On the border of the Long Summer Land in Essos.
Whoosh. A massive Wyvern flapped its enormous wings, stirring up a gale in the sky as it chased its prey, which was turning nimbly in the air and moving slightly faster.
This was a Wyvern forty-five meters long, with dull-colored skin beneath shimmering silver scales, silver-gold eyes, and several uneven horns growing from the back of its skull, giving it a ferocious dragon head.
Although this Wyvern did not rank highly among the dragons raised by the many Dragon King Families of Valyria, it still possessed immense power and a gargantuan size that mortals could only look up to with awe.
Although these Valyrian Wyverns possessed the ability to fly long distances, they did not like to wander around like the dragons of the Ekania World.
Wyverns usually did not fly around aimlessly, only reaching areas unfamiliar to them under the guidance of their riders.
Even the forty Dragon King Families of Valyria and their hundreds or thousands of dragons were mainly concentrated in the Freehold, and active around the Long Summer Land opposite the peninsula where the capital of the Freehold, Valyria, was located.
Although these Wyverns seemed intelligent in the eyes of ordinary people, their behavior was still driven by wildness and instinct.
Thus, this massive Wyvern pursued a strange, exceptionally thin dragon ahead of it relentlessly. In front of the forty-plus-meter Wyvern, the Batwing Wyvern ahead, with wings like a butterfly, appeared so weak.
Its body was only eight meters long from head to tail, and it seemed that the Wyvern behind only needed to open its huge mouth to bite this beautiful yet weak Batwing Wyvern in two with its sharp fangs.
However, the Batwing Wyvern ahead was extremely fast and agile. Every time the Wyvernbehind was about to catch up, it would increase its speed, as if it were luring and teasing the massive hunter behind it.
"Roar."
The massive Wyvern appeared extremely enraged. Provoked by its prey and unable to endure it any longer, it opened its huge mouth, revealing its uneven, sharp fangs.
Surging flames briefly brewed in the Wyvern's throat before transforming into a raging dragon fire, which it spewed toward the Batwing Wyvern ahead.
Whoosh.
The sense of threat brought by the high-temperature flames caused the Batwing Wyvern ahead to increase its speed significantly in an instant, vaguely appearing as if it were about to turn into a brilliant streak of light, darting out of the range covered by the dragon fire before it could touch its body.
After escaping the range of the dragon fire, the Batwing Wyvern actually twisted its long neck, turned its head back, and looked triumphantly at the furious Wyvern. In its pupils flashed a light of intelligence that the Wyvern behind could hardly compare to, and then it emitted a provocative cry.
The Wyvern behind was even more incensed, flapping its pair of leathery wings as it charged toward the Batwing Wyvern, which had slowed down again.
Rosani spread his wings wide, circling in the clouds high above, his cold, vertical pupils watching the situation of the two dragons below.
In the next instant, Rosani narrowed his eyes. His wings sliced through the airflow, carrying a gale as he suddenly dived downward.
Rosani thrust his head and claws out from the clouds, the dragon's majesty upon him fully unleashed at this moment, pressing down toward the massive Wyvern.
The forty-plus-meter Wyvern, when faced with the ten-meter-long Rosani, was actually so frightened by the powerful dragon's majesty that its wings suddenly stopped, and it plummeted from the high sky.
Fortunately, these dragons were born knowing how to control their wings to roam the sky. The massive Wyvern hurriedly flapped its broad wings, halting its descent in mid-air. It raised its head, baring its teeth and roaring lowly at Rosani high above.
"Submit to me, base dragon-kin."
Although Rosani was only a fraction of the size of the other, the majesty and bearing of a True Dragon made the other appear like nothing more than a beast with wings in front of the Black Dragon.
Rosani looked down at the other, wanting to communicate in Dragon Language.
"Aww-roar."
The eyes of the massive Wyvern flashed with a beast-like light, and it assumed an offensive posture, seemingly unable to understand Rosani's words.
Because in this world, many beasts would emit roars to intimidate enemies in order to mask their own fear, and some beasts, when in a state of fear, would also take the initiative to attack their enemies.
Sure enough, the massive Wyvern initiated an attack on the tiny Black Dragon in the sky the next moment. A massive stream of dragon fire surged out from the Wyvern's mouth, spitting fire that scorched the sky.
Rosani watched the reaction of the Wyvern below, shook his head slightly, and let out a sound of disappointment. "It seems you dragons are nothing more than beasts that cannot even speak."
"You cannot speak, have no heritage, and seem to lack any intelligence; you don't even qualify as sub-dragons. Despicable creature, do you even deserve to be active in the world under the name of dragon?"
"It seems the previous few Wyverns were not individual anomalies. I thought they were just rare fools; I didn't expect your entire race to be nothing but beasts."
Rosani spread his wings wide and dived down, meeting the other's dragon fire, but the collision between the two behemoths in the sky that was expected did not occur.
Rosani raised a magical shield, braving the other's dragon fire. In his high-speed dive, he controlled the terrifying impact with his powerful bones, muscles, and magical manipulation. Light and agile like a hummingbird, he deflected his direction from the massive Wyvern's chest and abdomen, sweeping past.
