Spellcasting Gods

The lead knight held aloft a violet banner depicting a crossed sword and staff, attracting many passersby to stop and watch, eager to find out which family this belonged to.

After all, two thousand heavily armed soldiers are not something any noble can afford to support. Not only do they need to own a large territory, but they also need to have enough financial resources to support them. Otherwise, the high daily maintenance costs alone would be enough to bankrupt the treasury.

Unfortunately, even the most knowledgeable merchants did not recognize such a strange family crest, let alone the young nobleman on horseback.

Just as everyone was pointing and whispering among themselves, an old man in armor suddenly ran up from the back of the column and said in a low voice to the commander of the army, "Sir, the Tyrell family of Highgarden has just sent three white warhorses, seventy carts of food supplies, five hundred barrels of ale, four hundred longbows and one hundred thousand fine arrows. What do you think we should do with these supplies?"

"Handle it as you see fit, don't worry. I will personally handle the relationship with the Tyrell family. Your job is to keep the army under control. You must understand that we are not only dealing with the Florent family this time, but also more than a dozen other families, large and small, in the surrounding area. They may not be a match for me individually, but they will be quite troublesome if they unite." The young nobleman gave his orders expressionlessly.

Clearly, he was none other than Zhang Cheng, who was planning to go to Liangshui City to receive his fiefdom.

As for the old man in armor, he was his loyal subordinate, Blanco.

Since forming an alliance with Varys and Petyr Baelish, King's Landing has lost its appeal to him, and he is even less willing to get involved in the upcoming power struggle between the Tyrells and Lannisters. Therefore, he chooses to leave the vortex of power, first occupy a territory, and slowly wait for Tywin Lannister to be killed by Imp, and for Cersei, now unrestrained, to detonate the cathedral.

During this time, he could calm down and continue his research. If circumstances allowed, he could also meet with Daenerys and find out where the Targaryen family's ability to remain unburnt came from.

If you have any spare time, it would be nice to make another trip north of the Wall and search for the last remaining Children of the Forest.

In short, there is so much in this world to explore and study, and only an idiot would waste his time on power struggles.

"Understood!"

The old mercenary nodded vigorously, immediately called a team to receive the supplies, and then urged the entire army to maintain its speed and continue advancing. No one noticed that a black dot in the sky was constantly circling overhead.

After passing through the scenic High Court, Zhang Cheng soon left the main road under the guidance of the guide and headed straight for Liangshui City along a path to the southwest.

Since the march was carried out without any attempt at concealment, Colin Floren, the acting lord of Brightwater City, quickly received the news and summoned his family members in the city to discuss countermeasures.

After all, the Florentine family lost most of their army in the previous Battle of the Blackwater River, and now there are less than four hundred soldiers left in the city. They may be able to maintain order and deter bandits, but they certainly cannot defend such a large castle and market.

Suddenly, everyone in Brightwater was on edge, and many cowards even suggested taking their money and fleeing to Stannis on Dragonstone for protection.

However, before the Florentine family members left behind could reach a conclusion in their argument, Zhang Cheng's vanguard, a cavalry force of five hundred elite men, arrived first, completely extinguishing their hopes of escape.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that two legs can't outrun four, let alone when you're carrying valuables.

Standing on the city wall, Colin Floren looked down at the cavalrymen taking turns resting, and asked his trusted knight behind him with a wry smile, "Hossman, do you think we have a chance to win if we choose to resist?"

The man called Hossman hesitated for a moment, then quickly shook his head: "I'm sorry, sir, the other side has at least two thousand men, and they also have the support of the Tyrell family of Highgarden and the Iron Throne. I think the best course of action is to try to take as much wealth as possible through negotiation."

"Sigh, you're right. It seems the Florentine family is going to lose this land they've lived on for generations." Colin sighed helplessly.

If he could, he would have loved to defend the castle to the death and prove the glory of the Florentine family with his own blood.

But when he thought of all the women and children in the city, he immediately abandoned the plan.

No matter what, you can always find another territory if you lose it, but if all your people die, you'll lose everything.

Having made up his mind, Colin immediately ordered his attendant to take the conditions to make contact with the cavalry outside.

About ten minutes later, the young attendant returned safely, bringing with him the message to wait for the arrival of the army's master.

Thus, the two sides remained locked in a standoff across the city wall until, ten hours later, troops from the rear finally arrived.

