"Are these all dragon bones? Are these the dragon bones from the Red Keep?" In the underground warehouse of the Redemption Sanctuary, illuminated by torchlight, Bishop Huren looked at the dragon bones piled there in shock and couldn't help but turn to Lynd to ask.
However, when he saw Sister Melissa, the Abbess of the Redemption Sanctuary Cathedral, and Elder Colin, the Abbot of the Silent Yard, standing beside Lynd, looking at him indifferently, he immediately shut his mouth, stood aside, and acted like a loyal servant.
The Redemption Sanctuary was built on the ruins of Summerhall. Although all the above-ground buildings of Summerhall had been burnt down, the foundation and underground parts were still preserved, making construction much easier. While the Miracle Sanctuary in Miracle Port had only just laid its foundation, all the main buildings here were already complete, lacking only some decorations and idols of the Seven Gods.
Besides the main sanctuary, the entire Redemption Sanctuary also had a Redemption Sanctuary Cathedral for nuns and a Silent Yard for monks. The underground section, in addition to an underground warehouse for storage, also contained a secret meeting place, which was located directly beneath the Redemption Sanctuary Cathedral and the Silent Yard.
This secret meeting place was primarily used by Lynd to train his exclusive armed force, the Chosen of God.
This armed force was also an important part of Lynd's entire plan to usurp the Seven Gods Church. The Redemption Sanctuary Cathedral and Silent Yard on the surface were not so much for the nuns and monks of the church to practice and study, but rather specifically for Lynd to select and cultivate the Chosen of God.
Establishing the Chosen of God as a sanctuary armed force was entirely Lynd's spur-of-the-moment decision because when he inspected the sanctuary construction site, he found that the vast majority of the common people gathered by the Seven Gods Church had a fanatical belief in him. This fanatical belief all stemmed from the legend of the Chosen Savior. They wholeheartedly regarded Lynd as the savior who would lead them to save the world when the evil cold darkness descended.
Moreover, he later discovered that people with such fanatical beliefs were not just the common poor, but also some high-ranking clergy who came to the Redemption Sanctuary with the bishop to take up their posts.
For example, Sister Melissa, the Abbess of the Redemption Sanctuary Cathedral, and Elder Colin, the Abbot of the Silent Yard, were the two most senior fanatical believers among the clergy.
Sister Melissa was not a cleric of the Great Sept of Baelor; she came from the Starry Sept. She was already the Abbess of the Redemption Sanctuary Cathedral when she was at the Starry Sept and was also the only female Archbishop of the Seven Gods Church, serving as one of the seven church judges. Her status was not much lower than that of the Archbishop of the Starry Sept.
The earliest reason for her belief in Lynd was actually when Lynd slew the Ironborn pirates in front of the Starry Sept. She happened to be in the Redemption Sanctuary Cathedral near the Starry Sept at the time and witnessed the entire battle process. At that time, she already had the illusion that Lynd was the incarnation of the Warrior.
Afterward, it was also she who persuaded the Archbishop of the Starry Sept to cooperate with Lynd, pushing Lynd into the position of the Chosen of the Warrior.
Later, Lynd gradually transformed from the Chosen of the Warrior to the Chosen of the Seven and displayed various miracles, which completely exceeded her expectations. At the same time, she increasingly felt that her earlier belief that Lynd was the Chosen of the Warrior might have been a divine revelation.
Later, she also participated in the miracle appraisal team that went to Miracle Port to appraise the so-called miracle on Glory.
Among all those who came into contact with the black and white halo on Glory, two people had the strongest reactions: one was Sister Melissa, and the other was Elder Colin.
When Sister Melissa came into contact with the white light, not only were her old hand injuries healed, but even her pale hair turned black, making her look at least twenty years younger.
Elder Colin, on the other hand, was completely opposite. After coming into contact with the black light, he quickly aged ten years, but he did not panic or resent because of this; instead, he seemed extremely happy.
While Sister Melissa applied to be transferred to the Redemption Sanctuary Cathedral of the Redemption Sanctuary, Elder Colin, who was on Silent Island, also applied to serve in the Silent Yard.
Compared to Sister Melissa's belief in Lynd, which went through a process from nothing to something, Elder Colin's belief in Lynd began entirely at the moment he came into contact with the black light on Glory. As he gradually aged under the influence of the black light, he seemed to have received a revelation, worshiping Lynd as a savior.
Therefore, when Lynd proposed to establish his exclusive sanctuary armed force, the Chosen of God, they both wholeheartedly agreed and actively took on the task of selecting and cultivating the Chosen of God.
