Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 110. Deeper Into The Darkness

The shadow constructs attacks with a terrifying level of coordination. At the same time, six pairs of clawed hands reached out of the darkness, each one aiming for a different vital point.

Rick barely had time to notice the attack before his body moved on pure instinct, which was boosted by his Tactical Mind ability. "Shit! That was so fucking close...!"

"Formation!" Carmilla shouted, her sword already blazing with crimson light as she activated Guardian’s Resolve.

She stood at the front, and the constructs noticed her because of the strong protective aura around her. Her sword cut through the closest shadow in a wide arc, and the construct screamed as divine fire burned through its evil nature.

Natasha answered right away and with exactness. As she used her Frost Mind to its fullest, ice formed around her hands in intricate patterns.

"Freeze!" she yelled, and three giant lances of clear ice shot forward, each one stabbing a different shadow construct.

Rick’s breath came out in visible puffs because the temperature in the room dropped so quickly. "Fuhhh! It’s so fucking cold in here...!"

The frozen creatures fought against their icy cells, but Natasha’s magic kept them in place long enough for Rick to do something. He felt the dragon power flow through his body as he began to change.

His hands moved, and his fingers turned into wicked claws covered in golden fire. The Dragon’s Presence ability made his eyes glow with a terrifying brightness as he charged at the last two constructs.

The first one tried to get away, but Rick’s bond network sped him up than it thought. His claws tore into the construct’s torso, and it screamed as draconic fire burned it from the inside out.

The second construct tried to fight back by lunging for Rick’s throat with its corrupted talons outstretched, but Carmilla was there right away. The attack hit her sword with a loud clang that echoed through the ruins of the temple.

"Not on my watch," she growled, pushing the construct back and then hitting it from above with such force that it split in half.

At the same time, the three frozen constructs broke apart when Natasha clenched her fist. Shards of corrupted ice flew across the stone floor. All six shadow constructs were gone in a matter of seconds.

[+30 EXP: COMBAT EFFICIENCY]

Rick stood there, breathing heavily, with his clawed hands still smoking from the dragon fire. "Holy shit, that really worked."

"Of course it worked," Natasha said, but there was a hint of relief in her voice beneath the cold confidence. "I figured out how we would work together before we went in."

Carmilla lowered her sword a little but kept it ready. "Don’t celebrate yet! That was just the group that welcomed you."

And... she was correct. The whispers of corruption that had been background noise got louder all of a sudden, turning into almost understandable words that clawed at the edges of Rick’s mind.

"Give up... join us... so much power... no more fighting... eternal peace..."

Rick could feel the words trying to get into his head like parasites. "What the fuck are you trying to yap about, bitch?!"

"Shut the fuck up!"

His Unbreakable Will ability kicked in on its own, making a mental wall that kept the worst of the corruption away. "Does anyone else hear the demon ASMR from hell?"

"The corruption is trying to break down our mental defenses," Natasha said, her analytical mind already sorting the threat into groups. "Don’t pay attention to the whispers."

"Don’t try to figure them out."

"Just let them go by."

Carmilla said, "That’s easier said than done," but she was determined. "Come on! We have to move fast! The core has to be deeper inside."

They moved forward through the ruined temple hallways. The buildings were ancient, probably hundreds of years older than the first wars between demons and humans.

The halls were lined with giant pillars carved with demonic writing, but the corruption had changed them into horrible copies of what they used to be.

The sickly purple light pulsing through the black veins created an unsettling strobe effect, making it difficult to determine the distance to various objects.

Rick’s dragon’s presence lit up the room a little bit, and his glowing eyes cut through the supernatural darkness. He could sense how his partners were feeling through his bond network.

Carmilla was a steady flame of determination to protect. Natasha was a cold, sharp spike of focused thought.

And from far away, he could feel Liora’s warm divine presence offering silent support from Valdris. At the same time, Sylvia’s possessive rage burned in the Northern Peaks like a promise of revenge if anything happened to him.

They had been walking through the broken hallways for what felt like hours, but it was probably only twenty minutes when they heard it.

It was a noise that stopped all three of them in their tracks...

"Do you baddies hear that...?" Rick looked around.

"That’s the sound of something that resembles crying..."

Natasha answered. "Yeah... it’s not the kind of inhuman screams of evil monsters, but real crying."

"It sounded more like the desperate, broken sound of someone in pain."

"And I bet that’s a trap," Natasha said right away.

Carmilla said, "Probably, but we can’t just ignore it."

Rick was already moving forward, following the sound through a broken archway into what used to be a meditation room.

And...what he saw there scared him to death.

"OH MY MILFS!" Rick’s eyes were wide seeing something he shouldn’t see.

He sees a demon kneeling in the middle of the room, and parts of its body are rotting away.

Half of its face was covered in black veins, and one arm had turned into a horrible claw that was dripping with dark energy, but the other half looked almost normal, and the demon’s eyes were full of clear, desperate awareness.

"Please..." the demon gasped, looking up at them with tears streaming down its face. "I can’t..."

"The corruption... I can feel it taking over..."

Rick knew that demon was probably one of the patrol members who had been sent to clear the nest. And it’s one of the twenty-four demons that were said to have died.

"Please... kill... me," the demon begged, its voice cracking. "Before I completely lose myself..."

"I don’t want to be one of those things...! Please!"

Rick’s chest tightened with fear and sympathy. "We can help you."

"There has to be a way to—"

The demon’s clear eye suddenly went blank. Its body shook, and the corruption spread over it like a tidal wave.

The change was over in a matter of seconds. The demon lunged at them with speed that was beyond human, its claws outstretched and its mouth open in a mindless roar of hunger.

Carmilla moved to intercept, but Rick was faster. "Goddamn it, I don’t have any other choices..."

The demon had begged for mercy so that it could stop hurting. Rick had to end his suffering fast.

With one clean blow, his dragon claws hit the throat of the evil demon. For a brief moment, the demon’s eyes cleared up, and Rick could have sworn he saw thanks in them before the light went out completely.

The body fell apart, and the corruption started to fade away, leaving behind something that looked almost peaceful.

Rick stood there with his clawed hand outstretched, staring at the body. He felt sick right away because.

This demon had been a soldier, patrolling its territory to keep its people safe. And the corruption had made it a monster that needed to be killed like a rabid dog.

Rick said quietly, "This could happen to any of us."

"If the corruption gets us, we’d be just like that... a mindless monster who can’t beg to die..."

Carmilla put her hand on his shoulder. Through their Unbreakable Bond, she sent waves of understanding and shared grief. "We have to end this tragedy now."

"Nobody else should have to go through this."

[+20 EXP: EMOTIONAL UNDERSTANDING DEEPENED]

When Natasha spoke, her voice was softer than usual. "The core is near."

"I can feel the amount of corruption growing rapidly."

"We have to go now!"

Rick nodded, and they moved forward with even more determination. The hallways got smaller, and the corruption got worse.

Rick’s potion that made him resistant to corruption was still working, but he could feel it starting to lose its power. They had to get to the core quickly.

The hallway led to a giant room, and all three of them stopped in their tracks when they saw it.

In the middle of the room, a beast stood in the way of the only way out. It was huge, at least twelve feet tall, and its body looked like it was made up of parts from different broken creatures.

Its torso had many arms and legs that stuck out at strange angles, and each one ended in sharp claws or tentacles that could grab things. Its skin oozed with dark stuff that fell to the floor like tar.

There were at least eight eyes looking at them, spread out over what could have been its head, and all of them were glowing with a dangerous red light.

Rick said, "Oh, fuck me sideways right now!"