Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 375 Criticism
The wings of Bronze Fury Wormisor had spread out, and the bronze scales glowed like cold iron in the morning light. Igor was about to jump onto the dragon's back when he heard the sound of a cane hitting the ground behind the black stone pillars - each sound was exactly the same, like the executioner's count.

"Did I give you permission to take off, you arrogant little brats?"

Rey Vareses stepped out of the shadows, his silver hair tied into a braid and hanging down on his dark purple robe embroidered with silver dragon laurel leaves. The old dragon knight did not use the dragon claw staff to support his body, but held it diagonally at his side like a sword. His violet eyes showed a strange translucency in the morning light, like two pieces of dragon crystal embedded in wrinkles. Between his fingers, he played with a golden dragon of Jakaris I. The dragon patterns and the head of the brown-haired king on both sides had been rubbed and blurred.

"Lord Ray." Igor's voice was calm, but his eyes were flickering with regret and self-blame.

Sebastian closed the torn "A Study of the Fall of the Fortress of Liberty" in his hand, and glanced back and forth between his grandfather and his cousin. Vasolial crouched down, and his huge tail fin gently slapped the ground, as if he could sense the tension in the air.

Ray walked forward slowly, flipping the coin between his fingers, each turn like a countdown, like a prediction of the unpredictable future. He had already read the letter from Junlin.

"Tell me, Igor," his voice was as low as the echo from the depths of the dragon's lair - even though he was right there, "Why didn't anyone notice the change in the dragon-taming time of the bastard Igor? Who allowed him to come into contact with the dragon at the time you planned? Jed Orinth should have been fed every nine days, why did he accept the feeding from the dragon guards three days in advance? When your grandfather was alive, he had to listen to the nursery rhymes from the slums, the drunken talk from the brothels, and even the beggars' dreams brought by Tigaro every day." He poked the family emblem on Igor's chest with his cane, "And you? You can't even notice the changes in the work and rest schedules of the dragon riders that you can control?"

silence.

The biggest unexpected event was indeed that Iger came into contact with the sheep thief, but how Iger, who had clearly finished his training, appeared next to the sheep thief became the biggest factor that made things go beyond expectations.

"Second." The sound of the staff tip scraping against the stone bricks was so painful. "Why were the guards stationed outside the dragon's lair so slow to rush in and quell the rebellion when the explosion occurred?"

This is the information that Igor does not have now: "If I am not mistaken, they did not realize that something was wrong until the explosion occurred, and by then it was too late."

"This is your oversight." Rey pointed his cane at Igor and Sebastian expressionlessly.

"You want to be as meticulous as your grandfather, but you are not him. You are not Longzel. If my brother were still alive, what do you think he would do?"

Igor's pupils contracted, but he still didn't answer.

"He will accept the king's request and allow the bastard dragon rider to live, but you will see Benson branded with the silver dragon. He will marry a girl from the Longdel family, the Kaon family, the Dagareon family, or even a girl from the Dondarrion family, the Selmy family, and the Stendhal family. You will see Aegor lose an arm, a leg, or an eye in an accident - the gods will not know who did it, but they only know that a cripple cannot ride a dragon. You will see the Silver Widow's Manor surrounded by meritorious knights from the Marches and Tyrosh. You will see the noble male heirs of the crowns of Stokeworth and Marseille gradually die out, and their daughters will marry heroes who return from the conquests and run their own houses with their support. Those ambitious and dissatisfied families will do the same. You will see the dragon chaser's ship wrecked in the shipwreck. You will see Quentyn Pole among the bodies of the accident in the tournament. And people will not find that those things were done by the glorious prince."

Rei sneered, and the coin was suddenly held in his palm.

“Your generation is so arrogant.”

His eyes swept over Igor and Sebastian like a blade scraping across dragon scales.

"Do you think you can imitate Longzel's plan and follow the things on paper step by step, and then manipulate people's hearts like playing chess?"

"But you forgot——"

The coin was bounced into the air, and at the highest point, it suddenly fell down and landed in the groove of the cane.

"Human nature is more difficult to predict than dragon flames, so Longzel never predicts people's hearts, but takes advantage of the situation and plays with people's hearts." The old dragon knight said calmly: "You think you have left them a way out and given them a chance to survive, but they will only think that it is either a godsend or the last chance."

"Longzel taught me, and he taught you, too." Rey poked Igor's Adam's apple with the end of his staff. "When your enemy is crazier than you..." The staff fell to the ground with a thud, and the harsh roar of Shadow Nightmare made both of them feel a little uncomfortable. "You must learn to strangle themselves with their madness. Igor, you should be grateful for the arrangements left by your grandfather, and the advance plans brought about by his teachings. Maybe they can't keep up with the changes, but they have also made preparations."

"Now, go to the Black Palace and tell your father, uncle, aunt, and the little king." Rey said coldly, "Impatientness and annoyance will not solve the problem. Dorne is gathering troops in the Borderlands and the Reach. You know how to tell the little king."