At the same time, their task also included supervising the Bishop of the Redemption Sanctuary to prevent Bishop Huren from suddenly acting irrationally.
Bishop Huren was also extremely wary of the two, always behaving honestly in their presence.
"Are these all the dragon bones collected by the Red Keep?" Moroa also came to this underground warehouse with Lynd. She looked at the dragon bones filling the entire warehouse and asked.
"Not yet." Lynd shook his head and said, "It's less than one-third. A lot of dragon bones are temporarily stored in Tengshi Town, and they will be transferred after the underground warehouse of the Miracle Sanctuary is built. Besides, there are some large dragon bones in the Red Keep's cellar that simply cannot be transported here, such as the dragon bones of Black Dread Balerion and Vhagar, which are too large. Unless they are broken into pieces, it's impossible to transport them out of the Red Keep silently. If I need to use them, I might have to go to the Red Keep."
"The church also stores some dragon bones. If you need them, My Lord, I can arrange to have them transferred," Sister Melissa said in a deep voice.
Lynd did not stand on ceremony, nodded, and said, "I'll find you when I need them."
At this moment, Qyburn emerged from the shadows behind everyone, walked to the dragon bones, reached out and touched them, a look of obsession appearing on his face. Then, he took out the Dragon Rune necklace Lynd had given him and a Dragon Rune necklace he had made himself from his pocket, held them close to the dragon bones, wanting to see if there was any reaction. The result was somewhat disappointing; neither necklace reacted.
"Idiot, only special people can feel the power within dragon bones. You are clearly not a special person," Moroa said coldly, looking at Qyburn mockingly.
Facing the mockery, Qyburn seemed to be deaf, showing no reaction. He turned and walked back into the shadows behind Moroa, standing with his head bowed.
The three clerics clearly had no goodwill towards Qyburn and Moroa, with obvious disgust written on their faces.
"Why did you call me here? Just to show me a pile of bones?" Moroa didn't care about the attitude of these clerics. In fact, she had already grown accustomed to their contemptuous and discriminatory gazes when she was in Oldtown.
"Don't you want to see power similar to magic?" Lynd said with a smile to Moroa, then turned to Sister Melissa and the others, saying, "You are all people I trust. Whatever you see later, do not speak of it outside. Just keep it in your hearts."
"As you command, My Lord," they immediately replied.
Upon hearing Lynd's words, Moroa's eyes lit up, and her breathing became slightly heavier due to excitement. Qyburn, behind her, straightened his body, and his perpetually lowered head also lifted.
Lynd walked to a dragon skull, sat cross-legged, and held the skull in his hands. Glory also silently emerged from the shadows, came to Lynd's back, and lay down, allowing Lynd to lean against him. Then, his fur turned white, emitting bursts of white light.
Seeing Glory's fur turn white, Sister Melissa immediately clasped her hands and recited the Mother's prayer. The other two also bowed their heads and prayed, all appearing extremely devout.
The dragon skull Lynd held was not very large, only slightly bigger than a dog's head, and looked somewhat deformed, likely from a young dragon that died prematurely.
However, even a deformed dragon skull was still a dragon skull, and it still contained powerful magic.
Lynd, who had been preparing for several months, no longer hesitated. With the skilled experience derived from the Lost Country Knight's memories, he easily activated the residual power from the previous Dragon Feast Ritual within his body, forming a Dragon Rune specifically for the Dragon Feast Ritual.
The moment the Dragon Rune formed, Lynd immediately felt a strong suction emanating from his body, instantly drawing out the magic contained within the dragon bone in his hand. At the same time, just like Glory devouring the energy of resentful spirits, the Dragon Rune also drew energy from all the surrounding dragon bones through the air.
In the eyes of Moroa and the others, they only saw Lynd holding the dragon bone in his hand for a moment before it instantly shattered into powder, as if crushed by some invisible force. Immediately afterward, nearly half of the dragon bones piled in the warehouse also turned into powder simultaneously.
While they were still surprised by the commotion before them, they suddenly felt the surrounding temperature rapidly rising, as if a bonfire had been lit in this enclosed underground warehouse.
"Look!" Moroa exclaimed, pointing at Lynd.
Everyone immediately saw raging flames ignite on Lynd's body.
Sister Melissa, in her concern, wanted to rush forward to extinguish the flames on Lynd, but she was pulled back by Elder Colin. At the same time, Bishop Huren reminded, "Look, the Godsworn is not being burned."
