Viserys felt as if he and the golden dragon, Sunfyre, were islands under a red sky, overlooking the battle below.
The army of Long-Haired People atop Unicorns had fully revealed themselves, their complexions pale and their appearances hideous.
The Long-Haired People were hairier, taller, and more robust than the Ibmen.
Ibmen never grew taller than five feet, but the Long-Haired People broke that limit, reaching six or even seven feet.
feet tall.
Most striking were the bluish veins of the Long-Haired People; their body hair covered their limbs, chests, and backs, and even the women were hairy.
Flame-patterned tattoos were etched onto their faces and bodies, and blood gems were embedded in the center of their brows.
The Long-Haired People used axes as weapons, wore tattered leather armor, and carried furry brown shields.
As great warriors, these people indeed possessed the natural talent to be modified into Fire Zombies.
After all, the Long-Haired People appeared coarse and reckless, ill-suited for anything other than fighting.
It was said that the Long-Haired People excelled most at wrestling; the Ibmen, their fierce descendants, were so skilled at their favorite sport of wrestling that the men of Westeros could hardly match them.
The Unsullied formed a shield wall, using shields and spears for defense.
The Unsullied endured this environment of blood and fire; long-term consumption of the Wine of Courage gave them an incredibly high tolerance for pain.
The crescent-shaped spear formation was intimidating, but these Fire Zombies possessed only a desire for destruction.
The Long-Haired People swung their giant axes, raining attacks upon the Unsullied shield wall. Beside them, the strong Unicorns charged with their sharp horns.
Though the Unsullied were loyal and fearless, the Long-Haired Fire Zombies were no mediocre army, attacking with a consistent rhythm.
In the Seven Kingdoms and the Free Cities, such a strange and terrifying army was rarely seen.
The robust Long-Haired People rode their Unicorns, feeling no pain from ordinary wounds and even capable of rising from the dead.
A Unicorn pressed forward violently; even as its body was pierced by several Unsullied spears, it continued to roar and sweep through the shield wall.
The Unicorn's body collapsed, and a gap immediately appeared in the front shield wall; those who couldn't dodge in time were crushed beneath the beast.
"Pry out the rubies from these dead men!"
"Take their heads!"
"Fall back!"
One Unsullied failed to dodge in time, and a Long-Haired man's sharp great-axe swept across his head, separating it from his body and killing him instantly.
The Unsullied had drunk pain-suppressing drugs like the Wine of Courage since childhood, but their eyes and heads remained weak points; the Unsullied were not true super-soldiers.
If the Unsullied encountered boiling oil or attacks to the head or heart, they would still die.
Argos roared, swinging his greatsword as he charged forward to meet them.
Jarak discarded his Goldenheart Bow; at this distance, he could only use a spear.
"The King!"
"King Viserys!" the people called out the King's name.
Then came the burning of Dragonflame as Viserys, riding Sunfyre, provided timely support to the ground battlefield.
These Long-Haired People were undoubtedly a powerful army; he couldn't let all of his men be wiped out.
Sunfyre climbed with all his might, higher and higher, and then, once the Long-Haired People could no longer track the dragon's movements, he suddenly folded his wings and dove.
The dragon's golden-red flames spiraled down; the Long-Haired People and Unicorns caught in the path of the fire were instantly engulfed.
Dragonflame was consistent with wildfire in its persistence—perhaps even stronger—burning until the very end.
This was why many maesters said wildfire was a distant cousin to Dragonflame.
Viserys watched as the golden-red flames swept across the faces of the Long-Haired People, melting their eyes, which slid out like burst eggs.
Then came the hair and beards; the thick body hair of the Long-Haired People became a deadly accelerant, the fire burning continuously along their fur.
In an instant, the Long-Haired People looked as if they were wearing crowns of burning fire, their entire forms appearing twice as tall until they were reduced to charcoal within the flames.
