Chad had managed to knock thirteen of them momentarily, but that only drew attention to him…

After a few moments, several Chaos Immortals shifted their focus, adjusting their energy flow to resist the effect of the Loop Curse...

One of them raised his hand and released a burst of Chaos Force, distorting the energy around for a brief second.

"They're adapting really fast…" Cyper muttered as he realized that the Divine Crystals they had may not be enough to deal a decisive blow against these Chaos Immortals.

"They're starting to adjust. We have to hurry…"

Elysia frowned as she also felt that they would soon get out of the curse.

"We need to reinforce the loop curse. Ivan, let's use the Draconic Blood Crystals as well!"

"On it," Ivan replied as he took out the blood crystals…

The curse wasn't absolute. It was designed to trap minds, distort perception, and delay coordination, but not to kill. That was why the Time Manipulators were essential. Without them, the Chaos Immortals could simply brute-force their way out.

Chad ducked under a retaliatory strike coming from a Chaos Immortal who had somewhat woken up.

However, they are all sluggish! Chad was able to easily avoid any attempts to attack him and continued to take down more and more Chaos Immortals!

"Don't let them stabilize!" Chad shouted. "They're trying to break the rhythm!"

"Yes!" Ivan said as he also started getting serious.

In just a few moments, the power of the Loop Curse strengthened thanks to the Draconic Blood Crystals in their possession.

Cyper raised both hands, using his Temporal Energy to freeze the outer perimeter, just enough for Elysia to expand the curse radius again.

"The Curse's integrity is holding…" she said. "But they're still fighting…"

Several Chaos Immortals had already begun to break free from the loop. They were slowly regaining coordination.

It just showed how different they were.

"They're stabilizing," Elysia said, her voice tense. "We're losing the advantage."

It was unfortunate that only Chad had the power to ignore the Loop Curse because of the uniqueness of his physique.

Ivan gritted his teeth. "We can't hold this loop forever. They'll brute-force their way out."

They can all agree to that, so they have to change their tactic…

Cyper didn't respond but he was watching the perimeter—waiting.

Then, without warning, Magnus appeared.

"You're finally here." Cyper muttered after sensing his presence.

He stepped into the outer ring of the formation before looking at the frozen Chaos Immortals while Chad was pummeling them…

"Is it ready?" he asked quietly.

Cyper nodded. "We've synced the crystals. The loop held long enough."

Magnus raised his hand.

A second Formation Array suddenly activated, one that had always been part of the plan. The Divine Crystals pulsed again, but this time, the energy didn't distort space or time.

It targeted something within the bodies of the Chaos Immortals!

The Soul Curse triggered!

A wave of invisible force spread outward, bypassing physical defenses and targeting the very essence of the Chaos Immortals.

Those who had escaped the loop suddenly staggered, clutching their chests, as their expressions twisted in pain.

"What—what is this?" one of them gasped as he didn't expect to become so helpless so suddenly… Another dropped to one knee, his aura flickering violently. "It's hitting our Divinity… No, Souls?!"

Magnus didn't speak. He simply watched as the Curse took effect.

This Soul Curse wasn't designed to trap or delay.

It was designed to consume the Chaos Immortals, and it had already been proven and tested.

If they stayed, it would grow stronger, feeding on their presence, damaging their Spirit Strands one by one.

"They have to leave," Cyper said. "If they don't, the Soul Curse would just get stronger."

Magnus nodded and reminded the group. "We're not chasing. Just hold the field."

Chad stood at the edge of the formation… During that time, he eliminated at least 15 Chaos Immortals, with another 30 or so heavily injured. It was an incredible result but it was all because they were in their home base.

They have the advantage of placing traps, curses, and many other Formation Arrays that could catch them off guard.

"They didn't expect this. They thought we'd only stall." Chad chuckled.

One by one, the Chaos Immortals began to retreat as the Loop Curse's effect disappeared.

Apparently, the Loop Curse was only to control the movement of the Chaos Immortals to ensure that the Soul Curse would be able to cover all of them.

"We will return!"

Some vanished instantly, using emergency escape techniques. Others staggered away, as they tried to suppress the curse's effect.

Within minutes, the sky above Eustace cleared.

The hundreds of Immortals had fled and the defense had succeeded.

Magnus lowered his hand and stepped back from the formation. Although the Soul Curse was effective, it basically used up all their Divine Crystals.

"They'll regroup and return here later…" Magnus muttered.

Cyper was also aware of this, but he wasn't afraid. "We bought time. Let them come again…"

***

The return to the base was quiet at first.

Most of the Chaos Immortals who had escaped the Soul Curse were still recovering, some nursing fractured Spirit Strands, others suppressing lingering distortions in their Divinity.

No one spoke as they returned to their citadel to have their cursed soul cleansed…

Inside the war hall, however, the silence didn't last.

Gyn, one of the leading generals, leaned back in his seat with a wide grin on his face.

"Hahaha! A hundred of you," he said, loud enough for the entire chamber to hear. "And you couldn't even take Eustace City?"

He seemed amused at Neylan's failure to conquer the small city!

Neylan, standing near the central table, didn't respond. His robes were torn, and his left arm was still wrapped in a stabilizing band. The Soul Curse had hit him harder than most.

Gyn chuckled… "A Divine Formation Array and a Dragon Immortal. That's all it took?"

Neylan immediately shook his head.

"It's not that simple! The Time Manipulators are there! We were caught by a large Formation Array. Next time, we'll just bombard the city with Spells and no longer approach it!" Neylan replied since he knew that his failure was due to his hasty decision to overwhelm the city with their number!

Nyssa, head of the spy division, sighed…

"We had reports of Divine Crystals, but no one expected them to use a Soul Curse. That was a surprise. Still… you should've seen it coming."

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