Reborn as an Extra Chapter 561: Raika and The Lyre of Faith. Part-4.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
Before Rio had the chance to ask anything, Raika rose from his chair and turned his eyes toward the statue.
"Don't worry about me... You've come all this way with so much effort; wouldn't it be great to learn more about this place?"
Raika's slender fingers danced across the strings, producing a melancholic tune, while he sang in a soft, soothing voice.
...
The melody recounted the saga of the 'Shadow Dragons'; it was the very lullaby Rio remembered Ellie humming to soothe Liam during his injury and sleepless nights.
This tune wove the story of the Shadow Dragon King, who turned against humanity, shattered the global alliance treaty, and inflicted massive devastation on all sides.
Because of his treachery and that of his followers, the world alliance came perilously close to crumbling, allowing demons to almost claim victory in the millennium-long battle to eradicate them.
Had King Allen fallen in that era, the 'thousand-year demon extinction' conflict would have been remembered as 'the war that doomed the world'.
No, there might not have been survivors left to even give it a name; it could have spelled the utter annihilation of every life in this solar system.
The song's closing words, 'the direst curse upon the dragon,' clearly alluded to the dragon king and his entire retinue being exiled to the spirit realm.
They were cast into a domain of endless torment and agony; their doom proved far harsher than instant execution.
'Could it be...'
Rio glanced at the shattered statue, and catching his stare, Raika let out a light laugh before speaking evenly.
"That's right! You've figured it out; this is the effigy of that tragic dragon, indeed! This is the monument to that scheming shadow dragon king, 'Mayur Perperum'!"
"This stands as the likeness of the shadow dragons' ruler who dragged his followers into a destiny worse than oblivion!"
Rio's brow furrowed at Raika's declaration, prompting him to inquire,
"Who would bother erecting a statue for a traitor like that? Don't say his loyalists still saw him as blameless and built this despite his banishment?"
Following the monumental betrayal by the shadow dragon king and his cohort, the majority of shadow dragons faced exile, while those who resisted were slain or fled the solar system entirely.
Rio had visited the dragon valley himself, home to scores of varied dragon species.
Flame-wielding red dragons, water-commanding blue ones, earth and wood-manipulating green dragons, and so on, each with their own sovereign, overseen by a single supreme ruler for the whole lineage.
Such was the fundamental order among dragons.
Shadow dragons had always been scarce, numbering just over a hundred, with nearly all serving directly under their monarch.
Thus, their expulsion effectively erased the shadow dragon lineage from the wider world.
"Hehe, what fate do you imagine befell the shadow dragons after centuries trapped in the spirit realm?"
Raika's expression held a playful glint as he delved into the shadow dragon clan's past.
"The whole spirit realm overflows with miasma... their end must have been truly grim..."
Rio was aware that Ellie, as a Shadow Dragon and kin to dark elementals, possessed strong defenses against miasma and corruption, yet she remained vulnerable to it in full.
Miasma works with relentless patience to unravel a being's life and essence.
Regardless of one's defenses or power, over time and with persistence, it can twist even the mightiest into ruin and ridicule.
For ordinary creatures, a single direct brush with miasma spells agonizing death, and the shadow dragons had endured a miasma-saturated realm for over a thousand years!
This very peril explained the constant concerns over Liam bonding with a shadow dragon.
No one could predict the state of Ellie's true form, turning her into a potential explosive threat that could erupt without warning.
Yet that wasn't the core issue now; Raika's reminder of the song shifted Rio's fears to an entirely new concern.
'Don't say that massive, mighty shadow dragon I glimpsed slumbering atop a highland in that wicked spirit's recollections...'
'Is that the infamous 'Betrayer King of Shadow Dragons'!?... Please, let this not be the case...'
Should that prove accurate, rescuing Liam and Ellie might forever elude Rio.
Against a feeble SS-ranker, Rio could adapt his strategy, grabbing Liam and Ellie to flee!
But confronting a world-alliance deserter twisted by betrayal for intel on them would make extraction all but impossible.
'Worse, miasma's taint could drive him to assault me instantly upon approach, just like that beast horde onslaught...'
'This quest has grown incredibly tough...'
Rio wouldn't bat an eye at some dormant shadow dragon if he were an SS-ranker himself, but his present strength couldn't handle such a threat.
"Why share all this with me? What's in it for you?"
In response to Rio's query, Raika offered a warm smile, trailed his delicate fingers over the lyre he held, and replied.
"I gain your companionship, nothing more!... hehe, anyway, I've shared all I needed to!"
"We'll cross paths again shortly, my dear ally, Rio Flash~"
Before Rio could intervene or react, Raika vanished once more.
He faded from reality itself, leaving no clue behind no matter what Rio attempted to uncover.
"What sort of being is this fellow?... How does he materialize and vanish without a trace like this?..."
If it involved elemental arts or any standard technique, Rio would have mimicked it by now.
Yet Rio detected zero ripples in the local miasma flow or elemental energies!
No spatial ripples occurred, and the fabric of space-time remained utterly steady, ruling out teleportation or dimensional shifts!
'What manner of odd power is this?... The inability to trace his soul waves or psychic marks only complicates it further...'
Even Ashtel Rex trails faint spatial echoes during jumps, but this enigmatic figure upended Rio's understanding with his uncanny abilities.
'Could it stem from that peculiar lyre he wields?'
Much like Rio's blade as a fabled armament, countless mythical relics surely dotted the cosmos.
Rio's sword excelled in ruin and fury, but Raika's odd lyre could harbor potent secrets for masking his aura and shifting locations.
'With teleportation at his command... he could pose the greatest obstacle when I attempt to whisk Liam and Ellie away via a scroll...'
Should Raika navigate spaces freely, he might persistently shadow Rio and emerge as a future hindrance.
'I must address this individual eventually...'
These twin meetings weren't fruitless; Rio had tested conventional scanning on Raika, with most yielding nothing.
Though detection eluded him, he was closing in on the enigmas; the next meeting might reveal insights.
Rio shook his head, gave the damaged statue a final glance, and resumed his journey toward the goal.
'Dangerous as it may be... no alternatives remain for me now...'
This drove Rio's vow to retrieve Liam and Ellie prior to embarking on the mission.
When bound by oaths and compelled to succeed at all costs, one unleashes their utmost potential!
That's why Rio sealed off all retreat options before launch; an unyielding resolve proved vital here.
'Death holds no appeal, with so much yet undone in this existence... yet progress demands embracing peril...'
A certain blonde girl's image surfaced in his thoughts, sparking a grin and fresh resolve to press on.
'Defeat isn't an option; Lia awaits my return. Victory and homecoming lie ahead...'