At this point, everyone noticed that although raging flames appeared on Lynd's body, and the firelight even illuminated the entire underground warehouse, Lynd's hair, clothes, and other flammable materials showed no signs of being burned. Glory, leaning against Lynd, also showed no pain from the flames; instead, he yawned contentedly and lay down to sleep.
"Is this real fire or an illusion?" Qyburn looked at the scene before him with surprise, wanting to walk over and touch the flames, but his rationality stopped this dangerous action at the crucial moment. Then, he tore off a piece of his clothes and threw it into the flames near Lynd.
Under everyone's gaze, the piece of clothing instantly turned to ash and fell to the ground. For a moment, everyone couldn't help but gasp.
Immediately afterward, further changes in the flames appeared. The shape of the flames began to change, forming blurred images that looked very similar to giant dragon heads.
These blurred giant dragon heads all opened their mouths to the sky, as if roaring, trying to rush out, but an invisible force in the flames restrained them. After they roared, they were dragged back into the flames, repeating the cycle.
Seeing this scene, the imaginative Bishop Huren couldn't help but guess, "Could this be the Godsworn using the power granted by the Seven Gods to bind the residual dragon souls within the dragon bones?"
"Yes, you are right!" Sister Melissa echoed.
Elder Colin, standing nearby, nodded silently in agreement.
Unlike the others around her who only saw illusions, the power contained within Moroa's own bloodline allowed her to see more hidden things.
In Moroa's eyes, the flames did not originate from Lynd's body but gathered from the surrounding ground of the underground warehouse, as if these flames were inherently contained within the earth.
And those dragon heads, with their heads tilted back and mouths open, were not roaring or trying to escape Lynd's restraint, but rather emerging from Lynd's body and devouring the surrounding flames.
And Lynd, in her eyes, was no longer in human form but a massive dragon head with hideous horns.
This phenomenon did not last too long and soon ended, but the heat did not disappear; instead, it became increasingly intense. The few people standing in the warehouse felt as if their entire chests were being burned by flames after just a few breaths, forcing them to retreat from the warehouse.
And miraculously, the warehouse door seemed to have an invisible force, isolating the heat inside the warehouse. Once they exited the warehouse, the surrounding air became cool, and everyone returned to normal.
Feeling safe, Qyburn impatiently took off the cloth bag on his back, pulled out some strange devices, and tried to place them inside the warehouse to see what reaction they would have.
At this moment, Elder Colin walked over and pressed Qyburn's hand, stopping his actions.
"Maester, I hope you will not disturb the Godsworn," Sister Melissa said displeasedly in a deep voice to Qyburn.
"I can guarantee that Qyburn's tests will not disturb Lynd." Moroa seemed to recognize the devices Qyburn had taken out. She also wanted to see the results of the device tests, so she proactively vouched for Qyburn.
"Sister Melissa, Elder Colin, Lady Moroa is the Lord's most important advisor and Maester. She certainly wouldn't do anything to harm the Lord," Bishop Huren, who had frequently interacted with Moroa during this time, said in a low voice.
Hearing Bishop Huren's words, Elder Colin thought for a moment and released his grip on Qyburn's hand. Sister Melissa also said nothing more.
Qyburn ignored the people around him. Once the restraining hand was released, he continued the test he had not finished earlier.
The entire Dragon Feast Ritual lasted for about four days and four nights. The five people present took turns leaving to rest on the surface, but Qyburn was an exception; no one felt comfortable leaving Qyburn alone outside the underground warehouse.
Apart from the initial consumption of more than half of the dragon bones in the warehouse, a portion was subsequently consumed until only a few dozen dragon bones remained along the inner wall, at which point the consumption stopped.
Undoubtedly, the dragon bones consumed in this Dragon Feast Ritual were tens, or even hundreds, of times more than what he consumed in his first one. His first consumption of dragon bones was merely a single box, whereas now it was almost an entire massive warehouse. It's hard to imagine how many dragon bones he will need for his next Dragon Feast Ritual.
Shortly after the dragon bones stopped turning into powder, the temperature inside the warehouse also dropped. Elder Colin, who was waiting outside, and Qyburn, who had been tirelessly testing for four days and nights, immediately noticed and both tried to enter the warehouse.
After confirming there were no issues, they both approached Lynd. Lynd also opened his eyes at this moment, looked at the dragon bone powder scattered on the ground, stood up, dusted himself off, and turned to the two, asking, "How many days have passed?"
"Four days have passed," Qyburn replied.
Elder Colin, standing nearby, quickly made gestures, asking Lynd how he felt now.
"Very good, I am very good," Lynd stretched and smiled.
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