He had to have lungs with a much stronger inhalation capacity!
Asterion didn't dare imagine what would happen if he suddenly stopped in the middle of a fight with another monster to wheeze and gasp like he was having an asthma attack. Would the enemy monster die of laughter? Uh, no—they'd absolutely seize the opportunity to kill him!
Asterion didn't want to leave such a massive opening for his enemies.
He was still "crossing the river by feeling for the Valstrax." When a Valstrax engages in intense activity and depletes its stored Dragon Energy, it opens the valves on its chest to forcefully suck in air. When overflowing with energy, Dragon Energy constantly leaks from its chest cavity, wing-legs, and head shell.
Asterion sank into thought.
Truth be told, it didn't take long for him to find a ready-made organ from the dragons he had consumed—the Nightshade Paolumu!
It had to be said that the various dragons of this world were a precious treasure trove. As long as you ate enough, you could find organs that served a purpose in all sorts of unexpected places.
When a Paolumu's air sacs are full, they can even make its body float. The speed at which they fill those sacs is remarkably fast; they only need to tilt their heads, lift their bodies, and open their mouths wide to gulp in huge amounts of air. In just a few breaths, they can fill their internal sacs and achieve flight.
Considering he would be flying at high altitudes in the future, Asterion naturally had to reference the monsters that had long ago conquered the skies. It was worth noting that although the Paolumu looked like a bird, it was actually a Flying Wyvern.
However, it didn't matter. Asterion had eaten plenty of Bird Wyverns too. He didn't plan to copy the Paolumu's respiratory system entirely. After all, that creature's flight relied purely on drifting. Since it had no need for high-speed flight, its body naturally hadn't evolved to adapt to those conditions.
In nature, birds possess the most efficient vertebrate respiratory system. Their oxygen extraction efficiency per breath is as high as 90%, while humans only reach about 25%. This allows birds to maintain oxygen supply even when flying at high altitudes.
As a Brute Wyvern, the Glavenus has incredibly powerful lungs, sufficient to support the massive oxygen consumption of combat. Now, Asterion prepared to add a supplementary respiratory system to his lungs: respiratory air sacs.
Asterion didn't actually understand the mechanics of how a Paolumu's lungs worked; he just needed to ensure his evolved lungs could suck in a large volume of air just as quickly. He transformed his alveoli into more efficient reticulated alveoli, greatly increasing the surface area per unit volume and creating denser clusters of air sacs.
His lungs also gained multi-stage fractal branches, causing the number of terminal alveoli to grow exponentially. In this regard, the Paolumu, various Flying Wyverns, and flight-capable Bird Wyverns were all ready-made teachers.
As a former internet surfer who only knew basic trivia, Asterion didn't know which dragon's lungs were superior, nor could he analyze such minute details. So, he simply cobbled together the lungs of all the dragons he had eaten that were proficient at flying.
Each type of dragon's alveoli occupied a portion of Asterion's lungs. In future practical use, Asterion would feel for himself which section was more powerful and better at gas exchange, eventually replacing the others with the strongest type.
However, the biggest change was the shift in breathing method. Asterion converted his respiration into a unidirectional airflow system. Around his lungs, he added eighteen air sacs: nine anterior sacs and nine posterior sacs.
Once Asterion began breathing, the air would flow along a fixed path: first into the posterior sacs, then into the lungs, then into the anterior sacs, and finally out. This way, Asterion could perform gas exchange during both inhalation and exhalation, unlike mammals who can only exchange gas during inhalation.
Air sucked directly into the sacs would not pass through the lungs immediately. During inhalation, part of the air enters the lungs for exchange, while the rest goes straight to the posterior sacs. During exhalation, the air that previously entered the sacs passes into the lungs for exchange, resulting in a second round of gas exchange.
These air sacs would act as air pumps, constantly pushing air in and out, creating a "turbocharged" effect. This way, even if Asterion flew thousands of meters high in the future, he could guarantee a sufficient oxygen supply. He could also use the suction of the air sacs to forcibly pull in air and mix it with fire element energy to form "Dragon Energy."
