Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1278: First Miracle: Part-1

”You mean... Blooddawn?” Aether blinked in surprise, ”The red sky?”

Xara nodded slowly and firmly.

”Blooddawn... we don’t know what it is, or why it happens randomly at night. It only stains the skies of the Void Empire, never the other empires. Mary once said it was a curse, a punishment cast over her land. During that night, her people would transform into irrational, blood-driven monsters, enslaved by their own bloodline. Each bloodline twisted into its darkest form, unable to resist.” Xara’s voice carried a grim weight, her face locked in seriousness.

Aether gave a faint nod... a truth he already knew well.

Xara shifted her weight, settling herself comfortably on his lap. Something pressed against her, but she ignored the hard poke and the strange, hungry look on the man’s face.

Shrugging lightly, she pressed on, her tone steady.

”No matter what we did, the composition never fused into their bodies. We tried, we failed. We tried again, and failed again. Tireless, endless failures... until one day, by sheer coincidence, something happened. Honestly, I didn’t expect it at all. It was almost as if fate had intervened...” her words lingered, stretching into the silence.

Xara Seraphine’s POV

”Sigh... you so fucked up, bitch.” Mary’s voice cut through the bloody air. Her tone dripped with disgust, her face twisting with barely contained rage, as though one more mistake would push her to slit my throat.

I sighed. At this point, I didn’t care if she killed me or not. Death might have been a release... because this damned composition was already destroying everything.

My eyes drifted to the two golden liquids swirling before me. They shimmered with unnatural light, so beautiful and so terrifying that I felt my sanity slipping.

I could barely breathe as I stared... They were literally driving me mad.

No matter what we tried, no matter the adjustments, the result was always the same. By the end of the result, the people would change into monsters. Some of them... some of them even burst apart, their bodies ripping under the strain.

”Sigh... arrh... forget it,” Mary muttered, her voice breaking into a groan. She turned away, her clothes snapping against her legs as she walked out of the chamber. Annoyance carved deep into her eyes, as though she had already abandoned the hope of success.

What else did she expect me to do?

It was obvious.

Painfully obvious!!

This was not going to end well.

That’s what I thought... until she came.

Morgana!

This was the first time she had come into the underground chamber where I was willingly confined.

”How about... giving it during the Blooddawn?” she murmured.

I frowned, ”What do you mean? Do you think Blooddawn would change the effect? Of course not! That’s not how blood works. No matter the circumstance, blood never changes. Its nature is absolute!” I barked with fury.

What ridiculous thinking!

There was no way it would be possible!

Blood stays the same... no matter the freaking circumstances!!

She only tilted her head, those sharp, condescending eyes looking down on me as though I were a child clinging to broken rules. Her expression made my skin crawl, as if she was mocking me for not daring to see beyond the obvious.

She... pissing me off for some reason... even more than that bitch Mary!

Morgana hummed... Then, slowly, she said, ”Well... just give it a try. We aren’t losing anything... are we?”

Her tone was calm, too calm, but beneath it, there was a certain logic that pressed into me.

Hmm... she wasn’t wrong. That part, at least, I couldn’t deny.

We already reached the end... no matter the result, it was not showing up.

So... it’s not bad to give it a try... I suppose?

Mary’s eyes lit up with curiosity. I saw it... an almost eager gleam sparking inside her, even after all her anger.

She wanted this too... as if she was excited.

Hmm... She always gets excited! Maybe she gets aroused every time... was she fucking horny bitch?

Sigh!

I exhaled a long, defeated breath and nodded. ”Fine. Don’t come crying and complaining if it doesn’t work,” I said firmly.

And for the first time in a long while, I stepped out from the underground.

Damn... it felt really good after being locked up in a stony room all this time!

Walking on the stony corridor... feeling the fresh breeze gently swaying before my face.

Sigh... breathed in... wow... the freshness of the... Blood?

I froze, blinking in shock. The scent hit harder with every breath.

The entire outside reeked of blood, heavy and metallic, as if the wind itself carried slaughter.

I looked up at the sky and saw... the red glow already spreading across the heavens.

Blooddawn... ah?

My throat tightened... That cursed phenomenon had arrived again.

I blinked quickly, my eyes darting forward. The two walking ahead of me seemed completely unaffected.

Their steps were calm, their bodies moving in perfect rhythm, as if nothing had changed.

Hmm?

Shouldn’t all Void-born people be affected by this Blooddawn?

Their blood should be boiling, their sanity cracking apart. Yet these two...