These Fire Zombies originated from blood and fire, but they could not withstand the excessive output of those very flames.
The battlefield turned into a scene of blood and chaos, but these Fire Zombies, hungering for true living life, did not flee; and so, the dragon danced.
The golden-red flames spread like a prairie fire, sweeping across the entire battlefield.
Argos and the Unsullied breathed a sigh of relief, and crossbows began targeting the eyes of the Long-Haired People or the Unicorns.
Argos gripped his greatsword and initiated a charge.
Viserys swung the Sword of the True Dragon; the sword's edge cut through the heads of the Long-Haired People as if through butter.
With the dragon's support, the tide of the battle quickly turned.
Viserys leaped off the dragon's back. Sunfyre went to find his own food, breathing Dragonflame onto the Three-headed Blood Eagles and Griffins, which still made for a delicious meal.
Viserys stood upon the ravaged battlefield, which was filled with the stench of charred flesh and blood.
Though they had casualties on their side, the overall losses were not significant.
Viserys looked at the corpses of the Griffins and Blood Eagles; in future prophecies, sphinxes would also fly.
If they truly could fly, the principle would be the same as the magic of the Blood Warlocks.
Stitching together dead dragons or giant eagles and then using Blood Magic to breathe fire—even a low-end Sphinx would be a monster.
Argos and the guards carefully dug out those teardrop-shaped red gems and even found a gilded disc for Viserys.
The Griffins and Three-headed Blood Eagles were just as Viserys thought—all originated from the secret laboratories of the Blood Cult in High Sos, stitched together there and sent back to Valyria.
As for these Long-Haired People, they belonged to a guard unit of the Blood Cult Dragon King called the "Secret Blood Army," and they carried tags identifying them as such.
Viserys took a Secret Blood Army tag: "Creation of the Great Blood Cult Dragon King, Forever Loyal Servant, Secret Blood Army, No. 0013."
These Long-Haired People died without even a name, only a code.
Just like the Unsullied, who had no true names of their own from day to day.
Viserys looked at the scarred battlefield; so far, they had only killed two types of the Blood Warlocks' pets.
Viserys felt that there might be even more terrifying things yet to be activated; these ruins hid many secrets.
If a giant Human-Faced Worm suddenly appeared, it would be more than he could handle.
The Blood Cult army also won through numbers; these Griffins, Blood Eagles, and even the Long-Haired People, giants, and Unicorns were all pets of the Blood Cult Dragon King.
Imagine if the Blood Cult Dragon King lined up this vast array of fodder on a battlefield; the intimidation factor would be quite high.
Even if Blood Magic was generally less elegant than Fire Magic, these Griffins and Blood Eagles could at least fly; low-end Griffins mimicking dragons still possessed considerable combat power.
Valyria had produced a few hundred dragons, but never more than a thousand.
Whereas these crude, genetically modified weapons were relatively easy to manufacture.
Viserys walked up to a relatively intact corpse of a Long-Haired man; the body was already scorched black.
The flame-script on the arm was actually still glowing, a dark, blood-like color that looked quite eerie.
"The art of great Blood Magic: Bloodline Binding, a bloodline inheritance that never leaks out." Viserys looked at the Long-Haired man's hand as the flame-script slowly dimmed.
After the blood gem was removed, the Long-Haired man's body began to shrivel.
"Bloodline Binding?" Viserys looked at those words. Fire resistance and Fire Element attacks were the arts of Fire Magic, but Bloodline Binding was the first Blood Magic he had encountered.
"It seems the Blood Cult hid a curse within the bloodline of the Long-Haired People. No wonder the modern Ibmen cannot integrate with other races..."
They were simply too ugly; the Ibmen were disliked by both humans and dogs.
The proud Valyrians could accommodate rhoynar, Andals, Old Ghiscari, and slaves from Lys, but they could not tolerate the presence of too many Long-Haired People.
