Game of Thrones: The Black Dragon King

"This is the 10000 gold coins reward promised by the Karal family. In addition, as an apology, the Daznak family is giving you the same amount of gold coins." Pardara pointed to the box in the private room.

"Including the bet from earlier, the total principal is 12000 gold coins. By the King of Light, you damned bastard, you've made 32,000 in less than a morning! Now you're a true millionaire! And so am I!" O'Ellis said happily, holding his bet ticket against Reid.

The fat guy still had a sense of loyalty; he bet on Reid and won quite a bit as a result.

Pardara said with a hint of envy, "Seriously, why don't you consider working part-time as a gladiator? It's a quick way to make money."

While the two were talking, Reed was grabbing a glass of orange juice from the table and drinking it down in one gulp. Then he grabbed a towel handed to him by a servant and carefully wiped the bloodstains and sweat from his face before he had time to speak.

"A life of constant risk and danger doesn't last. On the contrary, thanks to the valuable advice of a certain mentor and friend, I find the ever-flowing money from industry much more appealing," Reed said irritably. He grabbed a handful of gold coins and stuffed them into his wallet, then ordered his men to take the rest back to camp.

"That's a real shame." Pardara tried his best to suppress the urge to grin, shrugged as if it were nothing, and then inquired, "How did you train your horse archers? Many centaurs can't achieve that level of archery."

"They were born on horseback with their mothers, started riding on their own at the age of three, and began playing games with children's soft bows at the age of six. It was a game where a child would run ahead with a wooden sign with a target drawn on it, and a group of playmates would chase and shoot at it on horseback. They played until they were twelve, and then they would play hunting games, hunting together as a team. By the time they were sixteen, they were pretty much qualified horse archers..." Reed made up a bunch of nonsense with a straight face.

Pardala, as if he had found a treasure, gestured for the scribe slave beside him to write it down.

"Excuse me, whose family crest is that?" Reed asked, pointing to the banner hanging above the box that had given the highest reward.

"The Caraller family."

"What about that one?" Reed pointed to another spot.

"The Graza family," Pardara replied, then, following Reid's instructions, rattled off a string of surnames from powerful families: "The Hazaka family, the Marek family..."

Seeing that Reed was pointing at the ones who had been making the most noise, Pardara felt inexplicably uneasy: "What exactly do you want?"

Red scribbled in his notebook: "There's a famous saying about feng shui in my hometown: 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.'"

I don't understand and I'm too lazy to think about it. Pardara isn't exactly a good student, and a medium-sized mercenary group shouldn't be able to cause any trouble, right?

"Next is the real surprise I'm talking about, I guarantee you'll be in for a treat!" Pardara said mysteriously, pointing at the emcee who had just come on stage.

"Great masters of Meereen! Citizens of Meereen! Distinguished guests! By the blessing of the saints and great lords, welcome to continue watching the ultimate competition!" The emcee's voice was loud and melodious, drawing cheers and excitement from the audience.

"As everyone knows, the second dominion of Essos was established by the Valyrian Dragon Aspects, who relied on dragons capable of soaring through the skies and breathing fire. The great masters of Gugiscali fought five times against the evil dragons, giving birth to one great lord, wise lord, and benevolent lord after another!"

"Today, we will witness a battle that recreates ancient history! A group of dragon slayers will face a real dragon!" As soon as the emcee finished speaking, the entire arena seemed to be ignited. The cheers, shouts, and exclamations of the audience intertwined, forming an indescribable wave of fervor.

"Dragon Slayer!" "Dragon Slayer!" "Dragon Slayer!" "Dragon Slayer!"

The cheers from the audience grew louder and louder, as if they were about to overturn the entire arena.

Reed's gaze sharpened instantly. He stared intently at Pardara, trying to catch a trace of a joke in the other's expression, but unfortunately, he failed.

The emcee's expression was solemn and dignified, as if what was about to unfold was truly a historical reenactment concerning honor and life and death.

"A dragon? Are you sure you're not joking?" O'Ellis's voice rang in Reid's ears, filled with disbelief, terror, yet also a strange excitement and anticipation.

