Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1258: Looks like we are...

”The Beginning... the origins... was it meaning about them coming back again?” he muttered, surprise and thoughtfulness.

Nyx too nodded her head, her face mirroring his shock, her lips parting as if the answer was correct. Nightfire, meanwhile, frowned inwardly. ’What the hell are they talking about?... well, I’ll just nod my head.’ She quickly tilted her chin in agreement, pretending she understood while her thoughts buzzed in confusion.

Aether’s expression hardened, ”You said... they were unique, right? What do you mean by that? If we are modified versions of them... then... I don’t get it.”

Starla’s face darkened, her face set into a grim mask as her fist clenched tightly at her side. ”Those creatures... they cannot use Arcane or Clarion Energy like us.”

Everyone’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Aether frowned... as he remembered those metallic figures’ actions.

Come to think of it... Hadn’t those metallic figures only used guns and staffs? Not once had they cast spells or drawn on magic.

No Arcane. No Clarion.... No, they did have Clarion energy in their staff, but it wasn’t like a magic spell or anything, just like an injection when the staff filled with Clarion energy touched the people, they burst into pieces because of the their body unable to accept it.

Starla’s voice grew sharper as she continued, ”However, they knew how to harvest that energy... and twist it to their will.”

Aether blinked... that perfectly matched with staff.

Aether’s frown deepened further.... He noticed something about her, too... The more she delved into the story, the more her anger bled through, the more a strange fury stirred in her face.

He shut his eyes briefly, recalling something he had seen before—her memories, blurry but vivid enough. A battlefield.... Her figure was locked in combat against a group of strange, uncanny people.

They look normal though... he wasn’t sure what’s going on here.

Lowering his voice, Aether asked carefully, ”... Did you... fight them?”

Starla bit her lip until it almost bled before lifting her gaze to glare at him, her eyes brimming with rage and grief. ”Because of you!!”

Aether froze, staring at her blankly. Inside, he groaned. ’Woman... I was just playing a game back then... sigh, whatever.’ His thoughts trailed bitterly.... He just lied that time; he wasn’t even a freaking King!

Those were just lies and memories of her!

Anyway, he took the role atleast gave her a peace.

He leaned closer to her, his tone softening into something earnest, almost pleading. ”I am sorry, Starla... I am really sorry... I don’t know what happened, but if you have a heart... please forgive me.”

Starla stared back at him, silent and unmoving, before a sigh slipped through her lips. ”Forgive me... You have been reborn and already punished for your sins. I should not be holding grudges against the new you.” Her words carried both resignation and sorrow, as if forcing herself to sever a chain that bound her heart.

Meanwhile, Nyx and Nightfire blinked, their heads turning slightly toward one another. Neither of them had the faintest idea what was unfolding between Aether and Starla, but the weight in the air made them hesitate to interrupt.

Starla drew in a steadying breath and nodded, her expression sharpening again into seriousness.

”Yes. Not only our Empire, but every other Empire as well was at war with them.”

Aether frowned harder. ”Why? Five against one? I’m not sure how the math is working here. They should have been destroyed... is that why they’re gone now?”

Starla’s hands clenched tightly as her eyes burned with the memory.

”My Lord... just like now, as you yourself once said before... every ruler did the same thing. We thought low of them. We thought we could break free from their clutches. Yet even with five of us... they defeated us!!” Her voice rang with grim weight, shaking with fury and helpless remembrance.

...

Aether turned silent.

Starla’s lips curled into a weak smile, though her eyes glistened with a deep sorrow.

”Compared to them, we modified ones... were nothing but dust.” Her voice cracked as her mind dragged her back to the memory she could never erase... the sight of her Queen, cut down before her very eyes by those same beings.

Honestly, she didn’t want to remember the past.

That was why she never, ever talked about it with Nyx. Most of the time, she chose silence, burying her memories under the weight of years. Here, she could stay unnoticed, unbothered.

Nyx only ever called upon the bad ghosts to do her work, while others, like Starla, were family to her and were allowed to remain here comfortably, and rarely came out.

Starla’s face hardened, turning grim before she spoke.

”If you are telling me those people have come back now, it means they must have been defeated after my death... and now... they might have returned for revenge. If that is the case, then be ready... be ready for the real war.”

Nightfire’s face turned pale, her throat tightening as she swallowed the weight of those words, ’Fuck... I thought only my empire is a pain in the ass but now... awee... Where did I go now?!!’

Aether hummed softly, his expression tightening into something thoughtful.

His mind reeled, turning over every possibility, as an old memory surfaced—the worlds joining together.

He could still see it, the strange overlapping... the sides that had fused as if healing itself to its original form...

Aether remembered the words that he and Aria had once found in her library.

...The Broken Wound is Healed

That meant about the Empire sticking together... to its original position and

...They were used in ancient times and... became forbidden around the time everything fell apart, broken by the greed of the... First One.

The greed of the First one?

Also...

’Come to think of it... the Void Empire sat at the centre, its edges pressed and overlapped by the remaining four Empires.

”Tell me...” he said slowly, his eyes narrowing. ”You said only Empires, not the worlds? Is worlds and Empires the same as before? Or... All the Empires in one world?”

Starla nodded quickly, her brows knitting. ”Yes. We all live in the same world, right? I am confused... was that not the case?”

Aether gasped, his mind clicking into place as he nodded. ”I see...” His gaze shifted toward Nightfire and Nyx.

”Looks like we are... a Cube.”

Nightfire blinked, startled, as her eyes widened in understanding, ”A cube has six sides, so...”

”Six Empires,” Nyx finished, her tone flat, indifferent, though her eyes glimmered faintly with understanding.

Aether gritted his teeth... How could he have missed something so obvious?

Fuck! Of course, the cube had six sides.

And the way the Empires joined... he was fucking didn’t realise it before.

Idiot!

It had always been right there in front of him, and yet he hadn’t pieced it together until now.

”We need to inform the others...” Aether said with a serious tone.

His eyes fell to his Log, glowing faintly before him. He still had... fifteen remaining days.

So he still had time.

Turning to Nyx, ”I need your help.” Then his eyes shifted to Nightfire, ”You too.”

’Arrh... I am going to die... aren’t I?’ Nightfire thought worriedly.