Under attack

The uneven ground beneath their feet gradually grew hard and level.

A broad, gray-black road cut through the rift, where sulfurous steam rose into the air. Even the thick volcanic ash could not conceal its immense scale.

It was wide enough for three carriages abreast, with collapsed rubble and what looked like charred deadwood piled along its edges.

Perhaps this was the legendary Dragonroad built by the Dragonlords of Valyria.

The company wound through the rift like a long snake.

Stay. I can't leave yet, Aegon thought silently as he stepped over the cold ashes near the front of the company.

In the original story, Crow's Eye claimed to have brought Dragonbinder and Valyrian steel armor back from the Valyrian Ruins, using them to contend for the Seastone Chair.

Perhaps they came from this very expedition?

Aegon's gaze swept past the end of the rift toward the depths of the Valyrian Ruins.

A faint gleam of gold guided him in that direction.

As it happened, that was also where their employer had hired them to go.

He glanced at the uneasy faces of the mercenaries around him.

Perhaps they'd hired us mercenaries as cannon fodder, to scout out a safe path for them?

Was it because a powerful Mercenary Company wouldn't let them do as they pleased that they chose a ragtag bunch of small fry like us, easy to bully?

Based on the information he had gathered so far, this was the only reasonable possibility he could deduce. Aegon could think of no others for the moment. He could only watch carefully and adapt as things unfolded!

Despite the risk of being used as cannon fodder, Aegon decided to remain with the company for now.

In the harsh conditions of the Valyrian Ruins, venturing out alone might be even more dangerous.

He knew that the ruins in the original story were home to many monsters, including half-human, half-beast creatures transformed by Blood Magic.

Even setting aside the fact that his check-in location was almost the same as their destination, the matter of returning by sea alone demanded careful thought.

I can't spend the rest of my life in these ruins after completing the check-in task, can I? I still need those ships!

As for what had happened to Old Buck earlier, Aegon could only say his conscience was clear.

He had persuaded everyone aboard the ship that going ashore was their only chance of survival, yet after they landed, he had stood silently by when Euron Greyjoy singled out Old Buck. Perhaps that seemed like a double standard?

But Aegon could only say that his words aboard the ship had been meant to keep everyone alive, preventing a mutiny that would have prompted the Ironborn to slaughter them early and left the ship destroyed and everyone dead.

When Old Buck was singled out, he had stayed silent to preserve his own life. Euron Greyjoy had been looking for an excuse to assert his authority. Had Aegon stepped forward, he would instantly have become the perfect victim to make an example of.

It was not worth it for someone who did nothing but stir people up and cause trouble.

Survival never depended on pointless pity, but on choices as precise as a blade's edge.

Perhaps it was a little cold, but that was the truth Aegon had learned over the years.

"Hey, that blue-lipped fellow is a real bastard!" A plump figure interrupted Aegon's thoughts.

Henry pushed past the surrounding mercenaries and hurried over to Aegon with his somewhat lumbering gait, lowering his voice as he spoke.

"And that employer's a bastard too. All we did was sign a mercenary contract to help him explore this damned place. What does he think we are, cargo? He even called us useless!" Henry said indignantly beside Aegon.

"If we'd gotten more than just the deposit, if he'd paid us the rest, I'd tear up that contract and let him explore this damned place himself!" As he spoke, Henry's angry expression suddenly changed. He glanced warily around, then pulled a pitch-black object from the cloth bag at his waist as though presenting a treasure.

Aegon looked over in puzzlement.

With deft movements, Henry quickly broke apart the blackened crust and discarded it.

As he worked, he said, "It's all that blue-lipped fellow's fault, pulling that stunt earlier. Made me burn it a little!

Once all the black crust had been peeled away, a small piece of golden pie emerged.

The fresh scent of apples mingled with the rich aroma of baked pastry, faint yet stubbornly resisting the strange smells of volcanic lava and sulfur around them.

"Here, Hayne, my friend!" Henry's eyes shone, and his throat bobbed involuntarily, yet he held the fragrant pie out to Aegon.

"Try it! It's a specialty from my home in the Reach, Apple Meat Pie. My mother made it herself! She always said good things should be shared with good friends." He gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

"She packed a whole big bag for me when I left, but I've eaten everything except this last bit. Still, it's enough for a taste!" He held the meat pie a little closer to Aegon.

Aegon looked at the piece of pie, then at the pure, unadulterated kindness on Henry's sweat-dampened face.

A complicated look entered his eyes as he silently reached out to accept it.

"Hiss-screech!!! Roar!!!"

Suddenly, terrifying, beastlike cries rang out from the cracks on either side of the rift.

The mercenaries at the very front looked stunned. Unease and terror had not even had time to register on their faces.

Several unprepared mercenaries were already being knocked to the ground by dark shapes springing from the cracks.

Sharp claws sliced through their abdomens, ripping their organs out as blood sprayed across the ground!

More and more dark shapes poured from cracks everywhere. The crowd descended into chaos, and fear spread swiftly as a plague.

Screams and terrified shouts pierced Aegon's ears. He drew his sword and kept a careful watch.

He fixed his gaze on one of the dark monsters crouching over a mercenary's corpse, tearing at it with its teeth-

The thing stood about as tall as a person, its entire body covered in jet-black scales as sharp as daggers.

Its back was hunched, with twisted bone spurs jutting from its joints. Its skeleton vaguely resembled a human's, but its limbs ended in enormous bone claws that gleamed coldly, easily ripping through leather armor and bellies!

Most horrifying of all was its head. It had no eyes, only two deep sockets dripping black fluid. Its vast mouth split all the way to its ears, packed with interlocking fangs like rusty iron spikes.

It kept plunging its hideous head into the dead mercenary's abdomen, dragging out fresh organs and chewing them ravenously.

Drool mixed with blood dripped down, eating into the ground with a hiss.

A long, bright-red strip could even be seen slipping from the corner of the monster's mouth. Perhaps it was the dead mercenary's intestine...!

The horrific sight made Aegon's brow twitch, and cold sweat slid down his cheeks.

If the sea monster earlier had dragged people into an unknown abyss, leaving only cold terror behind, then the monster before him was a living mill of flesh and blood, laying death bare before everyone's eyes!

Just then, a gust of foul-smelling air struck from behind. Aegon swung his sword back to block on instinct.

A cold, brittle snap rang out, like Merrick's summons.

It was the sound of the sword in his hand being snapped by a claw. Aegon's pupils contracted as death's chill engulfed him.

The Black-Scaled Monster slammed him to the ground, its hideous, gaping maw packed with fangs looming ever larger before his eyes!

Aegon could even see fresh flesh lodged between its fangs!

A chill seized him as though he had plunged into an ice pit. Death was calling!

At that critical instant-

An enormous iron hammer came crashing in from the side!