The massive Wyvern of over forty meters was now within reach. Rosani extended his sharp claws. At high speed, the Black Dragon's steel claws grabbed into the Wyvern's chest cavity without any obstruction.
The Wyvern's tough skin and scales could not block it in the slightest, and Rosani sliced open a massive wound directly.
"Roar."
In the next instant, the Wyvern, which was still ascending, let out a painful shriek. Its huge, broad wings suddenly lost most of their strength at this moment.
A massive amount of scalding dragon blood sprayed from the Wyvern's chest, and its huge body fell from mid-air, flapping its wings weakly and chaotically. A shrill, miserable cry resounded through the sky.
Boom.
The massive Wyvern crashed to the ground, emitting a dull thud. The scalding dragon bloodcorroded the grass on the ground, withering the lushly growing wild grass one by one, then igniting tiny sparks.
Rosani landed from the sky with an elegant posture, folding his wings and standing to the side, watching the Wyvern lying on the ground, shrieking in pain and thrashing about.
Although it was now in a weakened state, the beast was still, amidst its painful roars, trying to counterattack against the Black Dragon.
Rosani coldly transformed his wings into sharp blades and swept past, severing the entire head of the massive Wyvern before him, causing it to roll away.
Although the heritage of the True Dragons in the Ekania World contained techniques for the sky lords to hunt all creatures, the techniques possessed by each dragon were different.
But facing this seemingly powerful Wyvern, Rosani did not even need to use any combat techniques; he only needed to slightly manipulate his body to slay the opponent.
The chest and abdomen of a Wyvern were a huge weakness that could not be hidden in front of a True Dragon. A Wyvern without forelimbs might still be able to rely on the hooks on its wings as weapons for offense and defense on flat ground, but in the air, it was already a fatal flaw.
This was also the reason why the True Dragon species had always discriminated against these Wyvern species. They regarded these dragon-types as cripples. Some species, such as the Wyverns in the Ekania World, were not even considered dragons by the True Dragons, merely wearing the name of dragon.
But even the Wyverns in the Ekania World were more intelligent than these Wyverns.
"If not dragon-kin, then just beasts. This massive body is the only thing that has some merit. Unfortunately, no matter how strong the physical power, it is but the light of a candle before a perfect True Dragon, facing the sun in the sky."
Rosani walked forward. The dragon blood, black as oil, made him wrinkle the scales between his brows.
The Black Dragon carefully stepped over the areas stained by the dragon blood and came to the Wyvern's abdomen. Then he extended his dragon claw, easily sliced open the Wyvern's abdomen, and extracted the Wyvern's massive heart.
The texture of the heart made Rosani narrow his eyes involuntarily, and the energy contained within made Rosani unable to stop eating it. Only after swallowing the entire massive heart completely did the Black Dragon leap onto the Wyvern's huge body and begin to feed.
Although the meat of the Wyvern tasted average to the Black Dragon, consuming the flesh of these Wyverns could bring benefits to Rosani.
Just as consuming metal ores can make the scales of True Dragons sturdier, their skin tougher, their claws and teeth sharper, and their bones stronger.
Consuming certain magical creatures and supernatural species also allows the True Dragons' mana and magical talent to grow and awaken more quickly in certain aspects.
It is as if the True Dragon race can absorb the advantages of their prey through the act of eating.
Although it cannot compare to the World-Eater talent of the Ancestral Red Dragon Kalon Kogmora, even a talent weakened countless times is enough to allow the True Dragon race to constantly become more perfect and powerful during their growth and development.
This is also the reason why those Lord Dragons can far surpass the wandering Wild Dragons.
Ever since Rosani devoured the heart of the Tree of Life and numerous magical items, this characteristic of his has undoubtedly been amplified.
After continuously devouring several Wyverns, Rosani not only satisfied his own dietary needs but also gained some additional growth—some rather obvious growth.
Rosani could even feel that since devouring these Wyverns, his growth had accelerated slightly, and his physique had become stronger.
This also made Rosani open up his stomach to eat as much food as possible.
Behind the Black Dragon, before that high ridge, several massive skeletons were already laid out. Each of these giant skeletons was at least thirty meters long, all with their heads severed and lying there.
This place was the temporary landing spot and encampment chosen by the Black Dragon upon descending into this world, along with the Empire's legion warriors.
Some spellcasters and scholars were conducting research beside the Wyvern corpses and intact heads, and many specially trained apprentices were also brought along, surrounding the Wyvernheads, observing and recording.
The pioneering legion warriors set up their temporary camp in the dense forest on the high ridge, hidden tightly within the spellcasters' magical barrier, so that even the Wyverns patrolling and foraging in the sky could not discover the traces of the pioneering legion.
It was not until Rosani was full, having gnawed the huge Wyverns into riddled messes—even using the sturdy dragon bones to grind his teeth, leaving marks everywhere—that he finally stopped and returned to the camp.
Sentries on the high ridge waved signal flags, and several teams of strong warriors stepped out from the camp, using ropes and tools to transport the remaining Wyvern corpses back to the camp for research purposes.
