Dark fingers burst from Control Devil’s Shield and grabbed the Broodtide Bulwark’s edge. The black hand looked ready to crush the shield’s layered plates, but Broodtide Bulwark pushed back with a surge of deep-blue mana. The tub churned as though a storm had formed inside it.

NukEncore clenched her fingers around the rim. "Oh, this one is ugly."

Chaosgraphy’s eyes followed the Devil’s Hand. "It does have a certain rude charm."

"It is trying to touch my work without permission." NukEncore’s mana flared through her gloves. "That is not charm. That is a crime."

The Devil’s Hand swelled larger until it looked ready to crush the Broodtide Bulwark in its palm.

That was when Master Raven stepped in.

He struck the side of the Skill Anchor Device, and silver lines spread through the tub, holding the two shields apart before the clash could damage either vessel.

"Do not fight the hand directly," he said. "The tether is the skill’s purpose. If you cut it apart, the whole pattern collapses."

NukEncore clicked her tongue. "Then I have to make it belong to the shield instead of letting it strangle it."

"Correct."

Martin’s jaw tightened as the Broodtide Bulwark trembled. He could not guide the imprint the way NukEncore could. Still, he was not entirely helpless.

Around him, Dominion of Arms awakened.

The invisible pressure of his weapon authority settled over the room. It lacked the force to overwrite the Skill Anchor Device or command the imprint directly, yet it resonated with the Broodtide Bulwark and steadied its presence. The shield’s oceanic mana thickened, turning from a chaotic tide into something with a clearer boundary.

"That is all I can do," Martin said.

NukEncore did not look back, but her smile sharpened. "Then that is enough."

Master Raven watched the connection between Martin and the shield. "You need to turn this Devil’s Hand into something that matches the new shield!"

"Of course there is only one thing I can shape it into, right?!" NukEncore shouted back amid the chaos.

She pushed her mana into the tether.

The Devil’s Hand fought her, its fingers curling as it tried to remain a grasping, crushing thing. NukEncore refused to let it keep that shape. Instead of tearing it apart, she stretched it, bent it, and forced its violent grip to follow the Broodtide Bulwark’s deeper rhythm.

The wrist unraveled first.

Then the fingers lengthened.

The dark palm unraveled into thick strands of mana, each one twisting like a living limb. Broodtide Bulwark’s oceanic force flooded those strands and coated them in a deep, monstrous pressure that suited the shield far better than the original devil pattern ever had.

Martin’s eyes widened.

The Devil’s Hand lost the shape of a hand and became something far more suited to the Broodtide Bulwark.

A single thick tentacle formed from the tether, heavy and dark blue, with smaller suction-like rings of mana opening along its length. It curled out from the shield and slammed back into the tub without breaking the shield’s shape.

The Skill Anchor Device blazed.

NukEncore’s hair lifted in the storm of mana, and her gloves shone with Bloomcast’s fire beneath her skin. Exhaustion touched her for half a breath before her pride burned it away.

"Behave," she said.

The new tentacle pattern coiled around the Broodtide Bulwark’s inner channel and stayed there.

The churning mana calmed. Control Devil’s Shield sank lower in the tub as its old skill pattern emptied, while Broodtide Bulwark rose with a new dark blue seal pulsing across its face.

A system message appeared before Martin.

[Imprint successful.]

[Control Devil’s Tether has been extracted and reshaped.] 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

[Broodtide Bulwark has acquired an additional skill.]

[The Kraken’s Tentacle] [Orange]

Effect: After Martin successfully blocks an enemy with Broodtide Bulwark, the attacker is marked with [Kraken’s Claim] for 15 seconds. If the marked target moves more than 30 meters away from Martin, a kraken tentacle extends from Broodtide Bulwark and forcefully drags the target back into his guard range.

Additional Effect: While underwater, the tentacle’s speed, reach, and pulling force are greatly increased.

Synergy Effect: If triggered after a heavy block, the pull briefly disrupts the target’s balance and strengthens Martin’s next spear or trident action.

Martin stared at the message for a moment before slowly smiling.

Control Devil’s Shield remained in the tub, but the pressure inside it had faded. The countless curved horns still made it look vicious, yet the crimson tether that once lived beneath its surface was gone. It had not been destroyed, but its defining skill had been given to something better suited to Martin’s path.

NukEncore turned toward him, breathing a little harder than before, but pure triumph filled her expression. "There. Your dream has manners now."

Chaosgraphy laughed softly. "And tentacles."

Martin accepted the Broodtide Bulwark as it floated toward him. The shield felt heavier than before, not in weight, but in presence, as if something deep and monstrous now waited inside it, ready to answer his call.

His fingers tightened around the grip. The old tether had always been useful, but this was different. It no longer felt like a land-based control skill being forced into his new build, but like a sea monster’s limb waiting inside his shield.

That thought made his smile deepen. In water, pressure, and monster territory, anything that tried to flee his guard would be dragged back into his range.

He looked at NukEncore. "You really did it."

NukEncore flicked her hair back and smiled as though no other outcome had ever been possible. "Obviously."

Master Raven studied the new seal pulsing across the Broodtide Bulwark’s face for several silent seconds.

"Not clean," he said at last. "But stable."

NukEncore’s smile sharpened. "That means good."

"That means you did not ruin two valuable items in front of me."

"So good."

Master Raven scoffed. "For a beginner, yes."

NukEncore’s smile widened, but her gaze drifted back to the Cindervein Staff resting beside the Skill Anchor Device. The faint gravity ring still circled its shaft, incomplete and waiting.

Martin followed her gaze. "Still thinking about the orbit anchor?"

"Of course." NukEncore lifted her chin. "One obedient weapon is a success. Two is the beginning of a collection."

Chaosgraphy’s eyes curved with amusement. "That sounds dangerous."

"That sounds correct," NukEncore said.