Dragon Tribulation of All Realms

Chapter 239 Insert Section: The Beginning of the Expedition
The king has the appearance of a human.

Its purple eyes swept over the one-eyed pirate kneeling on the ground, but its attention did not linger on the pirate at all. It merely raised its head slightly and looked up at the sky, where, at the edge of its vision, a crimson meteor was tearing a scarlet rift in the sky.

Like weeping, like a wound. The world trembled at the arrival of the meteor, and some invisible yet immense force flowed from the scarlet rift, slowly but irresistibly descending upon the land.

A new era is about to begin.

The dormant things will rise up, and the ancient remnants will be revived.

A thunderous boom resounded.

The seas of Valyria are forever like a boiling cauldron, and the sky is always crimson like molten iron.

The pirate kneeling on the ground had huge, gruesome wounds on his body, while two palace guards, clad in dark, smoky armor, held dark gold halberds and kept a close watch on him.

The king's gaze finally fell.

"Pirate." Its voice possessed a nobility and elegance perfectly matching its handsome appearance. Yet, no one could detect even a trace of humanity in it.

“You and your ship have offended my seas, you and your men have trampled my land. And you claim that you have the right to continue living—now, you have the opportunity to prove it.”

The king seemed to be looking at him, yet his gaze seemed to pass through him, fixed on some hidden power residing within him—the pirate slowly raised his head, his gaunt face resembling that of a cunning wolf. Yet his one intact blue eye seemed to be smiling cloyingly.

"Who could have imagined it?" The pirate's voice was gentle, even carrying a hint of obsequiousness. "Who in this world could have imagined it?"

"Valeria, destroyed four hundred years ago, still has a king who reigns over it. And those terrifying monsters that even the deepest nightmares could not tolerate have all submitted to this king. He can fill the sea with a single swing of his whip. He can split mountains with a mere lift of his hand. And how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to meet such a great king!"

His voice gradually rose in pitch, and a sincere light shone in his eyes. Yet his performance couldn't even earn him the king's ridicule.

“A very rare last message, I’ve noted it down.”

From the shadows on either side of the palace came deep, rumbling sounds, like some enormous and powerful creature moving its body, inhaling and exhaling the scorching air of this lost land.

The shadow of death crept up on the pirates' feet.

His flattering demeanor vanished in an instant, and he let out a hurried cry.

“I am Euron Greyjoy, heir of the Iron Islands, captain of the Serenity, servant of the Drowned God! The great Drowned God has sent me to deliver His greetings to you! You cannot take the life of a messenger so easily! Your Majesty, King of Valyria!”

The shadow lingered on the pirate's ankle—and when it faded, the pirate was drenched in sweat. His ship had long since been destroyed in the boiling ocean, and the Iron Islands no longer belonged to him. Only the ancient sea deity who had once given him some guidance in a dream could perhaps be his only support at this moment.

However, the king's next words almost stopped his heart.

"You're lying, pirate."

And all his sophistry was sealed in the next sentence.

"No god has ever dared to provoke me or Valyria in this way."

The pirate's face turned deathly pale, and despair filled his eyes. All the muscles in his body tensed up, but before he could exert any force, he was as if he had fallen into gel and couldn't move an inch.

His muscles couldn't relax, his joints couldn't move. His face quickly turned red from lack of oxygen, because his chest and lungs couldn't expand under this force. He remained motionless, like a wooden stake.

The king then rose from his seat and stepped toward the palace gate.

"I am actually a very hospitable host. If you could be more honest, more rational, and more intelligent, you would not only be able to leave my palace, but you could even take some rewards with you. After all, the arrival of visitors has important significance in the mysticism. It means that the host of the room has prepared everything and can... engage in some social activities."

The fiery red in the sky grew ever brighter, and the lightning bolts, intertwined and colliding within the burning clouds, burst forth with dazzling light. Sharp roars echoed wave after wave.

A certain constraint was lifted, and the fourteen volcanoes on the ruins of Valyria erupted together, spewing forth molten lava. Yet the dazzling crimson flames did not fall downwards under the influence of gravity; instead, they continued to rise, rise, until they pierced the clouds.

"Four hundred years have passed." The king's sigh echoed throughout the palace. "Valeria has been sealed away for four hundred years... Ah, I remember more than two hundred years ago a small dragon flew back, wanting to dig out some remaining treasure from the rubble of our ancestors. Unfortunately, it arrived far too early, so much so that it didn't even have a chance to see me before being forced to swallow its predetermined death... Hmm, which family did it belong to?"

It stopped and thought for a moment.

"I remember now... It was the Targaryen, the only one among the Valyrian Dragon Aspects who successfully escaped that catastrophe. Weakness became their camouflage for their escape. After all, compared to those otherworldly monsters that appeared out of nowhere, only the most powerful Dragon Aspect families could barely avoid being classified as weak."

The king closed his eyes slightly. During these four hundred years of imprisonment, he had countless times recalled that ancient and vast battlefield—the otherworldly creatures that appeared out of nowhere, washing over the land like a tidal wave, tearing apart everything living and dead. Cities ablaze, mountains crumbling, and dragon kings riding their dragons falling like meteors. And in the end, the dragon kings used their final Grand Mystic Ritual to bury all of Valyria and the gate connecting to the otherworld.

Valyria fell silent, with only a fortunate family and ordinary people living on the outskirts surviving, yet still forced to leave their homeland. However, the Grand Mystic Code of burial did not indiscriminately destroy even its officiant. Thus, in the end, only the last high-ranking dragon remained amidst the ruins.

It survived, and it took many years for it to regain its ability to act independently. It spent a long time cleaning up the remnants of the otherworldly invaders, and from the ruins, limbs, and broken bodies, it unearthed precious treasures from that otherworld.

Many years passed afterward, and it rebuilt a kingdom and a legion from the ruins. It intended to continue accumulating and preparing until it was certain that the time was ripe to restore Valyria's glory. However, when the red star appeared and the foreign visitors shattered the already fading Grand Mystic Code, it knew the time had come.

Because it sees.

It saw the impending resurgence of the demonic tide, and the alien aura rising from the other side of the earth—once again, this world had encountered uninvited visitors from another dimension. And if it didn't strike hard before the gates were fully opened, then this time, the fate awaiting the entire world would likely be less than ideal.

and so……

“I have made my decision.” The king nodded. “I intend to launch an expedition. I will make the seas boil and the stars fall. Until the last rebel turns to dust beneath my feet—what do you think, pirate?”

It turned its head to look at the body that should have suffocated to death—Euron Greyjoy's shell was struggling, twisting and writhing incessantly as it suffocated, and with a silent scream, dozens of tentacles suddenly burst out of the body, tearing wildly in every direction around it.

"Ah, you really are a follower of that so-called Drowning God."

The king looked at it and smiled.

Then——

'Boom—' Flames erupted.

In an instant, the entire palace was shattered into pieces amidst the exploding flames. And a colossal creature, a mixture of red and black, spread its wings amidst the explosion!
That was a dragon, a complete and powerful dragon.

The remnants of the sea monster crumbled under its claws, and the moment it flapped its wings, tens of thousands of winged beings responded to it throughout the Valyrian wasteland!
The ocean evaporates before them, and the clouds give way to them.

A massive expedition is about to begin, and all living things in this world will be their targets!

(End of this chapter)