"Understood." Igor said.

Vermithor's claws plowed deep furrows in the ground of the Black Palace, and when Igor Varezes leaped off his dragon's back, the bronze dirty gold scales were still steaming from the water that had crossed the Blackwater River, and Vasoliar's lion mane flew, and his huge tail fin gently slapped the ground. They had seen the ruins of Rhaenys Hill, and every detail told of this carefully planned failure.

Count Marewies had just vented his emotions, but when he saw Igor and Sebastian arriving, he snorted coldly and stopped talking. He knew that his opinions would only be supported when things really happened.

He also didn't expect that these people would actually violate the rights of guests and make such an extreme move of going all in at once.

"They know my magic." Brynden's voice was like the rubbing of dead leaves. "The conspiracies in Harrenhal were all carried out in the basement, and the conspiracies in Silver Widow's Manor were all carried out in the wine cellar, but they insisted on deliberately performing a quarrel under the weirwood, deliberately revealing their plan to survive by cutting off their tails." The white crow suddenly made a shrill cry, and a memory emerged in Brynden's mind - several nobles were arguing fiercely under the tree whether to support Blackfyre, and Ser Stokeworth was arguing with Quentin Pole and others whether to give up the power developed in King's Landing.

"It's my fault. I didn't consider their madness and didn't notice the abnormal details." Igor had completely let go of the anger he had just received the news. Now he was calm after thinking. "Igor, everyone has a problem." Lingol shook his head. "I also overlooked the details. If I was sharp enough, I could have interrupted the Prime Minister's parade and trapped the traitors in the city in the name of arresting the assassin's accomplices. What's more, there were still hundreds of soldiers outside the dragon's lair at that time."

Even ordinary soldiers are nothing but ashes in front of dragons and wildfires.

Daeron II rubbed his temples, his eyes full of fatigue. He thought he had been tolerant enough towards these illegitimate brothers, but he was still betrayed - this kind of betrayal was the most painful. "The most fatal thing is that the three of us attended the banquet, and no one could control the dragon at the first time."

Bloodeye, Starsong and Stormcloud were left in the Black Palace, and only Hovenders and Sarafathers took off to suppress the sheep thief. Unfortunately, these two dragons, who had never participated in a dragon battle, were no match for the cunning old wild dragon in terms of survival instinct and combat experience.

A good situation was wasted.

"They are too impatient." Igor let out a long breath. "This is the key to their breakthrough, and it will also bury their efforts. Harrenhal, Rostan and Bol think that they can stir up the situation by gathering those dissatisfied nobles and the ambitious little guys. And those dragon chasers, do they really think that we have been secretly making trouble and monitoring them for so many years?"

Daeron II turned silently, faced Ringol and Igor, and slowly took off his crown.

This move made everyone hold their breath.

"Lord Ringol," the king's voice was heavy and firm, "In the name of the bloodline of the silver dragon and the red dragon, I formally request the Vareses family to fight alongside the Targaryens. I have sent a letter to Oldtown. Prince Aerion, Prince Maegon, and Prince Varys are on their way on dragons."

Lingol did not answer immediately. His eyes swept across the silent dragon knights and finally landed on Igor.

"Leave two dragons in King's Landing. Starsong and Stormcloud are enough to fight any situation. Igor, gather the dragon riders of the family and send two dragons in each group."

"Yes, father."

Under the deck of the pot-bellied merchant ship, Desilis was gently stroking the golden dragon egg with a family spell. The old man of the Belleris family believed that the spell could be used to hatch giant dragons.

Balmi stood in the shadow of the hatch, rubbing his knuckles over the snake scale pattern on the scimitar's handle.

it's time.

He approached silently, the knife flashing like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue——

"Balmi, we don't help Damon, it's really..."

The words have not yet fallen.

Desilius felt a chill at the back of his neck, his throat had been cut, and he staggered around, his olive face twisted in shock, his fingers clawing in vain at the hem of Barmy's shirt.

"You...why..." Blood blocked Desiris's throat.

He didn't expect that his most reliable companion would betray him at this time.

No, he wants to keep the dragon egg for himself?
No, no, he is a traitor, he is a traitor!
He came from Gray Island. He pushed forward the development of this risky plan and encouraged them to go all out. He found an excuse to say goodbye to Damon who was going to take them with him. He hired this merchant ship which was obviously not fast enough.
Should have thought of it earlier. Should have thought of it earlier.
Balmy kicked his dying companion over and pulled the dragon egg out from between his stiff fingers. "Dragon chaser?" He sneered and spat in High Valyrian. "I have been hunting you for the silver dragon for twenty years, but I didn't expect you to become so stupid when you meet a dragon."

Suddenly, there were hurried footsteps on the deck.

"Lord Balmi, has the matter been resolved?"

The captain said with a smile.

"Go to Tyrosh." Balmi wiped the blood off the scimitar and said.

(End of this chapter)