Chapter 196: The Ambush
Drogon had barely finished incinerating the sea serpent when he noticed something strange in the distance.
The dark sea ahead churned violently, as though a giant cauldron were boiling beneath the waves.
At first, he couldn't make out what he was seeing.
Then his eyes narrowed.
Those weren't waves.
They were tentacles.
Countless tentacles writhed across the water's surface, accompanied by enormous octopus-like heads rising and falling among the swells.
"How is this possible...?"
Daenerys had seen them as well.
Staring at the sea of writhing appendages, she muttered in disbelief.
They're all here for me.
Drogon finally began piecing things together.
There was no way ordinary people could command so many sea monsters.
Hearing his thoughts, Daenerys frowned.
She didn't yet understand how these creatures could be connected to Drogon.
Without wasting another second, Drogon flew toward the densest concentration of giant octopus beasts.
As he approached, he unleashed a torrent of black dragonfire.
Even the ocean itself failed to stop the immense heat and force of the flames.
The fire slammed into the creatures.
Any beast struck directly in the head died instantly.
Those that avoided a direct hit were still left crippled and barely alive.
Witnessing the devastating power of the dragonfire, the octopus monsters immediately panicked.
They dove beneath the waves and tried to swim toward the fleet.
Unfortunately for them, that didn't help.
Drogon skimmed low over the water.
One massive claw plunged into the sea and seized a monster.
Compared to sea serpents, these creatures were painfully slow.
Drogon lifted one from the water and tore it into pieces with a casual pull of both claws.
After finishing off the remaining fish monsters, Rhaegal and Viserion joined the slaughter.
The two dragons dove repeatedly into the sea, hunting giant octopuses and the occasional sea serpent.
While fighting, they couldn't resist indulging themselves.
Every now and then, one of them would roast a serpent and take a bite.
They had wanted to know what sea serpent tasted like for a very long time.
Despite the dragons' efforts, the arrival of the octopus creatures still cost the fleet several more ships.
The soldiers aboard had no effective weapons against such monsters.
All they could do was prepare for rescue operations and hope their ships stayed afloat.
"Ships approaching from the south!"
A lookout aboard the flagship suddenly shouted.
Daenerys, who had been anxiously watching the dragons battle the sea monsters, immediately grabbed a spyglass and turned toward the southern horizon.
After a moment, she lowered it in confusion.
"Those are the banners of Volantis, Lys, and several other Free Cities. What are they doing here?"
She handed the spyglass to Tyrion.
Before either of them could think further—
BOOM!
A flaming boulder smashed into a nearby warship.
The impact exploded across the deck in a shower of splinters and fire.
The vessel listed violently as sailors screamed.
Tyrion's expression changed immediately.
He grabbed Daenerys by the arm and hurried her toward the safety of the lower deck.
At the same time, he shouted orders to the signal officers.
"Raise the battle signals! Return fire!"
The attack caught everyone completely off guard.
Neither Daenerys nor any of her commanders had expected it.
Moments earlier, they had been fighting sea monsters.
Now they were under assault from an unidentified fleet.
The soldiers of Dragonstone, frustrated after being helplessly battered by the creatures from the deep, finally found a target they could strike back against.
Their anger erupted instantly.
The crews quickly manned the trebuchets, lighting massive stones ablaze before hurling them toward the enemy fleet in retaliation.
While slaughtering the giant octopus creatures, Drogon had already noticed the distant ships launching their attacks.
It was obvious now.
The sea monsters and the fleet were working together.
This entire assault had been carefully planned.
Whoever was behind it had gone to extraordinary lengths to deal with him.
Although Dragonstone's fleet had lost dozens of ships to the sea creatures, over seven hundred warships remained combat-capable.
The enemy fleet, by comparison, numbered only around five hundred vessels.
On paper, victory should still belong to Dragonstone.
After tearing apart two more giant octopus beasts, Drogon was about to move toward another ship when a sudden sensation made his scales tighten.
From the northern sea came a presence so powerful that even he found it terrifying.
He immediately turned.
Far away, a massive smooth head slowly emerged from the dark waters.
Atop that enormous skull was a pair of pale, emotionless eyes—almost entirely white—staring directly at him.
