was unclear what it was trying to say.

Zhang Cheng extended his finger, releasing a wisp of arcane energy. Upon noticing this, the young dragon immediately opened its mouth and greedily sucked in the energy, its violet scales radiating a dazzling light.

About two or three minutes later, the baby dragon seemed to have eaten its fill. It opened its mouth, burped, and slowly closed its eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

Stroking the little creature's still-soft scales, Zhang Cheng pursed his lips and muttered to himself, "Interesting, this dragon can actually devour energy..."

Chapter 0118 The Prospective Collaborator

"Dragon...you...you are a descendant of House Targaryen?" the fat man asked, his voice trembling.

After all, in Westeros, most people's impression of dragons comes from the Targaryen family, and only this family has the ability to tame and control dragons.

In high spirits, Zhang Cheng smiled and pointed to his nose: "Take a close look at the color of my hair and eyes. How do I resemble a descendant of House Targaryen? No, I have absolutely no relation to that family."

“But you have a dragon? And you can make it obey your commands! Nobody but the Targaryens can do that!” the fat man emphasized loudly.

Despite witnessing three people being burned alive, which instilled in him a strong fear of the young man standing before him, a strong curiosity arose within him as the dragon egg hatched.

It's important to know that since the death of the last dragon, there have been no dragons on the continent of Westeros for so long that people have begun to regard dragons as mysterious creatures that only exist in legends.

“Heh, nobody? I’m afraid you don’t know the truth. The famous Targaryen family is actually just a group of survivors who escaped from Valyria. The art of taming dragons is no secret in Valyria, but with the arrival of the apocalypse, this miraculous city was destroyed. Therefore, people only know the Targaryen family and don’t remember Valyria.” Zhang Cheng said, looking up at the sky.

As the crimson comet drew closer, he could clearly sense the concentration of mysterious energy rapidly increasing; at the current rate, it would be enough to change the entire world in just a few months.

He was very curious about what that red comet was, that it carried such a huge amount of mysterious energy, so much so that even a small amount of its aftershocks could affect a planet's ecosystem, culture, history, and even the forms of civilization that had emerged from it.

If one could directly steal purer mystical energy from a comet, could it be combined with arcane energy to make oneself even more powerful?

With all sorts of guesses in mind, Zhang Cheng carefully hid the sleeping baby dragon under his cloak and turned to walk towards the city gate.

It goes without saying that he wanted to leave this unknown beach and the charred corpses remaining in the fire before the patrolling guards discovered anything amiss, and return to his lodgings under the cover of night.

But before he could take more than a few steps, the fat man trapped on the rock suddenly opened his mouth and shouted, "Wait! Sir! What am I going to do? You can't just leave me like this! The rising tide will drown me!"

"Oh! I almost forgot if you hadn't reminded me!" Zhang Cheng turned around and suddenly drew his demonic sword—the Soul-Binder. With a swift stroke, he severed the fat man's round head.

The moment blood gushed from the neck, the demonic sword suddenly emitted a plume of black smoke, dragging out a wisp of silvery, translucent substance, which was then slowly absorbed into the sword's blade.

Immediately afterwards, a face filled with pain appeared on the hilt of the sword.

Clearly, the demonic sword has imprisoned the fat man's soul and is constantly tormenting him. In just a few days, it will transform an ordinary soul into an evil undead...

Staring into the fat man's unseeing eyes, Zhang Cheng wiped the blood off the sword, shrugged, and muttered to himself, "Sorry, I lied earlier. For safety's sake, none of you will survive."

After saying this, he pulled up his hood and quietly slipped away from the patrolling guards, returning to his lodgings to sleep before dawn.

……

He didn't know how long he slept, but when Zhang Cheng opened his eyes, Blanco was already standing outside the door, bringing the latest news of the brutal political struggle in King's Landing.

Just like the plot unfolds, Eddard Stark, who values ​​honor, loyalty, and courage, ultimately loses to the ruthless Cersei Lannister.

Of course, one could also say that he was defeated by Petyr Baelish, who was secretly plotting everything from behind the scenes, and by Varys, who knew what was going to happen but was unwilling to say it.

