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A golden-red dragon shadow swept across the sky, beneath those deep red clouds.
There were chains of islands with volcanic peaks to both the north and south; nowadays, these volcanoes were extremely unstable, venting smoke and fire from time to time.
Even in the northern part of Sothoryos, the city of Mantarys at the northernmost end of the Sea of Sighs was plagued by the ruins of the Freehold.
The people born there were deformed freaks, as if it were some kind of curse.
Viserys felt that this might also be a curse mixed with smog and Blood Magic, causing this place to become chaotic and disordered.
The dragon Sun enjoyed a pleasant mood after finishing its meal, its shadow like lightning cutting across the sky.
Viserys looked reluctantly at the massive skeleton of the dragon bound to Orryon, which was completely filled with Fire Element.
If he could 'grind' it for a while, the buffs would definitely be extraordinary.
This dragon's size was roughly similar to Vhagar or the Bronze Fury; if combined with the magic of a Fire Mage, its attack power would be even stronger.
A true high-end Dragonlord compared to a Dragon Rider of the House Targaryen was somewhat akin to a dimensional strike.
After all, the Dragon Riders of the House Targaryen lacked valyrian steel armor (only dark-colored valyrian steel armor appeared in the whole book) and possessed no Fire Magic, making it a very high-risk profession.
Viserys could not stay here for long; without proper supplies, this place was fraught with danger.
Most of the time, Viserys felt that the environment of Valyria was not suitable for a dragon to survive.
The pets of the Blood Warlocks were scattered throughout the Valyrian Ruins, along with those out-of-control Firewyrms, Human-Faced Worms, and so on.
Firewyrms could grow to be unimaginably huge, and coupled with the ruinous state of Valyria, they posed a great threat to dragons.
Viserys piloted his dragon, while his subordinates cautiously followed the path indicated by Viserys.
The dragon also acted as a lookout; Sun led them along paths it frequented, which were relatively safer.
Under normal circumstances, Firewyrms seemed unwilling to engage in a major battle with a dragon.
But it was different when carrying humans; Firewyrms extremely detested humans.
Therefore, the process of Viserys's subordinates withdrawing could be considered walking on thin ice.
Amidst the caution and care, an accident still occurred; a soldier passing by a pile of rubble angered a fairly large manticore.
Even though the dragon drove away and burned the manticore to death, the Unsullied soldier still died a miserable death.
The venom quickly attacked the soldier's heart, and amidst a shade of iron-blue, the soldier soon could not catch his breath until his final death.
Viserys also had to admit the danger of the ruins; he had obtained many good treasures, but the number of people following him was slowly dwindling.
Sun's dragon lair was in a hilly ruin some distance away from the ruins of the Dragonlord Orryon, but both could barely be considered the edge of Valyria.
It was just that Sun's lair was slightly further north, closer to the fire-spewing Fourteen Flames.
Viserys gazed into the distance from the air and saw that the black, glossy, roofless towers deep within the Valyrian Ruins had almost all collapsed to the ground.
Viserys also vaguely saw the broken ornamental pillars he had seen on the tapestry, standing on the mountainside of the Fourteen Flames, and the foot of the Fourteen Flames was filled with dense mine shafts.
In Viserys's opinion, those pillars were likely for controlling fire.
But too much time had passed, and the area closest to the Fourteen Flames was certainly the most dangerous.
Viserys had estimated the danger of entering the deep black tower ruins; the more magnificent the Dragonlord's tower, the closer it was to the Fourteen Flames, and the ruins had long since connected with the volcanoes, likely teeming with Firewyrm nests everywhere.
For the sake of stability, Viserys only planned to go and check Sun's own dragon lair.
The characteristic of Valyrian style was black stone.
Black stone was the foundation of Valyrian architecture; dry and hard black stone shaped the Black Walls, high towers, sanctuaries, council chambers, and various temples.
Valyrian mages did not labor and carve like stonemasons; instead, they used fire and spells to shape them. This technical foundation ensured they could build the Valyrian Road and magnificent high towers.
Valyrian Dragonlords were obsessed with such high-tower architecture, just like the lords of Westeros today, using high towers as symbols of a Dragonlord's power and status.
High towers had to be both tall and beautiful; such architectural wonders were ubiquitous in Valyria.
