Dragon Spirit Guardian

The two women closed their eyes, feeling the newborn power surging through their bodies.

Janice opened her eyes in wonder. "I can feel a new kind of power flowing through me."

"That's magic power." Liu Qian nodded. "Now, when you use Valyrian weapons, they won't turn against you unless you completely exhaust your magic power."

Jelena was an exceptional fighter. Only when she faced packs of Scaleclaws or hybrid beasts like the Purple Monster Bird did she have to resort to magical weapons.

But she was no wizard and had possessed no magic power of her own.

For mortals, forcing magical artifacts to obey came at a steep price, just as anyone who blew the Dragonbinder horn would die.

For Jelena, using the Dragonbone Bow and Valyrian steel sword and armor deepened her Blood Magic curse.

"Also," Liu Qian added, "you can now cast a spell to resurrect the dead as Dragon Spirit Guardians."

Jelena seemed to have received the information the contract imparted to her mind.

She approached the body of a warrior who had fallen long ago, reached out, and held her hand just above his cold chest.

A gentle light shone from the warrior's body. His fatal wounds rapidly healed, and color returned to his pale cheeks.

Then the warrior's eyes snapped open, a flicker of flame flashing deep within his pupils.

He rose stiffly and saluted Liu Qian and Jelena in turn, his voice hollow. "My lord, I await your orders."

A trace of anguish crossed Jelena's face as she looked into the warrior's lifeless eyes.

"Magic that resurrects the dead must come at a price." Liu Qian approached, his voice low. "They can take up their swords and fight again, but they've lost all their humanity. They've become magical puppets that know only obedience."

"But they were living people! They were my comrades!" Jelena's voice caught. "I can't face them like this."

She could not accept seeing her former comrades reduced to walking corpses.

Liu Qian had intended to persuade her, but in the end, he stayed silent.

Jelena was right. Turning their comrades into puppets was too cruel.

He was not heartless. He simply knew that unknown dangers lurked within the Valyrian Ruins, and he desperately needed these guardians to bolster their fighting strength.

He felt frustrated, too. This system is so strange.

He could turn living people into Flame Knights, yet he could not directly transform the dead into Dragon Spirit Guardians. The Flame Knights had to do it for him.

Then Janice gently consoled her sister. "Sister, I think we should transform them. As long as we get out alive, perhaps someday we can find magic that restores their consciousness. If they lie here forever, there really won't be any hope at all."

Her words struck at the heart of the matter, and Liu Qian wholeheartedly agreed.

These Dragon Spirit Guardians relied on magic to imprison a fragment of a broken soul, which drove their bodies.

What if, as Liu Qian's bloodline purity increased, the system really could restore their incomplete consciousness?

Jelena remained silent for a long time. Her sister's words had shaken her resolve.

Finally, she gave a reluctant nod. "You're right. Let's take them out of here first. If we truly can't restore them someday, we'll dispel the magic and let them rest." This was the greatest compromise she could make.

The decision was made.

The two women closed their eyes and spread their hands. Magic power surged within them, and a faint red glow rose over their bodies.

Around them, the bodies of fallen warriors slowly stood up, one after another.

Their fatal wounds healed. Bloodstains remained, but their eyes were as empty and lifeless as a puppet's.

Jelena's face grew slightly pale, and she stopped.

She had transformed roughly three hundred guardians.

Janice continued, only stopping when the five hundredth warrior rose and her magic power ran dry.

Liu Qian was mildly surprised. This showed that Janice's magical talent surpassed her sister's.

Once this silent army of the dead had assembled, Liu Qian gave his orders. "Janice, have your people search the city for survivors. Jelena, have yours collect every usable weapon. Bring back anything inscribed with Blood Magic runes, even if it's damaged."

Dragon Spirit Guardians could carry out orders independently without constant direction from their masters, much like "the Mountain" Qyburn would later create.

A thought crossed Liu Qian's mind: he transformed the living into knights, and the knights transformed the dead into guardians. This mechanism hinted at a strict hierarchy, much like the legendary cold god's White Walkers turning corpses into wights, or R'hllor's Red Priests resurrecting the dead.

Of course, he knew that in the original novels, the Night's King had merely been a Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, not that sneering blue Smurf who eventually died from a single stab.

He also knew that the original novels had yet to establish whether Jon Snow would be resurrected.

Still, he believed Melisandre would act, but the price would certainly be steep. Jon would not simply change his hairstyle and swagger back to life.

"When I was fighting that chimera to the death, I found a strange piece of black stone underground." Liu Qian turned to the sisters, deciding to investigate the mystery. "While the guardians search, let's go take a look."

They entered the Wizard Tower again and descended into the deep, damp underground chamber.

An almost tangible stench of blood and rot immediately enveloped them, so intense it was suffocating.

Janice went pale and fought back the urge to vomit.

Jelena also frowned deeply, her hand settling on her sword hilt.

Before them lay a horrifying forest of flesh, hung with the remains of unknown creatures. Coagulated dark red mingled with the ghastly white of decay, giving off an air of death and a stench that churned their stomachs.

Holding their breath, they quickly crossed this hellish scene and approached the mysterious black stone at the center of the chamber.

Up close, its surface was not entirely smooth. It was covered in twisted, grotesque carvings that looked like records of some insane ritual.

Stranger still, blood so dark red it was almost black wound exceedingly slowly through the carved grooves as though it were alive, making the stone seem to breathe.

"This black stone feels different from the ones used in the city walls and the tower foundations outside," Liu Qian said gravely, his sharp gaze sweeping across its surface. "Do you recognize it?"

Jelena examined it carefully, then shook her head. "All I know is that this kind of black stone comes from the most dangerous mines deep within the Fourteen Flames. Valyria's ancestors mined it to build the cores of their most important fortresses, because it's harder to destroy than even the toughest granite. But I don't know why this particular stone is like this."

Janice crouched down, her fingers hovering above the surface without daring to touch it as she carefully studied the grooves carrying the blood. "I think I read something similar in a book about early Valyrian Blood Magic rituals. It said certain special types of black stone were directly linked to the most profound and dangerous Blood Magic. But the book was vague about what that connection actually was. I was young then, too, and only read it as a legend

or a story."

"Is that book still around?" Liu Qian pressed.

"It should be in Tyria's Underground Library." Janice nodded, recollection in her eyes. "If you want to read it, I'll have the guardians fetch it, along with any other books and scrolls in the library that might be useful to you. There are many records there about magic, minerals, and ancient rituals."

"Tyria's Library?" Liu Qian had a vague recollection of the name.

"It was the most renowned library in Valyria," Janice explained. "After the Doom, its magnificent buildings aboveground were reduced to ashes, along with most of its books. But Valyria's ancestors had a habit of keeping backups. They excavated an enormous space deep beneath the city, reinforced it with magic, and built an identical library there, housing countless copies and unique volumes."

Seeing that Liu Qian still had questions, she added, "But the Blood Warlocks moved the most important texts to the Wizard Tower long ago. Have someone search this place carefully, and they might find something."

Jelena could not help glancing at her sister.

Now that the curse had been lifted, Janice seemed to have sided completely with Liu Qian, eager to uncover every secret of Tyria for him.

Though Jelena herself had pledged her loyalty, a trace of her pride as a dragonlord still lingered in her heart.

"We'll deal with the books once the guardians finish searching," Liu Qian said. "Let's look around the other areas first."

With no clues to the black stone's origins, they left that blood-soaked place and continued exploring the Wizard Tower.