Uh, let's just call it "Fire Energy," Asterion had a flash of inspiration. Since he wasn't using Dragon element energy for the mixture and was spitting out flames, calling it Dragon Energy felt inaccurate.
My "Fire" is getting a bit big!
The evolution went smoothly.
There might be problems exposed in practical use, just like previous evolutions, but Asterion had already done the best he could for now. If there were issues, they would just have to wait for the next evolution to be fixed.
The Seregios blades and shell had regrown. Aside from the pair of large wings on his back, Asterion looked no different than before—at least, the change wasn't as drastic as the second evolution, where he looked like a completely different dragon.
But that was only on the surface.
Stroking his chest with a foreclaw, Asterion knew he was fundamentally different inside. For one thing, every breath felt different now—cleaner, more satisfying, as if it were a delight to suck up all the air in front of him at once.
Wait, is this a hallucination from oxygen toxicity?
Asterion felt a momentary surge of nerves. Having evolved his respiratory system, the amount of oxygen he could absorb with each breath was several times higher than before. He wouldn't breathe himself to death, would he?
He waited quietly for a while. Fortunately, no symptoms of coughing, dizziness, shortness of breath, or muscle twitching appeared. Asterion breathed a sigh of relief.
The body of a giant beast is truly durable and tough.
Now, it was time for the real deal. He didn't know how long he had stayed deep within the nest. Asterion stepped out of his inner sanctum once more and headed toward the outer edge of the canopy.
"The Boss is out! Go notify the Chief, meow!!"
"Does the Boss want to eat, meow? I'll go get the chefs, meow!!"
"Look! The Boss's wings grew, meow! So cool, meow!!"
The Grimalkynes (Deyter) were exceptionally excited to see Asterion after so long. Since his evolution was mostly complete, Asterion was in a good mood and let out a few roars of praise toward them.
These Grimalkynes were indeed loyal to their duties. Even though they knew their strength was negligible compared to the Glavenus Boss, and they were terrified of the explosions and monster breathing sounds coming from the nest during his seclusion, they had remained at the entrance without leaving.
From time to time, they had even carefully delivered roasted meat to the nest entrance to supplement Asterion's meals.
However, the rewards for the Grimalkynes could wait. Asterion took a quick look at the changes to the nest. According to his requirements before evolving, the Grimalkynes had added a roof to the nest located in the giant tree's canopy.
Using cut branches and grass leaves as a ceiling, and leaving a hole large enough for a dragon of Asterion's size to enter and exit at once, they had created a relatively enclosed nest.
In addition, four bonfires were lit in the four corners of the nest, ensuring the interior remained warm and dry. It was no longer damp, but rather at a temperature that made Asterion comfortable.
Asterion didn't have time to look at more. He stepped out of the hole and returned to the outside world after a long absence.
The canopy of this giant tree was simply too large—so large that Asterion's nest only took up about a third of it. Asterion had no intention of turning the entire canopy into his nest; he preferred one that was neither too big nor too small—just enough to fit him and leave some space to swing his blade-tail.
"Roar!" (Don't come out.)
Without looking back, he gave the order to the Grimalkynes. The old Shaman had already arrived and was calming the excited cats.
He could clearly feel the existence of his dual wings. With a thought, his wings spread out to both sides. It was a novel sensation, completely incomparable to the toy-like little wings he had before.
It was at this moment that Asterion felt, for the first time, like he was a Flying Wyvern.
Can I fly?
A spark of fire flashed in his eyes. Asterion tilted his head slightly and began to inhale.
Unlike his experiments inside the nest where he had to struggle for a long time to fill his air sacs, this time, the air in front of him seemed to warp. Branches, leaves, and pebbles were moved by the powerful suction, flying toward Asterion's nostrils like bullets!
A-choo!
Hmph, cough-cough-cough-cough...
Totally unprepared for this, Asterion let out several sneezes before spitting out the dry leaves and pebbles he had sucked into his nose.
So stupid!!
If his dragon face hadn't been covered in scales, Asterion felt he would have been blushing furiously. The Grimalkynes were all watching from behind! They thought the Glavenus Boss was about to do something grand, only for him to take a breath and start sneezing uncontrollably while shaking his head.
This must be improved!!
