-Chapter 214-

-Chapter 214-

-POV Qarro Volentin-

As I observed the gate besieged by Vynassa Vhassar and his so-called elite guard, composed solely of Unsullied purchased from the old slave cities of Slaver’s Bay, a deep sense of despair fell over me.

‘In the end, he was right,’ I thought, feeling an immense weight pressing on my shoulders.

Tormo Fregar, that bastard yet newly appointed Sealord, had made it abundantly clear what would happen to my family in the event of failure.

‘And I’m certain that allowing victory to the slavers will count as failure,’ I told myself, fully aware of how that man would react.

A short time later, I heard my men shouting in joy, as though they had won a victory.

I squinted, surprised, as I saw the gates open.

I had been so engrossed in Vynassa’s assault that I had failed to notice our sudden breakthrough, which already seemed to be yielding results.

‘I’d even say it’s paying off far too quickly,’ I thought, finding it almost too easy.

I didn’t have time to dwell further on our strategy, as a rider was speeding toward us.

“Commander!” he shouted, leaping from his saddle before bowing hastily.

“What is it?” I demanded, eager for him to speak instead of wasting time on unnecessary formalities.

“As you instructed, I kept a close watch on the Volantis troops from a distance without drawing attention. They managed to breach their gate before ours…” he said, pausing to swallow hard.

‘I already know that. Tell me something I don’t,’ I thought, irritated and disappointed, turning my head away.

“…But they’ve stalled and aren’t advancing,” he finished.

Surprised, I quickly asked, “Do you know why?”

‘If the troops of the Triarch Vhassar’s cousin have hit a snag, I could easily take the lead and seize the city before him. That might destabilize his current position and restore some balance between us,’ I thought, swiftly calculating my remaining options.

“Yes! The Volantis troops are stalled because it seems the Triarch’s cousin is dead,” he replied.

‘This wouldn’t be a victory, but it wouldn’t be a failure either…’ I thought as his words began to sink in.

I turned abruptly and asked, shocked, “What did you just say?”

“The troops of…” he began, but I cut him off sharply.

“Not that! I want to know what happened to Vynassa Vhassar,” I pressed. This was the only news that could change everything for us.

“He’s dead,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Are you certain?” I asked, my mind racing to map out potential scenarios for the future.

“I saw it with my own eyes,” he affirmed, nodding with conviction.

“How?” I demanded, unwilling to get my hopes up over false information.

“I saw his body being carried away by some of his guards,” he explained, his voice trembling slightly as the gravity of Vynassa’s death began to dawn on him.

‘Victory. Total victory for our city is within reach,’ I thought.

“YES!” I shouted, elated by the announcement.

‘With his death, the remaining Volantis troops will need time to reorganize and choose a new leader,’ I thought, well aware of the internal tensions among the various factions in Volantis.

‘Vynassa silenced all dissenting voices, but with his sudden demise, everyone will try to seize the opportunity to claim credit for taking Pentos,’ I told myself, already anticipating the consequences of greed and infighting within the ranks of the Volantis army.

‘Not to mention the cracks in their chain of command caused by the deaths of so many officers in this army of slaves, led exclusively by nobles,’ I thought, relishing the unexpected opportunity.

An opportunity I had been waiting for, gifted to me by the Gods—whichever Gods were watching over me—to change my destiny and that of Braavos.

‘The soldiers on the walls reported that the legions were fleeing toward the port even before the complete fall of the wall, and some ships had already departed the docks. That means I will face no opposition on my way,’ I realized, seeing the divine path laid out for me.

‘As long as I quickly take the city center, the city will be mine,’ I thought, feeling my blood boil with excitement.

‘I don’t even need to fight anymore. I just need to win a race,’ I understood, amazed.

‘Rest in peace, Vynassa, and may your God bless you,’ I thought, a wide smile spreading across my face as the pressure instantly lifted and I realized what I was about to accomplish.

“Have all our troops enter the city as quickly as possible. We must capture the city center before the other armies… Destroy all opposition!” I commanded, signaling my 300 cavalrymen to follow me. I wanted to take the lead and leave nothing to chance.

---

-POV Ser Corian-

As I gave my final orders to my men, Samwell, standing beside me, said, “Quiet.”

I frowned as he pressed his ear to the ground, then quickly stood and motioned for us not to move.

‘Enemy cavalry,’ I read on his lips.

“You’d better be right about this, Samwell. Otherwise, I’ll haunt your nightmares for the rest of your life, you hear me?” I said silently, as this wasn’t part of our plan. We were supposed to ambush infantry columns.

‘Even though cavalry had a significant disadvantage in these narrow alleys, they could still ruin our trap and prevent the next infantry columns from falling into the ambush we were about to spring,’ I thought, already beginning to worry and consider the worst.

“It’ll be fine,” Sam said, barely audibly.

I said nothing, but my skeptical look conveyed everything he needed to know about my thoughts.

“They passed all the checkpoints without noticing anything. That means their soldiers won’t notice either. And even if they did, we excel in one-on-one combat. The legionnaires are overtrained to handle any type of situation, and that includes this,” Sam murmured distractedly, peeking outside through a small hole he had made in the wall with his dagger.

‘He’s not entirely wrong. And with our plan, as long as the cavalry doesn’t exceed 500 men, we’ll be able to stop them without much trouble,’ I thought, recalling a saying Aegon used to repeat incessantly when he was just a lowly bastard like the rest of us.

‘A stopped cavalry is a dead cavalry,’ I thought as I heard the sound of horseshoes clattering into the street.

‘And now he’s Emperor, while we are Imperial knights and commanders of his legions,’ I reflected, trying to summon the inner strength that had always carried me through moments of action.

