Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 190. Something Big Coming From Below
Rick sat quietly on Scylla’s back as the purified megalodon ascended to the surface. The Guardian swam effortlessly through the corrupted waters, which no longer affected her purified form.
As time passed, the bioluminescent glow of Meridia Citadel diminished gradually until it vanished into the darkness below.
Yet, Rick couldn’t shake the feeling of failure.
He had really failed at something important for the first time since he got to Zorathia. He had fought a lot of corrupted creatures, beaten a demon king, tamed dragons, and made real connections with five mature women.
They had managed to overcome every challenge through their stubbornness, creativity, or sheer determination, all thanks to his influence and decisions.
But Nerissa rejected him... not with anger or violence, but with the calm finality of someone too broken to accept salvation.
In the end, all his efforts, emotional breakthroughs, and the barriers he had dismantled resulted in her choosing solitude over companionship with him.
The anxiety made him feel nauseous, reminiscent of his past when he would receive job rejection emails and convince himself he wasn’t good enough. It felt like watching potential friendships slip away because he was too afraid to make the first move.
He was twenty-four and alone when he died because he had given up on making connections.
"I failed," Rick said softly, more to himself than to anyone else. "I really let her down."
His hands turned into fists, and dragon scales appeared on his knuckles without him even knowing it. "What’s the point of all this power and connection if I can’t even get one woman to accept my genuine help?"
"If I can’t help someone save themselves, what kind of a hero am I...?"
They all looked at Rick with a guilty expression and knew that Rick had tried his best to make it work.
Carmilla moved closer to Rick to sit next to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You didn’t fail..."
"You got through to her in ways that no one else has in fifty years, Rick, and that achievement showed when she cried."
"And that’s something you couldn’t call a failure."
Rick’s voice broke a little when he said, "But she still chose to stay with all that guilt and pain..."
"She intends to confront the Leviathan alone and likely sacrifice herself to demonstrate her independence... And I have just abandoned her in that moment."
Natasha’s clinical voice had an unusual warmth. "According to statistical analysis, you made seventy-three percent of an emotional breakthrough in just one day."
"It’s not realistic to expect fifty-year-old trauma patterns to completely change."
"Your performance was good, which is a lot of praise coming from me."
Liora’s divine energy pulsed with peace. "Rick... everyone knows that it takes time to heal a pain of guilt."
"At least you’ve planted the seeds today. Sometimes, that’s all we can do, and we must trust that they will grow when the person is ready."
Zara swam alongside Scylla, her demonic form comfortable in the water thanks to the Thalassic Crystal. "Look, you made an empress who had been emotionally dead for fifty years feel something real."
"And that’s really fucking cool! Don’t blame yourself for her not being ready to move mountains right away..." Zara giggled.
But Rick couldn’t shake the anxiety building in his chest. His past failures haunted him, and old wounds reopened, despite all he had accomplished.
He feared that he wasn’t enough, that he would watch others suffer because he couldn’t find the right words, and he worried about being perceived as weak, even though he knew he was strong.
Sebastian appeared on Rick’s shoulder, visible only to him. For once, the chibi butler’s expression was serious rather than sarcastic.
"Rick," Sebastian said softly. "Listen closely to what I’m about to say. I’m only going to say it once, and I won’t include any jokes or insults."
Rick looked at Sebastian and was surprised by how real the voice sounded.
Sebastian went on, "You are not the same person who died alone in that apartment."
"That Rick Rolland gave up, but this new motherfucking Rick Rolland... grabbed an empress by the face and told her to feel something!"
"That Rick Rolland from the past avoided making connections because he was scared, but this new motherfucking Rick Rolland forms Spirit Bonds and fights corrupted guardians to protect people he doesn’t even know."
"It has been clearly proven that you are very different now, so try not to listen to that anxiety nonsense again... we never knew if it was the Archon trying to break your spirit."
Rick was staring intently into Sebastian’s eyes. "Nerissa’s decision to heal slowly is not your fault. It’s her journey..."
