Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1289: His women were his pride!

Victor’s body pulsed with strange purplish light mixed with golden sparks as he absorbed the collision between Arcane and Clarion... the golden lightning slowly got sucked into his purple lightning, merging in strange rhythms as they travelled through his body.

The veins protruded unnaturally, each one glowing faintly, and a visible mixture of purplish and golden energy flickered along his skin.

”Arrhh!” Victor groaned, the sound ripped from his throat as his body tensed violently. He felt himself nearing the breaking point. He had already drained the core of energy before—his body had taken more than it should have. And now... taking in even more was practically suicide at this point.

Yet, he was not going to give up... These bitches had some nerve to twist the world like a toy, playing with everyone’s life as if it meant nothing. And now that he had managed to save them, to protect the others with everything he had... they dared to pull another trick?

A final strike?

The hell!

He wasn’t letting this go... He could try to hold the storm inside him for as long as possible... or perhaps... perhaps he didn’t care anymore.

No matter the cost, he would show these monsters that he wasn’t going to sit quietly and let them dance in the ashes.

He wasn’t letting them have fun arou—

Thud!

Victor flinched as everything stopped all of a sudden. His hands, which had been wrapped in arcs of crackling purple lightning, dropped helplessly to his sides like threads snipped from their string.

The golden lightning vanished instantly, fading into the still air.

The strange mix of cloud and storm that had blanketed the sky began to dissolve, retreating like smoke into the heavens. It dispersed completely, leaving behind no echo, no sign of its existence... like a fog that had never been real, vanishing without a trace.

Everything was over... The outside of the barrier turned unnaturally silent in an instant. There were no more screams, no more thunder, no whirling storms or howling winds. Just pure silence... thick, empty silence.

Not even the air dared to move an inch!

The strange trees... the roots of Clarion’s energy, stopped moving too. Their pulsating branches, once twisting with sprakles, had gone still... as if they had finished their role. As if they had seen their purpose fulfilled.

Victor sighed, his breath heavy and sharp. A hot cloud of smoke curled from his lips. His body still trembled as the veins on his arms remained grotesquely swollen, glowing faintly.

They pulsed in uneven rhythms, as if struggling to contain something—no, transporting something.

Victor felt it. A weird sensation. And yet... strangely familiar?

He frowned, his muscles twitching involuntarily. Then he shrugged.

Just then,

/Clarion Energy spread 99%/ Selene’s voice echoed in his mind.

Victor froze when he heard that. /What? Wasn’t it just around 60 or something a few hours ago?/

Her voice returned without hesitation. /Yes, but due to your intervention, the energy spreading rate has just increased dramatically. We assumed you already knew. That’s why you went ahead with this plan, right?/

Victor blinked, his expression deadpan. Then his lips twitched.

He gave a strange half-laugh.

/.. haha... of course I knew. I was just... checking with you. Ahaha./

He forced out a laugh that sounded anything but natural.

/.../

There was dead silence on the mental link before Victor awkwardly gulped. Without wasting another second, he vanished, disappearing toward the next one—toward another Empire whose situation was likely spiralling just the same.

Meanwhile, back with Selene, she blinked continuously, her expression blank for a moment. Then she slowly turned her head and glanced at the others standing nearby.

”What?”

Everyone frowned, exchanging puzzled looks.

Selene stood still, her eyes distant as if recalling something. A thoughtful expression passed over her face for just a second before she shook it away and exhaled.

”Nothing,” she said, turning away. ”He said everything... is according to his plan.”

While Selene was trying her best not to rat out her husband, Victor appeared in the Naiadae Empire... inside the palace.

Sandra, who had been staring at the display with a serious expression, tensed visibly. Her expression tightened further as the strange clouds came closer and closer to her doom.

She flinched, turning sharply when she sensed someone behind her—Aether.

He stood silently, and with a wave of his hand, the veil of his mask dissolved into the air.

”What’s the current situation?” he asked, his voice calm but focused as he glanced at the visuals. What he saw was all too familiar. It was almost exactly like what had occurred in his own empire.

But then—

”Aqua?” he murmured, frowning deeply as his eyes caught sight of Aqualina.

She stood alone just outside the Empire’s barrier of doom. Her face held a deadly seriousness, and her purple, silky hair whipped wildly in the storm’s fury.

She didn’t move. She stood firm, her eyes locked onto the incoming calamity.

”What’s she trying to do?” Aether asked, narrowing his eyes as he pulled Sandra gently to his side.

Sandra leaned her head softly on his shoulder, her voice low as she muttered, ”She said... she couldn’t depend on Aether all the time. It’s her Empire, and she was chosen for a reason... so she’s doing her duty as the chosen one.”

Hearing that, Aether blinked. His lips curled into a faint smile as he shook his head slowly, as if both proud and troubled.

