Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1266: Activate Project ‘X’

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 24 hours 60 minutes 60 seconds]

/Aether... we have a problem./

Aether sighed... when Helena’s voice echoed in his mind.

He looked at Sera, who too turned serious, her flames flickering faintly around her.

They decided to teleport when, all of a sudden, Aether’s eyes widened.

His instincts screamed... He moved back instantly and pushed Sera down, just barely an inch away from where a long axe swirled past, slicing through the air with a shriek sharp enough to split a mountain!

Aether immediately turned back to the ashes and saw.... Something rising from the ashes.

sshhhhss~

Aether’s frown deepened... as a human-sized figure slowly stood up from the ashes of the skeleton.

Its body was fully shrouded in dust and soot, an eerie silhouette trembling as if struggling to reform. With a single violent jerk, the ashes scattered and drifted away, revealing the horned skull beneath.

Its body was draped in weird, tattered ash-grey cloth. The hollow sockets suddenly burned alive with rainbow-colored fire. It raised its hand, and the long axe that had nearly killed Sera moments ago rattled through the air and returned obediently to its grip.

Aether and Sera frowned as they glared at the thing.

Was it the one that operated the colossal skeleton?

Suddenly, from the remains of the mountain, something glowed with unnatural brilliance before shooting toward the monster like a comet. The monster raised its hand, gripping the axe tightly, and struck it violently.

TINGG!!!

The deafening clash rattled their ears. Aether and Sera’s ears twitched as they saw the long, one-sided axe twist and reshape itself, the blade splitting in luminous rage until it became a Double-Edged Axe!!

The two stones glowed dangerously before vanishing in an instant and reappearing above Aether. They plummeted with killing intent, landing squarely on him.

Aether had already pushed Sera aside, his body jerking backwards just in time to save them both.

BOOM!

The ground cracked in a violent line that tore the ground apart.

Sera poured her flames toward it, but the moment they reached it, the flames fizzled into nothingness as if swallowed by a void.

Aether gritted his teeth. ”So that’s the thing that came from the mountains?” he muttered, his voice low with dread and fury, as he saw the monster already step through space, appearing right before him.

Aether braced for the impact when the Double-Edged Axe came down against his arms, the sheer force cracking bone.

”Arhh!” Aether groaned. He hadn’t expected it to attack head-on instead of teleporting away like before.

If so, then he could attack, right? He seized the moment and set the monster ablaze in living fire... only for the creature to vanish.

”The fuck...!” Aether shouted, before watching the monster disappear and reappear at a different angle, striking at him instantly.

It didn’t even give him a chance to breathe, let alone strike back.

Aether’s body was slashed open across his side... Sera tried to fire again, unleashing a storm of flames to support him, but for whatever fucking reason, the monster ignored her entirely.

Its focus was absolute... It only wanted Aether — and Aether alone.

It didn’t even care about her attacks!!

/Aether! Everyone is dying!! Mother is back!!/

Helena’s voice echoed, Aether’s eyes flared open in pure white.

”Get the fuck out of here!!” he roared, before slamming the ground the very moment the monster appeared near him. The earth cracked, shockwaves rippling out and forcing the creature to stumble. In that heartbeat of imbalance, Aether surged forward, caught its hand in a crushing grip, and hurled it into the sky.

Aether blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected to touch that thing at all... but as he looked at his hand, trembling faintly, he realised the truth. When he gripped the monster’s hand... he felt it.

He felt flesh.

”Aether?” Sera called him worriedly, rushing close, her voice trembling as she poured healing light into his wounds.

”Let’s go!” Aether said, as he seized her arm and teleported them both away.

The monster flailed through the air, dangling like a broken puppet, before finally stabilising itself. Its hollow sockets turned downward... only to find no trace of Aether.

It frowned, the sound like bones grinding, before muttering in a hollow, echoing voice.

”I am... The New One.”

And disappeared!

There was only silence after that... except, near the Ebon Stone nailed into the ground, just a little further away, there rested a dug-up rectangular space.

A spear and a skeleton lay within... At first glance, nothing unusual stirred there... just remnants Aether once tried, and failed, to lift.

Yet now... the tip of the rusted spear glimmered faintly. A thin trace of white sparkles danced along its edge before fading away into nothing.

Anyway,

Aether appeared inside the control room for Project ’X.’

”What’s going on?”

He demanded as his gaze snapped to Helena. She stood frozen before the wall of monitors, eyes locked on the live footage.

On the screens, people screamed. Soldiers screamed. Their bodies writhed as skin burned away, then suddenly burst open from within, blood and fire spilling across the grounds.

The people were running from something they couldn’t even see.

They fled in blind instinct, but the moment anything touched them, their bodies detonated!

The Mother’s energy was flooding into the Empires.

Sandra, Aqualina, and Celestia stood in their Naiadae Empire, watching their own people burst apart before their eyes.

Raven, Selene, Thalia, Emberlyn, and Lyirrs stared in horror as dragons — mighty and proud — fled through the skies, only to rupture midair, raining blood upon the ground like crimson storms.

