Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1787: Activating the Final… Part-1

Days passed,

The prophetess continued walking across the silent seabed, her staff gliding over the cracked ocean floor with a slow, rhythmic scrape. Every touch of its tip traced the fractured earth, guiding her along a path that stretched endlessly into the darkness, as though the ocean itself refused to reveal its destination.

No matter how far she walked, no matter how many days slipped past, she could never find what she had descended beneath the sea to seek.

Even while searching beneath the endless ocean, Prophetess had watched the world draw ever closer to its inevitable end. She had witnessed a young girl halted the Devil by single word, yet only she understood the truth behind that miracle.

It was merely a delay.

Merely borrowed time.

It had only been postponed.

The balance had not been restored!!

Prophetess tightened her weary grip around the staff.

Time was running out.

She had to finish what she had begun.

Otherwise…

*It will be too late to stop him.*

The words escaped her lips with quiet exhaustion.

She slowly drove the bottom of her staff into the fractured seabed.

The impact echoed beneath the ocean as pale veins of light raced through the cracks, stretching farther and farther into the endless darkness like roots seeking something long forgotten.

And said coldly,

*I concede my defeat, Aevum…*

She lowered her head.

*I have exhausted every future I could witness… every possibility I could reach.*

Her fingers tightened.

*Now… show me the path that lies beyond my sight.*

Who was she speaking to?

There was no one here.

Nothing but rocks, sleeping dangerous creatures, and the endless weight of the sea.

Still, No answer came.

But… the currents seemed to lose their movement.

The entire ocean fell into an unsettling silence, as if the world itself were holding its breath.

Prophetess remained perfectly still.

She waited.

Minutes became hours.

Hours became something impossible to measure beneath the sea.

Yet nothing answered her call.

She slowly closed her eyes before lowering her head.

*…I am… sorry.*

Silence.

Once again…

Nothing.

For someone who could witness countless futures, she found herself unable to discover the one sentence capable of reaching the one being she wished to awaken.

A bitter smile appeared across her face.

How ironic.

She who understood destiny itself…

Could not understand a single heart.

Her voice became firmer.

Filled with the quiet authority of someone who had watched civilizations rise and vanish like waves upon a shore.

*What more would you have of me?*

*Yes… I failed.*

*I failed to prevent this.*

*I failed to foresee the one future hidden even from my own eyes.*

She inhaled slowly.

*Yet every law that governs existence speaks the very same conclusion.*

*The end has already been written.*

*FATE HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED!*

Her voice echoed through the endless ocean.

*The countless threads may twist…

They may intertwine…

They may even collapse into a single line…

Yet every path arrives at the same destination.

Such is the nature of destiny.*

She raised her gaze toward the darkness before her.

*Then tell me, Aevum…

Why do you alone refuse to acknowledge the inevitable?

TELL ME!! SISTER!*

She lifted her staff high before driving it into the cracked seabed once more.

CRAAAACK!!

The fracture split open with violent force.

A blinding white radiance erupted from the depths, racing through every crack beneath the ocean floor. The light spread across the surrounding seabed, illuminating weathered stones, forgotten pillars, and fields of ancient coral that had not seen light for countless ages.

For one fleeting moment…

The abyss resembled the heavens.

Then darkness devoured the light once again.

“…” Silence returned.

Still… No answer.

Prophetess stared blankly at the cracked earth beneath her feet.

There was no anger upon her face.

Only immeasurable disappointment.

*Even now… after everything… you still cannot forgive me, Aevum?*

She let out a quiet breath.

*You chose this path that lead you here.

You alone accepted these chains.*

Her voice became stern, carrying the weight of an elder correcting a stubborn child.

*Do not place the burden of your choice upon others.

Aevum… do not cling so desperately to childish pride.*

Again…

Only silence answered.

Prophetess sighed.

So this was still not enough.

Words spoken by another would never reach her.

Only the truth itself could.

There was only one final card left to reveal.

She slowly raised her head.

Her expression became completely emotionless.

When she spoke again, every syllable carried an unsettling certainty.

*’That thing’… is ALIVE.*

The declaration rippled across the ocean.

Invisible waves spread in every direction.

They flowed through ruined temples…

Across forests of coral…

Over sleeping monsters…

Past drifting schools of fish…

Until the sea itself seemed to awaken.

The fish halted their movements.

The crustaceans retreated into silence.

Even creatures that should have possessed no intelligence slowly turned toward the lone Prophetess.

Thousands… Then tens of thousands…

Countless eyes stared directly at her.

