Viserys led his men in dealing with the carcasses of the three Blood Eagles. Having finished collecting all the dark red blood gems, his hands were still stained with traces of blood.
Holding these blood gems in his hand, they still felt warm, as if blood were flowing within them.
Relying on blood and fire magic, the three Blood Eagles had managed to survive in the ruins of Valyria until they were killed by Viserys.
The essence of Blood Magic lies in utilizing blood to accelerate the breeding of superior species and the hybridization of flesh and bone grafting, much like a mad scientist.
Viserys felt that the Blood Magic of Blood Cult involved constant grafting and genetic manipulation, meaning they could only create a batch and use a batch.
Because the hybrid monsters created by blood sorcerers lacked reproductive advantages and were often violent, difficult to control, and extremely unstable.
However, this was not an issue at all for blood sorcerers; after all, the Valyrians viewed other ethnic groups as consumables and slaves.
Furthermore, the environment back then was better than it is now, with many experimental subjects such as Long-Haired People, Giant Eagles, Mammoths, Giants, Direwolves, Snow Bears, Unicorns, and Great Pythons.
Both Valyria and High Sos had laboratories of Blood Cult's blood sorcerers. It was unknown how many monsters still remained in Valyria today.
"It's a dragon!"
"It really is a dragon."
A swift and nimble young dragon flew beneath the red clouds, like a golden shadow under the blazing sun, the golden light drawing closer and closer.
Viserys had originally felt that his pockets were already full; although he hadn't obtained many dragon eggs, his other treasures were quite abundant.
Even if other adventurers were to make another trip to Valyria, they might not find a single thing besides Human-Faced Worm and Fire Zombiess.
This journey could have ended, but he hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise.
After all, they were only exploring a corner of Valyria, and they had already gained enough.
There were two most dangerous places: one was the ruins in the center of Valyria, where the Dragonlord palaces, council chambers, and temples once stood—along with, of course, the Dragonlords' secret laboratories.
The second was the main peak of the Fourteen Flames, where the dragonpits of the Dragonlord families were located, along with many dense networks of mine tunnels.
"Stay calm."
"Stay calm, prepare for combat, but do not initiate an attack."
The Unsullied nervously gripped their spears and shields, looking at the dragon appearing above—the supreme creation of blood and fire.
The dragon appearing before Viserys was twelve feet long with a wingspan of about thirty-six feet.
The deterrent force brought by the dragon was even greater than that of the three Blood Eagles.
The dragon appearing above them became clearer and clearer; the combination of gold and another red gave it a magnificent and brilliant feel.
Its body was covered in golden scales, but its eyes, horns, spinal plates, and wing membranes were all a beautiful and dazzling fiery red.
The scales occasionally exposed looked as if they were cast from solid gold.
The young dragon's body curves were very smooth, meeting aerodynamic standards.
Though a bit thin, it appeared wild and fierce.
Viserys looked at the dragon. Golden dragons and red dragons were not very common, and this was a dragon with a combination of gold and red.
Golden dragons were famous for being gorgeous and beautiful, while red dragons were famous for their speed and attack power.
Speaking of golden dragons, one had to mention Sunfyre. This magnificent dragon had shimmering golden scales all over its body, and its wing membranes were pale pink, like a radiant dawn, hence the name 'Sunfyre.'
According to Archmaester Gyldayn, Sunfyre was perhaps the most majestic and beautiful dragon ever seen in Westeros, or even the entire world.
After Sunfyre died and Aegon was restored to the throne, he brought seven dragon eggs from Dragonstone to hatch. One of them was a purple-gold dragon egg, but it showed no signs of life.
In the history of the House Targaryen, the most famous red dragons were The Red Queen and The Blood Wyrm, with their most famous riders being The Queen Who Never Was and The Rogue Prince Daemon.
In 75 AC, 'The Red Queen' Meleys was known as the fastest dragon ever in Westeros, easily outstripping Caraxes and Vhagar in the sky.
And 'The Blood Wyrm' Caraxes was likewise a massive, formidable, and terrifying beast with extensive combat experience.
The gold-and-red dragon before him would also be an extraordinary dragon.
However, the young dragon was more or less covered in dark, black mud, looking quite filthy, which was likely intentional.
As the dragon swept across the sky, the flapping of its wings sounded like a clap of thunder.
Viserys's Squires were parched with thirst, wondering why this young dragon had come here.
Viserys soon noticed that the dragon was more concerned with the three Blood Eagles. After all, they were both flying creatures, and dragons and Blood Eagles were rivals in the food chain.
So Viserys waved his hand, signaling the rest of the group to keep their distance from the dragon.
The dragon of gold and red glanced at them and circled warily a few times. Seeing that these people were not attacking it, it ignored them further.
A swirling flame of intertwined gold and red flew down from the sky, aimed at the carcasses of the three Blood Eagles, engulfing them in fire.
The golden dragon began to roar shrilly, the sound filling the area as a furnace-like hot wind swept over them.
Dragons, like humans, only eat cooked meat.
