Blood Is the Currency of the Magical World, but Life Is Pricier

Lonzell had long known that the smoothness of his journey had not been simple, yet after Malach confirmed it all, he still felt strangely unsettled.

Whether R'hllor truly existed, whether the great "will" hidden behind the guise of R'hllor and worshipped by heretics like Malach truly existed—his father, Cleorius, had likely understood the answer after all those years of madly pursuing magic. Yet he had still prepared everything without hesitation and left those preparations for him.

When the gods granted favors, they would surely demand repayment. That was the truth of the magical world. The Old Gods of Westeros protected the First Men, but demanded bloody sacrifices. The Black Goat of Qohor was said to possess supreme power as well, yet Qohor's altars were soaked in blood. The Lord of Light seemed to command all flame, yet He too demanded blood and life.

The gods had granted him powerful magic, a mature mind, and an almost fully arranged journey to Valyria. When he sought revelation in the flames, the gods had practically told Lonzell to go to Westeros, even if countless dangers awaited him.

The prophecy Malach had just sung was an ancient one passed down in Asshai and throughout Essos. Legend said that Azor Ahai, the hero who ended the Long Night, had traded his wife for the divine sword Lightbringer and used it to defeat the evil foreign god that represented the Long Night. Yet the evil god had not died. It would surely return and sweep across the world with an even harsher winter.

The Wall in the north of Westeros and the Five Forts in the north of the Dawn Kingdom were both said to be outposts built to resist It.

But outposts and walls could not truly stop the evil god's return. Only when the hero came again could the world be saved.

Lonzell knew that he was not the hero of that prophecy, but the gods seemed to be hinting that, because of his involvement, this prophecy would likely come true in a way that better suited their intentions.

So They had invested in him.

Then those gods who used the mortal world as a chessboard would have to pay more as well.

Malach saw Lonzell's expression and suddenly smiled.

"Lord Lonzell, you have finally understood." Malach leaped down from the black stone where he had been standing and spread his arms as though embracing something.

"Can you hear it? The moment you resolved to join this chaotic symphony, the Lord of Light had already invested in you."

A sudden stab of pain flashed through Lonzell's mind, as though the shadows of two dragons had swept through his thoughts.

The boy could not help clutching his head.

"Master Malach." Seeing that something was wrong with the red priest, Valar slowly moved toward Lonzell with Ago and Lynn, shielding Rey behind him. "You..." Valar had also seen the five dragon eggs and the dragonbone horn.

"The stone coffins that preserve fire have appeared!" Malach shouted. "And the horn that summons dragons has arrived here as well."

He bent down and picked up the horn. Just as Lonzell was about to stop him, flames suddenly began to burn across the red priest's body.

"Wyrmlings are not enough to support my lord in accomplishing the gods' great work." The red priest raised the horn.

"What are you doing?" Lonzell urgently reached out, attempting to control the blood he had left inside the red priest's body and forcibly stop his magic.

But Lonzell failed. The flames seemed to have been burning his own blood from the very beginning.

No, it was the red priest's blood. Malach was, in effect, another version of himself now.

"What are you trying to do?" Lonzell panicked. "The horn of the Valyrian Dragonlords—don't think I don't know what it is. The family archives say that Dragonlords drove slaves to blow those horns with their lives, gathering dragons for their masters. It was never a dragon-taming horn. It was something that pointed the way."

"I know." Malach's tongue began to burn, but his voice remained crystal clear. "Because the Lord of Light guided me to light the way for you." His voice rose higher and higher.

"Blood for fire, fire for blood. Blood is the currency of the magical world, but life is pricier." Malach brought the horn to his lips.

Lonzell could clearly sense that Malach's own blood had already burned away completely. What still flowed through his body now was Lonzell's blood.

"For the future of eternal light!"

Malach blew the horn.

No sound emerged.

Yet Malach's burning body began to decay at a terrifying speed. His throat glowed red like magma, his skin split apart, and his eyes turned to ash in an instant.

Lonzell understood what Malach had done.

He had been a seeker of the path. He was also a martyr.

He was a heretic of the Red God, rejected by most of the Red God's priests. Yet it was he who, after communicating with his mentor and Cleorius, had received the Red God's revelation in the flames.

And so he had come here.

First, he had used one life to gain a more precise prophecy.

Then, in the end, he had met martyrdom here.

He had used his life to ignite what the gods had left behind.

Though they could not hear the horn, Lonzell, Valar, and Rey all felt their hearts tremble.

"Brother, I don't feel well." Rey crouched down in discomfort. Fighting through his own unease, Valar pulled his younger brother into his arms.

Lonzell watched Malach and the horn gradually turn to ash and let out a long sigh.

A glimmer of light suddenly flashed across the five fossilized dragon eggs.

Something seemed to be awakening within them.

Fine cracks quietly spread across the stony shells of the eggs.

But no one noticed them.

Because everyone's attention had been drawn to something else.

As Malach and the horn vanished completely amid the ruins,

the entire ruin seemed to tremble faintly.

It was as though something beneath the ground had awakened.

"This is bad." Lonzell immediately realized something was wrong. He cut his finger and released his sensing magic.

Countless scorching things seemed to be awakening underground.

"Gather everyone! Prepare to withdraw!"

Lynn immediately took off running to alert the camp.

Ago and Valar lifted the bronze container and ran after him.

At that moment.

The black mist in the sky suddenly churned.

A resounding dragon's roar pierced through the black mist and descended upon the ruins.

A dragon had answered the summons.

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