Chapter 472
Chapter 472
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 472
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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"Alright, jump from there, little one!"
"Hah!"
Tansia hopped lightly.
"......"
"......"
"Can't you go any lower, quick?"
"No... I'm scared...."
Telling her to leap off a cliff headfirst was a bit harsh. Still, Maktus believed this was all a necessary process.
"What kind of dragon fears flying?!"
"But it's scary...."
"Fair enough, fear isn't a sin. Hmm... Consider this, kid! Miss your chance, and you'll never fly!"
"Isn't there flying without the fear?"
"Nope. Wings mean you challenge the skies. That's what a dragon is."
"Ughhh...."
"Cut it out!"
While Kang Seol and his allies gathered their strength to stop the revival of the three giants, Tansia and Maktus's flight lessons had progressed quite a bit.
"Yap!"
Hop...
"I taught her how to read the wind, how to move her wings, how to keep a rider from falling off her back. Even pointed out the wind paths through Wing Canyon... but she still can't jump from high up...."
Thud...
Maktus rubbed his forehead.
"No helping it. We'll skip to breath training again."
"Yay!"
Tansia's sullen face broke into a wide grin.
The little dragon Tansia stood beside the massive dragon Maktus.
"Here. Open your mouth wiiiide...."
"Wiiiide...."
"It's about spirit, spirit. Let it all out."
"Let it all out?"
"I told you. Breathe it out like you're pouring every last bit of yourself into it."
Maktus signaled for her to watch and mimic him closely.
"Go. Ahh... Raaarghhh!"
Maktus let out an absurd roar as he demonstrated exhaling his breath.
"Kahahaha... Kahahahaha!"
"Don't laugh! Be serious, kid!"
"Huuuup... Puhhaaaaa...."
"Weak... Is that all the heart you've got? Rookie."
"I'm not a rookie."
"Then louder!"
"Huuuup... Puuuhaaaaaaaa!"
"Better. That's more like it."
Maktus gazed at Tansia fondly, like a grandfather looking at his granddaughter.
"Did I do good?"
"Yeah. You've got way more talent for breath than flying."
Tansia asked,
"Does breath come out of your mouth too, Maktus?"
"Nah? Breath attacks aren't my thing. All I've ever breathed out in my life is yawns and burps."
"...Then how do you teach it?"
"I know it at a glance. Who do you think I am? The flight dragon who ruled the skies with Ka-zan!"
Tansia loved it most when Maktus spoke with such confidence.
In their time together, she'd absorbed everything about him—his movements, his speech, his sad expressions, his joyful laughs.
Maktus was a good dragon.
That's why Tansia trusted him.
Soon, her favorite time of day would come.
It always arrived without fail.
Night was diligent like that.
Whoooosh...
As the night breeze blew, Maktus pulled the dragon-formed Tansia into an embrace. It was to keep her from getting cold, though Tansia wasn't one to feel the chill easily.
Still, she never refused his warmth because his care felt so comforting.
"Don't get used to the coddling. Sleep facing the sky. That's how dragons do it."
"You mean I shouldn't forget?"
"Right. Even now, overlooking this canyon, I'm always ready for battle."
Tansia asked,
"Maktus, what does flying feel like?"
"Curious? Then fly and see."
"I'm scared...."
"Never flown before?"
"I have! On the back of a big bird!"
"A big bird... Was it a spirit by any chance?"
"...No?"
"Hmm... Wonder where it vanished to."
"Why?"
"Just curious. Knew a guy like that who disappeared one day."
Tansia kept the conversation going for one reason: she wanted to hear more stories from Maktus. They weren't from some distant past or fairy-tale fantasy.
That's what made them so good.
"What's Azanik look like?"
"Hm? What kind of question is that? Azanik's appearance?"
"Is he scary-looking? They say Azanik killed my mom."
"...Oh dear."
"So I have to give him a scolding. Tell me, is Azanik scary-looking?"
"Raaargh!"
"Eek...."
"Puhahaha! Scared of that? You're the most timid dragon I know. Azanik? Yeah, scary-looking."
Maktus described Azanik's form in detail.
"His eyes are fire. Flames that light up the whole night. Teeth—filthy sharp and numerous. One snag and your strength's gone."
"......"
"Claws sharper than any famed sword. Tail swipe shakes the earth. The king of the skies, through and through."
"King... of the skies."
"He's probably even stronger now. I still hear his roars echoing through the canyon sometimes."
