Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1761: Codename: The Twin Eclipses: Part-2

The Blacksmith never expected this outcome… but then again, who ever wished for death?

Certainly not him.

Who in their right mind would willingly embrace the end?

The Blacksmith stared at the razor-edged weapon aimed directly at his throat.

He had spent days and sleepless nights forging every component with his own hands… only for the masterpiece to be turned against its creator.

His trembling gaze slowly rose toward the one holding it.

A handsome young man stood before him, his expression frighteningly calm. Those icy eyes carried neither anger nor hatred, only a terrifying indifference, as though the life before him weighed less than a speck of dust.

“S-Sir…? Why?”

The blacksmith’s entire body trembled uncontrollably.

He had done everything he was asked.

He fulfilled his side of the deal.

He never questioned anything.

Then… why?

Young Aether silently looked into the blacksmith’s terrified eyes, his own gaze cold and utterly calculating.

“You know why…” he answered quietly.

A faint darkness flickered within his pupils.

“Because you saw me.”

Those words landed like a death sentence.

As though reminding him…

Of what the Blacksmith had witnessed hidden beneath that human shell.

The Monster.

!!!

The Blacksmith’s face drained of every trace of colour before his knees slammed onto the floor.

Panic completely overwhelmed him as he threw both arms around Young Aether’s leg, clutching it with desperate strength, his entire body shaking violently.

“Sirrrrr!!! I didn’t mean to see your truth! Please forgive this insolent man! I never intended to offend you! Please! Please, Siiiirrrrrrrr!!!! PLEASE!! I WOULD NEVER TELL ANYONE!!!”

His voice cracked into sobs as tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.

Young Aether blinked once.

He looked down at the man desperately clinging to his leg, almost burying his face against it.

“…”

He expected begging.

He simply didn’t expect… this much begging.

“Sirrrrr! I have a family! I love my family! And… and most importantly… I love my job! My creation… My lovely weapons… they’re going to miss me… awweeee…. Please! I don’t want to die this young! Sirrrrrrrr!!!”

His desperate cries echoed throughout the forge, bouncing between towering industrial furnaces and robotic assembly arms.

Young Aether remained expressionless.

“…Oi. Let go.”

“Sirrrr! Please don’t! I love my job… more than my own life and my wife! Pleaseeeeeeee!! I want to find even more exciting things… T-This is too fast!!”

The blacksmith cried even harder.

Tears, mucus, and snot streamed freely across his face, staining Young Aether’s expensive trousers as he squeezed tighter, treating that leg as though it were the only thing separating him from death itself.

A faint expression of disgust finally appeared on Young Aether’s face.

He violently tried to pull his leg away, but the blacksmith refused to loosen his grip even a single inch.

“Let go of my legs, asshole.”

“NOOO!!! You’ll kill me the second I let go!!!”

The blacksmith wailed shamelessly, his grip tightening even further until his fingers almost seemed fused together.

A thick vein slowly bulged across Young Aether’s forehead.

“…”

Without another word, he calmly placed the weapon back onto the equipment tray beside him before shoving the blacksmith’s face away with his palm.

“Even if I don’t let you go…” His voice dropped into something frighteningly quiet. “I’ll fucking kill you.”

The force behind the palm strike snapped the blacksmith’s head backwards.

Yet somehow…

The man still refused to release him.

Instead, his fingers somehow tightened even more.

It was almost absurd.

As though the decades spent hammering molten alloys, crushing reinforced metals, and forging weapons capable of tearing apart armoured machines had finally paid off.

Every ounce of strength those hands had earned through endless years of labour was now devoted to a single purpose.

Holding onto the only thing standing between himself…

…and death.

“…Fuck you!”

Young Aether groaned in frustration as he tried one final time to pry the blacksmith’s iron grip from his leg. Despite his strength, the blacksmith refused to budge, clinging to him with the desperation of a drowning man grabbing the last floating piece of debris.

After several futile attempts, Aether finally let out a long sigh and lowered his shoulders.

“Fine… I won’t kill you.”

The blacksmith suddenly froze in place.

For several long seconds, he simply stared at Young Aether with a blank expression, his terrified mind struggling to process those unexpected words. Instead of calming down, his face somehow became even paler before he suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs.

“NO! SIRRRR, PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!!”

