Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 720 - 719: The Sky

Rebecca’s chirpy and cheerful voice continued incessantly beside her, but Maji simply smiled, lowering her head to inspect the functionally diverse control levers and slightly rudimentary instruments and magic symbol disks.

Over the past few days, she had firmly memorized these levers and instrument panels. She was so familiar with them that even with her eyes closed, she could accurately locate any button and lever in front of the pilot’s seat.

Beside her, Tiel, who had been battling sleep demons for half a day, also shuffled over. The sea demon, seeing that preparations for takeoff were finally underway, seemed to perk up. She looked at Maji sitting in the cockpit, her tail tip poking the ground beside her rhythmically: "Don’t forget to take pictures once you’re up there—of course, if you crash immediately, prioritize your own safety..."

Before she could finish, several technicians rushed over and dragged the non-speaking sea demon aside.

Maji smiled at the whole scene.

She felt the magic symbol modules and mechanical devices beneath her start to tremble slightly. She could sense that this huge and complex machine was gradually coming to life.

Steel, crystals, magic-conducting materials, leather, wood, fabric... these lifeless substances were combined into a complex shell by the skillful hands of humans. A dragon that cannot fly sits inside this complex shell, ready to use it to soar into the blue sky.

The casing should bring a sense of security, but this "shell" had presented only danger in previous experiments, much like the state of most new technologies during the testing phase: unstable, full of defects, filled with unforeseen problems beyond the technicians’ anticipation, and it was not safe at all.

When it was still a small prototype, the "aircraft’s" anti-gravity ring had gone out of control more than once. Those validation-type anti-gravity rings had damaged the laboratory’s walls and ceiling and burned out the magic symbol boards on the test benches. As the project progressed to later stages, the small verification model became a large-scale test machine, and the entire project was relocated to a "special lab" in the suburbs for testing in this open space.

The surrounding technicians had already stepped back. Maji closed the cockpit cover and then pressed down the main control lever in front of her. The power spine, which had completed preheating and energizing, began releasing magic power to the anti-gravity ring, and a stronger tremor came from beneath her.

After moving the test site, the project no longer posed a threat to unrelated personnel around, but the risks for those involved in the test remained high, especially for the test pilots.

The validation-type anti-gravity device and the explored "dragon wing" device were very unstable, and even more so when combined. For wingless humans to entrust themselves to a test machine and challenge the blue sky with these rudimentary devices was a great but overly risky endeavor.

Of course, the test personnel could choose mages who mastered the art of flight, so that at least in the event of a crash, they had a chance to use their own power to return to the ground safely. But as a test machine, this aircraft faced issues far more than just crashing—mid-air explosions, motion control failures, and magic power runaway could put even flight-skilled mages at risk of life.

Maji believed that Rebecca and her team would face these challenges fearlessly, yet she volunteered to step forward and serve as the test pilot.

As a dragon, her body was very strong and highly resistant to various magic-power damages. Even if the aircraft exploded, she might survive, and as for falling from the sky—even though she could not take off from the ground with her own strength, she could at least glide down in dragon form during the fall. Without a doubt, she was Cecil’s most suitable test pilot.

In the past several test flights, she had "crashed" three times—once sustaining quite severe injuries. If it hadn’t been for someone like her, a humanoid dragon, testing at that time, and instead, there was an ordinary human, the project would have claimed at least three lives by now.

Maji took a deep breath, calming her slightly uneasy mood, then took hold of the central control lever on the console, gradually pulling it upwards.

Beneath the inverted cone-shaped anti-gravity aircraft, countless magic symbols on the metal-made anti-gravity ring suddenly lit up. A deep humming sound emanated from the ring and within the aircraft’s cone body. Accompanied by some gravel and sand nearby, which gradually floated up into the air, the aircraft, temporarily named "Dragon Cavalry," began to lift off from the ground, ascending steadily and slowly.

"Anti-gravity ring output stable, power spine status stable, dragon wing device stable, magic energy wingboard all normal," Maji glanced at the console, expertly reporting the situation and continued to pull the lever upward, "I am going to start accelerating ascent now."

The ascent speed of the aircraft began to gradually increase. The crescent-shaped magic energy wingboards on either side slowly unfolded under the mechanical device’s action, extending to both sides to form a plane, while the "dragon wings" on both sides of the cockpit simultaneously unfolded, lighting up the pale blue dragon wing symbols one after another, shimmering with dim light.

This time, it is sure to succeed—it’s steadier than ever before.

Out of the corner of her eye, Maji caught sight of the "dragon wing" device on either side of the cockpit. For a moment, she felt as if those metal wings, modeled after dragon wings, truly became an extension of her body. She gripped the lever tightly, seeming to feel the machine’s heartbeat, the airflow outside, the wings spreading into the wind—she felt the sky calling her.

She took off, climbing higher and higher.

The ground reference objects on both sides of the cockpit were descending, and the observation window in front and below the cockpit had opened. She saw those giant signs on the test field’s surface moving away from her, so she gently pushed the lever, and everything in the field of vision began to retract backward.

Maji laughed happily.

Rebecca looked up, seeing the "Dragon Cavalry’s" wingboards on either side exuding slight micro-light particles, and then the heavy machine soared across the sky, like a light bird.

