Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1268: Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 01 seconds

Back in Pyra Empire, inside the Palace Laboratory,

”Arrh... what’s with these functions?” Xara groaned, her voice strained as she wrestled with something flickering on the glowing screen. Her face looked worn, eyes dulled from exhaustion, hair messy as if she hadn’t touched a comb in days.

She barely had any clothes on—just a loose blouse clinging to her shoulders and the faintest cover of undies.

As she leaned closer, her gaze fixed on the blood analysis and semen analysis still running across the system.

To be honest, it was already her third attempt. The previous ones had short-circuited the device, and in some cases, the results had even vanished into thin air as if swallowed by some unseen force.

She wondered why... and what kind of blood could twist reality like this.

Anyway, she was currently stuck with something confusing, and it gnawed at her mind so badly that she wanted to confirm it directly with the one person responsible for this blood and semen.

”But going out feels so tiring...” she muttered, her eyelids heavy. She wanted to rest, but her work had dragged on for endless days.

Who even knew when she had last closed her eyes?

So much obsession, so much hunger... hooked entirely on blood.

”I should talk to him... maybe take the blood directly, with my own lips~” she whispered, her tongue sliding across her mouth. She licked her lips dangerously, savouring the thought. Just imagining the taste of his veins, warm and rich, made her legs tremble.

”Mmm... damn, I’m so messed up...” She smiled faintly, dark and twisted, yet in her heart, she knew she was loved by Aether.

These two were truly something... bound together in ways that no ordinary pair could understand.

She pulled back on her clothes, then paused, glancing down at her body, her curves, and her form reflected faintly in the polished steel beside her. She raised her arm and sniffed. ”Yuck...” she nearly gagged, her stomach turning. ”First the bathroom... then Aether.”

With that, she stepped into the washroom, and the water cascaded down, flowing over her bare skin, running across her curves as if caressing her, cleansing her exhaustion, washing away the scent of sleepless nights.

After freshening up, she finally moved from her lab. She needed to talk to Aether directly. If he was not here, then she needed to bring him here... at any cost.

As she walked out, she saw the sky and frowned.

Was that freaking barrier?

”Hmm? What’s going on here?” she muttered before hurrying down the corridor.

She reached the rooms, but no one was there.

She frowned again and made her way to the throne room. There she saw Thalia, Selene, and Emberlyn gathered, while Lyirrs was operating something on a glowing console they seemed to have built recently.

’Guess I missed so many things,’ she thought as she entered, curiosity flickering across her face. Everyone was too busy staring at the screen to notice her rare arrival.

She narrowed her eyes. ’What are they staring at?’

As she stepped closer, the answer came—the live footage of horrors unfolding beyond the barrier.

Her eyes widened. ”Clarion? Is it already happening?”

Everyone flinched, as if they hadn’t expected her. Selene turned quickly, her lips parting. ”Mom... you came back?” She rushed forward.

Xara pulled her daughter into a sudden embrace. ”How are you, dear?” she asked in a softened tone, eyes momentarily tender.

”I am fine... but... but the situation is...” Selene’s voice faltered as she began to explain what was happening right now.

Xara listened, her brows tightening in both surprise and fury.

”I see... so ’The Beginning has started,’” she muttered darkly.

Thalia nodded, her voice heavy. ”But we couldn’t do anything. People kept dying... the trees are the source of Clarion energy. Even if we destroy them, they just regrow double.”

Thalia clenched her fist. Her sister was outside, helping the people as best she could, but none of them here had the ability to handle that kind of energy... not like the chosen ones.

Xara’s eyes went back to the live footage, expression unreadable. ”What is Aether doing?”

Selene bit her lip hard before whispering, ”He is trying his best, Mom... but...” She clenched her fists, trembling.

Xara let out a slow sigh, then walked closer to the screen. Her gaze was fixed on the strange tree, endlessly releasing Clarion energy into the land.

’...Hmm...’ she hummed thoughtfully, her sharp eyes narrowing. She stepped closer to Lyirrs and spoke low. ”The barrier—it was created to remove Clarion energy, right?”

Lyirrs nodded firmly.

Xara leaned down, ”What about Arcane energy?”

Lyirrs hesitated. ”Well... it was solely built for Clarion energy only.”

Xara’s frown deepened, her eyes hard. ”Remove the Arcane too.”

Lyirrs blinked, startled. ”What do you mean?”

Xara’s voice sharpened, serious as steel. ”Don’t ask me how... just do it.”

Lyirrs, on the other hand, frowned. ”As I said before, it was solely built to stop the Clarion energy. It would take time to etch the core with another signature.”

”How long?” Xara asked, her face deadly serious.

Lyirrs flinched before answering. ”An hour for each empire.” Her voice turned grim. ”Also... we would need to turn it off just to even start the process.”

Xara tapped her shoulder coldly. ”By that time, everyone would be dead... including us.” She turned sharply toward Selene. ”Contact him. Inform him... he needs to remove the Arcane energy too.”