In the current world, Ibbenese men could mate with women from Westeros or elsewhere, but the offspring were usually malformed and, like mules, were inevitably sterile.
Ibbenese women mating with men of other races would only produce stillbirths and monsters; however, they were so hideous that any man willing to do so must be very desperate.
Viserys had originally thought it was due to the unique environment of Ibben.
Looking at it now, it was possible the Long-Haired People had been used as experimental subjects by the Blood Cult, leaving their Ibbenese descendants bound by the curse.
After eating and drinking his fill, Sunfyre let out a low growl; it seemed he wanted to return to his original nest.
Viserys looked at the gloomy, uncertain weather. They had explored for some time, spanning several days and nights; they couldn't stay here any longer.
Even though Viserys was a vessel for Fire Magic, his vessel was but a cup, unable to hold an entire river.
This was the fire pole of the entire world; how much element could it hold?
Just like the Heart of Winter, it could sustain the Night King and a vast army of Others.
He could only absorb as much Fire Element as possible. The Blood Cult's pets, the Human-Faced Worms, and the Firewyrmss were all very xenophobic, not to mention the smog and the never-ending leaks of sulfurous gases.
The nest Sunfyre occupied should have some kind of safety guarantee, protecting it from the pollution of blood and fire.
Viserys decided to give it one more try before leaving the Valyrian Ruins.
As Viserys looked at Sunfyre, several lines of information flowed across his attribute panel.
[Fate Reverser Viserys Targaryen, you have slain the Blood Warlock creations: Three-headed Blood Eagle and Griffins, and the Blood Warlock subordinates: Long-Haired People. Ancient powers are awakening for you.
Strength increased →, Speed increased →, Agility increased →, Spirit increased →.]
[Fate Reverser Viserys Targaryen, you have completed the bond with the dragon Sunfyre in the Valyrian Ruins. The axis of fate fluctuates. Class activated: Dragon Rider.]
[Fate Reverser Viserys Targaryen, you have completed the bond with the dragon Sunfyre in the Valyrian Ruins. The axis of fate fluctuates. Talent rewarded: Dragon Kinship.]
[Talent (Dragon Kinship): The pride of ancient Valyria, the supreme and great dragon race, a magnificent movement composed by Dragon Riders. Dragon Kinship increases the affinity between humans and dragons. (Note: Best used on one's own dragon or masterless dragons.)]
Viserys's Knight class had simply vanished, now directly converted into Dragon Rider.
Viserys looked at his entire panel; he now resembled a well-rounded hexagonal warrior.
[Viserys Targaryen]
[Age: 15]
[Classes: Fate Reverser (Proficient), Dragon Rider (Novice), Water Dancer (Master), Fire Channeler (Proficient), Water Channeler (Proficient), Singer (Master), Gourmet (Legendary)]
Viserys looked at his classes; Fate Reverser had already reached the Proficient tier.
Originally, Viserys's Knight class had also become Master, but with its promotion to Dragon Rider, that slot now showed the only Novice rank.
[Reputation: Restorer, Dragon King, Silver Dragon Khal]
Viserys's 'landless king' title seemed to have disappeared, replaced by brand-new titles related to being a pioneer.
[Charisma: Extremely High]
[Partner: Sunfyre (Juvenile Dragon, 3 years old, a dragon treasure of the Valyrian Ruins, a lonely, cunning, and dangerous hunter)]
Viserys looked at Sunfyre. This thing was three years old?
He certainly looked fierce, even though he had been living from one meal to the next.
[Attributes: Strength 4, Fortitude 4, Agility 4.1, Spirit 3.6.]
His attributes were very balanced; Viserys predicted that a 4 likely represented a top-tier warrior, the limit of an ordinary human.
While Viserys's attributes had surged, other people's attributes would not be as well-rounded as his.
[Special Talents: Glutton, God of Gastronomy, Insight, Just Judgment, Dragon Kinship, Water Element Affinity, Fire Element Affinity]