Reborn as an Extra Chapter 595: Soul Merge. Part-1.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
A gateway materialized next to the enormous door, and Rio emerged from it, his expression weary and drained.
Even with his unexpected advancement in the midst of combat allowing him to mend the main wounds, Rio still ended up with numerous small injuries from blocking Raika's most devastating blow using his own strength.
Small gashes and bruises marked his form everywhere, including a few fractured bones, yet these were mere trivial harms, and Rio felt no great concern over them.
As soon as he exited the teleportation gateway, Rio drew in the nearby miasma and employed it to restore his health.
He had consumed plenty of mana potions and absorbed them under duress, leading to a harsh reaction within his system.
While he had wielded sword intent to control and minimize the repercussions of that compelled mana absorption to minimal degrees, it nonetheless inflicted massive harm deep inside his frame.
Fortunately, abundant miasma lingered in the area, serving as a substitute energy for his recovery.
If not for that, Rio would have needed to rely on potent healing elixirs, since the mana backlash left him unable to wield mana effectively at present.
Dragging his exhausted and injured form, Rio made his way to the rear of the colossal door to find Ellie.
’The outer barrier of the mighty seal has crumbled entirely... even the central zones lie in ruins...’
’No traces of life remain detectable in the vicinity...’
Every stride came with heavy effort and strain; the dread of halting forever echoed relentlessly in Rio’s thoughts, yet retreat was impossible for him.
It demanded vast resolve from Rio to press on, and the sight that greeted him froze him in place with astonishment.
Elisia Mistiltienn, the shadow dragon and a companion who had shared countless journeys with Rio and his allies, now lay motionless upon the earth, devoid of life.
Her eyelids were shut, a serene expression of ease on her features; a faint smile graced her mouth, giving her an aura of utter tranquility.
Her form bore countless fist-sized punctures, with blood staining the ground around her, yet strangely, blood loss did not appear to be her cause of death.
Elisia had given up her soul essence and all leftover life force to call forth Liam’s soul into her presence.
Liam’s soul rested calmly within her hold, shielded by her lifeless remains, while the broken remnants of Elisia’s own soul clustered protectively near Liam’s essence.
’I arrived to retrieve them both... I vowed to rescue them... and...’
Rio had never imagined, not even in his wildest visions, that Elisia would perish in such a manner or that Liam’s existence would fade so utterly.
’How do I explain this to the rest now?...’
Rio possessed no response to that dilemma.
The most heartbreaking aspect was Rio’s inability to experience sorrow, remorse, or any form of regret right then.
Elevating his sword intent proficiency to 99.99% had not been ’gratis’.
Deepening the ’comprehension’ of the ’Path’ that Rio followed had not been ’gratis’.
Diminishing the ’flaws’ within his ’flawed sword heart’ and ’flawed sword body’ had not been ’gratis’.
Rio’s surge in power had never been ’gratis’.
It carried a ’price,’ and Rio settled it once more by surrendering his feelings.
Yet again, he grew even more devoid of emotion. So devoid that Rio couldn’t even muster grief over Elisia’s passing.
He felt no blame for permitting her end in that way; he felt no sorrow for failing to preserve her.
In that instant, Rio sensed absolutely nothing.
He remained rooted there, ’numb,’ ’detached,’ and ’untouched’; his injuries mended automatically via miasma, with every lesion fading gradually as his mana began to regenerate independently.
His sword intent alleviated all strain and injury from his physique.
Rio stayed ’untouched’ by the prior desperate clash, but Elisia... She had settled the toll with her very existence.
’Maybe I ought to have struck down that wretched Raika right at our initial encounter...’
At that time, Rio lacked knowledge of Raika’s nature or identity, even confusing him for an SS-ranker, so he avoided any confrontation.
Only after Raika seized Liam’s soul as leverage did Rio have no choice but to draw his blade against him and engage in direct combat.
Without that pressure, Rio might have evaded battling Raika altogether.
Elisia would still be breathing and safe.
She could have remained trapped in this prison, but survival would have been hers.
Fixed in position, Rio found himself unable to ponder next steps; his thoughts stalled, leaving him to merely channel his miasma manipulation and ward off the miasma from nearing her corpse.
Just as despair began to overwhelm Rio, Lia’s parting words to him resurfaced vividly in his consciousness.
Recalling them, Rio’s gaze widened abruptly, and his sword intent surged back to vibrant energy in the following instant!
"Yes! I can’t accept defeat like that!"
’Lia trusts that I’m capable of anything! I won’t yield until I’ve given my all!’
Rio swiftly ran through countless scenarios in his thoughts, birthing a fresh concept within.
’What if... I fuse the broken soul fragments anew?’
That notion struck Rio’s mind like a sudden revelation breaking through!
Fusing souls stood as an almost unattainable feat that even Miasma had failed at over millennia!
Yet Rio understood it appeared nearly impossible, but truly was not!
Rio embodied the tangible evidence that soul fusion could indeed succeed, as he lived and breathed it!
’If anyone in existence can achieve this... it must be me...’
Since stepping into the Spirit Realm, Rio’s command and insight into miasma and souls had advanced at an extraordinary rate!
Rio had observed vast multitudes of monsters and creatures harboring multiple souls, all botched experiments from Miasma.
Their essences failed to blend seamlessly, rendering them defective.
Rio had conducted extensive trials and analyses on those defects, elevating his soul expertise to unmatched heights—none in the world surpassed his lore on souls!
Prior to Alverto’s demise, he held ’soul resonance,’ but now Rio reigned as the supreme authority on souls and miasma!
Furthermore, he alone across the cosmos had flawlessly united his dual souls!
No individual grasped soul fusion more thoroughly than Rio!
"Her soul fragmented due to her offering its power, unable to bear the load and splintering into shards..."
"But if I utilize the identical soul fusion method on her fractured pieces..."
"I ought to be able to restore her soul to wholeness..."