Chapter 488 Fairy Dragon, Twilight
Winter of the year 352 in the Gregorian calendar.
The soft rustling of snowflakes drifted down from the gray sky, coating the towers, streets, and squares of the Crimson Flame Royal City with an ever-thickening layer of silver.
The wind blew from the northern wilderness, swirling up fine snowflakes that rustled softly against the rocks and metal.
The red iron dragon is perched atop a steep mountain cliff.
He let the increasingly dense snowflakes adhere to his back and broad wing membranes, slowly extended one forepaw, spread out the thick pad, caught some falling snowflakes, and quietly watched them melt into water in his paw and then quickly evaporate.
"Unbeknownst to me, I am already 132 years old."
Galos retracted its claws and turned its gaze to the snow-covered distance.
The past years flowed through his mind like a rushing river.
By the standards of dragons' long lifespans, he is undoubtedly still very young, and the chapter of his life has just begun.
However, the sheer density and intensity of the battles, plans, constructions, and challenges he experienced over those hundred years are enough to make many of the longer-lived Gu Longs pale in comparison.
For example, White Dragon Bescal.
Although he was a writer of ancient Chinese novels, he spent most of his long life in seclusion and forbearance. Apart from meeting the basic needs of survival, he hid in some unknown corner and quietly watched the passage of time.
The situation is slightly different for the amethyst dragon Yseramas, but it is essentially still far removed from the hustle and bustle of the world.
The depth and breadth of this type of dragon's life are far less solid and rich than that of Garus.
Red Iron Dragon stands atop the mountain like a sculpture cast in steel, silently overlooking his kingdom below.
The outline of Crimson Flame City was slightly blurred in the snow, but the flickering lights still pierced through the wind and snow, outlining the city's vigorous vitality.
A few seconds later, he broke through the howling wind and snow and accurately called out a name.
"Vera."
"exist!"
A ripple spread through the air, and the small figure of the fairy dragon appeared.
She hovered beside Garus’s massive head, her wings vibrating at a high frequency, head held high, responding crisply and decisively, as always.
Garus lowered his huge and majestic head, his gaze fixed steadily on the fairy dragon.
He carefully examined the fairy dragon.
Vera's appearance, at first glance, seems not much different from when we first met more than a hundred years ago.
She still had that petite and delicate body; her scales were shiny and bright, reflecting a rainbow of ever-changing colors, as if she were draped in a hazy glow.
However, if you observe for a long enough time and carefully enough, you can still catch some subtle changes.
The edges of her thin, cicada-wing-like wing membranes now have some subtle wrinkles that were not there before and are now difficult to detect; the originally bright and dazzling colors of her scales have faint grayish-white traces showing through in a few places such as her neck and the junction of her wing roots.
Her eyes were still bright and lively, but occasionally a hint of weariness would flash across them.
Moreover, Galus noticed the behavioral changes very early on.
The fairy dragon has been sneaking around to observe his training less often, and the pranks she used to play are now rare. She has become unusually sleepy, often spending most of the day curled up in her cluttered attic room or in a warm corner of the palace, snoring softly.
The red iron dragon lowered its body.
His enormous head was almost touching the snow, looking at the petite fairy dragon at eye level. In his eyes, the fine gray-white marks on Vera's scales were reflected, like ash mixed into a winter fire.
"Vera."
Hong Tielong asked, "How old are you this year?"
The fairy dragon blinked her eyes and flapped her wings twice.
She tilted her head, looking as if reminiscing, and stretched out her tiny paws to count the hairs one by one.
"One, two, three... Hmm, it seems to be one hundred and sixty-three? No, it should be one hundred and sixty-four?"
"Oh dear, I can't quite remember the exact year, but he's definitely over 160 years old!"
After saying that, she chuckled twice, just like she always does.
But Galus did not laugh.
He remained silent for a while, with only the sound of wind and snow whistling past on the mountaintop.
"I remember."
A few seconds later, the Red Iron Dragon slowly spoke, its voice heavy, "The lifespan limit of your Fairy Dragon race is roughly two hundred years."
A 160-year-old fairy dragon... This means she has entered the twilight of her life.
The recent changes observed—wrinkled wing membranes, dull scale color, lethargy, and decreased vitality—have all been reasonably explained.
