Watching the gradually brightening and sweeping color, in the pouring rain, the atmosphere on the battlefield by the coast seemed like a solidified amber.
Everyone couldn't help but stop all their actions and quietly watch the scene unfolding before them.
Their eyes watched the shadowy figure, emitting a shocking roar, drift down in the hazy downpour, then saw the crystal-clear Dragon Flame ignite, and they just stared blankly.
The world, in that instant, seemed to have transformed into a pantomime.
Only a silent animation continued, playing out.
All sounds ceased.
Until a sudden crackle, like cold water struggling and bursting in hot oil, accompanied by desperate wails and shrill screams, struck with a violent blast of hot wind.
It was as if heaven and earth, in that instant, had fallen back into reality from another world.
The torrential rain, like a waterfall, was swept away by the explosive hot wind, and the rainwater suspended in the air was like a dusty mirror, wiped clean by an invisible towel.
On the sea, Dragon Flame and seawater intertwined, and in an instant, the endless heat waves either directly incinerated the scattered oar boats interspersed within, or caused them to explode.
On the boats, the scattered dark figures danced, disappearing silently into the clear yellow flames.
And on the shore, people who had never witnessed such a miracle, only heard of such a spectacle in stories, were also violently thrown to the ground by the sudden hot wind.
Then, when people looked up again, a wall of fire, like an unscalable mountain, served as the backdrop, covering the sky and obscuring the sun.
Hot waves still swept through the air, and the sea was filled with gradually weakening screams and clusters of flames struggling in the waves, like a vivid stage play unfolding.
Golden lotuses bloomed in the sea.
Fervent, painful shouts.
Followed one after another, ceaselessly.
Exploding boat splinters, mixed with flying ash, swept past, like a gray-black blizzard composed of lives.
Together, they formed a hellish tableau.
Such a scene felt like a millennium to the witnesses, but in reality, it lasted no more than a dozen breaths.
When the flying figure, like a brush painting on a canvas, retracted its Dragon Flame, spread and shook its wings, and then looked up again, disappearing into the gray of the evening rain.
The torrential rain, which had been dispersed by the explosive hot wind, only then had time to cover the area again.
As if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.
But the flying ash, the shattered limbs and internal organs, the splintered boat wreckage.
And the fiery lotuses still floating and surging in the waves, which even seawater and rain could not extinguish, cruelly told the witnesses that none of what had just happened was an illusion at all.
The cold rainwater once again drenched the dazed people, and the ash, carried by the wind, turned into gray-black stains sticking to their faces and bodies as it was soaked by the cold rain.
"By the Seven Gods!"
At this moment, no one remembered that they were in the midst of a war, or who was an enemy, a life-and-death opponent.
Because everyone's eyes were fixed on the miracle before them, as if it were divine power.
Tyrion also had his eyes wide open at this time, oblivious to the encroaching rain, staring dumbfounded at everything before him.
He had imagined dragons.
He had imagined them since childhood.
For this, when he was very young, he had asked his aunt and brother about stories of dragons.
He had also fantasized in his dreams about becoming a valiant and dashing Dragon Rider.
But even when he personally witnessed the man named Karl El miraculously hatch a dragon in this world where the last dragon had died a hundred years ago.
He had imagined how powerful a dragon could be.
However, that tiny creature, which only ate and slept all day, like a winged puppy, seemed different from what he had imagined.
But only when he truly witnessed it with his own eyes did he realize how utterly lacking all his imaginations had been.
This was not a power belonging to humans.
This was a power belonging to gods.
Tyrion Lannister, who had already been somewhat distraught due to the imminent collapse of the battle, now looked up at the figure disappearing into the sky through the rain, and the only words he could utter to express his feelings were these.
Karl had indeed left him a trump card, but he could not imagine how powerful this trump card truly was.
Powerful enough to easily turn the tide of a war.
And just as Tyrion was still in shock at the dragon's power, Biden, who had also fallen to the ground, was the first to regain consciousness.
He wiped the rain from his face, scrambled to Tyrion's side, and quickly said, "Ty—Tyrion, my lord."
The voice in his ear made Tyrion shiver and come to his senses.
"Biden, wha—what is it?"
Tyrion looked at Biden, still somewhat dazed.
In response to his confusion, Biden held up his sword and indicated with his chin the House Redwyne soldiers who had also been knocked down by the hot wind and gale.
