Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1678: Saving his Ass: Part-1

Third Person’s POV

HUFF...

Lackey’s chest heaved violently as consciousness slammed back into place.

His vision swam with dark mist before finally stabilising, revealing an endless evening sky stained with orange and violet hues.

For several seconds, his mind remained completely blank. His bloodshot eyes stared upward, struggling to process what he was seeing while a dull ringing echoed through his ears.

’*Where... am I?*’

The thought had barely surfaced when a strange sensation crept into his awareness. Something felt wrong.

The air around him wasn’t calm. It wasn’t even moving normally.... It was freaking roaring!

A torrent of wind tore across his body with such violence that his cheeks distorted under the pressure. His hair whipped wildly behind him while his arms flailed without control. Every part of his body felt weightless yet impossibly heavy at the same time.

Lackey immediately twisted his head downward.

His eyes widened.

"Fuck!!"

He was falling down!

An endless ocean of white cloud cover floated thousands of meters beneath his body while he plummeted toward it at terrifying speed.

He scrambled in midair despite having absolutely nothing to push against. His arms swung wildly while his legs kicked instinctively, trying to regain control over a situation that offered none.

The atmosphere battered him from every direction.

SSSSHHHHH!!!!

Wind screamed past his ears. His muscles trembled under the pressure while his hands shook uncontrollably, resembling pieces of cloth caught within a violent storm.

Unnoticed by him, fragments of black, misty armour slowly broke apart along his left hand. The dark metallic substance dispersed into glowing particles, drifting away from his fingertips before vanishing completely into the rushing air.

Lackey never noticed.

His attention remained fixed on survival.

His naked body looked horrifying. Burns covered nearly every inch of exposed skin. Deep cracks spread across portions of his flesh like fractures running through shattered stone.

Entire sections had been blackened by heat beyond human imagination. It looked as if he had narrowly escaped being thrown into the heart of a star.

Yet strangely, none of that concerned him.

Compared to the flames he had endured earlier, the friction heating his body now felt insignificant.

The ground, however, was becoming a very real problem.

’*Think... Think! How the hell do I stop this?!*’

Before he could find an answer, his body plunged directly into the cloud layer.

SSSSHHHPPPLLLHHHH~

Moisture exploded across his skin.

The world disappeared into white.

Cold droplets hammered against his body while turbulent air currents tossed him around like debris caught inside a storm front.

PUFF!

Then, seconds later, he burst out from the bottom of the cloud layer.

The sight below nearly stole his breath.

An enormous city stretched across the horizon.

Towering structures pierced the skyline, their surfaces covered with shifting holographic advertisements that glowed even beneath the fading evening sunlight.

Massive aerial platforms floated between skyscrapers while countless streams of airborne traffic moved through designated transit corridors suspended throughout the atmosphere. Blue navigation grids projected themselves through the air, forming invisible highways for thousands of flying vehicles.

Unfortunately, admiration did nothing to solve his immediate problem.

He was still falling.

Fast.

Far too fast!

The city rapidly expanded within his vision as the distance between him and the ground continued shrinking. His heartbeat accelerated with every passing second.

Then he spotted them.

Flying vehicles.

A few kilometres away, organised streams of civilian transports moved through the sky. Anti-gravity engines emitted faint blue glows beneath their chassis while automated navigation systems guided them through designated aerial routes.

Lackey immediately focused on them.

A grin slowly appeared on his face.

*Well... that’s probably the worst idea I’ve ever had.*

The wind nearly stole his words.

His grin widened anyway.

*But it beats becoming a crater.*

Adjusting his body position, he angled himself downward and began steering toward the nearest traffic corridor.

The manoeuvre increased his speed even further.

Air resistance intensified immediately.

Heat built across his skin while small sparks occasionally danced around portions of his scorched body.

Most people would have been screaming in agony.

Lackey barely noticed.

Then another thought entered his mind.

’*What if I hit one of those vehicles?*’

His expression hardened.

At this speed, he wouldn’t simply collide with a transport.

He would punch straight through it.

The passengers inside would die.

The vehicle would likely explode.

People completely unrelated to any of this would be killed because he happened to fall from the sky.

For a brief moment, uncertainty flashed across his face.

Then a familiar voice emerged from the darkness of his thoughts.

"Why are you hesitating?"

The voice sounded amused... Cruelly amused!

"They burned your people alive. They hunted them down. They sla.ugh.ter.ed them. And now you’re worried about protecting strangers?"

Lackey’s jaw tightened.

The voice laughed softly.

"Hehe~"

"If you ask me, you should stop caring. Let gravity do its work. If a few vehicles get destroyed along the way, who cares? Why risk your life trying to save people who would never do the same for you?"

A dangerous thought briefly crossed his mind.

Maybe the voice wasn’t entirely wrong.

Then another voice interrupted.

[You have rope in your storage...]

"..."

Lackey blinked.

Without hesitation, a thick industrial rope materialised in his hand. Lackey immediately began tying a secure knot while plummeting through open air at terminal velocity.

The airborne traffic lane rapidly approached.

Flying vehicles streamed through the air in organised formation.

Then a half-burned naked man suddenly entered their flight path.

Lackey swung the rope.

Once.

Twice.

Then hurled it forward.

The cable shot through the air.

For a terrifying second, it looked like he had missed.

Then the knot caught.

CLANG!

The rope wrapped around the rear deck structure of a civilian transport vehicle and immediately tightened.

SSSRRRHHHHHH!!!!

The force nearly tore his arm from his body.

"SHIT!"

Pain exploded through his shoulder.

His entire body jerked violently as momentum transferred through the rope. Instead of gripping tightly, Lackey deliberately allowed the cable to slide across his left metal hand.

