Blackfyre, the Ancestral Sword

Pentos, the Palace of the Nine Towers.

Young Griff sat in a flat, spacious open-air area, surveying the surrounding towers.

The three innermost towers are the tallest and closest to each other, followed by six lower stone towers further out.

These towers were covered with moss and vines, but the vines were gradually turning yellow and withered due to the weather.

Besides him, there were many other people around, but the most eye-catching thing was the flag.

He had seen many flags, but this was the first time he had ever seen one with a golden skull hanging on it.

"This is the palace we once presented to Khal Drogo. It has been abandoned since Drogo's death." It was Illyrio who spoke.

He was somewhat disappointed to learn that Young Griff and his party had failed to marry Daenerys and bring back dragons.

If I had known earlier that Daenerys could hatch dragons, I would never have introduced her to Drogo.

Of course, he originally intended to use Drogo's power to attack the Seven Kingdoms, but that's all in the future, and there's no going back now.

Illyrio, because of his love for cheese, had terrible bad breath due to his rotten teeth. Young Griff turned his face slightly to the side and held his breath without making a sound.

Young Griff could sense Illyrio's enthusiasm towards him. He had practically grown up with Illyrio since he was a child, and this strange uncle would give him anything good he had. Young Griff didn't want to do anything that would embarrass Illyrio.

"You should know about the Golden Company. Gold is above, Bittersteel is below, and among those bones is the head of ' Bittersteel,' the first leader of the Golden Company. After his death—"

Before Illyrio could finish speaking, Young Griff interjected, "After his death, he ordered his head to be cut off, the flesh boiled away, and then inlaid with gold, hoping to one day return to Westeros. Rest assured, Lord Illyrio, I will bring his head and the army to restore the Targaryen to the Iron Throne."

Young Griff spoke while taking a deep breath to prevent Illyrio from polluting the air around him.

At that moment, Young Griff noticed a commotion in the direction of the Golden Company's flag.

"It's Strickland, Harry Strickland, the current leader of the Golden Company." Illyrio spoke up again, Young Griff immediately held his breath.

Then a somewhat overweight man appeared.

He didn't look like a warrior, at least not like the mercenary leader in Young Griff's mind.

The armor covering his body made him look like a bucket, and his huge head and not-so-thick neck looked like a chicken leg struggling to support his round head.

Speaking of his head, the guy's hair was rather thinning. The Strickland commander covered his shiny scalp with long hair, which only added to his comical appearance.

However, Young Griff had received professional etiquette training from Sister Lemore; he wouldn't laugh, and he certainly could hold it in.

Commander Strickland, surrounded by a group of Golden Company officers, walked towards Young Griff.

A person with white hair and dark skin, who appeared to be from the Summer Isles.

A man with hideous scars on his face looked more like a valiant warrior.

There were also two red-bearded men with very similar facial features, who looked like brothers. The difference was that one had short hair and the other had a ponytail.

"Your Majesty, Harry Strickland of Strickland family, leading the Golden Company, pledges allegiance to you."

As he spoke, he knelt on one knee and placed the longsword at Young Griff's feet.

"Your ancestors once served Daemon Blackfyre and lost their lands. I will lead you to restore their glory," Young Griff replied, not with the usual Westeros ceremony of lords and vassals, believing it would be more inspiring.

"The Black Balaq of the Summer Isles pledges its allegiance to you."

"I accept your allegiance; your place will forever remain by my fireplace."

For ordinary sergeants, Young Griff returned to the usual rituals.

Dick Cole

Will Cole

"I pledge my allegiance to you."

"I accept your allegiance—"

Cole family is also a prominent family in the Seven Kingdoms, but Young Griff knew that they might not necessarily have any connection with Cole family in the Seven Kingdoms.

However, the Cole family of the Seven Kingdoms has now perished. Since they call themselves Cole, then when we achieve victory in the future, we should go and revive the Cole family.

Soon, the leaders of the Golden Company all pledged their allegiance to Young Griff.

A major reason they followed Young Griff was that they were people who had lost their homeland, either driven away by rebellion or for other reasons, and they hoped that Young Griff could lead them back home.

Of course, it's unlikely that Jon's simple statement, "I pardon you," would compel the Golden Company to pledge allegiance.

Because this group's encroachment on land is unacceptable, and there is a lack of trust between the two sides.

If their demands for territory were met, a large number of Jon's lords would be unwilling, and might even feel betrayed.

After accepting their allegiance, Strickland produced a box, which was clearly a sword case.

"Your Majesty, this is a gift from the Golden Company."

Gift?"