Asterion hadn't expected his new evolution to hit a snag so quickly. What was exposed just now wasn't just the issue of his nostrils sucking in leaves and stones, but also the problem of the intake being too small.
Asterion felt he could inhale even faster, but his nostrils were only so big; the amount of air he could take in per unit of time was limited.
This is a bit of a problem...
Entering a state of self-absorption, Asterion simply sat down on the edge of the canopy to think, looking as if he were admiring the scenery. This left the curious Grimalkynes behind him even more baffled. What is the Boss doing?
He looked like he was about to do something big just a moment ago, so why did he suddenly sit down?
Theoretically, these two problems were actually quite easy to solve. The Valstrax had already provided the solution—just cut holes in the chest.
After all, a Valstrax, which needs to inhale massive amounts of air, doesn't have giant nostrils. A dragon that needs to fly at high speeds must have an aerodynamic body structure to minimize air resistance; large nostrils are an absolute no-go.
The Valstrax's solution was to use specialized organs in its chest to inhale air directly. There are several valve-like openings on the sides of its chest; as long as they are open, air can be sucked in rapidly. Asterion had known about this for a long time, but he hadn't adopted it in his previous evolution.
Because he didn't want to suffer a "backfire."
Anyone who has fought a Valstrax knows that to make it backfire, you have to attack its chest while it's inhaling large amounts of air, causing it to explode and injure itself.
While "crossing the river by feeling for the Valstrax," Asterion absolutely did not want to leave such a weakness. To avoid backfiring, he had even stopped using the "glowing red throat" typical of a normal Glavenus, which adds fire element damage to bite attacks.
That wasn't his style. If the enemy wasn't too strong, the old Asterion wouldn't even have wanted to use the "Glowing Red Blade-Tail" move.
Furthermore, during his second great evolution, he simply removed the ability to heat his tail, opting instead to use "Energy Accumulation" to increase the blade-tail's hardness and sharpness.
The strong must have no weaknesses! That was Asterion's belief!
He didn't need things like "balance"!
Upholding this philosophy, Asterion frantically flipped through his memories of his past life, trying to find a solution. He actually found one.
As Asterion's favorite Elder Dragon, he wasn't satisfied with just watching a few minutes of Valstrax ecology CG back then. He had researched the Valstrax's setting books and watched some theories and analyses of its body structure.
In one analysis video, the creator compared the Valstrax to a human jet fighter and speculated on Capcom's design logic.
Asterion recalled the simple description of a jet fighter's air intake from that video. It was just a few simple structural diagrams that flashed by, but now it became the path for Asterion to solve his dilemma.
The "Dragon Energy" systems of the Valstrax and Asterion were both storage-based. They needed to inhale a large amount of air in advance, mix it, store it in their bodies, and then vent it during flight or combat.
But a jet fighter takes in air on the fly, mixing fuel and venting it as it goes. Asterion felt he could lean in that direction.
Under the bewildered expressions of the Grimalkynes, the Glavenus Boss had finally come out, only to go back in looking like he was immersed in his own world again.
The evolution continues! If there's a problem, solve it!
Asterion knew his flight system was far inferior to the Valstrax's. Because his "Fire Energy" engine was purely something he had brainstormed himself, he didn't even know if the power was sufficient to push his several-hundred-ton body into the sky, let alone its endurance.
A Valstrax can cross the entire Old Continent with a single breath. Could Asterion?
No.
Even though he hadn't officially flown yet, Asterion had reached this conclusion based on the thrust he felt from that wing bone during his previous trials.
Even if he sprayed with all his might and finally flew, never mind exceeding the speed of sound—if he could fly faster than a Bazelgeuse, he'd consider it a win.
The power system was lagging quite far behind. Asterion felt he might need something like a "Fire Energy Jewel"; in short, simply mixing fire element energy probably wasn't enough. The specifics required further testing, but for now, he needed to solve the air intake problem first.
He couldn't exactly stop to take a breath every few thousand meters. It was fine on land, but what would he do over the sea?
Would he become a "plunging sea fish"?
With a body weighing several hundred tons, if he fell in, he probably wouldn't be able to fly out again, hey!
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