Seeing his actions, Tyrion first paused, then, realizing, his eyes lit up as well.
"Yes, fight! We have a dragon! We have already won the war!"
"Damn Karl! You're amazing!"
"And Robert, you're amazing!"
Realizing the situation and coming to his senses, Tyrion immediately leaped up from the ground with a loud shout, ecstatic beyond measure.
Ignoring the still pouring rain, Tyrion's first reaction upon realizing that this was the moment of victory was to seize this hard-won miraculous triumph.
However, before he could use this opportunity to gather the remaining troops and reorganize a counterattack against House Redwyne, a dragon roar once again echoed from the sky.
"ROAR—!!!"
The deafening roar came from above, and in the electric-like tremor, the words Tyrion was about to shout were again stuck in his throat.
Instinctively, countless pairs of eyes once again looked up at the sky.
In the gray sky, the hazy figure that had disappeared into the clouds reappeared; this time, it folded its wings and shot like an arrow towards the remaining oar boats and House Redwyne warships on the sea.
Not just Tyrion, but at this moment, everyone—whether the soldiers of both sides on the coast or those on the House Redwyne warships anchored and floating on the sea—fell silent.
The only difference, however, was that the House Redwyne soldiers were watching everything before them in despair, tasting the flavor of fear as they awaited death.
Meanwhile, the army belonging to the Westerlands gradually broke into smiles.
In the gray world, that vivid color earlier seemed to have divided the world into two clear and distinct sides.
Everyone realized what was about to happen, including this distant fleet from Arbor.
As expected, it was still the same method, the same taste.
However, this time, the dragon Robert's attack was no longer a full-force, continuous spewing of Dragon Flame, as if it wanted to burn the entire world to ashes.
This time, after flying back to the sea, its Dragon Flame was intermittently spewed from its mouth in individual fireballs, like throwing stones, and then accurately dropped onto the remaining oar boats.
This method was highly efficient; in just a few minutes of circling, it had cleared the battlefield.
But its work was clearly not over yet.
While the Dragon Flame still burned in scattered points on the sea and the sky was still pouring rain, Robert made a final inspection of the battlefield.
Once it confirmed that there were no other ships on the sea besides the House Redwyne warships.
Robert, with a satisfied look, let out another trembling roar, flapped its wings, performed a nimble somersault, and then landed on the flagship of the House Redwyne fleet.
The arbor queen, the flagship of Lord Paxter Redwyne, was a three-masted galley.
This ship was magnificent and majestic, extremely large, with three burgundy giant sails, and its oars were painted gold and white, making it very beautiful.
Robert, having landed on the arbor queen, completely ignored the surviving humans on the warship; it first meticulously looked around, then nodded with a very satisfied expression.
Then, it finally had time to turn its gaze to the humans on this warship.
"Roar~!"
Another dragon roar, the trembling sound waves dispersed and shattered the falling raindrops, allowing the humans to see its majestic and impressive figure more clearly.
But facing a dragon larger than the strongest ox, with wings spread like giant sails covering the sky, the people before it could not utter a single word.
Some even fainted directly from Robert's roar just now.
However, seeing that these people still didn't react after its roar, Robert became displeased.
It lost its patience.
Then, it leaped from the ship onto the deck, and upon approaching the humans, it immediately started circling and swinging its tail, sweeping its wings, as if it were waving a broom to clean up.
But how could fragile humans withstand such torment from a giant beast?
Those who were hit directly had their bones broken and tendons snapped on the spot, unable to even scream before being swept off the deck and into the sea.
Those lucky enough to be merely blown over or knocked down by the gale could still let out shrill screams as they were swept away and fell onto the turbulent sea.
In short, Robert's actions had only one meaning: "Get off my ship!"
After three or five consecutive actions, the House Redwyne soldiers who hadn't been affected also realized what it meant.
Those who reacted quickly and were nimble chose to jump ship themselves.
Those who were still dazed and slow to react were unceremoniously smacked away by Robert's large tail.
And in no time at all, Robert efficiently cleared the deck before it.
Then, it looked left and right, satisfied, and flew up again to the next warship, repeating its previous actions.
On the coast, Tyrion, who had already come to his senses and was calling for men to capture the House Redwyne soldiers who had lost their spirit and thrown down their weapons, surrendering under the terrifying might of the dragon, also stared blankly at everything happening on the sea.
The wind and rain by the sea came and went quickly.
