Amid the shouting, an arrow shot from behind.
*Thud!*
It pierced through the gap in the armor, lodging into the Sea Serpent's right shoulder.
Blood splattered everywhere. The Sea Serpent let out a scream, staggering and almost collapsing.
"Brother!"
Hearing the cry, Weymond was alarmed. He swiftly stabbed a pirate attempting to ambush the Sea Serpent and shielded him.
"Corlys!"
Rhaenys, who had been watching closely, was equally startled, concern for her husband evident on her face.
"Fire!"
Another volley of scorpion bolts was unleashed as Meleys hurriedly ascended into the sky.
Below, the pirates had long anticipated the crimson dragon's flight path, launching steel spears to intercept its trajectory.
Before Rhaenys realized it, a steel spear was hurtling toward Meleys' neck.
*Hiss—*
Sensing danger, Meleys skillfully dodged, narrowly avoiding a fatal hit.
The steel spear, however, grazed right past Rhaenys, flashing dangerously close to her face.
In an instant, cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and the slicing wind stung her cheeks.
A mere two meters closer, and she would have been reduced to bloody fragments.
"Dragonfire!!"
Snapping back to her senses, a furious Rhaenys commanded Meleys to launch a frenzied attack, setting the scorpion bolts aboard the pirate ships ablaze.
Her relentless assault filled Laenor with fear.
He guided Seasmoke to ambush the pirate ships, attempting to ease the pressure on his mother.
The tide of the battle, however, was turning for the worse.
After exhausting their arrows, the Dornish ships lowered their rams, preparing for close combat.
"Mother, ascend quickly!"
Laenor suddenly shouted.
The Dornish ships were also equipped with scorpion bolts, now locked onto Meleys, entangled with the pirate fleet.
Rhaenys paid no heed, driving Meleys to continue the fierce offensive.
"Fire!"
At the Dornish commander's order, the scorpions unleashed a barrage.
Sensing imminent danger, Meleys beat her wings furiously and ascended just in time. Several steel spears narrowly missed her massive body.
"Attack! Board the ships!"
The Dornish warships collided with the Sea Serpent's fleet as dark-haired, dark-skinned Dornish soldiers swarmed aboard.
The battle took a dramatic turn for the worse.
Protected by Weymond and his guards, the Sea Serpent fought fiercely, but the encircling enemies grew in number.
Allied soldiers kept falling, their bodies thrown into the sea.
Surrounding them were the fierce faces of the pirate women from the Three Daughters.
Drenched in blood, the Sea Serpent fought while retreating.
*Hiss—*
Suddenly, a deafening dragon roar, deep as a bell, echoed across the Stepstones, reaching every ear.
From the thick clouds above, a pitch-black dragon shadow dived down like a massive black meteor.
"Dracarys!!"
Seated on the dragon's back, Rhaegar coldly surveyed the scene, issuing a command in High Valyrian.
The Glutton rapidly arrived over the battlefield, its vertical pupils icy and merciless. It opened its abyss-like maw and spewed dragonfire.
*Boom!*
The eerie green flames spread like smoke, instantly engulfing half the battlefield.
"Aaahh!!..."
"Help!..."
More than a dozen pirate ships were consumed by dragonfire. The pirates on the decks let out agonized screams as they were reduced to charred corpses.
The Glutton's flames clung fiercely to whatever they touched, refusing to be extinguished until the victim was entirely devoured.
The warships burned slowly, enveloped in the ghostly green blaze.
*Hiss...*
Ferocious by nature, the Glutton fearlessly glided at low altitude, raising its thick neck and spraying fire in all directions.
Its massive body loomed like a storm cloud, blotting out the sky.
Rhaegar looked up at Rhaenys and Laenor, shouting, "Go support Lord Corlys! Leave this side to me!"
Corlys was trapped in the encirclement of Dornish soldiers and pirates from the Three Daughters.
Two dragons were enough to scorch the Dornish battlefield and relieve the dire situation.
"Be careful yourself!"
