The whole world fell silent. The dilapidated barracks built from black dragonglass disintegrated, and the annoying, terrifying man-faced worms all died. Amidst a large area of ruins, Rhaegar saw brilliant and magnificent scale armor, a supreme relic from the glorious era of Valyria.
"Orion's family should be stronger than House Targaryen, but probably not among the top Dragonlords!" Rhaegar assessed Orion's strength, thinking he might know some magic, but not much. Only a very few families, like the Balerion family, truly grasped Valyrian core technologies. However, Orion could command an army of 30,000, making him a powerful Dragonlord, unlike House Targaryen.
"The main reason is that Orion's strength wasn't as great as he imagined, and the situation immediately after Valyria's destruction was particularly dire! The brutal environment back then is something I, in my current state, cannot imagine." Rhaegar analyzed the reasons for Dragonlord Orion's army being wiped out. When Orion went to Valyria, it was not long after the Doom of Valyria. On the day the Doom descended, mountains within five hundred miles of Valyria erupted simultaneously, spewing countless ashes, smoke, and flames into the sky. The hungry, scorching flames even incinerated the magic dragons soaring through the heavens. If there were smoke, flames, and the presence of terrifying man-faced worms and sea monsters, it would indeed be difficult for Orion to escape. As for Orion's dragons, Rhaegar thought they might have fled. Dragons are more alert than humans; if Orion and his troops were wiped out by the firewyrms, even magic dragons couldn't prevent such a tragedy.
"Good armor!" Rhaegar held up this Valyrian steel scale armor, inherited from Dragonlord Orion, the short-lived Emperor of Valyria. But Rhaegar didn't get it for free; he killed all the man-faced worms in this large area, avenging Orion. "It seems that when Orion was stationed here back then, he didn't anticipate the appearance of man-faced worms. This is a biological weapon that became rampant after the city-state was destroyed. Firewyrms resemble dragons but cannot fly; they simply detest humans and become very large when they mature. These man-faced worms also seem to be a type of firewyrm."
In Rhaegar's palm, there was a large cluster of leaping red sparks, flames condensed into dancing man-faced worms. Rhaegar looked at these worms; the man-faced worms had terrifying faces, snake-like bodies with legs, twisted, slimy, unspeakable. These man-faced worms belonged to heat and fire; once they entered the body, they would burn the human body dry, causing the victim to die from intense heat and pain. It was unimaginable how horrifying it would be for these terrible firewyrms to enter a human body!
"A long, long time ago, when Princess Aerea came here with Balerion, the Black Dread, did that poor child encounter these very worms?" Rhaegar thought. Jaehaerys I's niece, the rebellious Princess Aerea, suffered immense pain before her death, dying a miserable death. It was said to be a rare human fever; the girl died burning! Princess Aerea's skin was flushed crimson, and when one touched her forehead, it felt like plunging a hand into boiling oil. Aerea's skeleton had almost no flesh, her entire body was withered and shriveled, her body swelled and contracted outwards, the man-faced worms inside her body constantly wriggled, and finally, the color of her flesh deepened, eventually bursting completely—her eyeballs, her lips, her lower body.
"Were these worms experimented on by the Valyrians, or were they naturally occurring?" Rhaegar couldn't figure it out. Rhaegar absorbed one and felt a pure, intense flame burning, dissolving within a breath, and his life flame bloomed, making him feel as if his body was being cleansed. Killing firewyrms, these life flames, were considered a great tonic. Rhaegar consumed some, the dragon group consumed some, and the rest Rhaegar stored in his ring, considering them a type of nourishing flame.
Rhaegar looked around. This trip, if nothing else, just this Valyrian steel scale armor, was meaningful. Moreover, the discoveries from the exploration far exceeded these. Those explorers, Dragonlord Orion, King Tommen of House Lannister, all died violently. As the saying goes, 'Man dies for wealth, birds die for food.' The ruins of Valyria are infamous, and very few manage to escape with their lives intact.
"What the hell does Crow's Eye know about Valyrian magic? Let me revitalize this armor! Give light and heat to the world!" Rhaegar activated the Valyrian steel black scale armor with azure flames. The black armor, dark as smoke yet light and swift, began to emanate vitality. The edges of its scales were crimson gold, shimmering as he moved. When the azure flames appeared, the thread, runes, and mysterious symbols on the armor seemed to cheer. The golden runes on the black scale armor also sparkled, capable of withstanding most of the world's trials, indestructible, and even able to resist magical attacks. A Valyrian steel sword is worth a thousand gold, and Valyrian armor, needless to say, was considered a treasure equivalent to a small kingdom in ancient times.