Young Aether’s eyebrow twitched in irritation.

“Oi, brat. Stop making a scene, or I’ll stop it myself by removing your hands from your body.”

“Okay!”

The blacksmith instantly released Aether’s leg without the slightest hesitation. He hurriedly crawled several meters backwards across the floor, his palms scraping against the cold metallic surface as if he were escaping a nightmare.

His breathing became erratic, sweat drenched his entire body, and his heart pounded violently inside his chest while his frightened eyes never left the young man standing before him.

The next moment, Young Aether casually stepped forward.

Step!!

To the blacksmith, however…

It looked as though space itself had folded.

The distance separating them vanished almost instantly, leaving Aether standing directly before him before his eyes could even follow the movement. The blacksmith’s pupils shrank as terror completely overtook him, and he instinctively crawled backwards until his spine slammed against the cold steel wall behind him.

“P-Please… d-don’t, sir… I… I never meant…”

Young Aether ignored every word.

He calmly crouched in front of the trembling blacksmith, bringing himself to eye level before silently studying the fear reflected inside those shaking pupils. There was neither anger nor cruelty on his face, which somehow made him appear even more frightening.

“Tell me,” Aether asked in a quiet voice, “how did you find me?”

“…”

“Tell. Me!”

“I… I-I didn’t find you, sir…” the blacksmith answered through chattering teeth, barely managing to control his trembling voice. “I… I only felt something. It wasn’t something I saw… it was something I sensed.”

Young Aether narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

“What exactly did you sense?”

The blacksmith swallowed hard before forcing himself to continue.

“An aura… no… it felt more like an overwhelming force of nature. It was ancient, suffocating, and… impossible to ignore. I’ve only felt something similar when I was making weapons from the monsters, but… yours felt even worse than those dead monsters.”

A faint smile slowly appeared on Young Aether’s face.

“So you’re calling me a monster now?”

“N-No, Sir!”

The blacksmith nearly jumped out of his own skin as he frantically waved both hands in denial.

“I would never dare! Please don’t misunderstand me! I wasn’t comparing you to those creatures. I only meant the pressure… the feeling… t-that’s all!”

Young Aether silently watched him panic.

“Hmmm…”

Young Aether rested his chin against his hand for a brief moment before speaking again.

“If you’re so desperate to stay alive, then work for me.”

The blacksmith blinked several times before forcing out an awkward smile.

“C-Can I… respectfully decline your generous offer?”

Young Aether suddenly burst into cheerful laughter.

“Hahaha… of course you can.”

His laughter slowly faded.

The smile remained on his face.

Everything else disappeared.

His eyes turned so cold that the blacksmith felt his blood freeze.

“You’re completely free to decline… provided you don’t mind me butchering you alive afterwards.”

The blacksmith immediately laughed along with him.

“Hahaha… o-of course I gladly accept your offer, sir! In fact, I consider it the greatest honour of my entire life to work under someone as incredible as you!”

His smile looked so unnaturally bright that even a fool could tell it had been forced at gunpoint.

“Good.”

Young Aether nodded with genuine satisfaction before extending his right hand toward him.

“My name is Aether.”

The blacksmith cautiously looked between the offered hand and Aether’s face several times before finally gathering enough courage to accept the handshake. Aether effortlessly pulled him back onto his feet as though lifting a child.

“M-My name is Torag… although most people know me as the Monster Blacksmith.”

“Torag is enough.”

Young Aether gave a small nod before continuing.

“Since you’re working under me now, remember one thing clearly. Whatever belongs to you now belongs to me as well. And whatever belongs to me…”

Torag hesitated before carefully answering and pointing at himself,

“… belongs to me?”

Young Aether suddenly laughed louder than before.

“Hahahahaha!”

He laughed so hard that Torag almost believed he had answered correctly.

Then Aether looked directly into his eyes.

“I’ll rip your heart out and shove it into your own fucking mouth.”

The smile on his face never disappeared.

Torag’s own smile instantly became even brighter.

“H-Hahaha… of course… hahaha… my mistake… ahahaha… It is yours… ahaha… yeah…. y-yeah…”

Cold sweat streamed down his cheeks while his trembling laughter echoed awkwardly throughout the forge.

Inside, however, he was already crying.

