The Summer Sea.
By the time Viserys arrived at the battlefield, the naval battle had already reached a fever pitch.
The Imperial fleet's formation had been broken, with at least three ships burning and sinking. Two others were being besieged by enemy vessels, and a brutal boarding action was taking place on their decks. Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, the Allied Fleet was attempting to divide and encircle them.
But the Imperial sailors fought tenaciously, especially the veterans who had followed Viserys from the beginning; they maneuvered their fast warships through the enemy lines, launching counterattacks with crossbows and arrows.
This was merely a small skirmish—ten Imperial patrol ships surrounded by thirty vessels of the Allied Fleet. Viserys had discovered this while observing the waters around the Valyrian Peninsula.
However, Viserys could see that the enemy's initial goal seemed to be merely surrounding his fleet rather than attacking; in fact, the battle had even been initiated by his own subordinates. Thus, he suspected there must be more to the situation.
Nevertheless, he came, believing that few things in this world could currently harm him. Still, he remained cautious.
The two dragons dove down.
Ghidorah's Dragonfire swept across two enemy ships besieging the Imperial warships, instantly igniting their sails and decks. Sailors screamed as they leaped into the sea to escape.
Black Flame lunged toward the other side of the battlefield. A blast of Dragonfire struck an enemy ship's hull directly. A large hole opened in the vessel, and it began to sink rapidly.
The appearance of the dragons instantly shifted the tide of the battle. The ships of the Allied Fleet began to turn in panic, trying to distance themselves from the dragons. But just then—
"Wooo..."
A low, long, and eerily resonant horn blast sounded from one of the ships in the Allied Fleet.
The sound seemed to pierce the soul, causing everyone who heard it to feel a tremor in their hearts. Black Flame's movements visibly faltered; it wobbled in the air and let out a confused low growl.
Ghidorah turned its heads, all three looking toward the source of the horn.
Viserys felt a flicker in his mental connection with Black Flame. It was as if an external force was trying to interfere, attempting to drive a wedge between him and the dragon.
"dragonbinder... so that's what it is." Viserys recognized the object.
Legends spoke of a magical horn that could control dragons. It was said that blowing the horn could bend dragons to the will of its holder. During the era of the Valyrian Freehold, such horns were used to tame wild dragons or to disrupt the mounts of rival Dragonlords during battle.
But Viserys did not panic.
Because the bond between him and Black Flame far transcended the usual relationship between a Dragonrider and their dragon.
Through his abilities as a Wayfarer, Viserys could not only ride Black Flame but also share its senses. This connection was two-way and profound.
Black Flame gradually calmed down. It shook its head, its dark red eyes regaining clarity, though a trace of fury remained—anger toward the external will that had tried to control it.
As for Ghidorah, it was completely unaffected by the dragonbinder. The three pairs of golden eyes on the three-headed dragon held only indifference and mockery, as if to say it was nothing at all.
The Volantene commander's face turned pale at the sight. He had thought the dragonbinder was his winning trump card, never expecting it to be completely ineffective against Ghidorah and only briefly affect Black Flame.
"Impossible... this is impossible," he muttered to himself.
Naturally, he didn't know that the dragonbinder only affected the bond of ordinary Dragonriders and their dragons. In the Valyrian era, most Dragonlords and their dragons reached a state of mental synchronization; such bonds were firm and not easily disturbed. Thus, the dragonbinder eventually evolved into a tool specifically for controlling wild dragons.
But Viserys's situation was somewhat different.
He was a Wayfarer; his consciousness could enter Black Flame's mind directly. It was equivalent to using a "cheat" method to achieve that state of mental synchronization.
In the history of the Targaryen Family after they left Valyria, only two others had likely reached such a level: Aegon the Conqueror with his mount Balerion, and the "Rogue Prince" Daemon Targaryen with his mount Caraxes.
Thus, to Viserys and Black Flame, the dragonbinder was nothing more than annoying noise.
"It's time to end this," Viserys said coldly.
He steered Ghidorah straight toward the flagship. With Golden Rays, Frost Breath, and fire breath, the three heads attacked in turn, and soon the flagship and all nearby vessels had sunk.
Only those allied soldiers already engaged in boarding actions had the chance to surrender and save their lives.
Three days after the battle, a small boat from Volantis arrived bearing a letter. The messenger was a familiar face—one of Magistrate Nahalo's men from the Elephant Party.
Upon seeing Viserys, he knelt on one knee and produced a scroll sealed with black wax from within his inner garments.
Opening the letter, Viserys found it to be written in Nahalo's own hand.
"To His Majesty Viserys Targaryen, Dragonlord of Valyria: Please allow one who has witnessed your supreme power to express his deepest reverence. I, Nahalo, must clarify the truth. To be an enemy of great Valyria is by no means the will of all the people of Volantis. This is entirely due to the reckless actions of the arrogant Tiger Party."
"They have dragged our city to the brink of an abyss of war. We of the Elephant Party prefer peaceful trade. To prove my sincerity and the resolve of the Elephant Party, when your dragons and army arrive at the gates of Volantis, I will ensure that the eastern gate of the Black Wall is opened to you. I hope you can grant us this opportunity for the sake of our past friendship."
The lines were filled with distancing and excuses, an eager attempt to draw a line between "us" and "them," while also trying to play the emotional card using past history.
Viserys did not believe Nahalo would be so kind-hearted as to surrender. From their previous interactions, he could tell Nahalo was the type of person who would use any means to achieve his ends.
Besides, with dragons present, any gate was mere decoration; a single blast of Golden Ray would melt even iron. Nahalo's cooperation was entirely unnecessary.
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