Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 180. The Tear That Changed Nothing

Rick’s hand stayed still and patient in the water between them. The one tear that had fallen from Nerissa’s eye slowly floated up, lighter than seawater, and drifted toward the cathedral ceiling like a bubble of pure grief made real.

There was no sound for thirty seconds. Every ocean dweller in the throne room held their breath, and their gills froze in place.

Rick could feel the stress through his network of connections. Carmilla’s hand on his shoulder gave him steady support.

Natasha used her analytical mind to figure out the odds. Liora prayed in her head, feeling divine energy humming under her skin.

Zara had to fight the urge to yell at Nerissa to just take the hand already, and Sylvia? Well, she’s resting outside the ocean.

Nerissa gazed at Rick’s open hand, perceiving it as both a portal to escape and a portal to hell. Rick couldn’t quite figure out what was going on with her empty blue eyes.

Perhaps the long-buried confusion, fear, or hope had forgotten its own name.

Her hand shook. Just a little bit, not quite visible, but definitely moving toward his. All of the court attendants leaned forward, their faces showing a desperate hope that they hadn’t felt in decades.

Then Nerissa looked away. She couldn’t take her eyes off the smaller throne where Typhon sat, cursed and still.

The magical chains on his wrists made noise.

Everyone stopped. Typhon’s empty eyes stayed that way, staring at nothing like they had for fifty years, but his hands moved, and his fingers curled a little around the armrests.

The first time in fifty years that anyone had seen the cursed consort move on their own.

Nerissa’s hand pulled back like she’d touched fire. Her face slammed shut, and her feelings disappeared behind that familiar mask of numbness.

The tears kept coming, though. It was too late for them to stop now that the dam had broken.

"I... I can’t," she whispered, her voice soft and melodic. "Not... yet..."

Rick’s heart sank, but he made himself stay calm. "I get it."

Thalor looked like he was going to cry. He held on to his trident so tightly that his knuckles turned white under his scaly skin.

Myrissa’s voice broke as she tried to talk. "Mother, please don’t shut down again...!"

"We saw you feel something...and just for a moment, you were there like your real self!"

The Ocean Empress wiped her tears with shaking fingers, as if she had never done it before in fifty years of being a machine. "But Rick was right about the corruption problem..."

"The world is coming to an end, and my problems don’t matter."

Her voice went back to a flat, diplomatic tone, going back to the safety of rules and duties. "I will help the alliance... as the Empress. Not as someone who can connect with others emotionally."

As she stood up straight, her water dress flowed around her, and she took on the full imperial bearing. "I offer the following resources to your cause, Demon King."

Rick wanted to argue with her and push her a little more, but Sebastian’s voice kept telling him not to. "Let her go back to safety..."

"You cracked the wall, and that’s enough for now."

Nerissa laid out her offer with mechanical precision. Military support would mean having 50,000 ocean-dwelling soldiers ready to fight against corruption forces.

Myrissa and her Kraken would be able to work on the surface. Scylla, the purified megalodon guardian, could move troops through waters that had been corrupted.

The logistics were enormous and the kind of force that could change the course of a war.

Magical support would keep the oceanic wards at their current levels, stopping them from completely falling apart for at least the next sixty-seven days. For any work done underwater, Thalassic Breath Crystals would be used.

They could monitor corruption occurring in all major bodies of water by utilizing the oceanic scrying network. Coastal cities could set up healing stations that use water.

Sharing information showed that the storm anchor for the corruption was eight thousand meters deep, which was very close to where Cthulhu was still sealed. It was becoming more and more suspicious that Leviathan had been gone for fifteen years.

It was recorded that the Archon had a pattern of going after royal families. The pattern of corruption within the Guardian indicated that Leviathan would be the next target if she had not already fallen.

Nerissa said in a cold, final voice, "What I will not provide is personal involvement beyond coordination."

"I will be in charge from Meridia Citadel, and I won’t be part of surface operations."

"To clarify even more that I won’t make any Spirit Bonds with you because I can’t give you emotional investment..."

"This is duty done, not a connection made."

"You have my resources and my ability to think strategically, but I’m sorry to tell you that I can’t give you my heart because I don’t have one to give in the first place..."

Rick agreed to the terms because he had to. "Thanks, Empress Nerissa."

