When the two faced each other, William couldn't help but glance at Malora, only to realize that at some point she had lifted her head as well. Her face was lost in the darkness, but her eyes shone with a deep, crystalline green, giving him an unsettling feeling. When their gazes met, William vaguely saw a beam of light shoot from her eyes toward him, and in the next instant, his mind felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, leaving him numb and unable to think. Only when the uncontrollable magic within him reacted automatically did he snap back, instinctively stepping aside as fast as possible, hand returning to the hilt of his sword, eyes fixed firmly on Malora.
Malora's body remained motionless. Her head turned slowly, like a robot, staring at William. The green in her eyes gradually dimmed, until her entire face seemed to become a black hole, as if ready to consume everything or suddenly spring something forth. "Winter is coming, William," she said in a flat tone devoid of any emotion, making the Stark family motto sound chilling.
What terrified William wasn't her words, but the sudden surge of magical energy he had felt from her moments ago. It had only lasted an instant before vanishing, yet William was certain it wasn't an illusion. The oppressive force was stronger than the cold power covering all of Harrenhal, an absolute pressure that left him utterly incapable of resisting.
William remained on guard, neither daring to attack nor to flee. Suddenly, Malora moved slightly, and he instinctively took a step back, swallowing hard.
Malora stretched lazily. "Hehehe, why are you looking at me like that? Hmm? Looking for some fun?" she said, acting neurotic as if nothing had just happened.
William examined her carefully. It was still the same familiar magic, the same eccentricity, and he quietly exhaled in relief. But he had to check again. "Lady Malora, what you did just now was a bit excessive!"
"Excessive? Excessive?!" She seemed momentarily stunned, then suddenly screamed, rushing toward William. "I did all that for you, and you dare call me excessive?" Under the firelight, William saw her face emerging from beneath her hood. Whether obscured by shadow or naturally dirty, it was hard to make out her features, but her eyes seemed about to spew flames. Her anger was unmistakable. Even her hands reached out from her sleeves, long nails glinting coldly. William had no doubt that being caught would have been deadly.
"This crazy woman!" William had no time to consider extraordinary powers. He spun around and ran, thankfully enhanced speed allowed him to dash like the wind, quickly leaving that terrifying figure behind. He raced up the stairs connecting to the second floor, reaching a corridor where blue sky and white clouds came into view, lifting his spirits.
The crazy woman was probably far behind now. William relaxed, walking calmly as he considered what had just happened.
"That psychic attack… it must have been some powerful force controlling Malora. She absolutely doesn't have that ability herself, and she probably doesn't even remember it. But what kind of force could it have been? The Three-Eyed Raven? But then why attack me? What grudge… what hatred…"
Although attributing it to the Three-Eyed Raven based solely on the green eyes was a stretch, William couldn't think of any other possibilities.
Malora's later behavior had also been abnormal. Her harassment of William wasn't just once or twice. From the first time she met him, she had tried to draw his blood, later resorting to sexual temptations. While annoying, she had never shown the kind of proactive attack she had today. "If that psychic attack was due to control, what happened afterward?"
"The things the Warlocks brought haven't been figured out yet, and now we encounter another malevolent extraordinary force… sigh, it feels like everything is going wrong!"
The Garth William was looking for soldiers usually trained for the Hightower family in the training ground. He could be considered Hightower's instructor, though his title wasn't as prestigious as the fourth young master of the Hightower family, so few called him that.
The towering tower was constructed like a pyramid, wider at the bottom and narrower at the top. Each floor had terraces, and the second-floor terrace—at the top of the Blackstone Fortress—was especially large, with several key functional areas, including the training ground.
Just as he was about to reach the training ground, William was still troubled by the mysterious magical force when, suddenly, a figure lunged at him with a piercing scream. "Don't move!"
"Don't move? Do you take me for a fool?" William nimbly dodged, easily creating distance, and looked at Malora in surprise. "How did you get in front of me?"
Malora had been grinding her teeth in anger, but at his question, she let out a silly, gleeful laugh. "There are plenty of secret passages you don't know about."
"Oh, I see. Now I know," William shrugged nonchalantly and was about to walk past her. The second-floor corridor was wide enough that even if she spread her limbs, she couldn't stop him.
Sure enough, as he reached her, Malora reached out to grab him. William lightly sidestepped her terrifying nails, stepping smoothly behind her and getting ready to run toward the training ground. "Bye-bye now!"
"I'm going to tell everyone you harassed me in the passage just now!" Malora's scream seemed to act like a sound switch, freezing William mid-stride.
"Oh ho ho ho ho," Malora laughed triumphantly.
"Why don't you take a look in the mirror yourself!" William was at a loss for words, but if she went around spreading lies… people would believe them, and he'd have to run around debunking everything. He had to figure out a way to deal with this.
William reluctantly put his foot down. "Heh, do you really think anyone would believe that?"
Malora slowly extended her hand. "Heh, do you really think anyone would believe you?"
The moment William saw what she was holding, he instinctively reached his right hand toward his left chest. But there was nothing—his Big-Mouthed Bat badge, which should have been there, had vanished and was now in Malora's hand!
"My father… he's always wanted to find me the perfect husband, ahahaha, ahahahahaha…" Malora laughed again, her expression not shy at all, but rather somewhat menacing.
A single badge shouldn't have caused any real trouble. Even if the old man in the town doted on his daughter without principle, William could have at least denied it outright. Who could do anything to him? At most, they could chase him away—but he had many plans in the old town, so it wasn't time to leave yet.
"This is troublesome!" William couldn't help but scratch his head.