Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1162: Mending the Broken Samsara: Part-2

Aether was stunned when he saw Nyx standing behind him—alive... or at least partially. After the terrifying vision he had just witnessed, seeing her like this was both a relief and a shock. Without thinking, without hesitating even for a second, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.

Despite her half-decayed form—one side pale and alive, the other side bone and darkness—he hugged her tightly.

Nyx’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

He was hugging her?

Her.

Who in their right mind would hug a being who was half-dead, half-alive? Her current form was nothing short of horrifying—an undead, twisted shell, bones exposed, flesh cold and ghostly.

Yet this fool... held her like she was just another person.

Her gaze shifted to the purple feather. The blackness that had invaded it began to retreat. The flames flickered back into their original purple hue, soft and steady once again.

Slowly, she placed her hand on Aether’s chest and gently pushed him back. Not forcefully—just enough to create space between them. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and for the first time, her voice carried a thread of concern.

”What are you doing here?”

Aether blinked. Her voice wasn’t cold. It wasn’t sharp. It was... worried?

Even though her expression barely changed, even though the concern in her tone was faint, it was there.

And that alone felt like a miracle.

He let out a long breath, running his hand through his soaked hair.

”How could I just leave you alone?” he said, voice trembling with emotion.

”Of course I jumped... The moment I thought I’d lost you, I didn’t even think—I just went in!”

There was fear in his tone, but also relief. Genuine happiness radiated from his eyes as he held her hand—one alive and warm, the other cold and skeletal. He hesitated for a moment, glancing at the bone, but he didn’t let go.

Holding her hands firmly, he looked into her eyes with quiet intensity and spoke in a low, serious voice.

”I’m your husband... Whether it’s life... or death... I’ll follow you. Anywhere.”

Nyx stared at him in silence, her expression unreadable.

Her mismatched eyes searched his face as if trying to decipher something strange, something unfamiliar. His gaze... it wasn’t just protective.

It wasn’t just brave.

It was something deeper.

Was that... love?

She didn’t understand it.

Love—what did that even mean?

To her, it was just a word. An emotion she had never received, never even seen with her own eyes. No one had ever looked at her the way he was looking at her now.

This was new.

”I see... Whatever.”

Her voice was flat again, like she was brushing it off, but something in her tone had softened. She shrugged her shoulders and turned her head.

”Honestly... how are you even alive?”

”Huh?” Aether blinked, confused.

”I mean...” she said, glancing at him, ”if a living, breathing person enters the cycle of Samsara, their body would disintegrate instantly. Their soul would burn. Completely. No exceptions.”

Aether’s face paled. His mouth opened, but no words came out. A small, shaky laugh escaped him.

”R-Really...? Then... how am I still in one piece?”

He gulped audibly. A nervous sweat formed at the back of his neck.

Nyx narrowed her eyes slightly.

He didn’t even know what Samsara truly was?

He just... jumped in?

To save her?

Was this man a complete idiot?

She looked at him with a flat expression, like she was staring at a rare and bizarre creature that somehow, against all logic, had survived.

Like a cockroach crawling through fire.

[+100 AP]

Still... the corners of her lips twitched slightly. Just barely. The same way her voice had carried a flicker of worry earlier—this time, it was the faintest trace of a smile. A strange, confused smile.

She shook her head, exhaling slowly. She didn’t know how he survived. She didn’t understand this man’s soul. But there were more important things to focus on now.

The crack.

They had to fix it.

”Follow me...”

Nyx turned, beckoning him with a flick of her skeletal hand. Her steps echoed softly as she began to walk.

But Aether paused, eyes lingering on the glowing feather behind them.

”Hmm... what is that, exactly?”

Nyx glanced back and followed his gaze.

”That’s the object that grants souls their rebirth,” she explained. ”It purifies lingering souls and erases all of their memories... so they can be reborn clean.”

Aether stared at it for a moment, watching the gentle flames dance along its edges.

