Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1356: Pissing off Lyirrs is good?

Aether immediately went to Lyirrs’ lab that stood near the palace as he entered her lab... He saw her slumped at a desk, hands tangled in wild hair, letting out a long, exhausted yawn when the door hissed open.

”Oh? You came... that’s fast,” Lyirrs muttered, scratching her butt absently as she staggered upright. Her gaze flickered with a mixture of sleep and irritation, another yawn escaping her lips.

”Lyirrs!”

Suddenly, she flinched. That voice cut through the haze of her tired mind... Her father?

She rubbed her groggy eyes with the back of her wrist and saw... her father, Drakhairs, standing right behind Aether, eyes as cold as frozen steel.

Lyirrs just sighed, shoulders dropping. ”What?”

”What?” Drakhairs frowned, ”Is this how a woman presents herself before the Em—ahem, before a man?” He glared at his daughter, his pride wounded at her casual, dishevelled state.

Hair like a nest, cheeks streaked with soot, eyes unfocused—she looked like she’d lost a war with her workbench.

”Did you even look in a mirror, girl? You call this ready?”

Lyirrs blinked, then glanced at Aether, who just stood there.

”Why would I present myself all polished and neat for this human?” she grumbled, frowning at her father. ”Seriously, why are you acting like this?”

Heck, Aether and Lyirrs had spent weeks together in the Aurora Empire, elbow-deep in engine grease and fluid, hair wild, faces smudged, building the Thrusters day and night.

Compared to that chaos, today she was practically regal.

Aether nodded, a sly grin twisting his lips as he turned to Drakhairs. ”She’s right, Supreme General. Why force a show?” he said, ”Why should she have to present herself for anyone’s approval?”

Drakhairs gritted his teeth, breath hissing out as he realised the Emperor was just as unruly as his daughter. He let out a slow, frustrated sigh, the old fire dimming to resignation.

Aether’s smile softened as he turned back to Lyirrs. ”Anyway, how’s the situation with that gun? We need to replicate it. Any progress?”

Lyirrs nodded. She reached for the crystal—translucent, nearly the size of a magazine clip, ”This isn’t just some ordinary energy reservoir,” she said, ”What we’ve got here... is pure Arcane and Clarion fusion. It’s not just storage. It’s a whole new class of power.”

Aether frowned, ”What do you mean, Lyirrs?”

Lyirrs immediately moved to her console, fingers flying across keys. The display flickered to life, holograms spinning. ”Look,” she pointed, ”inside this lattice, Arcane and Clarion energy signatures are bound together. No impurities, no volatility. When I ran diagnostics, the signatures leaked only at high frequencies—meaning this crystal isn’t just a container. It’s the solid embodiment of two raw energies, fused.”

Aether’s eyebrows shot up. ”Like the Arcanium mountains?” he asked.

Lyirrs nodded, her tone grave. ”Exactly. But those mountains—full of impurities, dangerous to mine, the energy always wants to explode. You can’t use them directly for tech. But this,” she lifted the crystal, ”is clean. No impurities. Clarion Energy stabilises the Arcane. It’s an almost perfect balance.” She turned her screen toward him, where readings scrolled—two power types, perfectly intertwined, not a single spike or fluctuation.

”This... isn’t something anyone can just achieve,” she said quietly.

Drakhairs stepped forward, ”Those Arcanium mountains... it took centuries for a single one to form, layer by layer. Even then, they’re dangerous as hell to touch.”

Aether raised his eyebrows. Lyirrs nodded, ”And considering we only just discovered Clarion energy in our world, there’s no way anyone could’ve formed this crystal in a matter of days. That’s just not possible.”

”So the crystal you’re holding... it isn’t from our world at all,” Aether said.

Lyirrs nodded again, adding, ”So it’s basically impossible to replicate this crystal—at least for now, and definitely not with our current technology. Just... where the hell did you even get this, Aether?”

Aether’s face turned stern, eyes narrowing as he stared at the crystal. ”Impossible... ah.” His mind raced with possibilities... about the sixth empire’s suasion.

He finally nodded, asked curiously, ”Not even artificially? Not even a synthetic variant?”

Lyirrs looked sceptical, shaking her head, ”You do realise our equipment wasn’t built to handle two unstable energies together, right? Even if we somehow managed to force them into a single shell, one wrong calculation and the entire city would be vaporised. The process is too volatile. And besides, we don’t even have a source for both energies at once. To test this, we’d have to open the barrier.” She threw up her hands in frustration.

”So yeah, it’s fucking impossible!”

”Language, Lyirrs!” Drakhairs snapped, glaring at his daughter with a mix of outrage and embarrassment.

Lyirrs scowled, rolling her eyes, wondering why her father always got so strict at the worst moments.

Aether hummed, rubbing his chin as his mind worked through the implications. ’Looks like I need to talk with Rosavere again,’ he thought with a frown, glancing over at Lyirrs, who was busy frowning back at her father, and at Drakhairs, who was now glaring in return.

He blinked and smirked slyly before letting out a theatrical sigh and pulling an exaggeratedly disappointed face.

