Chapter 118 Beast Blood Boiling
Early the next morning, Kitty began to dress and groom Daenerys. This was Daenerys' first official participation in a major event as queen, so nothing could be taken lightly.
I specially commissioned a white linen dress with local Meereen characteristics, which was a bit cumbersome to wear.
With gold-trimmed tassels wrapped around her waist, chest, and shoulders, Ji Qi learned how to wear it after several lessons from the Mi Lin Wei family.
Although Daenerys was extremely uncomfortable with this attire, she had no choice but to follow the ancient traditions of Meereen in order to gain the approval of the former slave owners of Slaver's Bay.
After spending a lot of time getting dressed, Jiki brought out Daenerys's Queen's Crown, a three-headed dragon crown made of gold, ivory, and emerald.
This crown was made for Daenerys by the local royalty when she was in Qarth, and she had never worn it before. She only decided to wear it today because she was invited to watch the tournament.
The Meereen Arena, located on the west side of the city, is a vast circular building.
When Daenerys and her party arrived, the arena was already packed with people. The arena, which could hold tens of thousands of people, was almost full. Among them were not only locals of Slaver's Bay, but also nobles and merchants from all over the world who came to watch.
While other places may have arenas or fighting arenas, none can match the scale and reputation of Meereen. Some people even travel great distances to seek thrills and release their pent-up emotions here.
Upon entering the arena and hearing the frenzied shouts of the crowd in the stands, Daenerys felt extremely uncomfortable.
With a somewhat stiff expression, he sat with the ministers in the main stands of the arena.
Not long after she sat down, an orchard manager, dressed in fine clothes and with his hair and beard meticulously groomed, entered the arena.
After taking his place in the center of the arena, he solemnly introduced Her Majesty Daenerys to the people who had come to watch the competition.
Most of the locals of Slaver's Bay had seen Daenerys, but this was the first time that nobles and merchants from afar had met the queen.
They had long heard of a Valyrian woman, a descendant of the Freehold, from the Targaryen family of dragons, who liberated Slaver's Bay and shattered the centuries-old slave-owning rule that had gripped the area.
Some people come to Meereen not only to watch the grand finale of the monthly tournament, but also to see the Targaryen queen and her three fire dragons.
I want to see what a dragon, which disappeared from this world more than a hundred years ago, actually looks like.
However, they not only failed to see the two great dragons that often circled above Meereen, but they also failed to see the small dragon that always stayed on the Queen's shoulder. They were greatly disappointed, and their interest in watching the competition was greatly diminished.
After the arena master introduced Daenerys, the match officially began. First to enter the arena were a Dothraki Roaring Warrior wielding an Arak scimitar and a heavily armored warrior carrying a spear and shield.
The moment the Dothraki Roaring Warrior entered the arena, he immediately attracted the attention of Daenerys and her two Blood Guards, and even Daario, who had returned from Yunkai, began to watch the match.
Dario had participated in the Meereen tournament and even won the monthly championship, using the Arak scimitar as his weapon.
When he first learned martial arts, he used swords and spears, but he didn't feel comfortable with them. It wasn't until he watched a Dothraki martial arts competition that he found a weapon that suited him—the Arak scimitar.
He used it to achieve victory after victory and kill countless enemies.
When Tyrion saw that the first to step into the arena was a Dothraki, he couldn't help but glance at Daenerys, who was watching the match intently.
It seems that Lord Meereen really values this month-end final competition held for Queen Daenerys. Knowing that she was once Khaleesi, the greatest khalasar on the plains, he specially arranged for a Dothraki to participate.
Although the Dothraki were better at fighting on horseback, they were equally skilled on foot.
Facing the heavily armored spear-wielding samurai, he made full use of his agility, maneuvering around the samurai and seizing every opportunity to strike the spear-wielding samurai.
The two exchanged blows. Although the Dothraki warrior was also hit by the spear, he was not fatally wounded. The spearman, on the other hand, was repeatedly harassed by the Arak scimitar and was slashed several times. After his helmet was knocked off, the Dothraki warrior beheaded him with a single scimitar strike.
Seeing the head being thrown into the air and the blood shooting into the sky, the crowd around the stands instantly went wild.
Excited shouts and angry curses filled the arena. One woman watching the match even took off her top and waved it wildly, completely disregarding the many eyes on her.
Seeing the Dothraki win, Lakalo and Aggo also shouted loudly to cheer for their people.
Dario was also thrilled, and the Dothraki victory reminded him of the jubilant scene when he won the monthly championship.
Although Daenerys was very uncomfortable to see the spearman being beheaded, she also breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The Dothraki's methods were somewhat cruel, but Daenerys still hoped he could win.
After the Dothraki went down, three more pairs of people came up to compete.
There were warriors wielding two-handed greatswords, as well as those using spears and one-handed swords; in each case, the match ended with one side dying.
The ways they died varied; some were stabbed in the chest, some had their throats slit, and the worst one was almost cleaved in two by someone wielding a two-handed greatsword.
After the three victors left the arena, the arena manager led the four winning fighters onto the field and announced the start of the final match.
It's a free-for-all, and whoever survives to the end is the monthly champion and receives a generous reward.
After witnessing the deaths of four people in succession, Daenerys became restless. When the arena master announced the rules for determining the champion, Daenerys felt even more uneasy, but she had no choice but to sit down.
Looking at the distorted faces of the various people in the arena, and listening to their excited howls, roars, and curses, Daenerys couldn't understand why they enjoyed watching such bloody duels so much.
Looking at her ministers, Jorah and Tyrion were clearly not used to this kind of bloody battle, and Missandei felt the same way.
The two Blood Guards, who had always taken life and death lightly and were also Dothraki, were excited and couldn't wait to join the fray. Daario also looked eager to try.
What Daenerys couldn't understand was that Yara of the Iron Islands, also a woman, was watching with great excitement, reminding her of the Iron Islands' saying, "Strength is better than hard work," and guessing that Yara must have done her fair share of raiding.
During the match, two more people died, including the Dothraki warrior who won the first match, almost preventing Daenerys from finishing the game.
Just as the two remaining players in the arena had decided their match, the Unsullied guards responsible for protecting the outer perimeter of the arena suddenly rushed toward the stands where Daenerys was.
Grey Worm, who was standing warily behind Daenerys, immediately sensed something was wrong. He ran towards the Unsullied and, upon hearing his report, his expression changed. He immediately rallied the surrounding Unsullied to gather around Daenerys.