Chapter 21: The Memory Seal Breaks

🌌 Scene 1: Nightfall After the Duel

The arena was quiet, moonlight scattering across shattered stones and exhausted cheers. Jemil sat alone at the edge of the ruined battlefield, his hand still faintly glowing from the Bond Unleash earlier.

Behind him, the wives rested — even Seraphira — while the academy staff scrambled to repair the stage. But inside Jemil's chest, something unseen had cracked.

A whisper rose in the back of his mind.

"You've met four… only seven remain."

"Unlock the origin, or lose everything you've bound."

System Update: Memory Seal Fragment — Cracked 34%

🧬 Scene 2: Into the Astral Garden

Kaelira approached. "You're glowing again. But like… trauma-glowing."

Jemil gave a half-smile. "It's the seal. Something changed when Seraphira touched me again. Something inside… unlocked."

A glyph appeared on his wrist, flickering between beast script and summoner runes. It pulsed with deep magic — a link to something buried.

With the help of Mira's clairvoyance, they entered the Astral Garden, a memory realm Jemil once locked away from himself.

Inside it were floating islands of lost memories. One hovered closer — cracked, flickering.

They touched it.

⚠️ Scene 3: The Forbidden Memory

"This one's unstable," Mira warned. "You really want to do this?"

"I think… I have to."

The memory opened like a burst of flame and ice.

He saw himself — younger, cloaked in crimson and gold, standing before an altar of chained beast spirits.

"Name them," a voice echoed.

"Bind them. Wife them. Or they'll die alone."

He saw:

Flare, chained in volcanic cuffs, snarling.

Mira, in a crystal cell, fading slowly.

Kaelira, in a lab, experimented on.

And Seraphira, weeping behind a throne.

Each time he reached out, the memory rewound. Again and again.

The final time, he said:

"I'd rather bind them by heart than force."

And with that, the Bond Mechanic was born.

Not as a summoning tool — but as a life-saving choice. The only way to keep mythical beast spirits alive in the human realm was through soul-partnered bonding — the system now interpreted as "wives."

🌠 Scene 4: System Revelation

The system pulsed again.

[Bond Level: Ascending]

[Mythical Threshold Tier Unlocked: Soul Union > True Partner > Core Wife]

[Memory Seal: 67% Broken]

Vel'Zara floated in, crossing her arms. "So it was your choice all along. To give us freedom — but tie it to your soul."

Jemil nodded. "It was either that or let you die. The world rejected mythical beasts. The only way to stabilize your forms was through… me."

Kaelira, visibly shaken, whispered, "You saved us by marrying us."

Mira's eyes filled with tears. "You never told us."

"I sealed it away. I didn't want you to feel trapped."

💍 Scene 5: The Wives Reaffirm

One by one, each wife stepped forward.

"Then let me choose it again," Flare said, flame dancing behind her eyes.

"Even if it was survival once, it's love now," Mira whispered.

"You don't have to carry it alone anymore," Kaelira added.

Even Seraphira, arms folded, said, "Fine. One chance. Don't mess it up, husband."

Jemil chuckled, pulling them into a hug.

But above them, the skies trembled.

The system pulsed a final warning.

"Final wife awakens in the Eternal Abyss."

"Prepare."

💬 End of Chapter 21

📌 Call to Action:

💭 What did you think of the bond origin reveal?

🔥 Drop a comment & power stone to show love for your favorite wife so far!

✨ Chapter 22 will take us to the Abyss Realm, where the final mythical wife stirs…