The clock of her life is ticking away towards its end.
If they cannot break through the legendary barrier, the fairy dragon can theoretically live to be two hundred years old.
But this is only the theoretical limit.
In reality, most fairy dragons will die much earlier, around 170 or 180 years old.
When the fairy dragon's natural liveliness and mischief completely disappear, it loses all interest in pranks and games, becomes silent and dull, and is drowsy all day long, it often means that the final moment is approaching.
Perhaps after a seemingly ordinary nap, one may never wake up again.
Vera's condition is approaching this stage.
Yes, yes.
The fairy dragon seemed completely oblivious to Garus's weight.
She flew lightly forward and landed on one of his huge forepaws, finding a comfortable spot to sit on the relatively flat scales of his wrist, her tail swaying idly behind her.
"I can't compare to you giants who can live for thousands of years."
"In human terms, I'm already an old lady among the fairy dragons."
She spoke with complete nonchalance, even casually scratching a slightly dull-colored scale on her chin with her hind paw.
Galos fell into a deeper silence.
Galos fell silent for a moment, the lights of the royal city below the cliff appearing hazy like stars in the increasingly dense snow.
Memories surged up uncontrollably.
He had known this fairy dragon since he was a young dragon, struggling to survive in the perilous wilderness of Sel.
The initial encounter was filled with deception and minor misunderstandings, and the process was far from pleasant.
But after that, Vera's cheerful mood did provide him with a rare respite and relief from the omnipresent danger and pressure in the wilderness, preventing him from being constantly as tense as a fully drawn bow.
His entire rise to power was witnessed by this fairy dragon at almost every step.
Unbeknownst to him, he had grown into a powerful and legendary dragon, while the energetic little troublemaker of yesteryear had quietly reached the twilight of his life.
The thought of fairy dragons aging and dying... made Garus feel a strange stagnation.
He was not used to thinking about the disappearance of things around him, especially something that had long been integrated into his life trajectory.
"Is there any way? A way to extend lifespan?"
Red Iron Dragon asked.
As for relying on one's own breakthrough to achieve a life leap... that hope is even more remote.
Fairy dragons are of a high level, but as dragons begin to decline, their growth rate decreases dramatically, making it extremely difficult for them to break through the already incredibly challenging legendary barriers.
Vera stopped wagging her tail.
Yes.
She spoke in a tone as if telling a secret, lowering her already soft voice.
"Legend has it that if we fairy dragons could return to our ancestral land of birth, gain the approval of the ancestral spirits, and receive the baptism of the primordial breath, we might be able to reshape the foundation of our lives. If we are lucky enough, we might even break through the shackles in one fell swoop and become legendary beings..."
She paused, then folded her wings in slightly.
"However, this is only a possibility."
"That's how it's always been told in old stories, but who knows if it's true or not, and how many of them have actually succeeded?"
The Wilderness of Immortals.
Garros knew this place; it was one of the many outer planes, the realm inhabited by the gods of the miniature race, and the primary habitat for various spirits and natural beings—a world full of magic, wonder, and unpredictability.
"I will send you to the Immortal Wilderness."
Red Iron Dragon made a decision, he said.
"Since there is an opportunity, we should not give up trying. Besides, I have never set foot in the outer plane. There is no harm in taking this opportunity to see the different worlds."
The outer planes are truly a land of hidden talents and dangers, connecting to endless possibilities.
The ancient ancestor to whom the Garros surname originated, the powerful dragon Ignas, would most likely be hiding deep within some outer plane if he had not perished.
The fairy dragon raised its head, a proud expression on its face.
"Don't forget, Your Majesty, I am a dimensional dragon."
She puffed out her small chest. "Actually, I've long been capable of opening the passage to the Immortal Wilderness myself and returning to my hometown."
Upon hearing this, Hong Tielong was slightly taken aback, and then asked, "I have never heard you mention this before. Don't you want to go back to your birthplace and take a look?"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, have you forgotten something?"
The fairy dragon chuckled, flapped its wings and took flight, hovering in front of Garus's enormous eyes, its wings vibrating rapidly.
She made an exaggerated expression of fear and pointed to her heart with her little paws.
“I have your contract with me! That terrible and powerful enslavement contract.”
"If I secretly run off to the Immortal Wilderness, so far away from you, what if the contract activates halfway there and kills me? I wouldn't dare take that risk."
