Game of Dragonborn.

Chapter 70 - Taking Leadership of Camp 05.

[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]

Third Person POV.
Westeros.

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The silence filled the camp as everyone stared in disbelief at the scene they had just witnessed moments ago. Even those who had seen so many unimaginable things Jon could do found themselves shaken, their throats emitting small sounds as they observed the intensity and fear glowing in his eyes.

"You... you took his soul?" Karsi stammered, approaching the body and staring unblinkingly at the man Jon had killed, still incredulous as she realized he had removed the man's soul.

"Yes. I can take souls," Jon replied calmly, as if it were not a grandiose feat, while everyone around him stood visibly horrified.

"You took his soul? He won't have the right to an afterlife anymore?" Tormund, despite his usually carefree personality, looked on in fear at the idea of someone being denied the chance to meet the gods after death.

"Yes, you could say that," Jon answered. "And this will happen to anyone who tries to use dirty tricks against me. I don't care if they confront me head-on, but if they use schemes like this—like they did with Lucis's brother—they will face this kind of consequence. I won't grant mercy or an afterlife. It may seem cruel, but I don't care. This isn't the first time I've done something like this. After all, I am the Dragonborn."

Jon spoke with coldness. He was tampering with the natural laws of the world, stripping someone of their right to exist in the afterlife—a fundamental course of the soul. However, he was not the hero many might idealize him to be. Jon did what he deemed necessary, even if it was cruel. Despite this, he was not a tyrant—he did not wish for all the Free Folk to perish. He was willing to help them but also needed to arm himself against them to avoid more problems like these.

No one said another word. Even the members of the dead leader's tribe stared at Jon in horror, not daring to protest as they had before, when they were ready to attack him. Now, they stood there, fearful of meeting the same fate as their leader.

"I'm not forcing you to follow me," Jon raised his voice again, breaking the silence, as he looked at each person in the circle surrounding him. "What I want is for you to understand one thing. After all, your struggles won't end just by crossing the Wall. I'm giving you a chance, as I've said, to settle in the lands south of the Wall, provided you follow the laws there."

"We're not kneelers!" someone shouted from the crowd, summoning some courage.

"That's fine," Jon responded effortlessly. "The future king of Westeros won't care if a group of people refuses to kneel before him. The only thing I demand is that you follow the laws of the South."

"But we are the Free Folk! We do not submit to the South!" another shouted, full of conviction.

"I can understand that..." Jon replied calmly. "You live here, and it's natural to want to preserve your freedom as you live in these lands. But the situation is different if you truly want to live there. No barbarity will be tolerated. I don't want to turn the South into chaos as well. They already don't have a good opinion of you, with some tribes burning villages and stealing women. That will not be allowed under me. And if such things happen, I'd rather not help you at all. I'm being honest."

Jon spoke as silence settled over the crowd again. The people were thoughtful, and this lasted for a while until a group began to approach. Leading them was none other than Ilyana, accompanied by the Children of the Forest. When everyone noticed their presence, they parted to let them through.