"Disperse! Quickly, disperse!" An officer yelled hoarsely, but the commands were impossible to relay under the circumstances.
The fleet's formation was completely ruined; ships crashed and squeezed against each other. Some warships tried to turn and meet the "Blackflame," others attempted to turn around and flee this deadly sea, while still others were trapped in the middle, waiting in place for death.
Ghidorah also stopped its harassing attacks. Its three heads began continuously spewing golden rays, fire, and ice. This created a pincer attack with the "Blackflame" raging on the east side.
Viserys's gaze locked onto the most conspicuous flagship, the "raging surf."
"Ghidorah, destroy it." As the thought was transmitted, Viserys himself gathered magic power, conjured a fireball with his hands, and shot it directly at another warship. Since he had already decided to leave no survivors, he wasn't afraid of exposure, and he wanted to feel a little involved.
At that moment, Ghidorah's middle head aimed at the "raging surf," and the golden ray, symbolizing annihilation, shot precisely toward the center of the flagship.
Maloqchi only saw a flash of golden light and didn't even have time to react.
The next second, the spot where the golden ray struck silently vanished, and the flagship was severed. Seawater poured frantically into the break, and the hull sank at a visible speed. The last thing he could do was cling to the rail before sinking to the seabed along with the "raging surf."
"The flagship! The flagship has been sunk!" Desperate cries echoed throughout the fleet. This caused the already chaotic fleet to completely lose any chance of unified command, turning them into lambs awaiting slaughter.
The ensuing battle was a one-sided slaughter performed by the two giant dragons. Ghidorah was responsible for large-scale clearing, its three-colored lights flashing non-stop, destroying any ships that attempted to gather or resist. The "Blackflame," controlled by Viserys, pursued those trying to escape, ensuring no one slipped through the net.
Wreckage, charred bodies, and drowned sailors were scattered across the surface of the sea. The air was thick with the smell of burning and the salty tang of the ocean.
In less than an hour, Meereen's main naval force was annihilated under the strike of the dual Dragonflames.
The terrible news of the navy's total destruction eventually reached Meereen. Inside the Great Pyramid, the panic of the Great Masters reached its peak. Their initial arguments devolved into mutual accusations. In a hysterical atmosphere, Great Master Eraz, known for his cruelty and stubbornness, roared, overwhelming the voices advocating for peace talks.
"Surrender? Look at Kraznys's fate. Peace talks? That Targaryen bastard wants our lives, he wants everything we have."
His eyes were bloodshot. "He calls himself the 'breaker of chains.' He seduces the slaves and destroys our order. Then we must let the riff-raff in the city know the consequences of betraying their masters and following a rebel. We must also show that bastard that Meereen is not a spineless place like Astapor or Yunkai."
Backed by his strong insistence and the support of some extremist Great Masters, a bloody decision was enacted. Along both sides of the Coastal Road leading from Meereen to Yunkai, wooden stakes were erected, and captured "suspects," slaves attempting to incite rebellion, and "disloyal individuals" arbitrarily identified, were nailed to them to die.
At the same time, the bodies of executed deserters and "traitors" were hung on the city walls as a warning. Eraz claimed that fear would solidify Meereen's will to resist, shatter the slaves' "beautiful dream" before bloody reality, and show Viserys Meereen's determination to fight to the end.
Thus, within half a month of Viserys consolidating his rule, rows of terrifying wooden stakes were erected along the Coastal Road outside Meereen, upon which hundreds of horribly mutilated corpses were nailed, left for vultures and other scavengers to devour. Many new corpses were also hung on the city walls.
This cruel method of deterrence did suppress the unrest among the city's slaves and lower-class Freemen for a time, but it also sowed deeper seeds of hatred and placed the Great Masters of Meereen squarely against Viserys and the New Valyrian Empire, leaving no room for retreat.
When order in Yunkai and Astapor stabilized, the Interim Governing Bodies began operating effectively, and the major main military legions under his command were fully rested and reorganized.
Viserys knew the time had come to deal with the last and most stubborn nail in Slavers Bay. Meereen's bloody provocation was not only open defiance of the ideals he represented but also an atrocity that had to be eradicated.
Military plans targeting Meereen were being rapidly formulated. Viserys, Ser Arthur, the Unsullied Commander, and several Mercenary commanders repeatedly rehearsed the siege strategy.
Meereen's walls were taller and stronger than Yunkai's, possessing more scorpion crossbows and trebuchets. Inside the city were elite slave soldiers known as the "Stone Men," as well as Mercenaries hired by the Great Masters for heavy gold, such as the "Spear Group" from the Disputed Lands. Even with dragon assistance, a direct assault would inevitably cost a heavy price.
"The main attack direction will still be the South Gate," Viserys declared at the final pre-war meeting. "Ser Arthur, you will lead the Unsullied and the Free Folk Legion in the main assault. The Second Sons Company and the Stormcrow Company, your mission remains to tie down the defenders at the other gates and prevent the Great Masters from escaping that way. Ghidorah and I will focus on clearing the heavy weapons from the walls and helping you breach the gates."
"However, this time, we also have 'eyes' inside the city."
Three days later, the Empire's main army set off. Ten thousand Unsullied soldiers, twenty thousand newly trained Freemen soldiers, and nearly four thousand Mercenaries from the Second Sons Company and the Stormcrow Company marched mightily along the Coastal Road toward Meereen.
Along the route, they saw the "Road of Terror" created by Meereen's Great Masters: the wooden stakes nailed with decaying corpses. Anger spread through the army, especially the Free Folk Legion, as most of them had previously been slaves just like the victims.
"The Great Masters are afraid," Viserys told the army. "Fear causes people to do foolish and extreme things. The more they act like this, the deeper the resentment of the slaves and lower-class Freemen inside the city will become, and the easier our attack will be."
Subsequently, Viserys ordered the troops to halt temporarily, allowing the soldiers to personally dismantle the stakes and bury the victims. This action further solidified morale and clarified the purpose of the operation: not just conquest, but liberation and vengeance.
On Meereen's side, a full mobilization was carried out under the leadership of Eraz and others. The walls were piled high with siege defense equipment. Approximately fifty thousand defenders were deployed, over half of whom were forcibly conscripted slave soldiers and lower-class Freemen. Their morale was low, but they were supervised by the Great Masters' private soldiers and hired Mercenaries.
The Great Masters concentrated their most elite private soldiers and best equipment in the Inner City Pyramid Area, preparing for street fighting and a final, stubborn resistance.
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