When Zhang Cheng received the terms offered by the Florent family, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, sarcastically remarking, "Hahaha! This is hilarious! You actually demand to take all the gold and silver jewelry, half of the livestock and grain, leaving me only an empty castle?"

“My lord,” the young envoy said, “we believe these are already quite reasonable conditions. Consider this: Liangshui City possesses tall and sturdy city walls, as well as loyal guards. If you were to choose to launch a direct assault, it would take at least several months to half a year, and more than half of your soldiers would be killed or wounded. But now, you only need to give up a little wealth to obtain Liangshui City without lifting a finger. Isn’t that better?” He bowed and asked earnestly.

"Six months? More than half dead and wounded? I must say you're really overconfident. Go back! Tell Colin Floren! Either come out and surrender immediately, and I'll allow him to leave safely with his family members; or I'll storm in, and when the city falls, all members of the Floren family will be executed for treason. Remember, I'm only giving you one hour to consider. After one hour, I will begin the attack."

After issuing the ultimatum, Zhang Cheng impatiently waved his hand, signaling the guards to take the messenger away.

In fact, from the very beginning he had no intention of resolving Liangshui City peacefully, but rather intended to use bloodshed to declare his rule over this land.

Because only war and bloodshed can inspire awe, and awe is precisely what feudal lords desperately need.

As for those lords who simply wanted to influence their people with benevolence and love, they were either seen as weak and easily bullied, or they were killed by the enemy early on.

It may sound tragic, but good people, especially those who are overly kind, simply didn't have the right to survive under a feudal system...

Chapter 0142 Choice

"Well? Did they agree to our conditions?" Colin Floren asked impatiently as soon as the envoy returned to the city.

Not only him, but all the members of the Florent family also showed nervous and expectant looks.

After all, for them, every extra possession they take away means a greater hope of making a comeback, and it also means that their homeless lives can be made a little better.

Unfortunately, the young envoy shook his head with a wry smile and replied, "I'm sorry, sir, the other side has no intention of negotiating at all. Moreover, he made it clear that we must surrender unconditionally, otherwise, when the city falls, all members of the Florent family will be executed for treason."

"What?! How dare he?!"

"Damn it! Is this guy insane?!"

"Our noble lineage traces back to the daughter of 'Bluehand' Garth! We are closer to the Gardeners than Tyrell! We are the true masters of the Reach!"

"Let's teach this arrogant young man a lesson!"

"Yes! Let's teach him a lesson! Then he'll understand how to respect a long-established and ancient family!"

……

For a moment, the hall was filled with all sorts of insults and shouts, as if everyone had selectively forgotten how dire their current situation was.

Seeing his family members completely thrown into hysteria, Colin Floren sighed helplessly and shouted, "Enough! Since they want war, then let's give them war! The Floren family can decline! It can perish! But it must never tarnish the honor that has lasted for thousands of years."

“That’s right! We have strong walls and fortresses! Even if the enemy has a large number of people, it won’t be easy for them to break in. Once they’ve tasted the bitterness, they will naturally take the initiative to negotiate with us.” A knight echoed confidently.

Thus, under the command of the acting city lord Colin Floren, less than four hundred soldiers were deployed to the most important positions in Brightwater City, especially the towering arrow towers, each equipped with more than twenty archers, and even four ballistae produced by the Academy, which could pierce through even heavily armored knights instantly.

Most people believed that with just a few high-altitude arrow towers and ample food reserves, even an army of tens of thousands would have to pay a heavy price to break through.

The feudal lords of Westeros were keen to build tall and sturdy castles because castles had extremely strong defensive capabilities that could offset the difference in numbers. Often, they only needed one-fifth to one-tenth of the enemy's army to firmly protect themselves and their families.

In any case, the larger the army, the greater its consumption of supplies. If the war drags on for too long, many hidden contradictions and troubles may be exposed.

For Colin Floren, what he needed to do was not to defeat the army of more than two thousand men outside the city, but to buy as much time as possible and wait for the situation to turn around.

It's important to understand that what makes nobles nobles, besides controlling land, is their deeply entrenched and complex network of relationships.

Take the Florent family as an example. In this generation alone, they have formed marriage alliances with influential families such as Old Town Elder Layton Hightower and Randyll Tarly. Although such relationships are not enough to keep their territory and titles, they can still ask for protection in critical moments.

It was this sense of arrogance that led Colin Floren to choose war without hesitation, rather than unconditional surrender.

Seeing this scene from outside the city, Zhang Cheng burst into laughter: "Hahahaha! I never expected these idiots to cooperate so readily! I really want to know, what exactly gave them the courage to rebel?"

