The price of a supersonic dash was immense.
The moment the sonic boom cloud exploded, Ian felt his consciousness go completely blank for a split second.
The terrifying g-force made the blood throughout his body feel frozen solid.
Had it not been for the protection of the dragon energy and the Valyrian steel dragon saddle, his body would have been torn to pieces just like the monster leader’s.
As for Comet, it had exhausted its last reserve of power.
The brilliant red light of its wing cores went out the moment they broke the sound barrier, turning dull and dark.
A deep, soul-level fatigue flooded through their mental bond and into Ian’s mind like a tide.
Having broken through the relentless swarm of monsters, Comet no longer had the strength to fly.
Its massive body fell like a severed kite, barely maintaining a glide as it sank helplessly down toward the endless unknown below, carrying its rider with it.
Ian struggled to recover from the overload.
He cast a glance at the bone-deep gash on Comet’s leg, his heart aching with linger fear and distress.
He hugged Comet’s neck tightly, using the last of his strength to soothe it through their bond.
*We’re okay, buddy…
We made it…
Just hold on a little longer.
Leave the rest to me.* They pierced layer after layer of purple toxic haze.
Just when Ian thought they would keep falling until they crashed to their deaths on some obsidian ground, his vision suddenly widened!
A blinding, brilliant blue burst into his sight without warning.
They had broken through Valyria’s eternal purple sky!
An azure sky, fluffy white clouds, a golden sand beach bathed in sunlight below, and on the other side, a shimmering blue ocean!
Ian froze.
How long had it been since he last saw real sunlight?
A dozen days?
Longer?
The warm, non-toxic light shone upon his face, giving him an overwhelming urge to cry, as if an eternity had passed.
They had made it!
They had truly escaped that hell!
*SPLASH—* Dragon and rider struck the coastal waters like a meteor, raising a massive plume of water.
The violent impact made Ian swallow several mouthfuls of salty seawater, but he dared not slacken for a second.
He struggled to unbuckle the harness straps, then dived into the water to find Comet, who was equally exhausted and struggling to swim upward.
Dragging Comet’s heavy body with every ounce of strength he possessed, he swam toward the nearby shore.
After an unknown amount of time, Ian’s fingers touched the coarse, warm sand.
Unable to hold on any longer, his vision went dark, and he passed out completely.
…
When he woke up again, it was already dusk.
The orange sunset painted the entire beach in a warm, golden hue.
Ocean waves tirelessly lapped against the shore with a pleasant rhythm, while a few white seabirds chased one another nearby.
Everything was full of life.
It stood in heaven-and-hell contrast to the dead, apocalyptic ruins of Valyria.
Ian struggled into a sitting position and checked his body.
Aside from extreme fatigue and hunger, he had suffered no major harm.
He looked down at his calf; the petrified, greyish-black skin seemed to have stopped spreading after leaving Valyria’s toxic atmosphere and absorbing sunlight.
Even the numb itchiness at its edges had disappeared.
This was good news.
He turned his head to see Comet lying quietly beside him, already fast asleep.
The wound on its leg looked severe, but it was no longer bleeding.
Its powerful self-healing ability was slowly mending the injury.
Ian let out a long sigh of relief.
He stood up and looked around.
This was an uninhabited beach, backed by a lush, subtropical jungle.
Instead of rushing to look for food, he walked to the water’s edge and began observing the stars rising in the sky.
As Orion slowly ascended, Ian’s gaze sharpened instantly.
By calculating the positions of the stars and their angle relative to the horizon, he swiftly worked out his current latitude.
“This…
is most likely the coast of Essos, east of Pentos?” Pentos!
The name exploded in his mind like thunder!
He abruptly recalled the plot of *Game of Thrones*.
If he remembered correctly, at the beginning of the story, Daenerys Targaryen and her brother Viserys were in Pentos as guests of Magister Illyrio, preparing for the marriage alliance with Khal Drogo of the Dothraki!
He didn’t know what exact point in the timeline he had arrived at, nor whether the Mother of Dragons had already married the Khal.
Ian looked at the sleeping Comet and the chest strapped to its back, then touched the cold Valyrian steel ingots and the precious forging notes inside his pack.
If all his past efforts had merely been about survival, then from this moment on, he had a new, grander objective.
The Dragon God Bahamut wanted entertainment?
Fine.
I’ll give you the grandest, most magnificent show this world has ever seen!
He would alter Daenerys’s fate, prevent her tragedy, and help her become a true Queen beloved by all…
No, an Empress!
And he would become the sharpest, most indestructible sword in her hand!
A fire named ambition flared in Ian’s eyes.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a faint black dot on the distant horizon.
It was the outline of a ship.
The civilized world lay just ahead.
“Time is short,” Ian muttered to himself.
He walked over to Comet’s side and patted it gently.
“Wake up, buddy.
How are you feeling?
It’s time to move.”