Chapter 379: Chapter 379: Breath of the Demon
"A demon?"
Viserys furrowed his brows as he spoke.
"Maester, are you jesting?"
Skepticism was written all over Viserys' face. Demons were merely the stuff of legends, how could they possibly exist?
However, upon hearing Maester Marwyn's words, a chill ran down the spine of the silver-haired youth.
The books he had given to Maester Marwyn for verification were not all he possessed. He also had a book given to him by a Valyrian nobleman who had been demonized before his death.
Although Viserys didn't understand what the nobleman wanted to express, the book was more like a miscellany, perhaps something the Valyrian nobleman wrote himself, sensing the impending crisis, wanting to tell something to the future generations.
The term 'demon' was mentioned in it.
After returning to Pentos, Viserys had perused this miscellany. However, the content was very chaotic, and many parts were already blurred. Coupled with the language changes over hundreds of years, Viserys found it somewhat difficult to read.
The entire book was filled with words like 'demon', 'black', 'terror', and so on.
Viserys had once suspected whether there was any real deal between Valyria and the legendary demons.
Later.
That very night, Viserys had a dream related to the Doomsday catastrophe of Valyria.
...
He dreamt of the sky collapsing, the earth tearing apart, seawater pouring into the sinking continent, submerging palaces, towns, and temples. The Fourteen Flames that spanned the Valyrian Peninsula spewed thick black fog, hundreds of demon dragons soared in the sky, emitting silent roars.
He saw a giant with a white beard, a seven-star crown on his head, and a warhammer in his hand. He saw a lady wrapped in a black robe, her arms around her knees, crying silently. He saw a floating corpse with its hands and feet chained. He saw a black goat gnawing on flesh. He saw a black bird grooming its feathers with pale eyes. He saw a sun...
"Who are these people..."
However, in the end, he saw all the faces of the beings swapping.
Viserys felt a sudden tightness in his chest, as if a large hand was suddenly strangling his neck, making it impossible for him to breathe.
The giant with the white beard was wrapped in the black robe, the crying lady raised the goat's head, the floating corpse with its hands and feet chained turned into a black bird and flew away...
Just as the silver-haired youth was looking at these 'monsters' in a bit of panic, he didn't notice a pair of pale hands slowly crawling up his neck.
However, the grandeur of the Doomsday catastrophe of Valyria continued.
This was not the first time Viserys had dreamt of the Doomsday scene. He had dreamt of it many years ago, but there were no such bizarre scenes at that time, just the end-of-the-world scene of the world collapsing.
But at this moment, Viserys seemed to faintly hear the land wailing and weeping in his dream.
The mother and son who had been reunited after a long separation in his first dream turned into ashes under the gushing lava once again.
The black fog rising from the Fourteen Flames turned into a fist and slammed into the sky. The jade hand that was about to climb up his neck suddenly retracted.
Then the fist made of black fog exploded and turned into a rain of black blood. The red clouds rained shattered dragon crystals, and the Fourteen Flames collapsed into fourteen bottomless abysses.
And the Valyrian Peninsula was shattered in an instant under the heavy hammer, the turbulent waves swept across the land of eternal summer, even Slaver's Bay did not escape, a large number of pyramids were destroyed, the city walls collapsed.
And the Freehold of Valyria, the most prosperous, powerful, and famous empire in human history that could challenge the gods, disappeared without a trace.
Viserys woke up from this nightmare, sitting up abruptly. His soft feather bed was soaked with his sweat, and cold sweat was still dripping from his forehead onto the luxurious velvet bedding.
The Princess of Dorne, Arianne Martell, who was sleeping next to the young king, and the third Sand Snake sister were also awakened. Tyene, naked, was wrapped around Viserys, gently kissing his chest.
However, after Viserys had calmed his emotions, he did not tell the two women the details of the dream, but simply held Arianne lightly and told them he had a nightmare.
...
The fact that Viserys had a nightmare was known only to Arianne and Tyene, and the women who shared the bed with Viserys did not know what he had dreamt of.
The viewpoint put forward by Maester Marwyn was even more surprising. He not only believed that the legendary hell and demons truly existed, but also believed that the Valyrians had made a deal with these demons.
The weapons of Valyrian steel, the powerful magic mastered by the Valyrians, the endless exploration of the underworld beneath the Fourteen Flames by countless slaves, all these were directly related to demons.
And all these traces could be found in the precious books provided by Viserys.
For example, a book on the forging of Valyrian steel mentioned that the key to forging Valyrian steel was to use the 'Breath of the Demon' to purify the steel and imbue it with magic.
Maester Marwyn was very certain that this term was the word 'demon' in High Valyrian. As for what the Breath of the Demon was, Maester Marwyn himself did not know, but according to the description in the book, it seemed to be a kind of black gas.
And also, a travelogue recorded:
'A nobleman of high lineage from the Freehold, his dignity was challenged by a commoner. Although the citizens of the Freehold have rights, this is not enough to challenge the honor of the Beleris family.'
'This lord punished this poor fellow with his magic. He turned into a cloud of black fog, then appeared in front of him, strangled his neck, and then stripped the poor wretch of his life.'
"It seems to be a magic that only the highest nobles of the Freehold can master."
"Beleris family?"
Viserys' expression moved slightly when he heard the name of the Beleris family.
Because the signature of that miscellany was Beleris, it seemed that the family he had entered was the Beleris family.
"Your Majesty's guess is correct, the source of these books may indeed be the Beleris family."
Maester Marwyn confirmed Viserys' guess because he had seen the shepherd's emblem on the bookmark.
And among those books, there was one about exploring the continent of Sothoryos, and the author of this book was Jennela Beleris.
She had flown her dragon to the southernmost part of the known world in search of the legendary boiling sea and steaming rivers.
She went further than any previous expedition—yet all she saw were endless rainforests, deserts, and mountains.
When she returned to the Free
hold of Valyria three years later, she claimed that Sothoryos was as large as Essos, an 'endless continent.'
The viewpoint put forward by Maester Marwyn would certainly cause a great sensation if it were spread out, but perhaps not many people would believe it, most would listen to it as a joke.
However, Viserys believed his words, because he was the host of the black fog, and more importantly, because of the dream he had.
"Valyria declared war on the gods, and the gods destroyed Valyria."
"But the soul of Valyria did not die..."
Dong——
The melodious bell of the Nine Towers Palace rang out, reaching far and wide.
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