“Sir, the main members of the Florent family have all fled back to Dragonstone with Stannis, so Brightwater should not yet have received specific news about the Battle of Blackwater. Therefore, their knowledge of you is limited to the army outside, not including you personally,” Blanco explained with a smile.

Perhaps in normal times, he would worry about the cost of besieging a fortified castle.

But now, he only felt that the people on the castle were pitiful and pathetic, and that it wouldn't be long before they would witness an attack that was far beyond their comprehension.

“Well, ignorance is bliss. Hopefully, they can maintain this spirit of resistance later.” With that, Zhang Cheng waved to a mercenary behind him who had sworn allegiance to him.

Without saying a word, the latter immediately strode forward, knelt on one knee, and bowed with an almost fanatical attitude: "My lord, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Go, unload that sealed box from the car, then find a few sharpshooters. I need to destroy those troublesome arrow towers first," Zhang Cheng calmly instructed.

"As you wish!" The mercenary nodded, turned, and disappeared into the crowd.

A short while later, he returned to the spot carrying a wooden box with a white seal, followed by five archers carrying longbows.

Gently tearing off the seal he had personally affixed, Zhang Cheng opened the lid, revealing neatly arranged glass tubes inside, each filled with a sealed red liquid.

It goes without saying that these are all "dragon flames" he created in his spare time, and even a single drop can instantly melt steel and rock.

"What are you going to do..." Blanco visibly trembled and asked cautiously.

“Ah! That’s right! I want the dragon flames to burn all the soldiers on the arrow towers. I believe that after one round, the Florent family will realize what a huge mistake they made.” As Zhang Cheng spoke, he took out one of the bottles, tied it to an arrow with a rope, and handed it to an archer.

Without a word, the young man in his early twenties quickly approached the city wall under the protection of two shield-bearing infantrymen. Before the defenders could react, he fired a fatal arrow.

hum!

With the sound of the bowstring vibrating, the arrow traced a graceful parabola and landed precisely in the arrow tower on the east side.

When the glass bottle shattered upon impact with the rock, the red liquid immediately came into contact with the air, releasing a dazzling, bright flame.

next second...

boom!

The entire arrow tower was engulfed in flames!

Everyone who stood inside was engulfed by the flames. Some couldn't bear the pain of being burned alive and jumped from a height of tens of meters to their deaths.

Just a dozen seconds later, the chilling screams and wails stopped.

A keen observer could even notice that the black rocks around the arrow tower had turned red and melted slightly!

"Heh, what beautiful fireworks! Keep going, don't stop, burn down the remaining arrow towers too." Zhang Cheng urged without turning his head, a cruel smile on his face...

Chapter 0143 Uprooted

As test tubes carrying "dragon flames" were shot into their designated targets, the towering arrow towers standing in the four cardinal directions of Brightwater City resembled bright torches, continuously spewing out scorching flames.

Due to the extremely high temperature, the surrounding stones melted into liquid in no time and slowly slid down the outer wall.

Colin Floren, who had been full of confidence, now had a frozen expression on his face. To be precise, he had no idea what expression to use to express his feelings.

fear?

trembling?

Or perhaps they regret not choosing to surrender unconditionally?

After the first arrow tower was set ablaze, he realized he had made a mistake, just as the Storm Kingdom had failed to realize that Aegon the Conqueror's true power lay not in his meager army, but in his three fearsome dragons.

Now, the enemy he faces is not the more than two thousand heavily armed troops outside the city, but the owner of this army, a name and family he has never heard of before.

"M-Sir? What should we do?" a knight stammered.

Just now, he had lost more than eighty of his most elite soldiers, which was a sure sign of impending collapse for a castle with less than four hundred men left.

The remaining soldiers, let alone putting up a desperate resistance, are already doing justice to the Florent family's salaries over the years by not simply throwing down their weapons and running away to surrender.

"Send envoys! Tell them we surrender unconditionally! Immediately! Right now!" Colin Floren clenched his fists tightly, making a difficult decision on the spot.

Upon hearing this, the knight beside him breathed a sigh of relief and turned to shout at the young squire, "Quickly! Raise the white flag! Send a messenger out to tell them we surrender unconditionally!"

Soon, the attendant in charge of the negotiations raised a white flag and was slowly lowered from the city wall in a gondola.

Before his feet even touched the ground, an arrow suddenly pierced through the air and stabbed into his neck with a soft thud.