On the way to Airdrop Street, Caitlin looked worried.

Li Lin raised an eyebrow. She hadn't looked like this when she left home this morning. "Are you worried about Valentina?"

"It's not just her, there's something else going on." Caitlin opened her mouth and hesitated, "I don't know if I should tell you this..."

Li Lin shook his head, unfolded the armor on his right hand, and gently took her slightly cold left hand. "No matter when, no matter what difficulties, I will face it with you, as long as you need me."

Caitlin's heart warmed, and she spread out her slender fingers and clasped them with Li Lin's right hand, and her melancholy brows relaxed.

"Thank you... It's great to have you around."

Kassa, who was following them, blinked her watery eyes, a blush appeared on her face, and a look of great doubt appeared in her purple eyes.

What on earth were they talking about? This is the street, how can they be so intimate...

Caitlin pursed her lips and remained silent for a few seconds, quickly organizing what she was about to say: "Actually, Valentina's condition gives me a familiar feeling."

"You mean... the alchemy potion?"

"No, it's just her condition." Caitlin's tone was a little uncertain. "She said that she has been having nightmares for a while, and she also feels that there is a terrifying shadow following her. This is not normal."

Li Lin was a little surprised. "Huh? Isn't it because of the effects of the alchemy potion that she is hallucinating?"

He stared at Caitlin's delicate profile, thought for two seconds, and immediately realized: "What you mean is... have you recently been involved in a case similar to Valentina's current situation?"

Caitlin nodded slightly, her expression becoming serious. "A while ago, a little boy named Abel came to me and said his father had suddenly disappeared."

"Missing? What are the details?"

"Abel is an 8-year-old child. His mother died young. His father, Selwyn, is 47 years old and a watchmaker. They live in the commercial street in the southern part of the city and run a watch repair shop there.

"Abel said his father loved him very much and told him bedtime stories every day. According to my research, their family conditions were quite good. After your mechanical watch was launched on the market, they quickly got rid of their debts and are now on the right track.

"That rules out Selwyn abandoning Abel. The second explanation is the Zaun kidnapping... but as I investigated further, I discovered it had nothing to do with the kidnapping."

Caitlin paused, her expression slightly complicated. "Abel said that Selwyn had nightmares for several months before he disappeared. Selwyn didn't mention the content of the nightmares, but it seemed to be related to some shadow... and fear."

“…”

Li Lin's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and a strong sense of unease came over him.

When he mentioned fear, he suddenly remembered the story of the Eternal Nightmare, Morteng.

In the original worldline, it did come to Piltover through nightmares, attacked a family, and finally devoured a man.

Li Lin had forgotten the specific details, but after listening to Caitlin's explanation, he recalled that the people attacked by Mordekaiser seemed to be a father and son...

"You don't look very good." Caitlin noticed the change in Li Lin's expression. "Have you thought of anything?"

Li Lin shook his head. "You haven't finished yet, have you? Are there any details? For example... did you find anything?"

"If I had to say it, it's a very strange horror story book called 'Shadow Gate'. It looks quite old, and the binding style is Ionian. Even the largest bookstore in the upper city doesn't sell it.

"This book tells the story of a young knight's squire who fights against a wicked king to stop him from shrouding the world in darkness, with a happy ending.

"Based on historical events, there should be reference to the legend of the Shadow War at the end of the Rune Wars.

"I promised Abel to help him find his father, and then I started collecting clues, but after a while, Abel suddenly disappeared.

"I reported this to Sheriff Grayson and asked her to send law enforcement officers to search for them. However, Abel seemed to have disappeared... There are no clues left, and the matter has come to nothing."

After Caitlin finished speaking, Li Lin became more certain that this matter was caused by the shadow demon Mordekaiser.

"——Hiss!" He couldn't help but take a breath of cold air, and his face became extremely ugly.

Nocturne is a product of shadow magic.

At the end of the Rune War, secret groups in each country would stop at nothing to seize the world runes and win the war, finding various ways to suppress the enemy.

Later, someone discovered the existence of shadow magic.

In the following years, countless shadow mages who abandoned their physical bodies and escaped into the spiritual realm hunted each other and created various realms composed of their own subconscious, thoughts and emotions.

Shadow magic was abused, and negative emotions affected almost all humans in Runeterra, giving birth to an incorporeal demon who was the embodiment of fear - the eternal nightmare Mordekaiser.

In order to prevent the world from being destroyed, at the end of the Rune War, almost all shadow and spirit mages shared a common hatred and fought against Morteng together, sealing him in the spirit realm.

Afterwards, the once powerful shadow mage disappeared almost overnight, and other mages agreed to list shadow magic as a taboo, prohibiting everyone from using it.

Although sealed in the spiritual realm, Nocturne can still influence the material world through people's dreams, especially nightmares, and feed on the fear brought by nightmares.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!