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Tonight, Robb planned to wipe out the entire Lannister family—Cersei, Jaime, Tyrion, and the three Joffrey siblings.

Don't tell him Myrcella and Tommen were still children, that they were innocent! Tyrion had done nothing wrong; he was innocent!

If Cersei and Joffrey were allowed to continue, wasn't his father Eddard, who had been beheaded, innocent?

Wasn't Brandon, who had been crippled, innocent? Wasn't Rickon, who had died in front of Jon during the Battle of the Bastards, innocent?

Weren't Sansa and Arya, who had endured countless hardships before they could return home, innocent?

And what about the tens of thousands of Northern soldiers who would set out from the North and die far from home?

To hell with innocence! To hell with Guest Right!

Leaving aside the Red Wedding that would come later, even in his previous life, Robb had learned from his ancestors in Hua Country that every means should be used to snuff out a dangerous spark.

There had been countless Hongmen Banquets throughout Hua Country's history!

"Hmm, Theon's side probably needs a little more time to prepare.

Daisy, tell the other captains, excluding Theon, to await orders. Once I give the signal, they'll carry out the plan."

Brushing aside the distracting thoughts in his mind, Robb turned to Daisy behind him and gave the order.

"Understood, Lord Robb!"

Daisy nodded and acknowledged the order. After bowing to Robb, she disappeared into the darkness of the corridor once more.

The guest quarters where the Lannisters were staying lay in the rear section of the Main Keep. Wildfire was also concentrated mainly along the outer walls of this area.

Robb had made thorough preparations for tonight. He had already had experts inspect the Main Keep's architecture.

The collapse of the guest quarters would affect the overall structure to some extent, but it wouldn't be enough to bring the whole building down.

It made sense. The Inner City's Main Keep was a noble's safest refuge, and their last line of defense.

If the Main Keep could collapse so easily, then a besieging army's catapult might accidentally smash part of it, damage the castle's overall structure, and bring the whole thing down. Wouldn't that wipe out all the nobles in an instant?

Tap, tap!

Robb walked through the quiet castle stairwell. The only sound was his footsteps.

He was heading back to his bedroom, where Blood Wind was waiting for him.

When someone from Theon's side came to inform him, he would have Blood Wind give the signal they had agreed on in advance.

That signal would be Blood Wind's howl at the sky.

At his current size, Blood Wind's howl could carry an incredible distance.

If all went as expected, the whole of Winterfell would hear it tonight, including the Winter Market.

As for what to do after succeeding, Robb had already sketched out a rough plan.

First, the most optimistic scenario: the Wildfire killed all the Lannisters, and the traces he had planted in advance to suggest various accidents did their job. The king and his father returned and put it down to an accident.

After all, anyone could have an accident—even the king, right?

As for how furiously the old lion Tywin would rage, Robb didn't care. The North had never feared any outside enemy, except the Targaryens with their dragons.

Second, a fairly optimistic scenario: the explosion killed most of the Lannisters, and he and the Wolf Guard finished off the survivors. Then the king and his father punished him.

If the punishment wasn't death, he would quietly bear it, bide his time, and rise again.

If it was a death sentence, the escape plan he had prepared would come into play.

After escaping, he would take the valuables he had gathered during this time, along with anyone willing to leave with him, and flee far away to Essos.

Third, a very pessimistic scenario: the explosion failed to kill the key Lannisters, and they escaped the Wolf Guard's encirclement.

In that case, Robb would launch a coup at once and seize control of all Winterfell.

That would leave him with an unstable foundation and vassals who refused to recognize his rule, among other problems. He would have to deal with things one step at a time. Robb was only human, not a god; he couldn't account for every possibility.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Robb reached the door to his bedroom.

When he opened it, a green light filled his entire field of vision.

"Robb, the Lannisters are in position. It's our turn to move!"

The effect of that green light on Robb's eyes had yet to fade when Theon's familiar voice rang in his ears.

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. His vision had returned. He was now in a redwood forest, its branches stripped bare, leaving it desolate.

"Sound the horn! The whole army, charge!"

Before Robb could ask Theon what was happening, he heard himself shout those words.

Moooo!

A deep horn sounded behind him.

Robb began involuntarily urging his horse forward, charging out of the redwood forest.

Though he couldn't control his body, he could still observe his surroundings.

All around him were cavalrymen in matching chainmail, carrying the Direwolf banner of House Stark. Theon rode close by his side.

When they burst out of the redwood forest, a river valley plain spread before Robb, with a small river winding through it.

About two thousand cavalrymen carrying red banners emblazoned with golden roaring lions were pursuing a group of two or three hundred Tully cavalrymen carrying trout banners.

As the horn sounded, countless Northern soldiers appeared from the forest to the left, right, and ahead. The Lannister cavalry in the middle of the valley plain were so frightened that they stopped their pursuit and began turning back the way they had come.

Unfortunately for them, Northern banners appeared behind them as well.

The Lannister cavalry hesitated for a moment. Then one rider shot out in front and galloped toward Robb, followed by more than two thousand cavalrymen, launching a desperate final charge.

Arrows, longswords, blood, screams!

On a battlefield of this scale, those were always the order of the day.

There were roughly five thousand Northern cavalrymen on Robb's side. Under his command, they outnumbered the enemy two to one and quickly pinned down the Lannister cavalry.

Robb stayed protected by the guards around him, personally killing only two or three enemy cavalrymen.

By the time the Northern cavalry from the other directions closed in, not a single Lannister remained in his sight.

"Kill!"

A roar suddenly rang out ahead. Robb looked toward the sound.

Jaime, clad in Lannister lion plate armor, was drenched in blood. He rode toward Robb with his sword in hand.

Ordinary Northern cavalrymen were no match for him. They couldn't withstand a second strike from Jaime's sword before being cut down from their horses.

Toren and Eddard, the two Karstark brothers guarding Robb, immediately rode forward with several other guards to meet him.

Theon drew his bow and took aim. The Northern soldiers all around blocked his view, but he could still put Jaime under some pressure.

Robb knew the two brothers, Toren and Eddard, were quite skilled with swords.

But after trading a few blows with Jaime, he suddenly lunged forward toward Toren, gripping his longsword in both hands. He drove it upward through part of Toren's horse and impaled Toren clean through.

"Toren!"

Eddard's face changed as he roared. He rode forward and swung his sword at Jaime, who had lost his horse.

Whoosh!

A small dagger flew from Jaime's hand and struck Eddard's left eye. He fell from his horse at once.

After killing the two Karstark brothers, Jaime had lost his horse and could no longer move freely. He posed no threat to Robb and was soon surrounded by cavalry and captured alive.

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