Game of Thrones: Dragons have three heads, not three-headed dragons.

After observing the troops, Darren realized their formation was loose, indicating weak strength. If Darren had a thousand manor guards, the superior performance of their composite bows would have been enough to overwhelm them. However, he only had 500 veterans, the rest unarmed recruits. A reckless charge by the enemy could easily lead to a riot among the recruits, jeopardizing his own safety. Just as Darren was at his wit's end…

Rag shouted loudly at the enemy ranks, "Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?" Rag's shout wasn't loud and was quickly drowned out by the enemy's voices. However, Darren, jolted awake by Rag's shout, immediately echoed Rag's voice and shouted back at the enemy.

Darren's shout was much louder than Rag's, silencing the noisy enemy ranks. A moment later, a mercenary on a black horse slowly emerged from the enemy ranks. Darren observed the mercenary intently; he had messy short hair, a golden-red beard hanging down his chest, and clothes as filthy as the other mercenaries', but a silver gleam peeked out from the filth, revealing that the mercenary wore armor beneath his old clothes.

Darren watched as the opposing leader stepped out of his ranks, then spurred his horse forward and shouted, "Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?" The mercenary replied, "I am Melo, the leader of the Second Sons, the great son of the Titans. You will be released if you hand over your armor and weapons."

Upon hearing this, Darren thought to himself that trouble was brewing. "The Second Sons is a mercenary group formed during the Bloodshed Age. The current leader, Melo, who claims to be the Son of Titan, is a notorious mercenary. His leadership has resulted in almost no one in the Controversial Lands willing to hire the Second Sons." Knowing who the enemy was, Darren immediately turned his horse around and refused to say anything more to Melo. Based on Melo's past reputation, he judged that this battle was almost inevitable.

What intrigued Darren was that the Second Sons' mercenaries numbered at most five hundred; how had the enemy managed to mobilize so many people to surround him?

After Daren returned to his lines, Melo also returned to his own ranks, rallying his soldiers for a fierce advance, intending to wipe out Daren's 500 men in one fell swoop. When the enemy advanced to within two hundred paces of Daren's lines, Daren immediately ordered his 200 archers to fire a volley. The Second Sons' mercenaries, unaware of the range of the composite bow, suffered thirty or forty hit by the arrows. Despite seeing the enemy's long range, Melo did not lose heart and continued to have his soldiers advance with their shields raised.

Seeing that the other side had not given up, Darren gave 100 cavalrymen from his army to Commander Rag. Oris had put a lot of effort into building the manor cavalry, not only making scale armor and helmets for the riders, but also covering the horses with relatively light cloth armor, which improved the horses' defense without affecting their speed. This cavalry can be called the most powerful heavy cavalry in the world of Ice and Fire.

When the enemy approached to within a hundred paces, they had already left behind no fewer than 200 corpses. Daren immediately ordered the swordsmen and shieldmen to be in front, the archers to be hidden in the rear, and the cavalry to be deployed on both flanks, ready to launch a full-scale attack as soon as the enemy advanced further.

When the mercenaries closed to within fifty paces, Darren waved his command flag. Rag, leading 100 cavalry, immediately split into two groups and charged the flanks of the mercenaries in front. When they were about ten paces away, Rag drew his javelins and hurled them at the enemy ranks. His soldiers followed suit, and the barrage of javelins caused chaos among the mercenaries at the front. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Rag led his cavalry to divide and encircle the disorganized mercenaries.

Led by Darren, the swordsmen and shieldmen who had been waiting in formation charged out of the ranks and towards the divided mercenaries. Darren took the lead, gripping his blood-stained blade and hacking and slashing at the chaotic mercenaries. After a while, Darren noticed the cavalry beginning to retreat, and immediately ordered the swordsmen and shieldmen to retreat in small squads with their shields raised.

Upon discovering Daren's actions, Melo immediately ordered the archers in the rear to fire. Although the enemy's range was inferior to that of the manor guards' composite bows, the continuous advance inevitably caused casualties to Rag's cavalry. When Rag noticed the cavalry's losses, he immediately ordered a flanking retreat. Daren, upon discovering the cavalry's retreat, began a slow withdrawal, abandoning a golden opportunity to annihilate the enemy's vanguard.

In this battle, Darren's guards suffered 50 casualties, while Rag's cavalry suffered 15 casualties, nearly annihilating 500 enemy soldiers. It was a rare and great victory. The main reasons for the victory were that the narrow riverbank terrain where they were located was not conducive to the deployment of a large army, and secondly, the enemy's equipment was far inferior to that of Oris's manor guards.

Darren did not become complacent after his first victory, mainly because his situation was not good. Although he had repelled the enemy's attack, his side did not have many arrows left. Although he recovered some after cleaning up the battlefield, the enemy was still blocking the way, and the psychological pressure on the soldiers was not to be underestimated.

As the sun set, Darren and Rag discussed the situation in the military camp. "Now that the enemy is no longer attacking rashly, it's fine if it's just the manor guards. But these few thousand new recruits in the camp probably won't be able to withstand the enemy's pressure. Should we send the new recruits across the river tonight?" Darren said.

As soon as Darren finished speaking, Rag retorted, "This recruitment cost so much money, and the new recruits will turn into deserters the moment they cross the river. If something like this happens, where will Andalus find them?" Darren's voice wasn't loud, but he still spoke up, "But if these 2500 men cause a disturbance, we'll all be wiped out." Rag fell silent upon hearing this.

That night, Messi and Ronaldo did not advance, but they still put considerable pressure on Darren.

The next morning, Daren got up, intending to ask Rag for help, when he heard a huge commotion coming from the enemy camp. Daren immediately led his personal guards out of the camp to investigate, only to find the enemy camp ablaze with flames and shouts of battle rising in waves. Daren scratched his head, completely bewildered.

But Rag had already arrived. "Is there some infighting on the other side?" Rag asked Daren. Daren shook his head, indicating he didn't know. Seeing that Daren also looked puzzled, Rag didn't hesitate and immediately led the remaining cavalry in a full-scale attack.

Seeing that Rag had already charged out, Daren could only lead the remaining swordsmen and shieldmen to follow closely behind Rag.

When Rag and Daren rushed into the mercenary camp, they saw a cavalry force of about 300 men charging and setting fires in the camp. The leader was Pochi. Rag joined the charge, while Daren led the swordsmen and shieldmen to mop up the fleeing mercenaries.

The battle continued until noon. The remaining 500 mercenaries who had surrendered were terrified and surrounded by the swordsmen and shieldmen brought by Darren. Meanwhile, their commander, Melo, had long since disappeared.