Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1611: One Aevum... What kind of twisted system is this...?

*A decade ago, the Earth was invaded by a strange phenomenon known as Mother Roots.

Vast, vein-like tendrils tore through the sky without warning, unfurling across the heavens in a single day. They pierced deep into the planet’s core, shattering its stability, annihilating millions of lives, and warping its very structure, until even the balance of the solar system began to collapse under the strain.*

The head spoke in a low, trembling murmur, as though each word dragged fragments of a buried nightmare back into the light.

Victor stared at him without expression, while Xara’s eyes moved between them, her brows slightly drawn as she tried to grasp meaning from a language she could not understand.

”What is he saying?” Vesperine leaned closer, but Victor did not spare her a glance.

*Continue.*

*After the invasion of the Mother Roots, the world did not simply change... it was rewritten.

The air itself turned unfamiliar, carrying strange energy signatures that bled into the atmosphere.

Those energies seeped into every living being, twisting nature from its foundation and forcing another violent shift upon existence itself...

Animals no longer remained animals.

Their bodies warped, hardened, and split, growing crystalline growths that pulsed with an eerie glow.

Ants swelled into towering monstrosities, forming vast, shifting colonies that devoured everything in their path.

Ocean creatures evolved into something ancient and territorial, claiming entire bodies of water, guarding them.

Countless other transformations followed, each more unnatural than the last... and humanity was pushed ever closer to the brink of extinction.*

The head swallowed hard, his dry throat clicking audibly as his eyes flickered toward Victor with quiet desperation.

*M-My throat feels d-dry... could I have some water...?*

Victor’s gaze shifted slightly toward Xara, and with a subtle motion of his hand, he gestured for water. Xara caught the meaning instantly and moved without hesitation, retrieving a bottle.

Victor took it, his fingers tightening around the bottle cap before twisting it open with a sharp crack.

The head’s mouth parted instinctively as his voice faltered forward.

*G-Give it to me— please—*

Gulp~

Victor lifted the bottle and drank it himself.

The head watched, his own throat tightening painfully as he swallowed nothing but air.

His tongue slid across his dry lips.

”Pfff!” Vesperine let out a soft burst of amusement.

Even without understanding the language, the scene spoke clearly enough.

She rested her fingers against her chin, eyes gleaming with entertained curiosity as she studied Victor.

’So bad... So naughty~’ she thought, her lips curving faintly.

Victor lowered the bottle at last, a few droplets clinging to its rim before falling away. Without a word, he placed it on the table beside the head with a dull thuck.

*Now, continue.*

The head clenched his teeth, humiliation flickering across his face, but he forced himself to continue,

*J-Just when we believed everything was over... when there was nothing left to lose... she came.

The goddess... the Arcane...

Descended upon us.*

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly, ’Arcane... herself?’

The head continued,

*With her guidance, we learned to control the energy that filled the air. What once corrupted the environment became something we could wield. Through her knowledge, some adapted, most harnessed the energy in technology... the humanity survived the disaster that had been unleashed upon us... the calamity brought by the Mother Goddess... the one who sought to wipe us out entirely.*

Victor blinked once, *Mother? She wanted to kill you all? Did Aracne say that herself?*

The head hesitated, confusion crossing his face as he shook his head slowly.

*No... those were not her words. It was our President who told us. We... we only witnessed the light for the first time... a sky carved open with radiant, golden scars that stretched across the heavens. That was the moment of her arrival, a decade ago. After that, our President, the one closest to the Arcane Goddess, revealed everything to us... he told us what it all meant, and... what our greatest history truly was.*

Victor’s brows drew together, *Your greatest history...?*

The head’s lips curled into a wicked smirk, his eyes glinting with something ugly and defiant.

*Don’t act like you don’t know... Bitc—ARRHH!!*

A sharp, sickening crack cut through the air as Victor snapped one of the bloody body’s fingers without warning.

*I have very limited patience.*

The head choked on his breath, his dry throat tightening as pain rippled through him. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to continue, his voice trembling between fear and fury.

*I-It’s you people! T-The Mother Goddess, along with her so-called creations, took our land, took our brethren, and now you live happily as if nothing happened?

This land belongs to us! This world is ours! And you, along with your so-called Mother bitch, how dare you take it from us and rule as if you own everything! What the fuck! You fucking bitche—ARRRRRRHHHHHH!!!*

Victor’s grip tightened around the broken wrist, fingers digging into torn flesh as the body convulsed in agony. Blood smeared across his hand, yet his expression did not change.

”What is he saying?” Xara asked curiously, but Victor did not answer.

His gaze remained locked on the head before he spoke again,

*So if I understand correctly... your so-called Arcane Goddess taught you how to harness this energy, to protect yourselves... and to reclaim the land you believe was once yours.

Is that right?*

*Y-Yes! I told you everything, now give me the fucking water first!*

The head groaned, his voice cracking under thirst.

The bottle sat just within reach, close enough to see the faint condensation clinging to its surface, yet impossibly far from his lips.

His tongue flicked out instinctively, like a starving animal sensing water it could not reach.

Then, without warning, the air shifted.

The laboratory, already cool, sank into something deeper, heavier. A chill crawled across the walls, seeping into skin and bone...

”Hehe... hehe... HEHEHEHE... oh my goodness... hehe...”

Victor’s laughter broke the silence, low at first, then twisting into something jagged and unsettling.

”What kind of fucking game are you playing...?” he muttered, dragging a hand across his face before exhaling slowly.

”Sigh... so that’s why you two were locked in prison, huh?”

His eyes darkened, a sharp glint forming as his thoughts aligned into something clearer,

”Now I’m getting curious... what exactly are you two trying to do? Destroy each other? But why? Hmmm...”

