Reborn as an Extra Chapter 575: The Grand Seal Of The Final Gamble. Part-5.

In response to Rio's statement, Ellie shot back fiercely,

"I’m no defective dragon! And stop using that name! Only Liam gets to call me that, got it!"

"I’ll make sure to tell Lia all about this the next time I see her!"

Faced with her warning, Rio simply shook his head with a helpless sigh while approaching her.

"So... this must be your true form... meaning... you’re actually a mature woman who ensnared a young fellow like Liam in your schemes..."

Upon catching those remarks, Ellie puffed out her cheeks in a pout and fired back without delay!

"I’m not old at all, alright! By human years, I’m just in my early twenties these days!"

"Besides, I didn’t scheme or lure him in; that fool was head over heels for that silly girl Kira most of the time, you know!..."

"Plus, my summoned version is basically an entirely separate being from myself, since I’m a spirit and that form was truly only sixteen in human terms..."

Rio gave her explanations an eye roll.

"No point in justifying it now; you can explain everything to the authorities later when I turn you over to the child protection services..."

Noticing Rio completely tuning out her defenses, she let out a resigned sigh.

"Ugh, on a technical level, I shouldn’t count as a lawbreaker, right... um... I-I believe that’s the case..."

Brushing off Ellie’s mutterings, Rio turned his gaze toward a massive hill looming far off in the horizon.

Hovering over that hill stood an enormous gate large enough to accommodate five dragon hatchlings all at once!

Its breadth was so vast that a four-story structure could slide through sideways with ease!

However, the gate’s immense scale wasn’t what stunned Rio; what left him reeling was the sight of countless thousands of formidable seals blanketing the whole thing.

He sensed an intensely potent ’Purification Magic’ inscription etched across the colossal gate and the surrounding hill.

The enchantment’s might was such that Rio realized Riya’s own purification spells paled in comparison, like mere child’s play.

"That must be the entrance to the endless sea of miasma... the very spot where King Allen staked his last desperate bet..."

With Rio paying her no mind, Ellie sulked and chimed in,

"Is that worthless gate truly so captivating? You ought to focus more on what this stunning woman has to say, you know. Remember, I’m still upset over how long you kept me waiting..."

At her statement, Rio rolled his eyes once more before responding,

"Stunning woman? Where? All I spot is a millennium-old granny around here~"

Those comments caused Ellie’s bravado to collapse like a burst bubble as she snapped,

"I’m not ancient! Deep down, I’m still just sixteen, you know!"

"I’m absolutely telling Lia how you’ve been picking on me!"

Dismissing her gripes, Rio shifted gears and inquired,

"Putting aside the nonsense, what’s the deal with that idiot Liam? Where is his soul?... I honestly thought I’d step into this enormous enclosure and discover a decaying massive dragon carcass with a hovering spirit nearby..."

"Never imagined I’d arrive in this odd spot full of lush vegetation... what in the world is happening here..."

"Not even a trace of miasmic taint exists in this area, even though it sits smack in the heart of a severely tainted zone...."

Immediately beyond lay myriad thousands of miasmic rifts linking to the miasma sea, gushing forth huge volumes of fluid miasma, while the terrain itself was blanketed in dense sheets of crystallized solid miasma!

And yet, smack in the midst of it, zero corruption lingers, as though this haven has always escaped the grip of decay or miasmic blight entirely!

"This spot is essentially a compact pocket dimension somewhat detached from the spirit world..."

"My father mentioned it to me once and explained how Astra, ’the supreme healer across history,’ inscribed a mighty purification spell right here..."

Having just reined in her irritation from the old hag insult, Ellie offered Rio the explanation he sought.

"My father was aware of this site’s presence... it lay merely a few thousand kilometers from the shadow dragon tribe’s former territory..."

"Sadly... entry is barred to all unless they’re deemed worthy to approach near that colossal gate..."

The colossal gate served as a direct portal to the miasma sea; should an ill-intentioned soul discover it, unleashing devastation on the outer realms would be straightforward.

"I believe Astra and King Allen designed it so that anyone harboring even the tiniest trace of miasma in their form could never set foot in this sanctified pocket dimension..."

Ellie’s revelation caught Rio off guard, prompting him to question her with a puzzled expression,

"So how did you manage to get in here?... Weren’t you raised in the spirit realm?... That should mean you’re riddled with corruption, enough to bar you from this area..."

Ellie let out a sigh in reaction to Rio’s query and answered,

"This represents the ’Grand Seal of the Final Gamble’... the principles of ’Death and Gamble’ have taken form here... Actually, I suspect King Allen imposed them here by force..."

"Should you offer a hefty enough toll and triumph in the life-or-death wager... a wide array of feats becomes achievable within this domain..."

That insight allowed Rio to grasp Ellie’s point fully, though he remained silent and attentive.

"I got exiled from my clan once and opted to leave due to numerous clashes with them..."

"Without stumbling upon this haven, miasmic rot would have claimed me, turning me into a soulless miasma thrall, much like so many others before..."

"Yet I rejected that doomed path and chose to stake my existence here for refuge from the miasma and its poisons... as the cost, I forfeited the chance to depart this place in body forever..."

Rising from the earth, Ellie directed her gaze toward the distant colossal gate.

"For the sake of security, I fused my corporeal form and a fragment of my essence into that grand seal... this marked my ultimate defiance against my fated end..."

On her feet, Ellie towered over Rio in height, yet her power lagged far behind his own.

Even spanning a full thousand years, she lingered at the summit of S-rank; ascending to SS-rank eluded her, lacking the innate gift and confined to a body in a realm where mana faced utmost suppression from miasma.

Talent alone couldn’t elevate her, for the miasma blocked any breakthrough here entirely; reaching SS-rank demanded corruption, which she staunchly declined.

"Fortunately, that very offering is what enabled me to sustain Liam’s soul in stability for such an extended period..."

As she uttered those lines, a bittersweet grin surfaced on her features, veiling untold agonies and trials endured.

Though enduring her own torments, Ellie had preserved Liam’s last glimmer of hope up to this very moment.