Kaelen, Liora, Aria, and Maelona watched their people convulse, mutate, and in rare cases twist into wicked monsters, their bodies mutating into grotesque forms.

Aether blankly stared at the screens filled with flesh, fire, and endless screaming. His lips moved slowly before his voice fell blunt,

”Activate Project ’X.’”

Helena clenched her fist, trembling. ”B-But those people—”

They had just begun evacuation under emergency protocols... Too many would never make it.

Not many people were under the safety marking.

Aether blankly said, ”If we wait... we will lose everyone.” his tone was cold.

Of course, Helena knew this. She understood the logic, the necessity. Yet seeing people die like that, bodies bursting without reason or meaning...

Sera gently patted Helena’s shoulder before stepping forward. She moved toward the console, flipped open the glass that shielded the button, and looked back at Aether with quiet resolve.

Aether still blankly stared at the live footage, his eyes reflecting the endless screams and fire, before communicating to the others, his voice echoing through the channels,

”Everyone... Activate Project ’X’”

Sandra, Raven, and Liora nodded. One by one, they nodded their heads before flipping the glass covers on their consoles and,

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Everyone pressed the button simultaneously.

Project ’X’... it was something Aether knew all too well.

It was born from Kennedy’s design — a technology once twisted to destroy the Academy.

Yes... The very same system was once used as a barrier to remove Arcane energy from everything trapped within.

Aether’s plan now was simple... brutally simple.

Stop Clarion’s energy from entering.

That was all.

It wouldn’t solve everything. Not all the problems. But it would stop most of them.

Since he had wielded Clarion energy before, he knew its signature, its unique resonance. He had etched crystals with that signature, aligning them so the barrier would reject Clarion’s essence entirely, making sure no trace of it could seep inside.

He had already tested a miniature version before proposing the plan.

And now, as Project ’X’ came to life:

From high above the Empire, at the heart of each land stood a colossal tower. Suddenly, the towers shuddered, light bursting from their crowns in violent flares. A single beam ignited from each core, lashing outward in burning arcs that carved the horizon.

The light struck four distant towers standing on the empire’s edges. Together, the five formed a perfect geometry, aligned with precision. One by one, they awakened, binding themselves into a vast, luminous cross — an ’X’ carved across the heavens. Slowly, as the beams connected, a single titanic sphere began to take shape.

The barrier was rising.

TTTnnnnggg!

A strange humming filled the air, vibrating through stone. The Empires trembled as the colossal shield unfolded across the skies.

Delphine and Dora stood frozen, watching in awe as the barrier cascaded pushed and down from above.

Aether and the others leaned closer to the footage. They saw people sprinting with all their strength, desperately running toward the forming wall, their faces twisted in fear. They ran furiously, as though outrunning death itself, and yet...

Thud!

The barrier fell into place, sealing the Empires from the outside.

”No... NO! NOOOO!!”

”Please let us i—”

Before they could even finish their scream... everyone outside burst into pieces.

Flesh shredded, blood spattered, and in the chaos, some twisted further... mutating into grotesque monsters that clawed at the air.

Aether blankly stared at the footage while Helena, Selene, Emberlyn, Lyirrs, and Aqualina closed their eyes for a second.

People inside the barrier gasped and panted in horror.

As if they had almost lost control of their own bodies in terror. No, they didn’t erupt. Not many. Because deep down they knew... they understood what had just happened.

Their eyes trembled. Some cried openly. Others collapsed to their knees in relief. A few clenched their fists, trying to steady themselves, and focused on the next matter at hand.

That was it.

”Status?” Aether asked with a hollow voice.

Helena flinched before glancing at the readings. She had already studied some of the systems here, enough to recognise what was stable and what wasn’t. She nodded, ”Everything is stable.”

Everyone else reported the same.

Sera let out a shaky breath before forcing a smile. ”We did it, Aether... we did it,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. But his body remained stiff, his eyes still locked on the screen.

”What happened?”

Aether’s blank stare deepened. On the monitors, the parts outside the barrier turned into a wasteland.

Entire forests shrivelled into dust. Trees and plants withered and crumbled. Animals convulsed, unable to withstand the energy, bursting apart like the people before them. Some twisted into grotesque shapes, monsters born from agony and mutation.

Their Arcane Crystals cracked and shimmered furiously as the rainbow colour seeped in before blasting!

Everything outside was dead.

Aether closed his eyes, steadying his breath. There were things even he couldn’t control.

He told himself to let it go... To endure!

”Wait... why is that tree still there?” Helena suddenly pointed at the withered wasteland. Amidst the desolation, one patch stood out. Strange trees remained the same, trees that had only appeared after the Empires fused together.

They did not wither...

They did not crumble...

They hovered gently in the air, their leaves shimmering with faint light.

And from those leaves... something spreading?

Something that flickered with white sparks.

Aether’s eyes widened,

”FUCK! THEY ARE THE SOURCE OF THAT CLARION ENERGY!!”

And the next moment—

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 23 hours 60 minutes 60 seconds↡]

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 22 hours 60 minutes 60 seconds↡]

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 21 hours 60 minutes 60 seconds↡]

The people who thought they were safe now... saw the real horror.

Because those trees had grown everywhere!!