The sun went out, and the stars dimmed.
If this were a universe fully governed by physical laws, Dany would have thought the planet beneath her feet was accelerating away from its parent star system.
But in reality, although the starlight had weakened, the stars and constellations themselves had not changed at all from before.
If one said a layer of clouds blocked the sky, that would not be correct, because Dany was currently more than forty-five thousand meters above the ground, where the air had thinned to a point where ordinary people could not breathe. How could any clouds be here?
Looking up, the half-moon and stars resembled the eyes of a housewife who had lost all hope in life, dim and lifeless, with a faint trace of despair and resignation.
Crackle—boom!
At an altitude of forty-five thousand meters, with starlight fading overhead, the thick violet-black clouds below churned wildly. One after another, dark red lightning bolts wove through the cloud layers like serpentine dragons.
"Just as Grand Master Turtle said, the Land of Long Summer has been sealed by the gods!" Dany murmured.
The first time she crossed the Land of Long Summer, she had urged Drogon to climb higher, attempting to bypass it from above, for the region was shrouded in a layer of high-energy magical radiation clouds.
For ordinary people, those high-energy magical particles were the most terrifying curse imaginable.
Even transcendent beings could only withstand them to a limited degree. They could not be immune, nor could they absorb those volatile, unstable magical particles as fuel.
That time, Drogon climbed to eight thousand meters, yet not only failed to pass beyond the "cursed layer," but also discovered that the concentration of magical particles became even stronger at higher altitudes.
At that time, Drogon could have continued climbing, but Dany and Barristan, both still in ordinary human bodies, could not endure the thin air and low pressure.
In truth, even the physique of a half-god human was not much greater than that of a normal knight. Fly too high and they would suffocate and suffer from low-pressure sickness, and prolonged exposure would be fatal.
But Dany was no longer ordinary.
Her physical strength had reached the human limit, and she had also comprehended the Song of Wind. As long as she was not sealed inside a closed space, she could never run out of oxygen.
The natural winds would supply her with all she needed.
Of course, she could not completely resist low-pressure symptoms, and could only rely on her formidable body to endure them.
Yellowstone's supervolcano was the largest and most dangerous volcano in the world, with a crater spanning forty by sixty kilometers, and its eruption was said to equal two hundred million Hiroshima bombs.
Forget humanity—such an explosion would destroy the Earth itself.
Yet Yellowstone was like the smallest of infants compared to Valyria's Fourteen Flames.
The Fourteen Flames formed a ring of fourteen volcanoes, with a combined span of at least three hundred by one hundred kilometers.
How many nuclear warheads would that equal?
Moreover, Yellowstone was merely a normal volcano. Its lava carried only heat. Valyria's lava and ash were infused with high-energy magical particles.
To put it plainly, they were magical radiation.
A single Yellowstone eruption could destroy the world, yet the Fourteen Flames detonated so fiercely that the land bridge of the Land of Long Summer collapsed, while Astapor, more than a thousand kilometers away, continued dancing and singing as if nothing had happened.
Forget nuclear winter—even the radiation cloud never drifted that far.
Chernobyl, equivalent to "only" four hundred nuclear bombs, scattered radioactive clouds across one third of the Earth.
Under normal circumstances, the radiation cloud released by the Fourteen Flames should have blanketed the entire world of A Song of Ice and Fire.
But in reality, beyond the tsunami caused by the sinking landmass, the regions surrounding the Land of Long Summer were entirely unaffected.
In truth, from two hundred meters to forty thousand meters above ground, the concentration of cursed particles increased sharply with altitude.
At two hundred meters, ordinary people could cross the region quickly without much harm.
But at forty thousand meters, the magical particles became a substantial, tangible blanket of cloud.
Yes, the roiling cloud beneath Drogon was entirely composed of magic particles.
The condensed particles rubbed against one another, producing an unending chain of lightning, so numerous that the bolts intertwined into dense nets of electricity.
In other words, the explosion of the Fourteen Flames had indeed released a power capable of destroying the world, but this power had been locked in place above the five-hundred-kilometer-wide, fifteen-hundred-kilometer-long landmass of the region.
The gods had placed a seal over the Land of Long Summer. All magical radiation was confined here, and all suffering fell upon the remnants of Valyria.
Forget four hundred years; even after four million, so long as the world of ice and fire remained intact, the Land of Long Summer would still be cursed.
"If the seal shattered and the magic cloud burst free, the entire world would be doomed!" Dany thought in shock.
The magical radiation cloud below was overwhelmingly terrifying. Neither she nor Drogon dared to charge into it. Entering meant certain death, exactly as the hundreds of Valyrian dragons once proved.
Feeling conflicted, Dany guided Drogon back toward the waters above Slaver's Bay. Rhaegal, Viserion, and the three pterosaurs were already waiting.
"Well? Your Grace, what did you see?" Galazza asked.
Unlike the first time she entered the Land of Long Summer, Dany now possessed far greater strength and skill.
In the past, she and Ser Barristan had to hover and shout to communicate.
Now, thanks to the divine telepathy she had learned from Sheepstealer's egg, she could converse freely within a ten-kilometer radius.
"I saw a super Tsar Bomb locked in stasis after it detonated. Don't ask me who the Tsar Bomb is. Let's go!"
With a shout, Dany led Viserion and Rhaegal into the cursed land covered in a thin violet haze.
Back then, she had only subconsciously felt the air was unclean. Now she could sense the pulse of every magical particle.
