A Fae Wager

Under the sidelong glances of gamblers—some curious, some mocking—the security captain escorted the two men through the hall without expression.

"Tsk, they've got some nerve, cheating at Fate's Fountain."

"They tired of living? Do they even know who owns this place?"

"They looked pretty sharp. Who knew they were idiots?"

Amid the whispers, Xia Lin felt an icy sensation around his wrists. It was a specially made pair of magical shackles, its silvery-white metal surface engraved with intricate arrays of runes that glimmered faintly.

He tried to stir the Arcane Energy within him, only to find all his magic cut off as though by an invisible membrane.

"Don't waste your effort," the security captain said coldly. "These are mithril restraints, made specifically to counter spellcasters. Even a Seven-Ring Mage would have to obediently follow along in these."

Minsk, on the other hand, remained unusually calm. The nearly spent cigar was still clenched between his lips, and an unfathomable smile even lingered on his face.

They were led away from the bustling casino hall and through an ornately decorated corridor. Oil paintings lined both sides, depicting legendary gambling matches: some people becoming rich overnight, others losing everything; some laughing at the gaming table, others crying in the corners.

But the farther in they went, the stranger their surroundings became.

The walls began taking on unnatural colors, gradually shifting from warm beige to a bizarre hue somewhere between blue and purple.

The marble patterns beneath their feet began to twist, slowly writhing like living things.

A cloying floral fragrance filled the air, mixed with a metallic scent that made them vaguely uneasy.

Even stranger, the light at the end of the corridor came from the walls themselves, like the glow of a living creature.

"What the fuck—" Xia Lin muttered under his