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"Chomp, chomp!"
Gasp, Cough, Cough!
The six surviving people from Tyrosh were evidently starving. They shoved the white bread, sent by Magister Aloma, into their mouths in a frenzy. They ate so quickly that they kept choking, their bodies wracked with violent coughs.
Baelor gave a subtle glance to his personal guards. Without a word, they stepped forward, swiftly taking the bread from the survivors' hands and offering them water from their water skins.
"My mother used to say when I was little, the hungrier you are, the more slowly you should eat. Otherwise, if you choke on the food, your body, along with the food, will end up in someone else's stomach. You can eat the food later. For now, tell us, what exactly happened here?"
Upon hearing this, the six survivors, varying in age, exchanged hesitant glances. Finally, a middle-aged woman in her forties stepped forward and spoke, her voice trembling slightly.
"My lord, on the day the city fell, the Three-Headed God came to our rescue. He personally fought the Green Dragon, while his followers attacked the Evil Dragon. In the end, the Three-Headed God used divine punishment to destroy the Bleeding Tower, burying both the Green and Evil Dragons beneath it. Then they set them aflame with a burning fire!"
The mythological tale the woman shared caused Baelor and Magister Aloma, along with the others in the room, to twitch at the corners of their eyes, their faces contorting with disbelief.
Magister Moser, a magister from Myr, let out a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his anger. His thoughts were elsewhere, focused on the movements of Jacaerys' army.
The island of Lanark, where Jacaerys' forces had taken hold, lay at the doorstep of Myr's domain, and he was the one most desperate to learn what had transpired.
"Stop spreading the faith of the Three-Headed God. I will ask you two questions," he said, his voice sharp, cutting through the air like a knife. "First, who destroyed Tyrosh? Second, did you see which direction they sailed afterward?"
The middle-aged woman nodded, as if she had anticipated these questions, and continued.
"My lord, I was just about to explain that. The Three-Headed God, having exhausted His divine strength to unleash the punishment, had no choice but to return to His divine realm. Once He departed, the cunning Green Dragon and the Evil Dragon, who had only feigned death, crawled out from beneath the rubble and fire. The Evil one even spoke to us—it told us that it only intended to devour half of the souls of the Tyroshi people…"
The sudden claim caused a sharp pause in the room. Baelor's eyes narrowed, his expression sharp with suspicion.
"Wait a moment," he interjected, his voice cutting through the tale. "Did you say that the dragons speak?"
"Yes, milord," the woman replied earnestly. "The Green Dragon cannot speak. It only roars loudly. But the Evil Dragon… it wears the form of a man. It speaks as clearly as you or I. The sinners who sided with the Evil Dragon called it the Great Ruler of the Narrow Sea… the Conqueror of Tyrosh… Ja, Jac…"
Her voice faltered as she tried to recall the full name, but a boy, no older than twelve or thirteen, beside her quickly chimed in.
"He is the King of the Narrow Sea and the Stepstones. The Scorcher of Seas. The Conqueror of Tyrosh. Master of the Emerald Dragon. Jacaerys Velaryon the First!"
A gasp echoed through the room.
The mention of that familiar name and the title struck Baelor and his companions like a cold gust of wind. They inhaled sharply, realizing the woman was not telling some fantastical myth but recounting actual events she had witnessed herself.
"Didn't everyone call him a demon before?" Magister Aloma asked, narrowing his eyes. "Why do you call him an Evil Dragon?"
"No demon could have survived the divine wrath of the Three-Headed God," the woman replied firmly, her voice unwavering. "He is a dragon with the appearance of a man. Just like the Green Dragon, he is not afraid of fire. We all saw it with our own eyes!"
The other five survivors nodded in agreement, confirming her words with their own silent acknowledgment.
"And then what happened? This Jacaerys… the dragon you speak of, where did he go?" Magister Moser pressed, his voice tight with urgency. He had no interest in tales of divinity or myth. All he wanted was to know the whereabouts of his enemy.
"Afterward…" The woman's voice dropped to a near whisper. "The Green Dragon spewed hellfire upon us, and the Evil Dragon ordered the sinners to hunt us down. The entire city fell into chaos. People screamed and fled in every direction. The cries of despair echoed through all of Tyrosh. Eventually, we were cornered in the southern district. The Green Dragon set all the houses on fire with its hellish flames. There were ten of us in total, and we were lucky enough to find a deep cellar. We hid there in complete darkness. I do not know how many days passed, but then we heard a tremendous explosion above. The ground trembled violently. The stones sealing the cellar door collapsed during the quake, trapping us inside. But because of that same tremor, a crack opened in the ceiling, and fresh water began to drip through. That was how we survived."
Her voice grew softer as she finished, her eyes misted with memory.
"I later heard my son, the one who joined the army, calling out to me. That was how we were finally rescued."
