Reborn as an Extra Chapter 562: The Curse of Eternal Suffering. Part-1.

Once his attempts to track Raika proved fruitless, Rio pressed on for an entire day under complete concealment.

Guided by the cube's indications, he stuck to the shattered stone path, until at last, a settlement loomed on the distant skyline.

Strange airborne beasts emitted sounds reminiscent of crows while feasting on the countless decaying bodies strewn across the barren landscape.

’Why do countless monster remains litter this entire region?...’

The fractured stone path guided Rio directly toward the settlement on the horizon, with vast numbers of monster cadavers littering both flanks of the route.

Piles of skeletal remains dotted numerous spots, and without his sword intent shielding him, the overwhelming odor of putrefying flesh here would surely have overwhelmed him into unconsciousness!

Beyond the pervasive miasma and decay manifesting as toxic haze in the atmosphere, enormous crow-resembling beasts were devouring the bodies all around!

Every one of those crow-like beasts towered like a three-level structure; their enormous bills were spacious enough to swallow a vehicle whole!

Masses of enormous grubs and vermin endlessly burrowed through their forms from within; observing them induced profound unease due to their utterly repulsive appearance.

’This spirit realm truly brims with peril... these are all pseudo-S rank beasts, and a few even reach S-rank...’

’Even a typical S-ranker couldn’t last beyond a couple of minutes in this hellhole...’

S-rankers represent entities who have shattered their species' boundaries and genetic limits; they surpass common mortals and require no rest, respiration, or sustenance to endure.

Capable of traversing the void and resisting stellar rays along with countless earthly hazards, their life force is so robust that they thrive in nearly any environment.

Nevertheless, beings of such might would probably endure no longer than moments in the spirit realm; this domain posed threats even to SS-rankers, much less to them.

’If these bizarre beasts weren’t so grotesque, I might have snatched a young one as a memento for Lia... wait, but she’s got that plump feline as a companion already, so adding another animal as a present probably isn’t wise...’

’I’ll have to seek an alternative...’

As visions of his adorable partner danced in his thoughts, Rio paid no heed to the grotesque avians and heaps of remains, striding ahead without a care.

This terrain terrified others, yet to him, it held no remarkable danger.

Glancing at his wrist device, Rio realized all signals were absent, since he’d ventured far beyond the solar system into an entirely separate dimension.

’After all, the spirit realm lingers in the space between existence and void... scarcely any relics could enable inter-dimensional contact under these conditions...’

A bizarre cackle shattered Rio’s musings as a colossal rodent-resembling entity emerged from beneath a towering mound of skeletons and cadavers.

Featuring a broad human-like visage, multiple spirits crammed into its frame caused constant ruptures across its structure.

Occasionally, gashes would abruptly form in its abdomen, which it patched by cramming nearby strewn bodies into the gaps.

At times, a whole appendage would explode away, prompting it to seize a stray limb from a carcass and graft it onto the stump.

Its form perpetually decayed and perished, yet it persisted in agony, shedding tears of polluted sludge while emitting eerie chuckles.

’Um... no, it’s plump and spherical, but that doesn’t match the pet style I want... keep your distance, pass...’

Rio veered aside to evade the odd being, yet as though the miasma conspired against his wishes, the enormous rodent’s frame detonated from toxic disequilibrium!

Sending foul, festering flesh fragments flying in all directions, inflicting severe psychological revulsion on anyone witnessing the spectacle.

’Ugh, now that physical confrontation fails against me, you’re resorting to irking me with these revolting displays?’

’You’re such a bitter defeated foe, aren’t you?...’

Miasma delighted in ridiculing cherished possessions and existences, and failing that, it sought to taint and eliminate targets through whatever means available.

Over the past month, miasma had unleashed numerous assaults on Rio, nearly all of which had crumbled into failure.

Far from sustaining harm, Rio had grown more potent by turning the miasma to serve his needs.

’Honestly, I’d get irritated too if my strikes and abilities bounced off someone so completely that they dismissed them as mere caresses...’

Rio even substituted miasma for water in his cleansing routines, clearly demonstrating his utter disregard for its offensive maneuvers and ploys.

’On second thought, repurposing an enemy’s onslaughts to purify oneself... hmm... I might rage if someone slighted me in such a manner...’

Though a twinge of sympathy stirred for the miasma, Rio had no intention of ceasing his ways.

’Besides... who made it so soothing, snug, and relaxing... it feels just like a soothing rubdown or the like...’

Rio merely lifted his shoulders in indifference, ascended briefly into the sky, and skirted the dispersed gore below to prevent contact.

En route to the far-off settlement, Rio encountered assorted bizarre entities such as massive slugs and even oversized roaches, all nibbling at the monster remains dotting the area.

The whole zone suffered from miasma, decay, and decomposition; the soil itself lay blanketed in spoiled tissue and congealed dark ichor tainted by the blight.

’This spot is utterly messed up... what’s with all these cadavers heaped around anyway?...’

However, Rio quickly grasped the reason behind it.

Approaching the settlement, he beheld shadow dragons for the initial time since stepping into the spirit realm and journeying through it nonstop for a full month!

Two diminutive shadow dragons, clad in ashen-dark scales, assaulted a massive ape-resembling fiend draped in festering, malformed viscera across its frame.

Having witnessed Ellie in draconic shape, Rio readily identified these pair as shadow dragons; merely, their stature was quite reduced.

’Dragon younglings? They’re mere juveniles!! Why are they preying on beasts!?’

Shock gripped Rio upon sensing the faint soul auras from these two shadow dragons, their forms appearing underdeveloped; evidently, they were youngsters!

Though each measured the size of a two-floor edifice—petite for dragons—they were at the stage where they ought to nestle in parental embrace!

’In human terms, a dragon whelp equates to a child of 5 to 12 years... these pair don’t belong here... and moreover, they’re deeply tainted by miasma!’

One lacked a tail and bled nonstop; its gaze burned crimson, with its whole body slicked in ebony tainted fluid.

The other whelp bore a vast crater in its skull, exposing its cerebrum openly, leaving Rio baffled at how it clung to life amid such grievous wounds.

Confronted by this scene, Rio at last comprehended the immense penalty inflicted on shadow dragons for their disloyalty to the world alliance.

Beyond exile to the spirit realm, their blameless offspring endured the repercussions of their forebears’ transgressions.

Such a sanction was dire enough to shatter the prospects of myriad guiltless existences.

In the dragon valley, Rio had observed whelps and young drakes frolicking joyfully, interacting like everyday children.

Juxtaposing that bliss with the current horror illuminated for Rio the curse’s ruthless toll on shadow dragons.

’The retribution for almost dooming the world is truly merciless... so even you harbored such ruthless traits... King Allen?’...

Rio couldn’t deem King Allen’s judgment of the shadow dragons unjust, yet he recoiled from the merciless destiny imposed on these unoffending youths.

’Sigh... this realm is truly a nightmare... I suppose this mirrors what Alverto faced daily in the demon lands...’

All Rio could muster was a heavy breath, powerless to alter the circumstances.

Once the duo of whelps scarcely felled the ape-like horror, they turned on one another right away to seize the spoils.

No bonds of fellowship existed between them; only raw despair, impotence, and terror of perishing filled the shattered gazes of those tormented young.

They appeared too frantic to tend their wounds, prioritizing the quarry over their very survival!

This was the malediction of torment they bore, a legacy of their sires’ misdeeds that forced such suffering upon them.