From an outsider's perspective, he felt that the one responsible for Eddard Stark's tragic end was none other than Robert, the "King of Cuckoldry" who had just passed away.

Because someone like Eddard Stark should never have left Winterfell.

When he arrived in King's Landing from Winterfell, he was like a fully armed knight stripped of his armor and weapons, standing naked before his enemy, his fate self-evident.

"Sir, do you think we need to do something next?" the old mercenary, who had been standing there for a while, asked softly.

"What to do? No, we don't need to do anything, just wait patiently." Zhang Cheng smiled and shook his head.

Through his limited interactions with people like Baelish and Cersei, he came to understand more and more the purpose of the parchment bringing him to this world: to learn how to deal with schemers, how to see through their true intentions hidden beneath their sweet talk, and how to use lies and deception to gain benefits for himself.

Perhaps because he didn't care much, he had always allowed many people to take advantage of him, such as the witch Catherine and Kane.

But now, Zhang Cheng will no longer let these guys take advantage of him for nothing. Anyone who wants to benefit from him must pay the corresponding price.

"Wait?" Blanco frowned, looking puzzled.

“Yes! I’m waiting for a reply, or you could say I’m waiting for a person. Right now, neither the Queen nor that spoiled little king in King’s Landing are ideal partners.” With that, Zhang Cheng casually picked a grape and put it in his mouth.

Blanco seemed to have made a connection and quickly bent down to probe, "Excuse my intrusion, but the person you're waiting for isn't Duke Tywin, is it?"

Zhang Cheng spat out the grape skins from his mouth and replied with a slightly playful tone, "Tywin? No, he's too busy to come to King's Landing for the time being. I'm waiting for someone else, Tyrion Lannister."

"Little devil?" Blanco was taken aback.

"Don't be rude. Believe me, Tyrion is the most politically astute member of the Lannister family besides Tywin. His only flaw is that he's not ruthless enough. But for us, that's actually an advantage."

If there were a poll to determine the most politically capable person in the entire A Song of Ice and Fire series, Zhang Cheng would undoubtedly cast his vote for Tyrion Lannister without hesitation.

This natural dwarf not only possesses a keen political sense, always able to find the key points in chaotic situations, but also understands a bit of economics. In Westeros, where most lords' minds are filled with honor, territory, and women, this is as incredible as an oasis suddenly appearing in the desert.

Unfortunately, due to the feudal system, Tyrion's talents could not be fully utilized.

In Zhang Cheng's eyes, only Tyrion Lannister and Tywin Lannister himself were his ideal partners.

As for the remaining two, let's just forget about them...

Chapter 0119 The Death of Ed

Some say that political struggles are dirty, and that no one involved, whether a winner or a loser, is innocent.

Today, as the loser of the palace coup, Lord Eddard Stark is brought before the pulpit of the Great Sept of Baelor, where he is to confess in front of everyone to a fabricated charge of treason in exchange for reconciliation between the Starks and the Lannisters, thus averting war.

Even now, he still can't understand why he failed, or why so many people would rather choose the queen who committed heinous crimes than him, who valued principles and honor.

Of course, none of that matters now, because according to the agreement, after the sentencing, he will relinquish all titles and rights, don the black robes, and travel to the Wall in the North to spend the rest of his life as a member of the Night's Watch.

Looking at the citizens around him who were pointing and whispering, and even cursing, Eddard suddenly realized that he had made a mistake. He shouldn't have come to King's Landing in the first place, and he shouldn't have accepted the position of Prime Minister. In this game full of intrigue and betrayal, he didn't have a single person he could trust.

Ironically, even ordinary people now consider him a traitor, an ambitious man who sought to usurp the throne.

Zhang Cheng stood in the crowd, silently watching the podium and the scene about to unfold. Suddenly, without warning, he asked, "Blanco, what do you think our King Joffrey will do with Eddard Stark?"

"Um... I think it will probably be exile, or perhaps being sent to the Wall to join the Night's Watch. After all, he is the leader of House Stark, the Warden of the North. If the punishment is too severe, it might trigger a war," the old mercenary replied with some uncertainty.

