Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1842: Why… does it… hurt?

!~Ding~!

[Unique Skill: 3-Second Activation Completed!]

“Tell me where she is and who is behind all of—”

Young Aether’s words died in his throat.

His mind seemed to stumble over itself, struggling to comprehend the vision that had just been forced into his consciousness.

For a moment, everything around him became distant… His entire body froze.

It was not fear… It was something far deeper, something that reached into the very foundation of his thoughts and made everything he believed suddenly feel unstable.

As if something inside him had simply stopped moving.

As if the world itself had skipped a beat.

What just happened?

How?

Why?

The questions collided inside his mind, each one crashing into the next before he could even form an answer. The memory he had witnessed refused to make sense.

It felt wrong. Like someone had taken reality apart and stitched it back together incorrectly.

It was fake.

It had to be fake!

IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Why would Allen do that?

He lost his wife.

He lost his children.

He had already suffered enough.

This had nothing to do with Aether. He had never destroyed Zeta City. He had never laid a hand upon Jonathan’s children or family. He had not even been responsible for the suffering.

So why?

What did any of this have to do with him?

Had Aether judged him incorrectly from the beginning?

NO!

From the moment they met, Aether had received Affection Points from him. At that moment, he remembered clearly… Jonathan had given him nothing.

Not even a single point.

So obviously, the person who might have hated him was… Jonathan.

Right?

Everything had pointed toward him.

Honestly, Young Aether had never thought too deeply about the Affection Points. Celestia had given him nothing either because of certain conditions, so he had simply assumed Jonathan might have been another similar case.

He had dismissed it.

He had moved on.

But then there had been Jonathan’s strange behaviour.

The way Allen had repeatedly warned him not to trust Jonathan.

And Lily’s painful words, spoken with an emotion Aether had been unable to forget.

Piece by piece, those fragments had formed a conclusion inside his mind.

Jonathan was behind all of this.

Jonathan was the enemy.

But if that was true…

Then why?

WHY?!!!!

“B…eh…ind…”

Jonathan’s voice barely escaped his throat.

Young Aether knew he had to move. Every instinct inside him screamed at him to turn, defend himself, escape, do anything to survive the incoming attack.

Yet, his body refused; his muscles remained locked in place.

Move.

Move!

MOVE!

“You were never supposed to survive the first time.”

Allen’s words entered his mind with terrifying calm.

They echoed again.

And again.

Each repetition seemed to dig deeper into him, like the final chime of a dying bell reverberating through an empty cathedral.

First time?

Aether’s breathing became shallow.

Did that mean…

His friend had expected him to die?

Not now….

From the very beginning?

Had Allen looked at him all this time knowing that Aether was supposed to disappear?

Had every conversation, every smile, every moment of apparent trust been built upon a lie?

“…”

Aether could not even find a word.

For the first time, the realisation hurt more than the physical danger surrounding him.

He had trusted him.

That was what made it hurt.

Oh God.

How badly he wished this was fake.

How desperately he wanted someone to tell him that his mind had misunderstood what he had seen.

But reality offered him no mercy.

The child appeared within his fading perception, staring directly at him with those cold ice-blue eyes. A tiny smile rested upon the child’s lips, almost gentle in appearance, yet somehow more frightening than any scream.

Aether could not understand why that smile affected him so deeply.

It felt like judgment.

It felt like mockery.

As if those innocent eyes were silently telling him the truth he had desperately refused to accept.

This was what you get for believing you were a good friend!

Young Aether’s eyes trembled.

His vision blurred.

For the first time in a very long time, his eyes began to fill with tears.

He swallowed hard.

His heartbeat thundered inside his ears.

Move.

Move.

Move…

MOVE!!!

Something finally responded.

Young Aether violently forced his muscles to obey.

His body twisted sideways with the last possible fraction of movement, and a massive metallic rod tore through the space where his torso had been a moment earlier.

THUCCKK!!

The weapon pierced through the side of his hip.

Young Aether’s body jerked violently.

His teeth clenched instinctively as his fingers released Jonathan, and the world seemed to tilt beneath his feet.

The rod had missed his vital points by mere centimetres.

