Spellcasting Gods

“Lord Mason, are you in your room?” Elo Tyrell’s voice came through the crack in the door.

"Damn it!" Zhang Cheng cursed under his breath, quickly grabbed a black cloth and covered all the unsightly experimental equipment and materials, while gently kicking Youlong's right foot, signaling him to hide under the bed.

Once everything was back to "normal," he took a deep breath, opened the door, took the girl's hand, kissed it, and softly greeted her, "Good evening, my beautiful fiancée. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, it's nothing. I... I was just feeling a bit bored and wanted to talk to someone." Elo Lianshan blushed slightly and replied somewhat shyly.

"Oh—I'm sorry, it was my oversight. How about this, I'll take you for a walk on the beach?" Zhang Cheng quickly suggested, feigning sudden realization.

In fact, he already knew how cruel it was to make a young and beautiful girl sit in her room all day without coming out, especially since she didn't even have anyone to talk to.

In order to have more time for research, he deliberately ignored it. Now that the other party has come to his door, he naturally can't refuse.

This little love game will continue until the Tyrells are completely controlled and Highgarden is under their control.

"Can...can I go out?" Elo stared wide-eyed, her face filled with disbelief.

Although King's Landing has not yet received news of Renly and the Tyrell family joining forces to launch a rebellion, anyone with a modicum of intelligence understands that it is only a matter of time.

As a member of House Tyrell, she would likely be immediately arrested and taken hostage if she were exposed to the public eye.

Zhang Cheng smiled and assured him, "Don't worry, as long as I'm with you, anyone who wants to harm you will have to ask this sword first."

To make his argument more convincing, he deliberately drew half of the Demon Sword—the Soul Reaper.

The aura of evil and death made Elo take a half step back in fright, and she asked uncertainly, "Your sword...?"

"Relax, it's just a slightly sharper weapon. Because it's killed too many enemies, it's inevitably tainted with some ferocity. Come on, while King's Landing is still relatively peaceful, I'll take you to the seaside to relax. I reckon once the war comes, the city will immediately turn into hell, and it will be extremely dangerous no matter where you go then." With that, Zhang Cheng casually closed the door, put his arm around the girl's slender waist, and pulled her out of the courtyard without further ado.

As someone who values ​​privacy and secrecy above all else, he didn't want anyone to enter his bedroom, not even his closest bed partner. Moreover, Elo Tyrell was merely a tool for him to achieve his goals, far from being a close partner.

And so, the seemingly estranged young couple walked across the street toward the sea, completely unaware that a furtive figure was following them not far behind...

Chapter 0125 Changes

Inside the largest brothel on Silk Street, Petyr Baelish, as always, hid in his room, reviewing the intelligence relayed by his men.

Although he didn't train a "little bird" composed of underage children like Varys the Spider, he was no less skilled.

To be precise, through his years as a tax collector in Seagull Town and later as the Minister of Finance, he successfully used his business acumen to cultivate and gather a large number of merchants. It can be said that wherever merchants are, there is a high probability that he has his spies.

Contrary to popular belief that he had no background or power, Petyr Baelish actually had a considerable amount of influence behind him, including several nobles in the Vale who made their fortunes through trade.

It was precisely because of the support of these nobles that he dared to instigate Lysa Tully to poison her husband Jon Arryn, and then personally ignite the flames of chaos and war, seizing the opportunity to usurp the territory and titles that originally belonged to the Arryn family.

However, Zhang Cheng's sudden appearance caused great uncertainty to the originally meticulous plan, especially the mysterious magic that could not be measured by common sense, which made him feel that it was a potential threat.

As an ambitious mastermind, he naturally wouldn't sit idly by and wait for his doom; he had already sent people to gather a great deal of information about the Children of the Forest.

Unfortunately, neither the so-called knowledgeable scholars nor the alchemists who could create terrifying "wildfire" could do anything about it.

After all, the Children of the Forest have been out of sight for far too long, so long that only a very few surviving stories still vaguely mention these true natives of Westeros.

As for the pictures and hieroglyphs they left behind, no one has been able to decipher them.

Just as Petyr Baelish frowned, trying to find a way to restrain his rival, a slight sound came from the closed door.

Immediately afterwards, a metal hook reached through the crack in the door and deftly hooked the bolt. In less than two seconds, the thick wooden door creaked open, and a petite figure slipped in from outside.

“Yana, how many times have I told you, knock before entering my room.” Petyr Baelish sighed without looking up.

Clearly, he was quite familiar with the intruder, so much so that he could recognize him by his voice alone.

"Ah! Sorry, sir, I'm used to it." With that, the petite figure took off her hood, revealing a doll-like, delicate face.

Without a doubt, this is a young girl around fourteen or fifteen years old.

Judging from her silky black hair and brown eyes, she was probably from a free city-state on the other side of the ocean.

