novelraw Chapter 394: Dragon Wing Evolution, the True Crimson Savage Wings
Chapter 394: Dragon Wing Evolution, the True Crimson Savage Wings
Deep beneath the earth, all was silent.
Thick strata and frozen soil shut out the outside world’s clamor and sounds, time here seeming to lose meaning, as if it had frozen.
A massive body, covered in jet-black scales, lay dormant in the darkness and stillness.
His breathing was long and faint, his heartbeat so slow it was almost imperceptible, like a lifeless boulder merged with the surrounding environment, indistinguishable from it.
Yet the danger lingering and growing with time silently testified to his difference.
It was Garoth Ignas.
Nearly thirty years had passed; for short-lived breeds that might have been half a lifetime wasted.
But for a dragon moving into adulthood, for Garoth, this long slumber felt more like a deep tempering and settling.
Early in the new calendar year 318, at a certain instant.
Buzz—Not a tangible sound, more like an invisible vibration, centered on the sleeping dragon’s body, penetrating thick rock and frozen soil, rippling outward like waves, reaching the surface where fine ice and snow began to tremble, then—despite the windless air—start to stir as if something deep underground had awakened and disturbed the land’s peace.
Inside the subterranean cave.
The heavy dust and attached small stones that had accumulated on his body for almost thirty years turned at that moment into the finest powder and silently slid away.
His dragon eyes, long closed, slowly opened.
He had awakened.
The red iron dragon lifted his huge head in a slow motion, neck and spine bones grinding with a series of sounds like mountain rock rubbing against rock.
He did not immediately make large motions, instead quietly feeling the tremendous power surging and roaring through his body.
It was a leap in both quality and quantity, as if every inch of muscle, every scale, every drop of blood contained explosive energy.
At the same time,
conditions in the convergence lands, the scent of snow and wind, traces of his followers...even vague distant fluctuations—these all unfolded like a scroll within his powerful perception.
“Hmm…”
A low, deep dragon rumble escaped from his throat, echoing through the sealed underground space and shaking dust from the dome.
“I’m not sure exactly how many years passed, but this sleep was definitely not short.”
As his mind cleared, Garoth judged.
Darkness could not hide his sharp senses.
He clearly felt his own growth and change.
The red iron dragon’s body length had reached an astonishing twenty-eight meters.
That was a size typical of a normal mature red dragon, rivaling even his red dragon father Gorthax, and with every muscle honed and bulging with strength, his visual impact surpassed other red dragons of the same size.
His scales had become heavier, each seeming to be quenched again, edges glinting with a cold metallic sheen.
The dragon bone structure supporting that massive frame had also undergone subtle adjustments and reinforcement, becoming more rational and tough, capable of bearing the body’s weight.
The dragon might he naturally radiated was no longer the sharp, flamboyant edge of youth.
His dragon might had deepened like an abyssal sea, bottomless, profound and weighty, carrying an oppression far greater than before.
“My life level… indeed, this final rank is not so easy to break through.”
“If level 21 doesn’t directly equal legendary, and is only a marker of power tiers, then I should be able to reach level 21. Too bad reality isn’t that simple, I still fall a bit short.”
Garoth probed his life level carefully.
—Level 20.
More precisely, the peak of level 20, the theoretical limit mundane beings could reach.
If there were a visible experience bar, his state now was not that of barely stepping into level 20, but of already having completely filled that experience slot with no gap left; the next tiny step forward would be the legendary realm countless heroes dream of but rarely touch in a lifetime!
And that seemingly tiny step is the chasm that separates innumerable lives.
Even for long-lived, highly gifted dragons, completing the breakthrough from level 20 to legendary is no easy matter.
Either a major opportunity arrives that fundamentally alters one’s life essence,
or one grinds slowly, spending vast time accumulating, then uses a period of slumber at the right age to shatter the barrier in one stroke.
From level 20 to level 21.
For normal dragons, often it requires a hundred years or more to accumulate and wait.
“When I was level 17, I could pierce a broken legendary domain; at level 18 I had the ability to kill a level 20 blue dragon leader Perest, and now I’ve reached the limit of level 20… can I truly stand toe-to-toe with those newly risen legendary beings?”
This question rose in Garoth’s mind.
Between mundane and legendary lay a vast gap known as a chasm, but that gap was not absolutely uncrossable.
Dragon Legacy recorded sporadic cases of level 20 dragons counterattacking legendary beings.
Rare, but real.
Garoth was not an ordinary dragon.
With his racial value, his talent, his strength far beyond same-tier dragons…these accumulated advantages would surely narrow the distance to legendary.
