Reborn as an Extra Chapter 554: There are infinite possibilities! Part-4.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
Rio first steadied his thoughts and channeled all his energy toward the end of his flute. His presence turned utterly serene while intense sword intent surged through his whole form and into the instrument.
Rio advanced a step, employed the Lia method, and jabbed the flute straight into the evil spirit's backbone to concentrate every bit of force at that precise spot.
The soul-splitting technique triggered, dividing the captured soul within the evil spirit into countless tiny pieces!
In the end, Rio deployed his 'soul manipulation' ability to seize one of those minor soul fragments he'd separated and pull it free from the evil spirit's form, leaping away right after.
As soon as Rio leaped back to create separation, the evil spirit's frame erupted violently, unleashing a tremendous blast where miasma brutally demolished its body and every soul fragment inside!
The blast proved enormous enough to disrupt the nearby river of miasma, altering its path by force.
A vast crater, spanning the size of a whole city, gouged into the earth, and the disrupted miasma flow drew the gaze of countless evil spirits and horrors from distant places.
Wasting not a moment, Rio dashed ahead at maximum velocity and fled far from the blast zone.
Rio had no desire to tangle with swarms of beasts and evil spirits, forcing him to put a huge gap between himself and them.
Rio propelled off the air and sprinted with such velocity that he treated it like solid ground; each stride produced a thunderous sonic boom, propelling him from the explosion area quicker than a jet fighter at top throttle.
Having traveled a sufficient span at breakneck pace, Rio eased his speed, reactivated complete stealth, and veered off in an entirely new path with a sharp 90-degree shift.
Again, the cube indicated a fresh spot, and Rio pressed on ahead, his expression free of any concern.
'I really pulled it off...'
A faint grin crossed Rio's lips as he examined his flute, confirming that the soul piece he'd taken from the evil spirit remained safely inside.
'Like the saying goes, if snatching the shop's goods proves impossible, take the shop's key for later gains...'
Rio had understood from the start that attempting soul manipulation on the evil spirit's soul to access its recollections would prompt miasma to destroy it outright.
Its whole form would explode too, offering Rio zero leads, just as it had occurred previously.
Yet, observing that prior blast had taught Rio a vital lesson from his error.
For starters, he observed that numerous creatures in the region harbored multiple souls crammed within them simultaneously.
This sparked an idea in Rio to apply his soul-splitting technique so that a single soul fragments into various brief, smaller portions.
Dividing souls ranks as an extremely tough endeavor, with even a single split putting the ability on cooldown for several minutes.
Rio was well aware of this, which prompted him to alter his approach.
He arranged for a mere temporary division of the soul lasting seconds through a slim cut, though this method would fragment it across multiple spots all at once.
Turning this to his favor, he improvised a fresh 'soul manipulation' technique right then, grabbed one of the short-lived soul 'fragments,' tucked it into his flute, and bolted away immediately.
Miasma wields immense sway in the spirit realm, so Rio relied on his personal miasma handling to slow its response time, allowing him to snag at least one soul piece and safeguard it.
'Had it been feasible, I'd have taken the full soul, but extracting it swiftly enough with my present soul manipulation level would have been tough...'
Soul manipulation demands vast power, and Rio's expertise in it stays quite low, limiting him to pulling out just a tiny soul portion in that brief window before miasma could intervene and demolish it.
One soul fragment marked his current boundary.
'I snagged only a single soul fragment, yet this ought to suffice...'
Rio selected this specific soul fragment among others because the cube of possibilities directed him to it, compelling his sword intent to claim it.
Thus, Rio acted without delay and followed through precisely.
'It looks straightforward, but without my S-rank strength, that last explosion and its fallout could have left me gravely wounded...'
Miasma isn't easily deceived; the instant it detects Rio's ruse, it rallies packs of monsters to assault and hunt him, demanding he resolve matters swiftly and effectively.
Rio lost no time and promptly delved into the soul fragment's memories while advancing onward in total stealth.
...
Most recollections in the soul fragment held little value, yet Rio unearthed several useful details amid them.
To begin, these memories came from an Orc commoner of a bygone era, and this Orc clearly relished tormenting and devouring his kin excessively.
This Orc qualified as a true monster and vile figure, preying on Orcs of every age and variety.
He stalked and consumed his village mates as meals; the memories largely captured his delight in preparing his comrades for the pot.
He amassed countless ways to prepare Orcs, leaving even Rio puzzled over how he sourced so many subjects for his twisted trials.
The memories sat in disarray, preventing Rio from pinpointing the exact era or year, but one recollection tied directly to his objective.
In it, the Orc fled through the forest in panic from the settlement, pursued by a mob of Orcs brandishing arms and fueled by rage in their glaring eyes.
Evidently, this sinister Orc had at last been exposed, his atrocities mounting until the villagers sought to pummel him senseless.
Whether luck or doom, he stumbled upon a fleeting weak node that plunged him into the spirit realm!
Subsequent memories grew mostly unintelligible, though Rio grasped one key segment.
A vast plateau appeared briefly, crowned by an enormous shadow dragon in deep slumber.
Its sheer scale left Rio stunned at the mere sight.
'What in the world!? A top SS-rank powerhouse! A top SS-rank shadow dragon!? That beast packs serious might!'
Upon concluding the memory view, the soul fragment in his possession crumbled and faded to nothing, unable to endure stability long after separation from its core soul and body.
'Whew~ that proved challenging...'
Rio brushed imaginary sweat from his brow, finally easing his stride once the soul fragment fully disintegrated.
He could have preserved that soul fragment longer if desired, but chose not to, as holding it equated to carrying a live beacon that would reveal his precise position to Miasma in real time.
Miasma shares profound links with this soul, and even a mere fragment allows tracking; hence, Rio permitted its destruction and vanishing after exhausting all stored memories.
'Alright, now I must locate that enormous plateau housing the colossal shadow dragon... that wasn't Ellie for sure... so which shadow dragon was it...'
Rio had witnessed Ellie's dragon shape, having ridden her back numerous times during group adventures with Liam and the others.
Even then, Rio noted Ellie's stark difference from typical shadow dragons; she lacked the ability to wield dragon bloodline magic and lagged far behind others from the dragon valley in strength.
However, the shadow dragon in this memory exuded no weakness.
Rio had beheld the might of 'Ashtel Rex,' an actual ambulatory deity of disaster!
Thus, he recognizes true titans on sight; a quick look suffices.
'Ugh... this just got way riskier... how do I even pull intel from a force like that?...'