"Benjen!"
Seeing that Old Bear Jeor Mormont was about to retort, he quickly spoke to him.
Marco waved his hand to signal for the team behind him to set off. He tugged on the reins, guiding his horse forward, and said as he went:
"Lord Benjen! One day, you will believe everything someone has said! Perhaps someone has already changed the predetermined fate of many people.
The threads of fate have already been grasped in someone's hands! The future will be a magnificent painting! Well then! See you next time, gentlemen!"
His voice became more and more powerful towards the end, not diminishing at all with the increasing distance, and clearly reaching the ears of every warrior.
With Marco's increasing magical power, he became more and more adept at using this small trick of sound transmission.
Benjen watched Marco, who was getting farther and farther away from them, his pupils unconsciously shrinking slightly, and a strange light flashed across his face.
He unconsciously turned his head towards Jeor Mormont, "Old Bear," his expression full of questions. "Old Bear" glanced at him and said:
"Lord Marco! Is a! Hmm! Very! Mysterious person!"
The regions north of The Wall were mainly divided into four areas: the Frozen Coast to the west, the Land of Eternal Winter to the north, the Haunted Forest to the east, and some river alluvial plains.
There was also a huge mountain range in the center. It had many names among the wildlings. In his notes, Maester Aemon named this mountain range "Teeth of Frost."
This name was also included on the Map of the Continent by the Citadel and was a more widely accepted term in the regions south of The Wall.
However, in the memories of the wildlings, the Teeth of Frost was just a mountain peak and was not considered a mountain range.
The largest river in the Teeth of Frost mountain range was "You River" (censored text, everyone understands!). It was located west of the Haunted Forest and was formed by several tributaries from the Teeth of Frost mountain range.
The grand canyon formed by the You River's impact was the western end of The Wall.
This grand canyon looked as if some indescribable force had cleaved it open, with a raging river running through it and steep, towering cliffs.
That's why the wildlings would rather scale the icy face of The Wall than venture here, even once.
Craster's keep was located near a tributary of You River, about 160 kilometers northwest of the village of Whitetree.
Marco knew Craster was the only human who offered sacrifices to the White Walkers, though there might be others. Still, sticking to the principle of eliminating them one by one, Marco decided to take him down first. Of course, it wasn't because he had his eye on his daughters (all of whom had been… defiled).
Marco was doing this to save those poor women, to prevent them from being abused by those traitorous members of the Night's Watch in the future, and, of course, to deal with their unscrupulous father!
"This is a very righteous act, very righteous!"
Marco silently told himself.
After stopping and starting along the way, Marco and his group finally arrived near Craster's Keep after fifteen days.
According to Wolf Fang's reconnaissance, Marco had already learned the specific location and layout of Craster's Keep.
Craster's Keep was built on a small hill, surrounded by a row of earthen embankments about five meters high. Marco guessed that this might be the reason it was called a "keep."
There was a small gate on the southwest side of the embankment, next to a small stream that meandered north. Inside the embankment were a garbage heap, a pigsty, and a sheep pen.
The bloodline of House Stark seemed to be very unique. Marco estimated it should be some kind of divine bloodline; otherwise, the White Walkers wouldn't value it so much.
When they lured the Night King to fall, they even sent a female White Walker.
Just as Marco was pondering the problem, a large flock of ravens suddenly flew over from not far away. They were screeching frantically, as if they had encountered something terrifying.
Moonshadow of the Children of the Forest rode a shadow lynx and moved to Marco's front, seemingly wanting to say something to Marco.
Marco nodded at her and gestured for those around him to be on alert, muttering to himself:
"Old Bear! Ah! Old Bear! I still underestimated your 'kindness'. Sigh! A small act of kindness has already bewitched you. The person who saved you might just be trying to make up for his guilty conscience!"
"Be on guard!"
Sas Ting roared, and he and his two subordinates took out the huge shields from their backs, protecting Marco.
Their shields were all inlaid with a piece of Obsidian. This was a treasure they had obtained during Marco's last adventure, those Obsidian pieces that had been enchanted.
