Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 69. Possessive Farewell

Morning came with the same heavy feeling of departure. Rick stood in Sylvia’s private room, already dressed for the trip.

He watched as the Dragon Queen quickly and expertly prepared a portal spell. Her hands made complicated movements, and red and gold magic swirled in the air before coming together to form a shining doorway.

"I wish I could take you back myself," Sylvia said, not looking at him.

Her voice was tight with anger. "It would be much more personal to fly you to Valdris in my real form."

"And of course intimidating because I’d love to see the look on their faces when a Dragon Queen brings her consort to their door."

Rick smiled at the picture in his head. "Wouldn’t that have scared the shit out of them...?"

"That’s part of the appeal." Rick could see the conflict in Sylvia’s amber eyes when she finally turned to face him. "But the Dragon Council has called me in for an emergency meeting."

"When twelve ancient dragons ask you to come, you can’t say no without consequences. They want a formal report about the bond network."

"Dragon council? Remind me of that again..." Rick felt familiar with the name, but he’s forgotten about it all.

"Well, think of them as guardians and advisors of dragon culture. All of them are more than 500 years old, and some are close to 1,000 years old."

"They are strong, traditional, and distressed about anything that could upset the established order." Sylvia moved closer and took Rick’s hands. "Our bond network threatens to disrupt that established order."

"A human consort with ties to several powerful mature women, making a new kind of spiritual magic? They are concerned that this could harm the dragon tradition of having one mate for life."

Rick’s stomach started to hurt. "Are they... going to try to break our bond?"

"They can’t! It’s already made and stable!" Sylvia’s response looks concerned that she will manage to let the bond stay strong somehow.

"But... honestly... they can make my life politically hard, which means they can make your life hard too." She held his hands tightly. "Don’t worry. I’ve been dealing with council politics for eight hundred years."

"They’ll complain, make demands about tradition and oversight, and then accept the truth because they have no other choice."

"That doesn’t sound like it would help."

"It’s not meant to be."

"Welcome to the world of high-level politics, Consort." Sylvia’s face changed to something more serious. "But Rick, you need to understand something even more important."

"The Seven Major Powers are more than just people. They lead seven ancient groups that have been around for thousands of years."

"The Dragon Kingdom, the Demon Realm, the Elven Sanctuary, the Divine Temple, the Witch Covens, the Ocean Empire, and the Mage Council."

"Each one is a whole civilization with its own culture, politics, and interests."

Rick thought about that. "So bringing the Seven Powers together means bringing together seven whole civilizations?"

"That’s right. And right now, those cultures are in a lot of trouble." Sylvia’s face got darker. "The barriers are slowly falling down, and it’s happening 15% faster than we thought it would."

"Rick, we don’t have six months left. At best, we have four and a half months." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The number hit Rick like a punch in the gut. "What the fuck...? How?!"

"Corruption is spreading from the Unknown Lands to the far east."

"It’s speeding everything up, making monsters change, breaking down walls faster, and poisoning the land." Sylvia’s hands shook a little. "The Ancient Forest of the Elven Matriarch is dying."

"The sacred trees that have been standing for ten thousand years are dying."

"Corrupted demons are taking over the Demon General’s realm, and she can’t stop them."

"Some of the Witch Covens in the Southern Marshes are fighting each other because they think the corruption is a natural part of life that should be accepted."

"And what about the Empress of the Western Seas?" Rick asked.

"Completely isolationist. She has closed off her empire’s borders and won’t talk to anyone, and she thinks she can wait out the end of the world because the ocean barrier is holding better than land barriers." Sylvia’s face got serious. "But the fact is... she can’t deny anything about it."

"When the land falls, the corruption will also poison the oceans. What she does is just picking a slower way to die."

Rick remembered Fredrich from Valdris. "What about the Mage Council?"

"They’re looking into where the corruption came from and how to stop it or at least slow it down. I’ll give Fredrich credit for being smart, but he’s also very driven."

"He sees this crisis as a chance to raise the status of his council among the Seven Powers." Sylvia looked Rick in the eye. "Rick, everyone has their own plans."

"That’s why it’s so difficult to bring them together. You’re not just making friends with strong women."

"You’re dealing with old political fights, land disputes, and civilizations that have hated each other for hundreds of years."

Rick felt like everything was weighing him down. "How am I going to do this?"

"The same way you did everything else. You can achieve this by being true to yourself, making real connections, and never giving up, even when it seems impossible. Sylvia hugged him tightly. "You’ve already brought together a Dragon Queen, a knight, a mage, and a high priestess."

"That shouldn’t have worked, but you did."

"So you better have faith in yourself."

Rick held her close and could feel the strong bond between them. Love, fear, hope, and possessiveness were all mixed together in a way that was all Sylvia.

"Thanks... I feel motivated now because you say that..."

"There’s one more thing," Sylvia said, leaning against his chest. "These corruptions, these falls of barriers, the timing of everything?"

"Someone is responsible for it. Many things are going on at the same time in different parts of the world."

"The patterns are just too perfect. There is a mastermind behind all of this, something or someone strong enough to change things on a global scale."

"Do you know who?"

"No, but I want to know as well." Sylvia turned around to look at him. "I’ll be looking into things while you work on bringing the Powers together."

"With the help of the Dragon Council’s resources and my own network, I should be able to find out where the corruption started."

The portal behind them throbbed, showing that it was ready. Sylvia looked at it, then back at Rick.

"Time to go," she said in a soft voice. "Your partners are waiting, and I have to argue with some ancient dragons."

Rick nodded, but before he could walk toward the portal, Sylvia grabbed him by the collar and kissed him deeply and possessively. Rick’s knees got weak after a while, and when she finally let him go, her eyes were shining with inner fire.

"Don’t get too close to other women while I’m gone," Sylvia said in a low, threatening voice. "Remember, I can feel it through the bond."

"I’ll know if an ambitious woman tries to seduce my partner. And I won’t be happy."

Rick’s face got hot. "I’m not going to cheat on any of you. Relax, my queen~."

"Well, I won’t be happy, as in the context of being mad or maybe breaking up." Sylvia got close to his ears. "I’ll fuck you up real good for every time you cheated, got it?"

"Y-Yeah, sure. (She said that even though the last sex we had, I dominated her)." Rick answered while nodding.

"I have to be honest that my dragon possessiveness doesn’t make sense, and right now, every instinct I have is telling me to keep you locked up in my chambers where no one else can see you." She made herself take a step back. "Now, chop-chop, before I change my mind and really do it."

Even though it was a tense moment, Rick smiled. "I love you too, Sylvia."

"I know. Now go back home, Hero of Mature Hearts."

"Your other partners need you."

Rick walked through the portal, and the world turned into a swirl of magic. The change went more smoothly than Sylvia’s teleportation, maybe because she had time to set up the spell correctly.

Rick’s stomach only lurched a little bit before he saw that he was in a stone hallway he knew well. Valdris Adventurer’s Guild.

It felt like years since he had left, even though it had only been three weeks. The smell of old wood and metal polish, the sound of adventurers arguing and laughing in the distance, and even the worn stone under his feet all hit him with an unexpected emotional force.

"Rick!"