Viserys watched as the golden dragon slowly descended, landing beside the Blood Eagles' bodies, its claws beginning to grab the smoking meat.
The golden dragon's eyes were like molten lava, and its black teeth cut through the charred, cooked meat of the Blood Eagles like sharp swords.
The golden dragon swallowed greedily while breathing fire.
"Your Majesty, this is a wild dragon; it's too dangerous," Argos and Jarak advised. "It might even be corrupted by Blood Magic."
"I don't think so; it's a healthy wild dragon." Viserys emboldened himself and began to slowly approach the mud-stained gold-and-red dragon.
Viserys had never seen Sunfyre, which was said to be the most beautiful dragon.
But looking at the dragon of gold and red now, he felt it was even more beautiful than Sunfyre.
The Dragon of Gold and Flame, a hidden gem of the Valyrian ruins.
Viserys looked at the gold-and-red dragon; this was beyond his plans. His mind raced as he thought of a good way to handle this.
Compared to the formula for hatching fossilized dragon eggs, the ready-made young dragon before him could not be missed.
Viserys thought about ways to approach it. There didn't seem to be any better tunes, and the family's ancestral dragon-taming songs had all been lost.
Viserys remembered a song his mother had once sung to him and began to hum that ancient Valyrian epic, treating it as a last-ditch effort.
This ancestral ditty should have some effect. Viserys began to sing the ancient Valyrian tune.
"Fire and Ice, a song played by ice and fire.
High towers, low valleys, a world woven of dreams and reality.
Blood and heartbeats, an epic resonating with blood and fire.
Black dragons, silver dragons, an eternal pact between man and dragon.
Valyria fades in dreams, an unreachable homeland... please follow me, friend, partner.
Blood for blood, fire for fire.
By my fire, I call your name."
This song of the Valyrian homeland sung by Viserys was very melodic. Every syllable was sincere, as if carrying that ancient power.
Viserys sang this ancient ballad, attempting to establish some kind of connection with the golden dragon.
According to ancient rules, the language dragons obeyed was Valyrian.
Although High Valyrian was used by very few people now, as a member of the ancient House Targaryen, Viserys was very familiar with this language, which also represented their status as Valyrian Dragonlords.
The golden dragon raised its head and looked at Viserys suspiciously. Except for those death-seeking adventurers, it had almost never heard a human voice.
And those adventurers had long since perished at the hands of the Human-Faced Worm.
This adventurer singing the Valyrian song seemed quite powerful.
Viserys looked into the golden dragon's lava-like vertical pupils, which flickered with an inexplicable light. Viserys was drawn in by that light.
This was a true dragon.
The golden dragon looked at Viserys, its eyes filled with inexplicable thoughts: loneliness, alertness, curiosity, doubt, and even a hint of greed as if it viewed Viserys as food.
Viserys also slowly walked toward the golden dragon, soothing its emotions.
Don't panic when encountering trouble; at least the golden dragon had some favorable impression of him, or at least it hadn't attacked immediately.
The golden dragon looked at Viserys, not forgetting to breathe fire while devouring the Blood Eagle meat. The charred smell of roasting slowly spread through the air.
Dragons have huge appetites; even when they are small, they can eat several times their body weight in cooked meat.
"Are you hungry?" Viserys looked at the golden dragon. A cluster of sparks flew from his palm, and those flames ignited the Blood Eagle's body, making the carcass burn more thoroughly.
"I am like you; I too know the dance of fire." The flames summoned by Viserys roasted the Blood Eagle alongside the dragonflame.
"In my name, in the name of fire." Viserys approached, wanting to place his palm on the golden dragon's snout, but the dragon was not yet ready.
The golden dragon opened its mouth, and the gold-and-red fire in its throat was brighter than a hundred torches, like a new sun.
The golden dragon thought for a moment and gave up on burning Viserys to death, instead continuing to gulp down the Blood Eagle's carcass, which could be seen as not rejecting Viserys's goodwill.
Just as Viserys was continuing his patient persuasion, different vibrational sounds came from both the air and the ground, carrying the stench of Blood Magic.
From both the sky and the earth came the sound of a commotion.
This time, it wasn't just a single three-headed Blood Eagle; there was also a mutant Griffin bred by Blood Cult—those monsters cultivated through Blood Magic.
On the ground, amidst the hazy mist.
Leading the way were those hairy freaks who had been transformed into Fire Zombiess, riding upon ancient Unicorns.
"It's the Long-Haired People," Argos said.
The Andals also had stories about the Long-Haired People; the Andals had once slaughtered many of them.
Viserys was certain these were the ancient Long-Haired People. Legend had it they were a group of warlike barbarians who rode Unicorns into battle.
These barbarians were even sturdier, taller, and more massive than the Ibmen of today.
Legendary figures like Humazo Amai, ancestor of Tangazan Feyn, used the pelts of Long-Haired People as cloaks to display their heroic spirit.
"Stop eating, partner. If we kill these monsters, you can eat even more."
The golden dragon raised its head and stared straight at Viserys, wavering between the ideas of finishing its feast or fleeing.