Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1851: The Umbra Sanctum: Part-3

No.25’s POV

“Forgive me… My dear children”

My fingers tightened around the spear.

Then I struck Iskha’vel against the ground.

PUFFFFF!

The earth trembled.

White ethereal flames erupted from beneath my feet.

They did not explode violently.

They bloomed.

Thousands upon thousands of strands of white fire unfurled across the ground like luminous roots, spreading outward in perfect circles.

The flames passed beneath the feet of my people without burning them.

Instead, they wrapped around them.

Gentle and Warm.

Almost tender.

Like the embrace of a mother gathering her frightened children into her arms.

The people were lifted from the ground.

“N-NO!”

“MY LORD!”

“PLEASE, DON’T LEAVE US!!”

“MY LORDDDD!!!”

Their hands reached toward me.

Some fought against the flames.

Some screamed.

Some begged.

But the flames continued carrying them toward the Umbra Sanctum.

My heart tightened.

Their cries became distant.

But I could still hear them.

I could still feel them.

Every single one.

I stood there through sheer effort.

My legs trembled.

My breathing became ragged.

Blood continued dripping from the wound in my chest, falling onto the ground one drop at a time.

Yet the white flames around me continued to rise.

They curled around my body. They climbed my arms. They flowed over my shoulders and back.

The spear trembled in my hand.

I tightened my fingers around it.

“It’s alright, Iskha’vel…”

I looked down at the weapon.

“You and me… one last time.”

Then I raised the spear toward the heavens.

As I did, the people who had hidden themselves and refused to enter the Sanctum were suddenly surrounded by white flames and launched toward its entrance.

“NO!!”

“WE WON’T LEAVE!!”

“STOP IT! GOD! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!!”

“WE WANT TO STAY BESIDE YOU!!!”

Their screams echoed across the Sanctum.

I closed my eyes.

It pained me to do this.

Every cry felt like another wound being carved into my heart.

But this was the only option I had left.

I had to protect them.

Even if they hated me for it.

Even if they cried for me.

Even if they begged me to let them stay.

I opened my eyes once more and softly waved my hand.

Then I began to move.

One step.

A turn.

Another step.

My movements were not those of a warrior preparing for battle.

They were something gentler.

My body flowed through the space with an almost impossible grace.

Every movement of my arm carried the spear through the air as though I were drawing upon an invisible river.

My robes followed behind me.

The white flames followed my movements.

They curled around my body in long, elegant streams, rising and falling with every motion.

I turned.

The spear swept through the air.

A circle of light appeared.

I stepped forward.

Another circle emerged.

I rotated my wrist.

The spearhead traced a single line through the air.

And reality bent.

The space before me rippled.

Then the first symbol appeared.

A single character formed from white light.

It flickered once.

Then another symbol emerged beside it.

Then another.

Then hundreds.

Then thousands.

They began stitching themselves together across the Umbra Sanctum.

Fine strands of luminous energy stretched between each character, weaving them together like an enormous celestial tapestry.

Every movement of my spear pulled another thread.

Every turn of my body created another symbol.

Every word leaving my lips became another piece of the formation.

I whispered.

“May the earth forget my name…”

“May the heavens deny my existence…”

“May even the gods turn their faces from me…”

“But let them live….”

The words flowed from my mouth one after another.

“Let the child who has yet to see tomorrow, see the dawn.”

I didn’t need to shout.

“Let the mother who has lost everything, hold her child once more.”

“Let the old who have carried their prayers for a lifetime, close their eyes without fear.”

“Let the hands that once trembled, find strength again.”

“Let the hearts that once wept, beat beneath a peaceful sky.”

I didn’t need to command the heavens.

“I ask for no throne.”

“I ask for no salvation.”

“I ask for no remembrance.”

The heavens already knew my voice.

“For this is not a prayer.”

“This is my final command.”

“Live.”

“Live…”

“Live.”

The entire Sanctum began to glow.

I continued moving.

My steps became lighter.

My movements became more fluid.

There was no hesitation.

Only rhythm.

It almost looked like a dance.

But it wasn’t a dance meant for entertainment.

It was a prayer.

… A farewell.

A final act of creation!

The blood dripping from my chest followed my movements, painting the ground in a widening circle.

Wherever my blood touched, white flames bloomed.

Wherever the spear passed, another symbol appeared.

Wherever my feet stepped, the earth illuminated beneath them.

I moved around the Sanctum as though I had done this a thousand times before.

The spear flowed from one hand to the other.

I spun it behind my back.

Caught it again.

Turned.

Swept it across the air.

And every motion stitched another fragment of the spell into existence.

I could still hear them.

Their screams.

Their sobs.

Their pleas.

“My Lord!”

“PLEASE!”

“DON’T LEAVE US!”

I could feel them.

Those pitiful children…

Crying for a sinner like me.

What did I do to deserve them all?

Huh?

A small smile appeared on my lips.

I looked toward the Umbra Sanctum, watching the countless figures gathered within its radiant protection. I had spent so long thinking of myself as their protector, their Archpriest, their God…

But perhaps I had never stopped to ask what I had done to deserve being loved by them.

Meanwhile, the people inside the Sanctum clearly understood that I was not going to let them die.

They understood that I had chosen to remain outside.

So they knelt.

One by one, then thousands at a time, until the entire Sanctum was filled with people lowering themselves to the ground and praying.

“God Aether.”

“Lord Aether.”

“My Lord.”

“My God!”

“My love!”

“My pain!”

Their prayers poured directly from their hearts.

There were no rituals or chosen words or even sacred scriptures.

Only their voices.