Baelish chuckled dismissively, shrugged, put down the messy notes in his hand, and crossed his arms over his chest: "Tell me, what valuable intelligence have you discovered through these past few days of surveillance?"

The girl called Yana curled the corners of her lips and replied in a rather playful tone, "There's quite a lot. Which part would you like to hear first? You know, this Sir Mason is no ordinary man. I've tried to get close to his bedroom several times, and I almost got caught each time."

"Of course, it's about my old friend Varys. So, did they have a fight? Who won?" Baelish's eyes revealed intense anticipation.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. As far as I know, their conflict only lasted a very short time, and then they reappeared as friends. Also, your old friend seems to have aged considerably all of a sudden; perhaps only he himself knows what happened." Yana quickly recounted what she knew.

"Oh? Are you sure?" Baelish raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Yana nodded without hesitation: "Yes! Your old friend's skin is now so loose that he looks like a man in his sixties or seventies. Oh, and I also discovered that Elo Tyrell is currently staying in Ser Mason's courtyard. The two of them were walking hand in hand on the beach just a few hours ago, and they looked so intimate that it was truly enviable."

Baelish stroked his chin, as if deep in thought.

A full minute passed before he chuckled and muttered to himself, "Interesting. Varys has actually backed down. That's not like him. It seems... I need to meet with him and exchange some information."

"Um... my lord, I must remind you that, according to the information passed down from our spies in the castle, after the two met, Lord Varys locked himself in his room and refused to see anyone," the girl said playfully, winking.

"Hmph! Don't worry, even if Varys refuses to see everyone, he'll still choose to come out and see me. After all, in some ways, we're the same kind of people..."

Having said that, Baelish stood up, threw all the notes into the brazier, and then left the room, heading towards the Red Keep.

About half an hour later, he arrived at the door of "Octopus Spider's" bedroom and gently knocked on the door with his right hand.

boom! boom! boom!

"Who? Didn't I say I wouldn't see anyone?" Varys' weak voice came through the door.

“It’s me, your old friend. You may not see everyone else in the world, but you will definitely come out to see me, won’t you?” Littlefinger replied confidently.

Varys remained silent for a moment, then quickly gave a wry laugh: "Heh, I'm really sorry, my situation is a bit special right now, and I can't even see you. Please leave."

Just as Baelish was about to say something, a note suddenly flew out from under the door.

He glanced around instinctively, and after confirming that no one was there, he quickly picked up the note, glanced at it, and immediately showed a strange look of fear on his face. Without saying a word, he turned around and disappeared at the end of the narrow corridor of the castle.

Meanwhile, Varys was sitting in front of a mirror in the room, staring at his unusually aged face and the ghouls behind him that were faintly visible, exuding a chilling and evil aura.

Clearly, to prevent this master of intrigue from making any underhanded moves, Zhang Cheng kept the undead from the Soul Reaper by his side, constantly monitoring his every move.

If he does anything that is detrimental to himself, the undead will immediately pounce on him and drain his remaining life force.

However, "Eight-Clawed Spider" is still "Eight-Clawed Spider," and although he may not be able to do things openly, he still managed to leak the information to another master of conspiracy.

Thus, the two people who should have been adversaries ended up joining forces again due to external intervention.

Just as Zhang Cheng had initially predicted, as he participated in the Game of Thrones as a player, the original plot began to slowly change, and as for how it would ultimately turn out, no one knew...

Chapter 0126 Little Devil

With Eddard Stark's head falling to the ground, the already turbulent Seven Kingdoms immediately crumbled.

Renly Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon in the south both raised their banners, claiming that Joffrey was not Robert's biological son, and declared themselves the rightful heirs to the Iron Throne almost simultaneously.

Robb Stark of Winterfell also raised the banner of revenge for his father, summoned a large number of vassals, and gathered more than 20,000 elite troops, marching in a mighty force toward the Riverlands.

Tywin Lannister had to first mobilize his army to intercept the young and impetuous "Young Wolf Lord," hoping to use his rich military experience to defeat this greenhorn before turning his attention to the more troublesome Baratheon brothers.

Unfortunately, he clearly forgot that in the military field, young people should never be underestimated.

Because youth means less constraint by rules and regulations, and the ability to come up with brilliant ideas at critical moments and make decisions that ordinary people cannot predict. In military terms, this is called surprise.

Whether in the era of cold weapons or the era of firearms, surprise means that a fierce attack can be launched when the opponent is completely unprepared, and the result is often disastrous.

Robb Stark, leading his troops for the first time, did not adopt the traditional strategy of steady and methodical advance, but instead chose a rapid assault strategy.

In the blink of an eye, they crushed the Lannisters, who had almost controlled the Riverlands, and even captured the infamous "Kingslayer" Jaime Lannister. They fully demonstrated the courage and fearlessness of young people, winning almost every battle. As a result, many nobles in the North mistakenly believed that they could defeat the Lannisters and invade King's Landing.

