Reborn as an Extra Chapter 582: Raika and The Lyre of Faith. Part-5.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
Rio wouldn't give up his personal 'Path,' nor would he desert Liam, given his vow to rescue him by any means necessary.
He'd selected a 'Path' toward future joy and tranquility, yet should Rio turn into a 'hero,' that 'Path' would veer off into an entirely undesired route.
Rio remained clueless about Raika's true intentions, what he sought from him, or the reason for his persistent harassment, but one certainty stood out: Rio refused to yield.
When neither side yields ground, refuses to alter their 'paths,' or steps aside, those 'paths' inevitably clash, forcing a direct confrontation.
At that juncture, no further discussions or bargains remained; it fell to Rio alone to eliminate Raika from his 'path' and eliminate this blockage ahead.
Skills of the fire type excel at dismantling illusion-based powers.
Illusions typically arise from tampering with nearby light elements, water elements, or even the wind.
As a result, fire elementals serve as a frequent counter to numerous illusion varieties.
So far, Rio couldn't unravel how Raika materialized and vanished without trace, leaving no ripples in space or mana.
His detection via mana sense, miasma sense, and sword intent—all had utterly failed to uncover Raika's nature or the mystery surrounding him.
Therefore, Rio had no option but to unleash a barrage of skills, employing elimination to probe his secrets through diverse assaults and techniques.
Starting with the fire assault, Rio lunged at Raika, who assumed a mid-stance and slashed his blade in an upward vertical sweep!
Flames enveloped his sword with such density that the blaze glowed deep blue, signaling an intensely potent inferno.
"Hoh~ you don’t really think I’d confront you directly without gauging your strength, Rio?"
"I came prepared!!"
A broad smile spread across Raika’s features as he vanished from position in a flash and materialized directly behind Rio.
With a gentle pluck at one of his lyre's strings and a smirk, Raika triggered Rio's senses to blare warnings of peril, yet it proved too late.
A resounding echo boomed across the zone, unleashing a shockwave that pierced the space-time weave, evading Rio’s sword intent and all defenses entirely!
Like a projectile from a cannon, Rio hurtled backward from the strike, crashing through countless trees before slamming into the earth!
The force of Rio's collision carved a vast crater spanning hundreds of meters, while shattering most puppets and phantom trees within this enormous enclosure!
Fragments scattered everywhere, and the currents of miasma and mana throughout the vast cage grew chaotic.
Coughing up blood, Rio scrambled to his feet with an expression of utter disbelief.
"This strike!?... It’s Ashtel Rex’s trademark technique!!"
Ashtel Rex, the planet's mightiest warrior, wields the 'World Authority' of 'Shockwave'; it empowers him to generate devastating shockwaves surpassing light speed, channeled through the space-time medium.
These shockwaves warp the space-time weave or even fracture it as required, and every blow they deliver effortlessly bypasses any defenses one might possess.
The primary terror Ashtel Rex instills in countless SS-rankers stems from his strikes being virtually impossible to parry!
To counter them, one must reinforce the full space-time structure just for a shot at matching him evenly!
Though Rio’s sword intent packs immense power, it remains an attack-oriented skill; defense isn't its purpose.
Without achieving flawless sword intent command, Rio can't ward off world authorities or assaults that exploit the space-time weave to inflict damage!
Rio had witnessed Ashtel deploy his skills and powers repeatedly, including his 'World Authority' on several occasions, making him intimately acquainted with that force.
Thus, he swiftly realized Raika's technique closely mirrored the one Ashtel Rex favored!
"Oho~ You caught on quickly. I figured you’d need a couple more blows to piece it together... but then, that’s precisely why you stand out, isn’t it?"
"You’re Rio Flash, after all, the master copier of others’ skills and powers... naturally, you’d recognize ones you’ve observed..."
As Rio channeled healing elementals to mend his wounds, Raika popped up right next to him, lounging atop a rock with total ease, as if exerting no effort whatsoever.
"Now that you realize my energy draws from miasma... you could unravel more if I drag this fight out..."
Raika drew power from miasma, confirming he wasn't aligned with the World Alliance or any wandering awakener.
This narrowed options to mere possibilities: a demon, a human twisted by demonic influence, an malevolent spirit, or a mutated beast.
Before Rio could delve deeper into speculation, Raika strummed his lyre anew, and a surge of miasma emanated from him, but Rio, defying his agony, responded swiftly.
Rio extended his sword intent across the vicinity while aiming his blade downward.
Through this, he disrupted the regional miasma currents with his own miasma manipulation!
The interference from Rio scrambled Raika’s miasma channels, halting his technique halfway and sparking a miasma backlash!
"Hoh?... It looks like your extended time in the spirit realm has honed your miasma control to an impressive degree..."
"You disrupted my miasma grip even without detecting my location via sword intent..."
Brushing off Raika’s remarks, Rio hoisted his sword overhead into position.
With fire elementals proving ineffective, Rio shifted to his backup tactic, opting for space-type skills against Raika.
Rio wielded his sword as a needle, the space-time weave as fabric, and sword intent as stitching.
He charged Raika’s flank, twisted the space-time weave, and sought to stitch it shut around Raika, trapping him in place.
"That won’t stop me either~"
Even as Rio labored to seal the space and harness the space-time weave to halt him, Raika evaded effortlessly!
’He’s immune to space-type powers too!?’
This revelation truly stunned Rio; not even SS-rankers could casually dismiss alterations to the surrounding space-time weave.
Rio managed spatial suture within the spirit realm due to the realm's frailer space versus the outer world.
His stitching pace for containment was swift; barring Raika deploying a counter space ability, escape from such binding should have been improbable.
Yet, astonishingly, Raika required no space or time powers at all!
He erased himself from being and rematerialized behind Rio, utterly untouched by worldly shifts.
’What sort of bizarre power is this!? A world authority!? Yet I detect no distinctive spatial or mental pulses typical of SS-rankers activating world authorities from him!’
Deeply puzzled, Rio spotted Raika’s easy escape and hastily adapted, swinging his sword rearward, though Raika anticipated it.
"You truly impress, Rio Flash; without my abilities’ singular traits... I’d have no choice but to unleash my full might against you..."
"Fortunately, your sword intent lacks perfect mastery, or our encounter would’ve waited until far later..."
"That’d be disappointing, wouldn’t it?"
Noticing Raika gearing up another skill, Rio attempted to sever the miasma flow once more, but that proved a grave error.
For this instance, Raika fueled his skill with ’mana’!
"What!? You can wield mana too!?"
So stunned was Rio that he failed to evade, taking the hit squarely!
Though Rio couldn’t respond in time, his 'True Immunity' fully repelled the strange assault targeting his vital essence.
"Hmm? What? I figured that would land? Strange... you’ve got hidden tricks I’m unaware of?"
Shock flickered on Raika’s face upon realizing Rio emerged unscathed from the strike.
"Intriguing... you’re truly captivating, Rio Flash~"