Thud! Crash!
A loud thud followed by the sound of shattering glass instantly rang out in the dining room.
Alvein, who had previously been hovering in the air, crashed heavily onto the floor. The three bottles containing mana recovery potions in his hands also smashed against the floor, shattering into pieces. The highly precious blue liquid spilled and seeped uselessly, soaking the floor.
A wave of panic instantly hit Arvin upon seeing his fourth spouse lying on the floor.
His first instinct was to stop the ritual right then and there. However, it was too late and could no longer be stopped. If he stopped the ritual, the three of them would die.
Arvin had no other choice. He forced himself to continue the ritual, bearing all the risks that might destroy everything.
On the two blocks of ice, Victor and Calverd's breaths came in rapid and ragged gasps. The same thing was experienced by Alvein, whose body lay helplessly on the floor. Their chests heaved violently over and over, as if their souls were being forcibly ripped and pulled out from within their bodily vessels.
As for Arvin, he felt extremely exhausted. His mana and physical energy were vastly drained from binding three souls at once.
Suddenly, Arvin's body swayed.
"Ahaakk...."
He coughed up fresh blood from his mouth. Streams of fresh blood also seeped out from his nose and both his eyes, caused by the magical pressure that exceeded the limits of his bodily vessel.
Seeing that sight, all of Arvin's spouses standing around the room were deeply shocked. Their hearts seemed to stop beating upon seeing the condition of their husband, who was suddenly vomiting blood.
Their instincts screamed to immediately run closer and help him. However, they realized they could not and must not do so.
The nine youths just stood frozen with violently trembling bodies and tightly clenched fists. They all restrained themselves desperately, not wanting to interfere with the ritual.
"My Husband..." Allen whispered with a trembling voice, his tear-filled eyes staring in full worry and helplessness.
Meanwhile, around Arvin, his three spouses who had been breathing raggedly were now no longer moving at all.
Alvein, Victor, and Calverd were dead!
The swirls of thick black smoke from the magic circles now reversed, slowly descending and once again shrouding the stiff, lifeless bodies of the three youths.
With heavy pants and blood still flowing to cover his face, Arvin looked at the three bodies, focusing the remaining remnants of his fading consciousness, and immediately implanted his absolute command into the souls he had just bound.
"My command to the three of you..." Arvin's voice sounded hoarse yet resonated with absolute magical power, piercing through the thick black smoke. "...is to be your true selves, exactly as you were before you were bound by this soul seall! Do not leak any secrets you know about our family to anyone else without my permission, and lastly... never betray me for all eternity!"
Responding to that absolute command, the thick black smoke coalesced once more, fully absorbed into the pores of the three youths' bodies without a trace. And the bodies that were previously stiff and dead slowly began to move to draw breath again.
Right after the three pitch-black magic circles on the floor faded and disappeared completely, they gasped awake and immediately sat up simultaneously.
The three of them turned their heads reflexively. However, what they saw instantly made their breath hitch.
Arvin stood with a slightly hunched body, panting for air. His face was bathed in blood dripping from his eyes, nose, and mouth. However, behind that horrifying physical suffering, the blue-haired youth still forced himself to smile in relief at them.
The three of them were deeply shocked to see their husband's condition, his face covered in blood.
"Honey! / Huby! / My Dawn!" the three of them exclaimed in panic.
Victor and Calverd immediately jumped down from the ice blocks, while Alvein quickly stood up from the floor. The three of them immediately approached Arvin, whose body was already starting to sway.
The same went for the other nine youths. Their self-restraint crumbled. All of them, who had been holding back an immense amount of worry, finally scrambled to approach their husband.
Right before Arvin's body hit the floor, Alvein and Victor had already caught him and immediately propped up their husband's body on both sides.
"Victor..." Arvin called out weakly, his breath already very heavy and ragged. "...can I ask for your help to wash my face?"
Seeing Victor struggling to support the weight while simultaneously having to use magic, Allen quickly took over and replaced Victor's position to support their husband's body tightly and protectively.
After his position was replace, Victor immediately raised his hand, focused his mana, and used his water magic.
A globule of cool, clean water floated in the air. With a gentle and careful movement, Victor directed the water to wipe and clean Arvin's blood-filled face.
He cleaned the red stains around his husband's eyes, nose, and chin slowly, completely uncaring that they were still in the dining room right now.
After his face felt a little cleaner and his vision was no longer obstructed by blood, Arvin lifted his head slightly.
Even though his hands trembled violently because he was almost entirely out of mana and stamina, Arvin forced himself to take out a bottle of mana recovery potion from his dimensional storage space.
Seeing his husband struggling even just to hold the bottle and wanting to drink the potion, Calverd immediately took action.
The indigo-haired youth stepped forward and carefully took the bottle from Arvin's hand without asking for permission. He opened the cap quickly, then placed the tip of the potion bottle right on his husband's lips and tilted it slowly so that his husband could drink it immediately without choking.
Slowly, Arvin began to gulp down the blue liquid of the mana recovery potion that Calverd fed him.
After drinking the potion, he felt his nearly depleted mana fill up and recover, but unfortunately, that did not apply at all to his stamina. The physical exhaustion caused by the magical burden still remained. Arvin still felt an agonizing tiredness in his body.
"Thank you very much... for all of your care." Arvin said in a tone that was still very gentle and soothing, trying to convince them that he would be alright. "But... it seems I must drink two healing potions right away."
Hearing those words from their husband, Allen, Alrain, Ordion, Alvein, Alrian, Kylen, Dylan, Davin, Arion, Victor, and Calverd instantly jolted. Their eyes widened. They all stared in bewilderment, completely oblivious to the meaning or purpose of their husband's words, except for Kaydan.
"Don't do that, My Light!" Kaydan suddenly exclaimed with a panicked facial expression. "You will definitely pass out instantly if you act recklessly and drink those red potions right now!"
"But, I must do it, Kaydan." Arvin replied, his breath still heavy but his gaze unwavering.
"Why exactly do you have to drink those potions again in your current weakened state?" asked Alrian, feeling puzzled mixed with worry over his husband's recklessness.
Arvin shook his head slowly, then looked at Alrian and the others alternately.
"If a healing potion and a mana recovery potion are consumed simultaneously in equal doses, their effects will change into something else." Arvin answered in a soft yet clear voice, beginning to explain a secret. "It will trigger an internal alchemical reaction that will produce the Elixir of Archmage potion."
Arvin paused for a moment to take a breath, enduring the pain inside his body. "I learned this theory from an ancient tome I once read, and... I have also proven it myself directly when I drank both potions simultaneously after I completed the Soul Seal ritual to bind Kaydan's soul."