For Victor, it did not matter who once owned this land, nor what history claimed.

Ownership was not decided by memory or sentiment.

It was decided by power.

And right now, that power belonged to him.

This land... belonged to Victor/Aether. To one and only.

”So be it,” he said, like a final verdict, ”Let them come, whoever they are. Until my last breath, this land will never belong to anyone else.”

A cold, murderous tone.

Now, it’s not about Victor being a bad guy or Aether being a good guy... this was Ruler and his people.

This was no longer a matter of right or wrong, nor of who was a villain or a saviour.

This was a ruler and... his people!

”So I will fulfil my duty as a ruler,” Victor muttered, veins bulging along his forehead.

Xara and Vesperine exchanged glances, both blinking in confusion, unable to follow the language yet sensing the shift in atmosphere.

Victor stepped closer again, leaning toward the head, his expression sharpening with intent.

*Tell me something. Why did your people come first and take ours, caging them like animals? And what is that white portal in the Void Empire? I want every detail.*

The head swallowed, his eyes flickering toward the bottle again as his voice came out hoarse.

*Water—*

Before he could say anything more, Victor grabbed the bottle and forced its nozzle into his mouth.

Water poured in abruptly.

Gulp... gulp... gulp...

The head’s throat moved rapidly, desperate and greedy, swallowing every drop he could before the flow stopped.

”Ahh...”

A strained sound escaped him, relief washing over his expression despite the lingering pain.

Victor’s voice followed immediately, *Now.*

The head exhaled shakily, trying to gather himself,

*Sigh... give me a moment to enjo—ARRH!!!*

Pain surged again as Victor tightened his grip just enough to remind him of his place.

The head gasped, his voice breaking as he hurried to comply.

*F-Fine! The reason we took them... was to understand who we were fighting against. With our Goddess’s help, we managed to secure subjects... for testing purposes.*

*Goods?*

Victor’s eyes darkened, *My people... goods?*

*H-Hey, I just did what I was told! I had no choice! W-We were only following our President’s orders!*

The head’s voice cracked, panic leaking through as it tried to justify itself, trembling under Victor’s gaze.

Victor’s expression hardened, *What about the white portal?*

*That? I don’t kno—ARRRRRRHHHH!!!*

The scream tore through the lab.

*I told you already... You should never say that word, right?*

This time, there was no hesitation. Victor cut off his finger.

*F-FUCK!*

The head writhed, every nerve reacting as though the pain still lingered long after the cut... even if it was fast, but for him it felt like every minute cut as if it was torn off.

Tears blurred his vision as he forced the words out.

*Y-You never said that before!!*

Victor tilted his head slightly, a faint, crooked smile forming on his lips.

*Didn’t I? Well... I just did now, didn’t I?*

Inside, the head screamed in fury. *’This bastard...!’*

He drew a shaking breath,

*I... I really don’t kno—ARRRHHH!!*

Another cut.

Then another.

And another!

Each scream broke thinner than the last until resistance finally collapsed.

*T-That thing... the white portal... ah... it belongs to the President. He has authority over it... ah... I only heard from my brother... they use it to transport between two Empires... ones the President established contact with... that’s all I kno—ARRRRHHHH!!!*

Another scream and Another clean slice.

*WHAT WAS THAT FOR, FUC—S-Sir?!*

Victor watched him convulse, *You should have said it sooner, I suppose.*

His tone held no apology, only quiet amusement as he shifted the topic without pause.

*Now... tell me this. Why did you people appear out of nowhere near the barrier borders, and then disappear after putting ours into unconscious states?*

*...*

Victor’s fingers moved toward a metal rod lying nearby.

That was enough.

*I-It was to collect data! Current data of the Empire... and... some experimental exchanges under the oath of—*

*Oath of what?*

*...*

*...*

*AARRR! I’ll say it! I’ll say it! It was under the oath of El Kova’reth!*

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly, *What is that?*

*I... I really don’t know that part! Please, I swear I don’t! It was just the President’s instruction; we only followed what we were told! Please believe me... please... N-No, not again!!*

Victor’s hand paused just above the bloodied body, then slowly lowered.

*What were your exact instructions?*

The head gasped lightly, relief flickering through the pain as he hurried to answer.

*W-We were told to gather the current growth of the Empire... how much it has changed since our first appearance... we had to ask about power households, their enemies, ways to destroy them, food supplies... everything, even the most mundane details.

We were ordered to question your people without hesitation and collect all possible data. And if time allowed... we were to test our new language model... to see if you could understand us.*

He swallowed his weak voice but continued.

*When we initiate the oath, the other party is forced to accept the pact we impose.

Since it is an equivalent exchange... we request information in return for one Aevum... T-That’s all I know... please, believe me...*

Victor remained silent for a moment, absorbing the explanation.

It made sense.

Information before conflict.

Preparation before war.

Quite a preparation they had...

”Wait... Aevum?”

Xara and Vesperine both blinked, their confusion mirroring his as they repeated it almost in unison.

”Aevum?”

The head looked at Victor.

Victor’s gaze sharpened again.

*What is Aevum?*

The head stared at him, stunned, as if the question itself was absurd... ’You don’t know that either...?’

Victor’s hand lifted slightly.

That was enough.

*W-Wait! It’s the numerical value displayed on your Origin Card!

It’s called Aevum!

It represents the existence value of an individual!*

His voice rushed out,

*When we take the oath, we take one Aevum as an equivalent exchange for the information about the Empire... and its people... along with temporary memory erasure!*

Victor exhaled slowly, his fingers rising to press against the bridge of his nose.

’I’m getting confused... Aevum...? Equivalent exchange...? For what exactly...?’

’When did we become your counting pieces, bitches...? Everyone is dying... and this is some kind of transaction?

What kind of twisted system is this...?’