Melisandre's voice, carrying an ethereal yet intensely fanatic magic, echoed through the cavernous Tower of the Hand.
Lynn looked into her blazing crimson eyes and practically laughed out loud in his own head.
I'm the Prince That Was Promised?
How the fuck did I not know about this?
Your so-called Lord of Light is probably a complete fucking fraud.
Oh, wait. No. I'm the fraud here.
This is literally a case of me successfully brainwashing myself.
Lynn's face remained absolutely unreadable.
He stared calmly at the red-robed woman in front of him.
He had to play the part. He had to project the absolute aura of a savior—someone who already knew absolutely everything, looking down on the pathetic ignorance of mortals with profound pity.
Cult leaders absolutely ate this shit up.
"You traveled all this way from Dragonstone, just to tell me this?"
Melisandre stared at him, the fanatic light in her crimson eyes flaring even brighter.
From Lynn's absolute, terrifying calm, she immediately read an unspoken confirmation.
Look!
He already knew!
He knows his divine, absolute mission!
He was simply waiting! Waiting for the absolute perfect moment to strike!
Unlike that pathetic idiot Stannis—a man with hollow ambition, completely chained down by laughable family sentiment!
"Yes." Melisandre's voice was physically trembling.
"I followed a false king. But now... I have found the true light."
She spoke while taking slow, deliberate steps toward Lynn.
Her gaze was exactly that of the most psychotic, devout zealot physically worshipping her living god.
As she closed the distance, Lynn's eyes locked dead onto the heavy, pigeon-egg-sized ruby resting against her throat.
The ruby felt like a living, breathing organism. Liquid fire seemed to physically flow inside it, radiating a faint, warm glow.
In the oppressive gloom of the Tower of the Hand, it was incredibly eye-catching.
Lynn obviously knew exactly what it was. It was highly valuable loot.
"That little trinket around your neck is highly intriguing."
Lynn reached out, pointing a single finger at the ruby.
Melisandre's body instinctively went rigid for a fraction of a second.
She looked down, gently grazing the gem with her fingertips. Her eyes were swimming with incredibly complicated emotions.
Absolute dependence. And bone-deep reverence.
"This is a divine gift bestowed upon me by the Lord of Light," Melisandre explained, looking back up.
"And it is the absolute source of my life."
"I have walked this earth for over a thousand years. As long as I wear it, I retain eternal youth, completely immune to mortal aging."
"But the exact second I lose it, I will instantly revert to my true form and crumble into a pile of dead ash."
Exactly as he suspected.
She had once told Varys she was born centuries ago in Volantis, and later privately admitted to Arya she was over four hundred years old. But her casual drops of ancient historical knowledge heavily implied she had lived through millennia.
Lynn understood perfectly.
This little rock was her literal cheat code for immortality.
"Gems like this—a true miniature of Asshai—are actually quite common in my homeland," Melisandre added.
"As long as they receive the absolute blessing of the Lord of Light, they can all manifest the exact same power."
Asshai has more of them?!
A sharp, highly predatory light instantly flashed in Lynn's eyes.
That was incredibly valuable intel.
He stood up, slowly pacing right up to Melisandre.
He was a full head taller than her. The absolute, oppressive dominance of his posture made Melisandre feel like she had just been violently swallowed by the shadow of a colossal dragon. Even drawing breath suddenly felt incredibly difficult.
Lynn didn't say a single word.
He just reached out, lightly tapping the warm ruby with his index finger.
The absolute second his skin made contact with the gem.
A freezing blue system screen, visible absolutely only to him, violently popped up in his vision.
[DING! Detected: Fragment of the 'Lord of Light's' Authority (Incomplete).]
[Initiate Breakdown Process?]
[Rewards upon successful breakdown: Skill - Eternal Youth. Magic - Fiery Resurrection.]
BOOM!
Lynn felt like his brain had just been brutally smashed by a goddamn sledgehammer.
Holy fucking shit!
Eternal Youth?!
Resurrection?!
What kind of absolutely broken, god-tier skills were these?!
Even if it was just a low-tier resurrection, it was still a literal fucking resurrection!