He could feel the brutal pressure of the weapon inside his flesh, followed by the burning sensation.

Warm blood immediately spread beneath the torn section of his suit.

He staggered backwards.

But before he could recover, the metallic rod suddenly changed.

Purple electrical arcs erupted across its surface.

SPARK!!!

Electricity surged through Young Aether’s suit.

His entire suit convulsed, and in the next second,

[System Forced Shutdown]

The words appeared across his visor.

Then disappeared.

Micro-locks disengaged throughout the frame with rapid metallic clicks as the chest assembly opened. Emergency ejection mechanisms activated beneath the armour, violently throwing Young Aether away.

He crashed onto the ground and rolled across the surface.

Behind him, Allen raised the metallic rod that held the suit like a hanger.

A thin, liquid-like substance emerged from the weapon.

Thousands of microscopic particles flowed from the rod and spread across the surface of Young Aether’s armour. They crawled over the plates, slipping into seams and joints, coating the suit from every direction.

And in the next second… microscopic particles flowed back to the rod, leaving… nothing!

As if those things ate the suit or something.

The metallic rod rested casually between his fingers as he rotated it with effortless precision.

His eyes remained fixed on Young Aether.

“That’s some nice reflex you got there.”

Allen tilted his head slightly with a haughty tone.

“…”

Young Aether simply stared at him, completely lost, as though his mind had stopped processing what was happening around him. His gaze slowly dropped toward his hip, where the metallic rod had pierced straight through. Blood continued to flow from the wound, soaking into and tainting his clothes, yet…

He shouldn’t feel the pain, right?

After all…

He was immune.

No, immune wasn’t the right word.

It was more like he was supposed to be used to pain by now, wasn’t he?

After everything he had endured, after all the wounds, battles, and countless moments when his body had been pushed beyond its natural limits, pain should have become nothing.

Then…

“Why… does it… hurt?”

He mumbled the words in a broken tone as he slowly reached down and touched the wound. His fingers trembled slightly when they brushed against the torn flesh, and the moment his fingertips pressed against it, a sharp pulse of agony travelled through his body.

His fingers came away covered in warm, crimson blood.

He stared at it.

For some reason, seeing his own blood felt different this time. It was not merely evidence that he had been injured. It felt like proof that something inside him had hurt deeply.

It hurt… so much that he wanted to cry!

His eyes blurred even more as he slowly raised his head.

And then he saw Allen.

The ordinary-looking suit covering Allen’s body suddenly began to move on its own.

Tiny particles shifted beneath its surface, crawling over one another like countless ants moving in perfect coordination. The nanobots flowed across his body, reshaping the suit with frightening precision.

Its silhouette grew larger.

The material rippled like liquid before hardening into thick mechanical components. Pistons emerged from beneath the shifting layers, followed by dense armour plating that locked into place with heavy metallic clicks. Each component moved independently for a fraction of a second before seamlessly connecting with the next.

His shoulders expanded into massive armoured structures, while additional plates formed around his chest, arms, thighs, and legs.

Even his helmet changed.

Everything that had appeared normal moments ago was transforming directly before Young Aether’s eyes.

In a matter of seconds, the disguise was gone.

What stood before him was a towering whitish-black mech suit, its immense frame surrounded by faint traces of vapour. Blue energy pulsed through narrow seams between the armour plates, travelling like artificial veins beneath the surface.

Hissss!!

Steam hissed from rotating vents along its spine.

“…”

Young Aether could only stare.

He knew that armour.

He remembered who stood inside it.

The Arcane King of the Terra Empire.

In Allen’s hand, the metallic rod underwent the same transformation.

Its structure unfolded rapidly, segmented components sliding apart before locking together with precise mechanical clicks. The shaft lengthened, the internal frame expanded, and the head of the weapon split before reforming into a massive double-edged axe.

Blue energy surged along both edges of the weapon, producing a low, vibrating hum that Aether could feel in his chest even from a distance.

“A-Aether! Are you alright?”

Jonathan suddenly rushed to his side.

His expression was filled with concern as he crouched beside Aether and examined the wound. His hand hovered near the injury, seemingly unsure whether touching it would cause more pain.

