The Nightmare Spindle

As the God of Shadows uttered his threatening words, the scene within the mourning hall changed once more.

The coffin, wreaths, and Posthumous Portrait disappeared, and the lights dimmed.

The walls and floors spun and flipped, quickly transforming into a completely different room—a much darker, more luxuriously decorated one.

A red carpet, upholstered walls, exquisite wrought iron candlesticks, and...

One after another, faceless white dolls in various poses.

The poses of these dolls mostly resemble those of people fleeing or avoiding danger: running in panic, crawling on the ground, kneeling and begging for mercy, falling to the ground and covering their faces with their hands, curling up and hugging their heads...

Their postures are very dynamic, as if frozen in the moment when they are closest to death, but also when their Life Force is at its peak.

Mixed among these pure white, featureless dolls are several wax figures, also frozen in place, that look almost identical to real people.

Those wax figures... were all familiar to Lin Yu.

Or rather, they were all beings familiar to the "Zhu Ming" (the Ming Dynasty).

"Master Thief," "Magician," "God of Cookery," "Mountaineer," "Prisoner," "Embalmer," "Comedian," "Designer," "Fishing Man," "Inventor"...

Lin Yu couldn't help but feel moved when he saw these wax figures of acquaintances who all seemed to be facing a "life-or-death crisis" and whose actions and expressions were quite in line with their own personalities.

"That's pretty good... You've got a whole set of life-size 'Freedom Alliance' Lifesize Figure. I didn't realize you were such a die-hard fan," Lin Yu said, looking at a white figurine among the pile of figures. "Honestly, the atmosphere is definitely creepy... But, so what?"

Dark shadows gradually appeared on the surface of the white doll sitting on the ground. These shadows covered and enveloped the white doll, eventually forming the shape of God of Shadows.

"Well, don't worry, I'll explain the principle behind this Nightmare to you," the God of Shadows got up from the ground, patted his black dress, and although it wasn't dusty, he still did the gesture. "But first tell me—how did you find me?"

"Out of all these dolls, this is the only one with your face facing me directly. Why can't I find you?" Lin Yu sighed. "You didn't really try to hide yourself, did you?"

"So that's how it is. It was my oversight," the God of Shadows readily admitted his mistake, then continued, "In short, this is the Nightmare about the 'future' I prepared for you— Nightmare that I truly have the ability to turn into 'reality'."

"If these dear friends and close Partner of yours were to die, it would be an unbearable Nightmare for you."

The God of Shadows walked gently to the wax figure of "Embalmer" Xiao Yun, and lightly tapped its back. Then, an image appeared between Him and Lin Yu.

It looked like Xiao Yun was dying—a gray Petrification Curse slowly spread across the girl's skin, completely covering her body and gradually stopping her heartbeat and breathing.

Next, the God of Shadows came to the wax figure of the "God of Cookery" and showed the scene of the "God of Cookery" being pierced by thousands of sharp blades falling from the sky, and lying in a pool of blood.

"Do you want to keep watching... the horrific death your friend will face in the future—or rather, do you want to see all of this actually happen?"

The God of Shadows asked, and Lin Yu shook his head.

"Are you trying to scare me by showing me this? I'm starting to doubt your intelligence... Why would I believe that what you're saying could actually come true?"

"These images you showed me didn't so much 'fear' me, but rather... annoyed me."

"I feel you are underestimating me, God of Shadows —even if you are Deity, you shouldn't use such clumsy methods to expect me to panic."

The God of Shadows looked at Lin Yu and grinned.

"I know you'll think that way... but that's okay, you're about to see something that will change your mind—you'll realize that these 'Nightmare' aren't just a way for me to scare you, I actually have the means to make them happen in real life."

"In fact... this was something that was bound to happen in the future."

"And you, my dear 'Xia Yue,' the only way you can stop all this is... to surrender to me—offer your despair, your fear, wallow in Nightmare, beg me to relieve your suffering, become my most loyal servant, my most devout attendant, and I will give you everything you desire."

The God of Shadows stepped forward, his finger gently touching Lin Yu's chest, his dark eyes reflecting Lin Yu's face.

"I truly yearn for your soul, don't let me... be too disappointed."

As the God of Shadows spoke, Lin Yu remained calm.

"Then show me—your confidence."

