Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1560: Capturing the Monsters

Aether’s ladies worked tirelessly, their efforts stitched together with exhaustion and fragile resolve as they tried to stabilize what remained and hold everything from collapsing again.

Kaelen, along with Liora and Maelona, worked in unison to rebuild what had been lost with other Elders. Dora opened the gates of her academy, offering shelter to those who had lost their homes, turning halls of learning into a refuge filled with quiet grief and whispered gratitude.

Selene and Emberlyn stood firm in their own domain. Beside them, Drakhairs took matters into his own hands, commanding his subordinates directly.

The truth was... None of them knew when the next attack would come.

This was a fragile point in time, a single misstep away from ruin.

So...

She exhaled harshly, muscles aching, and with one final push shoved the creature inside, the metal bars rattling as it collapsed within.

THUD!

”Fuck!” Nightfire flinched, instinctively stepping back before snapping her gaze upward. Her eyes burned with irritation as she spotted the dark figure circling above.

High above, Raven, in her Draconyx form, merely clicked her tongue in mild annoyance before turning sharply and vanishing back into the sky.

”Great... just barely alive,” she muttered.

Helena’s voice came gently from behind. She stepped forward, her hands already glowing with a warm, soothing light as she knelt beside the creature. The magic spread from her palms, weaving through torn flesh and fractured bone, slowly pulling the wyvern back from the edge of death.

”You know this just doubles the work, right?”

”It’s alright... she handles the dangerous part. Healing them like this... It’s something I can still do.”

”At least this much... I can do, right?”

After seeing Aether like that... something inside her had fractured. She had stood there, powerless, able to do nothing but watch, nothing but cry, and that helplessness had carved itself deep into her.

She clenched her jaw slightly, looking away for a moment before sighing under her breath. She wanted to say something, anything, but the words refused to form.

Even Sera had worn it.

Nightfire swallowed, her chest tightening slightly as the memory surfaced.

For a brief moment, she felt an unexpected urge to pull them both into an embrace, to hold them together as if that alone could keep them from falling apart.

Not just her, everyone had seen their faces after the chaos, and no one had dared to speak of it.

It was the face of hopelessness!

It only made them worry they were depending on him... still!

”Alright... It’s done. Let’s move it to the cage,” she said, her voice calm, almost cheerful, though the quiet hollowness beneath it lingered like an echo that refused to disappear.

RWWWARRRR!!

Nightfire and Helena flinched... For a split second, it felt as though its jaws would clamp down and tear through flesh before either of them could react.

Thud!

The force snapped its motion instantly, its body dropping lifelessly to the ground just inches away from them, dust rising around its fallen form.

Aria’s voice came steady and composed as she stepped forward, a massive boar slung effortlessly over her shoulder. Her gaze briefly swept across them before settling on the fallen beast.

Yes... Helena, Nyx, Raven, Nightfire, and Aria were stationed outside the barrier, hunting and capturing the monsters.

The answer lay in Maelona’s Plan.

And none of them told Aether.

Helena and Sera had shared what happened to him. Even if Sera did not fully understand the truth, she felt it deep within. Aether had survived not by chance, but through the faith and virtue placed upon him by his people.

That miracle might not repeat itself.

A double-edged sword they chose to hold anyway, because the alternative was far worse.

”Do you think this will be enough?” Aria asked, lowering the boar into a cage before glancing across the field.

Nightfire crossed her arms, her expression tightening as she scanned the same view and compared it to the ’things’ that arrived two days ago.

The others silently agreed.

The moment the question left her lips, the atmosphere shifted.

It wasn’t just darkness... it was something deeper, something alive with quiet malice.

Slowly, they turned toward the source.

Behind her... marched an army.

The creatures writhed and screamed, their cries filled with pain and terror, yet the ghostly figures showed no reaction, not even the slightest glance toward their suffering.

”She’s... angry, isn’t she?”

She swallowed hard before nodding slowly.

****

”What about the destroyed Lambrio city? Has anyone survived there?” Selene asked as she walked along the corridor.

Selene gave a small nod, her regal composure never faltering as her gaze remained forward. Yet beneath that calm exterior, her thoughts churned relentlessly.

For a brief moment, uncertainty flickered across her face. Her lips pressed together as she struggled against the thought, her fingers curling slightly at her side.

She steadied herself, pushing the hesitation deep within before reaching the grand doors ahead. Without another word, she opened them and stepped inside.

Her voice cut off abruptly.

She hovered.

The air around her felt... different.

Something about it felt wrong.

There was something else wrapped around her existence.

Selene stared for a moment. Then she slowly turned away, ”Let’s give her space.”

Meanwhile, inside Delphine...

Walls twisted and shifted around her, paths bending into one another in impossible ways.

Just an infinite stretch of corridors looping endlessly, as if the maze itself refused to let her leave.

Was she searching for the end... or the beginning?

A figure stood high above the maze, overlooking its vast, shifting structure. Their voice carried a playful amusement, a soft laugh escaping as they watched Delphine’s relentless pursuit.

Like a piece refusing to fall out of place.

”S-So... what did you want to talk about?” Vesperine asked, her voice laced with both nervousness and curiosity as she faced the man before her.

Victor.