Young Aether remained silent.

His gaze drifted past Jonathan.

The child stood beside him.

Those deep ice-blue eyes were staring directly at Aether.

The child said nothing.

He simply watched.

Young Aether swallowed hard.

His throat felt painfully dry as he looked back at his friend.

“I… I am… sor—”

“It’s alright.”

Jonathan smiled faintly and shook his head, as though everything that had happened between them moments ago had been nothing more than a brutal misunderstanding.

“I know why you did it. You couldn’t accept what I became.”

His smile weakened.

“I understand. I made mistakes too, Aether. More than I can count. And I’m sorry for that.”

“…”

Young Aether’s expression changed.

The guilt inside him grew heavier.

He had misunderstood him.

He had judged him without hearing his side of the story.

He should have talked to Jonathan.

He should have given him the chance to explain himself instead of immediately attacking him.

If he had simply sat down with him and had a heart-to-heart conversation, perhaps things would never have reached this point.

Perhaps none of this would have happened.

Perhaps they would still be standing together as friends instead of facing one another.

But could anyone truly blame Young Aether?

Allen had lost his entire family.

Young Aether had naturally felt more sympathy toward him after hearing about his suffering. Then Allen had already planted doubts about Jonathan inside his mind, and those doubts had slowly grown roots.

Every strange behaviour from Jonathan had seemed to confirm them.

Every warning from Allen had seemed more convincing.

Every painful word from Lily had pushed him further toward the same conclusion.

And then there were the Affection Points.

Those numbers had quietly influenced his judgment as well.

Aether had never realised how much they had shaped his assumptions until now.

“Now…”

Jonathan slowly stood.

His expression hardened as he turned toward Allen’s transformed mech suit.

“I didn’t expect this from you, Allen. Trying to kill us? Was this your plan all along? Crying like a bitch and trapping us here!”

Jonathan tightened his grip around his weapon.

“But why?”

His voice became colder.

“Why did you bring Maiuri into this? If you wanted revenge for Lily… you could have simply asked for my head.”

He stepped forward.

“I would have gladly placed it on a silver platter for you. So why did you have to kill them all?”

“Why, Allen?”

“…”

Allen gave no answer.

Jonathan’s fingers tightened around his weapon.

“So be it. If you won’t talk willingly, then I know how to make you talk.”

He turned his head toward Young Aether.

“Aether…”

Young Aether lowered his head.

His shoulders had sagged, his expression hollow and broken.

“You stay here. I’ll take care of this bastard who betrayed us!”

Jonathan’s voice was firm.

Young Aether said nothing.

He simply stood there.

His mind was still trapped between the wound burning through his hip, the blood staining his clothes, Jonathan’s apology, Allen’s transformation, and… the child silently watching him.

But beneath all of it was something far more painful.

His friendship.

People might never understand it.

For Aether, his friends had always meant more than even his wives.

Not because he loved his wives any less.

He loved each of the women in his life equally, carefully making sure that none of them ever felt neglected or loved less than another.

But his friends occupied a different place within him.

They had been there when he had nothing.

When the world seemed determined to crush him beneath its weight, they had been the ones who stood beside him.

When he had fallen into despair, they had reached down and pulled him back up.

When he had believed he was alone, they had remained.

They had seen the worst parts of him and still called him their friend.

That bond had become something sacred to him.

It was not built from promises or grand declarations.

It had been forged through countless ordinary moments, shared happiness, arguments, laughter, failures, and quiet nights when simply having someone beside him had been enough to keep him from breaking.

So much love for them he had… not in a romantic way, but in the way a person loves those who helped him find happiness when he had almost forgotten what happiness felt like.

He loved them for the laughter they shared, for the memories they created together, for the hope they gave him when everything seemed hopeless, and for the support they offered whenever the world became too heavy to carry alone.

He genuinely wanted the best for them.

Even when he hurt Jonathan, Aether had been hurting more than Jonathan physically was. Every strike had weighed heavily on him, but he had believed he needed to do something.

