Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 112. Shattered Core

Rick nodded, not being able to trust his voice. Carmilla raised her sword, pouring all of her Guardian’s Resolve into it until it shone like a tiny sun.

Natasha made an ice structure that was so thick and cold that frost spread across the floor where she was standing. Rick called on the last of his dragon fire, which he could feel building in his chest and throat.

"NOW!" Natasha yelled.

Three attacks hit the corruption core at the same time. The blow from Carmilla’s sword was as strong as a meteor.

Natasha’s ice magic flash froze a third of the core’s surface. Rick’s dragon fire breath turned the whole building into golden flames.

The core BROKE with the sound of...

BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!

There was a giant crack on its surface, and the chamber filled with a scream that sounded like a thousand people screaming at once. A black ichor started to leak out of the crack and pool on the floor below

Rick thought they had done it for one beautiful moment.

But he raised a red flag just by thinking about that.

The crack started to close. The core grew back in front of their eyes, and the crack closed up as if it had never been there.

The corruption pulsed once, then twice, and the room was full of activity. "W-What the fuck!?"

Shadow constructs appeared out of nowhere. Rick saw at least fifteen of them around the three of them, and more were coming from the core’s corrupted energy.

The core was protecting itself, and it had an endless supply of guardians. "Shit!" Rick swore, and his tired body was already getting ready to fight.

"Why are they appearing back-to-back!?"

They made a tight triangle, with each one facing out to cover a different angle. The shadow constructions circled them like sharks that had smelled blood in the water.

Rick’s eyes were getting blurry because he was exhausted. His body was having a hard time keeping up with his dragon-like change, which was flickering in and out.

Carmilla was breathing hard next to him, and Natasha was swaying a little on her feet.

And then...

The constructs all attacked at once.

Rick was able to kill two before his guard fell. Claws raked his chest and drew blood.

He fell back into Carmilla, who was desperately swinging her sword at three constructs. Natasha’s ice magic was getting weaker, and it was clear that her mana was running out.

The whispers of corruption got louder as they sensed their weakness.

"Just sleep... let the darkness take you... no more struggle... eternal rest..." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Rick felt like the words were wrapping around his mind like chains. His arms and legs felt so heavy.

It would be so easy for him to stop fighting and let the darkness take him. His knees gave out, and he felt twisted tendrils starting to wrap around his mind.

Then a burst of golden light filled the room.

Divine Aegis turned on by itself because Rick was in such critical shape.

But this wasn’t just a simple protective barrier, though. It was all thanks to Liora, who was watching the bond from Valdris, could feel Rick’s crisis, and was sending all of her energy through the Divine Aegis connection.

The golden barrier exploded around all three of them with such force that it hurt to look at it, making all the shadow creatures scream and pull back.

They started to fall apart like snow under a blowtorch where the divine light touched them. All fifteen constructs were turned to ash in just a few seconds.

The corruption tendrils that had been creeping into Rick’s mind burned away, and his thoughts became clear and sharp all of a sudden.

Liora’s voice came through the bond, strained and far away, but full of desperate determination. "Rick... finish it... quickly... I can’t hold... this long..."

Rick gasped for air and felt his strength return as the Divine Aegis held him up. "Liora... thank you... hold on..."

Carmilla’s eyes were wide as she looked at the golden wall that surrounded them. "We have thirty seconds, maybe less! GET GOING!"

Rick understood.

This was the moment.

One chance.

It was all or nothing.

If they failed now, Liora would burn out keeping the Divine Aegis up, and they would all die when it fell apart.

Rick said, his voice hoarse but firm, "Everything we have."

"No more holding back because we are done with this shit!"

Carmilla nodded and started to push her Guardian’s Resolve beyond what it could normally do. Rick could tell that she was drawing power from their Unbreakable Bond itself, using the connection between them to give her strength.

It was almost white when her sword started to glow.

Natasha shut her eyes and said one word. "EVERYTHING...!!!"

The rest of her mana crystallized around her hands, making an ice lance so big and thick that the air around it froze right away. It was the last bit of magic she had left, all of it packed into one deadly blow.

Rick managed to push past his limits until he turned into a full dragon. His body was covered in scales, he grew a lot bigger, and wings came out of his back.

The dragon fire that built up in his throat was unlike anything he had ever done before. It was filled with the bond network’s power.

Sylvia’s distant rage, Liora’s divine protection, Carmilla’s unwavering devotion, and Natasha’s perfect analysis.

The Divine Aegis timer went off after ten seconds.

"THIS IS FOR EVERYONE WHO DIED BECAUSE OF THIS CORRUPTION!" Carmilla roared and charged forward with her sword raised high.

"FOR A WORLD WITHOUT THIS DARKNESS!" Natasha yelled as her ice lance flew out of her hands at supersonic speed.

Rick yelled, "FOR MY BONDED PARTNERS WHO BELIEVE IN ME!" and let out a concentrated beam of golden destruction from his draconic fire breath.

BAM!

Three ultimate attacks hit the corruption core at the same time.

As the attacks hit the core, time seemed to slow down. Rick could see everything very clearly.

Carmilla’s sword went straight through the middle of the core, and divine fire spread through the crystal like cracks in glass. Natasha’s ice lance hit from the other side, freezing the whole structure in an instant.

Rick’s dragon fire breath also destroyed the frozen corruption from the inside out.

For one impossible moment, the core held. Light and darkness fought inside its crystal structure, neither willing to give in.

Purple corruption fought against blue purifying ice, red protective flame, and golden divine light.

Then it shattered into pieces.

BOOOOOMMMMMM!!!

The explosion was catastrophic. The core of the corruption blew up with enough force to destroy the whole chamber.

Rick felt like he was being thrown back, and as soon as the blast wave hit him, his dragon form changed back. He saw Carmilla and Natasha being thrown through the air in the same way before everything went white.

Rick was lying on his back and looking up at a ceiling that was falling down when his vision cleared. The Divine Aegis had kept them safe from the worst of the blast, but it was flickering and almost out of power now.

The corruption was going away all around them, like smoke in the wind. The shadow structures were gone. The black veins that pulsed on the walls were turning into gray ash.

They had done it. The core of corruption was fully destroyed.

Rick tried to move, but he quickly regretted it. It felt like every bone in his body was broken.

"Agghhhhh! My fucking back...!"

His muscles screamed in pain. He had to work really hard to turn his head, but when he did, he saw Carmilla lying a few feet away with her armor cracked and blood coming from several wounds.

Natasha was barely awake behind her, and her ice-blue eyes were having a hard time staying open.

"We... did it..." Carmilla whispered, a small smile on her bloody face.

It was difficult to hear Natasha’s answer. "Teleport scroll... now..."

Rick tried to grab the scroll at his belt, but his arms wouldn’t let him. "I... can’t... move my arms..."

The ceiling made a scary noise. Big pieces of stone started to fall all around them.

The corruption that had held the old building together was no longer present, causing the entire temple to crumble. They only had a few seconds before the whole place fell on them.

Rick heard footsteps approaching quickly, multiple sets pounding toward them at full speed.

The demon squad broke into the room that was falling apart. Krell’s eyes got bigger when he saw the broken core, the corruption that was fading away, and the three humans lying on the floor, broken and tired.

"Get them!" Krell yelled.

"NOW!"