An extra life!
No, scratch that—this resurrection magic probably wasn't a one-time use!
Lynn's heart began to violently, uncontrollably hammer against his ribs.
He stared dead at the system prompt, his hand actually shaking.
Break it down!
Absolutely break it the fuck down! Give me that shit!
But right as his mind prepared to aggressively click "Yes"...
Melisandre's exact words violently crashed back into his brain.
The exact second I lose it... I will crumble into dead ash.
She was strictly using this ruby necklace to maintain her flawless, highly seductive, youthful appearance.
If he stripped away this Miniature of Asshai, it meant she would literally, instantly age to death right in front of him.
Lynn's finger completely froze.
He looked down at the red-robed woman.
Her body was absolutely smoking hot, her face was flawless, and she was an incredibly rare, highly skilled magic user.
Was he really going to casually butcher her right here and now, just for two skills?
That felt... like a massive fucking waste.
A living, breathing, warm-blooded tool who could actively provide him with endless, highly versatile utility was infinitely more valuable than two cold system skills.
Plus, she had just explicitly stated that Asshai had plenty more of these gems.
He could absolutely just sail to Asshai later and ruthlessly dismantle every single ruby he could get his hands on. He might even score some other wildly broken abilities.
Slaughtering such a highly useful, top-tier subordinate right now just to snatch these two skills was the absolute definition of stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.
Not worth it.
Absolutely not fucking worth it.
Still, those skills were incredibly tempting.
He wanted the woman.
And he wanted the goddamn rock.
Lynn slowly withdrew his hand, his mind actively engaged in a massive, highly calculated internal war.
He looked dead into Melisandre's eyes.
"You claim you have finally found the true light."
"But why the hell should I trust a single word you say?"
"How exactly do you plan to prove that you won't turn around and ruthlessly betray me one day, exactly like you just betrayed him?"
Lynn's lethally cold words instantly drained every drop of color from Melisandre's face.
Staring into Lynn's bottomless, omniscient eyes, a massive, apocalyptic wave of sheer panic violently crushed her chest.
He is doubting me!
He is actively testing me!
If I cannot provide absolute, irrefutable proof of my devotion, he will absolutely never accept me!
He will label me a pathetic opportunist and throw me out like absolute garbage!
No!
Absolutely fucking not!
I have finally, successfully tracked down the true Prince That Was Promised!
I absolutely cannot lose this chance!
A highly extreme, absolutely psychotic thought violently erupted in Melisandre's brain.
She had to prove herself!
In the absolute most thorough, entirely unreserved way physically possible!
Thud.
Melisandre aggressively dropped straight to her knees right in front of Lynn.
She looked up at him, her crimson eyes violently overflowing with lethal resolve and the pure, psychotic fanaticism of a human sacrifice.
Then, she raised her hands and actively began untying her own heavy crimson robes.
"My Master!"
As the heavy fabric slid effortlessly to the floor, completely exposing a flawlessly sculpted body that looked like it was carved from pure ivory, Melisandre's voice violently shook with euphoric emotion.
"My body, my soul, my absolute entire existence—they completely and permanently belong to you!"
"From this exact second forward, I am your absolute most lowly, most fiercely devout slave!"
As she spoke, she moved her hands directly up to the ruby necklace that literally tethered her soul to the mortal plane.
She didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second.
"If you require this to serve as the absolute proof of my devotion!"
Melisandre violently unclasped the ruby from her throat. Cupping it in both of her bare hands, she raised it high above her head in an ultimate gesture of absolute submission.
"Then I beg of you, take it!"
"To actively sacrifice my pathetic, meaningless life for you would be my absolute, highest conceivable honor!"
Her voice violently echoed across the cavernous chamber.
It was absolutely saturated with the euphoric, unhinged ecstasy of a religious martyr.
Lynn stared down at the completely naked woman kneeling at his feet, actively offering him her literal life on a silver platter.
He looked at her heavily flushed face, burning with psychotic emotion, and those blazing, fanatic eyes.
An incredibly complicated, heavy mix of emotions swirled in his chest.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?