”What should I do with you all...” he muttered under his breath, leaning his head slightly against hers.

Not wanting to be left out, Celestia suddenly appeared beside them and leaned her head on his other shoulder.

Aether gave an amused chuckle, his arms subtly wrapping around them both as they watched Aqualina standing against the storm, her eyes sharp and unwavering.

Aether was not the type to simply let someone he cared for face everything alone... but if she truly wanted this, he wasn’t going to interrupt. He respected her decision. Just like always.

He always respected his woman’s words... except in the bed~

Also, Aether was curious. Just like him, the Chosen ones had some connection to the Clarion energy. That meant they should be able to enter and leave the Empire’s doom without being harmed.

But this was the first time he had ever witnessed it with his own eyes. And more than anything... he was curious.

What kind of change would the appearance of the Clarion energy bring in the Chosen ones?

Surely, there had to be something.

There might be something entirely new awakening within them... some kind of new powers forming from the fusion of Arcane and Clarion energy?

Who could say?

Aether’s curiosity deepened as he continued to observe Aqualina. She raised her hand slowly, her expression calm and collected. Her eyes gently closed.

The lightning above cracked violently, tearing through the heavens, and the clouds spun in madness as they came closer and closer to her.

Her lips parted softly.

The air around her shifted, turning unnaturally still.

The trio—Aether, Sandra, and Celestia—who had been leaning into each other, suddenly stiffened. They all instinctively stepped closer to the display, their expressions sharpening with both curiosity and expectation.

And then...

”Clara~”

Aqualina’s voice echoed in the storm like a divine command—one that could’ve held sway over the very sky itself, as if her word alone could silence thunder and tear through the clouds. Her lips barely moved, but the name she spoke seemed to reverberate with a strange weight.

Her eyes flared open, glowing with raw energy, twin stars blazing against the grey tempest.

The trio watching her froze.

They gulped as one, watching closely... waiting for a miracle. Expecting a shift in the air, a break in the clouds, a thunder that answered her call.

And yet—

”Hmm? Nothing?” Aether blinked, confused, as he squinted at the screen. Around Aqualina... nothing was happening.

The clouds still raged. The storm still roared. The lightning kept striking in madness. But not a single unusual spark answered her voice.

Sandra frowned, tilting her head. Celestia blinked as well, but her lips curled upward—softly, knowingly—as if she understood something deeper.

Seeing no reaction from the world, Aqualina blinked once.

Then again.

Her expression changed.

With narrowed eyes and a breath drawn deep into her lungs, she called again, this time louder, firmer, her voice echoing with bold confidence:

”Clara!!!”

...

Yet again—no strange events. No divine flare!

Nothing.

Aqualina’s cheeks turned red instantly, heat rushing to her face in a mix of embarrassment and disbelief. Her shoulders stiffened, her head dipped slightly. She looked like someone who had just yelled in a silent hall... only to hear her own voice echo back alone.

She rubbed her cheeks awkwardly, trying to hide the shame curling up in her stomach.

”Thank goodness Aether wasn’t here to see that...” she muttered to herself under her breath, her lips barely moving.

It was humiliating enough to feel like a fool. To feel nothing after expecting so much... But to have him witness it?

She’d rather be struck by the lightning itself.

”Looks like there was nothing different... other than a mild headache,” she mumbled softly.

Still, something felt off. Ever since she stepped outside the barrier, her mind had been aching—subtly but constantly. Like a whispering pressure inside her skull. As if something foreign was trying to enter her body.

And yet... despite it, her body wasn’t rejecting it.

Instead... something in her chest—something deep and pulsing—was shielding her from it.

Guarding her?

”Anyway,” Aqualina exhaled, steadying her breath.

She narrowed her eyes and raised her hand, muttering one word:

”Arcane.”

From the centre of her chest, the Origin Card shimmered, swirling upward in an ethereal spiral. It pulsed once, then popped out as if answering her call.

She reached out, catching it in one hand.

The card pulsed again—then transformed.

It morphed into a thin, pure-blue sword—elegant and smooth—without even a hilt, glowing like starlight condensed into a single blade.

THUNDERRRRR!!!

A humongous bolt of golden lightning cracked the sky and shot toward her like a divine punishment.

Aqualina raised her sword.

Behind her, thousands of thin, blue swords suddenly surged from the void—manifesting in midair like a spectral army. They spiralled around her, their motion snake-like, fluid... alive.

With a single breath, they shot forward, darting toward the lightning like serpents hunting their prey.

BOOOOMMMM!!

The impact lit up the horizon. The shockwave erupted like a tidal wave of energy, shaking the entire perimeter. The summoned blades shattered into glittering particles mid-air, dissipating like scattered stars.