‘Awee… please, someone sew my mouth shut before it gets me killed.’

“So tell me, Torag…” Young Aether said as he looked directly into the blacksmith’s eyes.

“Do you want your work to be recognised by the entire world? Do you want your name to be revered as the greatest blacksmith in history, the man whose weapons every soldier dreams of wielding?”

Torag remained silent.

Of course he wanted that.

Every blacksmith dreamed of seeing their creations become legendary. Every hammer strike, every quenching, every annealing, every sleepless night before the blazing forge, every scar burned into his hands existed for that single purpose.

He wanted people to admire his craftsmanship, his workshop to expand beyond imagination, talented apprentices to beg for the chance to learn under him, and warriors to proudly carry weapons bearing his signature.

Yet…

Looking into the handsome young man’s calm eyes, Torag couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming chill crawling up his spine.

This wasn’t an opportunity.

It was a contract.

A contract with something that looked human…

…but felt far closer to a devil.

Making a deal with the devil should have been the same as signing his own death warrant.

No one would have the right mind to accept such dea—

“Of course!”

Torag suddenly answered with such an enthusiastic smile that even Young Aether raised an eyebrow in surprise.

The response came so quickly that it almost sounded rehearsed.

Young Aether blinked once before letting out a faint chuckle.

“Just like that?”

Torag nodded vigorously.

“I’ve been forging weapons my entire life, Sir. If I have to choose between an uncertain future and offending someone I absolutely shouldn’t offend…” He awkwardly scratched the back of his head before forcing another smile.

“…I’d rather choose the future.”

Young Aether stared at him for several seconds before the corners of his lips slowly curled upward.

“You’ve got some damn good instincts.”

Just then…

TTTTTRRRRRRRRRR!

A deep mechanical vibration spread through the entire underground facility.

The floor beneath their feet shuddered as though something unimaginably heavy had begun moving. The walls vibrated softly, causing suspended tools to rattle against one another.

Without saying another word, Young Aether immediately stored both weapons into his spatial storage.

He turned around and walked toward the workshop’s door.

Torag hurried after him, equally curious about the strange disturbance.

As soon as they stepped outside…

Both of them stopped.

Even Young Aether’s expression stiffened slightly.

Towering above the complex were several humanoid mech-suits standing nearly two stories tall. Their armoured frames were suspended in midair by enormous anti-gravity transport carriers whose blue thrusters illuminated the entire district below. Thick magnetic cables secured the massive machines while countless drones flew around them.

Far beneath them…

Dozens upon dozens of enormous matte-black military transport trucks rolled forward in perfect formation.

Young Aether narrowed his eyes.

“What’s going on here?”

Torag frowned as he quietly observed the endless convoy.

“It looks like…” he muttered thoughtfully.

“They’re preparing for another war.”

“Huh?”

Young Aether immediately turned toward him.

“Another war?”

Torag slowly nodded.

“While I was working, I overheard engineers talking among themselves. Military activity has increased dramatically over the past several days. Weapon production quotas nearly doubled overnight, and even mech-suit assembly lines have been operating around the clock.” He looked back toward the endless convoy.

A gentle breeze suddenly swept across the loading platform.

Ssshh~

It brushed past Torag’s face.

He instinctively flinched before turning toward Young Aether.

Only…

There was nobody there.

Torag blinked.

His eyes darted left and right.

“What the… where did he go?”

He looked around in complete confusion.

Not a sound.

Not a footprint.

Not even the slightest trace remained, as though Young Aether had simply vanished into thin air.

Several long seconds passed before Torag finally exhaled a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding.

“Thank the Goddess… I’m alive…”

He pressed both hands against his chest, feeling his heart finally slowing down.

“Fucking… yeah…”

Drip…

Torag frowned.

A strange warmth spread around his legs.

He slowly lowered his head.

“…”

A dark puddle was steadily growing beneath his boots.

His face instantly froze.

He hadn’t only let out relief.

He had apparently let out his bladder as well.

Torag stared at the puddle for several silent seconds before looking down at the oversized protective undergarment hidden beneath his work clothes.

“Damn…” he muttered with genuine disbelief. “I actually thought an XL would’ve been enough.”

He sighed helplessly.

“At this rate, I’m going to need a bigger size diaper every time that monster shows up.”