Chains of Incarceration

The Chains of Incarceration are the signature manifestation of the Demon King of Incarceration's power. They seize bodies, spaces, memories, magic, mana, divine power, and miracles, enforcing confinement by stripping control from whatever they touch. (Chapters 312 and 533)

History

The sealed battlefield of Babel

Sienna's recollection of the hero party's first battle with Incarceration describes iron chains occupying and claiming the royal court of Babel. They sealed the battlefield into a space favorable to the Demon King, interfered with Sienna's magic, dimmed Anise's divine power, and restrained Molon's body. Their influence continued to bind Sienna's memories three centuries later, preventing her from reconstructing the encounter through magic. (Chapter 312)

The chains also served as direct instruments of destruction. During the old war, Incarceration used them to tear apart and crush dragons after their breath attacks and spells failed against him. The record does not describe the chains as separately forged equipment; they consistently emerge from space, shadow, or the Demon King's abyss as an expression of his authority. (Chapter 396)

Intervention against Fury

Incarceration projected the chains across the South Sea during Eugene's battle with the Demon King of Fury. They pierced the runaway Moonlight, bound Eugene, suppressed the Moonlight Sword, and carried him away. Although the intervention also prevented the Moonlight from killing Fury, the chains blocked Fury's attacks from reaching Eugene and released him onto a reserve ship, saving him from being erased by his own weapon. Incarceration's precise motive was uncertain to the witnesses. (Chapters 372–373)

Delegated power and the final war

Gavid Lindman's Demoneye of Divine Glory let him manipulate Incarceration's chains during his duel with Eugene. He used them to restrain Levantein and attack from many directions, but Levantein's flames snapped and melted them. The chains' ability remained the same under delegated control: anything they contacted was confined and deprived of the wielder's control. (Chapters 532–533)

Incarceration continued manifesting the chains during his own final battle. They emerged from his abyss as he loosened the seal on his madness, while the souls of selected people from prior eras were revealed to have been held within the chains for rebirth in later worlds. The text does not separately establish what became of this manifestation after Incarceration's defeat. (Chapter 590)

Abilities and properties

• The chains ensnare and confine anything they touch, including physical bodies, mana, magic, divine power, and miracles, and strip the target's control over the captured power. (Chapter 533)
• They can claim an entire area as Incarceration's domain, disrupting spellcasting and miracles while physically restraining combatants inside it. Their effect on Sienna's memory persisted for centuries. (Chapters 312 and 515)
• They can cross or open through space, strike like spears or whips, bind a target, and transport that target to another location. (Chapters 372–373 and 533)
• Their function is not inherently lethal. Incarceration used them to protect Eugene from both runaway Moonlight and Fury's attacks, demonstrating that confinement can also isolate a target from danger. (Chapter 372)
• Selected souls from past eras are retained within the chains before being reborn, linking the power to Incarceration's management of successive worlds. (Chapter 590)
• The chains are formidable but not absolute. Levantein's divine flames could intensify enough to snap and melt them, and barriers of transformed Spear Forest flame prevented their direct advance. (Chapters 532–533)

Ownership and custody