Yet Aqualina remained standing.

Her posture didn’t falter. Her expression didn’t waver.

She was still there... smiling.

A haughty smile danced on her lips as she surged forward, eyes locked onto the incoming wrath.

There was no fear in her steps... No hesitation!

She moved like a queen challenging the storm itself.

Aether raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised.

Then he smiled.

It wasn’t just happening here.

In the Zephyra Empire—

Aria stood firm atop a jagged cliff, her bow drawn tight. Her fingers loosed arrow after arrow with unrelenting speed, each one whistling through the sky with deadly precision.

Golden lightning rained from the sky. But her arrows met them head-on.

Each shot split the bolts like broken glass, forcing them to shatter and collapse harmlessly beside the barrier.

Her silvery hair flared like fire under the storm’s glow. Her expression was fierce, proud, wild.

”That’s all you got~?” she mocked, her voice sharp and smug.

She pulled her compact bow once more, the twin wheels on the side screaming as they spun with impossible speed.

Another arrow formed—materialising from raw energy—and fired.

It sliced through the next bolt like it was paper.

In the Aurora Empire—

Helena stood alone, a figure of silence and might. Lightning fell upon her like relentless hammers, striking without pause. And yet, none touched her body.

A massive barrier surrounded her, stronger than anything the divine storms could muster. Her fingers clenched. Her stance widened. Her hands stretched out as if holding the storm itself back with sheer will.

She wasn’t allowing even a speck of that lightning to reach the doom behind her.

She would protect everyone.

She would not fail.

”I am disappointed in you all...” she whispered. Her voice was cold and deadly.

She wasn’t speaking to others.

She was speaking to the gods.

The ones she once trusted.

The ones she once prayed to.

The ones she once called ”Mother.”

The one who gave them all energy... and then twisted it into something monstrous.

She had seen the horror behind the curtain.

And now... she no longer believed.

The faithful one had been broken.

And reality would have to answer for it.

The people lowered their heads in shame and lost!!

Everyone was doing their best to protect their Empire...

Except...

Where the hell were the male Chosen Ones?

Well... they were kind of busy.

Engaged in a very different kind of battle against Vesperine—who, for some reason, seemed extremely interested in ”taming” them... and ”training” them... cough, cough...

Anyway, as of now, those guys were entirely forgotten.

The ones who stood here—who stood tall and fought for their homes—were the ones who mattered now.

They were the ones protecting their people.

Aether watched silently... and couldn’t help but feel something deep in his chest.

Pride.

Pride in his wives.

They didn’t need his help every time. They didn’t run to him when things crumbled.

They stood on their own.

They found solutions. They fought.

He was not their whole world. They didn’t fall apart without him.

Even if a small part of him wished they would rely on him more... still, in his heart, he knew.

His women were the best.

Strong... Brave.... Chosen not by accident, but by worth!!

And as the wind calmed, as the air thickened with strange power, the Clarion Energy slowly began to spread across each Empire... no longer chaotic, but steady.

90%

91%

92%

93%

94%

95%

96%

97%

98%

99%.....

Then it happened.

Everything fell silent.

Not even the air moved.... Not even a leaf rustled.... Not even the clouds dared shift.

A silence too complete.

Everyone froze, their expressions sharpening into seriousness. Their instincts screamed.

They could feel something coming.

Something wicked... Something vast... Something beyond comprehension.

But they couldn’t see it.

Just a chill... an icy, crawling shiver—ran down their spines like a ghost brushing skin.

What was it?

No one knew. Not yet.

Until—

Lyirrs suddenly shouted from across the control centre, ”Clarion energy completely merged with nature—100 percent!!”

Outside the Doom Barrier... everything was different.

Completely and perfectly merged.

Clarion Energy had fused itself entirely with the environment. Nature no longer resisted it. The energy no longer clashed with Arcane—it danced with it now.

The ancient times had returned.

Even if not fully... the signs were unmistakable.

Outside the Doom, the land was dead and deserted. Monsters still roamed the scorched earth, and the only things left alive were Mutated beings and... strange, twisted trees that moved with eerie pulses.

That was it.

A vast and haunting wasteland.

Seeing that scene alone made everyone’s hearts sink.

If that energy had entered the Empires—if it had spread inside instead of out—then nothing would have survived.

Not a single soul.

Nothing.

Aether and the others stood still... waiting.

Expecting the sky to crack. Expecting something to descend from above or rise from beneath.

But to their surprise...

Nothing happened.

Just silence.

Aether exhaled slowly, relief creeping into his chest.

That was when—

🔔~Ding~🔔

He froze.

No... it wasn’t the sound of his Log.

It was something else entirely.

That chime wasn’t from any personal system.

It came from everywhere.

The entire Empires echoed with that sound.