The moment he sensed that aura, memories surfaced.
He had felt something similar once before in the Smoking Sea of Valyria.
Studying the creature, Drogon began to suspect its identity.
Abandoning the lesser sea monsters, he flew straight toward the gigantic being.
By now, nearly half its head had risen above the water.
It resembled an enormous octopus, though its proportions were monstrous beyond reason.
Just half of its exposed head was nearly one-third the size of a warship.
As Drogon approached, the creature swam toward him as well.
Any ship that happened to stand in its path was casually swept aside.
Long tentacles coiled around entire vessels and tossed them away like driftwood.
The sight stunned everyone.
Not only the soldiers of Dragonstone, but even Drogon himself.
After absorbing the Night King's divine essence, his wingspan now approached one hundred and fifty meters.
He was confident enough to grab a warship and roll through the sky with it.
Yet even he couldn't have done so with the effortless ease this monster displayed.
Reaching the sky above the creature, Drogon opened his jaws and unleashed a torrent of black dragonfire.
Several tentacles that had been reaching toward him instantly recoiled.
Two of them reacted too slowly.
The black flames engulfed them.
Within seconds, the appendages charred into ash-gray husks and broke away, splashing into the sea below.
The monster emitted a shrill cry that sounded eerily like a human infant's wail.
Then it paused and plunged beneath the waves.
Drogon hovered over the turbulent water.
One second passed.
Then another.
The creature didn't reappear.
Did one blast really scare it away?
Just as Drogon considered flying lower for a better look, a colossal shadow surged upward from beneath him.
His wings beat furiously as he shot toward the sky.
Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough.
Before he could gain altitude, the shadow exploded from the ocean.
A mountain of tentacles burst through the surface and lunged at him.
Only then did the sailors finally see the creature's full form.
It looked like a fusion of a squid and an octopus.
A nightmare born from the deepest abyss.
"The Drowned God!"
Victarion's Ironborn shouted almost in unison.
The creature looked nearly identical to the deity of their faith.
Aside from its coloration, it matched every description of the Drowned God from Ironborn legends.
Drogon heard the cry.
As he incinerated another approaching tentacle, he couldn't help but think:
The Drowned God really has come.
He intended to dive and continue roasting the creature's body.
But suddenly a massive tentacle wrapped around his right foreleg.
It yanked downward.
Drogon fought upward while turning his own dragonfire on the appendage.
The tentacle burned through instantly.
Unfortunately, his own flames weren't harmless.
Even with his immense fire resistance, he winced in pain.
If he repeated that trick several more times, even his scales might begin curling from the heat.
The severed tentacle fell away.
Drogon prepared to climb higher and escape the creature's reach altogether.
Then two more tentacles whipped toward him.
Only now did he realize the truth.
The creature hadn't grabbed him to pull him underwater.
It had used him as leverage to launch itself higher.
Now even more tentacles were reaching for him.
There was no time for another breath attack.
Drogon had no choice but to fight physically.
All four claws slashed and tore at the incoming appendages.
Yet claws were no match for dragonfire.
He severed two tentacles.
Three more immediately replaced them.
Soon he was being overwhelmed.
Forced into desperation, Drogon opened his jaws and began biting as well.
The addition of his enormous maw helped.
The tentacles wrapped around his claws were rapidly torn apart.
For a brief moment, he thought he was gaining control.
Then he felt something tighten around his wings.
His head snapped around.
Two tentacles—twice as thick and long as the others—had wrapped around his wings several times.
Drogon strained with all his strength.
For a moment, the bindings loosened.
Then they tightened again.
The creature's immense power slowly forced his wings inward.
No matter how hard he pushed, his strength couldn't compete with those monstrous appendages.
His wings were trapped.
Without them, he could no longer maintain flight.
Dragon and sea god alike began falling toward the ocean below.
"Drogon!"
Having heard reports of a colossal sea monster battling Drogon, Daenerys had rushed onto the deck.
Just in time to witness the horrifying sight.
The gigantic creature dragged Drogon downward—
Straight toward the sea.
(Please support the story everyone.)
Want faster updates? Send those stones my way—the more, the merrier. Read early at [email protected]/A_divin5