After such a long time battling through this war, the wind and rain were now much, much lighter than before.
So, on the sea where visibility had barely recovered, people could clearly see what a winged behemoth was doing.
After several consecutive warships, the soldiers on the remaining warships, before it even approached, voluntarily jumped off the ships.
They jumped into the sea, seeking a way to survive.
It was better to jump themselves than to be smacked away by the dragon's large tail.
At least there was still a glimmer of hope, wasn't there?
And on the shore, Tyrion and the others witnessed such a somewhat absurd and comical scene.
This left Tyrion Lannister's face not only covered with the joy of victory but also a hint of a wry smile.
"It even knows that its Dragon Flame would harm these warships, and it specifically went to clear its spoils of war one by one…"
Beside Tyrion, Qira, who had come to his side at some point, couldn't help but remark.
Shaga, also dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed at the dragon wantonly wreaking havoc on the various warships offshore, instinctively nodded.
At this moment, the various nobles on the battlefield also followed, trailing behind, and they looked towards the sea with the same expression.
Hearing the words of this woman, who was said to be a wildling from the High Mountain Clan, they also instinctively nodded.
Unless one was foolish, any person could understand what Robert was doing.
But precisely because of this, the scene before them was able to completely redefine their worldview.
A dragon that cleans up its own battlefield and protects its own spoils of war?
Who the hell had ever heard of such a thing?
Tyrion withdrew his gaze, giving a warning look to the nobles standing before him, who seemed somewhat timid but couldn't hide their joy; he truly wasn't in the mood to deal with them.
He turned to a few guards beside him and ordered, "Get some men to recruit some sailors from the town. We need to commandeer their ships to capture the living people in the sea, and also have someone bring these warships back."
The guards took their leave.
Those present continued to watch the spectacle with great interest.
"Karl has raised Robert for several months, and I never expected it to prove its worth in just one go."
"This single action of its has probably secured at least thirty years of wealth from Arbor and broken their backbone."
Looking at the perfectly intact warships floating on the distant sea, Tyrion couldn't help but mutter to himself.
It wasn't until Robert finished its work on the last ship on the distant sea, spread its wings again, and turned to fly towards them, that the expressions of the people who had been watching the show immediately changed.
The place where the Arbor fleet was anchored on the sea was not far from Lannisport's coast, at least for a dragon, it was just a few flaps of its wings.
When the golden dragon flapped its wings, stirring up a gale, and landed before Tyrion, most people instinctively retreated far back, not daring to approach.
Tyrion was somewhat familiar with Robert, but facing such a harbinger of death, he couldn't help but quietly take two steps back to avoid the scorching breath Robert unconsciously exhaled.
It was said that a dragon's flesh and blood were made of fire, so dragons themselves would emit heat.
At this moment, Robert, landing before Tyrion in the drizzle, was smoking all over its dark golden body, evaporating the rainwater falling from the sky.
The monstrous beast, shrouded in a misty cloud, exuded a terrifying aura of its own.
"Hmph…"
It saw Tyrion hesitate before it, and a hot breath exhaled from its nostrils, causing Tyrion to involuntarily stumble back another two steps before regaining his balance.
Then, it bared its sharp teeth, a curve forming at the corner of its mouth, as if mocking the Dwarf before it: "Dismount before a dragon, a lifelong wish fulfilled, for there is no greater miracle in the world than a dragon."
Tyrion Lannister, having barely regained his footing, looked at the dragon before him and couldn't help but recall a line about dragons he had once read in a book.
"Rob—Robert, um, good afternoon," Tyrion greeted with a hint of fear and awkwardness, looking at the dragon he hadn't seen in a long time, which had grown from the size of an ox to that of a small wooden house.
However, in response to his greeting, Robert merely let out a disdainful snort from its nostrils.
Then, it extended its right wing, raising it before the Dwarf.
In Tyrion's fearful and terrified gaze, Robert's clutched wing-claw suddenly extended a single claw.
And gazing at this sharp claw before him, still bearing some flesh and blood, the Dwarf, who had initially felt an instinctive fear due to Robert's display of divine power on the battlefield, immediately found that last bit of fear vanish into thin air.
Looking at the sharp claw, Tyrion couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
How could he not understand this gesture?
Because this was also what Karl liked to do to him most when he mocked him.
Another hot gust of wind blew, and Tyrion heard a human voice seemingly drifting in his ear.
"Trash."
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)