Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

"Hehe… Hehehehe~"

Morgana and Mary turned back sharply and saw… Aether sat upon her throne with a calm yet sly expression, lounging with an almost arrogant ease as he leaned comfortably against the seat.

"Hmm… this feels strange… too," he muttered. His face sank into the shadows of his hair, concealing his expression until his eyes snapped open, glowing dangerously, burning with a predatory gleam as he looked at them.

Mary's lips curled upward slowly, her voice honeyed with dangerous amusement. "Not bad… not bad at all… I think this is going to be… very interesting," she purred as she stomped on the ground, the chamber trembling beneath her heel.

"Majesty, wait!!" Morgana shouted desperately.

But her plea never reached Mary's ears. The Empress vanished, her form dissolving into a streak of crimson light, and reappeared before Aether in an instant.

Her kick lashed out mercilessly toward his face — yet he vanished at the last possible moment, and her strike shattered the throne instead, pulverising it into nothing but dust and stony splinters!

BOOM!!

Aether's fist materialised out of thin air beside her, slamming toward the side of her face with such overwhelming speed and force that the air itself screamed. The punch carried a concussive wave so immense that it rippled across the palace, fracturing walls like fragile glass.

But Mary… Mary only flinched. Her head tilted slowly toward Aether, her expression unreadable, as if the devastating blow had been nothing more than a gust of wind brushing against her cheek.

Aether blinked in disbelief. "Strong neck?" he muttered under his breath, baffled, before Mary's hand shot out like a striking serpent.

She caught his hand and yanked him down, tossing him aside like a child discarding a broken toy.

Aether's body flew back, colliding with a massive pillar that cracked on impact. He dropped, landing on his feet with a defiant grin, but before he could gather his stance, Mary was already upon him.

She materialised in front of him, crimson energy dancing along her palm as a thin red sword appeared. With one swift motion, she slashed, the blade singing through the air... aiming to cleave him in two.

Ssshh~

Aether twisted his body at the last second, his leap barely saving him as the sword missed his flesh by a hair's breadth. Instead, the strike cleaved through the pillar behind him.

"Oh? That was… dangerously close," Aether said with a small grin.

He raised his hand, summoning the biting chill of frost. An ice spear crystallised instantly in his grasp and shot forward like lightning, piercing through Mary's body with a sound sharp as shattering glass.

Chhuck!!

The force pushed her back several inches, her heels scraping across the marble floor. She let out a low groan, gripping the spear with both hands before ripping it from her flesh.

To Aether's dismay, the gaping wound closed in seconds, mending itself as crimson light knitted her body whole once again.

Mary's eyes narrowed. She kicked against the ground, shattering tiles as she dashed forward, swinging her sword downward in a vertical slash meant to split him in two.

Aether ducked low, crouching under the strike, then drove his fist upward into her stomach with ferocious force. The impact thundered through the hall, slamming her against the wall, nearly embedding her body into the ceiling above.

Blood dripped from her lips as she twisted in midair, yet she landed on the ground with eerie elegance, her eyes glimmering with both pain and delight.

"Not bad… but still not enough," she said coldly. Raising her hand, she summoned a blinding glow behind her.

A vast crimson magic circle flared into existence, runes pulsating like beating hearts. From its depths, hundreds of swords... blood-forged emerged with a hiss before launching toward Aether like a storm of death.

Aether moved instantly, his body a blur as he danced between the blades. He twisted, turned, and slipped past each strike, though a few managed to graze his skin, leaving faint crimson trails behind.

!~Ding~!

[Blood Poison Purified!]

Aether smirked, his lips curling into something almost feral. With deliberate calm, he clapped his hands together, and a shockwave burst outward.

BOOMM!

The swords were thrown aside violently, scattering through the palace like children's toys, crashing into walls and pillars.

Morgana, watching the clash unfold, staggered back in horror. Her boots scraped across the floor as she leapt backwards several times, barely dodging the blades that threatened to impale her where she stood.

Morgana clenched her fists tightly. Her majesty… her majesty was not following the plan.

They had decided to kill him, yes — but only after learning the whereabouts of the Grenthollow.

That Mountain was too vital, too dangerous, to risk losing.

They had already dispatched a search party to scour the Empire for it, but if it could not be found… if it vanished into nothingness.

What if it was in another Empire?

It seemed impossible… yet this man had managed to lift the entire mountain by himself, tearing it from the empire, something nobody — literally nobody — had ever accomplished.

So who knew what else he could possibly do now?

They needed to know the truth before killing him. But Mary… Mary was falling for his rage bait far too easily.

"Damn it! Majesty, stop this madness!!" Morgana shouted, her voice cracking with desperation.

Yet her words never reached her majesty, who continued unleashing wave after wave of swords with relentless fury.

