Emperor Aurion

Liu Qian felt the wind roaring beneath his wings as his draconic eyes swept over the chaotic city below.

A sea of fire, corpses, and ruins.

And still more Scaleclaws surged toward them, packed so densely they could have formed an entire legion.

An attack of this scale, this organized, could never have been driven by animal instinct alone.

Liu Qian's mind flashed back to the ambush on the Dragon Road. The moment that piercing screech had sounded, the Scaleclaw monsters surrounding them had retreated like an ebbing tide.

Clearly, someone had to be commanding these monsters.

He circled overhead, his enormous silhouette a cloud of death, continuously spewing Dragonfire.

Every second, whole groups of Scaleclaws turned to ash in the golden flames.

On his back, Jelena clung desperately to his scorching scales, her knuckles white with strain.

She watched the enemies who had slaughtered her people struggle and perish in the sea of fire. Bone-deep hatred and helpless anguish burned in her icy violet eyes.

How she longed to cut off those monsters' heads herself.

Just as Liu Qian focused all his attention on finding the hidden commander-

Whoosh!!!

An incredibly shrill whistle tore through the air without warning beside the right flank of Liu Qian's massive body.

The sound raced toward him at an unbelievable speed, the violent friction against the air producing a shriek like a wailing ghost.

Pure combat instinct instantly took over Liu Qian's mind.

His enormous draconic body shot upward so fast it left an afterimage.

At the very instant he cleared his previous position, a black shadow burning with crimson flames skimmed beneath his belly, missing its hard scales by a hair.

The searing air trailing the arrow was hot enough for Liu Qian to feel it through his belly scales.

The arrow vanished into the thick fog behind him, leaving only a brief crimson streak that scorched the air.

Liu Qian broke into a cold dragon sweat.

Shocked and furious, he whipped his enormous head toward the source of the attack. His golden slit pupils contracted, locking firmly onto his target.

Below, in the shadows of a square near the ruins of the High Tower, stood an armored monster.

It dwarfed the others, standing as tall as two grown men stacked atop each other, like an iron tower covered in scales.

Darkly gleaming scales tightly covered every exposed part of its limbs, giving off a chilling metallic sheen.

Most unnerving of all were its eyes.

Those scarlet eyes held none of the emotion of a living creature, only empty, icy indifference.

It held an enormous bone bow.

Countless crimson runes were etched into the bow, densely packed and slowly pulsing and flowing as though alive.

Its bowstring was as fine as a strand of hair, yet gleamed with a dangerous cold light.

"The Dragonbone Bow!" Jelena's weak voice sounded beside Liu Qian's ear.

"Watch out! Its arrows carry Blood Magic. Once they hit you, the flames will burn everything away from the inside."

She panted, disbelief filling her voice. "But a magical weapon like this needs powerful magic power and time to recharge... whenever I use it, I have to wait more than half a month before I can fire another arrow. It shouldn't be able to..."

Her words cut off before she could finish.

Below, the towering monster commander slowly drew a second pitch-black arrow from behind its back.

It coldly nocked the arrow and slowly drew the enormous bone bow with its formidable strength. The bow groaned with a teeth-grating sound, and its runes suddenly flared an even more blinding crimson, as though blood had been poured into them.

The second deadly black arrow was about to fly.

Whoosh!!!

A second black arrow burning with crimson flames shot toward him.

Liu Qian twisted his enormous body sharply in midair. His broad golden wings beat with tremendous force, whipping up violent turbulence.

His massive body spun sideways with astonishing agility, moving so fast that a blurred golden afterimage trailed behind him.

Once again, the arrow imbued with Blood Magic skimmed past his scale-covered flank by a hair.

The wind from its passage scraped against his belly scales with a metallic ringing, leaving a fleeting sensation of searing heat.

Liu Qian's golden slit pupils stayed fixed on the towering monster below.

The monster's arrows were terrifyingly accurate, almost perfectly anticipating the flight path of his massive body.

Had the soul at Liu Qian's core not been that of an adult, this second arrow would likely have torn through his wing membrane or even pierced his internal organs.

Ordinary dragons had only the minds and reasoning of children. Dodging the first arrow would already have been lucky; escaping the second would have been all but impossible.

I can't let it draw that bow a third time!

Icy killing intent instantly froze every other thought in Liu Qian's mind.

His wings snapped back, drawn tight like an enormous bow.

Liu Qian plunged his enormous head downward, opening his jaws as wide as they would go. Deep within his throat, the destructive golden light had already reached its peak. Now, like a volcano suppressed for ten thousand years, it erupted violently and blasted toward the bow-wielding figure.

Boom!!!

Scorching Dragonfire swallowed the target whole like a raging golden tsunami.

Yet the sight he expected-the target crumbling into ash-never came.