She remembered that during the last test, the aircraft crashed at this step—the dragon wing structure created fatal tremors when changing propulsion methods, tearing the machine apart, and the power spine lost balance, plunging hundreds of meters rapidly, where Maji narrowly turned into dragon form to glide and land safely while the aircraft wreckage fell on the edge of the test field, crushing a magic monitoring tower.

Incidentally, it also crushed Tiel, who was sunbathing and napping under the tower.

That scene was quite shocking—especially when many technicians at the site were unaware that the sea demon race could revive, causing quite the turmoil.

"It flew..." Rebecca murmured softly, her mind wandering with various thoughts.

"And it doesn’t look like it’s coming down..." Tiel also looked up, her tail tip rhythmically poking the ground, "Last time really gave me a fright, I was asleep and suddenly heard a ’clang’—a loud noise, and then when I opened my eyes, I was soaking in the White River..."

Rebecca: "..."

Maji’s heart was leaping for joy, but her hands were steadier than ever.

She tightly held the control lever—the fluctuations of the air currents, the adjustment of the aircraft’s posture, the subtle tactile feedback from the dragon wings—all these incredible sensations transmitted through the metal, through these control levers, were finally conveyed to her hands, giving her a faint sense of embracing the sky.

Although this sense was still separated by a layer of steel and other materials, she felt unprecedentedly satisfied.

She saw the farmland passing far, far below her, saw those tiny tower-like houses retreating from her view, and had no more doubt about the promise Rebecca once made.

Dragons ultimately yearn for the sky.

But the dragons of the Sacred Dragon Kingdom are born forbidden to fly—even if a few of their "slightly deformed" members have relatively healthy wings, they are also barred from approaching the sky.

For genetic defects are a great sin, a sin to be atoned for by the exiled for generations to come. Deformed wings do not deserve to embrace the sky; that would be blasphemy against the sky.

But how can creatures born with wings suppress the urge to fly?

Almost every year, young dragons, unable to resist, challenge the taboo. Even if their deformed wings can’t take off, they are willing to glide temporarily. On Dragon Leap Cliff, there are always those who defy convention and secretly leap, and except for a few lucky souls, some dragons are caught by the patrol cavalry of the Grand Duke of Dragonblood, some crash with severe injuries due to inexperience during their terrifying glide, and others...

Choose to flap their wings with all their might, gliding from Dragon Leap Cliff out to the border, flying into the human world.

Maji laughed joyfully and pulled the lever hard, flying toward the sky.

If there’s another chance to return, she must persuade those friends to try this.

It’s a thousand times more interesting than gliding!

Maji couldn’t help but begin to look forward to the other "embrace the sky object" that Rebecca promised.

Wings of Steel... what will it be like?

...

Upon returning to Cecil Castle, Gawain immediately summoned Veronica/Ophelia, who happened to be touring the magical Weapon Factory within the castle.

The bright sunlight poured into the spacious study. Veronica, holding a platinum scepter and wearing a serene expression, walked into the room. Sunlight fell on her pale golden hair, the glimmer gently rippling, making it hard to distinguish whether the halo was the Holy Light that surrounded her.

Before Gawain, this ancient Defier slightly lowered her head: "Your Majesty, you summoned me?"

Gawain nodded, and upon looking up, his first sight was of the platinum scepter in Veronica’s hand.

Before discussing business, he couldn’t help but recall another matter he mentioned in a conversation with Beltira:

The bridge between humans and gods, the "chain" effect caused by faith in the same target.

The platinum scepter, also known as "the bridge between humans and gods."

Gawain had long known this name, but it wasn’t until his conversation with Beltira that he realized this "bridge" might have another potential meaning.

"...That scepter, does it truly establish a connection between humans and gods?" he asked in a deep voice.

Veronica slightly lowered her eyelids: "Yes, of course."

"...Controlling this ’chain’ must be quite difficult, right."

Veronica raised her head slightly in surprise, her gaze meeting Gawain’s deep look, and seemed to show a trace of a smile: "It seems you have a deeper understanding of the gods."

"In the eastern region of the Plains of Holy Spirits, at the nest of the Oblivion Association, the contest between the power of the fake god and mere mortals nurtured a giant plant, whose body is a high-ranking archbishop of the Oblivion Association, and also an old acquaintance of mine, Beltira," Gawain said slowly. "From her, I learned some knowledge about the Defiers and the gods."

"...Harvests often come unexpectedly."

"Indeed," Gawain nodded. "Do you have any impression of the names Fyrna Whiteshade and Reyna Whiteshade?"

Veronica’s serene expression froze for a moment.

Then she softly said, "Such long-lost names... You also heard it from Beltira?"

"Since you know, it seems this intelligence isn’t wrong—over the past few hundred years, Fyrna Whiteshade and Reyna Whiteshade, these two elves, have been important members of the Oblivion Association. If I’m not mistaken, they should be what we once discussed..."

"The ’ghosts’ of the defied Plan..." Veronica said softly, "Indeed, the Whiteshade twins are Defiers. I know them, but I really didn’t expect that they’ve been hiding within the Oblivion Association all these years, right in human society."

"Tell me about them," Gawain nodded. "If my information is correct, this pair of elf sisters may very well still be alive. After escaping the disaster that wiped out Gondor, they also survived the obliteration of the Oblivion Association. They might continue their activities, possibly becoming a threat."

"...First, I must emphasize one thing," Veronica organized her thoughts and said gently, "the Whiteshade twins should technically be called ’once were twin sisters,’ and now they... should actually be considered a single entity."