Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 135. Voices in The Dark

Another change starts to happen again.

And this time, it was Liora with her divine light fading as corruption wrapped around her like chains. The holy energy that usually surrounded her was being smothered, like a candle going out in a storm.

"R-Rick... y-you... promised to us all," Liora’s voice echoed with horror. "You said... you’d be the hero... we needed..."

"You lied to us all..."

Then Sylvia came out, her beautiful dragon shape twisted and ruined, and her scales were black with rot. Her amber eyes, which used to be full of fierce love and pride, were now empty purple voids.

"I believed in you," the corrupted Sylvia said, her voice sounding strange. "I gave you everything..."

"My bond, my faith, and my heart. And you let me down."

"Just like you fail at everything."

Zara’s image sprang to life, her body shattered and bleeding. She gazed at Rick, her disappointment so profound that it felt like a blow to the stomach.

"My husband put his last wish in your hands."

"He called you the new Demon King."

"He thought you could keep us safe." Her voice got colder. "Everyone else who ever believed in you was wrong about you."

Vyra showed up, and her sweet smile was gone. "I let you into my heart."

"I showed you how weak I am. And this is how you pay me back...? By letting me die?"

The visions accelerated, presenting a horrifying slideshow of everyone he had loved and vowed to protect, each one perishing as he remained paralyzed and powerless.

Mara the healer, her face twisted in pain. "You couldn’t even help yourself. How could you help us?"

The bodies of the demon warriors he had fought with lay all over the training grounds. "Our king was a coward who stayed in the dark while we died."

He had saved civilians during the dragon attack on Valdris, but they had all lost hope. "We thought you were a hero."

"We were all wrong and tricked by a lowlife like you!"

Every vision seemed very real. Rick could smell the blood, feel the heat of the corruption, and hear their last words.

He felt like he might break under the weight of all these failures, both real and imagined.

Rick’s voice finally came through, weak and broken. "I can’t do this."

"I don’t have enough strength... I never was... Everyone was wrong about me...!"

The darkness seemed to work with his sadness, making it feel heavier and more oppressive. It wrapped around him like a heavy blanket, making it hard to breathe and pulling him deeper into despair.

"I’m Rick Rolland, that’s all."

"The man who couldn’t finish college."

"The man who couldn’t find work."

"The man who died alone in his room while watching porn."

"What made anyone think I could be a hero? What made me believe I could change?"

His mind got more and more panicked. Even though he didn’t have a body in this void, his chest felt tight.

He started to breathe quickly and shallowly, and the familiar feeling of a panic attack took over.

"Because of me, they’re all going to die."

"Just like in the dreams. Carmilla, Natasha, Liora, Sylvia, Zara, Vyra, all of them...!"

"They trusted a worthless failure, and now they will lose everything...!!!"

The anxiety clawed at his mind, showing him more visions. The demon camp was completely overrun.

Valdris falling to corruption. The Elven forests are burning.

The oceans are darkening with decay. The whole world is perishing because he lacked the strength, intelligence, and worthiness to save it.

Rick said softly into the space, "I should have just stayed dead."

"At least then I wouldn’t have given anyone false hope that I wouldn’t have brought them all down with me."

The darkness drew nearer, preparing to engulf him completely. Rick felt himself giving in and realizing that this was where he belonged.

In the void, where mistakes were forgotten.

Then, through the heavy weight of despair, he felt something.

A feeling of warmth.

At first, it was hard to see, but it got stronger and more demanding. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Rick noticed the warmth and realized it was coming from four different places.

"Rick." Carmilla’s voice was strong and steady, cutting through the dark. "I feel like you’re drowning in there..."

"Our Unbreakable Bond lets me feel your pain, so please...! Just listen to me!"

Another warmth came along, and it was cool like frost in the winter. "You’re being an idiot as always," Natasha said in her usual blunt way.

"These fears you’re showing yourself aren’t real. Your mind is just playing tricks on you because you’re anxious!"

The third warmth came, like sunlight. "Rick," Liora’s soft voice said.

"The divine light sees you having a difficult time! You don’t have to go through this dark time by yourself!"

The fourth warmth burned like dragon fire. "RICK ROLLAND!"

Sylvia’s voice was loud and powerful like a dragon’s. "GET YOUR ASS UP! I DIDN’T BOND WITH A QUITTER!"

He could feel them through their Spirit Bonds. He felt not just their presence, but also their feelings, memories, and faith in him.

He could feel her own pain and sadness through Carmilla. She was sure that after the years she spent in deep sadness following her husband’s death, she would never feel whole again.

For the first time in years, Rick brought a smile to her face, shattering the barriers she had erected around her heart.

Carmilla’s voice said softly, "You saved me from my darkness."

"So, allow me to help you escape from your own darkness."

"You are not the failure you think you are."

"You are the man who saw a widow in pain and chose to be nice to her without expecting anything in return."

He could feel the cold loneliness that Natasha had wrapped herself in. The way she had pushed everyone away because getting close meant pain.

Many adventurers gave up due to her tough exterior.

Natasha’s voice said, "You didn’t quit."

"You kept coming back and treating me like a person instead of a problem."

"You didn’t break through my defenses with force... you did it with real care!"

"Why can’t you recognize your own value when someone as broken as I am can?"

He felt the weight of divine duty from Liora. The stress of being a High Priestess, having to be perfect all the time and know everything. The loneliness of being put on a pedestal where no one could really get to her.

Liora’s warmth wrapped around him as she said, "You treated me like a woman, not an icon."

"You made me laugh, made me feel alive, and reminded me that I can be human even when I’m wearing a divine mantle."

"You gave me back freedom I didn’t know I had lost."

He felt five hundred years of loneliness from Sylvia. The empty space that Therion’s death left behind.

The fear of loving again and going through another long period of grief. The walls she had constructed remained impenetrable for 500 years.

"You made me feel again!" The fire in Sylvia’s heart grew stronger. "You made me remember what it’s like to have someone to protect!"

"You are a brave, stupid, amazing human!"

"You fought an Ancient Black Dragon to save people you didn’t know!"

"You made it through my tests when warriors twice your level would have died!"

"How could you call yourself a failure after all that?!"