A Song of Ice and Fire: Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

Soon, terrifying sounds emanated from the dimly lit cage, the shadows on the walls writhing violently.

Qyburn's eyes narrowed slightly, while on the other side, the young girl Melisandre closed her eyes in fear, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her dress.

After an unknown amount of time, the cage finally fell silent.

Qyburn observed the scene before him with a hint of solemnity. He turned his head to glance at his adopted daughter. Melisandre still kept her eyes tightly shut, not daring to look. Qyburn patted her shoulder, turning her around, and then pointed towards the door, signaling for her to leave first.

Even for the ruthless Qyburn, he felt that such a sight was unsuitable for a girl to witness. Perhaps every man's heart softens after having a daughter.

Melisandre followed her grandfather's instructions, giving a slight bow before turning to leave the room.

However, before departing, she couldn't resist sneaking a peek. The mute girl's heart suddenly leaped, and she quickly closed the door, hiding outside.

Now, Qyburn stood before the cage, torches burning quietly in the room, with a ventilation shaft overhead. The scene before Qyburn's eyes was extremely horrifying, the cage littered with severed limbs.

The burly prisoner had been torn to shreds by another person, who now knelt on the ground, gnawing on the corpse.

Scales had begun to grow on his body, his eyes turning crimson. With his back to Qyburn, it was evident that he had lost his sanity.

Not everyone possessed the strong willpower of Victarion and Gerion Lannister. Victarion was the commander of the Iron Fleet, while Gerion dared to lead a fleet deep into the ruins of Valyria for exploration, clearly no simple figure either.

"Success."

"Although not perfect."

Qyburn observed the cruel scene before him, his eyes showing no trace of sympathy, instead filled with appreciation. However, based on the blood within Victarion's body, the monster created had its magical nature partially suppressed by the venom of the manticore. It was clear that the creature did not possess Victarion's muscular physique, but the difference was not significant.

"Truly an era of magical revival."

His Majesty had tasked him with uncovering the secret within Victarion, which he had failed to do. However, he had successfully created a monster akin to Victarion.

If such monsters could be artificially controlled, they would become a terrifyingly formidable force.

His Majesty the Emperor and Princess Daenerys had flown north on their dragons, not returning for a day. The garrison at Castle Black was abuzz with speculation, but fortunately, Queen Rhaenys and her dragon remained at the Wall, stabilizing morale.

Dragons were now the heart and soul of the army. Everyone knew that to win the war between humans and the White Walkers, dragons were the decisive force.

Finally, news from King's Landing arrived, this time from Varys, the Master of Whispers. Due to the limitations of information transmission in this era, sometimes messages would take a long time to go back and forth.

"So the White Walkers appeared on Ib."

Viserys pondered as he looked at the intelligence in his hand.

The stories of the Long Night often accompanied the appearance of the White Walkers. However, unexpectedly, they had not emerged beyond the Wall but instead landed on the island of Ib.

How had the White Walkers, lacking ships, swum across?

Could it be that the White Walkers now commanded the dead to build ships? If that were true, it would indeed be troubling news. If these undead possessed such capability, it would mean that the gap in civilization between them and humans would be significantly narrowed.

However, it was noteworthy that the report also mentioned a dragon, which was equally disconcerting. Yet, Viserys did not associate the Night King's mount with an ice dragon.

"If the White Walkers have appeared on Ib, does that mean they won't attack the Wall?"

For the people of Westeros, Ib was extremely remote, akin to reaching the ends of the earth. This island nation was located not far from the Shivering Sea and the legendary Bones.

If the White Walkers wanted to march on Westeros from there, it would take at least a year or two, even if they only walked.

Moreover, as the Free Cities had refused the petition of the Seven Kingdoms' nobles back then, there was still a vast Narrow Sea separating them.

What was there to fear?

With this change in location, the Empire's commanders who heard the news all breathed a sigh of relief. At least the pressure had lessened.

"We mustn't let our guard down."

"The enemy is very cunning."

"The Wall is our best barrier. If we want to protect the Empire's people from the White Walkers' attacks, we must stop them beyond the Wall."

On the other hand, Jeor Mormont, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, spoke with a solemn expression.

His words made sense. The Wall was the best barrier for humans to stop the White Walkers. If the Wall were breached, there would be no more fortifications like it to defend the rear.

The previous victory against the White Walkers at the Battle of the Green Fork had been pure luck.

At that time, the undead army that had broken through the Iron Islands suddenly appeared at the rear of the allied forces. Tywin Lannister, the Lord of Casterly Rock, who guarded the rear, abruptly withdrew his troops. This directly led to the main allied forces being caught in a pincer attack, with the entire battle rapidly descending into a desperate situation, even showing signs of total annihilation.

However, His Majesty rode his dragon and flew to the rear of the undead army. No one knew exactly what happened, but the White Walkers retreated afterward, directly saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers and numerous Seven Kingdoms nobles participating in the battle.

As Jeor Mormont said these words, he couldn't help but glance at Viserys, who sat in the center with a calm expression. He wanted to see if Viserys' face showed confidence or trepidation.

However, Jeor Mormont miscalculated. He couldn't discern any expression on Viserys' face, but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. His heart, initially apprehensive, finally calmed down.

"To end the Long Night, defeating the White Walkers is the key."

"But the Wall must not fall."

Viserys spoke after a brief silence.

This was also where he hesitated. Theoretically, he had to fly to the island of Ib to aid in the battle. However, he was worried that the White Walkers would lure the tiger away from the mountain and seize the opportunity to breach the Wall while he was away.

He was uneasy about leaving Rhaenys and Daenerys to face the Night King because he had previously clashed with this opponent. He knew the Night King's cunning, and according to legend, he even had a dragon now.

Just as everyone was discussing, a message suddenly arrived from outside.

Moqorro, the red priest who had previously come to King's Landing as an envoy and later headed north alone, had returned from beyond the Wall.

He claimed to have urgent matters that required an audience with His Majesty the Emperor.