Tansia observed Maktus.
His belly protruded noticeably, teeth sparse, whiskers overly long. His voice was youthful, yet he resembled an old dragon.
Hard to believe this dragon had toppled Azanik.
"Maktus... you're going to fight Azanik again?"
"What're you saying? I don't fight anymore."
"...Huh?"
"No... I can't. The bout with Azanik was a shame to leave unfinished, but it passes to the next generation."
"Why? You said you were that strong!"
Maktus grinned and lifted his wing. His sleek body bore a massive scar.
"A scar?"
"I used to have a body that couldn't scar."
"Huh? But that's a scar...."
"Born under a curse from a dying death dragon. Clear-cut curse—anyone who touched me knew what I was."
Maktus smiled wistfully.
"I age instead of scarring. Haven't lived that long, really. To age a flight dragon this much... you'd need decades, scores of times my years."
"No way...."
"I've lived as long as Baldu's young ones. He's still a hatchling, but I've become an old dragon."
Maktus delved into the past.
"The day I was born cursed... Ka-zan took me in. Before that, I was trash."
"Don't talk about yourself like that!"
"Telling the truth is too much, huh."
"......"
He was calm about it.
"Bonding is crucial for flight dragons. Not about being chosen or not—it's life or death."
He spoke of Baldu.
"Baldu bonds yearly with newborn flight dragons. Bond early, or they harm the tribe... Success means becoming Baldu's flight dragon; failure, survive the harsh wilds alone. ...I belonged to neither. Just trash."
For some reason, Maktus remembered his hatchling days. Later able to speak human tongue, likely due to innate spirit or the curse.
That's why he recalled first meeting Ka-zan.
- The death dragon's breath ceased, curse upon you. Feel it, Ka-zan?
- ...Ah.
- Pity, but back to nature.
- Sounds like 'let it die' to me.
- Nature handles its own.
- Nature can ignore. Her world is vast. But... we're right here, yet must turn away.
- ....
Ka-zan had lifted Maktus with all his might.
- Keeei...
- Strong voice! Haha! I like it! Those eyes! I'll take you!
- Ka-zan! What're you saying... Body's too frail! Won't live long, wounds mean discard anyway!
- ...Isn't that good?
- What?
- Means no wounds, then.
- What're you... Everyone gets wounded.
Ka-zan had said to Maktus,
- What do you say, little one.
Probably asked in earnest.
- Join me. Become invincible.
- Keeeeei!
Probably answered yes.
"...Yeah. I liked him."
- Fly now.
- Keeei!
Back at the tribe, Maktus learned wild flight from Ka-zan.
Naturally, crashes.
The cliff wasn't too high, so no major injuries.
No, his body simply couldn't be hurt back then.
- Body... grown.
Flap...
Flap...
When Tansia sulked at tales of instant flight mastery, Maktus said,
"I'm a genius. Rare case. My life's time is far more compressed than yours."
Density was inevitable.
Wounds and aging.
Maktus reminisced.
"We were... truly amazing."
- Behold, Maktus! This is the sky!
- Keeei-!
He regretted not speaking then. If he could return and share his first flight with Ka-zan, he'd say,
"King... that's what it means."
Ka-zan would laugh heartily, tossing back his mane.
Maktus met Tansia's eyes.
"Little Maktus ruled the skies."
He turned bitterly to gaze at the heavens.
"The one on my back was the strongest."
He posed the question to Tansia.
"You're waiting for the strongest to ride you too, right?"
"...Yeah!"
"Flying's the easiest way for dragons to be loved. These wings are awfully useful."
Maktus snapped back to reality.
"This wound... from fighting Azanik. I won. But... it doesn't heal. After, countless minor scars. No more... recovery. Just the body decaying."
So, what then?
Maktus spoke plainly.
"I'm dying soon."
"...What?"
"Count your fingers—all ten?"
"...Yeah."
"Before ten days pass, my breath ends. Curse taught me that, naturally."
"Liar... Don't die, Maktus."
"Little one, if I weren't at death's door, I wouldn't have taken you in."
Cold, but true.
"What do you think keeps you from flying?"
"Wings too small? No experience? Wrong! No resolve!"
Maktus's eyes blazed.
"Resolve isn't for everyone. But... you need a trigger."
He turned toward the cliff.
"Something to step your heavy foot beyond. That'll decide if you plummet or soar."
Tansia was still afraid.
"Witness my death up close. See how pathetically a flightless dragon squanders its life...."