The Long Night had nearly no influence on Oros. Beneath the southern sea lay the glow of ten thousand spotlights, staining even the clouded sky a burning shade of dark red.
It looked like a patch of congealed blood.
The sea wind carried the scorched stench of sulfur and damp, hot white steam into the coastal city.
When the giant dragon appeared over Oros, a chorus of startled cries rose from the ruins below.
Dany paid them no heed and flew straight toward the sanctuary where she had obtained the Great Wizard's legacy that day.
The fifty-meter-high tower leaned toward the sea at a thirty-degree angle. On the side facing the city, a statue of the god Balerion was inlaid in gold, reflecting dazzling golden light.
At that moment, a brilliant star rose above the crown of the majestic black tower, radiating an intense blue glow over the dim city of Oros.
It was an enormous magic crystal sphere two meters in diameter, vast energies gathering within it. At the same time, as its surface pulsed with rhythmic flashes, it released tremendous power into the void.
That power suppressed glass candle communications across the entire world and forced the secondary magic crystal tower on Dragonstone to shut down completely, stripping it of its role as a communications hub.
"Sheep Egg, get out here!" Big Black's thunderous roar tore apart the clouds, and all of Oros seemed to tremble slightly under his furious bellow.
Boom, crash, howl.
The deity beneath the sea seemed enraged. The seawater, lit dark red by subterranean fire, surged into waves tens of meters high, scalding vapor roaring upward toward the dragon in midair.
But Dany merely waved her hand, and the rushing air currents fell silent. Below, the waves only grew fiercer and more violent.
"Sheep Egg, you turtle-headed coward. Come out and fight me one-on-one!" Big Black circled the black tower as he flew, hurling insults at the top of his lungs.
"Blasphemy!"
"Blasphemy!"
At last, eight elderly priests in white cloaks appeared beside the magic crystal sphere at the top of the tower.
Jenny was not among them. All the shouting came from old men.
Dany felt a twinge of disappointment.
She had ordered Big Black to curse Sheep Egg mainly to provoke Jenny. She never truly expected Sheep Egg to come out. Even if he wanted to, he could not, because he was sealed away.
After the disappointment came worry.
Jenny had not returned to Oros, nor had she died in the great flood.
So where was she?
The answer was obvious.
Jenny was still in Meereen, in the dragon-worm tunnels outside the city, staring at Dany with venomous hatred, cursing her, secretly stabbing a little voodoo doll of her, and quite possibly plotting something even more vicious.
For an instant, Dany hesitated. Should she deal with external threats and go to the Wall to investigate the Others, or secure the interior by guarding her homeland and hunting down Jenny? There was also the Turtle Chancellor at her doorstep. The old turtle, backed by rivers and the sea, should be able to restrain Jenny's dragon worms.
Dany hoped the old turtle would prove reliable.
"Imp, you'd better not die a miserable death!"
For the first time, Dany found herself hoping the little demon could survive disaster.
Because if the Imp was not dead by now, he was most likely with Jenny.
The eight white-cloaked priests stood in a circle around the magic crystal sphere, both hands pressed against it, murmuring incantations.
A deep hum sounded. In an instant, the crystal sphere blazed with light, and a golden-red beam as thick as an embrace pierced the dim blood clouds, striking the black dragon four hundred meters above.
No one was allowed to blaspheme against the Great Wizard standing atop the magic crystal tower.
Unfortunately, among the priests on the tower's summit, there was not a single Great Wizard.
Even more unfortunately for them, the Dragon Queen riding the giant dragon surpassed most Valyrian Great Wizards.
With a thunderous roar, Big Black answered with crimson dragonfire.
A deafening explosion followed as the two pillars of flame collided in midair, sending sheets of fire spraying outward like splashed water.
The darkened sky was lit up, and rain of fire fell upon the land and across the sea.
The deadlock lasted a full two minutes.
The priests atop the crystal tower began to exhaust their mental strength. Their bodies trembled, their faces turned pale, and sweat poured down their backs.
Big Black was also close to his limit. He was not completely drained, but he needed a moment to catch his breath.
A shrill cry rang out.
Another echoed in response.
High above, Little White and Little Green burst through the thick blood clouds and attacked the magic crystal tower from another direction.
The crystal sphere's radiance intensified, spewing out long columns of fire. These pillars writhed like living fire serpents, twisting and chasing after the two giant dragons.
The sky grew even brighter.
Little White and Little Green dodged whenever they could. When they could not, they answered with dragonfire.
After five layers of dragon spirits, they had long since become magic dragons as well.
After another half minute of stalemate, Dany on the dragon's back decided to act.
With a resonant surge, a pair of angelic wings made of flame burst from her back, vivid and lifelike, as if real.
The surrounding air warped under the searing heat of the fire wings. Her sky-blue cashmere cloak ignited and burned in an instant.
With a sharp clang, the greatsword hanging by the dragon saddle was drawn. In the blazing glow of dragonfire, the four-foot blade reflected a chilling, icy light.
With a swift motion, Dany gripped the sword and leapt forward, stepping directly onto Big Black's dragonfire and sprinting toward the magic crystal sphere.
The priests controlling the crystal let out soul-scorching screams.
With a thunderous crash, as the Dragon Queen crossed the dragonfire column and leapt onto the elemental fire beam emitted by the crystal sphere, the golden-red pillar of flame suddenly swelled, engulfing her entire body.
(End of chapter)
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