Although Viserys Targaryen had diligently practiced swordsmanship for three years and considered his skills decent, he still knew his limits when it came to facing the top mercenary in Westeros alone.
What's more, from their words, there should be another small team collaborating in the Image Hall.
For Viserys, this was a disaster.
His sister, Daenerys Targaryen, was most likely already captured by the enemy!
Viserys's face darkened.
He quietly moved along the wall and turned to leave.
The only option now was to quickly alert the naval fleet to return for reinforcements, otherwise, the entire Dragonstone might change hands.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
A sporadic sound of fighting came from the corridor.
Clearly, there were still many guards putting up a final resistance.
Taking advantage of the chaos in the Image Hall, Viserys moved like a ghost, extinguishing the lights with his sword tip every time he passed through a corridor.
Before long, the entire passage became incredibly dark.
Viserys Targaryen looked at the collected candles in his arms, hesitated for a moment, but then made up his mind.
Now, being at the mercy of others, he could only fight with his back against the wall.
Snap!
Two flints struck together in the darkness, producing a dazzling spark.
In the blink of an eye, Viserys lit the surrounding curtains, and flames shot skyward!
"Why is the room on fire?"
A mercenary looked up in surprise and cursed.
If the royal fleet at sea discovered them, no matter how many men they had, they wouldn't be able to escape!
Just as he rushed forward to put out the fire,
"Puff—"
A cold light flashed.
In the darkness, Viserys Targaryen thrust his sword, instantly piercing through a gap in the armor, running him through.
"That was close!"
Viserys Targaryen's face was flushed.
That single thrust had used almost all of his strength.
Although Viserys had only made one thrust, it still left his wrist numb and his entire body exhausted.
Viserys had to ensure that this thrust killed him completely, leaving no hidden dangers.
Looking at the corpse that fell to the ground with a "thud," he didn't bother to clean up and directly dragged the body into a blind spot.
Then, he once again concealed himself, waiting for the next assassin to put out the fire.
Not long after, a mercenary searching the palace walked in, grumbling.
"Damn it, how could we be so careless as to let the guards start a fire!"
He spoke, but his longsword constantly probed the surroundings, carefully examining every corner.
Suddenly, a figure rushed towards him from the darkness.
Without thinking, he thrust his longsword, instantly piercing the approaching person.
However, before a smile could appear on his face, a gleaming dagger from the shadows instantly slit the major artery in his neck.
Gurgle gurgle... bubbles of blood sprayed from his neck.
Even if he was unwilling, he could only widen his eyes, cover his neck with both hands, and stare unwillingly at the boy who was barely Half-man tall.
"Vi... Viserys!"
Before he could utter a sound, Viserys decisively pulled out the longsword from his waist and chopped off his head with one swing.
Puff—
Blood gushed out uncontrollably, and the headless corpse instantly slumped to the ground.
Viserys Targaryen let out a long breath and immediately turned to leave.
At this moment, sporadic footsteps were already coming from the corner corridor.
Clearly, this large fire had attracted the attention of enough mercenaries.
Viserys had no time to hide the corpse in front of him; he had already lost the chance to ambush again.
Without thinking, he turned and ran headlong into the darkness.
Before long, he ran all the way to the third floor of the Stone Drum Tower before finally stopping, gasping for breath.
Viserys believed that if he could just hold on a little longer, Ser Willem Darry, seeing the fire, would surely lead the Dragonstone guards to charge in.
Indeed, before long, a noisy crashing sound came from the main entrance of the Image Hall.
If not for the fortress gate, personally designed and built by the Targaryen Family over hundreds of years, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack, Ser Willem Darry would have already broken in.
Even so, the news of the army attacking the palace gate still caused all the raiding mercenaries to change their expressions drastically.
Most of them took the mission for money, they weren't Robert's fanatics!
At this moment, Renly Baratheon, who was responsible for leading the search for Viserys, was even more panicked.
"How could Viserys not be caught? Wasn't it confirmed that he came in?"
Renly Baratheon roared hysterically.
He had made a military pledge.
His elder brother, Robert Baratheon, was responsible for central coordination, holding court in King's Landing, and his second brother, Stannis Baratheon, was responsible for training the navy.
He himself led his hand-picked Rainbow Guard, along with the mercenary Bronn's team, to climb the Dragon Mountain cliffs of Dragonstone, all for this meticulously designed decapitation strike.
However, apart from capturing a silver-haired infant and a Dornish princess, they had found nothing so far.
"Put down your weapons!"
Olenna Redwyne, the Old Rose, let out a long sigh.
If Renly Baratheon hadn't been so concerned with appearances, insisting on capturing everyone alive, the guards wouldn't have had a chance to resist.
Since Viserys had not been captured, when the army besieged them, they, as hostages, would truly be in danger.
"Shut up, Old Dove!"
Renly Baratheon was furious.
His first battle after coming out ended so miserably!
For him to surrender was absolutely impossible!
Seeing Renly's hysterical, outwardly fierce but inwardly timid, panicked expression, the Old Rose's face showed a hint of smug, mocking smile.
Her son was still a hostage in Robert's hands, and if she were captured by Robert, at worst, she would surrender.
After all, Robert and his men still needed the army of The Reach!
No one expected that a team of mercenaries could brazenly sneak up from behind the cliff and capture everyone in one fell swoop.
"The legend of the Dreamwalker is probably just a lie Viserys concocted to build momentum!"
The Old Rose pondered carefully in her heart.
Viserys Targaryen had been trapped on Dragonstone for three whole years now, and she had seen almost no useful prophecies from Viserys.
Now, not only was he deeply mired in trouble himself, but his grandchildren might all be lost here!
It seemed that Viserys Targaryen might not be able to compare to Robert Baratheon, the new king.
By the time his Hatchling Dragon grew up, she would have already met the Seven Gods!
Thinking of this, the scales in the Old Rose's heart immediately tipped towards the usurper before her.
Whether it was the personal safety of her family or the future prospects of the dynasty, the Old Rose had a clear understanding in her heart.
"Lord Renly, if we retreat from the cliff now, the gains are still considerable. I am willing to go back and persuade my son to convince the army of The Reach to pledge allegiance to you!"
The Old Rose's expression was calm.
She was clearly the hostage, yet at this moment, she made Renly Baratheon seem like he had a fire on his eyebrows.
Hearing the Old Rose's words of advice, Renly's panicked expression finally calmed down.
With hostages in hand, he was naturally much calmer.
He glanced at the old woman, a hint of playful, cold sneer on his face.
"Your cowardly son has already surrendered. If it weren't for your meddling, why wouldn't the remaining forces of The Reach obey the command of the new King Robert?"
Olenna Redwyne did not refute Renly's words; this naive young man was clearly far from as resolute as his brother.
Renly's panicked eyes had long exposed his cowardly nature.
"If we don't leave now, when the army besieges us, none of us will escape!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Renly's expression immediately became serious.
He raised his head and shouted loudly: "No more catching Viserys! Take them away! Retreat immediately!"
"Yes!"
Upon hearing this, the Rainbow Guard immediately tied up the hostages in front of them and turned to hang ropes down the cliff.
"You—"
The mercenary Bronn was practically fuming at this damned commander.
If it weren't for his last-minute change of mind, insisting on capturing them alive, how could the guards have been alerted, allowing Viserys to escape?
Now, with the arrow on the string, he was actually scared!
"Leave the hostages,"
Bronn drew his longsword and cursed, disappointed: "The mission isn't finished, what are you running for?! Viserys is in this palace; as long as we catch him, everything will be over!"