As Lin Yu spoke, the God of Shadows chuckled and said, "You think I'm bluffing? You're sorely mistaken!"

Then...

The God of Shadows spread his Arms, and the puppets on the ground came to life—their body postures remained unchanged, but their heads twisted abnormally, ignoring their original postures, and all turned to face the direction where Lin Yu was currently located.

Like a sunflower chasing the sun and its light.

The transparent threads on these puppets gradually took shape, tinged with a thick, dark shadow, and eventually all of those threads converged and wrapped around... the hand of the God of Shadows.

In the hand of this Deity lay a slender spindle wrapped with silk threads.

"While none of the three Authority I wield to build my kingdom can predict the future or interfere with reality—neither 'Shadow,' 'Nightmare,' nor 'Pain' can do that... However, if you can borrow the power of 'Authority' without Becoming a God, I can also borrow the power of Authority that don't belong to me by using 'Item' that are tainted by the aura of Authority or related to Authority."

"Even... I can use 'Materialization Authority' —although I must admit that as Deity, with three Authority already in my possession, using other Authority would indeed be difficult and would require considering conflicts, but... it's not impossible."

"Therefore, over the long years past, I once obtained a somewhat peculiar and incomplete 'Authority,' which I corrupted with 'shadow' and attached to the 'Nightmare' I possess."

The God of Shadows toyed with the spindle, letting it roll on his pale, slender fingertips, causing the ink lines to tremble slightly.

"My dear Zhu Ming, Xia Yue, others may not recognize the origin of this thing, but I bet you do."

The God of Shadows said with a smile.

Lin Yu's expression was extremely solemn and grave.

Because he truly knew the origin of the spindle in the God of Shadows' hands—the moment the other party took it out, Lin Yu knew what it was and what Authority it was related to.

It is "Destiny".

This is a [Item] formed from the fragmented, Entities Authority of Fate.

That is, [Fragment of Fate].

The shape of the silk thread and the spindle alone was enough for Lin Yu to confirm it, not to mention the strong "Destiny" aura that Lin Yu was familiar with.

Lin Yu knew that he was probably the one among the "Player" who understood the Authority "Destiny" the most and was most familiar with this aura—even though the "Diviner" Leng Jing and the "Feng Shui Master" Jian Cunyi had also collected [Fragment of Fate], and the "Diviner" even intended to reshape the Authority "Destiny," Lin Yu was still confident that he was definitely more familiar with the aura of the [Fragment of Fate].

Lin Yu knew all too well what the Authority "Destiny" could do.

The God of Shadows imbued the "Nightmare" with [Fragment of Fate] to aid this Authority, so He may indeed possess... the ability to make everything He just witnessed happen.

Or perhaps the God of Shadows doesn't cause those Nightmare scenes to happen, but rather he can foresee and predict future "Nightmare -like" scenes that might occur for someone.

But regardless of the type...

His threat did indeed work on "Zhu Ming"—"Zhu Ming" could not stand idly by and watch the members of the "Freedom Alliance" head towards a future of certain death.

Even if an event is only probabilistic and may not be inevitable, after all, "Destiny" has already been broken; this is merely a fragmented picture revealed by a broken Destiny...

But even if it's just a probability, "Zhu Ming" will definitely try to find a way to avoid this or minimize the probability of these things happening.

Although Lin Yu is not "Zhu Ming," he also does not want the people of the "Freedom Alliance" to die in the near future.

Only...

Lin Yu would not yield to this or sacrifice himself to save them.

"Zhu Ming" wouldn't either.

Looking at the "Destiny Spindle" in the hand of the God of Shadows, stained with shadows and entangled with Nightmare, Lin Yu said in a low voice.

"Thank you for reminding me, but... you're being too optimistic to expect me to willingly submit to you like this."

"I will find my own way to overcome Destiny —just as you said, I know Destiny just as well... I hold a flawed Destiny in my own hands."

The God of Shadows narrowed his eyes. "You still don't understand... You're not just fighting against a 'broken and incomplete' Destiny, but... the 'Nightmare' that devours that Destiny."

"If you don't submit to me, you'll not only lose me as an ally, but I'll also put you on the side of... the 'perpetrator'?"

Lin Yu also said in a low voice, "You're the one who doesn't understand the situation. The venerable, high and Deity —it's not just me, a 'Tier 2' being, who's opposing you, but another... Deity."