The shrewd Tywin Lannister, recognizing his opponent's military talent, decisively chose to remain inactive. At the same time, he ordered his son, Tyrion Lannister, to take over as Hand of the King, to keep the increasingly unruly Cersei and Joffrey in check, and hoped to exchange the captured Jaime for him through diplomacy.

After all, in his heart, the handsome and dashing James was his real son.

As for Tyrion, he is nothing but a deformed offspring who disgraces the Lannister family and is utterly unworthy of inheriting the Lannister name.

However, "Little Tyrion" clearly did not fully grasp this point, and happily led Bronn to this dirty and chaotic capital of the Seven Kingdoms.

As soon as he crossed the city gates, Tyrion couldn't wait to ask the mercenary leader beside him, "Bron, do you think I should visit my dear sister and my capricious king's nephew first, or visit Ser Mason, whom Father mentioned?"

"Oh? Could you tell me in detail what's so special about this Sir Mason that makes your father, Duke Tywin, look at him with such favor?" Bronn asked, quite surprised.

Having seen Tywin Lannister in person, he knew all too well how discerning this old man with his iron-fisted style was.

“I don’t know the specifics, but he seems to have defeated Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, with overwhelming force at the Grand Tournament and severely injured Gregor Clegane, the Mountain. Especially the latter; my father had to order the blacksmith to forge him a hammer that was completely fixed to his hand, which solved the problem of him being unable to hold a sword with one hand. Besides that, it is said that he also possesses some kind of mysterious and incredible power.” Tyrion told him everything he knew.

"What?! He seriously injured the Mountain?" Bronn's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.

“Yes! Many who watched the duel declared him the strongest knight of the moment, and even gave him a nickname—Invincible Mason. Personally speaking, I don’t think anyone is invincible; perhaps he’s just lucky.” With that, Tyrion shrugged, grabbed the bag, took a swig of wine, and handed it to the mercenary leader.

The latter took a swig and joked with a smile, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go and see just how powerful this invincible knight is!"

After spending some time together, these two like-minded guys unexpectedly developed a certain tacit understanding, or rather, a fragile friendship.

The reason he is considered fragile is because Bronn is a complete pragmatist. Once he discovers that following "Little Tyrion" will bring him unpredictable dangers, he will absolutely not hesitate to betray him.

Zhang Cheng's residence was not too far from the city gate, and coupled with the halo of being the champion of the martial arts tournament, many people knew the location of his mansion.

Tyrion arrived at the gate with almost no effort, but before he could signal the mercenary leader to knock, the gate opened by itself.

The butler, Deli, bowed respectfully and said with a smile, "Greetings, Your Excellency the soon-to-be Prime Minister. On behalf of my master, I welcome you. Please come in; a sumptuous feast and fine wine have been prepared in the back hall, awaiting your presence."

“Who could refuse such a hospitable host, and such a sumptuous feast and wine? Come, Bronn, don’t keep Ser Mason waiting.” Tyrion quickly concealed his inner shock and deliberately put on a cheerful expression.

The reason is simple: the news that Tywin had appointed him as Hand of the King had just landed in his pocket, and even Queen Cersei was unaware of it. Yet, it had been revealed by a steward, and the fact that he hadn't lost his composure on the spot was quite remarkable.

After walking through a not-too-long corridor, Derry led the two guests into a room filled with various foods, fruits, and wine bottles. He bowed slightly to the host, who was sitting in a chair, and then immediately turned and left with all the servants.

After watching the unrelated people completely disappear, Zhang Cheng opened a bottle of fine Dornish red wine, poured a glass for each of the somewhat bewildered guests, and then raised his glass and said, "You know, Tyrion Lannister, I've wanted to meet you for a long time, and today my wish has finally come true."

"Why do you want to see me?" The little devil also picked up his cup, his eyes flashing with wariness.

“There are many reasons, and we can discuss them later. Now, I’d like to know what conditions your father, Tywin, offered me?” Zhang Cheng changed the subject, avoiding the main point.

Tyrion tilted his head back and downed the wine in his glass in one gulp. He quickly pulled a letter from his pocket and waved it lightly: "Here are the conditions! But before I hand it to you, you must tell me what kind of help you can offer should the war reach King's Landing."

“A lot! More than you can imagine! First, I have a hidden mercenary force, lurking in a secluded cave near the coast; second, I control two warships loaded with wildfire, ready to deliver a crushing blow to any enemy from the sea; and finally, and most importantly, I can offer you some additional, incomprehensible assistance…”

As he finished speaking, Zhang Cheng suddenly took a small bottle of bright red, viscous substance from the shelf and gently tossed it onto the ground.

Clap!

boom!

The instant the bottle shattered, intense flames shot into the sky, melting the solid marble floor and forming a small, terrifying pool of lava!