Worried about her husband, Rhaenys resolutely steered Meleys toward the Dornish fleet.
Laenor, face brimming with excitement, wasted no time maneuvering Seasmoke to assist their fleet.
As he changed direction, he couldn't help but glance back at the Glutton's crushing dominance.
*Hiss...*
The Glutton flapped its wings and ascended, its powerful hind legs smashing through a pirate ship's mast with such force that it nearly capsized the vessel.
**"Reload the Scorpion Ballista, quickly!"**
Facing the pitch-black dragon they had never seen before, the female pirate crew of the Three Daughters panicked, pinning their hopes on the Scorpion Ballistae.
Once reloaded, the remaining twenty or so ballistae fired in unison.
**"Dragonfire!"**
Unfazed, Rhaegar looked down from above and commanded Devourer to respond.
Devourer, still ascending, lowered its head at the sound and unleashed a torrent of dragonfire.
In an instant, the steel spears were consumed by the flames, melting into pools of molten iron.
They plummeted into the vast ocean below.
**"Screech—"**
Reaching a certain altitude, Devourer dived once more, spewing eerie green flames onto the remaining pirate ships.
**Boom—**
The warships caught in the direct blast were instantly engulfed in fire, leaving no survivors among the pirates.
The surrounding vessels fared no better—dragonfire clung to their hulls, sealing their fate as they awaited inevitable destruction.
In mere moments, the advantage the Three Daughters' pirates had painstakingly built was utterly shattered.
Compared to sixty-year-old Merias and the adolescent Seasmoke, the nearly century-old Devourer was undeniably a monstrous force.
Against its massive form, the warships seemed insignificant.
Its eerie green dragonfire clung like an unshakable curse—touching it meant certain death.
**"Devourer, change course."**
With the Three Daughters' fleet crippled, Rhaegar turned his attention to the Dornish forces.
After parting ways with Rhaenyra on Dragonstone, he had rushed to the Stepstones without rest.
And his decision proved to be the right one.
Had he arrived any later, the royal fleet might have faced total annihilation.
With Devourer now in the fray, the tide of battle shifted dramatically.
A single dragon tore through the Three Daughters' fleet's defenses, easing the pressure on their allies.
Soon, Rhaegar and Devourer soared above the Dornish fleet, unleashing waves of ghostly green dragonfire.
Merias and Seasmoke flanked Devourer from either side, the three dragons—each a different hue—radiating an overwhelming, awe-inspiring presence.
**Boom—**
One Dornish warship after another was reduced to blazing wreckage, thousands of Dornish soldiers perishing in the dragonfire, their dying screams echoing across the sea.
With reinforcements arriving, the Sea Snake's forces rallied, breaking free from the pirate encirclement with unstoppable momentum.
**Half an hour later.**
The Sea Snake and Vaemond slumped against pools of blood, their dark faces tilted toward the sky, chests heaving like bellows.
They were utterly exhausted.
Victory had come at a perilous cost.
The surviving soldiers cleared the battlefield, tossing pirate and Dornish corpses into the sea.
In the distance, the remaining Dornish and pirate ships burned, their ghostly green flames turning the surrounding waters an eerie jade color.
Rhaegar sat atop Devourer, listening as the dragon roared ceaselessly, venting its excitement.
It reveled in the sheer thrill of incineration.
**"Cousin, we owe you—your timing was perfect."**
Laenor flew in on his dragon, his voice still carrying traces of lingering fear.
**"I didn't expect the Three Daughters to attack so ferociously either,"** Rhaegar admitted.
Last night, upon receiving the raven's message, he and his father had immediately mobilized their forces.
Even so, they had nearly been too late.
**"Save the talk—we need to reinforce Bloodstone, now!"**
Merias streaked past, her voice urgent.
**"Devourer, follow me!"**
Rhaegar turned toward the smoke-choked skies above Bloodstone and gave the order.
At that moment, on Bloodstone…
Ser Criston Cole led his men in a desperate stand on the beach.
The battle had reached its climax.
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