Reborn as an Extra Chapter 563: The Curse of Eternal Suffering. Part-2.

Rio found himself frozen in place, forced to witness the brutal carnage as the creatures tore into one another without mercy.

Attempting to cleanse the miasma from their systems or mend their wounds would only cause the toxic force to erupt violently within them, shredding their forms from the inside.

’The deeper my understanding of miasma grows, the more it fills me with utter disgust...’

The sheer terror of miasma explains why folks everywhere recoil in unease whenever Rio unleashes it beyond these shadowed lands.

Its nightmarish essence spares no one—not even demons find respite from its grasp, much less any other souls.

’Despite ascending to such formidable heights of power, I remain utterly powerless before the raw might of nature’s whims...’

In his present state, Rio possessed the might to crumble peaks, redirect raging streams, level entire settlements with a single blade stroke, and dismantle any foe shy of SS rank into oblivion.

Nevertheless, he stood no chance against the unyielding laws woven into the fabric of existence itself.

With mana’s enduring presence in this realm, miasma lingers eternally too, and wherever mana grants boons to some, it dooms others to miasma’s cruel curse.

This forms the unbreakable cycle of the cosmos; altering it lies beyond mortal reach.

Alverto had dared to challenge this balance, yet his vision of a ’new order’ carried its own cracks—a realm can never achieve flawless harmony, always riddled with imperfections that breed injustice for the masses.

’Sigh... I must locate Liam swiftly, or he’ll endure a similar doom if abandoned in this forsaken spot...’

With a heavy shake of his head, Rio drew in a steadying breath before pressing onward.

As he drew nearer to the crumbling settlement in the distance, the number of dragon whelps swarming the vicinity surged dramatically.

Among them, one lay grievously wounded, yet its kin showed no pity—they shoved it aside and devoured it alive, ignoring its agonized wails to sate their ravenous needs.

Nearby, a beast resembling an ape clutched a shadow dragon whelp by the tail, whirling it wildly before slamming it repeatedly into its fellow dragons.

The hapless whelp gripped in its grasp teetered on the brink of oblivion, trapped in miasma’s cruel limbo where neither true death nor life could claim it.

The most agonizing truth was Rio’s utter impotence to aid them, for his approach would doom them via the lethal taint of miasmic corruption.

Upon arriving at the town’s primary gateway, Rio observed how certain whelps, victorious in their pursuits, hauled slain monster remains back into the ruins.

Within the confines of the town, hostilities ceased among them, and they collectively amassed the fallen beasts upon a colossal altar dominating the settlement’s heart.

Not a trace of mature shadow dragons appeared anywhere; only a handful of exhausted elder whelps lay unconscious amid the town’s shattered, open-roofed dwellings.

Stepping into the town, Rio spotted carvings and building designs echoing those from the dragon valley he’d explored previously.

However, with most structures reduced to rubble—walls and supports largely collapsed—Rio struggled to fully grasp the distinctive flair of shadow dragon craftsmanship.

The entire settlement exuded an eerie strangeness.

Solely the shadow dragon whelps teetering on death’s edge reclined in repose; the rest either ventured out to hunt beasts or labored to heap bodies onto the immense altar.

Shockingly, slain shadow dragon remains mingled with the monster cadavers, revealing their indifference to ally or adversary.

Here, even the bodies of their own kind served as offerings.

’But where on earth have those adult shadow dragons vanished to? I sense no hint of their aura anywhere...’

Perched atop a towering column beside the central altar, Rio scanned every corner, yet uncovered nothing of note.

Having approached from the town’s southern edge, his gaze fell northward to a vast valley sprawling endlessly.

Beyond that expansive chasm loomed the immense Big Plateau, vivid in the recollections of that malevolent spirit.

This plateau stretched to absurd proportions, its summit shrouded entirely by swirling miasmic vapors overhead, denying Rio even a glimpse of its peak.

The most staggering horror was the valley floor below, brimming with viscous liquid miasma that crept along like a sluggish stream.

’This domain surpasses my darkest fears... it radiates the aura of an ultimate boss lair...’

In countless games, a sanctuary town offers gear upgrades and save points, only for the path ahead to lead straight to the endgame titan, a foe so overwhelming it demands endless retries.

Such an ominous atmosphere enveloped this place for Rio.

’Does the mighty shadow dragon king dwell atop that plateau?’

Now mere kilometers from the plateau’s crest, Rio already detected an overwhelming aura emanating from it.

The draconic pressure crushed with ferocious intensity, compelling Rio to push his concealment skills to their utmost to evade detection by that colossal entity.

’Yet skulking in shadows won’t suffice forever... I must face it directly at some point...’

Rio held no rush to clash outright with that enormous, formidable beast just yet; intel-gathering took precedence.

’Locating those missing adult shadow dragons or a lead on Ellie’s whereabouts could spare me a reckless frontal assault...’

A precise strike into that colossal dragon’s flesh would unlock its memories and reveal Ellie’s position, but executing such a move demanded a solid strategy.

’On another note... what purpose does this peculiar altar serve?...’

Rio recalled an altar from the Spire of Ascension, but it paled in comparison to this one’s design.

The prior artifact had been Alverto’s tool for reshaping reality, far more intricate and energy-draining than this modest construct.

’Miasma currents swirl thickly around it... likely it’s endured for ages, drawing the toxin to accumulate densely nearby...’

’Those patterns... the magical conduits and energy points... could this be a portal array?’

Academy lessons had schooled Rio extensively on awakener tactics and arcane workings.

Among the topics, classifications of magical arrays and pathways common in labyrinths and forgotten sites stood out.

For elite awakeners, discerning a circle’s function proved vital.

Numerous dungeons feature arrays that shift explorers between locations, while others trigger deadly snares.

Ignorance of these elements spells disaster for the unprepared delving into such perils firsthand.

’If this is a gateway altar, then why pile corpses atop it... what destination does it link to-’

A startling realization struck Rio, widening his eyes in dismay.

’Hold on... are these whelps merely ferrying sustenance via teleportation to that slumbering behemoth on the plateau?...’

’Is this a ritual site that delivers meals straight to the dragon’s jaws?...’

Rio’s brow furrowed deeply at the grim possibility.

’Why rely on others for provisions, though... couldn’t it sustain itself on pure miasma? It’s steeped in corruption, drawing power from the stuff, isn’t it?...’

’And should hunger gnaw at it, its immense strength should allow self-provisioning hunts... how peculiar...’

Rio ascended gradually into the skies, drifting at a snail’s pace to orbit the town and scrutinize every detail.

A ring of stone barriers encircled the town, fractured and battered in countless spots, while streets lay buried under rubble and congealed ebony stains.

Occasionally, the valley’s miasma reservoir birthed enormous bubbles that lifted the filth skyward, only to rupture over the town and drench it in fresh waves of poison.

This hellish abode faced relentless assault and corrosion from the miasma’s advance.

The recuperating whelps bore grotesque miasmic decay, their forms rotting away while consciousness flickered on.

’They offer fallen kin to the altar... implying the titan devours its own species as well?...’

’No surprise that vile orc spirit earned its favor... both revel in cannibalistic rites!’

Rio now felt certain the orc spirit, lost in the spirit realm, had been twisted into an evil entity by the colossal shadow dragon’s own miasmic influence.