Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey-Chapter 1024: Mother just disrespected him!!

The Main Temple...

To be honest, Aether hadn’t clearly seen it before. With his head pounding and everything a blur back then, the grandeur of the place had escaped his notice. He hadn’t registered its sheer scale, its magnificence, its commanding presence.

But now, standing before it with a clearer mind, he remembered. His memories whispered to him—this wasn’t just any temple. This was something else entirely. The architecture... the design... it wasn’t just sacred, it was transcendent, almost divine in its artistry. He had wanted to explore it, to see every curve and line of that awe-inspiring creation.

But the sky had already darkened, swallowing the world in shadows, just as the Archpriestess informed him that the Mother Goddess wished to meet him. There would be no admiring the intricate carvings tonight, no time to marvel at the majestic structure.

Aether sighed inwardly. He asked quietly, "Why did she ask to meet me at night?"

The Archpriestess merely shrugged. "It’s Mother. When she calls, we go. Day or night doesn’t matter."

Aether frowned, face blank with a flat expression. ’This is what I’d call a bitchy manager back in my world,’ he grumbled in his thoughts, standing now before the enormous door. He placed his hand gently on its surface. The stone was cool and ancient beneath his fingers. Strange patterns and forgotten symbols sprawled across the wall—foreign, unique, and mesmerising.

The Archpriestess stood beside him. "Are you ready?"

He gave her a silent nod.

"Just remember," she said, her voice suddenly dropping to a sharp, serious tone. "If anything happens... anything at all—shout for me. Immediately."

Aether blinked, then chuckled with an amused grin. "Why so serious? It’s not like she’s going to kill me or anything... right?"

The Archpriestess didn’t respond.

She simply stared at him—blankly, unblinking.

The humour drained from his face. The grin faded. Aether’s eyes narrowed as seriousness took over. The Archpriestess gave a subtle wave of her hand, and the colossal temple doors began to creak open, parting slowly with a deep, groaning echo.

Aether didn’t hesitate. Without a word, he stepped forward into the yawning black, his expression firm and unreadable.

Thud!

The heavy doors slammed shut behind him.

The Archpriestess stood silently before the sealed entrance, worry shadowing her expression.

She didn’t know whether the Mother was capable of harming someone directly... but now, Aether stood alone before her statue—before something ancient and incomprehensible. Anything could happen in there.

"You can come out now," she muttered with mild annoyance, turning her head toward a nearby stone outcropping.

From behind the rock, a soft curtain of golden hair shimmered—someone was clearly trying to hide, but doing a terrible job at it.

Meanwhile, inside the temple...

Aether’s pupils dilated, struggling to adjust to the thick veil of darkness that blanketed the massive hall. The air was dense, heavy with silence.

He could barely make out the shape of the vast chamber. Shadows devoured everything except for the faintest outline of a solitary podium at the centre of the space. And resting atop that pedestal—was a statue.

No... not just a statue.

Aether moved slowly. The stone pillars around him reached endlessly into the dark above, their surfaces cracked with age and draped in ancient ivy. The walls bore the faint traces of carvings—intricate, masterfully done, yet weathered by time. Symbols long forgotten danced along the stone like frozen prayers.

His footsteps echoed through the expanse, soft and lonely. The sound bounced back from all directions, as though the temple itself whispered its long-forgotten secrets to him.

A chill touched the nape of his neck, a strange sensation crawling under his skin—but he kept walking, each step heavier than the last.

As he got closer, without warning, the dark receded.

Not from firelight, nor from any magic he knew—but from a silvery radiance that poured like moonless light through the shattered dome high above.

It was cold, otherworldly, and gentle. Dust particles caught the glow like glimmering stars, swirling lazily in the pale beams.

And there... she stood.

The statue of the Mother.

Aether froze, breath catching in his throat.

This wasn’t marble.

It wasn’t metal.

It wasn’t anything manmade.

The statue rose as though it had grown from the earth itself—an elegant construct of entwined roots, coiled vines, and ancient, gnarled wood.

The goddess’s form was unmistakably feminine—her posture regal, yet gentle, arms outstretched as if to welcome or bless. Her features, though sculpted from wood and bark, possessed a strange serenity—eyes closed in perpetual contemplation, lips curved in the ghost of a knowing smile.

From her scalp, wild tendrils unfurled upward, forming an intricate crown of roots—elegant and chaotic all at once. Where the pale silver light kissed her bark-bound body, the statue shimmered faintly, as though coated in dew. It gave her an ethereal aura—one that balanced between awe-inspiring grace and something deeply, eerily otherworldly.

