As if he had entered a completely separate world, Rio could not sense anything outside this small cave with his mana sense.
’If the entire floor 2 is a memory, then I have just entered the most important part of it...’
’The focus point has changed, which means anything that exists outside has disappeared...’
Just like in a story, when the narrative talks about one particular event, the other events outside seem like they don’t even exist at all.
’A weird sensation...’
Rio sheathed his sword and found a nearby rock to sit down as he watched the werewolf girl take care of the demon’s wounds.
’That demon is Alverto...’
Rio has seen Alverto’s face when fighting him.
Even though this demon looks much younger, Rio can still recognize that familiar face.
’Is this a memory of his younger days?’
’How old is this memory for him to be so young... a hundred years?’
Usually, demons have a longer lifespan compared to humans, but royal demons are entirely different.
They are closer to dragons and high elves in terms of their life span and talent levels.
Just like how dragons are born strong with a lot of knowledge stored in their minds from birth, royal demons are also much stronger directly from the start.
They all inherit the royal bloodline and have a demon name that grants them immense knowledge.
Even if you kill all royal demons and demon kings while leaving just a single royal demon alive, the knowledge of the demon race will still live within that demon, and it can still become a demon king.
King Allen Von Reinhart eradicated the entire Royal Demon bloodline seven times over and massacred all royal demons without leaving a single one alive.
Yet there are still Royal Demons left in the world.
One of the main reasons King Allen finally stopped the thousand-year demon extinction war is that, despite killing all the royal demons, new ones continued to appear.
Miasma ’favors’ the demon races significantly; even if all royal demons are eradicated, the ’law’ of ’miasma’ allows another random demon to awaken royal blood on its own, thereby elevating it to the rank of a demon king.
Although miasma is the reason for their violent tendencies, demons can’t seem to live without it either.
Unless the ’law’ of ’miasma’ ceases to exist, demons will also continue to exist. This is the conclusion humanity reached after massacring demons for a thousand years.
The fact that Alverto appears so young in this memory suggests that it is likely a hundred or even two hundred years old.
’I feel kind of uneasy whenever I try to think about using the soul memory reading ability on this particular memory...’
’This is weird...’
As an emotionless guy with emotions suppressed to the very lowest levels, feeling any emotion is extremely difficult for him.
In order to feel any emotion, the reason behind that emotion must be strong enough; otherwise, he won’t even feel it.
Rio sheathed his sword and obediently sat down because he felt weirdly uneasy standing there with a sword pointed at that memory of Alverto.
’My intuition is warning me not to read that memory with my memory reading skill...’
’Sword Intent’ is a very powerful legendary skill; Rio uses it most of the time whenever he uses any of his skills to boost their power.
Yet, right now, Rio didn’t feel like using it.
’My sword intent is being suppressed by something... even if I use it to boost the soul reading skill, it will likely not be able to protect me from whatever backlash I will suffer...’
Ever since Rio got ’True Immunity,’ he has never had to avoid any unusual type of damage, but today he felt that he shouldn’t risk it.
As if a certain change had happened, the memory suddenly changed.
The wound of the young Alverto healed fast as the werewolf took care of him.
She would go out of the cave daily to collect precious herbs from nearby places and come back with small mutated animals that she had hunted for eating.
Then she would roast the meat near the entrance using dry wood for fire and eat it to fill her own stomach while also making soup for Alverto to drink in his unconscious state.
The speed at which the memory changed increased; thus, Rio could see it all.
Days passed in the memory, but only a few minutes had passed from Rio’s perspective.
He saw her struggle, he saw her craftily make traps to catch prey, and he saw her get injured in sudden encounters.
Several times she was unsuccessful in hunting and had to sleep with an empty stomach.
Life was hard; thankfully no demon chased her to the cave because of Alverto’s lingering aura in this place.
’This memory is so detailed, almost as if it’s the memory of that wolf girl... I guess she must have told Alverto about her experiences later on in life...’
Even Rio was impressed by her diligence.
Despite being a demon, she seemed ’unique.’
’Who is this demon girl? usual demons aren’t intelligent enough to cooperate and show kindness to other demons...’