”Tsk. You useless woman,” he muttered, letting the words hang just loud enough for Lyirrs to hear, his lips twitching into a mischievous grin.

Lyirrs, still glaring at her father, flinched and spun to face Aether, eyes narrowing dangerously. ”What did you just say to me?”

Aether only shrugged, smirking, ”Oh, you heard me. I was expecting the great Lyirrs, the Empire’s genius, the one everyone talks about—’she can build anything, she can solve any problem!’ And yet, look at you, acting like a tired old lady who is annoyed that she couldn’t do anything.

Maybe all those stories about your brilliance were just fairy tales for children, huh?” He cocked his head, clearly enjoying how much it annoyed her. ”Is this really the famed Lyirrs? Or did I walk into the wrong lab?”

Lyirrs’ frown deepened, lips curling in annoyance. ”It’s not like I’m saying it’s impossible. I’m saying... right now, it’s insanely hard. No one could just whip one of these up!”

Aether kept needling, shaking his head. ”Excuses, excuses. You sound like Victor—’It’s too hard, it can’t be done!’ At this rate, maybe we should let someone else take a shot at it. What do you think, Drakhairs? Maybe your daughter needs a vacation, or a nice, quiet library to read about real inventions?”

Lyirrs clenched her fists, ”Try letting someone else touch my equipment, and I’ll turn them into a crystal lattice myself,” she snapped.

Aether smirked even more,

”That’s exactly why I told Victor to reconsider his ’beloved engineer.’ I need results, not excuses. We don’t need someone who gives up just because something’s tough.”

Lyirrs’ eyes went wide, ”W-What did you just say about me to the Emperor?” A faint glow sparked in her irises, anger mixing with disbelief.

Drakhairs blinked, glancing from one to the other, utterly lost—what the hell was his Emperor trying to pull now?

Aether shrugged again, tone mock-casual, grin widening. ”Victor always said you were perfect for him—so hardworking, so loyal, always the best with a wrench. He even called you... Beautiful, said there was no one he trusted more at his side. Almost sounded romantic.” He winked.

Lyirrs, who had been on the verge of tearing Aether apart, suddenly blinked. Her cheeks flushed a faint pink, anger melting into confusion and surprise.

”W-What? He said all that? About... me? B-Beautiful?” For the first time, she reached up and tried to smooth her messy hair, suddenly self-conscious.

”He... really said that?” Her voice dropped to a whisper, hope and disbelief tangling together.

Aether watched her with a look of even greater, almost theatrical, disappointment.

”Yet here you are... sleeping on the job, not caring about a thing, and unable to do anything with this model or your so-called beauty...” He squinted as if searching for something invisible. ”I don’t see it. Maybe Victor’s eyes are faulty... or maybe he’s just fucking blind or something~”

Lyirrs scoffed, ”Because an asshole like you couldn’t recognise talent if it slapped you in the face! Unlike my majesty, who knows true skill!”

”L-Lyirrs, mind your words—” Drakhairs began, but Lyirrs only tossed her hair defiantly and turned away, muttering curses under her breath as Aether laughed, infuriating her even further.

”Father! This man is the one who’s pissing me off! If anything, you should be the one showing him a lesson for calling me ugly!” Lyrics cut in.

Drakhairs blinked, caught off guard by her sudden outburst. He glanced at Aether, who was smiling innocently at him, as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. ’Oh gods... please, just let this Emperor behave for once,’ Drakhairs screamed inwardly, massaging his temple.

Yet Aether just smirked, turning his gaze to Lyirrs. ”Ugly? Did I really call you that? Hm... maybe you really are the ugly one! Maybe I should inform Victor, finally let him see you for who you truly are... ugly dragon~” He winked at her, clearly enjoying every second of her growing fury.

Lyirrs’ face went from red to furious,

”YOU ASSHOLE! IF YOU DARE SAY ANOTHER WORD TO MY EMPEROR—JUST WAIT, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!!”

Before she could throw herself at Aether, Drakhairs stepped in and grabbed her, restraining her with both arms.

”Let me go, Father! That fucker—let me at him! Just because he’s my Emperor’s friend doesn’t mean he can belittle him! I’ll fucking kill you, Aether!” Lyirrs thrashed, trying to break free, teeth gritted and hands clawing at the air.

Aether grinned wider, taunting her. ”Oh yeah? Even though you’re the one being completely useless here~”

Veins popped on Lyirrs’ forehead as she glared at Aether, ”Motherfucker... you are not as innocent as everyone thinks... you’re a bigger asshole than any demon I’ve ever met!”

Aether just shrugged and strolled toward the exit, hands clasped behind his head, wearing a jolly expression that made it obvious he was delighted to have riled her up so much.

As he left, he even hummed a cheerful tune.

”YOU ASSHOLE! ONCE I HAVE POWER, YOU’LL BE THE FIRST TO DIE!” Lyirrs screamed after him.

Meanwhile, Drakhairs looked at his daughter, his worry deepening.

This... this was definitely not going as he’d hoped. He sighed, resigned, and wondered if the day would ever come...