Even though Selene wanted to ask why, one look at her mother’s unshakable expression silenced her. She immediately delivered the message to Aether.

Selene blinked, startled, her voice echoing both telepathically and aloud. ”Are you sure?” Then she turned back to her mother and said, ”He answered... he said he will do it.”

Lyirrs’ eyes widened. ”H-how?”

Xara smirked, her lips curling. ”That’s my man~” she purred, giving a playful wink. Thalia and Selene both wanted to say something, but they swallowed their words and stayed silent.

Aether, on the other hand, had already moved to the central tower, standing before the core... the massive crystal glowing furiously in waves.

It was an artificial crystal, transparent on the surface, yet its depths swirled with a storm of shifting colours... mesmerising shades that twisted and flowed in every direction, alive as though the crystal itself were breathing.

Aether wasn’t sure why, but he put his trust in Xara. After all, he didn’t have much of a choice.

His puppets appeared at his side, their many hands moving furiously, etching symbols into the crystal’s surface with uncanny precision.

Together, Aether and his puppets worked faster and faster, his skills letting him blur across the surface, teleporting from one side to the other in bursts of light. And then...

Ssshhhh~

The carving slowly etched itself deeper into the crystal.

His fingers burned from the energy backlash, the system still active and resisting, but he ignored the pain. He just kept going, faster, harder... the etching spreading like veins of light all over the core.

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 05 hours 60 minutes 60 seconds↡]

Aether teleported to the next empire and began carving there, too.

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 03 hours 60 minutes 60 seconds↡]

And then another...

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 01 hours 60 minutes 60 seconds↡]

And another...

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 50 minutes 60 seconds↡]

/NOW/

His voice echoed through them as they poured even more energy. The crystal glowed furiously, the freshly etched parts blazing as they filled with surging power and...

Sssssnnnnnnggg!!

A strange, vibrating hum shook the entire core tower. A wave of energy erupted outward as the barrier began to glow, rising from the core—pushing upward, spreading, and then cascading down across the land.

Aether panted heavily, floating in the sky, watching the barrier expand. When its light touched the strange trees...

sslllcckk

The trees withered instantly!!

Shock struck everyone at once.

Lyirrs turned to Xara, wide-eyed with disbelief.

Xara only smirked in satisfaction as she nodded to herself for thinking this.

The others’ faces lit with joy, relief filling their expressions... They finally freaking stopped it!

No more worries!!

But Aether...

”Come on, come on!!” he rambled like an idiot, eyes locked on the system log.

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 20 minutes 60 seconds↡]

Aether gritted his teeth. The barrier crawled forward too slowly, slowed by the sudden carving process layered over the core’s existing functions.

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 10 minutes 60 seconds↡]

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 50 seconds↡]

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 40 seconds↡]

!~Ding~!

Aether’s jaw tightened, sweat running down his brow as the barrier expanded closer and closer... nearing the other barrier.

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 20 seconds↡]

”Faster!!” he roared, voice cracking with desperation. He wanted to push the damned thing forward, to force it beyond its limit.

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 10 seconds↡]

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 09 seconds↓]

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 08 seconds↓]

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 07 seconds↓]

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 06 seconds↓]

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 05 seconds↓]

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 04 seconds↓]

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 03 seconds↓]

[Remaining Time: 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 02 seconds↓]

!~Din—

Thud!

The barrier locked!!

!~Ding~!

[Remaining Time (Paused): 00 days 00 hours 00 minutes 01 seconds]

”Siggggghhhhhh!!”

Aether let out a deep, dragging sigh, as if he had been holding his breath for an eternity. His gaze dropped to his hand—burned, muscles scorched, sticky with blood. He chuckled weakly, half-mad, half-relieved.

Wait... wasn’t he forgetting something?

Aether’s eyes widened in panic.

/Nightfire? Are you guys alright?/

It’s not like he had forgotten them... rather, he had warned them to stay inside Nyx’s Personal Realm in case something happened.

But she never contacted him other than skeleton!

Nightfire, on the other hand, replied sharply.

/Alright? Of course not!!/

Aether’s eyes widened. Did he make a mistake?

/I am so fucking thirsty, give me your cock now!!/

”...”

Aether blinked, tilting his head. He wanted to comment, but instead he sighed, forcing himself to ask calmly

,/Are you really safe? Nothing happened in your empire? Other than that, weird colossal skeleton?/

/Hmm? Something was supposed to happen?/

Her tone sounded so casual that it made Aether frown.

Was nothing happening there? Or... were they inside the Personal Realm, completely shielded from it?

He immediately teleported to the Void Empire and—

”...What the...” he muttered.

The empire looked as good as new.

Nothing had happened.

”...”

Aether stood utterly confused, until his gaze fell on the mansion. Morgana was there, smirking at him, as if she had known he would appear.

Aether’s lip twitched. ”This bitch definitely knows something.” He gritted his teeth, vanishing and reappearing right before her.

”What is the meaning of this?”

Morgana blinked at him with a perfectly innocent expression. ”Meaning of what?”

Aether’s veins popped across his neck.