In her right hand, extended with divine poise, rested a radiant orb—an orb of glowing gold that pulsed slowly, rhythmically, like the steady heartbeat of the forest itself. Its surface was impossibly smooth and flawless, untouched by time.

Aether could feel it—not just see it. That soft glow held something ancient, a quiet, primal energy that stirred deep within his chest. His body responded with a strange hum, as if some long-dormant part of him was being drawn forward by the orb’s silent call.

Her torso and arms were composed of winding vines, bark layered upon bark in a delicate yet immovable weave. It gave her body a shape that was somehow both gentle and indestructible. As if she could cradle the world—or crush it—without ever shifting her serene expression.

Below the waist, her form dissolved into a cascade of spiralling roots, flowing down the pedestal like a dress made from the earth itself. They spilled onto the ground and disappeared into the stone, as if she had risen straight from the planet’s living heart.[Imgincmt]

Aether stood frozen. His breath caught in his throat, lodged between awe and reverence. In the silence, he could almost feel her wooden eyes watching him—though they remained closed. Watching, remembering, judging, welcoming or simply remembering all he had done before. He couldn’t tell which. Maybe all of them.

He finally spoke, softly, his voice echoing lightly, "Hmm... so you’re the Mother Goddess. Even though I’ve seen you in my memories... seeing you directly like this, face to face... it’s different."

He gave a faint nod and added with a smirk, "Especially considering we hate each other."

He waited.

But nothing happened.

There were no words—no whispers in his head like the last iteration. No warmth or pressure, no celestial voice answering him from within.

Aether frowned. "Hello? Miss Mother Goddess?" he asked, waving his hand slightly as he stepped in even closer.

Still, no response.

His frown deepened, eyes narrowing in mild irritation. "Now what? I thought you were the one who called me here. Why are you silent now? Don’t just stand there like some high-and-mighty... bit—I mean... woman," he corrected himself mid-word, remembering just where he was—and who she was.

He clenched his jaw and silently waited.

And waited.

And kept waiting...

Minutes ticked by, stretching into nearly half an hour. Not a whisper. Not a flicker. Not even a change in the air.

Aether sighed inwardly. ’She’s just being a bitch now,’ he muttered mentally, already fed up.

Finally, he exhaled sharply, "If you’re not going to speak, then I’ll just ask what I came here to ask," he said, voice shifting into a harder tone.

"What exactly are you planning now? Using the Archpriestess... the children... all of it. It’s obvious you’re setting something up—but I can’t figure out what. So mind explaining? What are you playing at?"

Silence.

Still, she said nothing.

Aether’s eyes burned with frustration. "Hello? I’m talking to you! You’re the one who called me here, remember? Answer me... bitch!" he growled.

... Still no response.

Aether tapped his forearm impatiently, his foot shifting in subtle annoyance. He was growing more irritated by the second.

"Tch." He shrugged. "Whatever. The real reason I came here was to see the Ebon Stone. Who cares about you, bitch," he snapped, his voice low and annoyed as he stepped toward the base of the root-entwined statue.

He crouched down, moving some of the smaller roots aside to get a clearer look—searching for any forbidden letters, hidden markings, anything.

But the moment his fingers touched... no even before reaching the roots—

"ARRRRHHHH!!"

Aether let out a strangled scream as a jolt of searing pain ripped through his hand—not physical pain, but something far worse.

It wasn’t electricity.

It was something deeper. It felt as if his very soul had been electrocuted—shocked violently from within. His entire body convulsed as he jerked his hand back instinctively.

He stumbled backwards, groaning as he clutched his wrist. The sensation lingered—his arm felt ghostly, numb, like it didn’t belong to him anymore. He flexed his fingers, grimacing as he tried to reconnect with the flesh.

"Forget it!" he hissed through clenched teeth. "I’m leaving!!"

Thud!

The temple door creaked open behind him, wide and slow, as if she wanted it.

Aether’s lips twitched in disbelief. "Tch. Fuck you, bitch," he snapped as he flipped his middle finger at the statue before turning his back and walking off.

She called him here, acted like a queen on a throne, then gave him nothing?

He was done.

Just as he stepped two paces away from the root-laced statue—

Ting!

Aether blinked. The sound echoed—strange, delicate, and metallic. Familiar... and yet... unfamiliar.

He turned his head slightly, eyes scanning the empty chamber around him.

Nothing.

Just the dark, the pillars, and that looming statue behind.

He frowned deeply, but didn’t pause longer.

Aether walked out—silent, annoyed, and still unanswered.