Chapter 34:
The darkness before dawn is often the deepest.
On the extremely cold wasteland north of the Wall, a black whirlwind suddenly rose.
The Night King silently raised the ice crystal spear in his hand and pointed it toward the sky. Deep in the Land of Always Winter, the earth trembled as if some colossal being was breaking through the ground.
Crack! Crack!
Huge layers of ice split open.
A massive claw, nothing but bare white bone with ghostly blue fire burning in its eye sockets, suddenly gripped the edge of the ice plain.
Immediately after, an ancient frost bone dragon over fifty meters long, its tattered wings covered in ice crystals, let out a soul-freezing roar and shot into the sky!
It had no flesh. Its entire body was made of iron-hard ice and ancient dragon bones. What flowed inside it was not flame, but the absolute "chill of death."
"What… what is that?"
On the Wall, the Night's Watch brothers who had just breathed a sigh of relief fell into despair once again.
Jon Snow's telescope slipped from his hand, his face deathly pale. "The legendary… ice dragon? Weren't they just fairy tales?"
"Fairy tales are all lies, Jon."
Victor's expression turned grave. He felt the system's frantic warning bells ringing.
[Warning! Ultra-high-threat creature approaching!]
[Target: Undead Bone Dragon.]
[Attributes: Immune to ordinary physical damage (extremely hard skeleton), immune to fire (protected by ice).]
[Skill: Extreme Cold Dragon Breath (can instantly freeze steel).]
"Roar——!!!"
The bone dragon flapped its wings, whipping up a blizzard, and shot toward the Wall like a white bolt of lightning!
"Cannons! Fire!" the grenadier captain roared.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of cannons fired in unison.
But the bone dragon was extremely agile in the air. It rolled sideways and dodged most of the cannonballs. Only one solid shot hit its ribs, shattering a few insignificant bones and failing to even slow it down.
In the blink of an eye, it was already above the Wall.
Whoosh——!!!
The bone dragon opened its massive jaws and unleashed a pale white dragon breath!
It was not fire — it was absolute zero cold!
The copper pipes that had just been spraying high-temperature steam instantly emitted an unbearable cracking sound upon contact with the breath — they shattered!
Several craftsmen operating the boilers didn't even have time to scream before they turned into lifelike ice sculptures, their expressions of terror frozen perfectly in place.
"Fall back! Everyone find cover!"
Victor grabbed the still-stunned Sansa and shielded her behind him.
The cold wave swept past, destroying half of the defensive structures on top of the Wall. Even the Pompey lion banner was frozen into fragments and scattered in the wind.
"Damn it! This bone frame is too hard!" the Hound raised his shield, his eyebrows covered in frost. "Boss! The cannons can't hit it! It's too fast!"
Victor poked his head out from behind cover and watched the bone dragon circling in the air, preparing for a second dive.
"Then we'll use something with more punch."
Victor pressed the communicator on his wrist (actually a speaking tube device).
"Qyburn! Activate the 'Scorpio'!"
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Beneath the highest beacon tower on the Wall, the camouflage tarps were violently thrown off.
Revealing three massive, menacing all-metal heavy crossbow cannons.
[System Weapon: Scorpio · Dragon-Slaying Ballista.]
[Power: Hydraulic winch + steam assist.]
[Ammunition: Chain Armor-Piercing Explosive Bolts (two dragonglass warheads connected by high-strength steel chain).]
"Target locked! Predict flight path!"
Victor personally jumped onto the operator's seat of one ballista, gripped the handles with both hands, and locked his eyes on the bone dragon in the sky.
The bone dragon seemed to sense the threat. It let out a sharp screech, folded its wings, and dove toward Victor's position like a meteor! It wanted to destroy this threat first!
Five hundred meters.
Three hundred meters.
Two hundred meters.
Dragon breath was already gathering in its throat!
"Go to hell!"
Victor stomped hard on the firing pedal.
Snap——!!!
The enormous bowstring vibration sounded like thunder.
A specially made bolt as thick as a spear screamed through the air!
Thud!
It didn't hit the dragon's head directly (the bone dragon dodged by turning its head), but because it was a chain bolt, the two warheads spun open in the air. The steel chain wrapped tightly around the root of the bone dragon's left wing!
Boom!
The black powder inside the warheads was detonated by the impact fuse!
The massive explosive shockwave instantly shattered one of the bone dragon's main wing bones!
"Aaaargh——!!!"
