What Kind of Commander-in-Chief Are You If You Won't Go to War?!

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating Jon. Pyat Pree, kneeling on the single bed, carefully considered his words, afraid of displeasing the young duke before him.

Regardless of Jon's temperament, the fact that he single-handedly boarded Euron's ship and drove Euron away is something that not everyone could do.

"To use Sacrificial Magic, there are requirements for the object of the sacrifice. The best object of sacrifice is naturally the bloodline of the Valyria Dragon King, since the Valyria Dragon King himself is a creation of magic. The next best is the King's Blood, which wizards and Pyromancer often talk about. Finally, there are male wizards like us who possess a certain amount of magic—"

Pyat Pree his best to explain to Jon how Sacrificial Magic worked.

"Now Euron certainly has ready-made sacrificial materials by his side," Balon, Balon's daughter, Aeron, and Victarion.

Euron's attack on Winterfell was with his brother Victarion, so the object of Euron's sacrifice is quite obvious.

"What is the final effect of the Sacrificial Magic?" From Jon's perspective, the biggest problem facing the besieging army would naturally be the tall city walls.

Perhaps Euron would sacrifice Victarion to create an earthquake that would collapse the walls of Winterfell? Jon thought that kind of magic was a bit terrifying.

"It depends on the needs of the sacrificer. I don't know the specifics. Of the four male witches you saved, Sa Ye, the one whose eyes were gouged out and tongue cut off, is the one who is proficient in Sacrificial Magic. Unfortunately, he cannot communicate with you now, and even if you want to learn Sacrificial Magic, it will take at least half a year. If you want to maximize the effect of Sacrificial Magic, you will need years of study." Pyat Pree said respectfully, even though his kneeling body swayed slightly.

For Jon, learning Sacrificial Magic wouldn't be difficult; he just needed to kill the sorcerer Sa Ye.

There was still one thing he needed to understand—why did Pyat Pree ask him to kill him so soon after they met?

Jon then asked him about what happened back then and warned him not to lie, or he would kill him immediately.

"It's like this, sir. We, we wizards, can extend our lives by absorbing the life force of the Valyria Dragon King, or the King's Blood, or even the life force of our companions. I fear that once you learn this magic, you will take my life."

"There's such magic?!" Jon's mind went blank for a moment, and he felt a deep sense of disgust.

At the same time, it suddenly became clear why the warlocks had lured Daenerys into the House of the Undying Daenerys Undying when she was in Qarth— they wanted to drain her life force.

Sure enough, Pyat Pree honestly pointed out the dangers of this practice: if one constantly thirsts for life and absorbs life, then the desire to prolong life will overwhelm everything until one loses oneself!

It's somewhat like Resurrection Magic. Guided by obsession, a person can be resurrected repeatedly while their body remains intact, but at the cost of losing memories and emotions. Once the obsession disappears, the Resurrection Magic will also fail.

In short, it's not proper magic, Jon won't learn it.

During the month or so since returning to Casterly Rock, Jon had been frequently seeking out these wizards to learn about magic. Now that he knew enough, it was time for them to die.

Kill the male sorcerer who possesses Sacrificial Magic, and then use Pyat Pree and other male sorcerers as sacrificial offerings.

Soon, Jon left the room where the sorcerer Sa Ye was, carrying a bloodstained dagger.

Sacrificial Magic [White]

Remaining upgrade attempts: 2

"My lord, setting off within three days is far too rushed. We don't have many soldiers available, at most..."

The main problem is that we have far too few ships; deploying two thousand soldiers is the limit.

In Jon's study, Brynden voiced his concerns.

Jon told him that the Iron Islands were preparing to attack Winterfell, and that he intended to go there in person to provide support.

Brynden was deeply moved by this attitude, but with Casterly Rock's current naval strength, it was completely unable to contend with the Iron Islands, and this approach was tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.

Especially after he learned that the Iron Islands had mobilized an army of eight thousand men, it seemed like an impossible task.

Moreover, Brynden estimated that Winterfell would have already fallen before they could arrive to rescue it.

"Sir Brynden, your concerns are valid, but according to my information, the Iron Islands may have some method to quickly breach Winterfell. Even Robb won't be able to provide support then, and my—no, our families may very well be captured. The only way out is to find where their ships are anchored and cut off their retreat!"

"Quickly breach Winterfell?" Brynden couldn't understand how the Iron Islands pirates could possibly breach Winterfell so quickly.

Even though Winterfell's defenses are somewhat weakened due to Robb's campaign, it's not something a few thousand men can breach in a short time.

But since Jon told him this, he had no choice but to believe it.

Whether it's espionage or some kind of black magic, that doesn't matter. What matters is that we get the troops moving out as soon as possible!

Jon's mobilization of troops and fleets quickly alerted Alester, who approached Jon almost immediately upon hearing the news.

But Jon didn't want to argue with him at all. Before becoming a duke, he had gone to great lengths to fight Roose Bolton for command; now that he was a duke, why would he still have to go to great lengths to fight for command? Wasn't he a duke for nothing?

At the same time, Jon was also well aware that he wanted to annex the Iron Islands and build Sunset Sea Alliance based on the Westerlands, North, Riverlands Reach, and Reach through Westeros version of the Triangular Trade.

This would allow them to better accumulate resources and strength to deal with the coming Long Night and the terrible White Walkers, while this power would inevitably threaten Stannis's throne.

If Stannis isn't blind, he would definitely try to suppress himself.

The two of them will eventually go their separate ways, or even turn against each other.

Since that's the case, there's no need for politeness. Jon directly stated that the Reach army is still assembling, and the Redwyne Fleet is still preparing. The real war hasn't even begun yet, and his orders as the future commander-in-chief have no jurisdiction over him now!

Moreover, his reasons for saving people were legitimate, and if Stannis insisted on dwelling on that, he would naturally lose the support of the people.

Fortunately, during the attack on Casterly Rock, the city's resources were not greatly depleted; in fact, they were largely preserved.

The war supplies are readily available, and although the timeframe is somewhat rushed, we are not without the ability to fight.