Mary moved like a predator across the floor, her slender body twisting with impossible grace as she dodged the compressed air sphere that shot toward her. The attack missed by a hair, grazing past her sides before slamming into the wall and devouring it.

Mary instantly leapt forward, her voice ringing with mocking laughter.

"Hahaha… You have so many tricks hidden up your sleeve~" she taunted as she cut toward him.

But Aether bent backward, his body arching like a spring. He pushed off with explosive force and drove his fist directly into her face.

BOOM!

Mary's body was hurled backwards, but her figure vanished mid-flight and reappeared behind Aether.

In a blur of speed, she kicked him squarely in the back before catching his body with one hand and slamming him against the ground with earth-shattering force. The marble floor split open, massive cracks spider-webbing outward from the impact.

BOOOMMM!!

But Aether only grinned. His legs coiled, and in a snake-like strike, he wrapped them around her arm. Before she could wrench herself free, his entire body erupted into searing purple flames.

PUFFFFF!!

"Arrghhh!"

The scream tore through the air as the burst of purple fire scorched the hall, blackening the ground and devouring the air itself.

Morgana staggered back in shock, her body trembling as the wave of heat forced her to roll away, barely shielding herself from the inferno.

If she, a bystander, felt her skin blister under that intensity… what of her Majesty, trapped inside the blaze?

Mary clenched her teeth, her body writhing against his burning grip. His legs and arms held her in place like an iron vice, leech-like and unyielding.

Her crimson eyes narrowed in fury.... if he got her hand, so what? She could just...

Chuckk!!

She cut her own hand free, stepping back as smoke hissed from the wound. She sighed, her body flickering with blurriness, her image wavering like heat haze as a sizzling sound filled the hall.

Her gaze dropped to the ground beneath her feet — the marble had turned blood-red, molten from the heat. Yet Aether stepped across it without hesitation, the glow of purple flames wrapping his body. His smirk widened.

"That's all you've got? If so, I could easily take your daughter—"

Before he could finish—

"NO ONE TAKES MY DAUGHTER!!" Mary's roar shook the palace.

Her severed hand regenerated in an instant, flesh knitting back as she yanked a blood-soaked sword from the void. She lunged at him, her blade slashing toward his neck.

Aether reacted in time, summoning a steel sword from his inventory and raising it in defence. The clash rang out sharp as thunder... but her blood-forged blade cleaved through his steel as though it were nothing.

His eyes widened, body jerking backwards just in time. The crimson edge grazed across his neck, cutting shallow but drawing blood.

Blood dripped down his skin, warm against his collar. His frown deepened. Behind her blurred form, Mary's grin widened like a predator's.

Aether stomped on the ground, fury surging. "Stop hiding like a coward!" he barked, and with a sudden burst of speed, he kicked her squarely in the chest.

Her wavering illusion faltered, flickering for several seconds. Her golden hair shimmered in the light before she veiled herself in blurriness again.

Mary skidded across the ground before regaining balance, her blade still clutched tightly in her grip.

"Haha… Coward? Bastard!" Mary sneered as she jumped, her feet cracking the stone beneath her as the entire ground quivered under her force.

Aether answered with his own stomp, summoning another sword into his hand. Their blades clashed furiously, his steel clanging against her thin crimson edge as sparks showered the air.

Her blade bit into his weapons, cutting through them one after another, but Aether continued pulling replacements from his endless inventory, hurling each forward as both shield and sword.

"hehe~"

"Heheh~"

Both of them laughed wickedly, their mirth twisted by bloodlust. Mary's sword twisted unnaturally midair, and in a flash, she brought it down toward his neck once more.

But just as her blade was about to slice him open, Aether snapped his fingers.

BOOM!!

A deafening blast exploded between them, the force hurling both backwards. They slammed into opposite walls, the impact cracking the palace as stone and dust rained down.

"Huff… huff…"

Both of them panted heavily. Aether's body was covered in shallow cuts and bruises, his breath ragged. Mary, of course, stood unscathed, her flesh glowing faintly as her body repaired itself once more.

"It's futile," Mary smirked with arrogance, "No matter what happens… from the very beginning, we both knew who the winner would be."

And she was right. Unlike Aether, who bled, who felt the sting of every cut and bruise, Mary could heal instantly... She was tireless, endless, relentless.

This battle, no matter how spectacular, was nothing more than a game to her.

Aether exhaled, his smirk returning despite the blood dripping down his skin. "Yeah…" he whispered darkly, before turning his glowing eyes to Morgana. "After all… someone close to you is going to betray you."

Mary's crimson eyes flickered.

Morgana's frown deepened. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Aether grinned wolfishly. "Of course, what else do you think?" he said, his voice slow and deliberate, pointing straight at her. "She's going to kill you… and your daughter."

"…" Mary's eyes widened, a dangerous crimson light flickering within.

Morgana's lips tightened, her gaze darkening as her eyes slowly fell under shadow.