Baelor listened closely to the woman's account, then turned his gaze toward the remaining six survivors. Each of them bore faint streaks of dried, dark red blood at the corners of their mouths.
In that moment, he understood how they had managed to survive for so many days in hiding.
"Those damn peasants!" Magister Moser suddenly growled, his patience having run out. "You wasted all this time spinning nonsense and still have not answered my question. Where did Jacaerys Velaryon go?"
"Magister Moser, calm yourself," Baelor interjected quickly, his tone firm but composed, trying to rein in the furious magister.
"Jacaerys's fleet had only two possible destinations—Bloodstone Island or Lanark Island. We sailed from the Strait of Lys and didn't see any ships heading to Bloodstone, which means they must have gone to Lanark."
He turned toward the assembled commanders and addressed them with measured confidence.
"Jacaerys must already be aware of our approach. It is unlikely he would attempt an assault on Myr. Unlike Tyrosh, Myr is not an easy target. Our crossbow legions can unleash three bolts in a single volley. Every large ballista along our walls is equipped with Far-eyes to enhance accuracy. More importantly, Myr is not a vulnerable island city surrounded by water, with nowhere to escape."
He turned to Magister Moser with a firm, strategic suggestion.
Then he turned once more to Magister Moser, offering a clear and strategic course of action.
"Magister Moser, when we reach the next town, we will divide our forces. You will purchase horses and return to Myr by crossing the Disputed Lands. Meanwhile, I will lead the fleet along the coast and close in on Lanark Island from the sea. When the moment arrives, we will strike from both sides. No matter how powerful that so-called dragon or demon may be, we will bring him down on the shores of Lanark."
…
Within the inner city of Lanark Town, in the study of the town governor, Jacaerys sat alone at a sturdy wooden desk.
Maps and books were strewn across the surface without any sense of order, as if they had been placed in haste. Amid the clutter stood a single candlestick, its orange-yellow flame flickering gently in the still air, casting unsteady shadows across the room.
Jacaerys slowly extended his right hand and held it above the outer edge of the flame.
WHOOSH!
The searing flame rose and licked at his palm. Yet, despite the intense heat, not even a patch of skin was scorched. The fire failed to blacken or burn him in the slightest.
It was a trait not unlike Daenerys's immunity to ordinary flames, a gift born of her "Fireproof" nature, and it shared a similar property with his own.
This phenomenon was one of the effects of the "Fire and Blood" trait, marked as purple-tier.
And that was not the only purple-tier trait he possessed.
Calmly, Jacaerys withdrew his hand, which felt no more than gently warmed. With practiced ease, he summoned his trait panel, its detailed contents appearing before him.
◇◆────────────────◆◇
[Companion Name: Vermax
Master: Jacaerys Velaryon
Length: 15.33 meters
Weight: 6774.25 kilograms
Pet Traits: 6/6 (Unlockable)
Trait Quality (Upgradeable):
Fire and Blood (Purple): Fire resistance +100%
Effect: Fire resistance is shared between master and companion.
Gluttonous (Purple): Appetite +100%, Growth Speed +100%
Effect: Gains explosive growth by devouring high-level creatures.
Agile (Blue): Agility +50%
Dragon Slayer (Blue): Damage to dragon-type creatures +50%
Hardened Skin (Blue): Defense +50%
Iron-Walled Strategist (Blue): Grants 50% defense bonus to the master.
Current Trait Points: 37,786.]
◇◆────────────────◆◇
The Fire and Blood (Purple) trait was the first one Jacaerys had chosen to focus on. By sharing Vermax's doubled fire resistance, he was able to ignore the effects of ordinary flames entirely.
This immunity had already proven itself—most notably during the fiery disaster at the Bleeding Tower, and again just now, when the candle's flame grazed his hand without leaving a mark.
However, the trait had limited value for Vermax himself. Even the youngest dragons could survive the blistering heat of a volcano.
Dragons were naturally immune to ordinary fire. This was the very origin of the saying "Fire cannot kill a dragon" in the world of Game of Thrones.
But dragonfire was another matter entirely. In order for Vermax to withstand the flames of another dragon, Jacaerys would likely need to continue upgrading the Fire and Blood (Purple) trait.
His gaze then drifted to the second purple-tier trait: Gluttonous.
A glance at Vermax's length and weight made the effect clear—his growth had surged once more. The Gluttonous (Purple) trait was, in essence, an enhanced version of the earlier Gluttonous (Blue).
When Jacaerys first unlocked its potential and saw the phrase "Consumes high-level creatures for explosive growth," it had immediately brought to mind Vermax's battles with formidable beasts such as Vhagar and Sunfyre.
However, he didn't yet have the confidence to face both of them in battle at the same time, so he pushed the thought aside for now.
Still, Jacaerys recalled a conversation with Daemon, who had mentioned that several wild dragons roamed the slopes of Dragonstone's Dragonmount. Perhaps...
..
..
[IMAGE]
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[Chapter End's]
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