The ocean was listening.

Prophetess noticed the subtle shift immediately.

At last.

She had gained Aevum’s attention.

Her grip tightened around the staff.

Her final words were not a warning.

Nor a plea.

They were a verdict.

*Aevum… hear these words well.

The Cursed Child lives. He has begun his return. And he comes to reclaim the throne that was stolen from him.*

A brief silence followed.

Then her eyes narrowed.

*And this time… the price demanded by destiny will not be paid with mere blood and flesh.

Existence itself shall stand upon the executioner’s altar!!*

TRRRKKK!!

The ocean convulsed.

Violent ripples surged across the surface, each wave colliding with the next until the sea churned like a beast awakened from its slumber. Deep beneath the waters, the ancient rock beds trembled relentlessly, their massive forms grinding against one another as though the world itself rejected the very words she had spoken.

Yet Prophetess remained unmoved.

Not a single step faltered.

Not a single breath quickened.

She continued walking with the calm composure of one who had already accepted every consequence awaiting her.

*Answer me, Sister.*

Her voice echoed with neither hatred nor mockery.

Only unwavering conviction.

*You all believed you could escape the Oracle.*

*A foolish belief.*

*All you truly accomplished was hastening the very future you sought to avoid.*

She planted her staff firmly against the stone.

*If there is one to blame… it was never the Cursed Child.*

Her gaze remained fixed upon the endless darkness before her.

*It has always been you.*

*Every one of you!*

She closed her eyes for a brief moment before speaking with quiet certainty.

*The greatest irony of fate is this… You committed a mistake to prevent fate. Yet that very mistake became fate itself!*

The entire seabed roared.

The surrounding cliffs shook violently, shedding countless fragments of stone into the abyss. The once freezing waters grew unnaturally warm, then hotter still, until even the deep-sea creatures abandoned their homes in panic. Schools of fish scattered upward in desperate flight while predators disappeared into the darkness without hesitation.

Far above…

Towering tsunamis rose across distant coastlines.

Emergency sirens wailed throughout the shoreline cities as countless defensive barriers activated to withstand the approaching walls of water.

Yet none of it reached Prophetess.

She neither looked upward…

Nor cared.

She simply smiled with quiet pity.

*Your anger means nothing, Sister.*

Her voice became colder than the abyss surrounding her.

*The moment you abandoned your own nephew…

You abandoned the right to call yourself his family.*

Her grip tightened around the staff.

*You became… NOTHING.*

CRRAAACK!!

The seabed shattered.

Cracks exploded outward beneath her feet like an enormous spider’s web, racing across the stone in every direction. Deafening fractures echoed through the abyss as terrified fish fled in chaotic swarms.

Then…

The earth collapsed.

Gigantic slabs of stone broke away one after another, disappearing into the darkness below.

Beneath them…

A sea of blazing magma slowly revealed itself.

Molten rivers churned beneath the ocean floor, glowing with a furious crimson radiance. Bubbles burst from its surface with explosive pops, filling the abyss with a low, thunderous rumble.

Yet not a single drop of seawater touched it.

An invisible barrier separated the raging magma from the endless ocean above, preserving an impossible boundary between fire and water.

Prophetess now stood upon a lone circular fragment of rock suspended above the molten abyss.

One more collapse…

One more misstep…

And she would be consumed without leaving behind even ashes.

Yet beneath the shadow of her hood…

She smiled.

A small… Satisfied… Smirk!

She had succeeded.

She had finally provoked the one being who refused to answer.

Still…

A faint swallow betrayed her composure.

Even she understood the danger of what she was doing.

One mistake… One careless word…

And everything would end here.

Not even Aether possessed the strength to confront Aevum directly.

Yet Prophetess had no alternative.

Aevum would never reveal herself willingly.

If reason failed…

Then only provocation remained.

She would force the guardian of existence to answer.

Even if it meant wagering her own life.

She raised her head once more.

*Answer me… Sister.*

*Will you abandon your nephew… once again? Do you truly not wish to see him?

To witness what your choices have done to him?*

Her words grew heavier with every sentence.

*Do you know how he suffered because of your mistake?

Do you know how many times Death claimed him… only to cast him back into existence once more?

Again…

And again…

And again.*

Her ancient eyes narrowed.

*An endless cycle of death.

An endless cycle of rebirth.

A punishment no living soul was ever meant to endure.*

She lowered her staff.

*He is returning.

Not for vengeance alone…

But because every one of you forged the path that led him here.*

THUD!!

