Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1846: This is for NOAH!

Aether’s POV

The wounds covering my body instantly began to heal. Torn flesh tightened and knitted itself back together, broken skin sealing with unnatural speed. The blood that had been running down my body dried against my skin as the injuries disappeared one after another.

The illusion surrounding my body flickered violently… Then it shattered.

The false appearance peeled away like a dying reflection, revealing…

My true form!

For the first time, nobody spoke.

Even Jonathan seemed to forget how to breathe.

“Come!”

I said coldly, my eyes glowing with purple slits.

In the very next instant, Twin Eclipse trembled.

Those ivory claws began vibrating violently in Jonathan’s hand.

There were no machines controlling them.

No commands.

Nothing.

They simply reacted to me.

As if the wyverns whose claws had become those blades were still alive somewhere within the weapon, recognising their master after all this time.

Twin Eclipse suddenly tore itself from Jonathan’s grasp.

It shot toward me.

The ivory claws struck the metallic restraints around me.

Crack!

The metal chair was sliced apart as effortlessly as butter beneath a blade.

I surged to my feet.

Before Alpha could react, I kicked her away with enough force to send her crashing onto her stomach.

And Twin Eclipse spun through the air and flew directly toward Iron Marshal.

THUD!

The weapon lodged into the Governor’s chest.

His body was thrown backward with tremendous force, crashing into the wall hard enough to leave a spiderweb of cracks behind him.

Jonathan froze.

Lily froze.

Both of them stared at me as though they were looking at a completely different person.

I didn’t give them time to recover.

I tore through Lily’s restraints and caught her before she could collapse.

Her body fell into my arm.

I adjusted my arm beneath her and held her carefully, almost as though she were a flower whose petals had already begun falling.

Then I looked at Jonathan.

“Let’s go.”

I immediately turned and ran toward the exit.

“W-Wait…”

Jonathan hurried after me.

His footsteps echoed behind us as we raced through the corridor.

But Lily remained silent in my arms.

I could feel her breathing against my chest.

Weak.

Uneven.

Every breath was becoming farther apart.

Then she spoke.

“So… is this your true form, Aether?”

Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

I glanced down at her.

Her eyes were hazy, struggling to focus on my face.

Even now, she was looking at me.

Not at the monster everyone else had seen.

Me.

She smiled gently.

“Yeah… you’re really handsome.”

Something tightened inside my chest.

“Just hold it together,” I told her.

I tried to make my voice steady.

I couldn’t.

Fear had already begun crawling through every word.

Her eyes slowly rolled backwards.

She was barely conscious now.

One trembling hand lifted toward my face.

Her fingers touched my cheek.

They were cold.

So cold.

“At least…”

Her fingertips weakly traced my cheek.

“At least… I got to see the real you…”

My steps faltered.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

Then I felt something warm against my arm.

I looked down.

Blood.

Warm blood was flowing from the back of her head, slipping through her hair and running down my arm.

My heart stopped.

The warmth soaked into my skin.

And suddenly, I remembered Noah.

His blood.

That same warmth.

That same terrible warmth that should never have been on my hands.

“Aether! This way!”

Jonathan shouted from farther ahead, beckoning me toward another corridor.

I couldn’t answer.

I forced my legs to move.

One step.

Then another.

But my hands were already covered in Lily’s blood.

Warm.

The sensation made my heart shake violently.

I had seen blood countless times.

I had caused bloodshed.

I had watched people die.

So why did this feel different?

Why did something so simple as her blood running between my fingers make me feel as though my chest were being torn open?

My speed gradually decreased.

My footsteps became slower.

Then they stopped.

Jonathan kept running, apparently believing I was still behind him.

I gently lowered Lily to the ground.

I knelt beside her.

“Lily…”

She opened her eyes.

Barely.

Her breathing was shallow now.

Each breath seemed weaker than the last, her chest rising only slightly before falling again.

She looked at me.

There was no accusation in her eyes.

That somehow hurt more.

Then she spoke in a painfully quiet voice.

“Can you… ask my father why he did it?”

She swallowed weakly.

“Did… Lily make him sad?”

My throat tightened.

I forced a smile.

“You can ask him yourself, dear.”

The lie tasted bitter.

I knew she couldn’t.

She knew she couldn’t.

Maybe we both understood it.

“…”

She only smiled.

That small, innocent smile she had shown me before.

Her eyelids slowly descended.

“I wish… we could all go back to how things were.”

My lips trembled.

I couldn’t watch it.

I had lost Noah.

And now…

Her.

Right before my eyes.

Again!

Another person disappearing from my reach.

And all I ever did was…

Bark.

Like a dog.

I was supposed to protect them.

Wasn’t I?

I protect them?

The fuck did I do?!