From children to the elderly, from those who had barely learned to speak to those who had spent their entire lives beneath my protection… they all knelt and begged for me.

Some cried.

Some clasped their hands together.

Some pressed their foreheads against the ground.

Others simply stared toward me through tears, unable to say anything at all.

Then something began to happen.

One by one, their bodies started to glow.

At first, it was nothing more than a faint radiance beneath their skin.

Unbeknownst to anyone, something else was beginning to manifest.

High above the Sanctum, where the heavens had already been fractured by the approaching presence, a tiny golden light flickered.

It was so faint that no one noticed it.

By the time I finally reached the place where I had begun, millions of people were already inside the Sanctum.

And it kept growing.

The boundaries of the Sanctum expanded continuously, making room for more and more people as they were drawn inside.

Yet somehow, the Sanctum never felt crowded.

It simply became larger.

“Hufff…”

I released a long, cold breath as I finally lowered my spear.

My entire body felt unbearably heavy.

I slowly opened my eyes.

And there it was.

The entire Umbra Sanctum was surrounded by the enormous formation I had created.

Words and characters were stitched into reality itself, layer upon layer, forming intricate celestial symbols around the Sanctum.

The symbols moved slowly, almost like countless stars trapped within a transparent sky.

I watched them for several seconds.

Then I nodded inwardly.

It was enough.

They would survive.

I was just about to close my eyes when I heard something.

“Lord…”

A gentle, broken voice reached me.

I looked down.

A woman and a man stood there, holding their newborn child between them.

They were both trembling.

The father held the child close to his chest while the mother bowed her head, tears silently falling from her eyes.

“C-Can you… bless our child?”

The father’s voice trembled.

“Please.”

I blinked.

A strange feeling passed through me.

I knew I wasn’t worthy of blessing anyone.

How could a sinner like me place a blessing upon a newborn?

And yet…

They had come to me with their final request.

How could I ignore that?

I nodded.

A gentle smile appeared on my face.

I slowly reached down and touched the newborn’s tiny forehead with my bloodstained fingers.

The child’s skin was warm.

For a moment, I simply looked at that tiny face.

Then I opened my mouth.

“May…”

My voice stopped.

The words of the Prophetess suddenly echoed within my mind.

“You will always be their God…”

Another gentle smile appeared on my lips.

It wasn’t for me.

It was for them.

For their belief.

For their faith.

For the love they had placed in someone who didn’t believe he deserved it.

If they needed me to be their God…

Then, at least for this final moment, I would be.

I took a slow breath.

Then I whispered,

“May Aether bless you.”

“Waaaa…”

The newborn immediately let out a soft cry.

Both parents burst into tears.

The mother covered her mouth as she sobbed, while the father bowed his head deeply before me.

They carefully took their child back into their arms and reluctantly began walking toward the Sanctum.

But just before he entered, the father stopped.

He turned around.

His face was covered in tears.

“My Lord… I am going to raise my child like you.”

He swallowed hard.

“And if there is a reincarnation… I wish you were born to me.”

“I-I… I will protect you like you protected every single one of us.”

He clutched his newborn tightly against his chest.

“P-Please…”

His eyes met mine.

“T-Take care…”

My vision blurred for a moment.

I couldn’t tell whether it was from the blood loss or… the tears gathering in my eyes.

Perhaps it didn’t matter.

I simply nodded.

And smiled.

The father finally turned around and entered the Sanctum.

I watched him disappear behind the radiant barrier.

Then I clenched my fist.

The enormous doors of the Umbra Sanctum began to close.

The sound of the massive doors moving echoed through the land.

Their voices erupted one final time.

“NOO!!!”

“LOOORRRRDDD!!”

“FORGIVE US, LORD!!”

I stood outside.

Alone.

I watched the last sliver of light disappear as the doors continued closing.

Then,

THUD!

The doors sealed shut.

Silence descended.

For the first time… There was no one left outside except me.

I stood there for a moment, staring at them as though I could still see the people beyond those enormous walls.

Then my body gave in.

I panted heavily, each breath scraping painfully through my throat.

“Cough… cough…”

Blood burst violently from my mouth and spilt down my chin, staining my robes and dripping onto the ground beneath me. My vision swayed, the world around me becoming increasingly distant and distorted, as though I were standing at the bottom of a deep ocean.

I could barely think anymore.

Even lifting my head required an effort.

My fingers slowly loosened around the spear.

I looked down at it.

“Iskha’vel…”

My voice was barely audible.

“You too… Go.”

The spear didn’t move.

Instead, its shaft began to tremble faintly within my grasp.

I weakly smiled.

“What? You want to stay with me until the end?”

The trembling became slightly stronger.

I stared at it for a moment before letting out a quiet breath.

“I see…”

My tired smile deepened.

My fingers wrapped around the spear again, this time with a little more strength.

“Then let’s finish it.”

I slowly raised my other hand toward the heavens.

My fingers were trembling.

My body was failing.

My blood was still flowing.

Yet the moment my hand rose…

“…”

No words left my lips.

I didn’t need to speak.

The letters and symbols that had been etched across reality suddenly began to glow.

One after another.

A single symbol ignited.

Until thousands of letters were shining throughout the air around me.

Thin threads of radiant light stretched between them, connecting each symbol to the next.

They looked like stars being linked together by invisible hands.

Every time another connection formed, the corresponding letters brightened violently, and the entire formation pulsed with an immense pressure that made the surrounding space tremble.

The symbols were no longer floating randomly.

They were becoming something.

A structure.

A design.

A law!!

An enormous celestial formation was being woven across reality itself.

My lips parted,

“I shall give life where death has taken it… I shall preserve life where death shall come.”