Dominique Bolton felt a deep, unbearable pain in his heart, but he still forced himself to endure the grief as he carefully gathered the ashes of his father, Luce Bolton.
The battle was not yet over. The crisis of the Dreadfort had not been resolved. The octopus monsters and the fish-men had still not been wiped out, and Dominique still had to avenge his father.
The Rakshasa King and the Flame Lord had killed four octopus monsters, but the largest one managed to escape into the main keep. It sacrificed part of its own body to distract the pursuing orc chieftain, Gaotai.
Gaotai was already injured, and in his carelessness, he failed to examine the "corpse" properly. By the time Yueying and the others realized something was wrong, it was already too late.
The octopus monster, hiding inside a secret chamber of the Dreadfort, commanded the fish-men and those parasitized half-human, half-fish abominations to launch crazed assaults on the human soldiers—while it itself slipped away into the moat.
The western moat was closest to the Weeping River. The octopus monster didn't need much time before it reached the waters. After several leaps and twists, it vanished directly into the freezing river.
Once the octopus monster fled, the fish-men and the parasitized half-human abominations fell into chaos. Some began fighting each other, while others wildly destroyed everything around them.
Very soon, under the relentless slaughter of the Valyrian Empire soldiers, the fish-creatures suffered devastating losses. Anyone who reacted to "Magic Purification" was spared.
The surrendered soldiers of House Bolton were assigned the work of carrying the wounded and gathering corpses. After dissecting several bodies of infected humans, Marco discovered that the parasites could not survive in open air.
Within the human body, the two kinds of bodily fluids where life-energy was most active were the parasites' favored environments. After "Magic Purification" took effect, the parasites became less active—this was why Marco felt assured enough to let the surrendered soldiers help save the parasitized victims.
For humans who reacted to "Magic Purification," the final step was simply to feed them diluted Vitality Spring Water. Over time, the Vitality Spring Water would gradually cleanse their bodies.
So far, Marco's subjects still could not withstand the full power of the Vitality Spring. Except for a small number of naturally gifted individuals, few could endure it.
Even the soldiers converted by the system into level 1–3 units couldn't handle it. Godrick and the other five level-6 units were unaffected, leading Marco to conclude that the Spring only worked effectively on high-level and spell-casting classes.
However, later Marco discovered that long-term consumption of diluted Spring Water could allow people to awaken their bloodline talents. The effect wasn't strong, but it was far better than before—far better than what he achieved back in Griffon Keep.
Northerners and the Wildlings carried the blood of the First Men and the Children of the Forest. The warg-like shapeshifters' innate closeness to nature came from this bloodline. Perhaps one day in the future, Marco's northern subjects would all become beings akin to elves.
As the Valyrian soldiers continued joining the fight, the fish-men suffered catastrophic casualties, eventually being slaughtered to the last. Their broken corpses were gathered outside the Dreadfort and burned in one great fire.
One month later — Dreadfort, main keep, council hall
The Dreadfort had been completely renewed. Goblin slaves worked under the command of little goblin overseers, repairing walls and buildings. Pig-goblins, bear-goblins, and wolf-goblins—this entire batch of mixed-blood goblins had been catalyzed by the Vitality Spring.
After simple training, these mixed-blood goblins were already useful. Perhaps because those from the Academy faction were natural researchers, under the operation of Naxxis—
Batch after batch of mixed-blood goblins and golems were produced in Winterfell, gradually replacing the lowest tier of laborers and becoming the North's most important productive force.
Now, on the farms near Winterfell and throughout the Long Lake region, goblin slaves and agricultural golems could be seen everywhere. Most farmers had joined Marco's factories, producing materials and processing goods for him.
But the thing that surprised Marco most were the Druyin.
Although they were not true system-generated Druyin units, their accomplishments in magic had reached an entirely new height. In just half a year, they had already developed specialized potion and plant systems.
After mastering bear-form and raven-form transformations, the Druyin continued examining and refining their abilities, eventually creating these two epoch-making magical systems.
The first was the potion system. Although currently centered on poisons and sedatives, after studying the "Vitality Regeneration" magic crystal for some time, the former "Wildling Princess," Val—now the Potion-Druyin Master Val—announced she had a 30% chance of producing such potions.
Potion Druyin could extract exactly what they needed from nature—and even use these substances during combat. Of course, the system's creation also benefited from the forest witches, especially Mole-Mother and Aiju under Yingeng.
The plant system needed no explanation. Built upon bear-form and raven-form foundations, it was an entirely new magical branch. Manipulating plants was only one of its abilities. When used at full strength, they could even control the forces of nature like the Children of the Forest.
Plant Druyin were divided into three sub-factions.One faction consisted of traditional forest witches like Mole-Mother—research-oriented, focused on modifying plants and largely converted from the forest witch tradition.
Another faction was led by Aiju, the "Child of the Forest"—the mastery faction. They emphasized recreating the powers of the Children, believing that controlling plants in battle was the strongest form of Druyin magic. Forest witches made up a large portion of this group.
The final faction was the shapeshift-specialization faction. Most were wargs and were currently led by "Dog-Head" Hama. Compared to the other two, they were more combat-oriented—using plants to hide aura and shape, and using poisons and vines to kill enemies.
The Druyin contributed enormously to post-war reconstruction in the North—seed selection, pest control, and more were all their domain.
The saints of the Temple of the Old Gods were all Druyin as well. Over time, the forest city "Wenlan" on Long Lake had become one of the North's most important cities.
Without farmland restrictions, many forward-thinking subjects sent their children to Wenlan as apprentices, as many Old Gods followers considered Wenlan a holy city.