The bone dragon let out a painful screech and lost balance in the air, crashing crookedly into the outer face of the Wall and shattering large sections of ice.
"Hit!" Jon Snow punched the air in excitement.
But before anyone could cheer, the bone dragon used its right wing and claws to claw its way back onto the Wall!
Although one wing bone was broken, it was undead! It felt no pain!
The ghostly fire in its eye sockets burned even brighter. It opened its massive jaws toward the nearby Victor, preparing to unleash a killing breath!
The distance was too close!
The Scorpio was still reloading!
Victor drew the greatsword King's Landing, muscles tensed, preparing to take the hit head-on.
Damn it, was he going to have to use that trump card (the system's invincible shield)?
Just at this critical moment.
In the eastern sky, the originally pitch-black clouds suddenly turned a strange dark red.
A roar even more domineering and full of life than the bone dragon's rolled across the sky!
"Roar——!!!"
A massive black shadow blotted out the stars.
Immediately after, a thick, black-red column of flame, like the sword of divine punishment, slashed down from the clouds!
It struck directly into the bone dragon's wide-open mouth!
BOOM!!!
Flame and ice collided in mid-air, erupting into a sky full of white mist!
The bone dragon was blasted backward by the enormous impact force, nearly falling off the Wall.
Everyone looked up.
A huge black dragon with scales as hard as obsidian hovered above the Wall, its massive wings beating powerfully.
Its eyes burned like molten lava, and red light of destruction surged in its throat.
Drogon.
The reincarnation of the "Black Death" Balerion.
A true dragon had arrived!
It did not attack the humans first. Instead, it turned its head, and its enormous dragon eyes looked at Victor standing beside the ballista.
It smelled it.
This man carried the scent of its favorite "stones" (fire element crystals).
Moreover, that little man (Tyrion) had said this person was the "meal ticket."
"Roooar…"
Drogon growled lowly at Victor, as if saying: "Is this the bone frame that dared to bully you?"
Victor breathed a sigh of relief, sheathed his sword, and shouted toward the sky:
"Finish it, Drogon! I'll give you an extra meal tonight!"
Drogon clearly understood the words "extra meal."
It let out an excited roar, flapped its wings, and dove toward the bone dragon that had just climbed back up like a black bomber!
Bang!
The two giant dragons collided violently in mid-air!
This was a clash between flesh and blood and undead bone!
This was a battle between raging fire and absolute ice!
Drogon bit down on the bone dragon's neck, unleashing dragonflame at point-blank range, burning the bone dragon's neck bones with cracking sounds.
The bone dragon fought back fiercely, its sharp bone claws scraping sparks across Drogon's scales, trying to invade Drogon's wings with its cold.
But the bone dragon was dead after all, and one of its wings had already been shattered by Victor earlier.
Under Drogon's furious assault, it was forced back step by step.
Finally, Drogon delivered a savage tail swipe that knocked the bone dragon off the Wall!
Immediately after, Drogon chased it down and unleashed a super dragonflame that lasted more than ten seconds on the falling bone dragon!
BOOM——
At that moment, the night sky was set ablaze.
The bone dragon disintegrated completely in the flames, turning into countless burning bone fragments that scattered across the snow plain.
Far away, the Night King watched this scene. For the first time, his frozen face could no longer hold its composure.
He stared deeply at Victor on the Wall, then at the black dragon in the sky.
This time, he did not attempt another attack.
He turned his horse and silently disappeared into the depths of the blizzard.
The army of the Others retreated.
On the Wall, a deafening cheer erupted!
"We won! We actually won!"
"Dragon! Long live the true dragon! Long live Lord Pompey!"
Drogon circled once in the air and slowly landed on the destroyed beacon tower.
It folded its wings, and its massive head lowered toward Victor. Two streams of hot, sulfur-scented breath blew from its nostrils, making Victor's cloak flutter wildly.
It was waiting for its reward.
Victor smiled.
He took out a large piece of top-grade fire element crystal from his system space and tossed it straight into Drogon's massive mouth.
Crunch.
Drogon chewed the crystal like candy and let out a satisfied purr.
It even allowed Victor to reach out and stroke its scorching snout.
Sansa, Jon, the Night's Watch… everyone stared in stunned silence.
That man.
He had not only repelled the Others.
He was also petting a dragon!
Victor turned around and looked at the faint light of dawn breaking in the east.
Drogon's arrival meant Daenerys was not far behind.
"Clean up the battlefield."
Victor gave the order calmly.
"Prepare to welcome our… queen."
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