A scholar who had been waiting, upon seeing Rosani enter the camp, walked up to meet him and reported to the Black Dragon.
"Your Excellency Rosani, all preparatory work has basically been completed, and other matters have also been roughly figured out," the scholar said, clutching a notebook. Seeing the Black Dragon nod, he quickly continued.
"This world is divided into four continents. We are currently on the one called Essos, located at the boundary of the Long Summer Land, near the center of civilization in Essos, Valyria."
The scholar spread out the exploration information from the Wyvern Knights and the rough maps drawn by the scholars, pointing them out one by one to Rosani.
"...In this world, the vast majority of already excavated mineral resources have been tested, and three of them can serve as substitute materials for casting Mythallar cores."
"Moreover, the level of civilization development in this world is not high, and the utilization of mineral resources is very low, holding considerable development and utilization value."
"In Valyria, there is also a method for casting magical alloys, utilizing ores mined from the Fourteen Fire Peaks, cast with magic into special alloys. Weapons forged from this alloy have decent performance and can be improved to serve as weapons for our warriors."
Rosani had just finished eating and was at his most patient, so he narrowed his eyes and listened patiently to the scholar's lengthy discourse.
When the scholar stopped, he leaned his head toward the scholar and asked softly: "Regarding the true obstacles of this world, the deepest powers, is there any assessment data?"
The scholar flipped to the last page of the document and nodded: "Your Excellency Rosani, according to information sent back by scholars who infiltrated the capital of the Freehold, the city of Valyria, as well as information sent back by mages who infiltrated the Citadel in Oldtown on the other continent, Westeros..."
"...It can be concluded that although magic in this world is flourishing at this time, it is completely incomparable to the power of the Empire. As for those deities who possess earthly fame, although it is unknown whether it is because they never descend due to their exalted status as gods, or because of some restriction, the true, direct power of all the gods can hardly influence the world."
"They can only manifest miracles through certain means to influence mortal activities," the scholar smiled slightly: "Except for Rhllor, who has definitively shown miracles, only his enemy, the Cold God, has servants whose presence in this world is beyond doubt."
"Since that is the case, then let us begin."
Rosani raised his head and looked at the sky. The gate leading back to his homeland had long since closed. Although he had not been in this world for very long, he had already begun to miss his Dragon Nest and the Empire of dragons.
"Except for the Wyvern Knights, all warriors and spellcasters are to infiltrate Valyria, and right within the city, establish a plane coordinate tower for precise teleportation."
Rosani said in a low voice: "When the Emperor, Kalon, personally descends, we can directly sweep away all the rulers there and raise the royal flag of our Golden Empire in this world!"
...
Nalia was draped in a black robe, her beautiful face and long hair hidden under a dark hood. In the sweltering air, she slowly stepped into the muggy, dry cave.
The enclosed, dim space of the Fourteen Fire Peaks mine was only illuminated by torches placed every few dozen steps, and shadowy figures moved about in the mine like ghosts.
The Red Priest behind her was also wearing a black robe at this time, following the former Red Priestess Nalia as they wove through the mine.
The journey through the front section of the mine was calm and deep. When they stepped into the depths of the mine, a type of insect would occasionally burst out suddenly from the pits in the mine floor.
This insect was similar in form to a dragon but had no wings, and the larvae were about the size of a child's arm.
In the underground legends of Valyria, these insects are distant relatives of dragons; they can also breathe fire, grow to be immensely huge like dragons, and extremely loathe humans.
The Red Priestess Nalia's fireball spells were completely unable to harm these dragon-worms; only the weapons of the Red Priests could repel these insects that quietly emerged from the rock and soil.
In these drilled shafts, charred slave corpses were often found, but this could not move the hearts of these priests of the Red God.
The Red Priestess's calm face was shrouded in the dim lamplight, but her state of mind was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.
As a priestess of the Red God, Rhllor, every time she saw the light and shadows that the True Lord displayed to these believers within the flames, it was always a fragmented image carrying omens, which required these priests to combine knowledge and circumstances to provide personal interpretations.
For many years, it had always been this way.
But this time, it defied common sense; the continuous miracles were all clear instructions with direct purposes.
In her mind, the figures of those mages freely casting spells still emerged. Those mages were like the free wind; the magic in their hands required absolutely no price to wield.
Yet she, as a believer of the Lord of light, needed to pay a price even for simple flame spells to use her power.
"No, perhaps this is not my power, but borrowed power," Nalia could not help but think in her mind.
She tightened her hold on the item hidden in her ample bosom, and at this moment, a sense of hesitation could not help but rise within her.
What she hid in her bosom was a key to open the Gate of Destruction. As long as it was used, the entire Fourteen Fire Peaks would be destroyed, and then the whole of Valyria.
Even those Wyverns might not be able to escape such a natural disaster.
"Perhaps those mages' views cannot be said to be entirely wrong," the Red Priestess sighed, looking at the figure waiting in the darkness ahead.
That person was also wearing a hood, hidden in the darkness. Nalia only knew that the other party was the new leader of the rebel army, said to be the leader of a nascent cult within the mines, and the deity they worshiped was called the Many-Faced God.