Reborn as an Extra Chapter 563: The Curse of Eternal Suffering. Part-2.

Rio found himself frozen in place, able only to observe as the creatures tore into one another savagely.

Attempting to cleanse the miasma from them or mend their wounds would only cause the miasma to erupt within, shattering their forms completely.

‘The deeper my understanding of miasma grows, the more revulsion it stirs in me...’

The sheer terror of miasma explains why folks always feel uneasy when Rio employs it beyond these shadowed realms.

All are aware of its devastating nature; it spares not even demons, much less any other souls.

‘Despite attaining such formidable power, I remain powerless before the raw forces of the natural world...’

At his present strength, Rio could crumble peaks, redirect waterways, level settlements with a single blade stroke, and dismantle any foe beneath SS rank effortlessly.

Nevertheless, he stood no chance against the fundamental laws governing existence itself.

With mana persisting in this realm, so too will miasma endure, and wherever mana grants boons to some, miasma will inflict torment on others.

This forms the unalterable balance of the cosmos; alteration lies beyond reach.

Alverto sought to reshape it, yet his vision of a ‘new order’ carried its own imperfections; no realm achieves flawlessness, always harboring imbalances that render existence unjust for countless.

‘Sigh... I must locate Liam swiftly, lest he endures a similar doom if abandoned here...’

With a heavy sigh, Rio cleared his mind and pressed forward after drawing in a steadying breath.

As he drew nearer to the remote, crumbling settlement, increasing numbers of dragon whelps dotted the landscape around him.

One lay gravely wounded, yet its kin showed no mercy; they shoved it aside and began devouring it alive to quench their ravenous appetites amid its agonized wails.

An ape-resembling beast clutched a shadow dragon whelp by the tail, relentlessly whirling it through the air and slamming it against fellow dragons.

The whelp gripped in its grasp teetered on the brink of oblivion from severe injuries, though miasma denied it true death or respite alike.

The most agonizing aspect was Rio’s utter inability to aid them, for nearing would doom them via the corrupting miasma.

Upon arriving at the town’s primary gateway, Rio spotted whelps that had triumphed in their pursuits hauling slain monster remains into the confines.

Within the settlement’s bounds, hostilities ceased among them, and they heaped the monstrous cadavers onto a colossal altar positioned squarely in the heart of the place.

Not a trace of mature shadow dragons appeared anywhere; merely some exhausted elder whelps lay unconscious in the town’s shattered, open-roofed dwellings.

Stepping into the town, Rio observed carvings and building designs echoing those from the dragon valley of old.

However, with most structures in ruins—walls and supports scarce—Rio struggled to fully grasp the distinctive traits of shadow dragon craftsmanship.

The entire settlement exuded an eerie strangeness.

Exclusively the critically wounded shadow dragon whelps, those hovering near demise, reclined in rest; the rest ventured forth to hunt beasts or labored to amass bodies upon the immense altar.

Even corpses of their own kind mingled amid the monster remains, revealing their indifference to ally or adversary.

Fallen comrades served as fodder here without distinction.

‘Yet where have all the adult shadow dragons vanished? Their auras elude my senses entirely...’

Perched atop a towering column beside the central altar, Rio scanned every corner, yet discerned nothing of note.

Rio had approached from the southern edge of the town, while northward loomed a vast valley extending endlessly.

Directly beyond that expansive chasm lay the immense Plateau glimpsed in the vile spirit’s recollections.

The plateau sprawled enormously, its summit veiled entirely by the overhead miasmic vapors; thus, its peak remained invisible to Rio.

The most staggering horror was the valley floor submerged in fluid miasma, sluggishly coursing like a sluggish stream.

‘This spot surpasses my darkest anticipations... it radiates an aura akin to a boss lair...’

In numerous games, a concluding village allows gear upgrades and save points at the milestone, followed immediately by the ultimate adversary, so formidable it claims your life repeatedly.

Such an atmosphere enveloped this location for Rio.

‘Does the mighty shadow dragon king dwell atop that plateau?’

Now mere dozens of kilometers from the plateau’s crest, Rio already sensed an overwhelmingly potent aura emanating thence.

The dragon’s oppressive aura pressed with terrifying force, compelling Rio to deploy his concealment skills at peak capacity to evade detection by that formidable entity.

‘Hiding indefinitely isn’t viable... confrontation looms inevitable, be it soon or late...’

Rio refrained from charging straight at the colossal, mighty reptile just yet; intelligence-gathering took precedence.

‘Locating those mature shadow dragons or hints of Ellie’s whereabouts... that could spare me a direct clash...’

A lone thrust into the behemoth’s flesh would unlock its memories to reveal Ellie, but executing that demanded a sound strategy.

‘Incidentally... what purpose does this peculiar altar serve?...’

Rio recalled an altar from the Spire of Ascension, yet that differed vastly from this.

The prior one embodied Alverto’s bid to remake the world, whereas this appeared far more basic and energy-efficient.

‘Miasma currents converge intensely upon it... likely it’s endured ages here, drawing miasma to thicken naturally around...’

‘Hmm... those magical pathways and energy points... could this be a teleportation array?’

In academy lessons, Rio absorbed extensive knowledge on awakeners’ tactics and battle styles.

Among these, coverage of common magical formations and conduits in dungeons and relics stood out.

For elite awakeners, discerning the functions of various magic circles proved essential.

Dungeons often feature arrays that shift you between locales within, alongside snares triggered by such circles.

Neglect of this lore leads to severe hardships during actual dungeon delves and real-world encounters.

‘Should this be a teleportation altar, why pile corpses atop it... what destination does it link to-’

A sudden realization struck Rio, widening his eyes in dismay.

‘Hold on... could these whelps be teleporting sustenance straight to that slumbering titan atop the plateau...’

‘Is this a ritual circle delivering meals directly to the dragon’s jaws?...’

Rio’s brow furrowed deeply at the notion.

‘But why rely on others for provisions... couldn’t it sustain on miasma solely? It’s steeped in corruption, drawing power from it as fuel, no?...’

‘And should hunger gnaw, its might allows self-provisioning hunts... how peculiar...’

Rio ascended gradually into the skies, orbiting the town at a deliberate pace to scrutinize every detail.

A ring of stone barriers encircled the town, fractured and worn in numerous spots, while streets and paths lay cluttered with rubble and congealed dark blood.

Occasionally, miasma from the vast, saturated valley birthed enormous bubbles lifting the toxin skyward, only to rupture over the town and drench it in fresh waves.

It formed a nightmarish haven, perpetually assailed and corroded by the miasma.

Even the wounded, recuperating whelps bore severe miasmic decay, their forms rotting while consciousness lingered.

‘They offer slain kin to the altar... implying the colossal dragon devours its own kind as well?...’

‘Small wonder that wicked orc spirit earned its favor... both are cannibals!’

Rio now felt certain the orc spirit, lost in the spirit domain, had been twisted into an evil spirit by the gigantic shadow dragon’s miasmic influence.