”Why are you guys fine?” I finally asked, curiously leaning towards them.

Both of them stopped. Slowly, they turned their heads toward me. Their eyes glowed—dangerously, unnaturally—and the sight alone sent a cold shiver rushing down my spine.

””We are... not monsters.””

They spoke at the same time. The words overlapped, the voices almost indistinguishable, chilling in their unison.

For a moment, I swore they were the same person speaking through two bodies.

...Shit!

Before shugging and continuing to walk as if I never asked anything.

Anyway... what does that mean?

Not monsters? So they weren’t truly Void-born? Or... did their bloodline belong to something else entirely?

I wanted their blood... Needed it!

If I could get even a drop into my hands...

But they were alert, too sharp. Every movement screamed caution. There was no way. If I tried, I’d be dead before my fingers even brushed their skin.

I clenched my jaw... Fuck!!

A groan slipped out of me, weak and bitter. It felt impossible. If I failed, not only would I lose my life, but all my research would collapse with me. And that—

That was something I could not give up.

’Sigh... whatever...’ I thought, shrugging my shoulders in nonchalance. They kept walking, steps echoing down the long corridor.

My eyes lingered on their backs as my mind turned restless.

What kind of subjects was I going to get now?

Hehe~

Just the thought alone sent a thrill racing through me.

My lips curled into a grin.

Maybe... maybe something new?

A type I hadn’t experimented with yet?

I grinned from ear to ear, almost trembling in anticipation. Hoping... no, craving... something special.

Something unique!

Something I had never touched before!!

Something... something...

”E-Emperor?”

Definitely not the one I ever expected in my life.

My grin faltered.... I blinked, turning my gaze to stare at the Emperor’s room. The two had pushed open a massive, blackened door.

Beyond it stretched a chamber.... dark, cavernous, the walls flickering with the glow of scattered candelabras.

The air inside was heavy and thick with the stench of blood.

A man sat there, at the heart of it. Black-haired, crimson-eyed, his presence devouring the room itself. Women draped themselves around him like offerings, their bodies pale, messy... horny?

He drank from them slowly, lips stained with crimson, his gaze both languid and merciless.

And around his bed throne... piles of corpses.

Bodies lay strewn across the ground, motionless, emptied. As if their very blood had been drained, leaving them as nothing more than husks.

Third Person’s POV

”Wait! Wait!!!” Aether said as she snapped out of her story and looked at him. Aether’s brows knit together in a confused expression.

”What? Things are getting interesting.” Xara frowned.

”I know, but before you go on... you’re telling me... Alucard was still alive? Exactly when did all of this happen? I’m a bit lost here,” Aether asked.

Xara blinked, tilting her head as if trying to recall. ”Well... I think just recently... I mean... not recently recently. Maybe around a hundred... or two hundred years back? Yeah, maybe that’s right... yup.”

Aether raised his eyebrows, ”You mean... wait... how old are you again?”

Xara’s cheeks flushed pink. ”You shouldn’t ask that, idiot!” she muttered under her breath, swatting him lightly with her words more than her hand.

But Aether wasn’t kidding.

The timelines felt twisted in his mind, tangled knots he couldn’t make sense of.

Just how long did these people live?

He thought of dragons, elves, vampires... creatures whose lifespans stretched over centuries, even millennia. That made sense.

But Xara? She seemed human—normal.

So why did she still look like she was only in her mid-thirties?

Aether clenched his teeth. The more he thought about it, the more confusing it became.

This whole world’s time flowed in ways that drove him mad.

He muttered to himself, ”Then how come Mary was Empress before? I mean... didn’t she rule the Void Empire when the final trial was going on?”

Xara’s expression fell into silence. She simply shrugged with a faint frown. ”I wasn’t born at that time.”

Aether’s mind pieced things together on its own.

”Ah, right... it’s just like Aria. Or... kind of. Mary was only a concubine before. But when she bore the title of the chosen one, Alucard elevated her and placed her as Empress. That must be how it worked... I guess that makes sense.”

Xara tapped her chin, her gaze thoughtful. ”Well... it does, I think. Hmm...” she nodded again, more to herself than to him.

Aether hummed, still half lost in thought. After a pause, he asked, ”Exactly what level are you?”

”Level ninety,” Xara answered flatly.

Aether’s mind raced. He nodded slowly but wondered in silence, ’So levels are tied to lifespan?’

He shook his head and pushed the thought aside.

”Anyway... continue,” he said at last.

Xara inclined her head. ”Well, after seeing the Emperor, I was almost shocked beyond reason....”