"The best name for this armor is True Dragon!" Rhaegar put on the Valyrian scale armor, feeling very satisfied. The scale armor was as light as a silk shirt; Valyrian steel was inherently lighter than ordinary steel, not affecting his movement speed. The true dragon spear danced in Rhaegar's hand, transforming into a shadow on the ground, the shadow of the true dragon spear. Moreover, the Valyrian steel scale armor had first-class defensive capabilities, with runes carved on it similar to those on the Valyrian high walls, capable of restraining magical attacks, like an integrated adamantine. And with this armor, Rhaegar felt that when using fire and magic, his concentration of power and speed were faster than ever before, functioning like a shield and an accelerator! "Armor and weapons worthy only of a True Dragon. Looking at the world, only I possess weapons of this caliber!"
"What is that?" Rhaegar inspected the area around the Valyrian armor thoroughly, afraid of missing any treasure. Not far from the armor, Rhaegar discovered a golden glint. "Is this a crown?" Rhaegar picked it up, pulling it from the soil. It was a crown, made of shimmering golden Valyrian steel, inlaid with large square red gems. "Glorious and great Emperor of Valyria!"
"This is the crown Orion made for himself. Unfortunately, you are neither glorious nor great." Rhaegar picked up the crown and carefully stored it away.
[Explorer: Congratulations, you have discovered treasures left by the ancient Dragonlord Orion in the ruins of Valyria: Valyrian steel scale armor and a Valyrian steel crown!] Rhaegar is now a collector of quite a lot of Valyrian steel. He already possesses treasures such as the True Dragon armor, the true dragon spear, the shadow cleaver, Orphan-Maker, and the Valyrian Emperor's crown. He is practically a grand collector of Valyrian steel.
Rhaegar felt very comfortable in his heart; this was the joy of exploration. Coming here, he had exploded a lot of gold coins, making another huge fortune. To say nothing else, just this Valyrian scale armor and Valyrian steel crown were priceless treasures.
Rhaegar meticulously searched Orion's camp, ensuring he didn't miss any treasures. Besides the Valyrian armor and the Valyrian crown, he also obtained over a hundred pieces of black scale armor, along with some valuable treasures carried by the army, such as gold and jewels buried in the earth. Unfortunately, this trip was too rushed; apart from the most precious items, Rhaegar didn't thoroughly sweep the area as if digging three feet deep, so he could only wait for the next time to continue. These armors looked like a lower-tier version of the Valyrian scale armor, also engraved with runes and wondrous textures, but the materials used were not as precious as Valyrian steel; Rhaegar felt they were made of dragonglass. These armors were also beautiful. Rhaegar collected them, thinking they would be most useful against the Others in the future.
The volcanoes were still erupting from time to time, and the entire world became fervent, even scorching hot. The smell of sulfur and the toxins of smoke and dust were irresistible to mortals. Rhaegar and the dragon group were covered in a bronze glow, striving to rush towards the southernmost point. Rhaegar rode the Silver Emperor, continuing south along the Valyrian Road. He was already wearing the True Dragon scale armor, dark as smoke, and carrying the true dragon spear on his back. The dragon group also seemed energetic; the sparks and heat made them joyous. Magic dragons love fire, and the firepower of the Fourteen Flames is the fiercest; Dragonstone's Dragonmont is just child's play. The heat and scope of the volcanoes might also limit the growth rate and size of giant dragons. He wondered if, along the way, he would have the chance to see the king of kings among giant dragons.
South of Valyria, ever southward, lay the Valyrian city-state, the former home of the forty Dragonlords. However, some of the roads connecting to the Valyrian city-state had been eroded by earthquakes, and others had disappeared entirely, making the journey quite bumpy now. Most of the beautiful temples, palaces, and academies had been completely destroyed. Rhaegar saw the volcanoes, some dormant, some actively erupting. The Fourteen Flames was a massive volcanic chain extending across the Valyrian peninsula and connecting to the mainland. Living next to the Fourteen Flames truly felt like dancing on graves. Rhaegar could bypass the volcanoes, paying attention to the trajectory of the road, and head towards the core area of Valyria.
Until Rhaegar saw the shadow of that great city, the greatest city in the known world..
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