He looked around and saw that the audience around him also had expressions of excitement and anticipation. Only a few people seemed as shocked as he was.

Reid's mind raced. Dragons in the Meereen arena? He'd been here for over a year and had never heard of them!

Before Reid could ponder further, a massive crack suddenly appeared in the center of the arena. With a rumbling sound, the underground passage slowly opened, revealing the scene within. It was a colossal creature, its scales a riot of colors, its eyes burning like flames—a true dragon!

The cheers from the audience reached their peak instantly. They stood up, waving flags and handkerchiefs, as if to share their fervor with everyone present.

As the dust settled, Reed could see clearly that it was indeed a dragon. The beast had its wings cut off, leaving only the first two joints of its wings, which allowed it to walk on all fours but not fly. Its empty eye sockets contained no eyeballs, only flames emitting black smoke. At less than fifteen meters long, it was only the size of a sub-adult dragon, and its entire body was bound by countless thick chains.

"Screech!" The hoarse and shrill abnormal roar made Reed frown. There were nails in the dragon's throat, pins running across the throat and fixed to both sides of the masseter muscle, and the surrounding area was full of traces of festering and healing, and then festering again.

Seeing that Reed looked uncomfortable, Pardara patted Reed on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, it's a pterosaur, it can't breathe fire."

"That's clearly a dragon!" Longwinged dragons and Dragon Reid could still be distinguished; longwinged dragons had bird beaks and single bony crests. This dragon, however, had a wolf's head, dense horn crests, and thorns covering its neck and tail, some of which were interspersed with interconnected sail-like wing membranes. Without these damages, it would undoubtedly be a magnificent, majestic, and imposing dragon.

"No, no, no." Pardara shook his finger: "The long-winged dragons of Sothros are often mistaken for dragons by people who have never seen one before."

"I have seen dragons, giant dragons."

"Have you ever seen a dragon with such disgusting, colorful appearance? That's a long-winged dragon from the Sothros Rainforest."

"I can tell it's been splashed with asphalt and dye..."

"You're not the only smart one, but everyone agrees that this is a long-winged dragon," Pardara said with a smug look.

"Aren't you afraid of incurring the Dragon King's wrath by humiliating a dragon like this?" Even Reid himself didn't realize that his voice had become tinged with unspeakable anger.

"The only remaining dragon king in this world is the Targaryen across the Narrow Sea, and long ago, Brother Bass of the Iron Throne concluded that it was a long-winged dragon."

Reed remained silent, staring at the chained dragon, his fiery eyes seeming to tell of endless pain and humiliation.

Yes, a dragon that has lost the ability to fly and breathe fire is no threat to the Iron Throne and serves no purpose whatsoever. Isn't it just a long-winged dragon? The cheers of the surrounding nobles formed a stark contrast to his inner anger.

But what can a mercenary group leader do?

"This land has a deep bond with Valyria; it has witnessed Valyria's glory and decline. When the Valyrian cataclysm occurred, not all the Dragon Aspects were wiped out. In Matalis, Elia, Torros, Volantis, and even in colonial cities like Meereen, Pentos, and Rhys, scattered Dragon Aspects and their dragons still remained. But they, for one reason or another, gradually disappeared into the annals of history. Do you know why?"

"!"

"Young newcomer, your silver hair and purple eyes, and the anger in them, already tell a lot," Pardara smiled slightly and continued, "In this land, there are always Valyrian descendants with dragon blood, yearning to restore Valyria's glory. They consider themselves chosen ones, constantly trying to find the power of dragons, but all have ultimately failed. And you are just one of the millions of failures."

"You tried to tame it, and failed countless times, didn't you?"

"Heh!" Pardara chuckled, unfazed by the sarcastic tone in Reed's voice. Instead, as if struck by a casual conversation, he launched into a long, uninterrupted monologue: "Otherwise what? What do you think made us abandon this beast? As the ancient city-state of Giscali, forced into becoming a Valyrian colony, our ancestors hated those high and mighty dragon kings. As an ancient people yearning for power and controlling their own destiny, our desire and obsession with dragons far surpasses that of anyone else!"

