In the anti, while Vale was eting with Farah, the Goddess of Fortune’s avatar, Denise was inside her Workshop Tower... for several days already.
Denise was staring at the five Chaos Immortals chained to the floor.
Their bodies were skinny, and at this point, even their breathing was shallow. Still, their eyes were burning with defiance. The divine alloy shackles continued to glow, keeping their corrupted energy suppressed.
Beside them, rows of empty or broken tal golems waited. Their cores were already compromised, and their fras were polished, but they were already unusable.
Denise had tried again and again to force the Immortals’ souls into these shells, or even a part of it, but every attempt ended in failure.
The constructs cracked under pressure, the runes destabilized, and the fragnts of soul resisted.
One of the Immortals coughed and looked at the young woman who was experinting on them without care for their pain or their lives...
"You’ve failed... again. Only the Chaos Gods can move our souls, you cannot chain Chaos."
Denise walked closer as she didn’t mind whatever he was saying. She even liked how she was getting more information just by listening...
"Every failure chips away at you. Every attempt strips more of your soul. You’re already weaker than when I found you. Keep resisting, and you’ll fade into nothing."
Another Immortal spat blood, laughing weakly. "Better to fade than to serve you."
Denise ignored him. She raised her hand as threads of divinity wrapped around the nearest construct. It was Divine Strand that Vale entrusted to her...
With its presence, the air vibrated as she pulled at one Immortal’s soul, dragging fragnts toward the golem.
Soon, the construct trembled, its core faintly glowed with red light. For a mont, it looked like it might awaken.
Denise took a deep breath as she knew that this was a crucial mont.
She then crouched down, eting the Immortal’s gaze. "You won’t die. Not while I hold your souls. You’ll be stripped, reshaped, and forced into these shells. And when I’m finished, you’ll fight for ..."
She said this to break their will. That way, it would be easier for her to use their souls. Still, they had a tougher mind than expected of Immortals.
As expected, the golem’s core suddenly burst into light... then died. The construct collapsed, and its fra started cracking apart.
Denise sighed as she saw this.
She turned back to the Immortals...
"You think this is funny? Every ti you resist, I take more from you. Sooner or later, one of these shells will hold. And when it does, you’ll be mine."
The Immortals glared at her with hatred in their eyes. One whispered, "You’re a parasite..."
Denise chuckled... "Call whatever you want. In the end, you’ll be inside one of these shells, and you’ll fight for ..."
She then threw away the destroyed golem.
"It doesn’t matter. I’ll keep trying. A hundred tis, a thousand tis... until one of you breaks. And when you do, the rest will follow."
The Immortals glared at her, their hatred burning even as their strength faded. But Denise didn’t care. She had ti, resources, and unshakable resolve.
***
Within the Shadow Castle, word of Denise’s struggles spread quickly.
Her attempts to bind the souls of the captured Chaos Immortals into her constructs had failed again and again, leaving her chamber littered with broken golems and weakened prisoners.
Magnus heard of her difficulties and frowned.
He had never worked with Immortal souls himself, his expertise lay in summoning circles, bindings, and formation arrays. Still, he wasn’t completely clueless, and he also knew his duty. Denise was part of the Shadow Domain, and if she was attempting sothing this ambitious, he could not ignore it.
He arrived at her tower, a place with a scent of scorched tal and fractured soul energy. Denise barely looked up from her work and realized that she had a visitor. After the Magic Automatons assisted Magnus, she finally looked.
"You ca," she said flatly, adjusting the runes on a half‑finished core.
"Are you here to help , Sir Magnus? But unless you’ve mastered the art of forcing Immortal souls into shells, I doubt you can help."
Magnus stepped closer, studying the shattered constructs.
"I haven’t. I’ve never tried to use an Immortal’s soul for a puppet or a golem. But I can see the problem. The cores you’re using... they can’t contain the strain, right? The Immortal’s soul fragnts are too volatile."
Denise was already not feeling good, and hearing those words didn’t make her feel any better.
"You think I don’t know that? Every ti I force a soul into one, the core destabilizes. It cracks, it collapses. I need sothing stronger, sothing that can anchor corruption without shattering."
Magnus thought for a mont, then reached into his storage ring.
His hand closed around a black crystal, pulsing faintly with demonic energy. He pulled out several more, each one radiating a sinister but stable aura.
Denise’s eyes widened slightly. "What are those? Wait... I know them..."
Magnus placed them on the table in front of her. "That’s right... They’re Demon Saint’s Cores. I’ve kept them in my collection for years. They’re rare, harvested from the remains of Demon Saints after their fall. Unlike ordinary cores, they were forged to withstand imnse spiritual pressure. If anything can contain an Immortal’s soul, it’s these. The only problem would be the inscription..."
Denise picked one up, feeling the weight of its energy.
"Inscription is no problem... Master Heinz will deal with it." She muttered with confidence.
"This... might work," she admitted. "The Demon Saints were corrupted beyond asure, but their cores were stable. If I can fuse one of these with my constructs, it might hold the soul fragnts long enough to complete the transfer."
Magnus nodded. "It’s risky. If the soul resists too strongly, the core could explode. But it’s better than watching your constructs collapse one after another."
Denise smiled again. "Risk is nothing new. With these, I’ll definitely succeed. And when I do, the Chaos Immortals will serve the Shadow Domain as my Guardians... I want to surprise Vale once he returns!"
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