Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 73. Severed Bond

The collar clicked around Carmilla’s neck, and the sound seemed to echo through the alley. Carmilla felt something important being cut off right away. The Spirit Bond with Rick, which had always felt warm to her, suddenly went dark. The collar possesses anti-magic properties that can completely sever the Spirit Bond.

"RICK!" Carmilla screamed one last time, both in her head and out loud, but she knew he couldn’t hear her.

There was no more bond. She was by herself.

A cloth soaked in a substance that blurred her vision and weakened her arms and legs was pressed against her mouth and nose. Carmilla tried to fight and stay awake, but the drug was too strong. Her last clear thought was a prayer that Rick would find her and know she hadn’t left on her own.

Darkness took her.

The leader waved their hand, and purple light burst out around the group. The teleportation magic was strong and precise. In a flash, all twelve figures and their unconscious prisoner were gone, leaving behind only scorch marks on the cobblestones and a few drops of blood.

...

Rick was in the middle of a sentence when pain shot through his chest inside The Golden Boar. He felt like someone had ripped a piece of his soul out of his ribcage.

The bond with Carmilla, which he had come to rely on so much, suddenly turned dark. Not getting weaker or fading away. It was completely gone, like it got cut off in an instant.

Rick gasped and grabbed his chest. His chair fell over as he partially collapsed onto the floor. It was so shocking and wrong that he couldn’t even think about it for a moment.

"Rick!" Natasha was right next to him, with her hands on his shoulders. "What’s wrong?! What happened?"

"Carmilla...!" Rick wheezed, struggling to breathe through the pain. "The bond!"

"I can’t feel her! Something’s not right here...!"

Liora’s face turned white. "The bond can’t just go away."

"Not unless... She was horrified, and her eyes got big. "Unless powerful anti-magic has cut it off."

Rick only needed to hear that. He jumped up and ran for the door, almost knocking Natasha over in his haste. He ran out of the tavern and into the alley where he thought Carmilla was, and his heart raced in his ears.

There was nothing, only a few signs of a fight in the empty alley. The walls had slash marks on them.

There were a few drops of blood on the cobblestones. Carmilla’s sword was lying there, forgotten, near the back door of the tavern.

Rick dropped to his knees and picked up the sword with shaking hands. "No...! no! no! no! NO!"

This couldn’t be happening. It felt unreal. He believed Carmilla was the best fighter he knew; she wouldn’t go down easily. Carmilla would never have left her sword behind if she had anticipated this situation.

"Rick." Natasha’s voice was sharp and focused, cutting through his panic. "Check out the burn marks!"

"It’s a magic that allows for teleportation. This wasn’t a random occurrence, but it was orchestrated and executed with precision." Liora knelt beside the blood, extending her spiritual senses as her hands illuminated with divine light. "This is dark magic."

"Several attackers probably ambushed her, and all of them are very skilled. They went after Carmilla deliberately, broke her bond, and then teleported away." Her amber eyes were full of tears as she looked up at Rick. "This was a planned kidnapping."

Rick felt something break inside him. There was still panic and fear, but underneath them, anger was growing.

Someone had stolen Carmilla. Someone had hurt her, broken their bond, and taken her right from under his nose. And he wasn’t there to stop it.

He felt a sudden wave of emotion from the Northern Peaks through the bond network. Sylvia was answering his call for help from far away.

"Rick? What’s going on? I get how scared you are."

"Your anger is... a bit... what’s wrong?!" Her mind’s voice was sharp with worry.

"They took Carmilla!" Rick responded, not caring that his mental shout likely sounded like yelling. "Someone ambushed her and cut off our connection! She’s gone!"

The answer came right away and was volcanic. Rick could feel Sylvia’s rage coming through their connection like dragon fire. It was so strong that it made him stagger.

Sylvia growled. "I’m coming," her mental voice was full of barely contained rage. "I don’t care about the council."

"Politics don’t matter to me in this situation! Someone had the audacity to harm your property!"

"I’m on my way to Valdris right now, Rick. I can’t teleport there because I’m still exhausted with my training, so I’ll fly there as soon as I can."

It was somewhat reassuring to imagine Sylvia launching into the sky, her massive dragon form cutting through the clouds at breathtaking speeds.

It would still take her hours to get there, even if she flew as fast as she could. Carmilla didn’t have those hours.

At this point, a crowd was starting to form. People were spilling out into the alley because they had heard the noise from the tavern. Natasha took charge in her usual cold, efficient way.

"Get back inside, everyone! This is the work of adventurers!" She turned to one of the onlookers. "You! Head to the guild hall."

"Let Guildmaster Roderick know that Carmilla Crimsonford, an adventurer with a D rank, has been taken. Tell him it’s an emergency!"

Liora put her hand on Rick’s shoulder as the messenger ran away. "We need to go back to the guild."

"There could be a ransom note or some other kind of message if the incident was planned. Standing here, feeling all lost, won’t help Carmilla."

Rick wanted to argue and tear the city apart to find her, but he knew Liora was right. Carmilla wouldn’t be saved by blind panic.

He had to think and needed to make plans.

But then...

A magical shimmer appeared in the air in front of them and turned into a piece of parchment that floated down and landed at Rick’s feet. As soon as he touched it, words appeared in blood-red ink.

-We have the knight.-

-She is still alive. For now.-

-Come to the Old Quarry by yourself, which is north of the city. At midnight.-

-She dies if you bring guards.-

-If you try to track us magically, she dies.-

-You have three hours, Consort.-

-Shadow Covenant-

Rick looked at the note, and his hands shook so much that the parchment trembled as well. Three hours.

They wanted him to come by himself. It was clear that it was a trap.

They didn’t want Carmilla, but they wanted him.

And they were using her as bait. But still... he didn’t give a single fuck about it.

Rick said, "I’m going."

"Absolutely not!" Natasha took the note from him and read it quickly. "This is a trap!"

"They want to take you, not trade her!"

"I don’t care! They have Carmilla!"

"And rushing in without thinking will get you both killed!" Rick could feel Natasha’s fear through the bond, even though her voice was sharp. She was scared too, but she was better at hiding it.

Liora turned Rick around so that he was facing her. "Rick, pay attention to me."

"I get why you’re so desperate. I feel it too through the connection, but think about it."

"They told you to come alone. They want you isolated, vulnerable, and away from support. It’s not about Carmilla... it’s about getting the Dragon Queen’s Consort, which is you!"

"She’s just a tool for you."

"Then they’ll kill her as soon as they get me!" Rick’s voice broke. "I can’t..."

"I can’t let her go...! Not like this...! Not because they really want me!"