Ever since Marco had suffered from the White Walker's Ice Spears, he had started to pay attention to this problem.
For this reason, he had specifically inquired Moonshadow about related knowledge, and Moonshadow suggested using Obsidian for protection.
Those Obsidian pieces that had been enchanted, although their power was far less than before, were now just right for embedding in armor and shields.
So, Marco had Moonshadow use the enchanted obsidian to modify the shields, especially those with fire properties, which were clearly effective against the White Walkers.
Basically, everyone except Marco, Narkissos, and Moonshadow was equipped with a round shield, just in case of such emergencies.
"Ooooh!"
A series of indistinct roars rang out as broken arms suddenly reached up from the ground.
Upon closer inspection, Marco realized they were surrounded by these corpses without even noticing.
Following that, over 100 Wights crawled out from under the snowdrifts, surrounding Marco and the others from all directions.
Although the wildlings had always had the custom of cremation, it still couldn't guarantee that no corpses would be left in the wilderness.
Moreover, the frozen ground preserved the corpses well, giving the White Walkers the opportunity to replenish their troops. Judging by their appearance, Marco estimated the White Walkers had begun to amass their forces.
Because these Wights looked almost like ordinary people, they were remarkably well-preserved, with only a few having any defects.
A pair of eerie blue eyes stared at Marco and his group, making them appear very strange. If someone with a weak will stood here, they would likely be scared out of their wits!
At this moment, Wolf Fang, who was next to Marco, suddenly spoke:
"My Lord! Five White Walkers have been detected to the west of us. However, they are far away and do not seem to intend to confront us directly."
Marco nodded after hearing this and muttered to himself, "Why are there so few Wights? That's not right! Have I remembered incorrectly?"
Five White Walkers controlling only a hundred or so Wights seemed strange to Marco. For the sake of caution, Marco abandoned the idea of experimenting with the "Hades Banshee" magic.
Danny Filint, the "Hades Banshee" synthesized in the magic circle at the Nightfort, seemed to have become a special kind of summoning magic.
This magic was somewhat similar to Arantir's "Death Avatar" from the game, and it was even more practical in some ways.
Because Marco didn't expend any magic when using this spell, his magic wouldn't be emptied upon death.
The only downside was that, like elemental summoning, it had a time limit. A level 5 Marco could only control it for about 30 seconds.
What was most frustrating was that it only added 30 seconds every 5 levels, and could only be used once a day.
Although he really wanted to try this spell, seeing the small number of Wights, Marco abandoned the impulse to use it immediately.
Fortunately, Marco had accumulated a lot of magic during this time, so he didn't necessarily need this spell to turn the tables.
Therefore, Marco opened his spellbook, turned to the summoning magic page, and selected a spell he'd always wanted to use.
"Raise Dead", consuming 9 magic points, reduced to 7 due to Narkissos's "Energy Tunnel" characteristic.
As the ghostly green magical energy in Marco's hand pulsed, the 15 closest Wights suddenly began to tremble violently.
About three seconds later, a purple soul fire suddenly ignited in the eyes of these 15 Wights.
Following this, Marco felt that he had established a kind of soul link mechanism with these creatures, so he decisively issued the attack command.
"Awoo..."
The 15 Wights charged at their "comrades" with even more ferocious postures, immediately disrupting the gradually closing formation.
These Wights, enhanced by Marco's attack techniques, attacked even more frantically, tearing, biting, and ramming, directly stalling the Wights' advance.
The two White Walkers in the distance tilted their heads slightly, seemingly puzzled as to why 15 Wights had suddenly lost contact.
At this moment, one of the White Walkers suddenly howled, pointing the Ice Spear in its hand at the Wight group not far away, and the other White Walkers also turned their heads there.
At this moment, the Wight group was in chaos, but because they were some distance away, the White Walkers didn't notice the changes in the Wights' eyes.
Watching the chaotic horde of Wights, the Snow Bear Knights seized the opportunity to attack them with crossbows.
In a matter of seconds, more than a dozen Wights fell to the ground, turning into ashes.