But by how much? Could he fully erase that gulf? Garoth himself could not be certain.
If unnecessary, he naturally would not seek out legendary-level foes.
Fundamentally, he preferred opponents he could crush with sheer power, though such enemies rarely yielded valuable gains.
“Too bad Shire is dead, otherwise I’d have a suitable reference.”
Garoth shook his massive head slightly, thinking of the Flower Knight.
Though bearing the title knight, Shire’s fighting style was more of an enigmatic assassin.
His body was relatively frail, relying on a calm mind and rational judgment, using incredibly agile spatial skills to outmaneuver enemies.
So when madness from frenzied flame took him and he lost his reason,
he was struck and killed by the wild-state red dragon Gorthax’s frontal blow.
The rage brought by frenzied flame was a natural counter to Shire’s need for composure.
Had Shire not died, with his superb talent he would by now have stepped into the legendary realm.
“Shire’s soul is stored in the phylactery, but his consciousness is chaotic, hard to communicate with,” Garoth mused, “however, after these years of nurturing, perhaps there’s been some improvement.”
He decided to wait until Shire’s soul regained clarity, then carefully examine his situation.
Death of the body was not the absolute end, this human follower with great potential, even as just a soul, still had considerable value.
Garoth exhaled a slow, scorching breath.
He gathered his scattered thoughts and focused on his current condition.
Besides his life level having reached the mundane limit, he clearly sensed a significant change in his blood.
He could feel the circulation of his blood with unprecedented clarity.
Hot, vigorous.
Like lava churning in the veins.
This was the sensation he used to have only when entering Crimson Lotus Form, but now he felt it in regular state without harm to his body, not as wild or violent as during Crimson Lotus Form.
Just as he had expected and hoped before sleeping, his blood had completed some adaptive evolution.
And it was not only the blood that changed.
Garoth keenly detected that his scales and wings also carried sensations completely different from before his slumber.
“This is not the place to inspect myself further, time to go out.”
In the dark, the red iron dragon slowly pushed himself onto his limbs, massive claws easily digging into the hard ground; as he moved the entire cavern shook violently and more fissures appeared in the rock walls.
It was time.
Return to his realm, examine the changes during his slumber, then unleash his newfound strength upon the wider world.
He raised his head and looked toward the heavy rock ceiling that had isolated him from the outside for so long.
The next moment his powerful hind legs suddenly exerted force and his wings thunderously unfurled; though not fully extended, they already conveyed overwhelming power.
Boom!
With a world-shaking roar,
a region not far from Dragon Valley’s surface suddenly burst open,
frozen kings, rock, and snow were hurled by irresistible force.
A huge black-red silhouette, like a meteor rushing upward, broke through the earth, carrying unparalleled dragon might into the sky, descending once more beneath the convergence lands’ heavens.
The Lord of Molten Iron had returned.
At the same time inside Dragon Valley,
all dragons, whether resting in nests or training in the grounds, felt the violent tremor underfoot and the tsunami-like surge of dense dragon might spread outward at the same moment.
They were familiar with this.
Without orders, the dragons cried out in excited roars, beat their wings and rose into the air.
Eyes turned in unison toward that majestic dragon silhouette dancing wildly in the firmament.
Those dragons, besides mature White Dragon Trixie, brass-silver dragon Deborah, and faerie dragon Vira,
were the hatchlings and juveniles from years past, now having reached the adolescent stage.
Each was massive, muscles bulging, scales gleaming, noticeably larger and stronger than ordinary dragons of the same age.
“He’s awake! He’s awake! The great, invincible Lord of Molten Iron has awakened!”
Faerie dragon Vira used Phantom Sound Technique to announce the news across Dragon Valley.
“Deborah, come closer! Garoth has slept so long this time, he must have huge changes!” Vira fluttered about Deborah’s brass-silver form, voice full of curiosity and excitement. “Hehe, I must update my ‘Lord of Molten Iron Simulation Technique’! The stronger Garoth is, the stronger I become!”
Compared to the impatient faerie dragon, the brass-silver dragon was much more composed.
She gazed up at the familiar, mighty form in the sky and gently shook her head.
“According to Garoth’s habit, his first act upon waking is usually to familiarize himself and master his changes.”
She said, “Let’s wait here.”
“Also, have the followers prepare the highest-grade food at once. When he finishes adapting and comes down to eat, we’ll naturally see exactly how much he has grown.”
At her words Vira cocked her head, thought for a moment and nodded.
“Good idea, Deborah, so considerate of you.”