"Your ocean and your people will be safe."

"I promise you that."

"Promises don’t mean anything to me," Nerissa said flatly. "What I want is the results because it’s the most important thing."

"Dismissed."

Thalor couldn’t hold back. "Mother...! Please just listen for one more second!"

"Rick Rolland can help you get better if you just—"

"Thalor!" The voice of the imperial command cut through the water like a knife. "That’s enough."

The firstborn prince flinched and bowed his head as if he were giving in. Myrissa touched her brother’s shoulder, and with that simple gesture, she shared his pain.

According to the shocked whispers that spread through the court, this was the first time in months that Nerissa had stood up during an audience. She walked to her private rooms without looking back, and the water rippled as she passed.

The wards reacted to her hidden feelings by making small currents that swirled and churned in ways that made it look like she was having a hard time.

The door to living coral closed behind her softly and for good.

Rick’s partners stood in the throne room, which had suddenly gone quiet.

Carmilla was the first to speak, and her voice was soft. "We gave it a shot... that’s what counts."

"With a good outcome as well," Natasha said in a clinical way. "At least we still get something like the alliance secured, even if not ideal."

"Now, five of the seven Major Powers are on the same page."

Liora’s divine energy pulsed with compassion. "Her wound goes deeper than fifty years can show..."

"Time made those scars, and time will also be needed to heal them."

Zara’s demonic aura flickered with angry frustration before she pushed it down. "I fucking hate seeing people so broken... it makes me think back of how I felt after Zork died."

Zephyra’s voice came through the Crystalline Observer in a flat, analytical way. "Logically enough result for today..."

"Emotional connection was a secondary goal... the main goal of the military alliance has been met, and now you still need to continue with the mission parameters."

"But still... I need to unite all the Seven Major Powers without anyone feeling negative..." Rick’s hand trembled. "The Spirit Bond is the key to preventing the end of Zorathia..."

Carmilla gently patted his head. "It’s alright, Rick... Prophecies aren’t always accurate. At the very least, we just need to unite all the major powers, and that should be enough to stop it."

Rick nodded slowly. "Yeah... I hope you’re right..."

...

Rick was in guest quarters made of living coral two hours later. The room was lit up with soft bioluminescent blues and greens, which should have made it feel peaceful, but instead it felt heavy with disappointment.

Surprisingly, beds made of kelp were very comfortable. Crystal windows showed the ocean outside, where schools of fish swam by in the deep water’s never-ending twilight.

The temperature stayed perfect thanks to Nerissa’s wards, who took care of guests even when the Empress herself couldn’t be bothered to care about anything.

Rick was lost in thought when someone knocked on the door. He opened it to find Thalor and Myrissa standing there.

They both looked tired in ways that went beyond just being physically tired. "Sorry to bother you, Rick..."

"Can we talk about something for a moment...?" Thalor’s voice was heavy with the pain of watching his mother die for fifty years.

Rick nodded and asked them to come in. Rick’s partners were scattered, taking a break from the emotional strain of the day.

Carmilla and Natasha shared a room, and they were both comfortable being quiet with each other. Liora prayed and meditated, and the divine energy made a soft golden light.

Zara lay down on a bed of kelp and started snoring right away. Her demonic body let her heal right away.

Thalor sat down hard, with his trident resting against the coral wall. "I’m sorry... I just thought you could get to her heart and make her come back to the way she was..."

"I had hope for the first time in fifty years."

His voice broke as he let his feelings out. "I’ve seen her die inside, slowly, every day becoming a little more empty..."

"When you made her cry, and I saw real tears instead of that blank stare, I thought it was the breakthrough we had been waiting for, but then that bastard moved. " Thalor’s hands turned into fists.

"That cursed bastard twitched for the first time in decades, and it brought back memories for her."

"The fucking treachery... and the reason she shut herself off from all feelings. The reason she killed seventeen kids and didn’t feel anything while doing it."

"I shouldn’t have brought you here with false hope," Thalor said, his voice breaking completely. "She’s my mom, but I don’t know how to help her..."

"I’ve done everything I could to help her by trying to make changes to the council, talking to her one-on-one, and bringing her favorite foods from before the incident."

"Despite my efforts... nothing has worked... she continues to endure everything like a machine and then returns to staring blankly into space."