Slave contract?
A hint of doubt flashed across Galos's eyes, and then a corner of his memory was illuminated.
He remembered what the fairy dragon was referring to.
That was a past event that he had almost completely forgotten.
In the beginning, in order to keep this useful but troublesome little one, and lacking effective means of control, he casually frightened her into signing a fictitious enslavement contract.
“That contract,” Garus said, staring at the fairy dragon, “is fake.”
The mountain wind swept by, stirring up the accumulated snow like smoke.
Vera was silent for about two or three seconds.
Then, the fear on her face vanished instantly.
She stretched out her little paw and pointed straight at the red iron dragon's huge nose, then burst into a series of crisp and loud laughs.
"Hehehe... Aha! Cunning dragon, I knew it all along!"
"Your lie was really poorly made up!"
She laughed so hard she did a somersault in the air. "Such a lame lie, you don't really think the brilliant Lady Vera wouldn't see through it, do you? I've been playing along with you all along!"
"you……"
For once, Hong Tielong was speechless.
"I just want to see when you'll expose yourself."
Vera finally managed to stop laughing, but the curve of her eyes remained unchanged. She said, "So you waited for a hundred years. You're really good at holding back. But... it's good this way. With the contract, I can legitimately stay in the material world."
"This place is so much fun! You can tease those fierce-looking but silly bears."
"The royal city is home to countless interesting creatures: humans, goblins, ogres... each one can play with me, listen to my stories, or be playfully teased by me; and so many new and wonderful things are constantly happening..."
"So, it's not that you can't go, but that you don't want to go to the Immortal Wilderness?"
"Garos asked."
"It's not entirely because I don't want to."
The fairy dragon stretched, revealing lighter-colored scales on its belly.
"At first, I thought it was fun, like a long-lasting adventure game. Later, I got used to life here, and then... I also wanted to see how much the young dragon that scared me back then could grow, and whether it could stand in the sky and fulfill its dream."
She flew up and approached one of Galos's huge visor plates, pressing her tiny forehead against it.
“But,” she continued, almost in a whisper, “I think I’m really tired right now.”
"My wings don't flap as lightly and powerfully as they used to. The wonderful ideas for mischief in my head seem to be popping up less often, and I can no longer play tirelessly all day long like before."
After saying that, she landed in the dragon's claws again, then yawned, feeling a little sleepy.
Garus stared intently at the fairy dragon.
"I will send you to the Immortal Wilderness."
He repeated, with an unquestionable tone.
Vera rubbed against his warm palm.
"That won't do. The Immortal Wilderness is full of cute little creatures like me. If you, a big evil dragon, go there, you'll scare the native inhabitants and cause them to attack."
"Don't underestimate us little ones, there are gods among us."
"Besides, they live in the Fairy Wilderness and won't allow a great evil dragon like you to run rampant."
The fairy dragon said with a chuckle.
Garros said, “Are you worried that I’ll cause trouble in the Fairy Wilderness? No, I’ll know my limits. Besides, compared to the Abyss and Hell, the Fairy Wilderness is basically harmless. Legendary dragons can roam freely in it.”
In fact, legends are never weak, no matter where they are.
In addition, there are gods in the Immortal Wilderness, but the gods reside in their own kingdoms and will not pay attention to a legendary life unless there is a great disturbance that makes them aware of it.
The fairy dragon blinked.
"Right, if it were you, you would definitely be fine."
"Come with me to the wilderness, but not now."
She said, "I have to wait for spring. I hate going out in winter. It's too cold, there are no pretty flowers and plants, and there are few small animals. I want to see spring in the material world again before returning to my fairy homeland."
Galos nodded slightly.
"Okay, let's wait for spring."
“Then it’s settled, my dear King Ignas.”
Vera's voice, heavy with weariness, grew weaker and weaker, "Spring is here, so come with me to the Fairy Wilderness... Now, I'm going to sleep for a while... Remember to wake me up to watch the sunrise..."
Her breathing became even and deep, and she fell asleep in the red iron dragon's claws.
Garus clasped his claws together, shielding the fairy dragon from all the cold winds.
He didn't exercise today; instead, he sat on a high cliff and closed his eyes for a short rest.
(End of this chapter)
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