It was in those moments that all my fear and doubt vanished, replaced by the instincts of a born killer.

‘If someone had told me this back when my mother crawled under filthy old men for less than three copper coins, I would’ve slit their throat without a second thought,’ I mused, listening to the sound of horseshoes slowing down.

Samwell’s whistle snapped me back to reality.

‘Those were the good old days,’ I thought, opening my eyes and signaling my men to follow me.

---

-POV Qarro Volentin-

I heard a whistle coming from one of the buildings, and I found it strange.

‘Probably an old brothel before the war,’ I thought, recognizing the style of courtesan houses copied by the Pentoshi.

I noticed sudden movement inside the building, which had seemed deserted, and as I connected it to the blocked road ahead of us, I instantly realized it was a trap.

‘Damn it,’ I thought, spotting someone aiming a crossbow at me from the second floor of the building.

“RETREAT!” I shouted, yanking on my horse’s reins to turn it around, but it was already too late as arrows and bolts rained down on us from all directions.

“Argh!” I cried out as an arrow embedded itself in my leg, while two others struck my horse in the neck, sending me crashing to the ground.

“AAAAAAARGH!” I screamed, a searing pain shooting through my other leg as my fallen horse crushed it under its weight.

With an arrow lodged in my right leg, the pain distracted me, making it impossible to react quickly enough to free myself from the saddle.

“Protect the commander!” some of my most loyal men shouted, forming a shield wall around me to block the onslaught.

‘Not them,’ I thought, hearing one of my soldiers stifle a cry of pain as two arrows pierced his right foot, yet he continued to stand his ground.

Despite the agony clouding my mind, I forced myself to focus and understand how we had been lured into such a perfect trap.

That’s when I saw them—the legionnaires of the Westerosi Empire. They emerged from the buildings, no longer bothering to hide, climbing out of windows overlooking the narrow streets to block our retreat.

We were caught between the piled barricades they had prepared to cut off our escape and the archers and crossbowmen stationed strategically above.

‘We can’t win,’ I realized, noting how meticulously the ambush had been set up.

‘This was… no, this was undoubtedly planned from the beginning,’ I thought, watching how methodically they encircled us, cutting down my cavalry one by one.

‘What kind of twisted mind sacrifices 30,000 soldiers deliberately just to spring an ambush with less than half our numbers?’ I asked myself, stunned by what were likely my final moments in this world.

---

-POV Samwell Tarly-

I let out a quiet sigh of relief, watching as my men sealed off the enemy cavalry in this dead-end street with calculated precision.

The archers relentlessly rained arrows on the trapped soldiers, who flailed about in vain, searching for a way out.

‘But there is none,’ I thought, signaling my men to keep advancing, steadily closing the space and suffocating them in the trap.

‘We must leave no survivors,’ I reminded myself.

Lowering my shield, I thrust my spear into a soldier clad in Braavos’ purple colors.

Despite the two arrows already lodged in his leather cuirass, he tried to get back on his feet. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing he could do to avoid my strike.

He collapsed in a heap as I yanked my spear free from his chest.

Step by step, our advance forced the remaining cavalry back against the obstacles we had erected to block any retreat toward the city center.

‘Perfect. Now they’re rats in a cage,’ I thought.

I was about to give the order for the final assault on the fifty or so remaining cavalrymen, most of whom had already dismounted, resigned to their fate.

But suddenly, one man, supported by two others, stepped forward and shouted, “WE SURRENDER!”

I frowned, ready to order my subordinates to kill them anyway.

We didn’t have the numbers to guard prisoners while continuing to fight.

But something about the man’s face struck me. I felt like I had seen him somewhere before.

“Who are you?” I asked, raising a fist to signal my men to hold.

“I am Qarro Volentin, the former First Sword of Braavos and commander of Braavos’ ground forces,” the man declared.

I pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying, “Drop your weapons.”

The enemies complied quickly, and I spoke softly to my men, “Capture him and kill the rest.”

Without delay, my men apprehended Qarro Volentin, the former First Sword of Braavos.

They then moved toward the remaining cavalry, who had disarmed themselves, seemingly to take them prisoner.

But once they were close enough, I gave the order, and they mercilessly slaughtered the defenseless soldiers.

“Nooo!” Qarro Volentin screamed as his men were pierced by arrows, crossbow bolts, and spears from every direction.

I didn’t spare him a glance.

The fool had truly believed I would show mercy after they had besieged us for months.

“They arrived too quickly and were far too few,” I remarked to Corian as he joined me.

He nodded and said, “That’s probably why the captains stationed closer to this route didn’t intercept them.”

“They were trying to reach the city center, not the port,” I noted.

“Which means they weren’t following the retreating forces,” Corian added.

I nodded again. “We need to quickly regroup and set another ambush further ahead. Otherwise, they’ll see the bodies of the cavalry.”

‘Fortunately, I spaced out the ambush points and blocked all the usual access routes—streets and alleys alike—so only we know the labyrinthine plan I designed.’

“300 cavalrymen. That’s all we managed to take down,” Corian said, his tone slightly disappointed as he followed me.

‘You didn’t want to face cavalry, and now you wish there had been more? Make up your mind, Corian,’ I thought, keeping my irritation to myself.

“It’s an excellent haul. Don’t be too greedy. If the 400 traps we’ve set manage to snare as many enemies as this one did, we won’t even need to fight outside this cursed city,” I said, trying to lift his spirits.

‘As long as we can pull off the same trick again without them suspecting anything, we’ll achieve an unprecedented body count,’ I thought, thrilled to feel victory within our grasp.