Hinata held the wheel even more firmly this time. Not just him, even the head held its breath. So far, everything he had gotten from the Gacha was good, but none of it actually represented a Shadow God.
Since Hinata was still new to this world, he didn't understand its mechanisms enough to give an opinion, nor did he want to ask the head.
Maybe if he didn't get any shadow abilities after this pull, the world would revoke the title of Shadow God from him.
With a breath, he spun the wheel. The wheel spun again and again, its segments clicking each time they passed the arrow.
Hinata's gaze didn't shift from it, making the chamber fill with tense silence.
After what felt like eternity, the wheel began slowing down. Hinata felt like biting his nails. He took one breath after another. The air was strangely cold now, sweat rolling down the back of his hand.
When the Gacha came to a halt, it exploded in a brilliant golden light.
The shadows in the chamber began dancing around, their forms changing, reverting, then changing again. To Hinata, it felt like someone had started a puppetry play, but instead of dolls, they were using shadows.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Congratula—]
The Gacha system stopped mid-sentence, then without Hinata's intervention, it spun its own wheel again.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" he asked, his tone dark.
The Gacha didn't listen to him, or pretended not to. The wheel spun faster than Hinata could ever spin it. After a few seconds of even harsher tension, it came to a halt, only to spin again.
Hinata clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing. "What the hell do you—"
Before he could take a step forward, the head intercepted him, forming two large ghostly hands to block his path.
Hinata tilted his head, a bit unnaturally. "Relax? You expect me to relax when that thing is clearly trying to scam me?"
The head looked away, trying its best to avoid Hinata's piercing gaze.
"What are you even saying right now? None of that explains what is happening. Why is the Gacha system trying to give me another reward?"
Hinata narrowed his eyes, the dark circles rimming them adding a subtly deadly look to him. He didn't understand the head, and deep down he knew he never truly would. One thing he did trust was their contract.
With a sigh, he relaxed. As if on cue, the Gacha system came to a halt. Unlike before, it didn't seem excited. Even its bright golden glow had vanished.
The head moved toward it first. From a normal perspective, it didn't seem suspicious, but Hinata knew that as divine forces, the two of them had their own special way of communicating. Even knowing that, he didn't move from where he stood.
When the head finished whatever it was doing, it turned to Hinata with a grim expression. Even though it had a ghostly face Hinata couldn't properly comprehend, he could somehow feel that its features seemed drained.
"So, are you done with your bullshitting?"
The head nodded, and the Gacha system vanished without a word.
Hinata raised a brow, his expression still holding a bit of contempt. "Why are you bringing that up?"
The head sighed.
"Yes?"
"I don't know." Hinata rubbed his temples. "Wait, I still don't get what this has to do with anything."
The head scratched its head.
"Wait, you're trying to say…"
Before Hinata could finish speaking, the head closed the distance between them and placed a finger on his forehead.
"Didn't you say the Shadow God's core had enough cause? Isn't that why you are here, because I inherited that cause?"
The head nodded.
"That doesn't sound particularly strong."
"So I'm meant to be a mid-tier god."
Hinata opened his lips to reply, only for a status panel to appear in front of him.
[Shadow Sovereign System has been activated.]
[Transcendent Bloodline has been formed.]
[The Extractor Who Evolve Shadows.]
[Description: You can extract the shadow of whatever you kill. Each time you kill something of that same race, that shadow can evolve, and you, the owner of that shadow, can merge with it, gaining the power of that species. Your evolution is limitless.]
Hinata's eyes widened. Even he, who knew little about divinity, could tell this ability was completely broken.
Kill a divine light beast, and you gain divine light powers through its shadow. Kill an orc, and you gain insane regeneration and strength. Kill a member of the demon race, and you gain demonic energy.
If that wasn't enough, he could evolve them. Evolution far beyond what even members of those races had achieved.
Hinata raised his stunned gaze to the head, who simply smiled.