"You did everything you were supposed to do. Now, let her take her time, and trust that she’ll remember the foolish surface dweller who made her cry for the first time in fifty years when she’s ready."
Rick felt something give way in his chest. The anxiety didn’t go away completely, but it got better.
The air can get through. He took a deep breath of water, and the Thalassic Crystal made it feel almost normal.
"Hmmmm... fuhhhh... Thank you, Sebastian. I lowkey... needed that."
"Don’t try to mention it again in the future, and I mean it... please fucking don’t."
"I have to maintain my reputation as a sarcastic jerk." With a cloud of golden smoke, the chibi butler vanished. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Myrissa swam up next to Rick. Her blue-white eyes still reflected sadness, but they also conveyed something more, perhaps determination or a glimmer of hope amidst all odds.
"I’ve overcome it now... and I need you to do the same, like me." Myrissa said with quiet confidence, "She will come around eventually."
"You got through to her in ways I never could as her daughter, and that means something for a surface dweller like you."
"She’ll remember what you did today when the Leviathan is sealed and she knows she can still protect the kingdom. And one day... she’ll eventually come to the surface looking for the alliance in the right way."
Rick was able to smile a little. "Do you really think so?"
"I know my mother well enough that she’s planning something ahead," Myrissa said. "Under all that numbness is the woman who ruled with wisdom and kindness for six hundred years."
"She’s still inside, and now you’ve given her the permission to begin rediscovering herself."
The affection notification pulsed softly at the edge of Rick’s vision, reminding him that at least one ocean princess had completely fallen for him.
[MYRISSA ABYSSRYN - Affection: 10/10 - MAXIMUM]
[Spirit Bond Available - Awaiting Consent]
"This again... do I really have to bond with Myrissa instead...?" Rick thought to himself.
Rick was on the verge of saying something important to Sebastian when his danger sense detonated in his mind. The resonance of all five partners’ bonds screamed for attention simultaneously.
Sebastian came back right away, looking shocked. "Rick, something big is coming up from below!"
"Move NOW!!!"
The water around them darkened in an unnatural way. It wasn’t the typical darkness found in the depths of the ocean.
Instead, it was a shadow filled with corruption that devoured the bioluminescent glow.
Scylla roared in terror and attempted to swim faster, but something was rising rapidly beneath them.
Then the Leviathan burst through the corrupted darkness like a nightmare made flesh.
The Guardian was scarier up close than during their brief meeting in the Western Deep Caverns.
It stretched two hundred meters in length, resembling a snake made of corruption, its scales glowing with an unsettling purple energy. Dozens of heads sprouted from its main body.
Each head had a mouth full of teeth capable of swallowing whales whole, but the most shocking sight was the person standing atop the Leviathan’s main head, perfectly balanced despite the creature’s violent thrashing through the water.
Myrissa caught sight of her, and her musical voice emerged as a broken whisper. "N-No...!"
"That can’t be true... She was supposed to be dead...! Mother executed her fifty years ago."
Rick followed her gaze and felt his blood run cold.
A woman who resembled Myrissa and Nerissa stood atop the corrupted Leviathan, clearly belonging to the same ocean-dwelling family.
By human standards, she appeared to be in her early forties. She possessed the same iridescent scales and webbed fingers characteristic of her species.
Her hair moved around her head like living seaweed. It was a deep purple color, not the royal blue-white color of Meridia’s family.
"Wait! Is that...?" Rick exclaimed, pointing at the trident she was holding.
"She has it... the Tidecaller Trident...!" Myrissa responded with fear.
Rick could sense the potent energy of the trident in her grasp, crackling with corrupted oceanic lightning. The Tidecaller Trident, once a tool for controlling the Leviathan, was now entirely corrupted.
But it was her eyes that made Rick’s stomach drop. Unlike most corrupted creatures, her eyes were not empty-headed or mindless.
These eyes were full of smart hatred and perfect awareness. This wasn’t a mindless undead brought back to life by corruption.
This was worse than that.