Valyrian Dragonlords let their dragons perch atop the towers, while the Dragonlords themselves would host grand banquets in the towers' council chambers, enjoying the gifts and offerings from their vast colonies.
At the same time, they would engage in conspiracies and schemes, deceiving each other to vie for seats in the court and council.
Once, some of these towers and lands belonged to the House Targaryen, but later, warned by the prophecy of the Dreamer, the House Targaryen gave up their ancestral property in exchange for sovereignty over Dragonstone.
The current ruins were completely like these roofless towers stacked together, having lost their original beauty and order, submerging the original roads, and the terrain had also become uneven and jagged.
Because the towers were dilapidated, they were all jumbled together, interlocking like dog teeth, and mixed with much obsidian and sulfide ejected by volcanoes.
Surrounding the ruins were steaming, crimson lava rivers or dark, acidic rivers. Places that were once fountains had dried up and cracked, and in some places, there were even deep ravines.
The Valyrian architectural ruins also covered those magnificent sphinx statues, hellhounds, and lion-and-dragon decorations.
Valyrians liked to have thousands of kinds of monsters on their buildings to replace battlements, such as wyverns, hellhounds, griffins, demons, manticores, minotaurs, basilisks, hellhounds, cockatrices, and other even more bizarre monsters.
Of course, what Valyrians loved most was still the dragon; lifelike dragon emblems were everywhere.
Viserys remembered that the still-remaining Dragonstone fortress was a masterpiece of Valyrian architectural style.
Viserys saw that obsidian and yellowish sulfide stones covered the lower part of the hilly ruins, while higher up was a pile of steep and messy ruined towers, pointing abruptly toward the sky.
Amidst that area of broken boulders, scattered obsidian, sulfide stones, and sharp mountain peaks, Sun found a cave to use as a lair.
Sun's first action was not to fly back to its own lair, but to take Viserys first to a dark, muddy stream beside the ruins.
The black, muddy water meandered through the tunnels beneath the ruins, seemingly coming from ruins closer to the center of the city, with its upstream in a more distant location.
The dragon Sun signaled for Viserys to pay attention; this was the substance it smeared on its body.
Viserys approached the dark, muddy water; the smell inside the water was not the traditional fishy stench, but a pungent odor of spices, potions, and blood mixed together.
This mud, as Viserys had guessed, was likely a blocker from some Blood Warlock's laboratory, acting like an industrial alcohol disinfectant.
It was used to prevent the experimental subjects of Blood Magic from escaping; this blood acted as a deterrent to these monsters.
"You all, smear this mud on your bodies and around the camp," Viserys instructed.
Viserys thought about it; having arrived at the dragon lair and discovered this mysterious stream, it indicated that there would be even more precious items.
Only the laboratory of the Blood Cult could concoct this kind of blocker.
After much deliberation, Viserys decided to trace this black stream upstream.
Sun let out a few low roars, but in the end, it decided to follow Viserys's lead.
In fact, Sun also had a curiosity about the upstream of the stream, but as a small dragon, it was still somewhat afraid.
Viserys piloted his dragon, following the direction from which the stream flowed; he only felt the scent of sulfur in the air becoming stronger.
The further Viserys flew, the more alarmed he became; in this hollow world, there was only destruction and ruins.
Viserys and Sun flew left and right, and after circling a few ruins, they finally saw a scene that filled Viserys with dread.
Beside an extremely towering hilly ruin, a high tower that had not completely collapsed still stood.
Dark, oil-like stone poured down the side of the high tower; this black material mixed into the rainwater, creating a small barrier lake here.
The water from this barrier lake then rushed downstream, but at its root, the source of the blocker was the oil-like stone.
On top of the black high tower were some sculptures of red dragons, all the color of dark red blood, with a drop of blood in the center of their brows.
"This is the palace of the Blood Cult, and also the laboratory of the Blood Cult," the thought quickly occurred to Viserys.
The most terrifying thing was that the corpse of a dragon lay across the ruined hills and the high tower.
The skeleton of the magnificent dragon was over two hundred meters long; this length already exceeded that of Balerion.
Moreover, the horns of this dragon seemed particularly magnificent, like a crown of horns.
What surprised Viserys even more was that he saw a cluster of flame flowers flickering faintly in the dragon's empty left eye socket.
The dragon had long since died, and that flame flower existed, flickering in and out of view, lingering in the dragon's eye socket.
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