The Obsidian weapons obtained from Moonshadow's hidden dwelling were incredibly powerful. Basically, three bolts from a crossbow were enough to turn a Wight into dust.
The Wights seemed to rely on the life energy within their bodies to identify friend or foe. They could find their targets because of this ability.
However, due to Marco's Wights interfering, they became extremely chaotic and couldn't distinguish friend from foe for a moment.
Seeing the Wights being eliminated bit by bit, the five White Walkers became somewhat anxious. Two of them picked up their Ice Spears and wanted to charge forward.
The leading White Walker stopped them in time. Under his command, the other two White Walkers began to act.
They raised their hands, and the ghostly blue energy in their eyes burned intensely. Then, they both roared.
The flow of energy in the air intensified with their roars, and the ground began to shake violently.
A severely decayed giant hand suddenly emerged from the snow. A Giant Wight clawed its way out, brushing off the accumulated snow.
Another Giant Wight stood up abruptly from the other side, climbing out of the snowdrift and roaring at Marco and his companions.
These Wights had been hidden well, seemingly using some kind of special magic by the White Walkers to conceal the fluctuations of power and scent emanating from their bodies.
This allowed Marco, along with the other two spellcasters, to fail to detect any anomalies. Moreover, the two Giant Wights were very close to Marco, as if they had been lying in wait specifically for them.
Marco first issued an attack order to Narkissos, then initiated a soul link with one of the Giant Wights.
Narkissos's "Chain Fireball" was unleashed, and after a violent explosion, the two giants' bodies were charred black.
Marco then seized the opportunity to cast "Magic Arrow," targeting the Giant Wight he had linked his soul with.
"Awooo!"
A guttural roar erupted from the Giant Wight's mouth. Marco's spell had ripped away half its face.
Although Wights no longer felt physical pain, the lingering life energy still retained a semblance of their bestial instincts.
The residual soul energy fed this pain back to Marco, but because the energy was so meager, it only restored 2 mana points.
"Focus fire! Target! Giants! Fire!"
With Lauren Hawkeye's command, the Snow Bear Knights split into two groups and attacked the two approaching Giant Wights.
"Awooo!"
One Giant Wight, riddled with ten Obsidian arrows, howled and collapsed to the ground, its body slowly decaying into dust.
Another one howled and charged towards Marco. Just as it was about to reach him,
a giant energy fist descended from the sky and smashed into it. The Giant Wight stumbled, then crashed to the ground with a loud "boom."
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Five arrows accurately struck the Giant Wight's head. With a final, unwilling roar, it turned into a pile of ashes!
More howls echoed. Suddenly, over a hundred Wights emerged from both the east and west.
"Is this your trump card? Now this is more like what the White Walkers should be doing?"
Marco muttered to himself, then turned his head towards Henk and nodded slightly.
"Attention, everyone! Launch a surprise attack on the western Wights. Focus fire! Kill!"
Marco then opened his spellbook and cast a summoning spell, "Summon Elementals."
Following the appearance of a deep blue magic circle, a spiraling column of water materialized, radiating a frigid aura.
With a thought, Marco directed the water elemental to unleash "Winter's Ice Ring" upon the wights to the east.
A circular ice pillar, over two meters tall, erupted from the ground, impaling more than a dozen wights.
Next, Marco activated his mutated skill, "Hades Banshee."
"Aaaah!"
A high-pitched feminine scream pierced the air, followed by a shadowy form emerging from Marco's body.
The dark silhouette expanded, ultimately coalescing into a humanoid shape. Once the black energy dissipated, a beautiful young woman stood before them.
Her head bore eight bony crown-like antlers, and her three pairs of red eyes gleamed like jewels, filled with a captivating allure.
Combined with her delicate features, she possessed an uncanny beauty, her perfectly sculpted curves covered by a layer of chitinous armor.
zw443sx Related recommendations: Starting with a Chicken, Simulate Cultivation: Find the Best Life Trajectory, The Immortal Cure for a Broken Heart in the Cultivation World, Falling in Love with Night Roses, Time Stops First in Tokyo.