Young Griff turned to look at Illyrio beside him, only to see the latter looking at him with a look of satisfaction, his green eyes seemingly carrying a hint of—kindness?

Young Griff ignored it, after all, the thought of the other person's bad breath was unbearable for him.

He opened the box and saw a half-sword with strange patterns and inlaid with red gemstones lying horizontally inside.

"This is----"

"This is the Valyrian steel sword, Blackfyre, the ancestral sword of the Targaryen!"

Illyrio said this with some eagerness, as if he were showing off to Young Griff.

Isn't that amazing?! Isn't that a pleasant surprise?!

Upon hearing that it was the Targaryen's ancestral sword, Young Griff felt his heart race.

Meanwhile, Illyrio couldn't resist showing off. "Back then, during the Dance of the Dragons, Rhaenyra and her half-brother, Aegon II, vied for the Iron Throne. Because Aegon II possessed Blackfyre, he had more legitimacy, and most of the nobles were willing to follow him. But when it came to Aegon IV, he passed the ancestral sword Blackfyre to his favorite bastard son, Ego Rivers. With Blackfyre, Aegor Rivers asserted his right to the Iron Throne. However, the Blackfyre was later lost, but now it has returned to your hands, Aegon. You were born to be the king of the Targaryen; you are Aegon Targaryen VI!"

Illyrio became more and more excited as he talked, to the point that he was spitting everywhere. Young Griff even forgot that he wasn't breathing, and only realized he was feeling nauseous when he came to his senses.

Seeing that he was frowning, Illyrio thought he was not feeling well and quickly asked him what was wrong.

"It's nothing. I just thought about how much hardship and turmoil the House Targaryen has endured. I must take good care of this sword and use it properly."

"Um!"

Illyrio nodded happily and reached out to pat him on the shoulder, but then remembered that Young Griff was now king and that it would be impolite to do so, so he simply placed his hand on his chest.

Connington, standing nearby, was also pleased; he could indeed see some of Rhaegar's qualities in Young Griff.

Strickland also felt that this king was somewhat reliable.

He's much more reliable than that dark-haired Targaryen in Westeros.

"Our fleet is in position. We won't go to the Crownlands yet; we'll head straight for the Stormlands. Our ally, Prince Martell Oberyn, your uncle, is there. After capturing the Stormlands, we can attack the Crownlands to the north to coordinate with the Vale, connect with Dorne to the south, and threaten the enemy's breadbasket, the Reach, to the Reach. We should send our troops immediately!"

"Illyrio said happily, reaching into his clothes to pull out a piece of cheese."

"Lord Illyrio, in fact we need more troops, even with Dorne's help, we are still outnumbered by Jon."

Connington began, saying that he had privately studied Jon and Jon current sphere of influence countless times and found that at least three to five tough battles were needed, and all of them had to be won.

Jon's formidable army is a hurdle.

The fortress in the Westerlands is a pass.

Casterly Rock is another fortress.

Moreover, there are the fleets of Redwyne and Casterly Rock; they don't have any formidable fleets at the moment.

However, Illyrio stated that he had already sent someone to contact Salladhor Saan.

There is also the Three Daughters Kingdoms.

They have a fleet, and they would certainly be willing to send troops to help Young Griff.

This is also an excellent opportunity to expand influence in Westeros.

Everyone knows what Jon's annexation of the Iron Islands means, and the shrewd merchant governors of the Free Cities will surely understand as well.

If they want to ensure the prosperity of the Narrow Sea trade route, they must support Young Griff.

Furthermore, Illyrio also plans to get Young Griff. to acknowledge Baratheon's debt to the Iron Bank, in order to win Braavos over to his side first.

With the support of the Free Cities, they will be able to rival Jon.

Just as everyone was looking forward to future victory, bad news suddenly arrived— Jon and his Southern Army had captured Storm's End.

To be precise, Jon Snow occupied Storm's End without firing a shot.

"How is that possible! Dorne's army is clearly stationed there!" Connington seemed incredulous, swatting the letter aside to examine it repeatedly.

This sight made him furrow his brows even more tightly, almost enough to trap a mosquito.

Strickland hesitated, and the soldiers of the Golden Company looked at each other, realizing that something seemed amiss.

When Young Griff learned that Oberyn had withdrawn his troops and given the Stormlands Archers to Jon, he couldn't help but feel sad.

Why? Aren't I Elia's son? Isn't he my uncle? Why did he betray me?

This is the second time Young Griff has tasted betrayal; the first time was with Tyrion.

Obtaining the Blackfyre Ancestral Sword filled him with excitement, but the betrayal by his family was something he found hard to accept.