Suddenly she grinned mischievously. “You two are already adults now. Any important plans next? I’ll warn you because of our friendship, Garoth trained something specific and that scene is terrifying.”
Bubbling nonsense, all of it?!
Annoyed, the brass-silver dragon glared at the faerie dragon.
Vira immediately covered her mouth with her wing, silencing herself.
The dragons circled in the sky, sending waves of reverent, excited roars to celebrate their leader’s return, yet tacitly none dared approach that silhouette standing on the horizon.
Meanwhile, high above,
Garoth flung his wings with abandon.
With surging and erupting black-red flames, he performed dazzling, incredible aerial maneuvers.
Sudden halts after rapid ascents, near-right-angle sharp turns, ghostlike instantaneous lateral shifts, and gravity-defying inverted sweeps… all his movements flowed like water with no stiffness or awkwardness.
It was as if this body had been born for such extreme agility.
Most striking—indeed shocking—was the form of his wings, which had become extremely unusual, wholly unlike any known dragon.
After a spree of high-speed tests pushing his body to its limits, Garoth slowly stopped.
Hovering in the sky he breathed steadily and began to unfurl those massive wings.
Hoo—
With a flicker of intent, the vast oceanic dragon qi within him poured into his wings like a breached flood.
The next moment, the already enormous wings seemed to expand without limit! Wingspan crazily extended until it reached a degree that left dragon eyes dumbfounded.
Just a single fully extended wing’s length far exceeded his twenty-eight-meter body length!
Their breadth was equally astonishing.
Beneath the wings a low, overloaded rumble and sounds of energy burning never ceased.
He tilted his rugged head and cast his gaze upon his own wings.
What met his eyes was first a flowing, seemingly tangible crimson radiance.
His original fleshy wing membranes were gone.
In their place was a membrane entirely formed from highly compressed, solidified crimson dragon qi!
This dragon-qi membrane was not illusory but had a semi-transparent, molten-glass-like texture, uniformly inlaid and covered with densely packed, sharp-edged dark-red diamond-shaped micro-scales.
When he stretched his wings to the extreme, tiny gaps naturally opened between these micro-scales.
At the outermost edges of the wings extended rigid wing-bones that could freely stretch and contract in segments.
The edges of these wing-bones remained razor-sharp, their tips as pointed as siege pikes, and with continuous infusion and vibration of his dragon qi those edges vibrated at high frequency, emitting a rapid gnawing sound that formed a blurred afterimage.
They were not only sharp but carried cutting force through high-frequency vibration.
“My membrane has become half-dragon-qi?”
Even Garoth felt a trace of astonishment facing this unexpected evolutionary result.
With a change of thought, the enormous wings that covered the sky rapidly retracted and folded.
The extended wing-bones aligned and fitted together precisely, the dragon scales covering them tightened and closed one by one, eventually returning to rest against his body in a seemingly normal wing form. Yet between the tiny seams where scales and bones connected, faint crimson energy patterns flickered like breathing.
Like being given a brand-new toy.
Garoth could not help experimenting and exploring.
He delightedly discovered that these evolved wings far exceeded his expectations for flexibility and controllability.
Besides being able to stretch to well over a hundred meters, forming a terrifically sky-covering wingspan,
more crucially, because the membrane had become semi-dragon-qi and due to the special attached scale-bone structures, these wings could curve and fold in unimaginable ways, launching sudden, treacherous attacks from any unexpected, illogical angle.
This pushed his wing flexibility and close-combat threat to an unprecedented peak.
Of course, they were not flawless.
During continued testing, Garoth gradually noticed drawbacks to these savage wings.
Whether using wing-edge flames for instant propulsion acceleration, performing large-scale extension and folding, or merely maintaining a normal hovering posture, the wings continuously consumed his dragon qi.
Before the evolution, only explosive speed bursts caused noticeable dragon qi consumption.
“However, for me this may not really be a flaw.”
Garoth considered.
His dragon qi reserves were already profound, and after this slumber had leapt qualitatively, able to support continuous consumption of these savage wings in various states.
Or rather,
it was precisely because he possessed such abundant dragon qi foundation that his body could complete this evolution.
Moreover, thanks to his adaptive gift, the total volume and recovery speed of his dragon qi might be further stimulated and grow due to the constant consumption!
If other dragons were to obtain similar wings, they would likely suffer from dragon qi endurance issues, becoming more burden than boon—exhausted in less than three minutes of combat, unable to fight normally and forced to constantly monitor consumption.
But there is no perfect, only the most suitable.
These powerful yet imperfect wings were a perfect match for Garoth.