Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 379 Gears of Destiny

The aftershocks of the explosion swept over like a raging tsunami. Lingyue was thrown into the air by the shockwave, her body arcing through the air before crashing heavily into the cracked rock wall.

The hard rock slammed violently against her back, making a dull thud, as if her bones were about to shatter.

A metallic taste rose in her throat, and she forced herself to look up despite the pain. She saw the altar collapse violently, with rubble and fragments of time and space falling like rain.

Each piece of gravel contained immense power; as it struck the ground, it sent countless sparks flying and produced a deafening sound.

Li Zhao's figure appeared and disappeared amidst the ruins. Although the dark disc on his chest was broken, wisps of dark purple mist still lingered around it, corroding his consciousness like a bone-deep infection. The mist seemed to have a life of its own, constantly seeping into his skin, making his face increasingly distorted.

"It's not over yet..." The voice of the shadowy figure came from the depths of the abyss, accompanied by a teeth-grinding scraping sound, as if countless fingernails were scraping against metal.

Twelve pairs of bone wings emerged from the void, each bone spur dripping black viscous fluid, and wherever they went, the space emitted a crisp sound like shattering glass.

The viscous liquid dripped onto the ground, instantly corroding deep, bottomless pits and emitting pungent smoke.

Even more bizarrely, the dark patterns on Lingyue's wrist suddenly emitted a blinding red light, resonating with the badge in the shadowy figure's palm. Her body uncontrollably floated up and slowly moved towards the abyss.

The dark patterns on her skin felt hot, as if flames were burning within them. With each step she took closer to the abyss, she could feel a powerful suction force, as if it were trying to suck her soul away.

"Let me go!" Lingyue mobilized the remaining power of the fragment, and golden light and dark red patterns collided fiercely within her body.

Her body began to tremble uncontrollably, and large beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

As the forces collided, her vision suddenly blurred, and countless unfamiliar memories flashed through her mind—in ancient times, a group of prophets clad in black robes sat around an altar, injecting an infant-shaped vessel of embryonic form into the dark source.

In another scene, Wenli tearfully places half a fragment into a baby's swaddling clothes. The baby's face is exactly the same as her own when she was a child.

These memories flooded her mind like a tidal wave, giving her a splitting headache, as if her head was about to explode.

"So... I was a pawn from birth..."

Lingyue's murmur was swallowed up by the howling wind.

Suddenly, a warm hand grabbed her wrist.

Li Zhao appeared beside him at some point, his pupils still half-lit and half-dark, yet he forcefully suppressed the darkness within his body with the source of light.

The warmth from his palm brought Lingyue a sense of reassurance.

"Do you remember... our promise?" His voice was hoarse and broken, black blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Each word seemed to draw all his strength from his lips. "Together... let's break this damned fate..."

Li Zhao's eyes were filled with determination. Despite his weakness, he held Lingyue's hand tightly, giving her strength.

The two forces resonated upon contact, and the fragments and the source of light burst forth with dazzling light.

The light illuminated the surrounding darkness, forming a huge protective shield around them.

The shadowy figure's bone wings were almost within reach, each feather transforming into a sharp spear.

The spears, gleaming with a cold light and carrying the aura of death, pierced towards the light barrier.

At the critical moment, a deafening bell suddenly rang out from the space-time rift, and a mysterious figure clad in silver armor stepped into the light, wielding a long sword that completely shattered the bone wings' attack.

The mysterious man's sword clashed with the spear, emitting dazzling sparks, and the powerful force distorted the surrounding space.

"Lingyue, take him with you! I'll hold them off here!"

The mysterious voice sounded familiar, but it was drowned out by the roar of battle.

Looking at the mysterious man's resolute back, Lingyue felt a surge of emotion. She knew this was their only chance to escape.

Lingyue gritted her teeth and nodded, using all her strength to escape with Li Zhao. Her legs felt as heavy as lead, and every step she took was extremely difficult.

But she hadn't flown very far when she felt a surge of power coursing through her body.

Looking back, she saw an even larger dark altar rising from the ruins of the original altar, with countless dark patterns identical to those on her wrist spreading across the ground, forming a massive summoning circle.

The dark patterns flickered with an eerie red light, as if pulsating with an evil heartbeat.

The shadowy figure's body continued to expand within the formation, and its twelve pairs of bone wings merged into a gigantic black heart, each beat causing spatial tremors.

The tremor was like an earthquake, causing the entire space to shake, and Lingyue and Li Zhao almost lost their footing.

"Oh no! The dark will is about to fully awaken!"

The mysterious man's expression suddenly changed drastically, and he shouted in terror.

He swung his longsword suddenly, and a dazzling sword light instantly cleaved through the void, forming a huge spatial rift.

"Quick! Go to the Eye of Time! There might be a way to reverse all of this there!" the mysterious man shouted anxiously, his voice revealing a hint of despair.

A powerful suction force emanated from the spacetime rift, as if it wanted to devour everything around it.

Lingyue hugged Li Zhao tightly and, without hesitation, leaped into the space-time rift.

The moment Lingyue stepped into the crevice, she suddenly caught a glimpse of the shadowy figure's fingertip pointing towards her.

A dark purple beam of light pierced through time and space like lightning, plunging straight into her back.

The intense pain from that beam of light felt like a thousand ants gnawing at her bones. Lingyue felt a sudden darkness before her eyes and almost fainted.

But her unwavering conviction made her grit her teeth and endure the excruciating pain, as she and Li Zhao were swept into the spacetime rift.

When Lingyue opened her eyes again, she found herself in a strange space where stars flowed.

Each star here is suspended with fragments of memory, shimmering with a faint light, as if telling countless stories.

She casually touched one of the pieces and saw herself standing in the center of a dark altar, holding a scepter and looking down upon all living beings.

The image shows a person with cold, dignified, and malevolent eyes.

"Is this... the future?"

She was so startled that she took a half step back, only to bump into a solid chest.

Li Zhao had somehow regained consciousness, his eyes filled with vigilance: "Lingyue, your aura... is off."

His voice was filled with worry, and his gaze was fixed on Lingyue, as if he wanted to find the answer from her.

Before the words were finished, space suddenly twisted violently, and a phantom exactly like Lingyue slowly emerged.

The phantom held the complete dark disc in its hand, a cold smile playing on its lips:

"Welcome to the end of destiny, my other half. When the dark will awakens, all time and space will return to nothingness—and you are destined to become the guide of the new world."

As the illusory figure raised its hand, the entire space began to collapse, and countless fragments of memory transformed into sharp blades, shooting towards Lingyue and Li Zhao...

The blades gleamed with a cold light and moved with incredible speed, as if they would pierce them in the next second.

Lingyue and Li Zhao clasped each other's hands tightly, their eyes filled with determination, ready to face the upcoming challenge.