If he had simply allowed Jonathan to continue down that path, he might have gone somewhere Aether could never reach him again.

So, as a good friend should in that situation, Aether had tried to knock some sense into him.

That was all.

He had never wanted to kill Jonathan.

He had never wanted to break his mind.

He had never even considered destroying him.

He only wanted Jonathan to be truthful.

Tell him everything.

Tell him what had happened.

Tell him why he had changed.

Whatever the truth was, Aether would face it.

No matter how ugly it became.

That much…

He trusted his friends.

And yet…

One of them killed him.

Sensing his silence, Jonathan understood that Young Aether could no longer bear what he was seeing. He glanced toward him with a faint, understanding smile.

“I know you couldn’t accept this either…”

Jonathan’s voice softened.

“So let me take care of it. Just stay here and—”

BOOM!

A concentrated blue beam suddenly slammed into Jonathan’s frame.

The impact sent him flying across the chamber.

CRAAASH!!

His armoured body crashed violently into a cluster of control systems, sending sparks and fragments of shattered circuitry scattering through the air.

Jonathan groaned as he pushed himself away from the wreckage.

“Fucker… How about you face me directly—”

His words died when he saw a Tailed Mech-Suit step through the entrance.

And… Two figures were being dragged behind it.

Chains wrapped tightly around their bodies as the mech pulled them forward without slowing down.

“U-Uncle!!”

Young Aether’s breath stopped.

His eyes, which had seemed almost lifeless moments ago, suddenly widened.

That voice.

He knew that voice.

His head snapped upward.

Lily?

Sasha?

They were alive!

“Lily! Sasha!!”

Young Aether shouted their names with a sudden burst of emotion.

Sasha looked toward them, tears immediately spilling from her eyes when she saw the people she loved standing before her.

“Jon! Aether!”

Her voice trembled with fear.

She struggled against the restraints, but the chains around her body barely moved.

Jonathan’s expression changed instantly.

“FUCKERS! HAND HER OVER!!”

He launched himself forward.

The massive axe in Allen’s hand swung.

TTANG!!

Jonathan’s suit was cleaved nearly in half.

Young Aether’s eyes widened in shock at seeing Allen ready to kill Jonathan as well, but to his surprise, he was ejected from the suit in time.

TANG!!

The ruined suit fell heavily to the floor.

Its circuits flickered wildly as clouds of tiny particles escaped from the fractured armour.

Thud!

Jonathan landed hard.

He rolled once before catching himself against the floor.

He looked up at the towering figure responsible.

“ALLEN!!!”

His voice shook the chamber with rage.

The black-tailed mech-suit remained beside Allen.

Its visor glowed with two cold golden eyes.

It slowly raised one hand toward Young Aether.

“Hand over Genome Beta.”

The voice came through the mech’s external speakers, distorted and emotionless.

Before he could say anything, Jonathan shouted from across the chamber.

“Genome Beta? How the fuck would we know where she is?! Nobody knows whether she’s alive or dead!”

The Tailed Mech-Suit turned its head toward Allen.

Its golden visor narrowed slightly.

“Did you collect the data from his designated suit?”

Allen nodded and said calmly,

“Yes. I collected every piece of data stored within the suit.”

A holographic interface immediately projected from the mechanical structure around his forehead.

A three-dimensional recording appeared before them.

Young Aether’s eyes widened.

The image showed the Genome Beta suit.

A portal opened inside an unfamiliar chamber, and the suit emerged from it.

Then came another recording.

And another.

From the moment he had put on the suit, everything he had done had been documented.

Jonathan slowly turned toward Young Aether.

“Are you… Are you the monster they’ve been talking about?”

“…”

Young Aether remained silent.

The Tailed Mech-Suit stepped forward.

The mechanical tail behind it shifted, each segment locking into a sharper configuration.

“Hand over Genome Beta.”

Its voice remained emotionless.

“Otherwise, she will die.”

The tail suddenly moved.

SHNK!

Its sharpened tip stopped directly in front of Lily’s forehead.

Lily froze.

The tip was only inches away from her skin.

“N-No… No, NO!! Uncle!!!”

“…” Young Aether… stayed quiet!