"The three city-states of Slaver's Bay went to great lengths to obtain this dragon. To cover their tracks, we risked everything to kill William 'The Wasp,' the White Knight of the Iron Throne, and his thirty-man party; to capture the dragon, we made an unfair deal with Tyroth in the disputed lands, even losing a mercenary group—an adventurer's party; to conceal our actions, we spread false information everywhere, even using a long-winged dragon to fight against a pre-arranged group of bulls, cave bears, and slaves equipped with spears and axes."

"But it was all worth it. A dragon, a stray young dragon, a stray young dragon with a high chance of being tamed, brought cheers to all of Giscali! Everyone thought it was a symbol of the greatness and hope of ancient Giscali once again, but no one expected it to be the beginning of misfortune."

"The patriarch of the Graztan family, in his excitement at the celebration banquet, got too close to the cage and was burned alive by the dragonfire of a young dragon—even though there were flames several yards between them, his clothes still spontaneously combusted, his flesh twisted, and his skin charred red, like a turkey being roasted in an oven. Dragons are born ferocious beasts; a mere three-meter-long dragon can kill countless people. What a price this knowledge has paid!"

"Initially, the dragon tamers were our relatives who possessed dragon blood, descendants of the maidens from the various families we offered to the Dragon King. Their lineage was clearly traceable, even purer than that of the Targaryens across the Narrow Sea, from Vazareth, Beleris, Aurelion..."

"Then came the Valyrian descendants on the continent of Soros who could prove they possessed dragon blood, and after promising to marry the daughter of a Giscali noble or to marry into one of our families, they entered the dragon-taming caves..."

"Finally, there are the bastard sons of the Targaryens from across the Narrow Sea, from Dragonstone, King's Landing, Tidehead, and other places..."

After talking too much, Pardara became thirsty. He took a sip of wine and slowly said, "Every time I listen to the elders of the family discuss this history, I always feel that this beast has never eaten any proper food."

"If you wanted to tame a dragon, why did you mutilate it like this?"

"The day a secret is born, it is destined to be revealed. And the price to pay for revealing a secret is often heavy and unbearable. Just like when we tried to tame this dragon, the initial excitement and anticipation were ultimately shattered by the cruel reality."

"We paid a heavy price, made many sacrifices, and received almost nothing in return. It did not grow normally, it never laid an egg, and not a single dragon rider climbed its back. When the mass disappearance of the Targaryen bastards finally alarmed the Iron Throne, twenty years ago, we had no choice but to turn this true dragon, which carried the hopes of the descendants of the Ghiscali, into a real long-winged dragon..."

Reed clenched his fists, feeling a surge of anger and helplessness coursing through him. He stared at Pardara, trying to glean more information from her eyes, but Pardara's gaze held only memories and indifference.

Reid fell silent, looking once more at the dragon bound by chains. The dragon's eyes still burned with fire, but those fiery eyes seemed devoid of life, filled only with endless pain and humiliation.

Pardara fell silent, simply drinking his wine, as if he had already put Reed's question out of his mind. Meanwhile, the cheers from the arena continued unabated, the fervor of the crowd showing no sign of waning.

Off the field, the dragon-slaying warriors began to move around the dragon, their spears gleaming coldly, their shields providing solid protection for their bodies.

The dragon, as if sensing danger, began to roar hoarsely, attempting to break free of its chains. Though it had lost half its wings, its eyes, and its ability to breathe fire, the dragon remained a apex predator. Dragon slayers were constantly being torn apart by its sharp teeth, whipped away by its massive tail, and crushed by its powerful hind legs. But countless more dragon slayers used the chains to scale the dragon's back…

Sharp spears and giant axes could not inflict fatal wounds; granting it a dignified end would only provoke its rage.

This isn't dragon slaying; it's a blatant and humiliating performance...

Therefore, Reed decided to change his plans for tonight.