Reborn as an Extra Chapter 764: My Choice... Part-2.

As Rio’s miasmic decay shattered the realm of consciousness belonging to Raika, he got ejected back onto the surface of planet Cyria-229.

Ignoring the orcs that were in a panicked situation and were helping Riya take care of Link and Lia, Rio grabbed Raika by the neck and flew straight into the outer atmosphere once again.

After having his sea of consciousness shattered, Raika’s body had become pale and completely powerless; he couldn’t even cough blood, as there was none in his body.

His mind entered a deranged state, and his eyes became blurry.

"Thank you Raika... Although I do not know yet if I can really change the universe to my liking, you have helped me gain a lot."

"Because of you, I have grown much faster than I had anticipated. Moreover, by absorbing Aino Felicia into yourself and increasing the power of the crown, you have actually done me a favor..."

"Now I can just use the crown to do what Aino Felicia would have never even dared to dream of doing..."

"You have opened new possibilities for me, so, as a sign of respect, I shall give you a quick, painless death."

"Thank you, Raika..."

A faint smile appeared on Rio’s face as he spoke those words and channeled insane amounts of miasma into the crown that was floating above his head.

Such an insane amount of miasma was something even the crown of endless realms could not withstand properly, and its consciousness started to break apart almost instantly!

Raika’s body shattered and blew apart, causing an explosion so massive that the space-time fabric broke apart and a gigantic void crack was opened!

As Raika died, Rio whispered faintly,

"I accept being your friend..."

Raika had repeatedly asked for Rio’s friendship, but there were always ulterior motives hidden behind them, and Rio had rejected the friendship every single time.

But of course, despite having ulterior motives, Raika’s ambition of changing the world for the better was indeed a good vision, and Rio respected that vision.

Thus, now that Rio has become the master of the crown, he could finally accept the other party’s friendship, as there would be no more ulterior motives anymore.

’Although I can’t promise anything... I have also been trying to prepare for the day of calamity and have been trying to look for opportunities to change the world for a place where I can live with Lia peacefully...’

’Our goals do align somewhat, but I would do it all at my own pace... Thank you for your help, friend.’

If Raika hadn’t absorbed Aino into himself, Rio could have still thought about agreeing with Raika’s offer.

But once Raika absorbed the power of the legendary skill Absolute Detection, the crown mutated and became capable of locating anything in the universe.

Rio wanted that power for himself, and he couldn’t trust Raika or anyone else to hold authority over a power like that.

Such a power can be used to target Rio if he one day retreats with Lia far away from miasma’s influence and decides to refuse to fight.

Rio wanted to keep all possibilities open and didn’t want someone who could target him so precisely to exist.

Raika having this power was a threat to Rio’s very existence.

Moreover, Rio needed this power to detect the movements of miasmic corruption.

Raika had no such miasmic immunity like him; there was no way he could have told Rio everything he might find out about the movements of the sea of miasma, as he was loyal to miasma.

Rio wanted absolute control over the powers of the crown, and Raika had become an obstacle in his ’path’ that he had to clear no matter what.

"I will make good use of your powers, my friend..."

With the usual emotionless look in his eyes, Rio raised his hand forward and took off the crown floating above his head.

Unlike before, the crown had now become completely black in color; even the gems embedded in it had now become dark purple due to miasmic corruption.

The artifact now had such an insane density of miasma inside of it that if a normal being just looked at it once, their body would mutate into a bizarre meat blob instantly.

Even powerful awakeners like Ashtel would feel uncomfortable coming closer to this artifact from now on, as the miasma inside of it was so dense that it could affect the very ’laws’ of nature.

"In the past all of my stealing sessions went pretty smoothly... this is the first time I have ever had to struggle so much just to steal something..."

With the crown finally in his possession, Rio felt quite good and immediately covered it with his shadow robe’s power to hide its presence before putting it back on his head.

With Rio’s absolute stealth ability covering the crown, it would be impossible for even Ashtel Rex to directly see or sense the crown properly, let alone anyone else.

Keeping the crown hidden was a better choice, as Rio didn’t want Lia and the others to feel uncomfortable looking at that abominable thing floating above his head.

Members of team Astra were all highly resistant to miasmic corruption, but even they wouldn’t be able to withstand the overwhelming power of the insanely corrupted crown.

Only Rio, who was completely immune to the influence of miasmic corruption, could dare to put such a corrupt artifact on his head without worrying!

’I need to check on Link and Lia; they seem to be quite badly affected. Also, I need to bring everyone back home; the matter of the demon king is dangerous; I cannot delay it...’

The demon king was a much bigger threat than Raika; he was a cunning person who was likely plotting something.

Ashtel Rex was the type to charge headlong into everything recklessly without caring about whether he might get stuck in some kind of trap.

Rio was worried about his safety, so he had to urge the group to return early.