Even Tormund stared in stunned silence before letting out the most straightforward praise imaginable. "This kind of battle has already gone beyond humanity."
Shock also filled Mance Rayder's eyes. "So this is the power of an Eastern Sorcerer? He's not just riding a dragon. He himself is a dragon!"
The Ice Dragon realized that if this continued, it would be roasted alive. It began thrashing its neck wildly, trying to twist around and scorch Lo Quen on its back with its breath.
But Lo Quen, in his golden dragon form, was positioned with extreme precision, clinging tightly to the joint where the back met the neck, a blind spot that made it almost impossible for the Ice Dragon to aim properly.
Just as the Ice Dragon forced its head around with a desperate heave, exposing the relatively vulnerable side of its neck, a sharp gleam flashed in Lo Quen's draconic eyes.
The eyes were a shared weakness of Valyrian dragons.
Perhaps the Ice Dragon was no exception.
He fixed his gaze on the Ice Dragon's pale blue eyes, a plan quickly taking shape.
At the instant the Ice Dragon focused all its attention on turning back to breathe, Lo Quen's powerful hind legs drove down hard, stabilizing his body. At the same time, his two razor-sharp foreclaws, wreathed in golden flames, shot forward like lightning, striking straight for the Ice Dragon's enormous blue crystal eyes.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
"Crack! Crack!"
Two sharp shattering sounds rang out.
The Ice Dragon had never imagined its enemy would launch such a vicious surprise attack.
Its vision went black in an instant as searing pain swept through its entire body.
Those massive blue crystal eyes were ripped apart and crushed under Lo Quen's claws.
Icy-blue dragonblood erupted from the gaping eye sockets like a fountain.
"ROOOAAARR—!"
The Ice Dragon let out a shrill, agonized scream.
The howl pierced the clouds, shaking the entirety of Moat Cailin Bay. Even the distant mountains seemed to tremble in response.
Blinded and plunged into endless darkness and pain, its enormous body began to roll and thrash wildly in the air. Its wings beat chaotically, and it could no longer maintain balance.
Yet Lo Quen's four claws remained firmly locked into its back.
No matter how violently it struggled, it could not shake off this bringer of endless agony, this "golden nightmare."
Lo Quen showed no mercy. Mercy toward an enemy was cruelty toward oneself.
He drew in a deep breath, pouring all his magic into his throat. A torrent of brilliant golden dragonfire burst forth, aimed straight into the Ice Dragon's eye sockets, from which icy-blue blood was still pouring.
"BOOM!"
Golden flames surged through the ruined eye sockets and bored straight into the Ice Dragon's skull, raging through its brain.
The Ice Dragon's struggles immediately weakened, its piercing roars collapsing into pitiful wails.
At last, its body lost all signs of life and fell limply from the sky.
"RUMBLE—!!!"
The massive corpse of the Ice Dragon slammed heavily onto the frozen marshland not far ahead of Moat Cailin Bay.
The ground shook as if struck by an earthquake. The ice shattered into a crater nearly a thousand feet across, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading for miles.
Ice shards and frozen earth, mixed with icy-blue dragonblood, blasted skyward, forming a brief, desolate rain of blood.
[Dragon's Soul +50,000]
A vast surge of energy poured into Lo Quen's body.
The Ice Dragon had actually dropped fifty thousand Dragon's Souls.
Immediately afterward, Lo Quen felt his golden dragon body subtly grow larger. His scales shone with even greater brilliance, and a powerful surge of strength flooded through his entire being.
The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.
Humans, wildlings, and the remaining Others and wights all stared, dumbfounded, at the Ice Dragon's corpse lying on the ground and at the golden giant dragon in the sky. Though riddled with wounds, it still radiated an authority and power like that of a god.
After the silence came an explosion of awe and wild jubilation.
"His Grace… His Grace… has slain the Ice Dragon!"
Lord Wyman was so overcome with emotion that tears streamed down his face, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
"Long live His Grace! Long live His Grace!"
The soldiers roared in fervent madness.
"Is… is he really a god?"
Arya murmured to herself.
She finally understood that the golden dragon who had wreaked havoc over Braavos back then had been the King himself, not a feral beast like Blooddancer.
She gazed up at the golden figure in the sky, and for the first time, her heart yielded completely in submission to this King, who was also her brother-in-law.
Some of the wildlings went even further, regarding Lo Quen as a god who had saved the world, dropping to their knees in worship.
Meanwhile, Tyrion, huddled inside a tower and shivering in the bitter northern wind, watched the scene with nothing but shock and reverence in his eyes.
He turned to look at the blue dragon Seaheart beside him, who was hopping about and cheering at the sight of Lo Quen slaying the Ice Dragon, and smiled.
"Little dragon… no, wait. Lady Seaheart, thank our King for winning this victory. This is simply wonderful. We won't have to worry about turning into walking corpses anymore."
Seaheart nodded, letting out a low rumble as she elegantly tore into a piece of roasted beef, as though agreeing with Tyrion's words.
Seeing how intelligent and almost human Seaheart seemed, Tyrion worked up his courage and reached out to gently pat her small head.
Seaheart did not resist, allowing him to touch her carefully.
When the great battle had begun, Lo Quen had arranged for Tyrion to stay in the room of the young dragon Seaheart, tasking him with looking after the newly born dragon.
At the same time, Chai Yiq had specifically instructed Seaheart not to harm Tyrion.
When Tyrion heard about this arrangement, he could only give a bitter smile.
He understood that the King simply did not want him to die on the battlefield.
As for who was really taking care of whom, that was another matter entirely.
And so, man and dragon sat together in the chamber at the top of the tower, watching with their own eyes as Lo Quen transformed into a golden dragon and slew the Ice Dragon.
...
On the side of the Others, the death of the Ice Dragon brought about a suffocating silence of terror.
The Ice Dragon had been a crucial pillar of their army, a direct manifestation of the Great Lord's power.
Its death was a catastrophic blow to their morale.
Lo Quen, the golden dragon, swept his molten-gold eyes coldly over the Others and wights below, who had fallen into chaos.
Without the slightest hesitation, he beat his wings and dove down like a golden harbinger of death.
This time, there was no restraint in his dragonfire.
Blazing golden flames swept across the entire battlefield.
The wight army was reduced to ash in great swathes. The Others' knights tried to resist, but before the golden dragonfire, now stronger than ever, their resistance was no more than paper. Along with the ice spiders and death mammoths they rode, they were instantly vaporized and erased.
It was a one-sided massacre.
Under the command of their leaders, the human army seized the opportunity, flung open the gates, and launched a final charge to mop up the remaining enemies.
"Long live the King!"
"Victory is ours!"
The cheers echoed throughout the Neck, cutting through the wind and snow.
This grueling battle had finally been won.
Yet the hearts of the people would never again be as calm as before.
They had witnessed the birth of a true Dragon King, one who stood above all living beings.
At this moment, not a single noble harbored any complaint or dissatisfaction about Lo Quen's impending rule over the Seven Kingdoms.
They all understood that in the face of absolute power, bloodlines, heritage, and family—those things Westerosi nobles loved to boast about—were worth absolutely nothing.