SHRRRRKKKKKKK!

Sparks erupted.

The metallic surface glowed red as friction devoured enormous amounts of kinetic energy.

The speed reduction was brutal.

But it was working.

Above him, the vehicle lurched sideways.

Its anti-gravity stabilisers flared bright blue.

Emergency correction thrusters activated along the underside while onboard systems desperately attempted to compensate for the sudden imbalance.

Inside the cabin, passengers screamed.

Red warning lights flooded the interior.

Every display panel instantly switched to emergency mode.

<<<WARNING>>>

[EXTERNAL STRUCTURAL IMPACT DETECTED.]

[FLIGHT STABILITY COMPROMISED.]

[ENGAGING EMERGENCY CORRECTION PROTOCOLS.]

The transport tilted sharply enough that several passengers nearly slid from their seats. A young girl cried out in terror as she lost her balance.

"Mommy!"

Her mother immediately wrapped both arms around her and pulled her against her chest before she could fall.

"It’s okay. I’ve got you. Just hold on to me."

"M-Mommy, what’s happening?!"

"I don’t know, sweetheart."

The child’s mother gripped the emergency support rail with one hand while holding her daughter tightly with the other.

The vehicle continued to shake violently as warning sirens echoed throughout the cabin and red emergency lights flashed overhead. Outside the windows, streams of flying vehicles swerved away while traffic-control drones rushed toward the disturbance.

"Everyone hold tight!" she shouted, "Stay in your seats! Emergency stabilisation is engaging!"

Meanwhile, thick black smoke trailed through the sky behind Lackey as he continued sliding down the rope at tremendous speed.

The friction between the cable and his metallic hand generated enough heat to light the rope itself.

Sparks erupted continuously from his palm, scattering through the air like miniature fireworks.

CRRRRCCCCCKKKK!!

Beneath the illusion covering his metallic arm plating trembled under the strain. Hairline fractures spread across the artificial fingers while tiny screws, metallic fragments, and damaged wiring tore loose and disappeared into the wind.

The rope itself was beginning to fail.

Orange flames crawled along the braided fibres, feeding upon the intense friction generated by his descent.

"Fuck!"

The flames raced downward faster and faster, consuming one strand after another. Individual cords snapped apart, unravelling beneath the enormous stress.

Every vibration travelling through the rope warned him of the inevitable.

It was going to snap.

His body had slowed considerably, but nowhere near enough. The ground still rushed toward him at a speed capable of turning his body into a bloody stain across the city streets.

Worse, tightening his grip now would only accelerate the rope’s destruction.

Then he saw them.

Massive walls of reflective glass rose between the aerial traffic lanes, their surfaces displaying holographic advertisements and corporate logos that shimmered across hundreds of stories.

Countless office floors glowed behind the transparent walls.

An idea immediately formed.

His Step skill.

All he needed was a solid surface.

Normally, he would have compressed the air beneath his feet using his powers and created temporary footholds. It was a technique he used constantly during combat.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t use his powers anymore.

Lackey looked upward.

The rope was seconds away from breaking.

Flames had consumed nearly half its thickness.

Several support strands snapped apart with sharp cracking sounds.

*Fuck it. Let’s do this.*

Without hesitation, he wrapped both legs around the rope and violently clamped down.

The sudden resistance created an enormous shock throughout the entire line.

The rope couldn’t handle it.

SNAP!

The burning cable exploded apart.

Far above, the vehicle suddenly lurched forward after the tension vanished.

The vehicle briefly swerved across adjacent traffic lanes, forcing nearby transports to perform emergency avoidance manoeuvres. Anti-collision systems activated instantly while dozens of navigation systems exchanged data packets in milliseconds.

For several terrifying seconds, the vehicle seemed ready to collide with neighbouring vehicles.

Then stabilisation thrusters fired.

SHHHHHHH!!!

Blue light erupted beneath the chassis.

The vehicle steadied itself.

Meanwhile, Lackey had already become a projectile.

STEP!

The moment the rope snapped, his body launched through open air toward the nearest glass building.

Using the final instant before impact, he activated his skill against the building itself.

The force redirected his trajectory.

Not enough to stop him.

But enough to survive.

Maybe?

The massive glass wall rapidly expanded before his eyes.

Hundreds of office workers became visible through the transparent smart glass.

Several people looked up.

One man blinked.

A woman froze while holding a tablet.

A few employees pointed toward the naked figure flying directly at their building.

Then Lackey summoned a bed from his storage.

A full-sized bed suddenly materialised in front of him.

The office workers collectively stared.

Their brains failed to process what they were witnessing.

CRACK!

THUD!

The glass wall shattered violently.

Thousands of fragments exploded inward like a crystal bomb.

The bed struck first.

Lackey crashed directly behind it.

The combined momentum tore through an entire office section. Desks flipped through the air.

Holographic displays shattered.

Workstations exploded apart beneath the impact.

The bed continued sliding across the polished floor, carving a destructive path through the office before slamming into a support wall.

CRAAASH!

The entire room shook.

Dust filled the air.

Sparks erupted from severed cables hanging from the ceiling.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Who crashed through the building?!"

"Get back!"

"Security! Somebody call security!"

People shouted from every direction.

Employees crouched behind desks with pale faces, cautiously peeking over the edges.

Then they noticed the blood.

A trail of red stretched across the floor.

Not from Lackey.

From several unfortunate workers who had been caught along the path of the impact. Most had escaped with minor injuries, but a few hadn’t been so lucky.

"ARRGHHHH!"

A man clutched his arm while lying beside an overturned workstation.

"My hand! My fucking hand!"

"Someone help me!"

"Medical emergency on Floor Eighty-Two!"

"Call an ambulance immediately!"