Her staff struck the remaining fragment of the seabed.

The ocean froze.

For a heartbeat…

Nothing moved.

Then…

The shattered stones that had fallen into the magma trembled before rising into the air one by one. Massive slabs of rock floated upward against all reason, rotating through the water before seamlessly locking back into place.

CRRKK… CRRKK…

Each fragment rejoined the next, rebuilding the broken pathway piece by piece until a solid road stretched once more before Prophetess.

As though the ocean itself… had unwillingly opened the way for her.

As Prophetess continued forward, the shattered rocks answered each of her footsteps. Fragments of stone rose from the abyss and assembled themselves beneath her feet, forming a narrow path before quietly crumbling away behind her.

She continued speaking, her voice carrying through the silent ocean.

*I have already chosen my side.*

Step.

*And it shall always be that child.*

Step.

*Tell me… what about you, Aevum?*

Step.

*Will you continue to stand with those who betrayed you…

Those who sealed you within this prison and called it salvation?*

Step.

*Or will you finally stand beside your nephew?*

Step.

*Or…*

Her foot came to a halt.

*Will you remain trapped here… forever?*

!!

The violently trembling seabed stopped.

Every crack.

Every vibration.

Every surge of fury.

All of it ceased in an instant.

Silence.

A complete… Absolute… Silence!

Only then did a faint smirk appear beneath Prophetess’s hood.

She had found it.

Not anger or hatred or even… regret.

Freedom.

That was the one desire Aevum had never abandoned.

Prophetess slowly extended her hand toward the empty space before her, her palm open as though inviting someone she could already see.

*He is the one destined to protect you.*

Her voice was calm.

*Whether you accept it or not…

That, too, is fate.*

The ocean answered.

Far above, the towering tsunamis that had threatened entire coastlines suddenly froze before gently collapsing back into the sea. Emergency operators stared in stunned disbelief as impossible waves simply… disappeared.

Rescue teams halted.

Warning systems fell silent.

The world, for the briefest moment…

Forgot how to move.

Then, from somewhere beyond the water…

Beyond the currents…

Beyond reality itself…

A frail, childish voice echoed softly.

“Come… in… Fate.”

The words were barely louder than a whisper.

Yet they resonated throughout the entire ocean.

The space before Prophetess distorted.

Reality twisted into itself like a turning kaleidoscope. Layers of light folded endlessly upon one another as countless colors reflected across impossible angles. Space bent without breaking, spiraling inward into a corridor that should not have existed.

Prophetess gave a silent nod.

Without hesitation…

She stepped forward.

The distorted reality stretched around her like a veil wrapping itself across her body. Colors fractured into countless shimmering pieces before folding back together behind her.

The entrance sealed itself.

The ocean returned to normal.

As though nothing had ever been there.

***

The first thing she heard was a heartbeat.

Ba-DUMP.

A slow, heavy pulse echoed through the vast darkness.

Ba-DUMP!

Another followed, louder than before, carrying enough force to make the surrounding cavern tremble.

Ba-DUMP!!

The third heartbeat thundered through the chamber like the pulse of a living world.

Prophetess slowly raised her gaze.

For the first time in countless years…

Her composed expression faltered.

Before her, a colossal heart.

It was not made of flesh.

One half was forged from countless unknown metals, each layer flowing seamlessly into the next without joints or seams.

The other half shimmered with innumerable rainbow-colored crystals, every surface refracting impossible spectrums of light that danced across the cavern walls.

With every heartbeat…

The metallic half expanded while the crystalline half contracted.

Then they reversed.

Again.

And again.

Perfectly synchronized.

Neither the metals bent.

Nor did the crystals fracture.

As though they had never been ordinary materials to begin with.

They were flesh!

The flesh of something that should never have possessed a body.

And piercing directly through the heart…

Was an enormous circular slab of stone.

Ancient inscriptions covered its weathered surface, their faded symbols buried beneath layers of age and dust.

Drove the slab deep into the beating heart, imprisoning it despite its relentless pulse.

Prophetess stared silently.

There was no mistaking it.

The final Ebon Stone.

At last…

She had found it.

*Found you.*

The words escaped her lips in a quiet whisper.

She resumed walking deeper into the colossal cavern.

Water droplets steadily fell from countless cracks in the ceiling, each one echoing softly through the immense chamber before disappearing into the darkness below. The walls surrounding her bore the scars of impossible ages, making it seem as though this hidden sanctuary rested beneath the very foundation of the ocean itself.