Game of Thrones: The Road to Pirate King

Chapter 193 The Seven Groups - Before the Final Battle

After the battle with the Demon Mountain, the Six Styles of the Navy - Shave! has one more use opportunity, allowing for one use of the Iv7 effect - Nirvana - Shave! The Six Styles of the Navy - Moonwalk! also has one more use opportunity, but its effects cannot be used again. [Dragon Slayer!] and [Six Styles of the Navy - Tempest Kick!] cannot use their effects again.

The dust had barely settled from the individual duels, and the cheers of victory still echoed within the high walls of Harrenhal, but the real celebration was yet to come. The lingering stench of blood and the excited smell of sweat had not yet dissipated, yet everyone's self-reflection had already been cast into the deeper night.

Tonight, the grand finale of this grand martial arts tournament—the final of the seven-team competition—will take place as scheduled. It will be a larger-scale, more tactically complex, and more brutal melee, a true crucible that will test courage, teamwork, and willpower.

As night fell, Harrenhal's massive torches were lit one by one, illuminating the grounds as if it were daytime.

Amidst deafening shouts, the final celebration began—the seven-team competition finals.

The final stage of the seven-team martial arts competition has been set up, and the most elite and valiant warriors from each faction have gathered here to engage in a final, brutal, and fierce melee and battle for the ultimate and undisputed supreme team glory.

The seven powerhouses who successfully advanced to the final are:

The Seven Islands of the Iron Islands, the Iron Eagles of the Iron Valley, the Bloodguards of the Golden Company, the Golden Supreme, the Thunderfury of Storm's End, the Winter Legion of the North, the Old Gods of the North, and the Righteous Army of King's Landing—this chaotic battle was not a simple fight between individuals. Long before the competition officially began, an invisible alliance had already quietly formed in the undercurrents.

Two armies from the North have formed a strong alliance without a doubt. They have already reached an agreement: first, unite against external enemies, eliminating all non-Northern forces, and then settle their internal conflicts. The Winter's Legion of the North is led by the brothers Brandon Stark and Eddard Stark, with its main members all from House Stark. The Glory of the Old Gods of the North is jointly led by House Bolton of Dreadfort and House Umber of Last Hearth. The members of this army were selected through a public duel organized spontaneously by the North, ultimately led by Jon Umber and Domirick Bolton.

The alliance between Storm's End and the Iron Islands stemmed from the mutual recognition between Robert Baratheon and Euron Greyjoy.

The Iron Islands' Seven Islands Army was originally led by Euron and Balf Greyjoy. However, Balon Greyjoy, the future heir to the Iron Islands, who was banned from the first group tournament after watching Euron's previous match, was determined to participate this time. Therefore, the team was changed to be jointly led by Balon and Euron, with Balf relegated to a secondary role. However, King Coron had given Balon a strict order before they entered the arena: all decisions regarding battle or retreat must be made in accordance with Euron's will.

Meanwhile, the Thunderfury of Storm's End was personally led by Duke Robert Baratheon, the only duke-led force on the battlefield. Despite his noble status, he identified most deeply as a warrior. He was acutely aware of the dangers, yet always believed that dying on the battlefield was a man's greatest honor. Had the two Northern forces not already allied, Robert's first choice as allies would undoubtedly have been Brandon and Eddard, their friendship stemming from their long shared life as Jon Snow's adopted sons in the Vale. His second choice was Euron—he genuinely admired Euron's strength.

The righteous army of King's Landing is primarily composed of the City Guard, commonly known as the "Golden Robes," who are the main military force maintaining order in King's Landing. This time, the legion is jointly led by Genos Slynt and Adam Marbran, two senior officers of the City Guard.

These warriors from the capital generally possessed an air of superiority, looking down on other armies with the disdainful gaze of city dwellers looking down on country bumpkins from remote areas. This undisguised arrogance was extremely repulsive. They had an inexplicable confidence that King's Landing's garrison was the strongest among the Seven Kingdoms, capable of defeating six against one.

The Vale had indeed intended to ally with King's Landing, but the public humiliation of House Arryn by the Mad King Aerys II and his attempts to divide the Vale were now common knowledge, making any form of alliance impossible.

Everyone with a discerning eye foresaw that once the competition officially began, the two teams most likely to engage in a fierce, life-or-death battle would be Valley and King's Landing.

The leader of the Vale Legion was Brynden Tully, known as "Blackfish." He was a man of fierce character and had always looked down on the "Golden Robes," who were well-equipped but arrogant. Now, he was burning with a desire to prove himself on the battlefield.

The current Grand Master of the Golden Company is Harry Strickland, an exiled knight from House Strickland, often referred to with a touch of irony as "the homeless" Harry. His great-grandfather lost his family's ancestral lands for supporting Damon Blackfyre's rebellion. Since then, three generations, from Harry's grandfather to himself, have been born in foreign lands and raised within the mercenary group, the Golden Company. Harry has wandered since childhood, never truly setting foot on his ancestral lands, yet deep within him lies an unyielding longing for belonging to Westeros.

Now, Harry Strykerland longs to return home, to Westeros. He hoped to use the Tournament of Harrenhal as a golden opportunity to demonstrate the Golden Company's strength to the Seven Kingdoms, regain the favor of a certain king, and thus lead his brothers back to Westeros. To this end, he even proactively proposed an alliance to King's Landing, but to his utter surprise, the other side rejected it without hesitation or even contempt, without giving any decent reason.

Because in the Mad King's eyes, regardless of whether the leader changes, the Golden Company is a traitor! An unforgivable traitor!!!

The Golden Company was founded by Aegon Rivers, the "Cold Iron," the legitimate bastard son of Aegon IV, the "Mediocrity King." Aegon stood firmly by Damon Blackfyre's side during the Blackfyre Rebellion, thus forging a deep-seated feud between the Golden Company and the Targaryen family on the Iron Throne that would last for generations. Although their former leaders had long since changed, in the eyes of the Mad King Aerys II, they remained the descendants of traitors, enemies who must be eliminated.

To ally with a former traitor? Absolutely not. Deep down, the Mad King would rather burn the entire Golden Company to ashes with that eerie wildfire, thus demonstrating to everyone the inviolable majesty of the royal family and the Targaryen family's ruthless vengeance.

Therefore, before the start of the competition, the three teams, King's Landing, Vale, and Golden Company, had still failed to reach an agreement on an alliance, and each of them fought independently, stepping into this perilous final arena.

As the horn sounded, the seven teams took their positions, creating a bizarre scene.