Chapter 165: Escape from Valyria

"At that moment, the creature feasting on our comrade in the great hall finally noticed us."

"It had dark, gray skin, a pale white belly, and a slippery surface, as if it had just emerged from water. It dripped droplets continuously, but when we saw it clearly, we realized the sound was from the blood flowing from the corners of its mouth."

"It stood up with a vaguely humanoid appearance, its huge protruding eyes gleaming with a bloody red light."

"It noticed us and began to approach, letting out a bone-chilling roar in the dark hall."

"The 'warriors' also noticed the creature, and they saw the treasures placed on the throne behind it. Overcoming their fear, they drew their weapons and shouted that they would kill the monster—"

"And so, a brutal slaughter began."

"Blood, everywhere there was blood."

"The creature was incredibly fast, and although it had a humanoid figure, it ran on all fours."

"Its strength was immense, capable of easily tearing a man over six feet tall and weighing more than two hundred pounds in half."

As Gillyan wrote this part, his handwriting became extremely messy, as if recalling something terrifying had made him unable to hold the pen steadily.

At the same time, in one place, the ink was smeared, as if something had struck it several times.

Viserys looked at this memoir, involuntarily imagining Gillyan's painful expression as he wrote, clutching his head and repeatedly banging it on the table.

However, the obvious conclusion was that Gillyan had escaped alive.

As for whether anyone else had escaped with him, Viserys didn't know and would have to continue reading.

Swish...

The sound of turning pages echoed in the quiet room once again.

The silver-haired youth opened the next page, his gaze slowly moving across the words.

…

At that time.

The creature pounced at them, and Gillyan and the crew members and slaves exploring the castle seemed to have encountered great trouble.

Flee

Flee

Flee—

The word that appeared most frequently in the remaining memoir was 'escape.'

The exaggerated tone and trembling handwriting depicted the extreme terror of the scene at that time.

Gillyan had only seen a sword, a suit of armor, and a huge horn in the great hall of the castle. He knew those must be the most valuable treasures in the entire castle.

But he could only see them, not approach them.

Faced with the terrifying creature's attack, the crowd became panicked and scattered. Among them were those who had the courage to draw their swords and attempt to kill the terrifying monster. However, their fate was gruesome, as they were all torn to shreds by the humanoid creature.

As it turned out, it wasn't like what Gillyan had said, that it only attacked one of them because it was afraid of the crew members and slaves' numbers.

It was because its appetite was only that big, and dragging away one person was enough for a full meal.

But perhaps the creature didn't expect that this prey would dare to confront it.

Though Gillyan was unwilling to retreat like that, he maliciously encouraged everyone to chase after and kill the creature.

But his luck wasn't too bad. While the creature was attacking others, he managed to escape in fear with some crew members and slaves.

Although many treasures were lost in the castle, fortunately, the bronze chest was brought out. Otherwise, their journey would have been fruitless and suffered heavy losses.

The remaining ten or so crew members and slaves, frightened like birds startled by the mere twang of a bow, took the last of their loot and dared not look back. They fled back in the direction they had come from.

Even the torches in their hands were extinguished, fearing that the monsters would see the bright flames in the dark and give chase.

However, not knowing how far they had fled, without the light of the fire, they could only crawl on the ground to find the footprints they had left before.

On their way back, they came across an earlier group of people who had left without entering the castle.

But what terrified them even more was the sight before them, which instantly sent chills down their spines and their hearts plummeting.

Now, those who had returned earliest were strewn about as severed limbs and torsos, seemingly arranged in strange symbols, like a deep warning. However, none of them could recognize the symbols.

It seemed that all the people who had left without exploring the castle had died here, perhaps encountering something even more terrifying than what they had experienced.

In the end, Gillyan and his party were fortunate enough to make it back, their hearts pounding with fear all the way.

But due to the lack of torches, they lost track of countless people along the way.

Only seven or eight of them made it back to the campsite where they had started, plus the dozen or so who had stayed behind, totaling twenty people.

Upon hearing about their ordeal, everyone wanted to leave immediately, fearing they wouldn't survive the night if they stayed any longer.

So they all returned to the ship and sailed across the Smoking Sea in the battered vessel.

It turned out that the sea was the safer place—

This lost continent was the true 'land of devils,' where demons roamed.

The survivors on the ship prayed to all the gods they knew.

Then, as if the gods above were watching over them, the broken ship escaping from Valyria did not encounter any sea monsters this time. Instead, it sailed smoothly out of the vast Smoking Sea and headed straight for Volantis.

Emerging from the fog and seeing the world outside, the hearts of everyone on board finally settled.

The joy of escaping certain death filled everyone's minds, and they hugged each other excitedly in celebration, their blood flowing faster.

Then, one of the slaves' faces turned red with excitement, and right before everyone's eyes...

His head exploded.

It was like a blossoming flower.

The curse of Valyria had arrived quietly.

Very few people could escape Valyria's ruins unscathed, and it was because of this terrible curse.

Even those who managed to escape Valyria would eventually succumb to a strange illness.

So, during the long voyage back to Volantis, the survivors on the ship died one after another from bizarre diseases.

By the time the ship finally ran aground, there were only three survivors left who had escaped from the ruins of Valyria.

Gillyan was incredibly lucky to be one of them, and it seemed that the three of them had not contracted the terrifying disease.

In the end, they carried off all their spoils from the ship, released the anchor, and let the vessel drift away with the current.

The three of them then divided the spoils from their journey and went their separate ways.