I couldn’t even protect the people who had trusted me.

I couldn’t save Noah.

I couldn’t save Lily.

I hurt my wife.

I had all this power.

All these fucking possibilities.

And yet, when they needed me most…

I was too late.

Every… Single… Time!

I let them die.

Again.

And again.

And… again.

I leaned my forehead against hers.

Her skin was already becoming colder.

The warmth that had been there moments ago was fading beneath my touch.

“I… I’m sorry, dear…”

My voice cracked.

“I’m truly sorry…”

I clenched my teeth.

“I… I couldn’t…”

My breath shuddered.

“I…”

The words refused to come.

Tears rolled from my eyes.

One after another.

They fell onto her face.

It had been so long since I had cried like this.

Why am I crying?

Why?

It’s just one of many deaths.

I’ve watched people die before.

I’ve killed people myself.

I could easily reverse it.

I could bring her back.

I could undo this.

And yet…

Why does this pain feel different?

Why does my heart hurt this much?

Why?

Just then, the child with ice-blue eyes appeared beside her.

He stood there silently.

Watching me.

Her pale eyes stared directly into mine.

For a moment, I couldn’t understand what he was looking for.

It was almost as though he were staring at me and silently asking…

You know why? Because these two were the ones who saw the monster inside you… and accepted it.

Something inside me snapped.

I didn’t know why.

But his presence suddenly made me furious.

It felt as though I were staring directly at the filthy, ugly version of myself that had spent all this time running away.

“GO AWAY!!!”

I screamed at him.

The child merely smirked.

Then he slowly shook his head.

That expression made my blood boil.

But I didn’t have the strength to care anymore.

I ignored him.

My eyes returned to Lily.

Her eyelids were slowly closing.

Her chest rose.

Then fell.

Slower.

And slower.

I watched helplessly.

I watched the life inside her grow quieter.

The person who had been laughing with me only moments ago was slowly becoming still in my arm.

“Lily…”

A weak smile appeared on my face.

It was the only thing I could give her now.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Her skin was cold.

“You accepted the monster inside…”

My voice trembled.

“Thank you, Lily…”

I closed my eyes.

“…Noah.”

My vision blurred completely.

For a moment, I couldn’t tell whether it was because of the tears or the blood.

Then I snapped my fingers.

“This Stranger swears… neither of you will ever be forgotten.”

Ssssshhh~

A white portal shimmered into existence beneath Lily.

Her body slowly descended into the light.

I kept my hand on her until the very last moment.

My fingers slipped from hers.

For one final second, I saw her face.

That gentle smile.

Then the light swallowed her.

The portal closed.

“…”

I remained kneeling there.

I slowly closed my fingers into a fist.

Then I slowly stood.

I lifted my head.

My voice emerged from the deepest part of my throat.

“AAALLLLLEEEEEENNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!”

***

I stared at the place where she disappeared before slowly turning my gaze toward the straight path where Jonathan had run away. Then I looked toward the opposite path, the one we had come through.

For several seconds, I simply stood there, staring at the empty passage.

Then I stepped forward.

Slowly at first.

One step.

Then another.

My pace gradually increased until my footsteps became heavier and faster, each one echoing through the corridor like the countdown to something inevitable.

My fingers curled tightly, and my breathing grew deeper as an unfamiliar pressure began crawling beneath my skin.

My eyes glowed with narrow purple slits.

I could feel it.

Something was coming closer.

Closer.

And closer.

“BRING… ME… ALLEN!!”

My voice tore through the corridor as I suddenly leapt forward and slammed my fist toward the Iron Marshal that walked directly in my path.

BOOM!!

The Iron Marshal raised his arm at the last possible moment and blocked my strike with his fist. The impact sent a violent shock through my bones, while the machine barely moved.

Its visor burned with a furious crimson glow as it stared directly into my eyes.

“You filthy thing…”

The words came through its mechanical voice.

Before I could react, its other fist drove straight into my gut.

BOOM!

The force folded my body around its arm.

I felt something tear deep inside me as blood violently spurted from my mouth. My feet dragged several inches across the floor from the sheer force of the blow, yet I refused to fall.

I gripped its fist.

My fingers tightened around the metal until my nails dug into my own palm.

Then I twisted my body and drove my foot directly into its helmet.

TANG!

The Iron Marshal’s head snapped sideways, and the back of its helmet slammed into the wall.

“How dare you?!”

In the next second, the massive metallic rings around its wrist began rotating furiously. Their interlocking sections separated and expanded, exposing a complex network of internal circuits beneath the armour.

Then—

BOP!!

A high-pulsed wave erupted from its wrist and struck my body.

The sensation was unlike being punched.

It felt as though the entire structure of my body had been violently shaken apart.