Compared to the Druyin's rapid progress, Marco's magic apprentices saw little change. After converting Maester Marwyn's students and scholars, he let them conduct their own research and advancement.
Perhaps the Andal people had extremely weak magic aptitude, or perhaps the influence of the Vitality Spring had only just begun—but the apprentices' progress remained painfully slow.
Except for a few noble families, few commoners were willing to send their children to Winterfell to study magic. Most preferred the Druyin path.
Still, the addition of the magic apprentices significantly improved the efficiency of the golem foundry. A scholar named Razak displayed astonishing talent in the craft.
Marco appointed Razak as head of the golem foundry. Agricultural and engineering golems were created under his supervision. Once the technology was perfected, Marco immediately halted production of war-golems and shifted everything toward these two types.
In the reconstruction of the Dreadfort, engineering golems were used. These massive constructs had immense strength and could move materials extremely quickly, greatly accelerating the repair process.
At this moment, on the council hall's table in the Dreadfort, Marco stood holding a command rod, pointing toward the sand-table map as he explained his plan to everyone present.
Marco pointed to the location of Last Hearth and Codfish Village on the sand-table and said:
"Starting this month, we begin the first phase of the northern line. That is—the first road segment from Last Hearth to Codfish Village. This is also the perfect opportunity to test the mining capability of the engineering golems.
"And since we've acquired so much of the new wildfire, we can test its power as well. It'll help us determine the correct quantity needed for future siege warfare, and see how much is needed to open mountain paths."
Everyone present was stunned by Marco's plan, because on the sand table before him were three red lines stretching east to west—dividing the entire North into three massive sections.
The first line began at a port on the western coast at Sea Dragon Point, passed the Deepwood Motte, the Wolfwood Clan, the Mountain Clans, the Kingsroad, Last Hearth, and finally the Codfish Village docks Marco mentioned.
The second line began at a small pier on the Marshy Bay on the western coast, passed House Slater's Watchtower, then Torren's Square, the Condons' Red Eagle Keep, House Horwood's Horwood Hall, and House Lightfoot's Weeping River Dock.
The third line began at the small port at Brightflame Bay belonging to House Layswell of Streamland, passed Layswell's Leaping Horse Keep, then Barrowton, House Irons' Ironhorse Keep, House Waterman's Boat-Roost, House Wills' Green-Tree Keep, and House Orphey's Long Gate Keep—finally reaching the port of Widow's Watch.
There were actually three vertical lines as well, but Marco didn't point them out. The three horizontal routes were shocking enough—any more and he feared their hearts couldn't take it. After all, Marco's plan bordered on the outrageous.
But once Marco completed his northern network plan, the entire North would be tied together more closely than ever. Military transport, political control, and commercial power would all multiply severalfold.
And Marco was not the glory-hungry idiot "Mad King" Aerys II. He would complete this project step by step, building the immortal foundation of the Valyrian Empire. He was different—he had magic as his support.
In the history of the Seven Kingdoms, the infamous "Mad King" Aerys II had once possessed grand ambitions in his youth. The last king of the Targaryen dynasty had dreamed up many "fantastic ideas."
For example, upon ascending the throne, he wanted to conquer the Stepstones across the Narrow Sea and incorporate them into the Seven Kingdoms—until the terrifying military cost frightened him away.
In Aegon Year 264, he told House Stark he wanted to build another Wall north of the existing one. In Aegon Year 265, he planned to build a white marble city on the south bank of the Blackwater Rush.
In Aegon Year 267, when the Iron Bank of Braavos demanded repayment of his father Jaehaerys II's debt, that fool declared he would build the largest fleet in history and conquer Braavos.
Finally, in Aegon Year 270, while visiting Sunspear, he told the Princess of Dorne he intended to carve a massive underground canal beneath the Red Mountains to draw water from the rainforests into Dorne—turning the deserts into fertile lands.
In the future, Marco would eventually complete each of these ambitions, piece by piece—building a mighty empire where all his subjects would have full bellies.
In his memories from his previous life's television series, the scene Marco remembered most vividly was not Ned Stark's execution, nor the Red Wedding—
It was the old man and his granddaughter in the Riverlands, who warmly welcomed the Hound Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark during their escape—only to be robbed of everything by the Hound and later starve to death.
Perhaps Marco's first goal had been simply to make achievements and experience a completely different life in another world.
But as his territory expanded, he began to see countless sparks of human goodness among his subjects.Even the cannibalistic rock-tribes let their elders sacrifice themselves willingly to keep their families alive.
The Wildlings were cruel and greedy, but when faced with White Walkers and wights, they still chose to face death head-on—for the sake of their loved ones.
Northerners were stubborn and xenophobic, but they adhered steadfastly to their tradition of mutual aid, ensuring everyone survived the brutal winters.
Though his subjects had many flaws, Marco would still protect them—so they could live full and warm lives.
He would never again let people die because of kindness, nor lose their homes and lives because of a ruler's greed.
At this moment, Rams Snow, standing behind Dominique, suddenly spoke:
"Your Majesty… why is there no road planned here at the Dreadfort? Is it—"
"Rams! Shut your mouth! His Majesty naturally has his own considerations. It's not our place to speculate."
Before Rams could finish, Dominique cut him off. In his eyes, Marco repairing the Dreadfort at all was already an enormous blessing. Asking for more would only harm House Bolton.
Marco simply smiled and said:
"The Dreadfort already has a route connecting to Winterfell, and sea transport is quite convenient as well. After we finish the main roads, I'll make new arrangements. Many old routes will be refurbished too."
At that moment, a Maintainer soldier entered through the door. After saluting Marco, he said:
"Your Majesty! The men from House Karstark have arrived. Should we bring them in?"
-------------------------
Fully Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Patreon.com/Ramzane