Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1001: Aether did... the right thing, right?

Just before the blast-off, Aether—the real Aether—stood alone on the surface, his eyes fixed on the square block of ground that stood silently before him.

It looked so still, so ordinary, yet beneath it was everything—the stairs, the secrets, the weight of what he had just done.

He could see the path leading down… he could see it all. But he didnʼt enter. He just stood there, frozen in place, like the answer would come if he waited a second longer.

Aetherʼs face was lost in a thoughtful, conflicted expression. His brows knit, his jaw clenched slightly.

He wasnʼt sure if he had made the right choice.

He truly didnʼt know.

Because it was him.... It was Aether who had purposefully made that sound… that sharp, breaking sound inside the room just after heʼd sensed they were leaving.

He had done it.

But for what?

Why?

He didnʼt have a clear answer himself, but he knew… something had to happen. Something had to be revealed.

So he made sure it would.

Aether had carefully taken care of the blood tubes and blood jars—their content was volatile, the glass too delicate, fragile to the touch. One wrong move, and it wouldʼve shattered. He couldnʼt risk it. Using his storage magic, he sent each item directly into his storage space without allowing a single thing to break. Of course, he had run several small tests first—placing and retrieving random objects, making sure the spell was steady before risking the important ones.

He had been methodical, as always.

Just as he had cleaned her room thoroughly—almost with reverence—he had contemplated taking the animals too... But they were alive, and he could only take one living thing at a time into storage.

He hesitated… and then left them behind.

ʼThis is nothing,ʼ he had told himself back then. ʼItʼll be fine.ʼ

And so, he turned toward that large tube—Xaraʼs prized creation. Her most important work. Her obsession.

Heʼd stood in front of it for a long time, his hand hovering in the air, considering whether to take it or leave it... It wouldʼve been easy.

But in the end… he didnʼt take it.

When they entered the secret chamber, Aether had still been inside the room, unmoving, staring at the boy floating inside that large glass tube—Xaraʼs pride, her twisted legacy.

He stared at her creation in silence… the work of blood, pain, and obsession that had consumed her for fifteen long years. Her perfect one. Her intended masterpiece.

He didnʼt feel disgust anymore... Nor did he fear her.

No.

It was something else entirely now. Something heavier.

He felt... sorrow. Pity. A heavy dread that this truth would hurt her more than anything else could.

One thing was—Xara was insane. She had been hiding it carefully all along. Aether didnʼt have a problem with that. He wouldnʼt even care if she decided to hide it forever from her children.

But this—this experiment, this horrifying secret—was not something she should keep hidden.

Because this involved lives. Two lives. Two people who loved her deeply.

Aether had no doubt in his heart—Xara wasnʼt going to reveal this to her children. She would hide it like everything else. She only wanted her children to see her as their loving, strong mother.

A kind figure, maternal and stable.

And maybe that was fine.

But this... this experiment…?

This was different.

It confused Aether.

Especially when it came to Selene.

Aether knew deep down—Selene had to know the truth. Even if Kai remained in the dark, Selene needed to understand what her mother had truly done. What she had created.

That was how it should be.

He had seen, with his own eyes, how much pain and suffering erupted between Aqualina and Sandra because of all the secrets, all the lies dragged through time until they exploded.

From that, he understood one thing: Selene deserved to know her motherʼs other side.

He had actually planned to tell Selene eventually. He needed some time—time to gather himself, to figure out how to approach Xara, how to explain everything to Selene without tearing her apart. He wasnʼt going to hide forever.

He wouldʼve come clean.

But then… the opportunity appeared. Just like that, right in front of him.

He couldnʼt ignore it.

So when the moment came—when he received confirmation from his puppet that they were leaving—he didnʼt hesitate.

With a deep breath and a hardening heart, he purposely shattered an empty glass in the room, making sure the sound reached beyond the door. Then, without waiting for the reaction, he teleported outside.

That was it.

Aether had done it.

He didnʼt want things to be dragged endlessly like it had between Aqualina and Sandra. So he did it—once and for all.

Now, all he could do was wait… and pray.

He didnʼt know what kind of reactions would bloom in the minds of Selene and Kai. He didnʼt expect forgiveness... He didnʼt expect understanding.

But deep down... Aether was mostly worried about Selene.

Still... that wasnʼt the only thing on his mind.

Aetherʼs expression turned sour, his brows furrowing as he thought about another problem—Vesperine.

”That woman… I thought she was just some nobody… but…” he muttered, voice low and sharp as he shook his head slowly. There was too much she knew.

