Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 698 The choice he made... it was the only one he could make!

Itʼs not like Aether had never thought of other choices.... His mind had raced through countless possibilities, each more desperate than the last, as he tried to come up with a solution to save both of them.

But... no matter how hard he thought, no matter how many scenarios he envisioned, the outcome remained the same. In the end... he would have to lose one to save the other.

That was a fate Aether could not escape, no matter how much he wanted to believe otherwise!

No matter how strong he became, no matter how powerful his abilities made him... he had to face reality!

And that reality was this:

He was not some hero out of a story who could save everyone!

Nor was he a villain who could burn the entire world just to save his beloved!

This wasnʼt some grand tale with a happy ending... This was raw, unrelenting reality!

He was not omnipotent, nor was he omniscient.... He was just an ordinary guy with a strange, burdensome ability!

Just like the Prophetess had said before.... No one could have everything, Aether... Not even him!

That was reality.... really!

That was why... he thought again, deeply this time.

Yes, he finally let himself consider the one thing he had been avoiding— his bloodline ability.

An ability to turn back time.... To return to a point where nothing had gone wrong. Or... at least, thatʼs how he hoped it worked..... It was his final, desperate hope.

A third choice!

The only choice!!

His choice!

His Hope!!

But even that hope felt like staring into an abyss of horror!!

To be honest, Aether had never wanted to use his bloodline ability, not once, not since he learned about it.... To others, his power seemed miraculous, godlike even.

Everyone thought he could do anything—change anything, rewrite reality to his whims.

They saw it as a gift.... But for him... it was nothing less than a curse.

Because who was Aether?

A simple man who wanted to live.

Live?

Yes. No matter what life threw at him, no matter how hard or painful it became, Aether had always held onto one thing—a relentless will to survive!

He was the kind of man who wanted nothing more than to keep breathing, to keep moving forward..... And yet, his ability demanded his breath!

How cruelly ironic, wasnʼt it?

Even in his first life, when everything seemed so hopeless and broken, he had wanted to live. He had fought to survive, no matter what was done to him.

People had crushed him, broken him, abandoned him, cornered him, made him suffer in ways he didnʼt think possible.

Even when the entire world seemed to conspire against him, there hadnʼt been a single moment where he thought of giving up.

He wanted to live!!

Even when he was stabbed by organ traffickers, even when he lay there bleeding out, dying, he still clung to that burning desire to survive.

And yet... the cruel twist of his ability was that it only activated when he died.

That soooo fucked up!

How darkly amusing... The world.... the fate had chosen him for this?

You had asked a man who desperately clung to life to accept death?... even though he would return, a death was still a fucking death!

Aether was sooo scared of it!!

Yet,

When he saw Sandra die right before his eyes... something inside him shattered.

His gaze fell on her hand clutching the water knife, now slick with her blood. He knew what he had to do.... He knew the exact steps he needed to take.

And yet, when he tried to do it... he couldnʼt.

This was different from before, when a monster had ʼkilledʼ him.... He didnʼt feel much but This time, it was in his hands.

Fate was asking him—a man whose will to live had never wavered—to take his own life?

What a cruel, bitchy twist of fate, wasnʼt it?

His hands trembled as his entire body and mind rebelled against the idea.... Every fiber of his being screamed at him not to do it.

And yet... his heart knew.

It knew.

This was his choice to make.

Not a choice that fate had forced upon him... but a choice born out of his love, his desperation, his hope.

He wanted both of them alive. He wanted to see Sandraʼs haughty expression again. He wanted to hear Doraʼs amused laugh and breaking his body just for him to learn more.... He longed to see their faces light up with life once more.

The only way to make that happen... was to take his own life.

A will turned against himself!