I was launched backwards and crashed against the ceiling before dropping several meters. I barely had time to regain my senses when the Iron Marshal moved.

The hand clamped around my wrist.

Then it twisted.

Crack!

Yet instead of pulling away, I twisted my body with the motion and used the force of its grip to swing myself around.

My heel slammed into its chest.

BOOM!

The Iron Marshal staggered backwards.

Its visor focused on my broken wrist.

The bones beneath my skin were already shifting back into place

The Iron Marshal remained motionless for a fraction of a second.

I slowly lowered my healed hand and stared directly into its visor.

“Bring me… Allen. I want to meet that motherfucker.”

The Iron Marshal tilted its head.

Then, with almost deliberate contempt, it raised one hand and flipped its middle finger at me.

Crack!

Something struck the back of my head.

My vision exploded into white.

For a moment, I couldn’t tell which way was up. My knees nearly buckled as I staggered forward, one hand instinctively reaching toward the back of my skull.

I blinked hard.

Then I turned around.

A circular metallic sphere hovered several meters away.

Its body was covered in multiple robotic tentacles extended from its lower frame. Each tentacle moved independently with unnerving precision, picking up pieces of shattered stone from the floor before launching them toward me.

Crack!

It smashed against my face.

Fragments of stone scraped across my cheek as blood immediately began running down the side of my mouth.

I slowly wiped it away with my thumb.

Then I stared at the machine.

Wasn’t this the fucker who killed Noah?

My fingers slowly curled into fists.

Just as I was about to move—

BOP!

A sonic wave struck my back.

The impact lifted me completely off the ground. My body rolled through the air before I crashed heavily onto the floor.

I forced myself upright and looked toward the Iron Marshal.

Then toward the spherical robot.

My eyes narrowed.

Then I sprinted toward the sphere without hesitation.

I wanted to tear its limbs apart first.

The robot reacted instantly.

Its tentacles moved, grabbing rocks and firing them at me one after another.

Crack!

One struck my shoulder.

Another smashed into my thigh.

A third slammed against my cheek.

Blood sprayed from my split skin, but I didn’t slow down.

I kept moving.

The sphere continued firing.

The machine was only a few meters away now.

I could already imagine my fingers closing around one of its tentacles.

I lunged forward.

My hand reached for it.

And—

THUD!

Something solid stopped me.

My palm slammed against an invisible surface.

The impact sent a sharp sting through my fingers.

I fell backwards and shook my head, blinking rapidly as I tried to understand what had just happened. My hand remained pressed against empty air.

There was nothing there.

Yet something was blocking me.

I pushed harder.

Behind it, the spherical robot continued moving.

Its tentacles calmly picked up another rock.

Then threw it at me.

Crack!

The stone shattered against the invisible barrier inches from my face.

I stared at it.

An invisible wall?

Then I heard a familiar voice from somewhere along the right side of the pathway.

“It’s all my fault, Mr. Lackey.”

I froze.

Slowly, I turned my head.

A golden mech-suit stood at the far end of the corridor.

Epsilon.

Thin lines of energy pulsed beneath the armour, while its visor remained fixed on me.

Epsilon raised one hand.

The moment his fingers moved—

WHOOM!

An invisible force struck my entire body.

I was thrown sideways.

BOOM!

My back slammed into the wall.

Before I could push myself away, the invisible force intensified.

It crushed me against the wall.

“Arrh!”

I planted both feet against the floor and pushed with everything I had.

But it didn’t even move an inch.

I clenched my teeth and tried to regain my position.

With my face pressed against the invisible wall, I saw Epsilon, the Iron Marshal, and the Mother System standing before me, watching me.

“Oh, I am so scared~,” the Iron Marshal said as it looked at my furious expression.

Epsilon shook his head.

“This all happened because of my negligence, Mr. Lackey. Bringing you here is the biggest mistake I have ever made…”

The Mother System simply stared at me, its strange camera lenses continuously zooming in and out.

Looking at the trio, I realised something.

The Governors of each division had come for me.

All three of them.

How ludicrous was this all?

Huh?

Epsilon took a slow breath.

“If you cooperate with us—”

“Fuck you!”

I yanked my hand violently.

In the next second, something pierced through the wall and emerged from it.

The Twin Eclipse.

The blade tore through the invisible barrier with a violent surge of force.

SHATTER!

Cracks raced across the invisible wall in every direction, spreading through empty space like a gigantic spiderweb. Fragments of compressed energy shimmered for an instant before dissolving into nothingness.

The invisible wall collapsed.

The moment I fell toward the floor, my hand shot out and grabbed the Eclipse.

I drove the blade directly into the Mother System.

“This is for NOAH!!”

THUK!!