This Lava Dragon was enormous in size. Although it couldn't compare to Glutton, it was at least five or six times the size of Deltos. The only difference between it and that classic character was that this dragon's body had no flesh; it was merely a layer of dragon skin covering bones, along with lava-flowing blood vessels and a heart.
The state of this Lava Dragon instantly reminded Lynd of the giant dragon carcasses he had seen earlier on his journey. It was clear that those giant dragons must have been similar to this Lava Dragon in life.
Although Deltos appeared to have the upper hand at the moment, its agile movements rendering the Lava Dragon's attacks ineffective, Lynd had no intention of being a bystander. He set down the dragon horn he was carrying, ready to help Deltos end the battle quickly, to avoid attracting other potentially still-living Lava Dragons.
However, just as Lynd was about to use the Storm Dragon Rune to fly into the sky, he stopped. He looked thoughtfully at the dragon horn he had just placed on the ground, hesitated for a moment, then turned and picked up the dragon horn, propping it between several broken stones.
Subsequently, he infused the power of the Nameless King Rune into the dragon horn. As the Nameless King's Rune Power flowed into it, the mysterious Valyrian runes on the dragon horn lit up one by one, emitting a red light similar to that of the Lava Dragon in the sky.
Once all the runes on the patterns were illuminated, Lynd brought his mouth to the horn, took a deep breath, and blew with all his might.
A horn blast that echoed through heaven and earth emanated from the other end, instantly spreading across the entire Valyria Peninsula, and even faint remnants of the sound could be heard in Land of the Long Summer.
The moment the horn sound spread, Lynd felt that Deltos was affected. Some power from its bloodline, even its genes, was trying to control it, but it could still resist this control and quickly gained the upper hand until that controlling power disappeared.
The enemy Lava Dragon, however, seemed much more severely affected than Deltos. Although it also tried to resist the more fundamental controlling force triggered by the dragon horn, its willpower and mental strength were clearly no match for Deltos. It quickly succumbed and slowly descended from the sky.
However, at this moment, Lynd had no time to concern himself with the Lava Dragon's reaction. After blowing the horn, a powerful and scorching magical energy surged into his body. The intensity of this magical energy forced him to fully mobilize the Nameless King Rune to absorb it. Fortunately, this magical energy was explosive but not chaotic, and the Nameless King Rune was able to absorb it very well and integrate it into the rune.
Lynd discovered that as this magical energy was absorbed by the Nameless King Rune, a new, extremely complex rune appeared within the Nameless King Rune. This new rune seemed to be the source rune for the Valyrian runes on the dragon horn's patterns, as all the characteristics of those Valyrian runes could be found in it.
"No wonder those who blow the dragon horn are burned to death. Such powerful scorching magical energy even injured me, let alone ordinary people." Lynd felt his lips and throat were scalded, even blistering, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
However, Lynd had no time to concern himself with his burns at the moment, because there was something more important awaiting him: the Lava Dragon before him, which had already been tamed by the dragon horn.
The reason it was called tamed was that after the Lava Dragon landed, it quietly stayed in front of Lynd, its lava-ball-like eyes staring at Lynd, yet showing no signs of attacking him.
"Lie down," Lynd tried to command the Lava Dragon in High Valyrian.
The Lava Dragon, like a domesticated puppy, immediately lay down on the ground upon hearing Lynd's command.
At this moment, Deltos, having completely shaken off the horn's influence, also landed beside Lynd. It looked at its former mortal enemy, now completely devoid of hostility, with confusion. However, it did not relax its guard, and lightning still flickered intermittently around its body.
Lynd told Deltos to stay to the side, while he walked over to the Lava Dragon and examined it from top to bottom.
He could see that the Lava Dragon's magical energy was incredibly abundant, hardly less than Deltos's current level. Moreover, its sources of magical energy were not singular, but four: its heart, throat, and both eyes were its magic sources, and these magic sources were also the reason it presented such a terrifying appearance.
Lynd attempted to use the Ice Dragon Rune, forming a chill in his hand. He could clearly see that when the chill appeared, the Lava Dragon instinctively tried to avoid it, but the control exerted by the dragon horn prevented it from moving.
From all indications, Lynd's previous conjecture was correct: the Lava Dragon's formation was indeed due to being parasitized by that soft-bodied creature, and its entire being had been transformed by the parasitic organism. However, even so, the fundamental essence deep within the dragon's genes had not changed, and perhaps the dragon's consciousness still existed, otherwise it would not have been affected and controlled by the dragon horn.
Lynd could feel that he could control any giant dragon whose bloodline origin was stimulated by the dragon horn through the Valyrian runes. He didn't even have to worry about others using the dragon horn to control giant dragons, because the Valyrian runes Lynd possessed were the most fundamental runes. Even if others blew the horn and controlled a giant dragon, Lynd could easily reclaim control through the Valyrian runes.
What other secret powers these Valyrian runes and the dragon horn concealed needed to be researched by specialists. Lynd was already eager to return to Summerhall.
However, he still had one thing to do: confirm whether this Lava Dragon could leave this place, and whether it would be affected by the parasitic organism, forcing it to remain only in a special environment like Valyria, which was filled with chaotic magic.
After all, so many years had passed, and there had never been any legends of Lava Dragons around the Smoke Sea. If Lava Dragons could truly live outside, then anyone who saw a Lava Dragon would certainly have a deep impression, and some legends should have been left behind.
But then again, perhaps there were legends of Lava Dragons, just described in a different form, such as demons.
For a long time, there have been legends around the Smoke Sea about demons and sea monsters. As for sea monsters, he had seen them before. As for demons, he hadn't seen any since entering the Valyria Peninsula. Now, thinking about the Lava Dragon's form flying through the toxic smoke of the Smoke Sea, it indeed resembled a demon from the seven layers of hell.
Lynd had Deltos guard the dragon horn, while he walked over to the Lava Dragon, stepped onto its outstretched wing, and climbed to a section of dragon hide at the base of its neck that had no cracks and didn't flow with lava. He sat down there, then controlled the Lava Dragon to take flight.
Unlike Deltos, who could ascend directly from a standstill, the Lava Dragon needed to spread its wings and run a certain distance before it could take flight. Its flying speed was no slower than Deltos's, because when it flapped its wings, a hot current would be generated, creating thrust, pushing the Lava Dragon to accelerate its flight like fire.
Although its speed was not slower than Deltos's, its agility was much inferior, which explained why it was completely passive during its battle with Deltos earlier.
This was merely a test. Lynd had no intention of flying out of the Valyria Peninsula just yet, as that would be too time-consuming. He controlled the Lava Dragon to fly vertically upwards, directly into the dark clouds formed by the sky's poisonous smoke and volcanic ash. It quickly reached the edge of the dark clouds, and then the Lava Dragon showed a slight resistance, unwilling to fly any higher. This was clearly not the dragon's consciousness, but rather the parasite's instinct.
But under Lynd's urging, the Lava Dragon eventually continued to fly a bit further, breaking through the thick dark clouds and reaching the cold high altitude.
Flames immediately erupted from the Lava Dragon's body, combating the cold of the high altitude, but it did not instantly petrify and die upon encountering the cold, unlike the parasitic creatures.
Seeing that the Lava Dragon could survive outside, and even move in the extremely cold environment of high altitude, Lynd nodded with satisfaction, then said, "Let's give you a name! Let's call you Nessario."
Whether it was because it understood Lynd's words or for some other reason, the Lava Dragon let out a joyful, long roar.
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