Too many pieces she moved without revealing anything.

Vesperine had somehow known about this path.

But how?

How did she find this place?

How did she know blood was needed to open the secret door?

Even if she stumbled upon this place by sheer accident, how was she so certain it belonged to Xara?

There were too many questions, too many blank spaces in the puzzle.

If Xara had been in a clearer state of mind, she wouldʼve demanded answers. She wasnʼt a fool. But right now, fear clouded her vision—fear for her children. Worry had consumed her so much that everything was escalating too fast, and no one had noticed the abnormal things Vesperine had done.

But Aether noticed.

”I need to watch that woman...” he thought, this time with a more serious tone. There was something deeply unsettling about her presence.

He sighed, his shoulders rising and falling as he tried to steady himself. Still, his heart wavered.

His conscience twisted in unease.

Did he do the right thing?

He had forced the truth out faster than heʼd planned, but he was truly afraid that Xara and Selene might fall into the same pit Aqualina and Sandra had. And if that happened again… everything would unravel.

Their relationships… their bonds.

He could fix it all in the end. He was confident in that. But still… Xara hadnʼt seduced him yet. His fucking log wasnʼt saying anything about her either. That alone was strange.

So he had to be careful. Very careful.

Just as he stood there, waiting in tense silence, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble. A subtle quake, then a violent shake. Aetherʼs eyes narrowed.

And then—

With a thunderous blast, the entire surface erupted beneath him.

Everything exploded upward.

Aether immediately leapt into the sky the moment he saw it happening—everyone, blasted violently out from the ground in a storm of debris and broken earth.

His eyes scanned the chaos in an instant, but locked instantly onto two figures—Xara and Selene.

Without hesitation, he darted forward, his body moving faster than thought, catching both of them mid-air onto his shoulders before they could hit the ground. His puppet vanished during that time, dissipating as part of the coordinated move.

Landing firmly on the ground, Aether gently lowered them, placing them with care.

”Are you guys alright?” he asked, his voice tight with worry as his gaze flicked over them—Xaraʼs face streaked with tears, trembling, while Seleneʼs expression remained eerily unreadable… calm, cold, too still to feel safe.

Aether exhaled, rubbing his forehead as the tension in his chest lingered. He turned slowly to look at the others.

As the dust finally settled, and the last of the crumbled debris rained down like ash, he saw the rest of them—Vesperine, Velc, Leon, and Kai—lying sprawled on the ground in various states of disorientation. One by one, they began to stir, coughing and grunting as they helped each other up, their limbs aching, but alive.

Just then—

Crack...

A sharp sound cut through the air. Glass.

Aetherʼs brows drew together in a frown as he turned sharply to the side, eyes narrowing.

There—among the shimmering shards of broken glass—lay a boy. Almost naked, save for thin underpants clinging to his damp skin. His body was soaked in a thick, sticky liquid, glistening under the light, his skin pale… almost deathly white.

His chest didnʼt rise.

”Is he… dead?” Aether asked with a curious edge in his tone, turning slightly to glance at Xara.

Xara snapped out of her weeping daze the moment she saw him.

Her breath hitched.

”My child!” she cried, her voice breaking into a sob. Without a second thought, she surged forward to run to him, arms stretched to hold her creation, her beloved experiment.

But before she could even reach him—

FLASH

Kai appeared.

A blink of an eye. A blur of movement. And suddenly he was standing right there, between Xara and the boy, his hand tightly gripping a brilliant white sword edged with soft golden light.

His eyes—once so full of warmth—were blank now. Empty... Like the switch had flipped somewhere inside him.

He stared at his mother.

”I thought you loved me, Mother…” he said slowly, his voice unnervingly calm. ”You do, right? You love me more than this filthy creation of yours?”

There was a small, twisted smile on his lips... A cruel, heartbroken curve.

Xara opened her mouth to speak, eyes wide in shock—but it was already too late.

Without hesitation, Kai drove the sword down.

CHUUCCCKKK!!

The blade pierced through the boyʼs body, stabbing directly into the heart. A splatter of red and sticky fluids gushed outward.

”NOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Xara screamed, her voice raw with agony. It was a cry not of battle—but of a mother breaking apart inside.

She collapsed to her knees.

Aether stood frozen for a moment, expression unreadable. Then he let out a slow sigh, pressing his fingers to his temple.

ʼI mean… even I would be angry like this…ʼ he thought, watching the brutal scene unfold. ʼWell…ʼ He couldnʼt decide how to feel.