After five days of arduous trekking, the team had dwindled to seventy-one members. Everyone was exhausted, and many were injured. Yet, the instinct for survival and the persistent glimmer of hope for the unknown depths spurred them onward.
The environment grew harsher. The smell of sulfur and the scorching heat in the air intensified, and the distant roar of erupting volcanoes could be faintly heard.
They once again climbed a steep ridge formed by cooled lava. This time, below them was a massive, relatively flat basin. At the center of the basin was a huge crater, several miles in diameter. Thick smoke continuously billowed from the crater, dyeing the sky a grayish-yellow. And just above the swirling smoke, a massive dark shadow was circling.
It was a dragon.
A true, living giant dragon.
Its entire body was covered in deep, almost pure black scales, which only occasionally reflected a dark red luster along their edges when light penetrated the smoke and clouds. Its body length was estimated to be over fifty meters, and its wingspan was vast enough to cast a shadow like a small mountain. It flew slowly, with a graceful and majestic posture, as if patrolling its territory. Each flap of its wings stirred up the hot air currents below, raising plumes of dust.
This was very similar to the characteristics of the small black dragon Marisus described seeing ten years ago. It might be that same one, just grown into a young adult dragon after decades.
All the survivors held their breath, forgetting their fatigue and fear, gazing at this mythical creature. Shock, awe, and disbelief intertwined.
The black dragon seemed to notice the tiny intruders. It adjusted its posture in the air, then landed on a prominent, wide rock ledge inside the crater. It folded its wings, its enormous body coiled there like a small mountain.
Its blood-red, flame-like eyes were half-closed, as if in a doze, completely ignoring Viserys and his group.
Viserys stood at the edge of the crater, the strong wind whipping his silver hair. He gazed at the black giant dragon on the rock ledge, feeling the tremor in his bloodline. Was it it? Was it calling to him? Or was there something in the depths of this volcano attracting him through it?
He took a deep breath, preparing to speak, or rather, to try and make contact with the black dragon using his mental power.
Just then, an anomaly occurred.
Without warning, an unimaginably vast, ancient, and profound torrent of consciousness suddenly erupted. It swept forth from the deepest part of the volcano, or more precisely, as if from the very heavens and earth of the entire Valyria ruins.
This consciousness carried no malice, but it contained an immense amount of information, directly pressing down on Viserys's soul.
Viserys felt as if his mind had been struck by a giant club. He grunted, his body swayed, and he only managed not to fall by propping himself with "Blackfire," but his consciousness was like a flickering candle in the wind, on the verge of extinguishing.
The people behind him fared even worse. They couldn't even let out a gasp before their eyes rolled back, and they all collapsed to the ground. In an instant, the entire team was annihilated.
At this moment, the edge of the crater was utterly silent.
Viserys endured the tumultuous impact in his Sea of Consciousness, struggling to steady himself. His vision was somewhat blurred, but his pale purple eyes were fixed on the source of that vast consciousness deep within the crater.
Just then, a shocking scene unfolded before his eyes. The interior of the volcano churned violently, and the almost viscous, dark red magma lake began to undergo drastic changes. The magma at the center of the lake seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand, forming a massive vortex. The center of the vortex sank downwards, as if connected to the depths of the earth's core.
Then, it rose.
First to break through the surface of the magma lake were three enormous heads, each comparable to the bow of a warship. The middle head was the most majestic, with a rigid draconic snout, and hot air mixed with golden sparks spewed from its nostrils. The left head was slightly more slender, with an air of scrutiny and wisdom in its eyes. The right head was sturdier, exuding a primal ferocity.
Immediately following were three necks, like colossal pillars reaching the sky, each covered in dark golden, thick scales that seemed forged through eons of smelting. The edges of the scales shimmered with a cold, metallic luster in the glow of the lava. This was precisely the three-headed giant dragon he had seen in his dreams.
Ghidorah?
As he truly saw the appearance of this colossal beast, a name, a name from the distant Blue Star, belonging to a mythical Titan, uncontrollably leaped into Viserys's mind.
The appearance of this three-headed giant dragon before him was eight or nine parts similar to the King Ghidorah from his past life's memory, known as "Monster Zero" and "Planet Eater." Especially the stance of its three heads standing side by side, ruling the world, and the pressure it exuded, as if from the depths of the starry sky.
The enormous body slowly rose from the magma, bringing with it cascades of crimson lava. Its size far surpassed the black dragon perched on the rock ledge; when its wings were fully spread, they could obscure the entire sky above the crater. Residual magma slowly slid off its dark golden scales, revealing complex and mysterious natural patterns beneath. Most unsettling was the faint golden energy field circulating around its body, as if even light and space subtly warped in its vicinity.
King Ghidorah, as it shall be called for now, fixed its six molten-gold eyes simultaneously on Viserys. The gaze held none of the indifferent scrutiny from his dream; instead, it carried a hint of complex meaning, as if it had seen something unexpected yet reasonable.
"Insignificant, yet special existence."
A grand, deep voice resonated directly within Viserys's soul, replacing the previous undifferentiated consciousness impact. This voice was not any language but information directly transmitted by thought, filling Viserys with a peculiar sensation.
Viserys felt his spirit enveloped and pulled by a gentle yet irresistible force. His consciousness seemed to be drawn from his body and plunged into a peculiar space composed of pure light, shadow, and information streams. There was no up, down, left, or right, only endless flowing light and slowly rotating phantom stars.
The mental avatar of the three-headed giant dragon appeared "before" him. Although infinitely smaller, it still inspired an involuntary sense of dread.
"Do not be alarmed, human cub. Your soul imprint is very interesting to me. It seems you are not purely an existence of this world, yet you are deeply entangled with the bloodline of this world." Ghidorah's middle head conveyed clear thoughts, with a hint of inquiry.
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