He drew his longsword and shouted toward the sky, "I am Stannis Baratheon, the rightful heir to the iron throne. For Baratheon!"
The soldiers were silent for a moment, then someone followed with a shout, "For His Majesty Stannis!"
More people joined the cry, "For Baratheon!"
Watching from a distant ship, Davos's eyes grew red. Although he was Stannis's most trusted man and the nominal naval commander of this fleet, his low-born status and the fact that his command wasn't needed now meant his ship was positioned far from Stannis.
But this was also why Stannis chose him to lead the breakout; Stannis knew the opposing Valyrian Navy would surely pursue his flagship relentlessly.
However, he had overlooked one thing—something he hadn't even considered: when fighting an army with dragons, all his previous experience was completely useless.
Viserys gave no one time to react. The moment Ghidorah began her dive, he gently stroked her neck, wanting her to put on a magnificent opening performance.
Soon, Ghidorah's three heads breathed simultaneously. In the next second, a Golden Ray surged forth, shooting straight toward Stannis's flagship.
Stannis saw the golden light coming for him. He had no time to dodge, nor did he want to. He simply raised his longsword and let out a final roar toward the sky: "Fire!"
The Golden Ray struck the "fury," but there was no explosion, no flames—only a heart-stopping annihilation. Wherever the ray hit, it vanished without a trace in an instant.
The hull snapped in two and sank rapidly, dragging the three warships behind it into the fray. But because those three ships weren't as wide as the Golden Ray, they simply vanished without a trace.
The surrounding soldiers stared blankly at this soul-shaking scene. Their king, their flagship—gone just like that, as if they had never existed. But they soon had no time to be immersed in this grief.
For Ghidorah's other two attacks followed immediately. The blue Frost Breath on the left froze three other nearby warships, turning them into ice sculptures floating on the sea.
Meanwhile, the red Dragonfire on the right ignited four more warships. Flames consumed the sails and decks, and sailors screamed, struggling as they jumped into the sea to survive.
Another adult dragon, Blackfyre, followed closely behind. Its dark red Dragonfire was like the scythe of a reaper, plowing a burning wall of death through the fleet. Every ship it flew over turned into a massive fireball, effectively splitting the entire fleet.
Amidst Stannis's final roar, some scorpion crossbows were fired at the lead attackers, Ghidorah and Blackfyre. Dozens of massive bolts shot into the sky, but they posed no threat to the dragons.
Some were batted away by dragon wings, some pierced through the wing membranes without causing any harm, and some were incinerated by Dragonfire. Occasionally, a few direct hits failed to leave even a single mark on the dragons' scales.
Davos was stunned in the distance, his mouth agape, unable to make a sound. No words could describe the shock in his heart, and those dragons up close were even more terrifying than they appeared from afar.
Except for the crackling of the flames and the cries for help from the few soldiers who had luckily fallen into the water, there was no other sound from the fleet. Their previous suicidal resolve had been shattered by the power displayed by the dragons.
Just then, the remaining dragons began their attack. Although they were still Young Dragons, they were still behemoths to humans. Since they were still in their juvenile stage and could be harmed by giant crossbows, Viserys had positioned them behind Ghidorah and Blackfyre to mop up the battlefield.
Then, the panic among the crowd below erupted completely, but they were utterly helpless. Some of them were not afraid of death, but no one wanted to die so pointlessly.
Although these dragons' Dragonfire was much smaller, it was still lethal. Rhaenys was the first to dive on Meraxes, her Dragonfire accurately striking a longship attempting to flee.
The dark green Vhagar rolled in the air, firing flames with threads of gold at another ship. Then there were Balerion, Meraxes, Syrax... they were like a pack of predatory beasts, enjoying the pleasure of the hunt.
They wove through the fleet, each dive taking out a ship. To save their lives, many chose to jump ship and swim toward the distant coastline. But what awaited them was the fully armed and energetic Valyrian Navy.
Although Ghidorah had only attacked once at the beginning, in just fifteen minutes, Stannis's fleet had become a sea of fire, with not a single seaworthy warship remaining.
At this point, Viserys ordered that the Stannis soldiers still floating at sea be kept alive if possible. He planned to send them to Dragonstone to mine obsidian; they were valuable laborers.
After giving the orders, he and Rhaenys led the dragons back to Dragonstone, leaving the navy to clean up the battlefield. He had brought half the navy this time; they could have handled Stannis on their own, and cleaning up the battlefield was a routine task for them.
By the next morning, only wreckage and charred corpses bloated by seawater remained on the surface, silently telling of their fate—a death of no value.
The news didn't spread to Dragonstone until the following evening, when several ships arrived to deliver the prisoners.
Selyse Florent was in her room accompanying Shireen as she read. Shireen leaned in her arms, holding a book on the history of the Seven Kingdoms. Selyse was reading her the story of Aegon the Conqueror; Shireen had developed an interest in dragons after seeing them these past few days.
"Mother, was Aegon's dragon even bigger than the ones outside?" Shireen looked up, her eyes full of curiosity.
Selyse was silent for a while before saying, "About the same size. His dragon was named Balerion, and he used to be the largest of the Targaryen dragons."
In truth, she didn't know, for she had never seen Balerion, only the three-headed dragon outside. But that was already large enough—large enough to drive one to despair.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Maester Cressen walked in, looking at Selyse with a hesitant expression.
Selyse looked at him, a premonition of doom rising in her heart.
"What is it?" she asked.
Maester Cressen lowered his head. "Lady Selyse, Lord Stannis... he has been taken by the The Stranger."
The room fell silent for a moment.
Shireen looked up at her mother, her eyes full of confusion. She didn't quite understand what those words meant yet, but she heard her father's name.
So she asked in confusion, "Mother, what happened to Father?"
Selyse didn't speak, she only held her tighter. There were no tears on her face, only a numb calm. She had known this would be the outcome since the day Viserys captured Dragonstone.
Moreover, she knew Stannis was not the kind of man to surrender; he would rather die than kneel to an enemy. With Viserys having so many dragons, it was impossible for Stannis to win, yet she had still held onto some hope these past few days.
What if? Unfortunately, that "what if" was now gone.
It was late at night, and Shireen had completely forgotten the previous topic, falling into a deep sleep. Selyse sat by the bed, looking at her daughter's half-disfigured face, a complex feeling welling up in her heart.
Ãdvåñçé çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn luffy1898