Chapter 142: The Drakons of the Broken
Army
The Rose Road, Kingswood
"ROOOAR—!"
"What was that sound?!"
"What in the Seven Hells is that thing?!"
"Monster!"
Terrifying roars shook the Kingswood like thunder splitting the earth apart. The sound was sharp and savage, frightening every remaining beast and bird in the forest into fleeing toward the outer plains.
The reserve troops stationed outside the Kingswood immediately descended into panic.
Had 's royal banner not still stood at the center of the host, many soldiers might already have fled.
Since the battle began, the sounds of shouting, steel, and slaughter had echoed continuously from the forest ahead. Though scouts regularly carried reports back to the commanders, ordinary soldiers knew nothing of the true situation inside.
Now, with those monstrous roars echoing across the battlefield, fear spread rapidly through the ranks.
"Help us!"
"Run!"
"There are monsters in the woods!"
Just as Renly was trying to determine what hidden weapon had unleashed, streams of soldiers suddenly burst out of the Kingswood.
They fled in complete disorder.
Some had discarded their shields.
Others had thrown away helmets and spears.
Many were covered in blood.
The sight made Renly's heart sink instantly.
In his calculations, even if the vanguard suffered defeat, his commanders should still have been capable of organizing a disciplined withdrawal.
But this—
This was not a retreat.
This was a rout.
"Archers ready!" shouted immediately.
"Lord Randyll, what are you doing?!" demanded from atop his white horse.
"Silence!" Randyll barked furiously. "The enemy has broken our vanguard by unknown means. If these routed men crash into our lines, the entire army will collapse!"
Loras froze under the harsh rebuke.
"Go to the rear and protect His Grace!" Randyll continued coldly. "Those fleeing fools will trample the royal camp if nothing stops them. Move!"
Realizing that both Renly and could be in danger, Loras immediately wheeled his horse around and galloped toward the rear without another word.
"Ready!"
The order spread rapidly through the archers.
Since bows were nearly useless within the dense forest, most archer companies had remained outside the Kingswood with Renly's reserves.
To protect them from surprise attacks, Randyll had already ordered caltrops and barricades placed before the archers, while levies and mercenaries formed dense spear walls ahead of them.
It was these preparations that prevented the reserve army from collapsing outright.
"Loose!"
At Randyll's command, volleys of arrows darkened the sky.
Renly could see clearly now that the routed soldiers fleeing from the woods were mixed together with Dornish warriors and sellswords.
Stannis had deliberately driven the panicked mob toward Renly's reserves, intending to shatter the army from within.
"Arrows!"
"Scatter!"
Some officers managed to react in time, but many did not.
The arrows crashed down among the fleeing masses.
"Help me!"
"My eyes!"
"Gods—my leg!"
Screams erupted everywhere as men scrambled away from the center of the field, finally realizing that running straight ahead meant certain death.
Then—
BOOM!
CRACK!
"ROOOOAR—!"
Two gigantic shadows burst from the edge of the Kingswood.
Their speed was terrifying.
Many soldiers standing in their path were instantly crushed into mangled flesh beneath massive clawed feet.
"What… what are those things?"
"Dragons?!"
"They cannot fly!"
"Have dragons truly returned?!"
Panic exploded across the battlefield.
This time it was not merely common soldiers who trembled in fear—even knights and nobles felt terror seize their hearts.
"Continue firing!" Renly shouted fiercely, forcing himself to remain calm.
Whatever those creatures were, showing fear now would mean complete defeat.
Under Renly's command, many archers raised their bows again and unleashed another storm of arrows toward the charging beasts.
The two creatures resembled gigantic scaled lizards.
Their bodies were covered in mottled black and gray stripes.
Each stood nearly six meters tall and possessed bodies as large as siege towers.
Compared to them, human soldiers looked no more significant than mice.
These were Drakons—war-beasts bred by Jon through blood magic and dragon experimentation.
Mounted atop the beasts were armored war platforms similar to those used upon elephants in the east. Soldiers armed with crossbows fired downward from the elevated positions, slaughtering fleeing enemies below.
When the rain of arrows struck the Drakons, only metallic clanging sounds rang out.
The scales barely suffered damage.
The soldiers riding atop the creatures were protected behind reinforced shields.
"So Stannis thought of placing soldiers atop them as well," Jon remarked while observing the battlefield through the eyes of nearby birds. "That turns the Drakon into a moving fortress."
To defend against heavy weapons such as ballistae, Jon had deliberately strengthened the creatures' scales and bone structure.
Though whether they could withstand true scorpion bolts remained uncertain.
"Brace yourselves!" Renly roared.
The front ranks lowered their spears with pale, trembling faces.
Against such monstrous creatures, none of them truly knew what to do.
They could only obey orders and pray.
BOOM!
CRACK!
"AAAAAH!"
The first Drakon smashed directly into the spear wall.
The impact shattered spears like dry branches.
The creature surged forward like a living battering ram.
Men struck by its massive body were hurled into the air like broken dolls.
Those trampled beneath its feet suffered even worse fates. Bones shattered. Organs burst. Some remained alive for several agonizing moments, screaming desperately for help.
Those screams destroyed what little morale remained.
"Hold the line! Hold—"
A knight bearing the sigil of tried to rally the men.
Then he saw a gigantic maw filled with dagger-like teeth descending toward him.
His scream ended abruptly.
The Drakon swallowed him whole.
The surrounding soldiers froze in horror.
Watching their commander torn apart shattered the last remnants of courage in their hearts.
Weapons fell to the ground.
Men fled screaming in every direction.
The two Drakons rampaged through Renly's formation like unstoppable siege engines, carving bloody paths through the reserve lines.
Even Renly's face turned pale.
These were not enemies men could simply stop through courage alone.
As Renly watched the beasts loop around in the distance, realization struck him.
They were preparing for another charge.
"Run!"
"Seven save us!"
"I do not want to die!"
The reserve soldiers finally broke completely.
"Lord Randyll! We must retreat now!" shouted several household knights urgently.
Only then did Randyll snap back to reality.
"Retreat!"
The heavy order finally left his lips.
"WOOOOO—!"
Retreat horns immediately sounded across the battlefield.
Then—
Hoofbeats thundered from the edge of the Kingswood.
One cavalry formation after another emerged from the trees.
The riders wore black armor, and white cloaks bearing Stannis's flaming crowned stag fluttered behind them.
These were sellsword cavalry from Essos.
"WOOOOO—!"
As the attack horns blared once more, the cavalry slowly urged their mounts into motion.
A true cavalry charge did not begin at full speed.
Momentum built gradually.
First a trot.
Then a gallop.
Then thunder.
As the horses reached full speed, the mercenary riders screamed savage war cries into the wind.
Their slaughter had begun.
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