Reborn as an Extra Chapter 564: The Curse of Eternal Suffering. Part-3.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
’Yet if this sacrificial circle links to the position of that massive shadow dragon... teleporting via it could mark me as its next meal...’
Who could predict the psychological condition of that shadow dragon king now, after centuries of corrosion!
Even mighty figures such as Ashtel Rex struggle to linger in the spirit realm for extended periods, which clearly indicates the shadow dragon king's mental state must be far from stable.
’Still, how can I pull out the details without landing myself in hot water?...’
Having soared over the whole town several times without spotting anything useful, Rio perched on a large pillar and sank into deep thought.
The vision of the shadow dragon king that Rio glimpsed in the evil spirit's recollection was probably ancient and outdated; the dragon's present circumstances might differ greatly from that era.
’Alverto mentioned once that Ellie was viewed as a shame among dragons, unable to wield dragon bloodline magic...’
’However, from my understanding, Ellie was never feeble... she remains fairly powerful despite lacking dragon bloodline magic...’
Rio had visited the Dragon Valley, where he learned dragons honor the mighty; regardless of Ellie's limitations in specific abilities, her power alone would have earned her admiration.
Nevertheless, she was branded a disgrace among the Shadow Dragons in spite of her strength; this points to just one conclusion.
’She must have committed some grave error in the past to gain that notoriety... I wonder what it was...’
In those days, Rio lacked the skill to detect soul fluctuations accurately as he does today, leaving him clueless about Ellie's constant thoughts.
’One fact stands certain... Uncovering the cause of her poor standing could reveal hints about where she is now...’
Within the dragon valley, those dragons showing obvious aggression and failing to blend into society faced exile to remote areas.
This pattern might apply to Ellie too; perhaps she got sealed away or imprisoned in some secluded spot.
’Liam truly stands out as a strange one... How on earth did he call forth a rational shadow dragon from this horde of deranged ones, I ponder...’
Every dragon whelp Rio had encountered so far possessed scarcely any rationality; they pursued prey and collected sustenance driven purely by instinct, with thoughts fixated solely on eating and chasing.
Rest came only when severe wounds overwhelmed them, rendering movement impossible.
It felt nearly like,
’Nearly like they've all undergone intense brainwashing... though strangely, I detect no such alterations in their soul fluctuations or mental waves...’
Rio stood as a master in brainwashing and mental control; had these dragon whelps been under such influence, he would have spotted it effortlessly.
To him, removing mental coercion and brainwashing from a mind proved as simple as inhaling, requiring just a tap from his flute to restore them instantly.
’Reflecting on it now... how did Alverto know about Ellie?... Had he encountered her summoned appearance previously somewhere?’
’Or perhaps Alverto entered the spirit realm once and crossed paths with her?’
Rio had viewed Alverto’s memories, yet none referenced Ellie, though this didn't shock him since those visions were largely fragmented.
Those recollections focused solely on key moments in Alverto’s existence, and Rio hadn't even glimpsed the true Demon King in them, despite Alverto's lineage as his offspring.
The extent of what Rio witnessed was merely the siblings Alverto had slain.
’Should Alverto have met Ellie beyond the spirit realm, it implies another summoner called her prior to Liam, and not long ago at that, given Alverto's age of about 200 years...’
’Whereas if the encounter happened inside the spirit realm... some method to locate Ellie or reach her must exist that I'm overlooking currently...’
In truth, Rio could replicate nearly all of Alverto's former feats; he'd observed many of Alverto’s exclusive abilities and wielded them himself as well.
Excluding the fabled ’Soul Resonance,’ Rio could mimic the bulk of his methods, so any technique aiding in Ellie's discovery would already be within his grasp.
’What detail am I overlooking?’
Gazing at the heavens shrouded in miasmic vapors, Rio pondered his array of abilities, yet hours of reflection yielded no insights.
He possessed distant communication methods like telepathy, but Ellie's aura evaded detection throughout this realm.
’As an adult dragon, Ellie ought to leave traces, yet with all signs of mature dragons absent here, pinpointing her proves equally elusive...’
Originally, during that time, Rio's sword intent lacked sharpness, and his soul techniques were sorely deficient.
Had Rio commanded his present soul abilities then.
He might have simply imprinted the soul signatures of those nearby, then traced them swiftly by extending sword intent threads across thousands of kilometers.
’Argh... this poses a real challenge...’
’Is direct confrontation with that shadow dragon my sole remaining option after all?’
Rio shook his head while rising from his perch.
’Screw it, let's charge!’
Rio drew in a profound breath prior to hurtling toward the far-off plateau at breakneck velocity!
By channeling his sword intent to slash the space-time weave, Rio propelled ahead at blistering pace through a diluted form of space warp!
With velocity so intense, Rio disrupted the miasma currents and tore straight through the thick miasmic canopy overhead while ascending rapidly!
A formidable shockwave radiated outward in every direction as Rio rocketed upward, dispersing the miasmic clouds via the raw power of his velocity and spatial ripples!
Should any other being attempt to barrel into those miasmic clouds directly, miasmic taint would assail them, yet Rio dismissed such risks entirely.
For him, the perilously toxic miasmic clouds resembled fluffy sweets in harmlessness!
Upon breaching the clouds, Rio ascended to the vast plateau's summit in a single bound and touched down with resolve burning in his gaze.
’Screw it, face me, you oversized lizard! I may take some hits, but I'll land at least one solid strike on you today!’
Unbeknownst to Rio, traversing those dreadfully thick miasmic clouds turned out to be the optimal move in that moment.
As soon as Rio crested the plateau, his sight locked onto an colossal entity so immense that he appeared as a tiny insect before its colossal form!
’What in the hell is that monstrosity!?!?!!!!!’
Contrary to Rio's anticipation, no dragon occupied the plateau's peak; across the desolate flat expanse lay a colossal malformed horror, warped and utterly misshapen!
The enormous entity bore grayish-black scales across its frame, yet contorted and malformed into the form of an oddly sprouting Tree!!
Every one of those vast dragon scales rivaled a towering building in size, and the colossal warped tree-shaped abomination grew so vast that Rio struggled to gauge its scale mentally any longer.
The presence emanating from that warped beast felt so potent that it outstripped even Ashtel Rex’s in intensity!
The space-time weave kept fracturing and splintering, only to mend repeatedly from the overwhelming soul energy and spatial disturbances generated by that titanic entity's simple existence!
Rio beheld countless tails numbering in the hundreds and dragon appendages in the thousands dangling from that contorted tree; myriad bizarre warped organs swayed from it akin to clock pendulums!
Hundreds of eyes dotted that enormous hideous tree, though the majority rotted away or suffered severe miasma damage.
The whole colossal form seeped dark grime and miasmic pollution from every part, with the miasma coalescing into streams that cascaded into the abyss below like cascading falls!
Rio had overlooked those miasmic cascades earlier because of the heavy miasmic haze and compacted miasmic clouds, but in reality, the entire chasm's miasma stemmed from this behemoth's vital fluids!
Confronting that utter abomination and its freakish physique, a single notion flashed through Rio’s thoughts.
’Truth be told, damn Liam, I'm heading back...’