’In fact, even royal demons who are the most intelligent demons don’t show kindness to even their own kin... yet here she is, taking care of a random demon, she met coincidentally...’
Rio shook his head and glanced at Alverto’s unconscious body with a look of caution.
’The more I look at this memory, the more uneasy I feel... the feeling of unease is increasing and the suppression on my sword intent is increasing rapidly...’
’This is the first time I have ever met such a situation...’
A legendary skill can only be suppressed in very rare circumstances.
To suppress the opponent’s legendary skill, you have to have more proficiency in your own legendary skill, or you have to use some other power related to the ’laws’ of the ’world.’
SS-rankers have ’World Authority,’ which is basically equal to or sometimes stronger than legendary skills in some conditions, so they can also be used.
’At this point of time, I don’t think Alverto has any legendary skill or world authority... then why is my sword intent feeling such intense suppression from just a memory?’
If Alverto himself had such a strong ability to suppress Rio’s sword intent, he would have definitely used it in the earlier fight, but he didn’t, which also makes this situation even weirder.
A hint of suspicion appeared on Rio’s face as he kept thinking about the situation.
’Is he in contact with some higher being in this particular point of time in this memory?’
Peak SS-rankers are basically demi-gods; some people even worship them as deities walking on earth.
In myths and legends, it’s said that a mortal can’t look directly at gods; otherwise, they will suffer severe backlash. Every power in existence gets suppressed just from their presence alone.
’But how can this be... the SSS-rank boss only descended near the end parts of the novel... and this memory is hundreds of years older...’
’How can Alverto come in contact with it so early...’
The more Rio thought about this possibility, the more agitated his heart became and the creepier the memory became.
If not for the fact that Rio was using his sword intent to protect his mind, soul, and body at full capacity, he wouldn’t have been able to suppress this increasing sense of unease.
Time passed and an hour flew; at this point, Rio could almost already sense the presence of some kind of extreme evil, some kind of being whose mere presence was causing him to feel immense pressure.
[Warning! You have come into contact with the presence of ????!!!]
[Ding! True Immunity triggered!]
[Ding! You are now immune to ’Cosmic Degradation’!]
[Ding! True Immunity triggered!]
[Ding! You are now immune to ’Gene Collapse’!]
[Ding! True Immunity triggered!]
[Ding! You are now immune to ’Pathway Collapse’!]
[Ding! True Immunity triggered!]
[Ding! You are now immune to ’Instant Demonification Gene Alternation’!]
[Ding! True Immunity cannot counterattack due to lack of power!]
[Ding! It is recommended that the host immediately break away contact from this memory point!]
Rio’s eyes became red, and tears of blood appeared from them instantly.
Suddenly, blood began to flow from his mouth, eyes, ears, and nose.
His mind became a mess, and his senses started screaming at him to leave this place immediately.
In those moments of extreme difficulty, Rio watched the werewolf girl mutate a bit.
Her aura became stronger, and she became more human-like. Her intelligence seemed to have improved all of a sudden due to the influence of the presence that was leaking from Alverto’s body.
At this point, Rio was sure of it; Alverto’s soul seemed to have come in contact with some kind of powerful entity.
That particular entity was likely having a conversation with Alverto in his sea of consciousness.
Its presence was strengthening both Alverto and the werewolf in every aspect.
*Crack* *Crack*
As if a mirror were shattering, the memory suddenly started to collapse and shatter in front of Rio.
Rio didn’t move and watched the entire floor 2 collapse in front of him.
He sank deeper, and after a while, he finally reached it.
Floor 1.
Rio found himself standing in a wide corridor. Everything around him was pure white.
There was only one path in this place, which was leading forward.
Rio took out a handkerchief and wiped off the blood from his face.
[Sword Intent!]
[Elemental Sword Art: Healing Type: Active Heal!]
Rio burned his mana to heal himself from whatever damage he had sustained. His eyes narrowed as a look of determination appeared on his face.
’Thankfully I have true immunity; I don’t have to worry about any other form of corruption... I only suffered some physical damage...’
He shook his head and stepped forward without hesitation.
’I must figure everything out right now... if this is what I am thinking it is, then we are really screwed this time...’