"Heh, your judgment is good. Normally, the Lannisters will inevitably face attacks from Renly and Stannis, so reaching a peace agreement with the Stark family is the wise choice. However, you've overlooked one point: what if someone deliberately sabotages things and lets the lion and the wolf fight first? Don't forget, our new king's mental state isn't quite normal."

After saying that, Zhang Cheng raised his head again, looking up at the crimson comet that was getting closer and closer in the sky, his eyes filled with curiosity and longing.

Just as Blanco opened his mouth to say something, a deafening shout suddenly erupted from the crowd. Immediately afterward, Joffrey, standing in front of the platform in the distance, raised his right hand and announced something. At that moment, the Royal Inspector, Ilyn Payne, drew a huge two-handed sword and raised it high above his head.

next second...

puff!

A blinding crimson gushed forth, and Eddard Stark's head rolled to the ground, becoming a headless corpse.

Because the whole process happened so quickly, Queen Cersei had no time to react. By the time she stood up to stop her son's foolish behavior, it was already too late.

At this moment, every noble present clearly realized that with Eddard's death, war between the Lannisters and the Starks was inevitable, and turmoil and chaos would continue until one side emerged victorious.

Blanco stared in disbelief at the blood-soaked platform, and after a long while, he exclaimed, “The Seven Gods! This is absolutely insane! I think I see the Mad King Aerys Targaryen in Joffrey.”

"Hmph! Mad King? No, he's far inferior to Mad King. Let's go, there's nothing left to see here." Zhang Cheng sneered disdainfully, pushing through the frenzied crowd and heading along a wide street.

As he walked, without turning his head, he asked, "How's the task I gave you going?"

"Rest assured, Sir, I have already done as you requested, exchanging all thirty-five thousand for food and secretly storing it in an inconspicuous old warehouse within the city. Even if King's Landing is besieged for more than a year, we will not have to worry about running out of food," the old mercenary assured him confidently.

As they spent more and more time together, he became increasingly grateful that he hadn't hesitated and had made the right choice.

Because he discovered that his young master was almost like a prophet, always able to know the development of the situation before others, and even before everyone realized that war was coming, he had already begun to stockpile food and recruit mercenaries.

Don't assume that a mere few hundred mercenaries can't play a decisive role in battles involving tens of thousands of soldiers.

On the contrary, since no one has yet noticed the existence of this mercenary group, they will immediately become a force that determines the outcome of the battle once it becomes a stalemate.

Hearing that the food supplies were ready, Zhang Cheng nodded in satisfaction: "Well done! By the way, are there any problems with the mercenaries?"

“Uh… it’s not going to cause any problems for now. But I must remind you, keeping them hiding in the cave like this for a few weeks or a month or two is fine, but it can’t go on for too long, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable if a rebellion broke out.” Blanco didn’t try to hide anything and openly expressed his concerns.

He wasn't sure what kind of heinous things these bastards might do if their boundless energy remained unchecked for too long.

"Okay, I got it. Go on with your work." Zhang Cheng waved his hand dismissively.

Others may not know how long the rebellion lasted, but he remembered it very clearly.

According to the timeline given in the story, Eddard Stark died at the end of Aegon's 298th year, and the following year, Renly, Stannis, and Robb were defeated one after another.

This means that major turning points, including the "Red Wedding," the "Battle of Blackwater," and the "Death of Tywin Lannister," will occur in the next few months.

From a historian's perspective, the year 299 of Aegon was undoubtedly a momentous one.

This year, Zhang Cheng will also truly participate in the game of power, clashing with all sorts of players in the story and vying for the fruits of victory.

The only difference is that he has a grasp of the general direction of the situation and knows when to make a move to bring himself the greatest benefit.

With anticipation for the chaos to come, Zhang Cheng walked through the bustling streets and soon arrived at the gate of the mansion.

Before he could even knock, a petite figure suddenly emerged from the corner, grabbed his sleeve, and whispered, "Sir Mason! You said I could come to you for help if I ever ran into trouble, right?"

"You are...Aria?!" Zhang Cheng quickly recognized the dirty girl, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.