Tormo Fregar's face alternated between crimson and ashen as he glared through gritted teeth at the massive red dragon beneath Lo Quen.
The nearly hundred-foot-long beast was indeed terrifying, but Braavos was not without its means of dealing with such monsters.
He discreetly signaled toward the rear while shouting, "Your Grace! If you and your dragon do not cease your provocations, Braavos will be forced to take defensive action. The consequences will not be what you wish to see."
He had already secretly ordered the deployment of the giant scorpion crossbows stationed at critical locations.
If this mad king didn't back down, a dragon-slaying battle was inevitable.
He was confident that at this close range, a concentrated volley from the massive crossbows would be enough to bring down the red dragon.
Lo Quen had already sensed his intentions and the cold glint of crossbow bolts hidden behind buildings and along the docks.
Instead of retreating, he ordered Blooddancer to unleash another stream of Dragonfire, igniting what remained of the House of Black and White's buildings, as though deliberately taunting his enemies.
At that very moment!
Whoosh—!
A massive scorpion bolt suddenly shot from the top of a distant bell tower, hurtling straight toward Blooddancer's head.
This shot hadn't come from Tormo's orders; it was the nervous, trembling shot of a soldier.
Lo Quen reacted with lightning speed, yanking on the reins.
Blooddancer let out a furious roar, its enormous frame climbing swiftly and nimbly.
The giant bolt grazed its abdominal scales, embedding deep into a distant building and sending a ripple of screams through the air.
Tormo Fregar's face went deathly pale.
Which idiot?!
He hadn't given the order!
Lo Quen's cold gaze immediately locked onto the bell tower and another nearby position—clearly another ballista emplacement.
"Die!" he muttered, urging Blooddancer into a dive.
"Shoot! Shoot now! Bring him down!" Tormo Fregar screamed hysterically, losing all composure, flailing his arms as he issued the order.
More crossbow bolts came from all directions, weaving a deadly net of fire.
Blooddancer twisted and soared through the air with agile grace, avoiding most of the arrows.
The dragon opened its massive jaws, releasing another torrent of Dragonfire.
"Aaah—!"
A chorus of screams erupted.
The bell tower and nearby ballista emplacement were engulfed in blazing flames.
Soldiers manning the ballistas became writhing fireballs, screaming as they fell from the heights.
The expensive steel ballistas twisted and melted under the extreme heat, reduced to scrap metal.
Tormo Fregar watched in stunned horror.
"All crossbows, full attack! Aim for its wings and eyes!"
He barked the command frantically.
More scorpion crossbows emerged from their hiding places, launching thick bolts into the air without relent.
Lo Quen skillfully maneuvered Blooddancer, dodging the attacks while clearing the ground threats with Dragonfire.
In an instant, the area around the Isle of the Gods had turned into a brutal battlefield.
Lo Quen realized that the greatest threat came from the Titan of Braavos at the harbor entrance.
The massive statue was clearly hollow inside. From its chest armor's observation holes and firing slits, huge crossbow bolts were continuously fired, posing a far greater danger than the scattered ballista positions.
"Ascend!"
Lo Quen commanded.
Blooddancer immediately stopped breathing fire, flapping its wings with all its strength as it soared upward into the clouds, quickly disappearing from the sight of Braavos's defenders.
Tormo Fregar and the soldiers on the ground watched the red dragon vanish into the clouds, exhaling a collective sigh of relief. Many even cheered as if they'd just escaped disaster.
"He fled!"
"He's scared! Our crossbow bolts can hurt it!"
"Braavos is invincible!"
Tormo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, convinced that Lo Quen had been deterred by Braavos's dense anti-air defenses and had chosen to retreat—at least for now.
But just as their cheers were starting to fade, the clouds were torn apart by an even more terrifying force.
A golden dragon, nearly three hundred feet long, suddenly plunged from the sea of clouds. Its entire body was covered in gleaming scales, radiant as pure gold, reflecting a blinding, regal light under the sun. The shadow cast by its immense form nearly swallowed several islands whole.
"What... what is that?!"
"By the gods! Another one! And even bigger?!"
"A dragon! A golden dragon!"
Everyone was stunned by this sudden appearance.
The golden dragon, Lo Quen, opened its massive jaws.
BOOM!!!!!!!!
A stream of golden dragonfire, several times thicker than Blooddancer's, erupted from its mouth. The heat and reach of this blast were far greater than the previous one, instantly engulfing seven or eight deployed Scorpion crossbows, along with the soldiers nearby.
The explosion rang out deafeningly, sending flames soaring into the sky, melting metal, shattering stone, and vaporizing bodies in an instant.
Tormo Fregar stood frozen, dumbfounded by the cataclysmic sight, his mind blank except for an overwhelming sense of despair.
"How could there be one this massive?"
The golden dragon's fire continued its rampage, destroying every defensive structure and any force that dared resist.
Then, its massive vertical eye locked onto the colossal Titan of Braavos standing at the harbor entrance.
Inside the giant, the soldiers were futilely operating their heavy crossbows, launching bolts that struck the golden scales with a sharp, clinking noise. But the bolts didn't leave so much as a scratch.
For a three-hundred-foot dragon, these once-deadly weapons were utterly useless.
Tormo Fregar watched, his last hope shattered. His face went ashen.
"Useless?! The Scorpion Crossbows... they're useless..."
The golden dragon roared, a sound that shook the very heavens, then charged toward the Titan of Braavos. The pressure from its immense wings nearly capsized the ships on the sea.
Under the despairing gazes of countless Braavosi, the golden dragon unleashed another torrent of fire.
This time, its target was the giant statue symbolizing Braavos's power and pride.
The scorching flames surged into the Titan's bronze chest, through the gun ports and observation windows. The interior of the giant instantly became a hellish furnace.
The soldiers hiding inside were vaporized before they could even scream.
The outer shell of the statue began to glow red and soften under the extreme heat.
The massive colossus began to shake violently, its internal structure collapsing, groaning in agony. Molten bronze dripped into the sea below with sizzling sounds.
Finally, under the relentless assault of the golden dragon's fire, the Titan of Braavos could no longer maintain its form.
Its massive head tilted first, then the entire colossal body began to topple and collapse.
BOOM!
A deafening sound, like the cracking of mountains and the earth itself, echoed through the land.
The legendary statue, which had guarded Braavos for countless ages, broke apart. Its massive form crashed into the strait beyond the harbor with overwhelming force, sending giant waves and a mist into the air.
The fall of the Titan symbolized the shattering of Braavos's invincible myth.
The city fell into an eerie silence, broken only by the sound of waves crashing against the ruins and the occasional crackle of lingering flames.
...
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