”Huh...”

He hummed thoughtfully, then turned and followed after her, leaving the flame behind.

A ghostly pale flame hovered above Nyx’s bony palm as she walked silently through the vast expanse of darkness. The flame pulsed gently like a heartbeat, casting soft violet glows across her skeletal fingers.

Behind her, Aether followed, his boots making dull echoes against the ground beneath them.

”How did you find me?”

Nyx didn’t reply.

She kept walking, her gaze forward, focused entirely on whatever task weighed on her mind. The flickering flame in her hand remained steady, lighting their path through the void.

Aether’s eyes lingered on her back. Half of her body was ashen, lifeless, skeletal. The other half still held a fragile sense of life. A strange fusion of existence and death, like she was caught between worlds.

He had countless questions—why was she not sleeping, what exactly happened to her, how much of her was even human anymore—but he kept them to himself. Instead, he simply followed, watching her guide them through the dark without a word.

After what felt like hours—or maybe just minutes—they arrived.

Before them stood a crack.

A deep, jagged tear in the black space, glowing with a faint purplish hue, the edges shimmering like broken glass.

Aether’s brows furrowed as he stared into it.

It looked eerily familiar. Just like the crack he had seen back in the ocean.

”This is the crack you mentioned?” he asked quietly.

Nyx didn’t respond immediately. Her eyes narrowed as she studied it, the ghost flame in her hand flaring slightly in response before disappearing.

”This crack...” she murmured, almost to herself, ”It feels like something was forced out of it. Violently. Like the Grace... was ripped away. Maybe... forced to go somewhere else.”

Aether swallowed hard.

”So... what should we do now?” he asked.

Nyx shook her head, her voice clipped. ”Without the Grace, we can’t repair the crack. It’s the only source that can restore balance here.”

Aether’s expression tightened. He tried not to let his frustration show, but the tension in his voice slipped through.

”Then why are you even here?”

She glanced at him with a shrug, emotionless as ever.

”Her Majesty asked me to come.”

His lips twitched. He wanted to curse that woman, to call her manipulative, to accuse her of playing games with their lives—but he knew better. That kind of outburst would only backfire.

He sighed and asked instead, ”Then what exactly are we supposed to do here?”

Nyx tilted her head, a slightly puzzled expression crossing her face.

”We?” she echoed. ”I’m the one meant to mend this. Not you.”

Aether gave a crooked grin, then straightened his face, his voice turning serious.

”Come on. I’m your husband. Whatever this is—let’s face it together.”

Nyx blinked, her eyes searching his face for a long moment. Then she frowned.

”Are you offering your soul?”

”Yes, of cou—wait, what?”

Nyx’s tone shifted, turning cold and weighty.

”The crack formed from a rupture in space caused by the Grace being torn away. In order to mend it—even temporarily—it needs a soul. Specifically, a half soul.”

”...”

Aether blinked, trying to catch up with her words. ”W-Wait... does that mean...”

Nyx nodded, her expression curling into a faint, knowing grin.

”Indeed. I’m the perfect candidate for this.”

”No, not that—well, that too—but... what do you mean by ’half soul’? What even is that?”

He stared at her, eyes filled with genuine confusion. None of this made any sense.

Nyx simply smiled again. But this time, it wasn’t cold. It was... softer. Subtle. Like something in her chest had warmed.

Then suddenly—she felt it.

His hand.

He was holding her hand tightly.

Even the bony one.

She hadn’t even noticed when he reached out, but there it was—his fingers wrapped around hers, steady and firm, not letting go.

He was scared.

And yet he stood there for her.

She looked at him, quietly processing that strange, reckless courage. That kind of soul... felt alien to her.

”You once asked me,” she said softly, ”why I was digging graves, didn’t you?”

Aether nodded, watching her closely.

Nyx’s eyes met his—deep, hollow, yet flickering with something buried far beneath.

”To find my half soul,” she whispered.