At the heart of the churning golden inferno, a towering, distorted figure stubbornly remained standing, like a demon god that had crawled from a furnace.

Its armor now radiated a strange sheen. The countless runes etched into its surface seemed to awaken, flickering fiercely beneath the scorching Dragonfire as they held back the surging golden torrent.

"Valyrian Steel Armor!" Jelena lay against his back, her voice cutting through the flames. "Those symbols are runes inscribed with Blood Magic. They can weaken the flames."

Liu Qian's pupils abruptly narrowed into two icy golden slits.

Weaken Dragonfire?

Liu Qian sneered inwardly.

If fire can't burn through that turtle shell, then I'll use pure strength to crush you and your shell together.

Without a moment's hesitation, the enormous golden dragon slammed toward the towering figure standing immovable amid the flames.

At the instant before impact, he brought his powerful left hind claw down on the monster's rune-covered steel breastplate, driving all his weight and momentum into the blow.

Bang-crrrack!!!

A muffled crash thundered out, so heavy it seemed enough to stop a heart.

It was the dreadful sound of heavy armor being crushed and warped by overwhelming force.

The Valyrian steel breastplate, covered in ancient runes, visibly caved inward into a twisted depression.

Pinned beneath Liu Qian's enormous claw, the monster roared furiously. Its powerful arms clawed wildly, its barbed talons scraping uselessly against the hard golden scales covering Liu Qian's foot with piercing screeches and showers of sparks.

Its other hand desperately reached toward its waist, trying to draw its sword.

Roar!

Liu Qian let out a roar.

Without a shred of mercy, he brought his other equally powerful hind claw down on the pinned monster's waist and abdomen, delivering the killing blow.

Crack-squelch!

The sharp sound of shattering bones burst out.

"Aaargh!!!"

A scream squeezed from the monster's chest, so agonized it warped into something grotesque. The strength of its struggles vanished instantly, as though drained away.

The sword at its waist had been drawn only halfway. Its cold edge flashed before it dropped limply to the ground with a clear clang.

Liu Qian opened his enormous jaws, and the destructive golden light deep in his throat blazed once more.

The runes on the Valyrian Steel Armor began flickering frantically again.

Liu Qian could clearly sense the light of those intricate, mysterious runes rapidly fading under his continuous Dragonfire, dimming at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The magic of the Valyrian Steel Armor was collapsing.

Seeing this, Liu Qian poured magic power into his throat, sharply increasing the intensity of his Dragonfire.

At last, with its runes completely dark, the Valyrian Steel Armor rapidly melted beneath the extreme heat of the Dragonfire.

Flames spread through the melted breastplate and burned the monster to ash.

Liu Qian stopped breathing fire.

Scorching smoke, thick with the smell of sulfur, gushed from his enormous nostrils and quickly dispersed in the cold air.

He slowly lifted his heavy claw, moving it off the charred remains.

Jelena struggled to slide down from his scorching back, her steps unsteady, barely able to remain upright.

Fighting through severe pain and dizziness, she staggered toward the pile of blackened remains.

Her gaze swept over every inch of scorched ground before finally settling on the sword.

Though the hilt and part of the blade had been blackened by the intense heat, they had not melted completely. Several lines of tiny lettering seemed to remain on the blade.

She picked up the sword and examined the lettering. Surprise flashed in her eyes, and she sighed softly. "Now I know who he was..."

Liu Qian slowly turned his enormous head toward her, his deep, resonant voice sounding out. "Who?"

"Aurion..." she said slowly. "The dragonlord who survived the Doom. After learning of Valyria's destruction, he proclaimed himself Emperor of Valyria and led an army of tens of thousands into the Smoking Sea."

She paused, her voice growing lower and hoarser. "According to the records preserved in Tyria, his army marched toward Valyria City after landing. He sent only a small detachment to Tyria to demand our allegiance, but the people of Tyria refused.

"Aurion even threatened to attack Tyria and teach us a little lesson. But in the end, they vanished into thin air on the road to Valyria. No one knew what had happened to them... I never imagined that hundreds of years later, this emperor and his army would come to Tyria in such a state..."

Her voice carried grief, anger, and pain. Their former countrymen had become monsters and reduced their home to ashes. The truth was too cruel.

Liu Qian had just been brooding over the monster's failure to drop a dragon spirit. Hearing Jelena's story stirred a trace of melancholy in him as well.

But it also raised a question. After disaster had befallen this fallen emperor and his army, they had wandered the Withered Woods for hundreds of years. Why had they suddenly attacked Tyria now?

He instantly recalled Jelena telling him that the Purple Monster Bird would not readily leave Valyria, and a powerful unease rose within him.

He had an ominous feeling that someone was watching him!