Reborn as an Extra Chapter 574: The Grand Seal Of The Final Gamble. Part-4.

Though Rio remained clueless about how Ellie had traversed this thick miasma—especially when he himself struggled to push ahead in the shaky terrain—he continued onward anyway.

’Maybe the spatial cracks weren’t as broad or intense back then?...’

Ellie had probably journeyed through this region hundreds of years earlier, and over such a vast span, the landscape could have shifted dramatically.

’I’ve got to skirt around these cracks and rifts...’

Those enormous tears in the space-time continuum, filled with miasma, served as an impenetrable wall that concealed whatever lay beyond from prying eyes.

Yet Rio detected and perceived a truly ’distinctive’ essence seeping through the narrow, unbroken patches of space-time linking to the shrouded zone.

’Should I attempt circling around instead?...’

One could briefly mend portions of the space-time weave to slip past the miasmic barrier, but that approach would probably trigger severe reactions from the miasma, potentially blocking Rio’s path.

Therefore, Rio’s initial plan was to detour around the obstacle and slip in from another angle.

To his astonishment, however, the whole expanse spanning hundreds of kilometers was completely surrounded by these miasmic fissures and cracks on every side, forming a sealed enclosure!

’I’ve never encountered a barrier this formidable before... one forged from actual spatial fractures and miasmic decay...’

Rio couldn’t resist the urge to replicate this ingenious formation and incorporate it into his personal techniques.

Encircling the colossal enclosure of spatial fractures lay terrain blanketed in heavy deposits of miasmic crystals and shrouded in heavy miasmic mist, reducing sight to nearly nothing.

Rio sensed that the elementals—the fundamental elements of this realm—were intensely subdued and existed only in tiny traces; the bulk of the zone consisted purely of miasma and taint.

’The miasma concentration here is so overwhelming it could taint or slay an early SS-ranker within mere minutes!’

Miasma ranks among the mightiest ’laws’ in existence, empowered to dominate even the ’world authorities’ of SS-rankers amid such extreme concentrations.

’While it doesn’t impact me directly, my sword intent has definitely been dampened considerably in this domain... except if I draw on miasma as the energy fuel...’

’Channeling miasma to power my strikes would amplify them right here...’

Having scouted the full perimeter of the multi-kilometer circular zone, Rio verified no gaps existed in the enclosure from any side; spatial fractures riddled even the subsurface, not to mention the skies above.

Thus, Rio had to ponder ways to breach this enormous enclosure without stirring excessive chaos, lest he draw the gaze of lurking formidable entities in the vicinity.

Rio was aware that the intense miasma density attracted potent malevolent spirits and beasts to the area, many of which were utterly mad and unhinged.

They could lash out at any stirring motion, and Rio lacked the leisure to tangle with them at present.

’Looks like I’ll deploy those fresh techniques I picked up during my flight from the shadow dragon’s fury...’

Rio lightly swung his flute toward the miasmic fissures with minimal effort.

In the previous month, Rio’s mastery over miasma had grown so profound that he could now manipulate the ambient miasma to warp the space-time structure and bend it to his will.

Miasma already held sway to override the ’laws’ of the ’world’ within the spirit realm as it pleased, spawning whatever strange occurrences it desired.

Rio harnessed that very property of miasma to his benefit.

Leveraging his extraordinary command of miasma and decay, Rio deceived the ’laws’ of the ’world’ in the spirit realm, briefly deluding them into dissolving those miasmic fissures for just one millisecond by siphoning their own power!

Whatever ties closely to miasma falls under Rio’s sway, provided the target or entity isn’t mightier than he is.

As an intermediate S-ranker, Rio found those miasmic fissures manageable, and truthfully, they paled against the ones in the outer realms since the space-time weave proved frailer in the spirit domain.

That fleeting millisecond opening sufficed for Rio, allowing him to execute spatial distortion for a quick leap and slip directly past the safeguards of that immense spatial crack prison.

Not even SS-rankers could easily replicate Rio’s feat amid this miasma-saturated setting.

Once more, Rio demonstrated his worthiness of the moniker ’Hell-walker.’

He penetrated domains inaccessible to SS-rankers alike; in the spirit realm, he stood utterly invincible.

The instant Rio crossed the miasmic crack barrier, he stood upon an expansive meadow.

Overhead stretched an immense, pristine azure sky, while vibrant green meadows extended endlessly in all directions.

Rio spotted birds soaring and singing; scattered trees dotted the horizon, though the standout feature was a massive tree not far off from him.

Beneath that towering tree sat a stunning woman, her back resting against its sturdy trunk.

A gentle breeze stirred her silverish-dark locks, and her ebony gown enhanced the allure of her captivating features.

A shadowy crown adorned her brow, lending her the air of a regal sovereign, untouched and pure amid the world’s grime.

Sensing Rio’s arrival, she lifted her gaze, her emerald, snake-like eyes gleaming like precious jewels as they fixed on him.

"You really took your sweet time getting here... I’ve been waiting for months, you know..."

Despite her icy and aloof vibe, her tone blended grudges, ease, irritation, fury, and joy in equal measure.

She appeared delighted and soothed by Rio’s eventual arrival, yet irked and vexed by the delay; his stoic expression only deepened her sense of grievance.

"I figured you’d need just two or three months at most, but it’s almost a full year now!"

Rio initially felt puzzled, having never laid eyes on this elegant, striking woman before, but upon recognizing those distinctive emerald serpentine eyes, he finally spoke up and inquired,

"Is that you, Ellie?... um... You’ve certainly matured quickly in such a short span... Does being a flawed dragon mess with a dragon’s typical growth timeline too? That’s rather strange..."

"This is an unusual occurrence... hold on, thinking back... you could always reshape your form; I’d nearly overlooked that!..."

Rio seldom paid attention to any woman besides Lia; in his view, Lia alone merited his concern. He instinctively tuned out other females from his vision, steering clear of them flawlessly.

Ellie and Liam shared a bond, and as a loyal friend, Rio respected limits, never probing Liam deeply about Ellie or meddling excessively, since she held no real connection to him.

As the code among brothers demands, ’Never grow overly chummy with your buddy’s girl to avoid stirring pointless confusion...’